Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 3

Peaceful Daily Life 

Satou here. I’ve had part-time and full-time jobs before, but I didn’t have any experience employing others. Hiring just a few people is one thing, but the bigger the staff, the more complicated it gets. 

“I’m Rosie.” 

“I’m Annie.” 

“Together, they’re Rosannie!” 

The two new maids introduced themselves nervously, and Arisa threw in an old-timey joke. 

“A-Arisa, stop!” 

“Don’t be mean, Arisa!” 

“Tee-hee, sorry, I just thought I’d lighten the mood…” 

The two girls flailed at Arisa tearfully, so I bopped her lightly on the head with a fist. 

“Gyaaaah!” 

Arisa fell to the floor dramatically, but I ignored her display. “Sorry about her,” I said to the maids. 

“Oh, there’s no need for you to apologize for her, mister.” 

“Yes, of course not, sir.” 

“Good heavens. Remember your place, you two.” Miss Miteruna rapped the girls on the head with her knuckles. “You are to call her ‘Lady Arisa’ or ‘Mistress Arisa’ and call Sir Knight ‘young master.’” 

“Yes, Miss Miteruna.” 

This response earned them another rap on the head. 

“And you are to call me ‘madam.’” 

“Yes, madam!” 

Miss Miteruna seemed to be a pretty tough boss. 

Peering through the doorway, the other young maids looked at Rosie and Annie sympathetically. 

“Well anyway, I look forward to working with you,” I said lightly. 

“Yes, young master! We’ll learn to cook delicious food with Lulu—I mean, with Lady Lulu teaching us!” 

“Yes, I’ll become a chef almost as good as Lady Lulu!” 

The new maids clenched their fists passionately. 

“Great. I’m looking forward to eating your food. Lulu, take good care of them, okay?” 

“Yes, master.” 

I felt bad delegating the work to Lulu, but she seemed excited, too. 

“What have you been doing since this afternoon?” 

As we ate dinner, I asked the girls about their day. 

“Trainiiiing?” 

“We practiced swinging and rock dodging in a field, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi waved their forks and tails excitedly as they responded. 

“Do not worry, master. I ensured that they concealed their rare skills such as ‘Spellblade’ and ‘Blink.’” 

With that amendment, Liza scolded the two gently for their manners. 

Glancing back at them, I saw that Tama and Pochi were looking at me expectantly, so I complimented them on a job well done. 

“We’ll work even harder tomorrow, sir!” 

“Aye!” 

They looked like they were raring to go, but I wished they would play once in a while, too. 

“After we went to pick up Rosannie, I designed a uniform for the orphanage kids. Shorts!” Arisa added proudly. 

Why are you looking at me like you did the hardest job of all? 

“Mia and I went to select instruments for use at the orphanage, I report.” 

“Mm. Harps and xylophones.” 

“They didn’t have any pianos?” 

I felt like an orphanage should have a piano or organ, like a kindergarten or grade school music class. 

“Mrrr?” 

Mia tilted her head. 

“Maybe there are no pianos in this world?” Arisa suggested. 

Sure enough, I didn’t find anything like it in my Storage. 

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any piano-like instruments in any of the nobles’ homes during my old capital tea party marathon, either. 

Hmm? 

For some reason, the word organ did bring up a match. 

A pipe organ, no less. 

It was mentioned in the notes I’d picked up at the dark auction in the old capital. However, it only vaguely outlined the mechanics and didn’t include any detailed schematics. 

Unfortunately, it would be impossible to make one with such little information. I wish they’d included a guide to making a regular piano. 

“Wow, so you made friends with the maids at the viceroy’s castle, Lulu?” 

“Uh-huh. They were all very nice.” 

Lulu was normally very proper, but she took on a relaxed older-sister persona when she conversed with Arisa. 

“What were their uniforms like?” 

“Normal dresses with an apron, I think…” 

Arisa’s eyes glittered. “We’ll have to spread the good word of maid outfits here, too, then! Don’t you agree, master?” “I suppose so.” 

“While we’re at it, I’ll start some new bra and underwear trends, too.” 

“Just don’t go crazy.” 

I didn’t want Arisa to go causing some cultural revolution. 

Although I’d admit that I’d prefer some more modern undies to the rather unsexy kind worn here, too. 

“Are you quite certain it’s all right for me to choose the staff myself?” 

“Yes, of course.” 

The next day, once the morning’s soup kitchen was finished, I was in the parlor of the mansion meeting with an elderly lady Miss Miteruna had introduced me to. 

She was interviewing for the position of director at our new private orphanage. 

Our conversation showed that she was composed and cultured and seemed free of prejudice, since she showed no reaction to the demi-humans Tama and Pochi, so I hired her on the spot. 

Now I was dumping on her the task of hiring the rest of the orphanage staff. 

“That’s a serious responsibility…” 

“It’s all right. I’m sure you can do it.” I tried to ease the concerns of the new director, who looked a little overwhelmed. 

“But to allow me to determine the budget as well as the hiring practices is so…” 

“Don’t worry. You’ll keep obligatory records in a ledger, there will be audits, and we’ll come for observation a few times a year.” 

Arisa chimed in next to me, like a competent secretary. 

For some reason, she was wearing triangular glasses on a little chain and carrying a binder full of files, looking sort of like a cosplayer. 

“Audits and observations?” 

“Yes, it’s standard practice where I come from.” 

The director looked uncomfortable. 

“Please do not misunderstand. We are not taking these actions out of any distrust or doubts.” 

“Then what are they for?” 

“We trust you, you see, Director.” Arisa looked serious. “But others who do not know you may not. Thus, we take these actions so that we can prove to those outside the orphanage that no wrongdoings are going on within.” 

“I see.” 

She had really only rephrased the same information, but the director seemed to accept Arisa’s explanation. 

“Well then, until the construction is complete, I shall seek some permanent employees and a few subordinate workers.” 

“Thank you. Please do.” 

I gave her some money to cover her preparatory costs, and the interview ended. 

On the way back to town, I showed her the construction site and introduced her to the head carpenters, so I could probably entrust those meetings to her in the future, too. 

“There weren’t that many children today.” 

As we headed home from the morning soup kitchen the next day, Arisa made this comment. 

“It was probably because of him.” 

“You think so, too, master?” 

For some reason, the green-clad noble had come to help with the soup kitchen today. 

All he actually did was stand around in the staff area and smile at people, but some of the children had looked repulsed and gone home when they saw him. 

His creepy smile and makeup had probably scared them off. 

“Are you on close terms with that fellow, master?” Lulu asked. 

“No, if anything, I think I’d rather avoid him…” 

“We should chase him off, then!” 

“I agree with Arisa, I declare. That individual’s presence causes the larvae to shrivel, reducing their cuteness points, I report.” 

Even Nana was in favor of getting rid of the green-clad noble. 

“All right. I’ll figure something out.” 

Of course, the counselor was a higher-ranking noble than I was, so I couldn’t just flat-out reject him. 

Besides, I was kind of curious what had motivated him to come in the first place. 

“The viceroy’s wife is having another tea party two days from now, so I’ll see if she can mediate for me then,” I said. 

Arisa and Nana looked relieved at that. 

Oh right… 

“I have a request for you two, as well, if you don’t mind.” 

“Night services?” 

“No.” 

I’m not interested in receiving those from a little girl. 

“I was hoping you could talk to some of the housewives in the neighborhood and see if they’d be interested in taking on a bit of part-time work at the soup kitchen.” 

“Okey-dokey!” 

“Yes, master.” 

The green-clad noble’s supposed reason for coming to help was that we seemed short-staffed; I figured it would help to remove that excuse. 

“How many should we hire?” 

“Let’s see. We can probably pay about three copper coins per person per day, so maybe five… No, enough to fill the staff area to bursting would be even better.” 

“Oh yeah? I’d say we could go up to fifteen, then.” 

With that, Arisa and Nana left the mansion. 

“Plans?” 

“Let me think…” 

Since Mia wanted to help out, I thought for a moment. 

“Could you take Tama and Pochi out to explore around the mansion, then?” 

“Mm.” 

If I left the beastfolk girls to their own devices, they’d just start training again, so I decided to send them out to play under the pretense of guarding Mia. 

“Liza and Lulu, I’ll have you run some errands in town, please.” 

“Of course, sir.” 

“What would you like us to buy?” 

“As many varieties of leafy and root vegetables as you can find. If you could investigate some market prices, too, I’d appreciate it.” 

I wanted to gather information about food supplies for the orphanage and the soup kitchen. 

I handed Liza a pouch filled with copper coins. 

“You can buy something to eat for yourselves, too, if you like.” 

“What? But…” 

“Just to research different flavors. If you want to be a better chef, you’ve got to investigate local cuisine and spices.” 

With that arbitrary excuse, I gave Lulu a gentle prod. 

If I didn’t give them a good reason, the modest Lulu and Liza would never spend money on themselves. 

If it was up to me, I’d let them go out shopping and dining as much as they wanted. 

“Oh, I know. Could you investigate some meat dishes as well as vegetables?” 

“As you wish, sir.” 

Liza’s expression was serious, but her voice was a little higher than usual. I pretended not to notice that her orange-scaled tail was beating against the floor with excitement. 

Once the two of them had happily set out, I headed into the study to teleport to the Ivy Manor. 

“Lelillil, how is everyone doing?” 

I’d come to the Ivy Manor to check on the girls who had been mortally wounded in the fire. 

“They’re still sleeping, sir.” 

“Still?” 

Lelillil led me to the guest room, where the five girls had the Sleep condition. 

“Yes, I’ve used the House Magic spell Sleeping Powder so that outside noise won’t wake them.” 

Now, there’s a spell straight out of a fairy tale. 

“Shall I wake them, sir?” 

“No, I’ve got some business to take care of first.” 

Lelillil and I headed into the basement laboratory. 

I wanted to make a mask for my Kuro identity. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a literal mask. There would be no point in hiding my face with a similar mask to Nanashi the Hero’s when I was going under a different fake name, so I thought I would make a magical Disguise mask with the information I’d found while I was healing Tifaleeza and Neru. 

“Lelillil, fill a cultivation tank with liquid, please.” 

“Of course, sir!” 

Lelillil briskly set about preparing while I readied the equipment to match the instructions in Storage. 

“Lord Satou, would you mind terribly if I was to inquire what you might be making today?” 

Lelillil was being weirdly polite these days. 

“A living mask for a disguise.” 

It was the kind of mask you could peel off, like the ones often seen in mystery stories. 

The elves also had a recipe for a magic tool called a Face Disguise, but it looked like a pain to make, and my Light Magic spell Illusion could accomplish the same thing, so I’d chosen the simpler option this time. 

A clichéd disguise like this had a certain appeal, too. 

Today, I planned to make a disguise for Kuro and another one to wear under Nanashi’s mask. The latter was intended to mislead anyone who suspected that I might be Nanashi by giving him different facial features. 

“Lord Satou, there’s been a change in the cultivation tank.” 

A white film had formed inside the tank to serve as the base for the Disguise mask. 

“Hmm, this is tough. It’s like trying to make a face texture in a 3-D CG program…” 

As I muttered to myself, I realized that I didn’t necessarily have to use the machine’s settings. 

Instead, I used Magic Hand to shape the mask into a face as if sculpting with clay. 

“Maybe I should give Nanashi a woman’s face?” 

I automatically started thinking of my friends and acquaintances, but I shouldn’t use a real person’s face as the base for this. 

It’d cause trouble for that person if I was out there wearing their face as Nanashi the Hero. 

No, I should use the face of someone who definitely didn’t exist in this world. 

So I based Nanashi’s face on that of someone I knew in my old world—someone I knew well enough to picture even if I hadn’t seen their face in a long time. 

“…Oops. I may have made her a bit too pretty.” 

I’d used the face of my childhood friend, but it came out probably around three times cuter than the real thing. 

Well, that would probably be fine for Nanashi’s face. 

“I’ll give Kuro a man’s face.” 

Since it was supposed to be a disguise and all, maybe I should make a super-macho face that was nothing like my own? 

I pictured a Hollywood action star as I made the second mask. 

Important characters have to have distinguishing features! 

That’s what Mr. Tubs, the director-planner at my job in my original world, was always shouting at the designers. 

He’d said it was easier for actors to remember characters if they had noticeable traits to associate with them. 

“Distinguishing features, huh…?” 

I decided to fall back on some old clichés, like heterochromia and a scar on one cheek. 

“Maybe I’ll make his hair and eyebrows an unusual color, too?” 

Muttering aloud as I worked, I came up with a pretty good disguise, no less unnatural than special-effects makeup from a movie. 

While I was at it, I used the hair I’d cut off Tifaleeza to make a white wig. 

Then I made red and blue contacts out of colored glass, resulting in a look akin to old-school 3-D glasses. 

“All right. That’s pretty distinguishing.” 

Trying it on, I thought the end result looked pretty good. 

Then I made a masquerade-style mask to cover the top half of my face, ensuring that the cheek scar was still visible below. 

This way, instead of showing the whole face from the get-go, just allowing glimpses under the mask would already give the impression that I was someone other than Satou. Then people would already be imagining a different face when they saw it. 

However, when I looked at the result in the mirror, something felt off. 

“It’s rather different-looking from the people of this nation, isn’t it?” Lelillil inquired. 

“Yes, it’s based on someone from my homeland.” I frowned, trying to figure out the cause of the strangeness. “Maybe I need more height and broader shoulders?” 

I was pretty slender for a man, so my body didn’t match up with the face of a foreign actor. 

Well, some shoulder pads and six-inch platform shoes oughtta cover for that. 

With that, I’d settled on Kuro’s default style. 

When I was disguised as Kuro, I figured I would model my voice and personality after an assassin the actor in question had played. If I remembered right, he was a brusque, arrogant character. 

That was a little more basic than I intended, but I could always get some pointers from the expert cosplayer Arisa later. 

Checking my log, I found that I’d acquired some new skills and titles. 

> Skill Acquired: “Masquerade” 

> Title Acquired: Mystery Man 

> Title Acquired: Master of Disguise 

It seemed a little late for the “Masquerade” skill at this point, but making the masks must have been what satisfied the requirements. 

Regardless, it’d probably come in handy, so I put the max amount of skill points into it and activated it right away. 

“Now, Lelillil.” 

Once I’d finished getting dressed up as Kuro, I decided to see how the burn victims were doing, since that was why I had come to the Ivy Manor. 

“Right away, sir. ? Wake Up Kakusei.” 

Lelillil broke the House Magic spell, and the girls awoke at once. 

“Wh-where are we?” 

“What happened?” 

“There was…a fire…wasn’t there?” 

The girls patted their faces and peered under their clothes, checking their skin for burns. 

Only the redheaded Neru and the silver-haired beauty Tifaleeza remained motionless, staring blankly at the ceiling without bothering to check on their bodies, since they’d had serious burns to begin with. 

Their eyes looked glazed over, as if they’d given up on life. 

“I can…see?” 

Finally, Tifaleeza slowly reached up and put a hand over her right eye. 

The light slowly began to return to her face. 

“What’s going on?” 

“See for yourself.” 

I placed a hand mirror in front of them. They looked reluctant for a moment, then their eyes widened as they saw their reflections. 

Once they’d patted their hair and faces, they quickly threw aside the blankets that covered them and pulled off their clothes. 

Beautiful. 

Even though I was accustomed to seeing the peerless beauty known as Lulu, I was enraptured by their immaculate bare skin. 

My heart already belonged to Miss Aaze in Bolenan Forest, but if this had been before I’d met her, and Tifaleeza were a bit older, I might have fallen for her in a second. 

“Tifa?” 

Neru stared at Tifaleeza in shock, so I handed her another mirror. 

“N-n-n-n-n-no way! You’re tellin’ me those burns of yours healed just like that?!” 

The young redhead, Neru, spoke surprisingly like a street thug. 

Part of her hair stuck straight up, as if to express her surprise. 

On an anime character (usually a slow-witted one), you’d call it an ahoge. At any rate, it suited her alarmingly well. 

“Whoooooooa, you gotta be kidding me! My body’s healed up, too, y’know!” 

Casting off her clothes, she exclaimed in shock as she looked at her own skin. 

Why do you need to take all of it off? 

As the buck naked Neru set about checking every square inch of her body for burns, I turned around and looked away. 

Unfortunately, that put the equally naked Tifaleeza back in view. 

There was bare flesh every which way I looked, so I decided to wait in the hallway until they relaxed. 

“Calm down already, damn it! …If you please.” 

After a while, I heard Lelillil shouting inside the room. 

She must have gotten tired of waiting. 

“How long are you going to make Lord Kuro wait? After he used all those valuable potions to heal your sorry asses! Erm, young ladies.” 

Fortunately, she seemed to have remembered to refer to me as Kuro in front of these young women. 

Once Lelillil called for me, I came back into the room. 

…Huh? 

For some reason, the girls were all prostrate on the floor. 

“““Thank you so much, Lord Kuro!””” 

Well, I guess Lelillil had mentioned that I’d healed everyone. 

“Are you ladies feeling okay?” 

The girls all raised their heads and nodded frantically. 

“Your master seems to have died. If you have somewhere to go home to, I’ll take you there.” 

At this, they looked at one another but didn’t respond. 

Technically, since slaves were considered property here, their master’s next of kin might have the right to inherit them, but after their narrow brush with death, I doubted there would be any punishment for setting them free. 

Of course, if someone did come forward to claim them, I would just pay them off myself. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Touching their own skin and the beds around them as if checking for something, the young ladies continued to exchange glances silently. 

Finally, one of them worked up the courage to throw herself back on the floor and shout. 

“I—I have the ‘Analyze’ skill, sir. Please allow me to be your slave—I promise to be of use to you.” 

“I—I only have the ‘Sewing’ skill, but I’ll do anything you want. Please make me your slave.” 

“I can read and write! I can do math, too! So please allow me to serve you, master.” 

The other two girls followed suit, asking me to make them my slaves. 

“They’re all desperate to impose on your goodwill, sir.” 

At Lelillil’s scornful comment, I understood their reasoning. 

I sympathized with the girls’ plight, and I would be happy to help them get back on their feet as commoners, but I certainly didn’t need any more slaves. 

“““P-please, master!””” 

“I don’t need slaves.” 

At that, the three girls all hung their heads. 

“You two aren’t going to beg, whelp—erm, young ladies?” 

“Slave or not, Lord Kuro, I swear I’ll pay ya back for healin’ me.” 

Judging by her dramatic reaction to her burns being healed, my guess that Neru’s burns predated the recent fire must have been correct. 

“I know my face and body ain’t all that, so I dunno if I could satisfy ya as far as services of the night go, but I can do Everyday Magic, y’know! I swear I’ll be useful to ya!” 

Everyday Magic certainly is handy. 

Neru’s level was in the single digits, which meant she probably didn’t have much magic capacity, but surely she could eke out a living without having to become anyone’s slave. 

“Me too. I was a secretary at the castle in Lessau County. My only skills are ‘Heraldry’ and ‘Name Order,’ so that might not be of much use, but I’ll gladly take care of any filing and accounting. I promise to work three times harder than anyone else.” 

Tifaleeza sounded like a bit of a workaholic. 

More importantly, though—the “Name Order” skill? 

Perfect timing. She could help me out with a few things. 

“Tifaleeza, was it? I do have a bit of work for you, actually. I’ll send Lelillil to fetch you and bring you to my private room later.” 

“Y-yes, sir.” 

Tifaleeza nodded nervously. 

“It’s the face, isn’t it?” Neru grumbled quietly. 

She was off the mark, though. My interest was solely in having Tifaleeza use her “Name Order” skill to put some pseudonyms on things. 

“I’ll let you girls stay here awhile. If you don’t have any leads for jobs, tell Lelillil what you’re interested in doing later. I’ll see what I can find for you.” 

It wouldn’t sit well with my conscience to send them out into the world only to have them end up selling themselves, so I didn’t mind helping them find new work. 

“Wait a minute, Lord Kuro, if ya don’t mind.” Neru held up a hand. “Me and Tifa are criminal slaves. Unless we get the king’s pardon or something, we can’t be set free. If ya send us away, we’ll probably hafta serve as coal miner slaves day and night, y’know.” 

Tears filled Neru’s eyes; Tifaleeza looked pale, too. 

“Criminal slaves? What did you young whelps do?” Lelillil asked. 

“We just rejected a lord who got a little too handsy, that’s all.” 

“I wouldn’t call a man who barged into the baths, used drugs to incapacitate girls, and forced them to do things they didn’t want to do ‘a little too handsy.’” 

According to the two of them, they had rejected Count Lessau’s sexual harassment, which resulted in them receiving Treachery Brands on their backs and becoming slaves. 

“That pervy bastard burned my and Tifa’s bodies while he was branding us, too,” Neru said distantly. 

The idea that a feudal lord would burn young girls just for rejecting his advances was horrifying. 

If that was the sort of thing that went on in Lessau County, we’d have to stay far away. 

“Sounds like you had it pretty rough…” 

I remembered the burn scars that had covered Tifaleeza’s body. 

At times like this, I was ashamed that I didn’t have the vocabulary to produce better words of comfort. 

Noticing my gaze, Tifaleeza clarified with cold eyes. 

“No, I already had burns before that happened. When I was a child, my stepmother said she didn’t like the vacant look on my face, and she burned me.” 

Tifaleeza seemed to be a deeply unlucky young woman. 

“I see. Well, I hope you find happiness from now on to make up for all that misfortune.” 

Now that I had healed her, she would have no shortage of suitors, so surely she’d be able to find a suitable person to marry. 

“…Thank you.” 

I patted Tifaleeza’s head gently, then left the room. 

I’d intended to have her use the “Name Order” skill for me immediately, but I didn’t want to put her to work right after forcing her to recall her difficult past. It could wait until that night. 

For now, I decided to consult with a man-about-town in the downtown area and see if I could find someone to take the girls in. 

If they did, I’d have to bargain with them to make sure the young women were legally freed. 

“Take care of them for me, please.” 

“Yes, Lord Kuro.” 

With that, I went into town disguised as Kuro. 

Now, how exactly do you find a man-about-town? 

I’d made it to downtown, at least, but I probably should have gone into this with more of a plan. 

“Yo, fella with the white hair, never seen you round these parts before. Got some business here?” 

The punk who came up to me looked familiar. 

It was the man who’d claimed to be in charge of things around here during that fire incident. 

“Skopi of the Mud Scorpions, was it? I’ve got a question for you.” 

“Hunh? Don’t just go throwing my name around! I’ve never met you in my life, asshole!” 

Oops, that’s right. I wasn’t wearing this disguise when I met him. 

Producing a pouch of coins from my breast pocket, I tossed it to the man. 

“That’s a fat chunk of change… Whaddaya want?” 

“I need information.” 

“Information?” 

“Yeah. I’m looking for someone.” 

I asked about the girls’ former master, using the details they’d shared with me. 

“Sorry. That guy’s dead.” 

“Do you know if he had any family?” 

“What, he owe you money or somethin’?” 

“No, the opposite. I owe him a debt. If he has family, I’d like to pay them instead.” 

I went with this story so that he wouldn’t try to protect their information. 

“If I’m not wrong, he didn’t even have any friends or lovers, never mind family.” 

“I see…” 

If there was no one to inherit his former slaves, then my work here was done. 

I started to turn to leave, but then Skopi said something that caught my attention. 

“’Sides, even if he did have family, they’d never show their faces.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“’Cause he’s the one who started that fire.” 

Well, that was unexpected. 

“I thought he was a slave trader?” 

“Technically, he ran a general store. But really, he was just a dumbass who only had eyes for money.” 

According to Skopi, Mr. Dumbass had come up with a new money-making scheme: raising oil slimes on garbage scraps, only to accidentally cause a fire with them. 

The theory behind the scheme was sound enough, but attempting it in a downtown area full of easily flammable buildings showed something of a lack of foresight. 

“Well, this is for his funeral. Give the rest to the families of the other fire victims, yeah?” 

I produced a bag of around fifty gold coins from the Item Box and tossed it to Skopi. 

Technically there was no reason for me to give money in place of Mr. Dumbass, but I sort of felt as if I’d stolen the slave girls from him, so I gave an amount to match their value. 

Because I was doing it only for my own satisfaction, I didn’t really intend to investigate whether Skopi actually distributed the money as I’d asked. 

Peering inside the bag, Skopi let out a low whistle. 

“Good-bye.” 

Without further ado, I left the area. 

“We explored lots and lots today, sir!” 

“And drew pictuuures?” 

As we ate our dinner of meat and potatoes, Tama, Pochi, and Mia told me about their exploration of the land near the house. 

Tama had even produced a sort of sightseeing map of the area. 

Her art had gotten even better than before, easily on par with a professional. 

“This is very good. Great job, Tama.” 

“Nee-hee-hee…?” 

Seeing Tama get patted on the head seemed to spark Pochi’s competitive side; she started rummaging through the Fairy Pack hanging off her chair. 

“I got you this, and this, and this, sir.” 

She pulled out an assortment of unusual acorns, pretty rocks, and so on, lining them up on the table. 

“Pochi, we’re in the middle of a meal. You can give out gifts after we’ve finished eating.” 

“…Yes, sir.” At Liza’s gentle admonition, Pochi reluctantly put the items back in her bag. “Food is important, sir.” 

“Oui, oui!” 

With their beloved forks and spoons in hand, Pochi and Tama dug into the meal. 

There was an incredible variety of meat-and-potato dishes lined up on the table, probably as part of Rosie and Annie’s training. 

Aside from the konjak variation, they had all been made using ingredients straight from Labyrinth City. 

This included plenty of Celivera beef purchased from the ranch next door, so there was enough to satisfy even the carnivorous beastfolk girls. 

“Yummy.” 

Once the beastfolk girls had eaten all the meat for her, Mia munched away happily on the potatoes, carrots, and konjak. 

She seemed to be hungrier than usual today, perhaps because of all the exploring with Pochi and Tama. 

“Did you have fun, too, Mia?” 

“Mm. Concert.” 

“Mia played music next to a lake, and a bunch of grannies and grampies came to listen, sir.” 

“Gave us snaaacks?” 

Checking the map, I found that there was a small reservoir near the farmland, which was probably the place in question. 

It sounded like they’d befriended some locals in addition to their exploring. 

“What about you, Lulu? Did you find any interesting ingredients?” 

“Oh yes!” Lulu nodded with a sparkling smile. “I tried using it for our dessert.” 

“Dessert” turned out to be yogurt topped with something that resembled raisins. 

“Are these dates?” 

Arisa was able to identify them with a single bite. 

“They’re called dates? The merchant called them natsumeyashi…” 

“Either way is correct. Dates are the fruit of the natsumeyashi tree.” 

The sweetness of the dates paired well with the faintly sour yogurt. They would probably be tasty raw, too, or as a snack with alcohol. 

Evidently, dates were hard to come by here, as explorers tended to buy them up despite their high price. 

What’s more, they were delivered only by “desert people” who came through a desert west of Labyrinth City to sell them, so they were on the market only a few times a month. 

After we’d enjoyed our dessert, I went to the storehouse to check out the spoils of Lulu’s and Liza’s hard work. 

“There were many unusual vegetables, as well.” 

Lulu had bought things like white carrots and purple lotus roots. 

“There were many restaurants selling stir-fried vegetables cooked with garlic sprouts and chives.” 

“And many meat dishes, as well.” 

Next, they showed me the meat they’d purchased. 

“This certainly is a lot of variety.” 

“We didn’t even buy all the options available!” 

Lulu wore an expression of disbelief. Apparently, there was quite a wide array of meat in Labyrinth City. 

“Satou, miasma.” Mia tugged on my sleeve. 

“…You’re right.” 

Sure enough, there was miasma clinging to the meat Lulu and Liza had purchased. 

I’d seen it on the snacks being sold at stalls around the city, too; it seemed like the butchers in Labyrinth City weren’t particularly wary of miasma. 

“What? Oh no, did we buy something that’s not safe to eat?” 

“I am terribly sorry, master. We selected only the most delicious products from our taste testing, so I never suspected such a thing…” 

“No, no, it’s not a big deal.” I reassured the panicked Lulu and apologetic Liza. “It might have had some side effects if we continued eating it for a long time, but generally, it’s only a concern for the sick or feeble.” 

Maybe the reason so many people in Labyrinth City had miasma poisoning was that the monster meat wasn’t purified properly. 

It might be worth mentioning to the viceroy’s wife at the next tea party. 

“Does miasma make it tasty, sir?” 

“Reallyyy?” 

Pochi and Tama looked at Liza questioningly. 

Liza looked puzzled. “I’m not certain about that, but all these meats were certainly delicious.” 

Hmm. I guess I never considered whether it affected the flavor. 

“Let’s test it out, shall we?” 

I cut off two slices each of five different kinds of meat, used a Holy Stone to remove the miasma from half of them, and grilled them up with a cooking magic tool. 

They would’ve tasted better cooked over charcoal, but that would’ve been a pain to set up, so I decided to take the easy route. 

“Smells gooood?” 

“Meat is still the best, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi were presumably still stuffed from dinner, but the smell of meat cooking made them drool anyway. 

I could give them some miasma-free meat later, I decided. 

“Wait! Sir.” 

As I was about to put the meat in my mouth, Pochi stopped me. 

Did she want to eat it that badly? 

“Poisooon?” 

“We have to make sure you’re safe, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi nodded seriously. 

Miasma isn’t really poison per se, but… Well, all right. 

“I’ll have you two test it for me, then.” 

“Aye-aaaye!” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi grinned and chomped into the meat. 

As they chewed, Pochi’s tail whipped back and forth rhythmically, and Tama’s cat tail undulated in the air. 

They seemed to have completely forgotten about the poison testing. Noticing my amused expression, Pochi quickly cleared her throat and said, “I-it’s not like that, sir!” 

“Well, we know it’s safe now, thanks to your noble sacrifice, so why don’t we all taste it together?” 

I started grilling up enough meat for everyone else. 

I could always just purify the miasma afterward. As long as I did it before the meat started digesting, it shouldn’t be a problem. 

As far as the taste went… 

“They pretty much seem the same to me.” 

“Really? The kind with miasma is a little tougher, and I detect a note of bitterness, almost.” 

I couldn’t tell the difference, but our resident chef Lulu certainly could. 

“Bitter but powerfuuul?” 

“It’s a little tough, but it feels like it’s making me stronger, sir.” 

“I don’t taste any bitterness, but I do sense some degree of power rising within me, as Pochi said.” 

The beastfolk girls all had their own preferences, too. 

“Wow, it actually is increasing my stats.” 

Checking her own status, Arisa confirmed the beastfolk girls’ suspicions. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Not as much as ‘Body Strengthening’ from magic or a skill, but still, it’s there.” 

Well, it didn’t taste any better, and the increase in power seemed to be only slight, so it probably wasn’t worth risking the danger of eating it. 

When we had the deep-fried-whale festival in the old capital, I remembered Arisa saying that her strength and stamina had temporarily gone up by a full 10 percent for a while after she ate it. 

As far as raising stats, whale meat might be the way to go. 

I used a Holy Stone to purify the miasma from the rest of the meat, then put it away in the refrigerator to eat the following evening. 

Of course, I also had everyone who’d eaten the miasma meat stand in the blue light of a Holy Stone afterward. 

“Arisa, were you able to hire the part-timers?” 

Once we reconvened with Mia and Nana and retired to the living room to relax, I asked Arisa how her employee hunt had gone. 

“Yup, I hired plenty. Seventeen people for two copper coins each.” 

It was more people than I’d expected, but that was no problem. 

“Our neighbor said she could make announcements and gather people into lines, so I figured we could pay her one large copper coin.” 

“All right, sounds good.” 

It would be nice to have someone else keeping things organized. 

“Master.” Nana trotted over to me. “I received information about larvae production from the housewives, I report.” 

I have a bad feeling about this. 

“According to my findings, it involves sharing a bed in the nude—” 

“Not a chance!” 

“Mm, forbidden.” 

Nana started to lift the hem of her dress, but Arisa and Mia grabbed her arms in a flash. 

Thanks to the iron-wall pair’s efforts, all I saw was a glimpse of Nana’s belly. 

“Why do you intervene? I inquire.” 

“You mustn’t do that before marriage! It’s disgraceful, you know. You’re not married to Satou, so you mustn’t have children with him. Understood? You do understand, right? So no seducing, okay? You have to promise!” 

Mia was in such a state that she went into one of her rare lengthy rants. 

“Master, do you not want me to bear your child? I inquire.” Nana’s face was expressionless as always, but her voice had taken on a strangely sexy tone. 

Now, that was a difficult question to answer. 

I would never even think of her as someone to have children with, but even Nana’s feelings would be hurt if I said that so bluntly, so I had to come up with a better way to phrase it. 

“I’ve got first dibs! And Lulu has dibs even before me!” 

“O-oh, Arisa…” 

“Mrrr. Fiancé. Parents approved.” 

Arisa’s interference made Lulu turn bright red, and Mia narrowed her eyes in opposition. 

“Tama, toooo?” 

“Pochi, too, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi joined in, too, but they probably didn’t really understand what was going on. 

I decided to use this distraction to delicately change the subject. 

“Nana, there’s no need for all that. There will be plenty of children at the orphanage soon enough.” 

“Master! How many days is ‘soon enough’? I inquire!” 

Nana took the bait. 

“Well, the building will be done in about a trimoon—ten days—so I imagine we’ll start taking in children a few days after that.” 

At that, Nana fell into a stunned silence. 

Apparently, this was a longer wait than she’d expected. 

“Don’t worry—they’ll be here before you know it.” 

“Yes, master.” 

I patted Nana’s shoulder comfortingly, then told everyone to take a bath. 

“Oh? What about you, master?” 

“I still have some business to attend to, so I’ll just clean up with Everyday Magic.” 

“Awww…” 

Ignoring Arisa’s disappointment, I headed to the study. 

“Hmm. It’s a little later than I had planned.” 

Disguised as Kuro, I returned to the Ivy Manor and headed toward the private room-slash-study I’d had prepared for me. 

On the way to the room, I asked Lelillil to get Tifaleeza for me. 

“What’s this?” 

For some reason, all the lights in the room were off except the footlights. 

Between the light of the full moon from the window and my “Night Vision” skill, however, I could still see perfectly. 

That said, it would probably frighten Tifaleeza if all the lights were off when she came to my room, so I opened my magic menu to activate Mana Light. 

“…Lord Kuro.” 

I paused mid-menu and looked to the door, where Tifaleeza had entered. 

“Sorry it got so late. I know I said I’d call for you after—” 

…Huh? 

For some reason, Tifaleeza was clad in some skimpy negligee. 

Worse, she didn’t seem to be wearing underwear. 

As the door closed behind her, I heard Neru whisper, “You got this, Tifa!” 

My vague phrasing appeared to have caused a serious misunderstanding. 

Then I heard a soft rustling noise. 

As I was still kicking myself for my carelessness, things were moving way too quickly. 

The silky lingerie had fallen to the floor at Tifaleeza’s feet, and the moonlight now fell on her beautiful bare skin, giving her a mystical allure. 

Her head was tilted slightly downward, her expression hidden by her wavy hair. 

Uh-oh, this is bad. 

For just an instant, I was transfixed by her beauty. 

“…Put this on.” 

I pulled a plain overcoat out of the Item Box and gave it to Tifaleeza. 

Once she’d put it on, I used the Mana Light spell. 

“…It seems I failed to explain myself properly. I didn’t call you here to demand some love affair.” 

If I needed something like that, I’d pay a visit to the lovely ladies who specialized in that sort of thing in the red-light district. 

“Th-then what…?” 

“I need one of your skills.” 

At that, Tifaleeza’s beet-red face went completely blank. 

Somehow, I got the sense that I may have hurt her maidenly feelings, but I decided that was best left to her redheaded friend, Neru, to handle later. 

“Tifaleeza, give me a new name.” 

“Very well. What sort of name would you like?” 

Her cool eyes betrayed no emotion as I listed some random names of famous people from Earth. 

“Lord Kuro, even if I give you multiple names, only the last one will matter. Is that all right?” 

“Yes, that’s fine.” 

Tifaleeza nodded and began the chant in a calm, clear voice. 

“? Name Order Meimei: Trismegistus.” 

This was the name I’d spread around for the creator of the light-stone accessories I made in the old capital. If I remembered right, he was a famous alchemist in my old world. 

Once Tifaleeza finished her chant, she tilted her head in puzzlement. 

“Master, I’m terribly sorry. I believe that ‘Name Order’ may have failed.” 

I opened my menu to see what she meant. 

My name in my social networking tab was indeed still Kuro. Checking the list of options in that tab and my status tab, I found that Trismegistus had indeed been added. 

“I’ve never actually seen it happen before, but I have heard rumors that if one has received a name from someone particularly powerful, it may be impossible to overwrite it afterward.” 

Not knowing that her skill had done what I needed anyway, Tifaleeza offered a reason why her “Name Order” might have failed. 

In this case, it must be because the name Kuro had been given to me by the powerful black dragon Hei Long. 

“It’s all right if it fails. Give me the next name, please.” 

“V-very well, if that is your wish…” 

She sounded as if she wanted to object, but her cool composure quickly returned, and she continued with “Name Order.” 

Once she’d gotten through the third name, she was running low on magic, so I used the Practical Magic spell Mana Transfer to supply her with more until she’d given me ten or so different names. 

In addition to major names like Aristotle and Hephaestus, I also included throwaway names like Akindoh and Kaja, adapted from the Japanese words for merchant and blacksmith respectively. 

“Thank you.” 

“I-I’m pleased I was able to be of some use to you.” 

Despite her affirmative answer, Tifaleeza looked woozy. 

“Tired?” 

“N-no, I can keep going…” 

The cycle of “Name Order” and receiving Mana Transfers had probably been exhausting. 

I sent her back to her room to rest, warning her not to tell anyone else. 

“T-Tifa, ya finished already?” 

Neru must have been waiting for her outside the room; I heard her concerned voice. 

Judging by the number of lights on my radar, the other girls were there as well. 

“Whoa, ya look wiped! What kinda role-play were ya doing in there?!” 

Clearly, Neru still had the wrong idea. 

You really think we’d be done already if that was what we were doing? 

Though I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at Neru, I had to admire her for waiting in the dark hallway to make sure her friend was all right. 

However, that admiration quickly evaporated. 

“Okay, my turn next!” 

Neru charged into the room half-naked, so I spun her around at the door and sent her right back out. 

“Huh? Oh, I get it. This is that ‘neglect play,’ right? I dunno. I’m still new to this. That kinda advanced stuff might be beyond me…” 

Ignoring her, I headed toward the teleportation mirror. 

““““Lord Kuro, if one’s not enough for you, take all four of us!””” 

Neru and the other three girls all barged in without so much as a knock this time. 

I was on the verge of slapping my forehead in frustration, but I managed to resist, since that wouldn’t fit Kuro’s image. 

Oh, I know. 

“As I already told Tifaleeza, I have no intention of demanding love affairs from any of you.” 

“C’mon, man, I’m offering here—” 

“More importantly, I have something to ask you all.” Neru started to say something ridiculous, so I quickly cut her off. “Put some clothes on and meet me in the living room.” 

““““…Y-yes, sir.”””” 

The four girls looked oddly disappointed, but I edged around them and went to the living room. 

The girls gathered there before long, and I asked them about what had happened when the fire broke out. 

“We were feeding the creatures in the basement when the oil slimes suddenly started going crazy.” 

“Normally they were very calm, but then they suddenly started crashing around and escaped their buckets.” 

This was the math girl and the sewing girl. 

The oil slimes had gotten upstairs and caught fire, trapping the girls in the basement. 

“Lord Kuro!” Neru shouted my name and hopped up. “Right before those two came running, I saw a weird pink-colored slime, y’know!” 

“Oh right, you were all worked up over that.” 

The “Analyze” girl nodded. 

Come to think of it, the slime at the building I’d rescued them from had an unusual pink core. 

According to the girls, oil slimes were normally an ocher color. 

“Did you see any suspicious-looking people or anyone doing anything strange?” 

The young women looked at one another. 

“Everyone who hung around there was suspicious, y’know.” 

The other girls all nodded in agreement with Neru. 

“I’m not sure whether this is suspicious, but…,” Tifaleeza spoke up hesitantly. “A middle-aged man dressed all in green used to visit our master from time to time.” 

“Oh yeah, the guy who was always going ‘indeed, indeed.’” 

Well, that was unexpected… Mm, actually, I could believe that. 

If this were a mystery show, though, I guarantee that character would be a red herring. 

“Do you know what he was doing there?” 

The girls exchanged glances again. 

As far as they could tell, they said, he just showed up and had friendly, meaningless conversations with their master. 

From that information, it almost sounded like they were friends, but Tifaleeza and the others said it hadn’t seemed that way at all. 

“And was he there on the day of the fire?” 

“No, he didn’t show up once that—” 

“I saw him.” Tifaleeza interrupted the “Analyze” girl. “He didn’t visit our master, but I saw him from the window, walking around near our building.” 

“When was that?” 

“Not long before Neru started shouting that she’d seen a pink slime.” 

Mentally, I started sorting the girls’ testimonies into chronological order. 

• The green-clad noble had sometimes visited and spoken with their master. 

• Shortly after Tifaleeza had seen the green-clad noble, Neru discovered the pink slime. 

• The normally docile oil slimes had gone wild and escaped. 

• The oil slimes had caught aflame somehow, causing the massive fire. 

That about summed it up. 

My arbitrary logic would conclude “the green-clad noble somehow set the pink slime on the oil slimes to send them running wild and started the fire,” but…that probably wasn’t it. 

I saw no reason for the green-clad noble to start a fire like that, and even if he had wanted to, he probably would’ve just sent an underling to do so. 

If I were the protagonist of a mystery drama, I’d probably go interrogate him about why he was seen at the site of the fire, but I didn’t want to stick my nose where it didn’t belong. 

Sure, if the chance arose, I’d ask him a question or two, but there was nothing to be gained except satisfying my own curiosity. 

As always, it generally pays to let sleeping dogs lie. 

“…I-it’s quite busy today, indeed.” 

Between the power of the housewives and the sheer size of our staff, the green-clad noble was unable to get into the staff area of the soup kitchen this time and had to stand off to the side and mutter. 

“Good morning, Lord Poputema.” 

“Sir Pendragon. Good morning, indeed.” 

I made my way around behind him and greeted him with a smile. 

“I’m on my way to investigate the scene of the fire. Would you like to come along, Lord Poputema?” 

“Are you certain you should be leaving the soup kitchen, indeed?” 

“Yes, with this much assistance, there’s no need for a noble like me to help out.” 

I’d decided to tactfully imply that his help was also unnecessary and lure him away from the area by sacrificing myself instead. 

At least now the kids would be able to come without fear. 

“They’re rebuilding faster than I expected.” 

Many of the houses had collapsed due to the flammable mortar, but more than half had retained their basic structures, at least. 

We walked along the road, taking care not to prevent the soot-blackened workers from doing their jobs. 

Seeing our noble attire, some people furrowed their brows or even spit on the ground; far from reprimanding them, however, the green-clad noble smiled as if he was enjoying every bit of it. 

As usual, his mismatched expressions made him very difficult to read. 

“Many of the roofs are still burned, indeed.” 

Sure enough, most of the houses still lacked roofs—probably because it took time to dry the grass needed for thatching. 

It didn’t usually rain in Labyrinth City, but winds from the west often carried sand from across the mountains, so a roof was certainly a necessity. 

After observing like this for a while, the green-clad noble stopped and looked at one of the intact buildings. 

“Many of the homes around here are burned, but this one appears to be fine, indeed.” 

“Do you know the owner of the house, Lord Poputema?” 

“Not at all, indeed. I don’t know anyone who would live in a place like this, indeed.” 

He quickly denied my off-the-cuff inquiry. 

It didn’t seem like he was lying, but considering that he’d been working for the Ashinen family’s intelligence agency for years now, it was probably no trouble at all to deceive me. 

I didn’t want to keep poking the hornet’s nest, so I decided not to press him for more information. 

I’m not a superhero or a detective or anything like that. 

Once Arisa contacted me with Telephone to let me know that the soup kitchen and volunteer work was over, I ended my green-clad-noble diversion strategy and headed back toward the plaza. 

“Done already, indeed?” 

“Yes, I think I’ve seen enough.” 

“Then I shall return to the viceroy’s estate, too, indeed.” 

Parting ways with the green-clad noble was no small relief as I walked away. 

“The thinner areas have gotten darker, too, indeed. That squishy pink sphere was a wonderful thing, indeed.” 

Hearing the green-clad noble talk to himself, I turned around, but he was nowhere to be seen among the other people walking downtown. 

His words didn’t make any sense to me, but for some reason, they lingered unpleasantly in my mind. 

“All right, our work is done for the day. You’re all free to use the rest of your time however you please.” 

I attempted to convince my group to go have fun. 

Miss Miteruna and the others had already left with the soup kitchen supplies, so there wasn’t really anything else left to be done. 

“Are you going exploring again today, Pochi and Tama?” 

“Aaaye?” 

“I’m going to draw a map, too, this time, sir.” 

Pochi held up a little sketchbook from her Fairy Pack, evidently feeling competitive with Tama. 

“It might be hard to draw with that. You should take a little board with you, too.” 

I produced two boards from Storage by way of the Garage Bag, used the Multitool spell to make a few small holes, and attached a clamp for the paper and strings so they could wear them around their necks. Then I handed the completed portable drawing boards to Pochi and Tama. 

“Yaaay!” 

“Thank you, sir!” 

“Thankeeee?” 

Tama and Pochi did a little dance for joy. 

“It’s a contest, sir!” 

“I won’t looooose?” 

With that, the pair ran off with the boards in hand. 

They were probably going to have a map-drawing competition. 

“If you run into any trouble, just yell for me!” I called after them. 

“Aye-aaaye!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

Looking over their shoulders, Tama and Pochi waved as they dashed away. 

“I’m going back to the mansion to give Rosie and Annie cooking lessons.” 

“Mm, concert.” 

Mia must be heading back to that pond to put on another show for the elderly. 

“And you, Liza? More market research?” 

“No, I would hate to squander your—” 

“It’s not squandering. Finding out what products are sold in Labyrinth City is very important.” 

With that, I handed her a bag of silver coins. 

I would gladly give her an allowance of gold coins if she wanted, but I got the impression she’d be afraid to use them, so I was sticking with silver coins until she got used to shopping. 

Once Liza set out, that left only Nana and Arisa. 

“Master, I would like candy, I request.” 

It seemed odd for Nana to ask that out of the blue, but I shrugged and handed her a piece of candy. 

“Not just one. I would like a lot of candy, I request.” 

“A lot?” 

“Arisa has informed me that sweets are the best way to entice children to be fawned over, I report.” 

I glanced at Arisa, who silently pressed her palms together in an apologetic pose. 

Since she seemed to regret her actions already, I probably didn’t need to punish her this time. 

“Here. I have a lot of leftover candy that I made from honey and ugi sugar a while back, so you can take a bunch of that.” 

“Thank you, master.” 

I gave Nana a bag of about a hundred candies, and she bounced away happily toward the guild. 

“You sure? Isn’t that candy expensive?” 

“It’s fine. I’ve still got plenty of both ingredients.” 

That might have been a big deal a while ago, but now that I had connections in Lalagi, the Kingdom of Sorcery, and could procure massive amounts of sugar easily, I didn’t have to be so sparing with it. 

I could go back to Lalagi at any time by using the Return spell repeatedly, and since I was buying it from the source, it was ten times cheaper than in the Shiga Kingdom. 

Now, what am I going to do today? 

I had plenty of options, but I supposed I would probably just do some crafting with monster materials. 

“Master, let’s go on a date!” 

Arisa grabbed my arm, rubbing her cheek against it like a cat. 

She looked so innocent that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse. 

Oh well. I guess I can enjoy some crafting later tonight. 

“Want to shop around Labyrinth City’s magic tools or something, then?” 

“Okey-dokey! Rosie told me about a side street where you can find some serious bargains, so let’s go there!” 

Led by the excited Arisa, I soon found myself on a twisting street populated by mid-ranking explorers. 

“Huh. It’s got a sort of topsy-turvy charm, doesn’t it?” 

The shops on this street were largely long and narrow buildings with small entrances. 

“Right? I’m excited to sniff out some of those bargains Rosie was talking about!” 

Arisa pointed at my eyes and grinned. 

She was probably suggesting that I use my “Analyze” skill to scout out the best bargains. 

It felt a bit like cheating, but it was probably all right in moderation. 

“Hey, this ring looks pretty awesome, right?” 

Arisa held up an ornately decorated bronze ring. It contained a semitransparent white stone engraved with a rune of strength. 

“That there’s a real magic ring that makes yer weapons stronger simply by wearin’ it! Normally it’d be a hundred and twenty gold coins, but…” 

Damn, that’s steep. 

There was no way it should be that expensive. It was just a bronze ring with a single rune. 

Even at a stretch, a few gold coins would already be a high-enough price. 

According to my “Estimation” skill, its market price was more in the range of one to six silver coins. 

“…You look like a promising young fellow, so I’ll sell it to ya special for only fifteen gold coins!” 

“It only raises your strength stat by three points,” Arisa murmured to me. 

She’d put on the ring at some point and must have analyzed herself. 

For such a tiny bonus, you’d be better off just eating fried whale as you fought. 

“I could maybe do three silver coins.” 

“Tch! If ya don’t even know the value of a magic ring, get outta my store!” 

Sensing that we wouldn’t be buying, the store owner kicked us out with a menacing look, as if he was going to toss salt after us. 

In the next store, we found a curved blade that was pure black. 

“Ooh, that sword looks strong!” 

Arisa reached out her hand, but I grabbed her wrist to stop her. 

“Don’t touch it, Arisa.” 

“Huh? Is it dangerous?” 

“Yeah. It’s cursed.” 

I couldn’t tell what kind of curse exactly, but my “Miasma Vision” showed an ominous black cloud writhing around the sword. 

There were a few other, more beat-up swords in a container resembling an umbrella stand. There was also a wooden crate full of mallets made from maze-ant fangs, in addition to claw daggers and all sorts of other low-budget weapons. 

“Nothing’s really grabbing me in here.” 

“Agreed.” 

The shop next door sold armor. 

“It stinks!” 

“Yeah, I don’t think I could wear this…” 

“That makes an apprentice’s used kendo uniform smell like roses.” 

The leather armor made from wyvern hide seemed reasonably strong, but it stank of the previous owner’s body odor so much that just approaching it made me want to hurl. 

“Fake elixirs; crappy, overpriced potions… I don’t know if there are any hidden gems in this junk pile at all.” 

As Arisa grumbled, I handed her a veria water I’d bought from one of the stands. 

“Hmm? This is actually pretty tasty and refreshing.” 

“Maybe it’s something like watered-down aloe juice?” 

This would be even tastier if it was cold, but that was probably asking too much of a fantasy world without refrigerators. 

I discreetly produced some ice cubes from Storage for Arisa’s and my cups. 

“Thanks.” 

“Don’t mention it,” I whispered back. 

The veria juice, which was delicious now that it was cold, soothed our throats as we looked around the nearby shops. 

“Oh, now, there’s a bargain.” 

“Huh? Where, where?” 

The sharp-eared Arisa picked up my muttered comment and looked at me with sparkling eyes. 

“This one.” 

“What, this rusty old broadsword?” 

“Yeah. It might look like nothing more than a rusty copper broadsword, but it’s actually…a Magic Sword.” 

I whispered this last part in Arisa’s ear, then turned to the shopkeeper. 

“Is it all right if I pick this up?” 

“Sure, but don’t complain if yer hand gets dirty, mister.” 

With the shopkeeper’s permission, I picked up the rusty sword and put some magic into it. 

“The magic conduction channels seem to be blocked, so it probably couldn’t be used as is yet…” 

If I forced some magic through to clean it, it would probably clear up and work, but I didn’t want to risk doing that there in case the sword imploded or something. 

“Shopkeep, how much is this sword?” 

“Three gold coins. Just so you know, though, it’s brass, not gold. And it’d cost more to turn it into ore, too.” 

This shopkeeper was pretty friendly and honest. 

The sword’s market price was between three silver coins and ten gold coins, so three gold coins seemed like a fair price. 

Considering its weight, the raw brass was probably worth five gold coins at least, but it would take no small effort to get it into the right shape to be melted down and reused, which was probably why it was being sold as is. 

“Couldn’t you do two gold coins?” 

Instead of responding to Arisa’s bargaining, the shopkeeper turned to look at me. 

I couldn’t read minds, but I guessed he was trying to figure out whether I’d actually buy it for that price. 

I promptly produced the two gold coins from the wallet in my breast pocket. 

“Sold!” 

The man practically snatched the coins out of my hands, wrapped the broadsword in a tattered cloth, and handed it over to me. 

Maybe he thought he’d gotten away with overcharging me for two gold coins. 

“I’ll come again sometime.” 

“Please do! You’re always welcome!” 

The man grinned at us, and we smiled politely in return, maintaining serious faces as we left the store. 

As soon as we turned the corner and made it to a small alleyway, we looked at each other and burst out laughing. 

“Aah, that’s hilarious! That guy definitely thought he pulled one over on you.” 

“That’s fine. It worked out for both of us, right?” 

The owner was happy to have sold a rusty old sword for two gold coins, and we were happy to have bought a Magic Sword for two gold coins, so it was a win-win. 

The equipment in the Ivy Manor could remove the rust in no time, and I could use Space Magic to clear the magic channels and have Arisa use it. 

Looking at my log, I found I’d gotten titles like Connoisseur and Antiques Dealer. 

“Oh man, that was too funny.” 

“All right. Let’s head to the next store—” 

But just as I was proposing this to Arisa… 

“Masterrrrrrrrr!” 

My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up a faint voice calling for my help. 

Pochi’s voice. 

“What’s wrong, master?” 

I held up one hand to silence Arisa for the moment. 

Listening closely, I opened the map to display Pochi’s location. 

Found her. 

She was in a part of the downtown area that had managed to survive the fire. 

“Arisa, Pochi’s in trouble. Wait for me in one of these shops, okay?” 

“A-all right.” 

Arisa nodded. 

Making sure there was no one else around, I slipped into the shadows, where I quickly donned a black overcoat and transformed into my Kuro disguise. 

“…It’s Pochi… Please help…” 

Launching myself into the sky at full speed, I used “Flashrunning” to head in the direction of the voice as fast as I could. 

I’m coming, Pochi!