by Hiro Ainana
“Yeah, we got a big flood of applicants, so I decided to hire them all.” Arisa shrugged, then raised her eyebrows. “Boy, Tama and Pochi, you really went all out. Weren’t these kids supposed to weed that area?”
“Hee-hee…”
“We worked hard, sir.”
I couldn’t blame Arisa for being surprised.
The pair of them had already cut the weeds on more than half of the expansive grounds.
However, there was still the thick growth covering the front yard, as well as some smaller places that needed to be taken care of, so it wasn’t as if there was no work left at all.
“Little kids, you’ll take these gloves and baskets and gather up the weeds in the places that have already been cut! Big kids, take gloves and sickles and cut the weeds around the mansion!”
“Heh-heh, gloves…”
“Wow, these are nice!”
The children collected their gloves from Lulu, putting them on and showing them to one another excitedly.
“But, Miss Arisa, if we wear these gloves while we’re picking up weeds, the gloves will get dirty.”
The eldest girl seemed to be nervous about the prospect of dirtying the gloves.
“It’s all right. If you’re pulling weeds without gloves, you could hurt your hands.”
“B-but…”
“If you hurt your hands, you won’t be able to work as well tomorrow, right?”
“R-right… Okay.”
Arisa’s explanation seemed to reassure her somewhat, but she still looked worried about whether it was really okay to get the gloves dirty.
“All right, let’s get to work! If you finish by sundown, master will make some delicious food for all of you!”
“““Food!”””
“Let’s do this!”
“““Yeah!”””
Cheering at Arisa’s motivational speech, the kids got right to work.
Once she was satisfied that the children were working, Arisa took a deep breath and walked over to me.
“Oh? If it isn’t Lelillil,” she said, noticing the house fairy resting behind me. “If this little lady’s here, does that mean the house is already clean, by any chance?”
“Miss Arisa, I believe I asked you at the tea party to stop calling me ‘little lady’!”
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
Brushing off Lelillil’s protests, Arisa walked inside.
“Wow, great job, Lelillil! Brownies sure are amazing. We really owe you one!”
With a twirl, Arisa gave Lelillil a big thumbs-up.
Lelillil puffed out her chest; she seemed to be the type of person who let compliments go to her head.
Oh right.
I’d better tell Arisa and Lulu about the kids we took in while they were gone.
“Lulu! Could you come into the mansion, please?”
I called to Lulu, who was taking care of the horses outside.
“Right away, master.” Lulu came hurrying in. “Goodness, the floors are sparkling clean!”
As Lulu expressed her surprise, Lelillil puffed out her chest proudly again.
“Oh? Hello there, Miss Lilellel.”
“Excuse me, you little tart! I told you my name is Lelillil!”
“Oh dear. But I believe I also told you that my name is Lulu, not ‘little tart.’ Have you forgotten already?”
These two didn’t seem to get along very well.
Lelillil was like this with nearly everyone but Mia, but it was unusual to see the mild-mannered Lulu pick a fight with anyone.
According to Arisa, the reason for Lulu’s hostility was Lelillil’s rudeness toward me.
I was a little worried, but Arisa had optimistically reassured me that they’d “probably get along soon enough.”
Since Lelillil couldn’t leave the Ivy Manor unattended for too long, I gave her some sweet honey pastries as a gift and sent her back with Teleportation Magic.
I decided to invite her to dinner later that night and treat her to a home-cooked meal as thanks for her help.
While the children were cleaning up the rest of the weeds, I took Lulu and Liza with me to Viscount Siemmen’s residence, where I gave a letter to the maid to pass on the information that we had changed addresses.
I brought the two of them along so that they could learn the way to and from the house.
I wanted to go around the neighborhood and greet the locals, too, but since our new mansion was famous for being under Zen’s curse, I decided to wait until we had spent the night there safely.
Upon my return, I went around and bought some small goods and supplies we needed for the new house.
Along the way, I went to a merchant the commerce guild had introduced me to, and I hired him to deliver letters to Zena in Seiryuu City, Miss Karina in the Muno Barony, and some other friends in the old capital and other places.
“Lulu, can you stop in front of that temple?”
There was an assortment of temples near the rotary that connected the north-south main road with the street to the nobles’ quarters, so I decided to visit and make some donations.
Lulu and Liza stayed with the carriage in a parking area behind one of the temples.
“These are pretty nicely decorated.”
Stepping into one of the temples, I was surprised to see that the building was just as ornate as the ones in the noble quarters of the old capital.
They probably had some pretty wealthy patrons to be able to make such a fancy temple.
“Peace be with you, young gentleman. What might bring you here today?”
A high-ranking priest in a fancy robe approached me, rubbing his hands together like a sleazy merchant.
“My, what a splendid sword you have! Perhaps you are an explorer, then, my young friend?”
The sharp-eyed priest noticed the fairy sword at my waist, and his eyes glittered.
“Yes, although we’ve only entered the labyrinth once so far.”
“…Then you must be seeking a priest to accompany you into the labyrinth!”
At my answer, disappointment crossed the priest’s face for a moment, but he quickly recovered his smile as he entered into a sales pitch.
“Unfortunately, priests with the ‘Holy Magic’ skill can only be employed by garnet-badge holders or above.”
“No, I wasn’t really—”
“However!”
I started to say that I wasn’t looking for any such service, but the man quickly interrupted me.
“We have just the thing for the party of a promising young gentleman such as yourself. A purehearted, dutiful, and very good-looking priestess!”
For some reason, he put a lot of emphasis on the “very good-looking” part.
The priest beckoned, and a graceful young beauty in priestess’s clothes appeared.
She was only level 3 and didn’t have “Holy Magic” or any other combat-oriented skills—only the “Service” skill, in fact.
The smiling young priestess was very cute, but since I was accustomed to Lulu’s supreme beauty, it didn’t move my heart in the slightest.
“Just a moment, please. I’ve only come today to make a donation.”
“A donation, young sir? You do not appear to be injured in any way… Do you perhaps require a house call?”
Why would you assume that?
“No, I do not need any such thing, thank you. I have yet to visit a temple since coming to Celivera, so I simply wished to make a donation.”
At that, the priest stared for a moment as though I were an alien creature, then finally hurried off to get the person in charge of donations.
I thought that perhaps this temple was just unusual, but the other ones I visited all reacted in the same way.
Evidently, it was unusual for anyone in this city to make a donation without expecting something in return.
I asked around, but none of the temples did any soup kitchens or anything of the sort. At best, they offered very basic provisions in exchange for doing odd jobs
for the temple.
I was beginning to get concerned with the way this city treated its poor.
“All right, Lulu. Shall we start preparing dinner?”
“Yes, master!”
The weeding was finished by sundown. As promised, I started cooking a meal for the kids.
Some of the older kids offered to help, so I had them wash vegetables, peel them, and other such simple jobs.
“Meat!”
“So much of it, ahhh!”
The kids who were cleaning up the tools noticed the wolf meat I was planning to use for steak tips and exclaimed excitedly.
Liza had suggested that tougher meat like wolf would be more filling and satisfying than the soft frog meat, so I decided to break out some of the stock I hadn’t used in a while.
“Wow, it smells so good…”
“Do you think we’ll get some, too?”
“Don’t be stupid. That’s only for those other kids.”
“Ours is probably those potatoes, right?”
“Potatoes, huh…?”
Noticing the hopping potatoes waiting to be fried, the kids’ enthusiasm sank considerably.
I had used Treespirit Pearls to remove the harsh bitterness from these, though, making them different from the potatoes normally eaten in Labyrinth City.
I was looking forward to the surprise on these kids’ faces.
“What’s that red stuff? Smells sweet.”
“I’m so hungry.”
“I don’t even mind if it’s potatoes.”
We didn’t have any tables or chairs, so I distributed the food on lunch plates that I’d made using wooden boards and Treespirit Pearls.
The lunch plates contained gnocchi and lightly boiled leafy greens in a sweet-and-sour sauce, salted and fried potatoes, carrots with a sweet glaze, and a main course of wolf steak tips seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in butter.
I’d chosen to include lots of vegetables to help with the kids’ vitamin deficiencies.
I made one single dish of mushroom steak for Mia’s main course, since she still didn’t like the fatty taste of meat-based dishes.
“Ahhh…”
“Yummy!”
“I want another sip.”
“Clean water is expensive, you dummy!”
“Wehhh, I’m sorry.”
I passed around a bucket for the kids to wash their hands, but they were so thirsty that they started drinking from it instead. I guess I should have handed out mugs of water first.
I should’ve realized that, since the water I gave out while they were working was a pretty big hit.
“All right, everyone line up!”
Even when the food was done and it was time to hand out the plates, the kids still clustered at a distance, and Arisa ordered them to get in line.
I’d prioritized foods that were easy to make, so it shouldn’t be too extravagant for them.
“Wow, this whole feast is for us?”
“That’s amazing!”
“They’re not gonna change their minds, right? Right?!”
“Don’t even say that!”
The kids’ eyes sparkled with excitement.
As soon as they received their plates, the kids started digging in. Some of them shoved as much food in their mouths as they could possibly cram in, while others savored each bite carefully.
Strangely, not one of the kids said anything about how it tasted. They were all so desperately focused on eating that they couldn’t spare a moment to speak.
Some of them even wept as they ate.
I was glad they were happy, but I wished they would just eat normally.
“You’ve gotten really good at cooking, Lulu.”
“I hate to admit it, but it is good. Falling short at cooking to a mere human is a point of shame for a house fairy. Your sister is an odd one, Miss Arisa.”
“Oh my, Lelillil. Our master is even better, you know.”
“That wh— Erm, Mr. Satou is?”
“He’s the one who made those castellas we had in the afternoon.”
Lelillil was sitting next to Arisa for dinner.
These two seemed to get along surprisingly well. I hoped she would start getting along with Lulu.
When some of the smaller kids finished their food, they gazed at their plates sadly, so I gave them some of the fried frog skewers I’d made for the beastfolk girls.
All of them seemed like they would eat as much as they were given. I had to cut them off before they got a stomachache.
Since our new home had so many rooms, I gave everyone their own, but the rest of my group started creeping into my room one by one, until we wound up sleeping in one big pile as usual.
Friendship is a beautiful thing, I suppose.
Thus, we spent our first night in our new home surrounded by one another’s warmth.
The Banquet
Satou here. There’s an old Japanese saying, “craft brings nothing home,” and I think that holds true even today. For instance, in online strategy games, self-proclaimed “tacticians” tend to fall into traps more easily than newbies who don’t know anything about the theories of the game.
“You bought a house, I’m told.”
“Yes, a place that I happened to have some connection to was on the market, so I decided to purchase it.”
The next morning after we bought the house, Viscount Siemmen brought me along in a carriage to visit the general of the labyrinth army and thank him for preparing troops to rescue me.
“Have you already hired help?”
“Not yet. We’ll be spending a lot of time away from the house. I’d like to at least hire someone to watch the place while we’re gone.”
“Then I have a vassal who might be perfect for you. I’ll introduce you before the banquet tonight.”
“Thank you very much. That would be a great help.”
“If you don’t get a good impression, feel free to decline.”
If I hired the wrong person, the viscount said, they might steal my things or misuse my house or other such things.
Oh right. I should talk to him about those scrolls before I forget.
“I apologize for bringing this up while we’re traveling in a carriage, but…”
I offered Viscount Siemmen some papers containing the chant for Pixie Light, the firefly spell I’d come up with by combining Magic String and Mana Light.
“I cannot read spells, but judging by the confidence on your face, I have no doubt that this one is very fine indeed.” Viscount Siemmen smiled at me. “Are you suggesting the same conditions of sale as the Fireworks spell? If this sells as well as that one, you’d be better off asking for a commission fee, in my opinion…”
“No, the same conditions as before are fine.”
I already had more money than I knew what to do with, and this was my way of thanking the viscount for helping me out in so many ways, so that was enough for me.
While I was at it, I also requested that he make scrolls of two of the spells I made during our travels on the sugar route and three that I thought would be useful for exploring the labyrinth.
As we were discussing these things, the carriage reached the labyrinth army general’s garrison.
“Put that mithril sword from Elder Dohal on your waist.”
As he spoke, Viscount Siemmen put a thin sword in a delicately carved scabbard around his waist.
According to my AR display, it was the Magic Sword Akatsuki I’d sold at the black market in the old capital.
I didn’t know he was the person who had bought it. How nice.
“General Erthal tends to look down upon anyone who is not a fellow warrior.”
In the back of my mind, I pictured a muscular meathead guffawing around.
Just then, an officer appeared to guide us, along with several underlings.
“Oh? Hello again, young master.”
The guide was the foxfolk soldier who we’d met at the labyrinth entrance.
“You know each o
ther?”
“Yes, he was kind enough to educate me about many things when I first entered the labyrinth.”
The foxfolk man led us to General Erthal’s office, with some young underlings carrying the gifts we’d brought.
And when we entered the room…
“Welcome. I am Honorary Count Arueton Erthal, the commander of the labyrinth army.”
General Erthal was indeed a muscular, middle-aged man, but I couldn’t see him guffawing. He looked more like an arrogant noble with the kind of hook nose you’d see in a painting of a Roman military officer.
“Thank you for your assistance a few days ago, General Erthal.”
“Not at all. If you consider us even for your having indulged that selfish nephew of mine, that is more than enough for me.”
“I do wish Duke Vistall would stop this foolish rivalry with the Ougoch Duchy.”
“Impossible. Putting on such airs is a noble’s birthright.”
I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed to me like Viscount Siemmen and General Erthal were good friends.
Next, at Viscount Siemmen’s prompting, I introduced myself and gave my thanks as well, to which General Erthal responded with a smile.
“So you are Sir Pendragon, eh? The viscount says you are a living legend who carries the future of the Shiga Kingdom on your shoulders.”
I couldn’t help freezing up a little.
I don’t remember agreeing to carry anything like that…
“Indeed. It is thanks to him that the Muno Barony was saved from becoming a hotbed of demons, and he defeated lesser hell demons in Gururian City and the old capital with shockingly few casualties.”
Viscount Siemmen listed my achievements for General Erthal.
Which one was he talking about in the old capital? The one I beat at the Tenion Temple, maybe?
“His individual strength, as well as that of his party, is on par with any order of knights.”
Stop killing me with flattery, please. My poor “Poker Face” can only take so much.
“And he excels at the magical arts as well as in battle. He has developed many new spells, even Fireworks, a dazzling spell that delights all who witness it.”
“Oh? So this is the fellow who created that Fireworks spell, eh?”