目录
我要打赏
粉丝排行
排行是：-
本作的第二回是由我代killkill君翻译的，译品大约与她的不太一贯，还望各位见谅。为方便读者对照、指摘起见，谨附上原文。还请大家一起来欣赏蕾米的威风和帕琪的温情吧。
2. 工作
蕾米莉亚独自待在窗台上，看向外面的月夜中，身旁放着一杯酒。已经过去的是宁静而愉快的一周。没出什么意外，还是平常一般的通信。 但是，蕾米莉亚明白生活喜欢冷不防就弄出点什么来。伴着这样的想法，以及绝妙的时机，一阵敲击在她的门上响起了。
“你在吗蕾米？”
蕾米莉亚看清了那个站在她门口的人，手中拿着那杯酒张开了她的双臂，兴奋地回答：“是帕啾~~~~”
带着一小堆信的帕秋丽把自己让进门：“你已经泡进酒里了，哼嗯？”
蕾米莉亚只是自顾自地重复：“帕啾~~~~”
帕秋丽把一些信递给蕾米莉亚。
蕾米莉亚一瞥那些，兴奋的表情立刻消失了：“他们公然抗租……”
帕秋丽回答：“他们不会那样做，不过也有，在有些情况下——这很有趣。”
“他们真的全都同时这么干？”
帕秋丽点点头：“我相信他们已经得出了你实际上值多少。”
蕾米莉亚叹了口气。大多数情况下，由于她的完美主义态度和保护主义特质（也由于，实际上，那也是她的工作）帕秋丽像狮子分配食物【译注：指分配事物时独占大多部分。源于西方众多寓言中，狮子与其余动物打猎，而以分配的名义霸占多数猎物。】那样包揽了红魔馆的资产和财政事务；但是在部分情形下，蕾米莉亚也得做点她份内的交涉和零碎政务。这经常是因为这类事务需要亲自走访和旅行，那都是帕秋丽的体质应付不来的。这次也属于此类情形。
“我认得这些人，他们可不是那种会带着参加聚会的仪态到馆里来谈的人。”
帕秋丽咧嘴笑起来：“他们很聪明——你这是在说。”
蕾米莉亚轻笑了一下，又叹了口气：“对，我就只好去吓——我的意思是，跟他们谈谈，在他们的地盘上。”
帕秋丽看了看名单：“那么，我会有段时间很想念你的。”
蕾米莉亚摇摇头：“这用不了几天。”
她向后仰过去：“帕琪，我们为什么要跟这些人打交道？”
帕秋丽实事求是地回答：“为了钱。”
蕾米莉亚再次叹了口气：“啊……是呀。”
两人坐在那，盯着那些纸有一阵工夫。
帕秋丽抬头看向蕾米莉亚：“我去告诉咲夜备好驿马车？”
“我应该能飞到每一个家伙那里去，一个一个地；不过……我看我应该摆些体面（并且不得不在白天活动也是个麻烦）。好，让她这么做吧。”
准备立即就完成了，咲夜备好了一辆巨大的马车——它看上去简直应该接在东方快车【译注：著名的欧洲长途列车。】而不是套在一起的几匹马后边。帕秋丽交给蕾米莉亚一份供她访问的人物和地点清单（附有过分冗长的具体介绍）。馆里的执掌和其余的枯燥事务就被交给了帕秋丽（随后立即被交给了可怜的小恶魔）。她们看着蕾米莉亚和咲夜以及妖精信差走出去，然后就这样，她们走掉了。而洋馆呢，尽管只有两名居民暂时离去，随即显得更空旷起来。代替了平日的午茶会议，如今她们只好委屈一下，用信件交流。
~少女书写中~
接下来的几天里，帕秋丽便收到了收入状况汇报。蕾米莉亚通过各种联系持续着她的吓——“外交”过程。通常她都劝服了交涉对象们——他们比实际上欠了她更多。小恶魔依然压力巨大，对付着那些——老实说，越来越没头没脑的家中事务；帕秋丽则还是干着她平时的活，一边通过提前给蕾米莉亚的信件努力让事情维持“在外交上”，一边顾及馆里稀罕的其余事务；而咲夜，头一次，享受到了假期。到了第八天，也就是时间表上的倒数第二天，帕秋丽总结了仅存的抗拒分子。
蕾米，
我已经完成了向天狗们进行的咨询。他们的报纸公司业已分割完毕，因而负责生产设备的子公司隐瞒了利润。他们看来对我们过去几乎所有在同UP公司【译注：据killkill君指教，UP公司似指美国最大的铁路公司太平洋联合公司（Pacific Union）。】打交道时学到的把戏都很满意，并已对我馆付了利息。
最后一批租户已回应了我们的要求，只除了一小撮。我已将其联系方式抄下并附上。
~帕琪
蕾米莉亚看着附上的那摞纸。大多是些够得上称为稀奇古怪的家伙，隐瞒着该缴的钱（当你跟恶魔做交易，你想怎么样呢？）。看完了这些后她决定自己大概应该对这其中的几个更加“侵略性”一些。而蕾米莉亚对这些联系方式的具体细微深感大惊小怪，这意味着这一天剩下的时光就耗在这里头了。直到白天的末尾，她才终于有了点时间给帕秋丽简短地回复一下。
帕琪，
我要去亲自拜见这“一小撮”了。此番的余波大约能震慑其余家伙。那么，明天我就又要出去了。
~蕾米
她漫不经心地下意识在末尾加上了
又及：我真想你。
在她的意识使自己明白写了什么之前，她已经折好了信并且封上寄回给帕秋丽了。她朝背后伸出胳膊，把信交给咲夜，由她来负责剩下的事，自己上了床。又是一场无谓的会议，只剩下这么一场无谓的会议了。咲夜勤勤恳恳整白天地驾着马车，路上除了遇上一伙觉得自己能找咲夜麻烦的悲催强盗（说实话，她们从这帮强盗那偷来的钱，也许比从那些抗拒分子那里收来的租还多），傍晚时她们顺利到达了终点站：一座很大的种植庄园。
由于已经预约，其余几辆从邻近富裕的大农舍之类地方来的马车将她们让进了庄园。这庄园里早就到处哄哄吵着这些较低级贵族们的陈腐破事了。从这嘈杂中让自己恢复精神后，咲夜进到蕾米莉亚的车厢（大概占了整个庄园的四分之一大）里以唤醒她的女主人，并让她打扮起来。她们行事很安静，连一句提醒或疑问都没有。两人都明白这场交易的最终规则，在过去的几天里，也都经历过这样的程序好几次了。蕾米莉亚在门旁等待，直到咲夜捎上交易所需要的最后几件用具，将它们装进一个肩背皮包，然后为自己打开门。两人走向这小康之家的一间小厅，而这家的人已经聚集在庄园的后院了。
就像之前的每一天一样，她们立刻就被很大一群寻求地位的贵族们冒冒失失地搭起讪来。咲夜很漂亮地把这些潜藏着追逐财富之心的求婚者们吓了回去，用她那极其凶恶的瞪视（虽然并没人指示她这样做）。蕾米莉亚则委屈自己
花上了几个小时去应酬些陈腐，然而重要的交际——同其中一些从附近来的贵族，由于她实在已经离他们太近了（而其余的则被她尽力忽略掉了）。办完这些后，她转起视线，瞥向那些她这次确实要找的人们。而她一言不发，这样的静默让周围也都沉寂了下来，任由蕾米莉亚、咲夜同那剩余一撮富有的抗租分子一同前往已经由庄里仆从们打理好的庄园大堂。
蕾米莉亚径自坐上首席并看了看那张拼凑起来的桌子。所有这些家伙在她的账本上都是些找乱七八糟借口的骗子，虽然他们该付的账早就订在合同上了。在她坐下后，其余家伙们便都聚在一起了。没人吭声。多数人也许，说实在的，并不觉得蕾米莉亚真会来，而现在都为此感到悔恨了。她端起自己的茶，长长地抿了几口，同时越过桌子俯视那个正对面的男人。把这房间弄得更加紧张就够了，在这尴尬的静默之中。交涉需要的是手腕，即便只用无言之言——这种需要极高精密度的技巧，蕾米莉亚为将其掌握到极致而花了几个世纪的时光。
但最后，这静默却被一阵敲门声打断了。
蕾米莉亚并未动摇，她没有从那个男的身上挪开视线，也没放下茶杯。仍然盯住那个正对面的男人，她问道：“咲夜，能否请你看看是谁？”
站在她身后门边的女仆转身瞅向【译注：原文peaked，疑为peeked之误】那扇门。咲夜看见的是（她十分惊讶）带着一个装有法律文件的公事包的帕秋丽。幸运的是，咲夜选择使用的是一群三四十岁的豪农所能听见的最具威胁性的词汇——
“是您的律师。”
蕾米莉亚让自己咧出了一个与恶魔相称的笑容：“让她进来。”
帕秋丽愉快地让自己进来，取出公事包里的内容。如果有什么比恶魔更可怕，那就是恶魔的律师了。
~少女诉讼中~
不多一会之后，那群拼凑起来的家伙们终于离开了，多数都行过了触帽礼，但所有人都是带着一种崇敬的静默离开的——那种你可以在葬礼守灵夜上见到的静默。蕾米莉亚、帕秋丽以及咲夜耐心地等待，直到屋里只剩下她们。
那些家伙刚一走完，蕾米莉亚立即转向帕秋丽，抓着她的手：“我觉得你告诉过我，你太虚弱不能来。”
这时，由于对手们的离去，帕秋丽的样子已经显然垮了下来，满脸虚弱，而她接上气，回答：“我是。”
蕾米莉亚加强了她的视线：“所以为什么？这只是件小破事，我自己能对付的。”
帕秋丽探进她的文件夹，翻出一封信，并交给蕾米莉亚。
蕾米莉亚放开帕秋丽的手，接过信，快速浏览着：“……这只是那封我寄给你——”她停在半句话上，注意到了自己干了什么，“我……真的那么写了？”
蕾米莉亚感到咲夜正从她的肩后偷看，于是在她能看到之前赶快合上了那封信。
她又盯了一阵那封合上的信：“你出门到这来，就为了那一行字？”
帕秋丽没有回答，当蕾米莉亚看过去时，发觉她已经体力耗尽而睡着了。
她安静地微笑出来，轻轻拍了拍她的头：“啊，你的直觉是对的。”
附原文：
2. Work
Remilia was alone on a windowsill looking out into the moonlight night with a glass of wine beside here. It had been a silent and pleasurable week. No major surprises, and the usual casual correspondence. However, Remilia knew that life liked to give things in spurts and fits. With that thought, and great timing, there was a knock at her door.
"Are you in Remi?"
Remilia looked over at who stood in her doorway, opened her arms with wine glass in hand, and replied cheerfully, "It's Patchuuuu~"
Patchouli let herself in with a small collection of letters, "You're already into the wine, huh?"
Remilia repeated herself, "Patchuuuu~"
Patchouli passed over a few of the letters to Remilia.
Remilia cheerful expression immediately vanished as she glanced through them, "They're outright refusing to pay rents..."
Patchouli replied, "They wouldn't put it that way, but yes, and in some cases, interest."
"Did these really come through all at the same time?"
Patchouli nodded, "I believe they found out how much you're really worth."
Remilia sighed. For the most part, due to her perfectionist attitude and protectionist nature (and because, technically, it was also her job) Patchouli did the lion's share of handling the Mansion's assets and finances; but occasionally, Remilia had to do her share of negotiating and petty politics. Usually because it demanded first-person visits and travel that Patchouli's constitution could not handle. This was one of those occasions.
"I know these people, they aren't the kind to come to the mansion to talk under the guise of a party."
Patchouli grinned, "They're smart is what you're saying."
Remilia chuckled and then sighed, "Yeah, I'll have to go intimida-I mean, talk to them on their grounds."
Patchouli looked at the list, "I'll be missing you for a while then."
Remilia shook her head, "It shouldn't take more than a few days."
She leaned back, "Patch, why do we do business with these people?"
Patchouli replied matter-of-factly, "For the money."
Remilia sighed again, "Ah...right."
The two sat and stared at the papers for some time.
Patchouli looked up at Remilia, "Shall I tell Sakuya to ready the stagecoach?"
"I should be able to fly out to each one, one-by-one; but...I suppose I should show some tact (and having to move about in the daytime would be a bother). Yes, tell her so."
The preparations were made at once, and Sakuya readied a gigantic coach that looked more like it should be attached to the Orient Express than to the giant multi-horse hitch. Patchouli gave Remilia a list of the people and places to visit (with long, overdone detailed profiles). The command and more menial affairs of the mansion were passed Patchouli (and subsequently immediately passed to poor Koakuma). They saw Remilia and Sakuya and the messenger fairy off, and just like that, they were gone. The mansion, although it had temporarily lost only two inhabitants, felt immediately more empty. Now instead of their daily tea-time briefings, they would be relegated to communicate by letters.
~One moment, girls are now writing~
Over the next few days, Patchouli received the incoming status reports. Remilia maintained her progress of intimid-"diplomacy" through all the contacts. Usually convincing her subjects that they owed more than they actually did. Koakuma remained stressed dealing with the frankly idiotic tendencies of the house staff, Patchouli tended to her usual business both with trying to handle things "diplomatically" via letter for Remilia ahead of time and the mansion's rare other businesses; and Sakuya, for once, enjoyed having a vacation. By the eighth day, the penultimate according to schedule, Patchouli summarized the only remaining hold-outs.
Remi,
I have finished consulting services with the Tengus. Their newspaper companies have been split up appropriately so that the equipment manufacturer child company hides the profits. They seemed fairly pleased with nearly all of the tricks we learned back at the UP, and have paid interests to the mansion.
The final batch of renters have responded to our orders except a chosen few. I have copied and attached their correspondences.
~Patch
Remilia looked at the stack of papers attached. Most were claims of outlandish, hidden charges (what do you expect when you do business with a devil?). After looking through them she decided she would probably have to be more "aggressive" with more than a few of them, and began writing letters to meet with the more belligerant ones. Remilia's fussiness over the details of the correspondence with each and every owner meant that this took the majority of the rest of the day. By day's end she finally had time to give a short reply to Patchouli.
Patch,
I am going to meet with the "chosen few" in person. The fallout from this will probably straighten out the others. That said, I will be gone again tomorrow.
~Remi
She mindlessly and subconsciously added to the end
P.S. I really miss you.
Before her conscious mind could recognize what she had written, she was already folding up and sealing the envelope to send back to Patchouli. She craned her arm back, handing it to Sakuya to take care of the rest and went to bed. One more mindless meeting, there was only one more mindless meeting left. Sakuya diligently drove the coach through the daytime, and apart from one group of sorry bandits that thought they could mess with Sakuya (honestly, they were probably making as much money stealing money from bandits as they were from collecting rents from hold-outs), by sunset they had reached the final destination: a large plantation manor.
As had been arranged, other coaches from a few neighboring large well-to-do farmsteads made their into the manor. The manor had begun buzzing with the trite affairs of the lower levels of aristocracy. After refreshing herself, Sakuya made her way into Remilia's coach (which was probably a quarter the size of the manor) to rouse the mistress and get her dressed. Their routine was silent, not a word was said in briefing or in questions. Both knew what was the final order of business, and both had been through this same routine several times over the past few days. Remilia waited at the door as Sakuya grabbed the last few items of business, putting them into a satchel, and opened the door for Remilia. The two made their way to a small court of well-to-do's that had congregated in the manor's backyard.
Like every other day before, they were immediately accosted by a very large group of status-seeking aristocrats. Sakuya did an excellent job of scaring away potential greedy money-chasing suitors with particularly fierce gazes (although, no one instructed her to do so). And Remilia spent a few hours relegating herself to some of the trite, yet important, relation-building with some of the aristocracy that had come from nearby since she was already so close (and doing her best to ignore the rest). When she was done, she glanced around to the people she actually wanted to see. And without a word spoken, a silence had hushed over the crowd as Remilia, Sakuya, and the last few remaining wealthy hold-outs made their way into the manor's dining hall which had already been set by the manor's servants.
Remilia made her way to the table's head and looked at the assembled table. All were charlatans in her book, with such haphazard reasons even though their payments were secured by contract. After she sat down, so did the rest of those gathered. None spoke. Most probably did not honestly expect Remilia to actually come and were now sorry that she did. She picked up her tea and took a few, long sips while staring down the man directly across the table from her. It was enough to make the room even more anxious in the midst of the awkward silence. Diplomacy required finesse even with words that were not spoken, a skill that required incredible precision and took even Remilia many centuries to perfect.
And was consequently interrupted by a knock at the door.
Remilia did not move or falter, she did not adjust her gaze to the man nor drop her cup. Continuing to stare at the man seated directly across from her, she asked, "Sakuya, could you see who it is?"
The maid standing behind her at the door turned and peaked through the door. Sakuya could see (to her surprise) Patchouli with a briefcase of imposing legal documents. Fortunately, Sakuya chose the most menacing words a group of 30-40 something year-old aristocratic farmers could hear.
"It's your lawyer."
Remilia let out a grin that befitted a devil, "Let her in."
Patchouli let herself in with grace, and wearing something much more formal than her usual clothing (for once), "I apologize for being late."
She made herself to Remilia's side, taking out the contents of the briefcase. If there was one thing scarier than the devil, it was her lawyer.
~One moment, girls are now suing~
After not too much time later the assembled group had finally left, most with a few polite tips of the hat, but all left in the kind of reverred silence you'd expect to see at a funeral wake. Remilia, Patchouli, and Sakuya waited patiently until they were alone in the room.
Once they had left, Remilia immediately turned to Patchouli, grasping her hand, "I thought you told me you were too weak to come."
By now, since the antagonists' departures, Patchouli's posture had visibly slouched, her face weakened, and her breath picked up, "I am."
Remilia intensified her gaze, "Then why? This is a trivial matter I could have handled myself."
Patchouli reached into a fold in her briefcase, producing a letter, and handed it to Remilia.
Remilia let go of Patchouli's hand and took the letter, looking it over quickly, "...This is just the letter I sent yo-" she stopped mid-sentence, noticing what she had done, "I...really wrote that?"
Remilia felt Sakuya trying to peep over her shoulder, and quickly closed the letter before she could see it.
She remained staring for a while at the closed letter, "You came out here because of that one line?"
Patchouli did not respond, and when Remilia looked over she found her already asleep from exhaustion.
She smiled quietly reached out patted her on the head, "Well, your instincts were right."
本作的第二回是由我代killkill君翻译的，译品大约与她的不太一贯，还望各位见谅。为方便读者对照、指摘起见，谨附上原文。还请大家一起来欣赏蕾米的威风和帕琪的温情吧。
2. 工作
蕾米莉亚独自待在窗台上，看向外面的月夜中，身旁放着一杯酒。已经过去的是宁静而愉快的一周。没出什么意外，还是平常一般的通信。 但是，蕾米莉亚明白生活喜欢冷不防就弄出点什么来。伴着这样的想法，以及绝妙的时机，一阵敲击在她的门上响起了。
“你在吗蕾米？”
蕾米莉亚看清了那个站在她门口的人，手中拿着那杯酒张开了她的双臂，兴奋地回答：“是帕啾~~~~”
带着一小堆信的帕秋丽把自己让进门：“你已经泡进酒里了，哼嗯？”
蕾米莉亚只是自顾自地重复：“帕啾~~~~”
帕秋丽把一些信递给蕾米莉亚。
蕾米莉亚一瞥那些，兴奋的表情立刻消失了：“他们公然抗租……”
帕秋丽回答：“他们不会那样做，不过也有，在有些情况下——这很有趣。”
“他们真的全都同时这么干？”
帕秋丽点点头：“我相信他们已经得出了你实际上值多少。”
蕾米莉亚叹了口气。大多数情况下，由于她的完美主义态度和保护主义特质（也由于，实际上，那也是她的工作）帕秋丽像狮子分配食物【译注：指分配事物时独占大多部分。源于西方众多寓言中，狮子与其余动物打猎，而以分配的名义霸占多数猎物。】那样包揽了红魔馆的资产和财政事务；但是在部分情形下，蕾米莉亚也得做点她份内的交涉和零碎政务。这经常是因为这类事务需要亲自走访和旅行，那都是帕秋丽的体质应付不来的。这次也属于此类情形。
“我认得这些人，他们可不是那种会带着参加聚会的仪态到馆里来谈的人。”
帕秋丽咧嘴笑起来：“他们很聪明——你这是在说。”
蕾米莉亚轻笑了一下，又叹了口气：“对，我就只好去吓——我的意思是，跟他们谈谈，在他们的地盘上。”
帕秋丽看了看名单：“那么，我会有段时间很想念你的。”
蕾米莉亚摇摇头：“这用不了几天。”
她向后仰过去：“帕琪，我们为什么要跟这些人打交道？”
帕秋丽实事求是地回答：“为了钱。”
蕾米莉亚再次叹了口气：“啊……是呀。”
两人坐在那，盯着那些纸有一阵工夫。
帕秋丽抬头看向蕾米莉亚：“我去告诉咲夜备好驿马车？”
“我应该能飞到每一个家伙那里去，一个一个地；不过……我看我应该摆些体面（并且不得不在白天活动也是个麻烦）。好，让她这么做吧。”
准备立即就完成了，咲夜备好了一辆巨大的马车——它看上去简直应该接在东方快车【译注：著名的欧洲长途列车。】而不是套在一起的几匹马后边。帕秋丽交给蕾米莉亚一份供她访问的人物和地点清单（附有过分冗长的具体介绍）。馆里的执掌和其余的枯燥事务就被交给了帕秋丽（随后立即被交给了可怜的小恶魔）。她们看着蕾米莉亚和咲夜以及妖精信差走出去，然后就这样，她们走掉了。而洋馆呢，尽管只有两名居民暂时离去，随即显得更空旷起来。代替了平日的午茶会议，如今她们只好委屈一下，用信件交流。
~少女书写中~
接下来的几天里，帕秋丽便收到了收入状况汇报。蕾米莉亚通过各种联系持续着她的吓——“外交”过程。通常她都劝服了交涉对象们——他们比实际上欠了她更多。小恶魔依然压力巨大，对付着那些——老实说，越来越没头没脑的家中事务；帕秋丽则还是干着她平时的活，一边通过提前给蕾米莉亚的信件努力让事情维持“在外交上”，一边顾及馆里稀罕的其余事务；而咲夜，头一次，享受到了假期。到了第八天，也就是时间表上的倒数第二天，帕秋丽总结了仅存的抗拒分子。
蕾米，
我已经完成了向天狗们进行的咨询。他们的报纸公司业已分割完毕，因而负责生产设备的子公司隐瞒了利润。他们看来对我们过去几乎所有在同UP公司【译注：据killkill君指教，UP公司似指美国最大的铁路公司太平洋联合公司（Pacific Union）。】打交道时学到的把戏都很满意，并已对我馆付了利息。
最后一批租户已回应了我们的要求，只除了一小撮。我已将其联系方式抄下并附上。
~帕琪
蕾米莉亚看着附上的那摞纸。大多是些够得上称为稀奇古怪的家伙，隐瞒着该缴的钱（当你跟恶魔做交易，你想怎么样呢？）。看完了这些后她决定自己大概应该对这其中的几个更加“侵略性”一些。而蕾米莉亚对这些联系方式的具体细微深感大惊小怪，这意味着这一天剩下的时光就耗在这里头了。直到白天的末尾，她才终于有了点时间给帕秋丽简短地回复一下。
帕琪，
我要去亲自拜见这“一小撮”了。此番的余波大约能震慑其余家伙。那么，明天我就又要出去了。
~蕾米
她漫不经心地下意识在末尾加上了
又及：我真想你。
在她的意识使自己明白写了什么之前，她已经折好了信并且封上寄回给帕秋丽了。她朝背后伸出胳膊，把信交给咲夜，由她来负责剩下的事，自己上了床。又是一场无谓的会议，只剩下这么一场无谓的会议了。咲夜勤勤恳恳整白天地驾着马车，路上除了遇上一伙觉得自己能找咲夜麻烦的悲催强盗（说实话，她们从这帮强盗那偷来的钱，也许比从那些抗拒分子那里收来的租还多），傍晚时她们顺利到达了终点站：一座很大的种植庄园。
由于已经预约，其余几辆从邻近富裕的大农舍之类地方来的马车将她们让进了庄园。这庄园里早就到处哄哄吵着这些较低级贵族们的陈腐破事了。从这嘈杂中让自己恢复精神后，咲夜进到蕾米莉亚的车厢（大概占了整个庄园的四分之一大）里以唤醒她的女主人，并让她打扮起来。她们行事很安静，连一句提醒或疑问都没有。两人都明白这场交易的最终规则，在过去的几天里，也都经历过这样的程序好几次了。蕾米莉亚在门旁等待，直到咲夜捎上交易所需要的最后几件用具，将它们装进一个肩背皮包，然后为自己打开门。两人走向这小康之家的一间小厅，而这家的人已经聚集在庄园的后院了。
就像之前的每一天一样，她们立刻就被很大一群寻求地位的贵族们冒冒失失地搭起讪来。咲夜很漂亮地把这些潜藏着追逐财富之心的求婚者们吓了回去，用她那极其凶恶的瞪视（虽然并没人指示她这样做）。蕾米莉亚则委屈自己
花上了几个小时去应酬些陈腐，然而重要的交际——同其中一些从附近来的贵族，由于她实在已经离他们太近了（而其余的则被她尽力忽略掉了）。办完这些后，她转起视线，瞥向那些她这次确实要找的人们。而她一言不发，这样的静默让周围也都沉寂了下来，任由蕾米莉亚、咲夜同那剩余一撮富有的抗租分子一同前往已经由庄里仆从们打理好的庄园大堂。
蕾米莉亚径自坐上首席并看了看那张拼凑起来的桌子。所有这些家伙在她的账本上都是些找乱七八糟借口的骗子，虽然他们该付的账早就订在合同上了。在她坐下后，其余家伙们便都聚在一起了。没人吭声。多数人也许，说实在的，并不觉得蕾米莉亚真会来，而现在都为此感到悔恨了。她端起自己的茶，长长地抿了几口，同时越过桌子俯视那个正对面的男人。把这房间弄得更加紧张就够了，在这尴尬的静默之中。交涉需要的是手腕，即便只用无言之言——这种需要极高精密度的技巧，蕾米莉亚为将其掌握到极致而花了几个世纪的时光。
但最后，这静默却被一阵敲门声打断了。
蕾米莉亚并未动摇，她没有从那个男的身上挪开视线，也没放下茶杯。仍然盯住那个正对面的男人，她问道：“咲夜，能否请你看看是谁？”
站在她身后门边的女仆转身瞅向【译注：原文peaked，疑为peeked之误】那扇门。咲夜看见的是（她十分惊讶）带着一个装有法律文件的公事包的帕秋丽。幸运的是，咲夜选择使用的是一群三四十岁的豪农所能听见的最具威胁性的词汇——
“是您的律师。”
蕾米莉亚让自己咧出了一个与恶魔相称的笑容：“让她进来。”
帕秋丽愉快地让自己进来，取出公事包里的内容。如果有什么比恶魔更可怕，那就是恶魔的律师了。
~少女诉讼中~
不多一会之后，那群拼凑起来的家伙们终于离开了，多数都行过了触帽礼，但所有人都是带着一种崇敬的静默离开的——那种你可以在葬礼守灵夜上见到的静默。蕾米莉亚、帕秋丽以及咲夜耐心地等待，直到屋里只剩下她们。
那些家伙刚一走完，蕾米莉亚立即转向帕秋丽，抓着她的手：“我觉得你告诉过我，你太虚弱不能来。”
这时，由于对手们的离去，帕秋丽的样子已经显然垮了下来，满脸虚弱，而她接上气，回答：“我是。”
蕾米莉亚加强了她的视线：“所以为什么？这只是件小破事，我自己能对付的。”
帕秋丽探进她的文件夹，翻出一封信，并交给蕾米莉亚。
蕾米莉亚放开帕秋丽的手，接过信，快速浏览着：“……这只是那封我寄给你——”她停在半句话上，注意到了自己干了什么，“我……真的那么写了？”
蕾米莉亚感到咲夜正从她的肩后偷看，于是在她能看到之前赶快合上了那封信。
她又盯了一阵那封合上的信：“你出门到这来，就为了那一行字？”
帕秋丽没有回答，当蕾米莉亚看过去时，发觉她已经体力耗尽而睡着了。
她安静地微笑出来，轻轻拍了拍她的头：“啊，你的直觉是对的。”
附原文：
2. Work
Remilia was alone on a windowsill looking out into the moonlight night with a glass of wine beside here. It had been a silent and pleasurable week. No major surprises, and the usual casual correspondence. However, Remilia knew that life liked to give things in spurts and fits. With that thought, and great timing, there was a knock at her door.
"Are you in Remi?"
Remilia looked over at who stood in her doorway, opened her arms with wine glass in hand, and replied cheerfully, "It's Patchuuuu~"
Patchouli let herself in with a small collection of letters, "You're already into the wine, huh?"
Remilia repeated herself, "Patchuuuu~"
Patchouli passed over a few of the letters to Remilia.
Remilia cheerful expression immediately vanished as she glanced through them, "They're outright refusing to pay rents..."
Patchouli replied, "They wouldn't put it that way, but yes, and in some cases, interest."
"Did these really come through all at the same time?"
Patchouli nodded, "I believe they found out how much you're really worth."
Remilia sighed. For the most part, due to her perfectionist attitude and protectionist nature (and because, technically, it was also her job) Patchouli did the lion's share of handling the Mansion's assets and finances; but occasionally, Remilia had to do her share of negotiating and petty politics. Usually because it demanded first-person visits and travel that Patchouli's constitution could not handle. This was one of those occasions.
"I know these people, they aren't the kind to come to the mansion to talk under the guise of a party."
Patchouli grinned, "They're smart is what you're saying."
Remilia chuckled and then sighed, "Yeah, I'll have to go intimida-I mean, talk to them on their grounds."
Patchouli looked at the list, "I'll be missing you for a while then."
Remilia shook her head, "It shouldn't take more than a few days."
She leaned back, "Patch, why do we do business with these people?"
Patchouli replied matter-of-factly, "For the money."
Remilia sighed again, "Ah...right."
The two sat and stared at the papers for some time.
Patchouli looked up at Remilia, "Shall I tell Sakuya to ready the stagecoach?"
"I should be able to fly out to each one, one-by-one; but...I suppose I should show some tact (and having to move about in the daytime would be a bother). Yes, tell her so."
The preparations were made at once, and Sakuya readied a gigantic coach that looked more like it should be attached to the Orient Express than to the giant multi-horse hitch. Patchouli gave Remilia a list of the people and places to visit (with long, overdone detailed profiles). The command and more menial affairs of the mansion were passed Patchouli (and subsequently immediately passed to poor Koakuma). They saw Remilia and Sakuya and the messenger fairy off, and just like that, they were gone. The mansion, although it had temporarily lost only two inhabitants, felt immediately more empty. Now instead of their daily tea-time briefings, they would be relegated to communicate by letters.
~One moment, girls are now writing~
Over the next few days, Patchouli received the incoming status reports. Remilia maintained her progress of intimid-"diplomacy" through all the contacts. Usually convincing her subjects that they owed more than they actually did. Koakuma remained stressed dealing with the frankly idiotic tendencies of the house staff, Patchouli tended to her usual business both with trying to handle things "diplomatically" via letter for Remilia ahead of time and the mansion's rare other businesses; and Sakuya, for once, enjoyed having a vacation. By the eighth day, the penultimate according to schedule, Patchouli summarized the only remaining hold-outs.
Remi,
I have finished consulting services with the Tengus. Their newspaper companies have been split up appropriately so that the equipment manufacturer child company hides the profits. They seemed fairly pleased with nearly all of the tricks we learned back at the UP, and have paid interests to the mansion.
The final batch of renters have responded to our orders except a chosen few. I have copied and attached their correspondences.
~Patch
Remilia looked at the stack of papers attached. Most were claims of outlandish, hidden charges (what do you expect when you do business with a devil?). After looking through them she decided she would probably have to be more "aggressive" with more than a few of them, and began writing letters to meet with the more belligerant ones. Remilia's fussiness over the details of the correspondence with each and every owner meant that this took the majority of the rest of the day. By day's end she finally had time to give a short reply to Patchouli.
Patch,
I am going to meet with the "chosen few" in person. The fallout from this will probably straighten out the others. That said, I will be gone again tomorrow.
~Remi
She mindlessly and subconsciously added to the end
P.S. I really miss you.
Before her conscious mind could recognize what she had written, she was already folding up and sealing the envelope to send back to Patchouli. She craned her arm back, handing it to Sakuya to take care of the rest and went to bed. One more mindless meeting, there was only one more mindless meeting left. Sakuya diligently drove the coach through the daytime, and apart from one group of sorry bandits that thought they could mess with Sakuya (honestly, they were probably making as much money stealing money from bandits as they were from collecting rents from hold-outs), by sunset they had reached the final destination: a large plantation manor.
As had been arranged, other coaches from a few neighboring large well-to-do farmsteads made their into the manor. The manor had begun buzzing with the trite affairs of the lower levels of aristocracy. After refreshing herself, Sakuya made her way into Remilia's coach (which was probably a quarter the size of the manor) to rouse the mistress and get her dressed. Their routine was silent, not a word was said in briefing or in questions. Both knew what was the final order of business, and both had been through this same routine several times over the past few days. Remilia waited at the door as Sakuya grabbed the last few items of business, putting them into a satchel, and opened the door for Remilia. The two made their way to a small court of well-to-do's that had congregated in the manor's backyard.
Like every other day before, they were immediately accosted by a very large group of status-seeking aristocrats. Sakuya did an excellent job of scaring away potential greedy money-chasing suitors with particularly fierce gazes (although, no one instructed her to do so). And Remilia spent a few hours relegating herself to some of the trite, yet important, relation-building with some of the aristocracy that had come from nearby since she was already so close (and doing her best to ignore the rest). When she was done, she glanced around to the people she actually wanted to see. And without a word spoken, a silence had hushed over the crowd as Remilia, Sakuya, and the last few remaining wealthy hold-outs made their way into the manor's dining hall which had already been set by the manor's servants.
Remilia made her way to the table's head and looked at the assembled table. All were charlatans in her book, with such haphazard reasons even though their payments were secured by contract. After she sat down, so did the rest of those gathered. None spoke. Most probably did not honestly expect Remilia to actually come and were now sorry that she did. She picked up her tea and took a few, long sips while staring down the man directly across the table from her. It was enough to make the room even more anxious in the midst of the awkward silence. Diplomacy required finesse even with words that were not spoken, a skill that required incredible precision and took even Remilia many centuries to perfect.
And was consequently interrupted by a knock at the door.
Remilia did not move or falter, she did not adjust her gaze to the man nor drop her cup. Continuing to stare at the man seated directly across from her, she asked, "Sakuya, could you see who it is?"
The maid standing behind her at the door turned and peaked through the door. Sakuya could see (to her surprise) Patchouli with a briefcase of imposing legal documents. Fortunately, Sakuya chose the most menacing words a group of 30-40 something year-old aristocratic farmers could hear.
"It's your lawyer."
Remilia let out a grin that befitted a devil, "Let her in."
Patchouli let herself in with grace, and wearing something much more formal than her usual clothing (for once), "I apologize for being late."
She made herself to Remilia's side, taking out the contents of the briefcase. If there was one thing scarier than the devil, it was her lawyer.
~One moment, girls are now suing~
After not too much time later the assembled group had finally left, most with a few polite tips of the hat, but all left in the kind of reverred silence you'd expect to see at a funeral wake. Remilia, Patchouli, and Sakuya waited patiently until they were alone in the room.
Once they had left, Remilia immediately turned to Patchouli, grasping her hand, "I thought you told me you were too weak to come."
By now, since the antagonists' departures, Patchouli's posture had visibly slouched, her face weakened, and her breath picked up, "I am."
Remilia intensified her gaze, "Then why? This is a trivial matter I could have handled myself."
Patchouli reached into a fold in her briefcase, producing a letter, and handed it to Remilia.
Remilia let go of Patchouli's hand and took the letter, looking it over quickly, "...This is just the letter I sent yo-" she stopped mid-sentence, noticing what she had done, "I...really wrote that?"
Remilia felt Sakuya trying to peep over her shoulder, and quickly closed the letter before she could see it.
She remained staring for a while at the closed letter, "You came out here because of that one line?"
Patchouli did not respond, and when Remilia looked over she found her already asleep from exhaustion.
She smiled quietly reached out patted her on the head, "Well, your instincts were right."