The Basics Are Important
The basics are important. During the fight with the bandits, I could see the flow of mana. The trajectories of the arrows flying toward me were especially clear. Thanks to that, I avoided getting hit by most of them. I even saw the mana gathering when the bandit leader used his Deflection skill. If I hadn’t seen it, that technique might have taken me out.
I guess I should be satisfied with just seeing the flow of mana for now.
I desperately wanted to use magic now that I had mana, but it still seemed out of reach. It looked like I’d need something like basic magic theory first.
Shall we head back?
I picked up the backpack I’d taken from the female bandit and started toward the village.
“This is bad! Really bad!”
“I heard Lady Isabella was badly hurt!”
“Who would do something so insane…”
“Some crazy mage showed up and caused absolute chaos, apparently.”
“How terrible…”
When I arrived in the village, the place was buzzing with noise. Margaret had finally done it. On the surface she hadn’t looked like a villain at all, but now she was the village’s infamous mad mage.
This other world is more complicated than I thought.
I wondered what kind of backstory could turn Margaret into a terrorist. After wandering around the village for a bit, I headed to Syucali’s hideout.
Knock knock.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
“Ah! Master!”
When I knocked on the door of Syucali’s hideout, she opened it with a bright smile and welcomed me in.
“Did anything happen while I was gone?!”
“I ran into a bandit on the way.”
“What?! There’s a village right here and a bandit dares to—!”
Syucali got angry, saying she should have stayed by my side the whole time. She acted like she was the one who’d been attacked.
“What happened with Isabella?”
“When I arrived and gave her the information, she got irritated at first…”
“And then?”
“She said she understood and that her people would handle it.”
“When I got to the village, rumors were already spreading that Isabella had been badly injured.”
“That’s probably a lie. Isabella evacuated to a safe location.”
“She hid the information on purpose.”
“Yes. If Isabella was obviously fine, that crazy mage might have stayed in the village.”
It seemed this wasn’t the first time Isabella had dealt with something like this. She’d already prepared countermeasures against the attacker before I even delivered the information.
“Seeing that Margaret left so easily… it must have been to keep Isabella tied to the village.”
“I think the name Margaret is fake too… but yeah, that seems right.”
The reason to keep her tied here… Running a merchant caravan like Isabella did, it was probably to stop her from heading to a city with royalty or nobles.
“Looks like I was worrying over nothing.”
“Hehe, are you disappointed?”
“…”
Syucali looked at me with a mischievous expression.
“…More importantly, your villain act was really convincing. You pulled it off like you’d done it before.”
“Ah… haha… You’re not going to sell me out, right…?”
“If I’d choked you out, I was planning to throw you away.”
“Hiiing… You know I had no choice…”
“It’s my decision.”
“That’s so mean.”
Syucali pouted and crouched down lower.
“Come inside and rest.”
“Yes, Master Kang Seo-ja.”
I entered the hideout with Syucali. I’d only been outside for about two days, but I could feel how exhausted my body was. I still wasn’t used to outdoor activity. I decided to rest for a few days and only take simple sex-work requests while recovering.
“Traveling around outside is tough.”
“That’s why I don’t take requests that require traveling far either.”
Even Syucali, who had survived and adapted to this world, felt the same. It wasn’t just me.
“Marching is more tiring than fighting. It’s just boring and exhausting.”
“Exactly. My legs hurt. That’s why we need something like a carriage.”
“So start massaging.”
“Eh? Why did the conversation suddenly go there…”
“Hurry up.”
Syucali looked depressed but diligently massaged my feet and legs.
“The knotted muscles are loosening up. Feels nice.”
“Uuu…”
Syucali puffed out her cheeks and looked up at me. This world was full of inconveniences, but having a slave to fix them made everything incredibly convenient.
“When is the slave trader coming?”
“About a week left, I think.”
“Then I’ll save up money until then.”
“How many slaves are you planning to buy?”
“One is enough for now. More mouths to feed would just be more trouble.”
“We have about 200 gold saved up…”
“A healthy slave costs at least 500 gold, right?”
“Yes.”
“If we both work, it won’t take long.”
I couldn’t take requests that only paid 20 gold each, but if I worked diligently, 500 gold seemed reachable soon.
“I want to rest for a few days…”
Syucali complained a lot because the rhythm was different from usual. Of course, her opinion was immediately ignored.
After resting in the hideout for a while, I moved once the sun began to set.
“I’m going to take a sex-work request.”
“Already?”
Syucali looked at me with wide eyes.
“That’s too fast…!”
“The faster I earn money, the sooner I can rest.”
I pulled my robe over my head and stepped out of the hideout.
“Why are you so diligent…”
Syucali also started gathering her clothes. She was going out to take her own requests.
While completing requests outside the village, I realized something. My basic outdoor survival skills were extremely lacking. Not only food, but even washing was barely more than splashing water on myself, and I had to discard most of the loot from the many monsters I killed. No wonder all the adventurers avoided requests that took several days. That’s why those kinds of requests kept piling up.
So I decided to fill in those gaps with my own abilities.
[F-Rank] Male adventurer to enjoy my delicious homemade food and spend the night with — 3 gold
This tastes like absolute garbage. I’ll cook it myself.
I decided to focus on food first. I saw that the famous cook’s restaurant in the village was closed and knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock.
“Who is it?”
“I’m here for a request.”
“Y-you’re…”
I took off my robe and showed my black hair. The female shopkeeper looked flustered but stepped aside and gestured for me to come inside. She must have already heard the rumors about the black-haired man.
“Welcome. Have you eaten dinner yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
After that, everything flowed naturally. Once inside the restaurant, we enjoyed an intimate night with the wine and expensive dishes she had prepared.
“This is delicious.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
She was a chef who seasoned everything perfectly. Every dish was excellent—pasta, warm soup, juicy meat. I could see why she had become a cook.
After we finished eating…
“Ah…! Amazing…”
I showed her why they called me the black-haired incubus. All night long she clung to me, kissing and holding me tight. She tasted me and tried everything she could to show her love.
Cooking Technique
Thanks to her, I gained both gold and the skills a chef needed. Her absolute palate and all her cooking recipes filled my head.
I should be able to make decent soup now.
I thought the next trip would be much less stressful when it came to food.
When dawn broke, I returned to the hideout.
“You’re back…”
Syucali looked exhausted, so I tried cooking for her.
“Mmm… Huh? It’s… it’s delicious!”
Syucali looked shocked as she buried her nose in the plate and devoured everything.
“You know how to cook?!”
“You couldn’t, so I learned last night.”
“There’s no way you could learn it in one day.”
“You’re saying that after eating it so enthusiastically.”
“Ah… I’m sorry…!”
Syucali bowed her head and begged me to cook again. Before taking another request, I embraced her once to help relieve her fatigue. Revived, Syucali started cleaning the hideout.
But her movements looked incredibly awkward. Watching her organize things so poorly made me sigh.
“Come here and watch how I do it.”
“Yes, Master Kang Seo-ja…”
I taught her directly from beside her.
“Remember when you caught that giant mutant snake? You said you wanted to show me everything.”
“Yes…”
“The same goes for cleaning. Showing the proper way is important. Look at this blanket. The corners matter.”
I personally demonstrated what proper organization looked like. The hideout gradually became neat and pleasant. What had once been a dark, rotting space was now a home I actually wanted to return to.
“Master Kang Seo-ja, were you a head butler in your past life…?”
“This is basic. This much is the bare minimum for living as a person.”
“I’ve never heard anyone say that before…”
“Then now that you’ve heard it, get used to it.”
“But this is too much.”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll sell you to the slave trader.”
“Uuuu… I’ll do it. I’ll do it properly.”
Syucali resisted at first, but in the end she was the one who tucked her tail and gave in. After cleaning the hideout, I went out to take more requests.
“I heard a famous A-rank adventurer party arrived.”
“I heard that too. They say that party earns a ton, right?”
“Yeah. Some kid was carrying a ridiculous pile of luggage and sold it all at once.”
While browsing sex-work requests at the adventurer guild, I overheard the adventurers’ conversation and grew interested. I was always troubled by how heavy my backpack was. I had to discard so much loot that I’d started wanting space magic like Margaret used.
But hiring a separate porter would waste money, time, and food. I subtly looked up toward the second floor of the adventurer guild where cheerful laughter was coming from.
“We made a killing again this time!”
“Alright, we’ll split the reward money and take a few days to really relax.”
“I’m heading to the tavern first.”
“I’ll go see the blacksmith~”
It was a party made up of healthy women. Among them, the smallest-looking girl was carrying the largest pack on her back.
So she’s the porter.
From what I’d heard, she had sold an even bigger load all at once. I’m curious about that girl’s ability.
The A-rank party that had arrived in Cashew Village split up and went their separate ways. The porter girl who remained sat in a chair, blankly chewing on some jerky.
Now’s my chance.
I took off my robe and approached the lone porter girl.