Chapter 67: Being Assigned a Part-Time Job

"Should we also inform the Knight Order, just in case?" Cass asked Lily.

"That would be wise. Even if he’s retired, he was still the former Commander of the Knight Order."

"Then I’ll pass the message along."

Just when I thought the conversation was finally wrapping up, Lily brought up something unnecessary again.

"Catherine-sama, don’t you think leaving Robby-sama alone will just lead to him sneaking out again whenever he feels like it?"

"Yes! Exactly! That’s exactly what I’m worried about. But it’s hard to find someone who can keep an eye on him..."

Lily tilted her head.

"Up until the day before yesterday, Stevie was acting as his escort whenever he went out, but now he’s gone. Marin Brandow, the sword instructor we asked before, is currently swamped with administrative work in the Knight Order. It doesn’t seem like we can ask her to escort him."

"I can only accompany him as an escort once every three days. Doing it every day is impossible for me."

"Exactly. I can’t monitor— I mean, watch over Robby-sama during the day either. It would be great if someone could keep an eye on him... Is there anywhere suitable?"

""Hmmmm...""

The two of them were having a conversation right above my head. I was still on my hands and knees, only lifting my face to listen.

"I’ve got it!" Lily clapped her hands together. "There’s a perfect place!"

"Where?" Cass asked.

"We’ll have him work at the Knight Order’s Accounting Bureau where Marin Brandow works. What do you think?"

"Eh!? The Accounting Bureau? I’ve heard they’re extremely busy right now... But can Robby-sama actually be of help?"

Cass sounded like she thought it was impossible. I was pretty anxious myself.

"I think it’ll be fine. It’s just repetitive calculation work," Lily said casually.

"Even so, can Robby-sama handle it? It’s constant calculations, you know? I wonder if he can even do math properly... I’m worried he’ll damage his reputation and come back in shame," Cass said, openly showing how low her expectations were.

Lily looked at me.

"Robby-sama, what is 4 + 5?"

She suddenly threw out a ridiculously simple question.

"...9."

"See! He can do it!"

Lily rejoiced as if it was a huge achievement. This was the level at which I got praise.

"No no, don’t celebrate over something like that! Alright, Robby-sama. Here we go — what is 8 + 5?"

"...13."

"Amazinggggg!!"

Cass and Lily grabbed each other’s hands and cheered. Just what kind of idiot was I in their eyes? I knew they thought I was dumb, but did they really think I couldn’t even do basic addition?

"Cass-sama! He managed two-digit addition!"

"It’s true! Incredible! I feel like all my years of hardship have finally been rewarded!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The two of them were holding hands in celebration. I was stunned as they casually exposed just how much of an idiot they thought I was.

"Then, Robby-sama, what is 16 + 22?"

"38."

""Whoaaa!!""

"He answered instantly!"

"Amazing! So amazing!"

Cass looked like she was about to cry from joy. Seeing her this happy over something so trivial made me feel both pitiful toward her and genuinely sorry.

By the way, in my previous life I had attended abacus classes until around fifth grade. I went once a week and quit after reaching 3rd level in both abacus and mental calculation because other, more fun things came up and I stopped going to cram school. Even after entering society, I found that abacus and mental math skills came in handy in many ways. Along with riding a bike, swimming, and skiing, I believe these are skills that, once learned, you can pick up again even if they get a bit rusty — your body (or in this case, your head) remembers.

After that, they gave me several more calculation problems, all of which I answered without difficulty. Cass and Lily’s excitement reached its absolute peak. They practically dragged me to Mother’s place and made me demonstrate my calculations there too.

Mother was overjoyed and even shed tears. She gave her full approval to me helping out at the Accounting Bureau.

"Robby-sama, how about this — if you help at the Accounting Bureau for two days, we’ll give you one silver coin?"

"Eh?"

Lily suggested it casually, but... wasn’t this basically assigning me a part-time job? Was it really okay for a prince to have a part-time job? Well, having actual compensation would definitely motivate me more, so I was fine with it.

---

Once Cass and Lily finished their discussion, I was dragged off by Cass to the Knight Order’s Accounting Bureau. The moment Cass and I stepped inside, everyone who had been facing their desks looked up at once and stared in our direction. Being stared at by so many people felt pretty uncomfortable. Those blunt, unreserved gazes were unpleasant. However, some people seemed to recognize Cass and me, and the room quickly filled with murmurs.

The room was a large hall filled with rows of desks. Many people — mostly women — were sitting at them, writing something. Cass looked around, searching for someone, until her eyes suddenly lit up. She had found her target.

She took my hand and led me toward that person.

In the back of the room was a desk noticeably larger than the others. Sitting there was a thin woman around fifty years old with a heavily wrinkled face.

"Chief of the Accounting Bureau, may I have a moment of your time?" Cass asked.

The woman looked up with a slight "Hmm?" and said,

"Oh, if it isn’t Gilmore from the Maid Department. What brings you here? And who’s the boy behind you? Hmm... I feel like I’ve seen him before. Aren’t you Prince Robin?"

She even got my name right.

"Prince Robin?"

Murmurs spread through the room behind me. I couldn’t tell what kind of reaction this was. Was it positive, or were they saying "the idiot prince is here"? I couldn’t figure it out.

"So, what business do Gilmore and Prince Robin have with me?"

The Chief asked with a friendly smile. Cass replied,

"Yes, well... we heard the Accounting Bureau is quite busy, so we thought Robby-sama might be able to help a little. We’d like to give him some workplace experience."

Cass habitually called me "Robby-sama," but the Chief properly used "Robin-sama." She’d probably start calling me Robby-sama once she got used to it. Normally I was called Robin-sama in public, but she and Cass might be close.

The Chief raised one eyebrow.

"What? Workplace experience? Prince Robin? That seems a bit... difficult." She hesitated at the end. Still, Cass continued confidently,

"I understand what you’re trying to say. However, Robby-sama has changed greatly since waking from his long sleep. I believe he can become a useful asset here."

"Even if you say that..."

Perhaps realizing it would be hard to refuse outright, the Chief looked around the room and called out,

"Heyyy! Brandow!! Come over here for a second!"

Marin-sensei was summoned.

"Yes..."

A small, clearly reluctant voice came from the corner of the room. Marin-sensei slowly approached with a hesitant gait. When she saw me, she let out a deep, exhausted sigh.

"Brandow, sorry to ask this while you’re busy, but could you look after Prince Robin for a bit?"

Marin-sensei’s shoulders visibly slumped as she replied,

"...Understood. I’ll take care of him."

Her tone was heavy with depression. Sensing this, Cass said firmly,

"I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. If he turns out not to be helpful, please tell us honestly. We will stop the workplace experience immediately. We cannot burden you with him if he cannot be of use to everyone."

She bowed deeply and then left, leaving me behind.

The room buzzed with chatter. Cass’s line about "if he’s not useful, please say so" seemed to have made quite an impact.

However, Marin-sensei’s gloomy expression didn’t brighten at all.

"Prince Robin, please come this way."

She walked ahead of me. Since we were in public, she used "Prince Robin." I felt like I was wading through a swamp of women. All the female staff were staring at me. Their eyes were scary. Whispering, whispering, whispering...

I strained my ears (imagining them as big as Dumbo’s) to catch the conversations.

"Who’s Prince Robin?"

Ouch...

"It’s the prince! A prince!"

At least someone knew.

"Which one is he?"

"Hmm? Around the 10th? Maybe even further back? Basically one of the younger ones."

"Oh, so he’s just one of the extras."

Ouch... I felt like crying. Tears were welling up.

"But he’s actually pretty handsome, isn’t he?"

"Yeah, he’s way better than your boyfriend!"

"What are you saying? He’s much better than yours!"

Hmm... was that... somewhat positive?

"No way! Prince Robin is famous for being an idiot!"

"Eh!? Really? Marin, you poor thing!"

"I heard that too. He can’t do calculations at all."

"Yeah, I heard he can only count up to the number of fingers on his hands."

"For real!? Then why bring someone like that here?!"

"Ehhhhh!? Brandow-san got stuck with him?!"

The noise gradually grew louder. The comments were getting worse and worse. I thought badmouthing was supposed to be done in whispers, but they were speaking normally... or rather, it felt like they wanted me to hear...

"Hey, let’s go watch!"

"Yeah, just for a bit."

"Uh-huh! Teaching newbies is a senior’s job!"

I heard the sound of chairs being pushed back behind me. I bet a whole line of people was forming behind me right now...