용사 (3)
“If it’s a ‘dimensional intervention special case’…”
I wasn’t quite sure of the exact details. I had heard it when I made the contract with Maria.
“It’s a clause to study the power of the working employee Maria Anquines.”
“… Ah.”
I remembered.
Maria Anquines will cooperate with verification and inspection regarding the Illusion Cult and Outer Gods.
This was the condition presented by the other side.
The clause Su Seonhwa, the president, had suggested—to research the power of Maria’s Outer God. Its official name was the “Dimensional Intervention Special Case” investigation.
“Here you go.”
Visor handed me a business card. A clean black-and-white tone card with name, contact details, and workplace address.
“Come to the address listed there. Then I’ll see you on Monday.”
The Visor who had told me the location turned around, passed by Maria, and left the building at a leisurely pace.
“Jinho-ssi, should we close the door now?”
“Yes. Close it and head out.”
“Ne~!”
I passed on the conversation from just moments ago to Maria, who came dashing over from the entrance.
The need to go to headquarters for an investigation on Monday.
And the need to move residences for the time being.
The dorm provided for employees was near here. It seemed they rented it out in the usual way for employees who wanted it.
“With two things like that… are you sure it’s okay?”
I asked Maria with a hint of worry, but Maria gave an endlessly bright smile and threw both arms in the air.
“Waa— I love sleeping with Jinho-ssi~!”
“I’ll step on your toes if you cross the line.”
“Heeing…”
It turned out there was only one room provided by the company. But since Visor had said it would be “plenty spacious,” I wasn’t too worried.
“Um, excuse me…”
Just then, a voice came from behind. When I turned, Patricia was still there. I tilted my head. Was there still something left for us to do?
“So….”
“I’m Yu Jinho.”
“Ah, ahem. Hmph. Jinho-ssi. …First of all, I’m sorry for the damage to the store.”
Patricia bowed her head awkwardly and apologized.
I was deeply moved by this Patricia. The reason was simple—she had apologized.
“… Jinho-ssi?”
“I’ll savor this joy for just a moment.”
“Huh?”
Since dropping into Sanctum City, how many times had I actually received a normal apology?
They always denied fault or blurred the details… and never gave a proper apology, just saying “sorry for causing the accident.” The only one to do so properly in front of me right now was Patricia (of course, among non-humans, the Task Manager had too)!
When I put it that way, it really felt like we had gathered the juiciest customers.
“Haa… So, what happened?”
Patricia, who had been staring at me with tears in her eyes, slowly opened her mouth.
“So, Jinho-ssi… are you close with the Demon King?”
I searched my memory thinking the Demon King must have said something like that, but nothing came out.
I only managed a few hesitant words. That made sense—I had done too many things that made the Demon King speechless each time.
“Well, not exactly close, but he saved my life too. I guess you could say we’re closer than customer and employee…”
The Demon King saved my life?!
Patricia asked in surprise. It was a somewhat awkward situation to explain, but he had indeed pierced the Backroom.
Of course, he only did it in exchange for snacks.
… If he helped me out of the Backroom in exchange for snacks, wasn’t I receiving pretty generous treatment?
I’d better buy him snacks next time I met him.
“But why aren’t you going back? The convenience store is closing soon.”
Originally he was supposed to return to his own dimension, right? I asked, and Patricia scratched her cheek and answered.
“If I use the same dimension as the Demon King, I’ll definitely collide with it the moment I return to my original dimension. So I’m going back tomorrow.”
“I heard you were the one who attacked first when we met.”
“It wasn’t Patriash…! And that was just an instinctive defensive action because I was surprised.”
An instinctive defensive action.
Is “attack is the best defense” a thing?
“When we met, we were already inside the Demon King’s Castle. If I hadn’t attacked first, I would’ve been surrounded by the guards and probably in the underground prison by now.”
I didn’t know much about the ecology of that world, but I didn’t think her actions were that different from trespassing.
Still, that world might not carry out punishment fairly or humanely.
I nodded.
“Yeah. Well, you take care. Maria, put up a ‘no entry’ sign in front and let’s head out.”
“Yes, Jinho-ssi~ I’m starving!”
***
“Waa~”
The employee dorm room was surprisingly spacious and clean. At least twice the size of the place I lived in on Earth. For a three-day temporary stay, it felt like I could even live here permanently.
There was one unexpected variable.
“Patriash too… from here?”
“Patricia… ugh, okay.”
Patricia followed me into the entrance and answered softly. Maria had already kicked off her shoes and was rolling around on the rug in the center.
“As I said, it’s rude but… I’ll just stay one night and leave.”
The reason I had invited Patricia home was when Maria and I had finished posting the “business closed” sign at the convenience store and were about to leave. Patricia stood in front of us, who were lightly packing our things, and hesitated.
“Why? Again?”
I asked because I thought there might be something more to say, but instead of answering she just squeezed her eyes shut.
“I, that is… my sense of direction is really bad.”
“… So?”
I already knew she had bad direction to the point of wandering into the Demon King’s Castle. Patricia squeezed her eyes shut and spoke.
“First, I don’t know the way to the dimensional gate…”
Then she dropped the bomb.
“… There’s nowhere I can stay until tomorrow.”
“O… oh.”
I felt an inexplicable unease. No, at this point I could guess what was coming, so the unease was natural.
And generally, unease is right, but this time Maria struck first.
“Jinho-ssi, Jinho-ssi.”
Maria grabbed my sleeve with two fingers and whispered.
“Why?”
I asked, leaning my face close to hers as if to touch her ear. Maria seemed to hesitate a few times before cautiously opening her mouth.
“It seems Patricia-ssi is troubled because she has nowhere to rest… But if Jinho-ssi says no, then there’s nothing we can do…”
It seemed the ex-cult member felt sorry for Patricia’s homeless situation.
But right now, Maria’s guardian and guarantor was me. So Maria was also waiting for my final decision.
“… Hmm.”
“I don’t have anything on me right now, but I’ll definitely pay back next time. So…”
Hearing that, I suddenly wondered about the compensation.
The contract with Maria was registered as compensation, but the business card Visor had just given me wasn’t.
I looked at both Maria and Patricia once. Since Maria and Patricia would be sleeping in the same space anyway, maybe it was better to take up three people’s space.
“… I’ll take it in kind then.”
“Huh? Ah, understood! I’ll pack it right away when we get back…”
“Waa~ Thank you, Jinho-ssi! Jinho-ssi who never turns away those who have fallen into hardship, the greatest!”
Well. Half of it was due to Maria’s request, and half was curiosity about the compensation.
“First, let’s look at the current state of the house and decide.”
So the temporary house we had now was spacious enough for the three of us to sleep separately.
“Jinho-ssi~ Look, the distance is visible through the window!”
“Don’t stick your head out. You’ll get dust on it.”
I gave Maria a vague warning as she ran around the house while I unpacked my bags in the small inner room. I felt like I was a math trip guide who had never been on one before.
“Excuse me… um.”
Patricia also entered cautiously. I watched her action of entering another person’s house closely.
“… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It feels like meeting a person who lives in a civilized world for the first time in a long time.”
Among the countless races I had met while living in Sanctum City, how many would feel awkward entering someone else’s house?
“The one-eyed villagers with two eyes…!”
“W-what are you saying… Don’t make creepy metaphors.”
Hmph.
It seemed meeting a normal person after so long had stirred up my emotions.
“By the way… could I wash first?”
“Huh? Ah.”
Patricia had shaken off the dust outside, but wiping off the dirt from the battle with the Demon King seemed difficult. Her clothes and armor were still mostly dirty.
“Well… go ahead and wash.”
After sending Patricia to the bathroom, I sorted all the remaining clothes and bags.
“… What are you doing, Maria?”
When I came out to the living room, Maria was there. She had curled up on the rug like a ball.
“Jinho-ssi… having this fur on me makes me feel… warm.”
Was the heating on? “After Patricia-ssi washes, you can go in too, Maria.”
“Haa… Jinho-ssi will wash me…”
“Don’t say crazy things. Wash by yourself.”
Then Maria looked up at me slightly. As if she had just said something obvious.
“I don’t know how to wash alone…”
“… What?”
The cult members always washed my hair and scrubbed every inch of my body…
“… Get up.”
I grabbed Maria by the nape of her neck and lifted her.
Then I dragged her straight toward the bathroom.
Knock knock knock!
W-what?! There’s someone here!
Inside, Patricia, who had been turning on the water and humming softly, panicked and shouted at the sudden knock.
“Maria, I’m letting you in! You’re washing with me!”
No?! Me?! Why—
“Then I’ll wash you, right?!”
After a moment of silence, Patricia’s answer, mumbling “understood,” came through.
“Come in. Say ‘please wash me.’”
“Yes, Jinho-ssi!”
I gave the order to Maria and returned to the living room sofa alone. I flopped down. In just a few minutes, my spirit seemed to be draining.
Maria slipped through the slightly open bathroom door. The voices of startled Patricia and cheerful Maria leaked out intermittently until the sound of running water drowned them out.
Thinking about it, it had been two days since I took on the role of Maria’s guardian, and I didn’t remember Maria ever having bathed.
If I had realized this at the convenience store after one or two more days, what would I have done…?
“… This is tough…”
I muttered that way and closed my eyes for a bit until the two came out, resting.
***
… Ms.
Jinho-ssi!
“… Huh?!”
The voice calling my name woke me from sleep. I thought I had only been asleep for a few minutes, but looking at the wall clock, about twenty minutes had passed.
It was Maria’s voice. I roughly answered wondering why she was calling me from inside the bathroom.
“Why? Is there something wrong?!”
I had already bathed and changed into dry clothes. That was why I had deliberately brought clothes and let her in. But the answer that came back was unexpected.
Patricia-ssi doesn’t have a towel!
A towel, a towel!
Her voice protesting also came through. I thought there would be some in the inner shelf, but apparently it wasn’t equipped.
“… Ah. Wait a second, I’ll look.”
Even while searching the room, voices from inside the bathroom—Maria’s curious one and Patricia’s drained one—mixed together.
This! It’s slippery and slimy!
Don’t, don’t press it! Uwaa!
After about five minutes, I started opening the kitchen cabinets from the bottom and found a neatly folded bundle of towels in the small room drawer.
They were stacked two high, so there was enough for two or three days. I changed my mind when I thought of picking just the top two or three, and lifted the entire bundle.
Since they would have to go in the bathroom anyway, I decided to move them and put them on the shelf at once.
I called Patricia to the front of the bathroom holding the bundle of towels.
“I brought the towels!”
People, especially men, sometimes learn the lesson only after they have already said it.
This time too. One was realizing I couldn’t just put the towels I was carrying straight into the bathroom.
Ne, Jinho-ssi~!
Wait a minute, Maria-ssi—?!
Bang!
The other was remembering I always need to keep my hands free in case of an unexpected situation.