Chapter 151
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It was explained that the story of Ms. Monoka being my girlfriend was meant to lend credibility to her becoming my guarantor when she rented my room.
Perhaps due to her interactions with Linna and Ferris, Arisa—who couldn’t stay silent after hearing a woman referred to as my girlfriend—seemed to…
”Ah, so that’s how it was,” she muttered, her voice regaining composure.
What seemed to matter most was simply that Ms. Monoka was my girlfriend. Once Arisa accepted that explanation, she quickly calmed down.
Beside her, Ms. Tora from the real estate agency wore a subtle expression, as if she’d been lied to.
”Hah… these kinds of stories come up from time to time,” she sighed lightly. “Well, it’s true that Ms. Monoka became the guarantor, and since Mrs. Frederica was backing her, she probably wouldn’t have run away. So it’s fine, I suppose.”
”I-I’m sorry…” I apologized, guilt creeping into my voice.
At that moment, Ms. Tora’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
”Oh? So you do feel sorry, do you?”
”Well, yes…”
”In that case… why not sign a contract for a better room?”
She slid some documents in front of me. They featured a property that looked more like a house than a typical rental unit.
This town is surrounded by walls, and the land is limited. Within that, a single-family home is rare. According to the documents, the property seemed to be a three-story house with a garden.
”What is this property? It looks more like a house than a room…”
”We just started handling it recently,” she explained. “But it’s not exactly cheap, so a store like ours is having a hard time managing it.”
Apparently, their main offerings were rental units for single occupants. Customers typically came with that expectation, so properties like this weren’t even considered.
I wondered why they had started managing such a place, but since I had no intention of renting a house, I politely declined.
”No, I’m here today to help these two find a room…”
”Oh, is that so? Are you looking to rent one room or two?”
Upon hearing that I wasn’t the one looking to move, Ms. Tora immediately dropped the house suggestion and began asking Iris and the others about their requirements.
But before she could finish, the two of them pointed at me and said in unison:
”With Koji in the same apartment.”
”Huh?” I blinked, surprised by the unexpected news.
Iris, maybe. But Arisa had never lived on her own before, so I had assumed they’d share a single room.
But my current apartment was intended for single tenants. I hadn’t expected them to move into the same building.
”You two are going to live in one room together?” I asked.
”In separate rooms,” Arisa replied. “But if it’s in the same building, it’s like living together, right?”
”That’s true,” Iris nodded in agreement, seemingly reassured.
Still, that meant they could casually drop by my place like family… Well, if anything happened, I’d be close enough to respond quickly. That might be fine.
Accepting the idea, I turned back to Ms. Tora.
”So it seems. There were still vacant rooms in that apartment, right?”
”Yes. A few have been filled since then, but on the same fourth floor as Mr. Koji, only the rooms right next to his have been taken; there are still some vacancies.”
”Huh? Both rooms beside mine are occupied?”
I thought the top floor would be unpopular since there’s no elevator and you have to climb the stairs… but Ms. Tora explained the reason.
”One is reserved by Ms. Wendy from ‘Hooters,’ and the other by ‘Silver Orchid.’”
”Huh? How did that happen?”
”Maybe someone will live there, or maybe it’ll be used as a storage space like Mr. Koji?”
”Isn’t that kind of unclear?”
”Both were secured by Ms. Wendy.”
”Ms. Wendy?”
”Yes. Since that apartment belongs to ‘Hooters,’ if the daughter of the ‘Hooters’ chairman says she’s securing it… it’s a matter of position, right?”
Probing too deeply probably wasn’t a good idea. There had to be a reason behind it, but she did say ‘Silver Orchid’ was renting one. Still, nothing had come up about them taking the neighboring room.
What did that mean?
As I pondered it, Ms. Tora offered a suggestion.
”Well, why not just ask her directly? I’ve heard Mr. Koji is also a member of the merchant guild, so it wouldn’t be strange to inquire about your neighbor.”
That made sense. Since I was going to report back to ‘Hooters’ anyway, I could ask while I was there.
So, we didn’t bother viewing the rooms. Since Iris and Arisa’s units had nearly the same layout as mine, we went ahead and rented two rooms—each two doors down from mine.
* * *
Once the rooms were settled, we left the real estate office and headed toward ‘Hooters.’
Originally, I’d planned to drop the two off at the Silver Orchid Inn, but since they could move in starting today, there was no need to book a room there.
Thus, I decided to report back to ‘Hooters’ directly.
I needed to be careful not to mention the secret about being able to create things with magic—only Ms. Wendy and Ferris knew about that in this town.
With that in mind, I led the two of them forward, and before long, we arrived at ‘Hooters.’
A staff member stood outside, calling in customers, but probably due to the lingering cold, they were dressed more modestly than when we’d left the town.
”Welcome! It’s still cold, so don’t forget to stock up on firewood and wear a jacket! …Oh!?”
The staff member, still cheerfully calling in customers, spotted me approaching and rushed over.
”Mr. Koji! You’ve returned?”
”Yes, just a moment ago,” I replied.
As a member of the merchant guild, I should have prioritized reporting to ‘Hooters,’ but Tina and the others had urgent business with the local lord.
Even if it eventually came out that I’d prioritized Silver Orchid, considering the sensitive nature of the matter, there was no helping it.
As I entered the store, I asked a nearby staff member whether Ms. Wendy was available.
”Welcome back. Mrs. Wendy will be with you shortly, so please come this way,” said Ms. Moona, who directly reported to Ms. Wendy and had once rushed to my room to summon me. She guided us inside.
* * *
Thus, we were led to Ms. Wendy’s room. After Ms. Moona knocked, we were given permission to enter.
”Welcome back. Now, please have a seat over there,” Ms. Wendy said, gesturing toward the sofa.
It was warmer inside, thanks to the fireplace, and I noticed that Ms. Wendy was dressed more warmly than when we last met. As we were encouraged to sit down, she began speaking while taking a seat directly across from me.
”Is that Ms. Iris’s older sister?” she asked, glancing at Arisa.
”Yes. I’m Arisa,” Arisa replied with a polite nod.
I had already informed them about my companion when I inquired about the meeting, and it had also been conveyed that Arisa was Iris’s sister. Considering the enemy, maybe I should’ve kept that information under wraps. But since Iris sometimes calls Arisa “sister” out of habit, correcting her every time seemed unnecessary. It felt more natural to just say from the start that they were sisters.
Once that point was confirmed, Ms. Wendy offered a light introduction and moved right into the main topic.
”So, how did your objective go?” she asked.
”Well, thanks to you, it went smoothly,” I replied.
”I see. I’m glad to hear that you were able to accomplish your goal♪” she said, smiling cheerfully.
It seemed she understood that I couldn’t give details, but she was content knowing I’d achieved what I set out to do.
I then brought up the matter of the borrowed items.
”I’m sorry. The horse and carriage I borrowed have been arranged for transport by the merchant guild over there…”
”Oh, I see. I heard earlier that neither could be found, and I thought they might have been lost,” she said, nodding.
In truth, we had been attacked on the way to Gavrett, so that outcome wasn’t out of the question. Upon being reminded of it, I started to feel uneasy about whether Merchant Guild Amiras—the group we’d entrusted with the horse and carriage—would actually deliver them safely. Maybe I should go retrieve them myself once I have the time.
Well, I’ll think about that later.
* * *
After I finished reporting my return, Ms. Wendy shared what had been happening around this town—rather, this town—over the past two months.
Apparently, both rooms adjacent to mine had been targeted by Silver Orchid. One of them had already been claimed by Hooters as a storage space from the beginning. It seemed Silver Orchid had intended to place their liaison in one of those rooms, but Ms. Wendy had managed to stop that from happening. Though the two organizations were in a cooperative relationship, she didn’t want to let them overstep—especially while I was still a member of Hooters. As long as that was the case, she couldn’t allow them to do as they pleased.
After hearing all that and feeling somewhat reassured, we moved on to the next subject.
”There was a guard investigation at the property used by Gem Snake, and after various inspections and retrieval efforts, it’ll only be sold or rented to a limited number of people,” Ms. Wendy explained.
One of those properties was apparently the mansion introduced by Ms. Tora’s real estate agency.
Naturally, the restrictions were to prevent anyone affiliated with Gem Snake from using the place. They could be scheming something again, after all.
But then a question came to mind.
”I was introduced to that mansion as well,” I said.
”Yes, I thought there wouldn’t be any problem for you, so I mentioned it♪” Ms. Wendy replied with a smile.
Well, I could understand her reasoning. After all, I’d helped bring those guys down. But another question arose.
”Then wouldn’t it be fine to let Silver Orchid use it instead?”
”Yes, I intended to lend it if they were interested. However, it seems the organization is having trouble operating there—mainly due to a lack of personnel for security,” she explained.
That made sense. The more locations you had to defend, the more people you needed. Defense was also required for the base inside the dungeon, and in terms of real combat ability, only Ferris and the others could be counted on.
Even though Charlotte was keeping her identity as a princess hidden, we couldn’t afford to increase our defense targets any further. As I mulled that over, Ms. Wendy added,
”Moreover… how should I put it, the management situation over there hasn’t improved.”
”Ah…”
In other words, it was a financial issue.
Even if Gem Snake had been dismantled, that didn’t mean the Norland family—those masterminds aiming for the throne—had given up. Charlotte had to remain here as a watchdog. Of course, she couldn’t reveal that she was a princess, and support from the royal family was minimal. That meant they didn’t have much room in their operating budget.
That’s also why the mansion hadn’t been rented out and why it had been offered to me.
That said, whether I could afford to rent a mansion myself was another matter.
The magic stones I collected were absorbed as my magical power, so they didn’t translate into money. I only sold off other spoils, and sometimes I just left those behind because retrieving them was too much trouble.
So when I conveyed that I had no plans to rent the place, Ms. Wendy backed down, albeit a little reluctantly.
”Well, it can’t be helped. I can’t force you,” she said with a sigh.
But just as I finished my report and was about to leave the room, she called out to me.
”Um, could I have a word?”
”Hm? What is it?” I asked, turning back.
I waited for Iris and Arisa, who had already left the room, then leaned in to hear Ms. Wendy whisper.
”Putting aside the matter of the mansion, I have a suggestion regarding securing funds.”
”Ah, what is it?”
It wasn’t impossible that I might suddenly need a large sum of money, so having a plan wasn’t a bad idea.
So I listened to what she had to say—
”I’ll put it on hold,” I replied simply, and then left her room.
Notes:
• Ferris – The representative of Silver Orchid
• Arisa – Alicia’s (Iris’ sister) fake name.
• Frederica – The receptionist. The daughter of powerful figure in the town.
• Iris – The first collaborator to request a curse-breaking item.
• Wendy – The daughter of merchant guild Hooters
• Tina – Female. A magician. She has a slender build, and her chest is described as soft. She is initially rescued by the protagonist and expresses a desire to accompany him. Her relationship with the protagonist develops quickly, and she seems to be attracted to him.
• Moona – Ms. Wendy’s direct subordinate
• Charlotte – The third princess of the Kingdom of Orlando
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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