Shouldn't the dude have plenty of savings? I doubt he had much time or opportunities to spend his money when he was probably working 24/7, catching hardly any sleep, by the looks of it. Or is this story suggesting that despite being smart enough to develop such magic that most haven't even heard of it before, he's still so stupid he worked for free as a butler? A butler was the boss of male servants, if not all servants, in a wealthy household. A butler in a noble household would be a respected position of authority and trust. Obviously he wasn't the main butler, but he was a butler nonetheless, since the story stated it clearly. As a butler, he would have had a good deal of education in order to handle the job, so he would know how the world works. The MC would be witless if he didn't expect to be paid. But maybe he is a witless, despite being genius enough to create his own magic, to be able to handle any task, no matter how unreasonable. A witless genius, one of Japan's favourites.