Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: My Cozy Home #1
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Although I hadn’t mentioned it much, the Arc was home to just as many faculty and staff members as there were cadets.
They each handled a variety of tasks from their respective positions, and naturally, there were plenty of amenities provided for them as well.
A training ground exclusive to faculty and staff.
A dining hall exclusive to faculty and staff.
Villas that only professors and instructors among the faculty could use, and so on.
Of course, these weren’t free perks; they came at prices matching their value, so not every faculty member enjoyed such benefits.
To put it bluntly, a lowly staffer like Marmar was quite far removed from the perks provided by the Arc, to the point where she hadn’t enjoyed a single one of the things I just mentioned.
The same went for this bank.
“This is my first time at a bank. People really do deposit and withdraw money here…!”
In the pristine lobby with its marble floors, Marmar wagged her tail excitedly from side to side.
━An imp?
━An imp at a bank?
━She’s not going to cause trouble, is she?
Her presence drew quite a bit of attention. To avoid any unnecessary hassle, I figured it’d be best to quickly finish my business and get out of there.
“Next customer—.”
The person in front of me finished up and stepped aside. Finally, I could stand at the bank counter.
There sat a girl with straight blonde bobbed hair, wearing a white blouse and glasses, staring at me with a stern expression.
A name tag pinned to her chest read ‘Economic Helper - Econoi,’ and judging by her short, pointed ears, she was probably a nymph.
Nymphs hired under the nymph allocation system were pretty common among the faculty.
The problem was that the bank employee Econoi suddenly yelled at me.
“No more loans available today…!”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“Then why are you here…!?”
“…….”
She seemed unusually angry for a nymph. As I awkwardly smacked my lips, Marmar, standing behind me, poked my back with her tail and whispered softly.
“It’s Sunday today. Faculty who work on Sundays when everyone else is off tend to be pretty grumpy like that.”
“Oh, I see.”
It made sense that working weekends when others rested would build up stress. Still, taking it out on customers didn’t seem right.
I spoke casually, as if it were no big deal.
“My name is Theo Gospel. I heard that ten million coins from the Silver Tier Brooch dividends were deposited.”
As I’d just mentioned, I’d come to the bank on the weekend specifically to withdraw the ten million coins in dividends from the silver brooch.
The reason for withdrawing the money was to handle Marmar’s room transaction today.
“Theo… Theo Gospel… Theo Gospel…”
The economics expert Econoi pulled out a thick ledger and flipped through the pages with a rustle for quite a while. She was probably searching for an account under my name.
After waiting for some time, Econoi spoke up.
“There are four matches…!”
“Theo Gospel?”
“That’s right…!”
As expected, Theo Gospel was a pretty common name. The names given to kids entrusted to the church were all pretty similar.
For a moment, I recalled the book inside the bag on my back.
The name Theo Gospel listed alongside Saintess Priga Nightingale. It was probably just a coincidence—a namesake, not me.
“Please find the one with the most recent deposit.”
Rustle, rustle.
After flipping through pages for a while, Econoi let out a sudden “Ah—!” of exclamation, as if she’d found something. She said,
“Here it is—an account with 12.5 million coins. So, ten million coins…”
After a brief identity verification, I received a thick stack of bills.
Ever since becoming like this, I’d only ever handled bundles of gold or silver coins, so holding a wad of paper money again felt completely different.
“You should open a bankbook from now on…! It’ll make things faster…! If you’re interested in finance, we have a new bankbook product—would you like to see it…?”
“Sure, why not. Marmar, don’t you need to open one too?”
“A bankbook?”
After withdrawing the ten million coins, I opened bankbooks for both Marmar and myself.
A bankbook was just a small booklet bound with leather covers and parchment pages where numbers were recorded.
“So, the number written here is my money?”
Marmar stared endlessly at the “10,000C” inscribed on her very first bankbook in her life, as if it were some wondrous thing.
“To think I’d ever open a bankbook at a bank in my lifetime!”
“Then let’s get going and look for a room. It’s Sunday for once, so we’ve got a lot to do.”
I led Marmar toward the staff dormitories.
* * *
When it comes to the essentials of human life, the top three are undoubtedly clothing, food, and shelter.
What you wear, what you eat, and your personal living space.
It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say that everything about human existence stems from those three.
In that sense, choosing a home was a profoundly important and solemn task.
“This place seems great…!”
But Marmar shouted that she loved the very first house we looked at.
A two-story townhouse exclusive to faculty and staff.
The wooden building had five units per floor lined up along a corridor-style hallway, giving off a real lived-in vibe.
The building was named “Fairy’s Paradise.”
Honestly, to me, it looked rundown and shabby—not my cup of tea at all.
“This one’s perfect!”
Yet Marmar was insisting it was great without even checking anywhere else.
“Why is this one so great?”
“It has a second floor! I, Marmar, have always dreamed of living on a high floor!”
I see.
As I nodded along half-heartedly, the real estate agent who’d been listening to our conversation stroked his pointed mustache with a satisfied grin.
“Excellent choice, sirs. This building may be old, but it’s perfect for newcomers. It has every option imaginable!”
“Options?”
At my question, the agent climbed the stairs and opened the door to Room 1 on the second floor—an empty unit—revealing the interior.
The inside had a wooden floor, one window, a somewhat worn but cleanly laundered bed with bedding, and an old bookshelf standing alone.
What options was he talking about?
As I looked around, wondering if there was some hidden secret door or something, the agent boasted proudly.
“It has a ceiling, walls, and a window, of course. And naturally, a door. Isn’t that full options? Sign now, and for an extra 200,000 coins a month, you get access to the communal water pipes.”
At those words, Marmar shuddered.
In this thieving world of cutthroat prices, was the revolutionary fury of the red-hearted imp Marmar about to erupt?
“This place really hits the spot!”
Instead, Marmar clapped her hands as she looked around the empty space.
“Shall we draw up the contract, then?”
I hemmed and hawed at the agent’s question, shaking my head.
“Hold on a sec. Let’s discuss it a bit more first.”
“Very well, I’ll step out for a smoke then. Take your time discussing, heh heh.”
Seizing the moment as the agent moved off to light his pipe, I asked Marmar, who was busy testing the bed’s fluffiness.
“You really want this place? Shouldn’t we check out some others?”
“The others will probably be the same anyway! And I really like this one! No need to look elsewhere!”
Marmar’s resolve was firm.
She was already acting like she’d moved in, excitedly planning where to put things—“Portable brazier here, drying rack there”—imagining furniture and tools in every corner.
Seeing her like that reminded me of my own past.
The moment I left the orphanage and got my first solo apartment. At twenty, my heart pounded with tension and excitement at facing the world anew.
“Marmar, you really sure about this place? No regrets?”
“I swear on my tail—no regrets!”
“Your tail?”
“An imp’s tail is as precious as their life! A vow on it is the highest level!”
I see.
It made me realize anew just how much imps treasured their tails.
That’s how I came to understand how incredible and wonderful the imp tail wand Marmar had given me truly was.
“Look at this. Second floor with a window! And a balcony! I could grow flowers on the balcony and look down at people passing by—it’d feel amazing—!”
Marmar stepped out onto the second-floor balcony and peered down below.
Sure, it was just looking down one floor from the second, but to her, it seemed like a huge deal—her tail wouldn’t stop wagging side to side.
“Then let’s go with this one!”
At Marmar’s shout, the agent extinguished his pipe and strode back over.
He rummaged in the pouch at his waist, unrolled a scroll, and began with an “Erm…”
“Let’s see—walls, window, ceiling, bed, bedding, door, water pipes, and whatnot. Deposit ten million coins, monthly rent 500,000 coins.”
“Deposit of ten million…?”
Marmar’s face, which had been brimming with excitement just moments ago, turned deadly serious.
My guess was she was shocked that the deposit for this rundown space was ten million, with rent at 500,000. And since it wasn’t a security deposit, she wouldn’t get the deposit back.
Reading her expression, the seasoned agent probed gently.
“Need more time to think? Or want to see other rooms? There’s one nearby with a 5-million-coin deposit and 200,000-coin rent.”
Marmar’s face brightened again at that.
“Where’s that one?”
“Right next door, Room 2. Want to see it?”
Nodding eagerly, Marmar was led by the agent to the adjacent Room 2.
It was a gloomy prison-like space with no window whatsoever—no sunlight at all. No balcony, no sink, no bed.
What kind of room is this?
Windows really were an option.
At a loss for words, I kept quiet, but the agent, reading my face, said,
“With a window, mosquitoes get in during summer, cold winds in winter. This one keeps out mosquitoes and drafts. Ventilation’s a bit tricky, though—”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll give you some time—discuss it over.”
The agent stepped away again.
Probably to finish that pipe he hadn’t smoked earlier. While he was gone, I said to Marmar,
“What do you think of this one?”
“…I think this one’s better! A window or balcony would just let in mosquitoes and bugs anyway!”
As she said that, Marmar’s tail hung limply downward.
Her face was crestfallen, but she clearly knew she had no choice without the money.
Seeing her like that brought my little siblings to mind.
Kids who had to learn to give up dreams one by one before even dreaming them. Kids who could only watch cool, fun things on TV ads.
The thought made me suddenly so sad that, with my sensitive fairy sensibilities, tears nearly welled up.
Living in a prison cell like this might warp Marmar’s mental state even further. So, looking at Marmar sadly scanning the room’s corners, I said,
“Marmar, let’s go for the ten-million-coin room next door. That one’s better. I’ll cover the money.”