Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Visitor
The next morning.
We gathered in the dining hall after getting ready to head out separately.
We had to eat before leaving.
But while we were eating, Yuna complained.
“This feels wrong.”
I thought the same.
A huge, fancy dining table.
And all that was on it was dried meat.
Ah, and there was also Pitz happily munching away on the dried meat, sitting right on top of it.
I asked Yuna,
“Should I bring some other preserved food?”
Yuna shook her head.
“Those don’t taste good… let’s just buy food from the market today since we’re going out.”
“You can cook?”
“Not really… but…”
Then Tanya said confidently,
“I can make simple soup!”
“Oh? Then can you make it for dinner today?”
Soup sounds good.
I was fine with anything. Until just a month ago, I was choosing between starvation and sleeping on the streets.
But if we leave all the cooking to Tanya, wouldn’t we end up eating the same soup with slightly different ingredients every day?
Hmm… maybe we should learn to cook properly, especially for Yuna who has a picky palate.
“Alright, let’s go out first. We just need to go to the guild and the food shop, right?”
“We also need to go to the furniture store. Sir Poe needs a bed.”
Ah, right.
We couldn’t exactly keep having Poe sleep with Yuna forever.
Poe looked slightly disappointed.
Then,
TING
A clear sound like a bell echoed through the mansion.
“What was that?”
I looked around in surprise.
Melaim said calmly,
“It seems someone is here. That is the chime bell of this house.”
So that’s what it sounded like when you pressed it.
I had seen it near the door but never used it.
“I’ll go check.”
“It feels unsafe. I will come as well. We were going out anyway.”
We all headed to the entrance together.
From the visitor’s perspective, this must look pretty intimidating.
I opened the door.
Standing there was a cute girl with short brown hair.
She looked a couple of years younger than me.
Beside her was a smaller girl.
They looked similar, so maybe they were sisters?
Or maybe… not a daughter.
The younger girl’s eyes lit up when she saw Pitz.
“A dog!”
“Al! Al!”
The older girl smiled warmly and said,
“Hello. Are you the visitors?”
Huh?
Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?
…
We let the two visitors into the mansion.
Though “let in” is not quite accurate. They just naturally walked in, so we followed.
“Um… who are you?”
She introduced herself with a bright smile.
“I’m the house maid of this mansion. Do you need anything? I’ll go inform Sir Sakh and prepare it right away.”
Who is Sakh?
Melaim answered.
“Oh, that man isn’t here.”
The girl’s eyes widened.
“He left the guests behind?”
Melaim shook her head.
“No. He sold this mansion. We are the current owners.”
Ah… that merchant lord guy.
He sold the mansion to us and moved elsewhere.
It was actually a loss for him.
The Kaite Baron territory had a bad reputation because of nearby bandits.
So the mansion had been heavily undervalued.
And because he was forced to sell quickly due to debt, he didn’t even get that low price properly.
Then we ended up clearing the bandits ourselves.
Over time, the value of this place would probably rise.
But the girl who called herself a maid looked confused.
“Excuse me?”
“He is not here. It has been nearly a month. You did not know?”
“I… I was on a long vacation…”
Melaim frowned.
“How irresponsible.”
“He was a very good person…”
“Sister?”
The younger girl looked anxious.
The older girl forced a smile and hugged her.
“It's nothing. I’ll explain outside.”
Then she bowed to us.
“I apologize for the disturbance. We’ll take our leave. Have a good day…”
“Where are you going? If you’re looking for your former employer, I can help.”
“No, it wasn’t a long contract… I’ll need to find a place to live and work.”
Melaim nodded.
Yuna looked at me worriedly.
“Is this really okay?”
What?
A house maid job pays better than being a fighter.
“It’ll be fine. She can clean and cook. She’ll find work quickly.”
As soon as I said that, Yuna froze.
Then she suddenly shouted,
“Wait!”
The girl stopped in surprise.
“Yes?”
“Can you cook? And clean?”
“Well… yes…”
“Then work for us!”
What?
What is she doing?!
…
In the end, we hired her.
It was only a verbal agreement for now, but we’d properly sign a contract later.
We assigned her to cleaning for now and left the mansion.
“Yuna… why did we buy this mansion again?”
“To save money… and have our own place…”
Yes.
But now we have mansion maintenance costs AND a maid salary.
Even if we estimate it low, that’s at least several gold coins a year.
Not to mention food and lodging.
However, Melaim seemed pleased.
“Well, money can always be earned. Do not worry too much.”
For Melaim, spending money probably wasn’t a problem.
As long as we kept adventuring, it would keep flowing.
But our real issue wasn’t money.
It was that Melaim could no longer use her tentacles freely.
We had to be careful with our words too.
I asked her,
“Isn’t it uncomfortable hiding your tentacles even at home?”
Melaim chuckled.
“Ruka, do you feel uncomfortable hiding what is under your clothes?”
That’s sexual harassment.
I didn’t answer.
Melaim continued,
“There was a room suitable as a meeting space. We can use that when we need to talk privately.”
Well… if she’s fine with it.
But Yuna still looked a bit down.
…
When we entered the guild, adventurers greeted me loudly.
“Ruka! Long time no see!”
That’s a lie.
We saw each other two days ago.
“So you cleared another dungeon? Amazing!”
“Tell us about it!”
They surrounded me.
But I knew why.
At first I thought it was admiration for saving Frelia.
But that wasn’t it.
They were just trying to get closer to my party members.
Especially the women.
Yuna still didn’t notice anything and was playing with Poe’s hair.
Then one adventurer asked quietly,
“Hey Ruka… who is that beautiful lady?”
He was pointing at Poe.
The guild quieted instantly.
The atmosphere changed.
Tanya glanced around but quickly lost interest.
But I felt it.
That sticky, hostile intent.
Not quite killing intent… more like jealousy and frustration.
I forced a smile.
“Can you move aside?”
No one moved.
Then my party stepped forward.
Only then did the crowd slowly part.
I don’t know if this is a guild or a gangster hideout.
I went to the reception desk and greeted Lily.
“Hello, Lily.”
“Ruka! I missed you!”
Oh no.
The adventurers started trembling.
Why would she say that?
This was the final blow.
Beautiful new party member.
And Lily, the guild’s idol, saying something like that.
“Die! Just die!”
Some adventurers grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me.
I was being violently shaken between hero and bastard.
Through my dizzy vision, I saw Lily smiling faintly.
That damn pink-haired woman.
After finally escaping, I returned to her.
Lily looked concerned.
“Are you okay? I can treat you…”
“Just process the registration quickly.”
She flinched and noticed Tanya watching.
“…Sorry. How can I help?”
“We want to register her as an adventurer and add her to our party.”
She looked at Poe.
“You really have an eye for unique party members, Ruka.”
Her eyes clearly said: “Do you only choose by looks?”
I couldn’t deny it.
My party is… unusual.
A necromancer from another world, a flesh-eating doppelganger, a pleasure-killing assassin…
And now a resurrected death knight.
I just want to go on normal adventures…
Lily gestured to Poe.
“Please come here.”
“Name?”
“Yu…fia?”
Yu-fia?
Not Poe?
That must be her human name.
It wouldn’t be safe to use “Poe” here anyway.
Registration didn’t take long.
Poe officially became an adventurer and joined our party.