episode_0032

“Then, do you have nowhere to live?”

“..That’s right.”

To be honest, I didn’t feel sorry for her at all.

After all, she was the one illegally occupying this house.

I could say that I was the victim here.

But it didn’t sit right with me to just kill the woman in front of me.

Even though I’ve been in this world for a few years now, I’ve never killed anyone.

So, it felt a bit wrong to do it so casually.

Of course, if there was a situation where I had to, I would do it without hesitation.

“Well then… this might work.”

It seemed like I could kill two birds with one stone if I followed through with my plan.

With that in mind, I made a proposal.

“If I let you live here underground, could you take care of the house for me?”

There was something that puzzled me even after using the [Purification] magic earlier.

The house was surprisingly clean.

As if someone had cleaned it.

I had refrained from mentioning it earlier to avoid scaring Elysia, but now I understood why.

Why the house was so clean.

“…Um, if I take care of it, can I continue living here?”

“Oh, well… of course. I won’t be here much anyway. Just make yourself at home and clean up the place once a day.”

I didn’t need to ask her to protect the place from intruders.

I had planned to set up my own defenses anyway.

She would probably handle most attacks on her own.

As I thought about this, the woman asked cautiously.

“Um… did, did Ratboy die?”

“Ratboy?”

Ratboy. The name jogged something in my memory.

So, I took out the rat I had in my pocket.

It didn’t seem like an ordinary rat, so I had planned to dissect it.

“Ratboy…!”

The woman in front of me looked at the rat in my hand with affection.

That made me curious about their relationship.

I might have to tell the story in detail.

*

How long did I talk to the woman?

I learned a lot of information.

Her name was Basil.

She didn’t know her age.

She mainly used a dagger and made a living by stealing.

Or begging.

Perhaps because she reminded me of my past, I felt a sense of camaraderie.

But I wasn’t going to go easy on her.

I planned to use her to the fullest.

“So, Basil. Stop stealing from now on. I’ll pay you a salary, so live off that. It might be better to stop stealing now.”

As I said that-

“Is, is that really…?”

“Yes. But you have to do a good job.”

“Of course!!!!”

There wasn’t much reason for me to give her money.

Motivating her with money to do the work was much better.

If she got caught stealing, she would come to where I was, and if she was implicated as an accomplice, it would be troublesome.

With that in mind, I used magic.

I had to put a special spell just in case.

[Contract]

I had learned this magic from Sylvia before, and it was a very effective contract in special cases.

So, I was using it now.

The effect was simple.

Set one condition, and if either side didn’t keep it, they would suffer great pain and the contract would be nullified.

“The condition is…”

After thinking for a moment, I thought of Basil and set the condition.

[Condition: Do not harm each other]

It was a simple condition.

But it was equally powerful.

Of course, there was a flaw in this contract.

It wouldn’t activate unless harm was done directly.

And although it was a bit difficult, I had adjusted the contract so that even if I broke it directly, there would be minimal consequences.

“..I feel a little guilty about this.”

So, in reality, it could be considered an unfair contract.

Still, since Basil was the one who attacked first.

I guess it’s okay to propose such a contract.

With that thought in mind, I spoke.

“Please give me a drop of blood on your finger. Let’s make a contract.”

“..What kind of contract is this?”

Basil still had doubts about me.

Of course, even if he doubted me, he wouldn’t realize the flaw in this contract.

And so, as time passed-

“I will make the contract.”

“Oh, okay.”

That’s how we made the contract.

We made a magical contract and a paper contract.

Since Basil didn’t know how to read, I read the contents of the contract for him.

I didn’t tamper with the contents of the contract out of conscience.

It wasn’t about my life being connected to it.

“Can I bring the items outside now?”

“Oh, yes.”

I had taken out the items from the underground while cleaning it earlier, and it seemed necessary now.

Honestly, I was curious about what the items were, but I didn’t ask.

It wasn’t that important.

And so, our cohabitation began.

“I will repair it.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.”

There was no need to repair it.

Since the materials used to build the house didn’t look expensive, I could just use magic to restore it to its original state.

[Restoration]

Using magic, I repair the damaged floor and ceiling.

Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too severe from using Inferno once before.

If I had used Inferno twice, the house I was standing in might have been blown away.

I restored the house while feeling relieved that the fight didn’t escalate.

By the way, I was a little curious about the mouse wheel Basil had.

I wondered what kind of nature it had.

Of course, Basil would probably tell me if I asked, but I wasn’t that curious to ask while bending his pride.

Clack clack-

The house began to return to its original state.

Its original elegant appearance was revealed, and the restoration was complete.

Now, there was one thing I had to do.

Creating a protective magic circle for the house.

In fact, I had never done it before.

Of course, I knew how to do it, but I had never experienced it in practice.

So, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

“I’ll go get the materials for the magic circle..”

The materials were easier to find than I thought.

I wasn’t trying to make a difficult magic circle anyway.

It was more like enhancing a basic alarm magic.

With that in mind, I briefly left the house to gather the materials for the magic circle.

I also personally asked to make sure no accidents happened.

Just in case, as he might accidentally cause an accident.

“Please guard the house for me.”

“Understood.”

Whether to consider it formal or informal speech.

It was a bit ambiguous, so I decided to think of it as formal speech.

And so, I went back to Amelia’s general store.

“Excuse me, do you have these items?”

“Oh.. Are you trying to make a magic circle?”

I didn’t expect her to figure it out so quickly.

I thought it was amazing.

“Oh, yes. I recently purchased a house, and I thought it would be good to install a comprehensive alarm magic in the house.”

Since I had already built up a good reputation with Amelia through long-term transactions, I was able to say such things.

Silvia was the type who didn’t easily trust people around her.

When I said that, Amelia smiled and replied.

“Then, how about this magic circle instead of that one..?”

“What kind of magic circle?”

“Oh, I have a magic circle that I made myself. It has an alarm function and can shoot powerful marbles at unauthorized people in advance..”

“Ah.”

As soon as I said that, she seemed to understand immediately.

I had wondered why the marbles suddenly flew at me, but now I knew the truth.

I also felt like I understood why Amelia’s voice suddenly became quieter.

“I didn’t really care at that time, so you don’t have to apologize.”

“Oh.. but I’m really sorry..!!”

“But this is my first time making a magic circle, so I was wondering if I could get the materials at a reasonable price..”

She slyly slipped in her words.

Like people asking for freebies at a karaoke room.

As she spoke like that, Amelia visibly flustered and said,

“Uh.. um.. I’ll give you the materials a bit cheaper..”

“You don’t have to do that.. It wouldn’t be polite for me to refuse your kindness, so I’ll gratefully accept.”

“Yes.. hehe..”

Amelia, with her pink hair deeply bowed, looked both funny and cute.

Her reactions were amusing, to say the least.

“Well, it was Amelia’s fault in the first place.”

If I hadn’t blocked it with my hand back then, it would have been a strong enough force to possibly cause a fracture somewhere.

I’m lucky to have quick reflexes.

With that thought in mind, I purchased the materials for the magic circle cheaply and returned to the house guarded by Basil.

He’s probably doing a good job guarding the house by now.