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“So we ended up in the same party after all, huh?”
“Please take care of me again, Bruno.”
“Everyoneee─── I found us a new rookie!”
Today marks the restart of my life as an adventurer. As result of me being allowed to join 『Twilight of Dawn』, the party led by Candy-dono, I’m meeting with the other members besides Bruno today.
The location for the meeting is a deserted restaurant in a corner of the slums. I hear it also serves as a bar for adventurers in the evening. After the rush hour at lunch time calmed down, only the old owner lady and us were left in the restaurant. It’d be no exaggeration to state that we’ve got the place all for ourselves.
“Let’s have some introductions, okay? I’m the leader, and the greatsword on my back is my favorite weapon. The old guy over there is…”
“Who’s an old guy!? I’m still 32 years old, damn it!”
“Doesn’t that plentifully qualify you as an old guy? He’s skilled at handling knives and bows. He can also lay traps. So, in short, he’s a Jack of all trades and master of none…”
“Who’s a Jack of all trades and master of none!?”
“…with the name Boltor.”
“Candy, you’re also going to be an old guy in a few more years, just remember that!”
“I am an eternally young girl.”
“Bullshit!”
The medium-built, rather inconspicuous man seems to be a fairly long standing member in this party. It’s obvious from how he and Candy-dono banter with each other.
“The quiet guy over there is called Dalton.”
“…”
I think his age is in the mid twenties? He’s a considerably broad man, but because of his muscularity, he doesn’t give one the impression of being fat. He appears to be a taciturn person as he only nods in greeting after Candy-dono’s introduction, and immediately goes back to tending his battle ax.
“In other words, with Bruno-chan and Ron-chan, Twilight of Dawn forms a team of five people.”
“Is that so?”
Twilight of Dawn is a quite famous party, and Bruno only entered a little while ago. And yet, the numbers seem to be way low…
“Hey big lad, you consider it strange for our party to be smaller than you had imagined?”
“No…not particularly.”
It’d definitely be rude to say such things after they went out of their way to allow me into their party.
“Don’t mind it. Twilight of Dawn is such a party to begin with.”
Boltor-dono explains to me the history of how Twilight of Dawn came to be.
“Twilight of Dawn is a 『party everyone is going to graduate from someday』. Let me tell you just in case, but this ain’t just about retiring as an adventurer. In a way, it’s about going independent, I’d say.”
According to Boltor-dono, Twilight of Dawn seems to be a party with a history of more than a hundred years.
“First, it’s got a leader who’s the core and will remain in the party until retirement. Currently Candy is holding that position after getting nominated as successor by the previous leader. If you’re appointed as leader once, you lead the party until you die or retire. I’m the sub-leader. I’m much longer in this party than Candy, but I’m not quite suited to be the party’s leader, and at this point I don’t plan to go to another party anymore either. That’s why I’ve stayed here while being treated as a sub-leader. Dalton has also been around for quite a long time, but this guy’s staying here cause he likes this party. He’s no sub-leader of this party, but he’s been taking care of the rookies. Albeit, he’s kinda tacit.”
The Twilight of Dawn is a kind of adventurer cultivation party. The leader and two or three sub-leaders are fixed, the rest gets filled up with the necessary number of rookies. The fact of rookies leaving the party to go solo, join other parties, or form their own party after having grown as adventurers is welcomed in the party as 『The chick has grown up enough to take flight』.
“It is a party of awfully good-natured people.”
“You’re right. But, this party has worked like this for more than a hundred years now. If you dislike it, you’re free to scoot. Big lad, Bruno, you guys will reach a crossroad in life after having been part of this party for several years and familiarized yourself with being adventurers.”
I see, once you become full-fledged as an adventurer, it’ll be your own decision whether you stay with Twilight of Dawn or go elsewhere. The same applies to Bruno and me as well.
“Big lad, you’ve got all those troubles with your previous party, and that’s why you seem to feel a debt of gratitude towards Candy for taking you in, but it’s one of our party’s duties to save promising but unlucky rookies like you.”
“That is amazing!”
The world of adventurers is a place where ability counts and where everyone is responsible for themselves. And yet there’s at least one party which accepts rookies and actively teaches them how to get around as adventurers. I didn’t know that. This world sure is a big place.
“Having said that, we need to make a living as well, so we basically only call out to promising rookies. We mostly refuse people who want to join our party, too. We only deal with rookies who seem to have the potential to grow into proper adventurers. We don’t do charity work like the church.”
Still, with this they can prevent at least a few talented adventurers from dying or retiring after getting heavily injured due to lacking experience. The founder of Twilight of Dawn was a magnificent man who kept the benefit of the entire adventurer occupation in sight. Of course this also applies to Candy-dono, who’s been designated as its leader.
“There’s some truth to what you’re thinking, big lad, but in Candy’s case, he’s way too harsh on the looks of rookies when scouting.”
“Harsh?”
“This piece of shit scouts nothing but male adventurers who suit his own tastes, damn it! Ever since this guy became the party leader, not a single woman has entered our party. It’s all machos, machos…bloody hell!”
“Isn’t that fine? When looking at types like Bruno-chan or Ron-chan, I equally consider them as nice. Both of them are talented as magicians, and nurturing that is my duty as leader of Twilight of Dawn.”
“And also to appease your own desires, aight?”
Appease his desires…due to Boltor-dono’s comment, Bruno and I put ourselves on guard.
“I won’t do anything since I hate pushy men. Of course it’s a different matter if you guys desire me. You see, I’m a beautiful maiden dreaming of a love that somehow doesn’t want to come true.”
“”…””
It looks like Candy-dono’s tastes are biased, but I managed to safely get into Twilight of Dawn for the time being.
＊ ＊ ＊
“I’m going!”
After some twists and turns I entered Twilight of Dawn. Candy-dono, the leader, usually acts like a lovely girl, but during work he’s really strict.
No matter how much the party has the rearing of promising rookies as its goal, the leader and sub-leaders must guarantee a substantial income for the party. Because of that, we’ve started to hunt in a monster domain near the capital with quite a few monsters the next day.
I hear Bruno has been going at this for the entire last month. It’s a fairly hard training, teaching us how actual combat works. But now I understand why they won’t let unskilled rookies into their party: they’d die right away.
As I’m drawing close to a monster with mana charging my fists, Candy-dono hurls a cautioning my way from behind.
“Ron-chan, you’re not fighting here as a solo adventurer. Keep your back in mind. Are you also remembering to keep the line of fire for Bruno-chan’s magic free?”
“OH!
Winning in the one vs. ten battle the other day has gone to my head! Today we’re fighting monsters with five people. Moreover, Bruno is in charge of firing magic from a distance, unlike me. If I charge in without thinking, I’ll just get into Bruno’s way.
“Sorry, Bruno.”
“Ron-chan, currently you’re a vanguard. You need to also think of how to cooperate with me and Dalton. If monsters break through our line, not only Bruno-chan, but even Boltor, who’s using his archery as rear guard, will fall into a predicament.”
“Roger!”
Candy-dono’s teaching is strict, and everything he says is to the point. Just as might be expected of a famous adventurer who holds the nickname of Bloody Candy.
Even afterwards, we continue the subjugation as a training in real combat that wouldn’t lose out to any mid-tier party, and eventually we reach the point of taking a break while at the same time eating lunch.
“I’m exhausted.”
“I’ve finally become somewhat used to it, I think.”
The instant Bruno and I reach the rest place after leaving the monster domain, we flop down on the spot.
“You okay? Drink this.”
With combat being over, Candy-dono has reverted to his usual self. He passes some chilled fruit juice diluted with water to Bruno and me. He shows a friendliness you wouldn’t expect from the leader of a famous adventurer party.
“Today’s lunch has been prepared by me.”
Candy-dono has prepared bento for everyone. Moreover, hand-made ones. For me, who can’t cook at all, it’s nothing but surprising.
“Do you prepare these every day?”
“No, even I’d be hard pressed to do this every day. I’ve put in some effort today since it’s your first day, Ron-chan. Usually we order our food at yesterday’s restaurant.”
“The bento of 『Mistletoe of Night』 are cheap and delicious.”
“No matter how much a girl I might be, I still lose to Ireisa-san’s years of experience.” Candy-dono replies to Bruno.
So the name of the old woman in yesterday’s run-down…no, deeply historical restaurant + bar is Ireisa-san, huh?
“For this reason, dig in.”
“”””Good appetite!””””
All of us eat Candy-dono’s special bento, and I must say, it’s very delicious. It’s in no way inferior to the dishes prepared by the exclusive cooks of my family.
“It’s enviable how you excel as an adventurer and cook.”
“True, Candy-san is also very skilled at sewing.” Bruno adds as he got his torn clothes fixed in the blink of an eye some time ago.
“This guy sure is skillful. He’s better at housework and such than women.”
“Oh my, how rude of you, Boltor. I’m a maiden, you know? And as a girl I wouldn’t cut any corners with things like these. After all, I also dream of becoming a bride one fine day.”
“”””…””””
He’s a superb adventurer despite not being a magician, he’s got good leadership abilities, he can handle many things skilfully, and he has an excellent character, but I can’t help feeling that a marriage is next to impossible for him.
But, as might be expected, even Boltor-dono, who knows him for a long time now, doesn’t point this out. All of us start to silently eat lunch.
“This is where we stop for today.”
It’s been around one month since I’ve entered Twilight of Dawn. I’ve also finally reached a point where the number of Candy-dono’s cautionings during combat has significantly decreased as I’ve learned the difference between fighting myself and fighting in a group.
My mana has been properly increasing every day, albeit slowly. However, since my aggregate amount of mana remains low, there’s been no change in our tactics. In regards to this matter, Candy-dono told me, 『I’m no expert when it comes to magic, but even if it’s just little-by-little, don’t forget to train your magic every day without lowering the amount of training out of annoyance as long as it still grows. From my experience, plain, daily efforts very often bring about results sooner or later』.
Just as told, I never miss doing my daily training routine.
One evening, when I got accustomed to this kind of lifestyle, I used the opportunity to have the next day off after finishing that day’s work to do something I had to do.
“You’re moving out?”
“Yes, I am.”
Ever since my days at the prep school, I’ve been living in the attic of a small house, but it looks like Mrs. Walkt, who’s been recently showing signs of senility, is going to sell her small home and move in with her son. For this reason, I had to move out within a month.
So far it hasn’t been necessary to hurry, but from now on I must look for a new place to stay.
“I see. So, Klimt, what kind of property are you looking for?”
“Anything is fine as long as I can sleep there!”
“That’s definitely quite the modest condition.”
“I still have my own room back at my parent’s home.”
I don’t know when, but I’ll have to go back home at some point anyway. The majority of my personal belongings are in that room. Since it’s okay with me to put the necessary stuff around my bed, I don’t need such a big room.
“What about cooking?”
“I’m no good at it anyway, so I’ll just eat out.”
There’s no need for me to expressly spend time on my awkward cooking skills since I can enjoy eating stuff at restaurants until I go back home.
“What about doing your laundry or washing your body?”
“I’ve been doing all the laundry in one swoop on our days off. As for washing my body, I usually boil some water and wipe my body with dishcloths every day.”
But then again, I don’t have any clothes besides the custom-made robe I wear every day, the spare robe I wear on my holidays, and underwear.
The hot water to wipe my body is simply done by fetching water in a bucket, putting my hands in there and heating it up like that, even if I can’t use any emission-based magic. Normally I wet dishcloths with that water and wipe my body. Every once in a while, I’ll also go to a public bathhouse. This has the disadvantage of being slightly expensive in regards to the bath fees, but being able to visit a bathhouse, even if it’s just occasionally, might be proof of me doing well for myself after leaving home.
“And that’s why!”
“I had become doubtful whether you’re truly a man of the Earl Armstrong House, Klimt… Anyway, I’ll also look for a room with you.”
“Bruno, you too?”
“I’ve become an adult, and my big brother is going to inherit the family business. It’d be better for me to leave my parent’s home. Let’s search together.”
“That’s wonderful news!”
And thus Bruno and I decided that we’d look tomorrow for a new place to stay.
＊ ＊ ＊
On the next day, Bruno asked an acquaintance of his parents who works as realtor to introduce us to some properties, and thus a young employee has come to greet us as the one in charge of us for today.
“Hello, my name is Rinnenheim and I have been serving as senior staff at Ansand Real Estate.”
“Hello.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Not only is it hard to grasp that youth called Rinnenheim, he feels outright shady, but…well, we just need to go elsewhere if he’s no good.
“I have been informed about your budget, but I would like to give you a suggestion.”
“What is it?”
“As you two seem to only have become adventurers recently, I suspect that you do not have any plans to marry in the next future.”
“Correct, unlike my older brother, I don’t have a fiancée. I think I’ll stay single until I build a bit of a foundation as an adventurer or magician.”
“The same applies to me.”
Although I won’t become the successor, I’ll go back home sooner or later. Father or brother might offer me some formal marriage interview, and as someone who selfishly wished to travel the outside world, I must at least take the woman they’re going to recommend to me as my first wife. Since I don’t think that they’ll recommend a strange woman to me, I won’t have much of a choice but to accept her.
Even if I’ve gone outside, I still can’t escape the fetters of nobility. However, it’s not like I never felt the wish to experience true love at least once. Though, I doubt there’s any nobles who haven’t wished for that.
“Accordingly, how about renting a house together? It’d be what you call room sharing. Rather than renting an individual room for each of you, renting a house while pooling your money would be much more economical.”
I see. I guess that would mean we can rent a house with the rent of both of us put together.
“It’d also be easier to invite friends over.”
“The suggestion isn’t bad. What do you think, Klimt?”
“I am okay with that.”
I don’t have any particular problem with a small room either, but there’s no inconvenience for me with it being spacious either.
“That’s if we can find such a place, though.”
“I would like you to place your trust in this Rinnenheim of Ansand Real Agency.”
“Haa…”
“It depends on the properties you’re going to show us.”
I can’t quite explain why, but somehow I feel a fishy shadow from this guy.
“Of course. I shall introduce you to the properties in all sincerity. Shall we go then?”
Bruno and I start to walk to the area with the properties under Rinnenheim’s guidance.
◆◇◆
“First, this house here.”
At once he introduces us to a pretty house around ten minutes away from Bruno’s parent’s home by foot.
“Eh? Such a big house at our budget?”
“Is that going to be alright?”
No matter how you look at it, this house shouldn’t be obtainable with our budget. Bruno and I suspiciously look at Rinnenheim.
“Oh my, are you doubting me?”
“You could say so.”
“This sounds like too good a deal!”
That’s only natural since it’s a house that looks like we wouldn’t be able to rent unless we pay twice our current budget.
“It’s got a simple reason.”
“Meaning? Are evil spirits going to come out in there?”
“No, not at all. It’s not that kind of flawed property. However, everyone who rented this place in the past has had bad luck. The church has approved that it’s not an issue related to spirits, and the previous tenants never mentioned anything about having seen ghosts or anything like that. However, a little while after renting this place, their business went bankrupt, they got fired at work, or received a serious injury in accidents. I believe all of that to be coincidence. Our boss seems willing to lower the price a bit.”
“”…””
Bruno and I are simply lost for words. Or rather, he’s cunning to recommend such a property to rookie adventurers.
“This place does look nice… Right, Klimt?”
“I’m somewhat unhappy with its layout.”
“Even though you haven’t seen its interior yet?”
Such an ominous property is unsuitable for a superstitious adventurer! At least understand that much!
“I see… Okay, there’s another good property in this neighborhood.”
Rinnenheim guides us to the next object. And he’s right, it’s not that far away from the first place.
“This one’s great.”
It’s a house built around ten years ago. It has four rooms, and additionally a kitchen and a bathroom. It’s going to be necessary for us to procure our own hot water, but it’s wonderful to find it having a bathtub.
It’s only natural for Bruno to also be pleased by it.
“How much does the rent cost?”
“Umm…I think it’s something around this much.”
“That’s a bargain.”
“Certainly, it’s a bit too cheap.”
It’s clear that it has some issues if it’s so cheap. As of yet not much time has passed since I’ve met Rinnenheim, but I’ve reached the very simple conclusion that this man will never introduce us to a cheap property without some strings attached. I think Bruno sees it like this as well. He’s looking at Rinnenheim full of distrust.
“This place is truly of good value.”
“Is everyone who lives in this house going to die?”
“No way. Just the previous owner. Even though he had obtained his own house after a long time, he immediately passed away from illness. Because of that, he’s turned into a wraith and is now harassing any new tenant.”
“Ah, yeah, this one’s out as well…”
A property where an undead, albeit being one of the weakest, comes to harass you won’t allow me to sleep peacefully at night!
“Isn’t the wraith here right now?”
“This guy is crafty. Because of his good perception, he runs away whenever the church comes over to purify him upon our request, since he hasn’t been turned into a ghost bound to a specific spot. And once the priests are gone, he returns to this house and resumes his mischief. Well, it’s mostly at the level of him threatening people to leave the house. He knows that the church would become serious if he really caused harm to people.”
Just because of that, no human would feel good about being told to leave the house by a wraith. But, I see. That’s the reason why they can rent such a great property for such a low price.
“Don’t you have any ordinary objects?”
“We do, but with your budget they’ll be in a bad state. I can’t really offer you any normal property at that price,” Rinnenheim answers.
“Huh? My budget is around the market price…Klimt, what about yours?”
“It is 100 cent!”
“Bah, with such a low budget, it’s obvious that we won’t get anything decent.”
“I will be fine as long as I can sleep somewhere, I told you before.”
After all, it’s going to be temporary lodging for the time while I’m away from home.
“If the rooms are too weird, you won’t be able to get any proper rest as it’ll be hard to lie down, and it’ll be easy for thieves to rob you during your absence. That’s why it’s important to choose a good place. Raise your budget a bit. I mean it’s not like you’re not earning enough anyway.”
“Hmm, I suppose you are right, Bruno.”
Since we’ve started to earn money as rookie adventurers during the last month, I can raise the budget for the rent, if I want.
“With this amount…there’s a reasonable property around here.”
“Did you possibly guide us to the previous two on purpose to get us to raise our budget?”
“T-…There is no way I would do that. I have been using all my heart and soul to serve you, dear customers.”
Rinnenheim ends up lost for words due to Bruno’s questioning. He’s completely black, that man.
“Anyway, we are off to the next object…”
“GET LOST───!”
Suddenly we hear a voice from inside the house, although we’re supposed to be the only ones around. It seems this is the earlier mentioned, former owner.
“He’s appeared through the wall!”
“Well, he’s a ghost.”
For some reason the owner wraith has come through the wall, planning to threaten us. Even though we’re heading to another place any moment anyway, he’s now a wraith with no reasoning left.
“THIS IS MY HOUSE───!”
“It’s no longer your house as your family has sold it.”
Since we’re supposed to leave this place any moment, I talk back to the wraith who’s stopping us from going.
“SHUT UUU───P! THIS IS MY HOME!”
“Customer, upsetting him too much is…”
Even as the weakest kind, an undead remains an undead. It’s only natural for a normal human to be afraid of them…though I’ve got my doubts whether Rinnenheim can really be counted as a normal human.
“I just told you the truth! Your inability to accept this is the reason why you can’t ascend to heaven!”
“Pardon…customer, upsetting him too much is…”
“YOU ARE───!”
Even though I’ve kindly spelled the truth out for him, the ghost seems to turn a deaf ear on me. Moreover, since he’s attacking me, I charge my fist with mana and wallop the wraith.
“Ascend!”
“NO WA───!”
“Eh? You gotta be kidding. Klimt, you aren’t supposed to be able to use holy magic.”
“My fist is more than enough for a wraith of this level.”
Since I’ve previously heard that the spirit bodies of evil spirits and such are similar to clusters of mana, I thought that it’d work out one way or another if I hit him with my mana-laden fist, but I didn’t expect that it’d truly be so effective.
The wraith, this house’s previous owner, has completely vanished after one blow from me. I’m sure he’s ascended to heaven.
Still, for me to possess such a power…since he was the weakest undead, I don’t think that it’s anything that special…
“Klimt, you’ve done well to be able to do this.”
“Is it that difficult? I just hit him after pouring mana into my fist.”
“Even if I imitated you, I doubt I’d be able to pull off the same feat.”
Really?
“Bruno, this house is wonderful! The rent is exceedingly cheap as well!”
“True. You surely won’t do something like raising the rent just because Klimt exterminated the wraith of this house, right? After all it’s Klimt’s achievement.”
Grasping my intention, Bruno warns Rinnenheim that we should still be able to rent it for cheap despite this house having already become safe. His eyes clearly tell Rinnenheim that he won’t allow any price hiking.
“In the end, I have been the one who exorcised him. Of course the rent is going to be cheap, right?”
“You’re definitely not planning something as sad as 『Since the conditions have changed, its price is going to be adjusted to the market price』, right? I mean, you’re using all your heart and soul to serve your customers, aren’t you?”
“Yes…” Rinnenheim squeezes out.
With Bruno having cut off all his ways to object, we succeed in renting the house for cheap.
◆◇◆
“It’s a spacious, nice house, isn’t it?”
“A rent of 200 Cent per month for this place is cheap.”
“Originally, that’d be impossible, right?”
Bruno and I proceeded with the moving after I succeeded in scoring us this place. Given that Bruno’s home is close, carrying his luggage over isn’t that much of an issue, and since I’m helping out as I don’t have much stuff myself, the moving finishes in less than half a day.
“But, the cleaning will be a chore, you know?”
“There is nothing to fear!”
Now that we’re going to use that place, we must clean it! I’ve occasionally swept the attic, where I lived until now, around my bed with a broom.
“Dust will not appear if you keep the house empty!”
Therefore I’m going to only live in the area close to my bed in the new house, too!
“No, that’s not how this works.”
“He’s right, Klimt-san.”
“Liese? What’s wrong?”
“Since you’ve moved to a place in the neighborhood, brother, it allows me to immediately visit you like this. Long time no see, Klimt-san.”
Oh, it looks like Lieselotte, Bruno’s little sister, has come to our new home for a visit. It’s been almost one year since I saw her last, but she’s become more beautiful while resembling Bruno. Though I won’t mention that to Bruno since he’s going to get upset.
“Liese-jou, you have become a lot more beautiful over this last year.”
“Thank you very much. I’m happy to hear that, even if it’s flattery.”
“I am not such a smooth operator that I would be able to use flattery.”
If Bruno were a woman, they’d have become famous as beautiful sisters, I’m sure. Of course I won’t mention that to Bruno since he’s going to get upset.
“So you came over to play?”
“That’s not all. Still, the story about cleaning being unnecessary if you don’t use a place is wrong. Even if you leave the house alone, dust will pile up.”
“Usually that’s the case, yep.”
Having the truth pointed out to me by both siblings, I’ve got no choice but to accept my defeat here. Well, if I consider it very close, maids have always taken care of it at the mansion, so I don’t have any experience in normally cleaning a room.
“Brother, you’re also unable to do any decent cleaning, aren’t you?”
“Hahaha, it’s just as you say.”
Bruno, this is nothing to proudly laugh at. In his case, it seems like he’d be able to get a lover who’s capable of it anytime he wants to, though.
“I don’t think it’s anything to brag about.”
“That’s why adventurers stay at inns, even if it’s expensive.”
If you stay at an inn, the inn’s employees will take care of the cleaning for you. They’ll even do your laundry for some extra pay.
For an adventurer, who earns income, it’s a waste of time to do house chores. Living in an inn is easier and more efficient.
“Brother, Klimt-san, why did you deliberately rent a house?”
“Um───m, for the mood?”
“For some reason or another.”
“Haah…” Bruno and I answer honestly, but Liese-jou just rolls her eyes at us. “I’ll occasionally come and do it. Today as well. Look.”
Liese-jou has apparently come here to cook for Bruno since she’s carrying meat, vegetables, seasoning, fruits, and cookware such as a pot and a knife with her.
“That’s appreciated. We had planned to go to a restaurant for dinner.”
“If you only eat out, you’ll turn into trashy adventurers who get drunk in bars and try to meddle with waitresses. You need to eat proper food to do your job.”
“Got it.”
If I remember correctly, Liese-jou has recently turned 13. And yet she’s quite level-headed.
“Anyway, I’m going to prepare dinner at once. Huh? How unexpected. I see that you have cookware.”
“It looks like those have been left behind by the previous inhabitants.”
“Ahh, there were rumors about the owner having been a person who loved this house beyond death.”
“I purified him with my fist.”
“E───h!? Klimt-san, you can purify?”
“For some reason I succeeded at it.”
“That’s amazing.”
“It sure sounds a little unbelievable.”
“Since it lacks power as you can guess, it is not overly useful, though.”
I ate the dinner made by Liese-jou with relish. It gave me the feeling of eating a woman’s handmade cooking for the first time in a long time. As expected. It’s going to be hard for Bruno and me to maintain this house. Both of us decide to pool our pocket money, and ask Liese-jou to regularly cook, clean, and do the laundry.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…As you’ve heard just now, he’s someone outside any norm as I haven’t really seen so far yet. Although he’s still inexperienced, his future might be boundless.”
“I see. My daughter-in-law’s brother seems to be quite the peculiar man.”
If you’re serving as cardinal in the church, you must gather information without knowing whether it’ll become necessary or not. That’s because you never know if it might come in useful.
Today I’ve tried asking a man called Rinnenheim, an employee of the Ansand Real Estate Agency which deals with the church, about the second son of the Earl Armstrong House, the brother of the woman who’s going to become the wife of my son.
He’s a magician, but his mana isn’t anything special. It looks as if he’s doing his adventuring while relying on the power coming from his inborn huge frame and the muscles that seem to grow even without training among the men in his family. Since mana isn’t inherent, just the fact that a magician has appeared in the Armstrong House, an authority in military circles, is already plenty amazing, but his abilities as magician are questionable at best.
However, in the first month after becoming an adventurer, he crushed a mid-tier adventurer party who was involved in the production and smuggling of illegal magic potions, and even today he caused troubles by kicking up a fuss. Still, something like exorcising a wraith, who immediately ran away from any exorcists so far, with a single punch means there’s a huge difference between his outward specs and his true abilities.
“Rinnenheim, you think that man is going to change?”
“My intuition tells me so. Personally I don’t mind betting my whole fortune on it. I’m looking forward to 20 years in the future.”
“So you’re saying he’s one of those where great talents mature late? Aren’t you playing favorites here?”
“Favorites?”
“No, don’t mind me.”
No matter how shrewd Rinnenheim might be, it’s impossible for him to know that this man is His Highness the Crown Prince’s best friend. He should believe that buttering up to that man won’t bring him any benefit whatsoever.
“Having said that, his strength likely won’t visibly improve that fast for a while.”
“Great talents mature late, huh? In that case it’s also an option to leave him alone for now, I guess.”
“Yes. Though that rent hurts since the house stands in a decent block.”
“Humph! You’re probably going to raise the price at the next change of tenants anyway, aren’t you? You got rid of an evil spirit, which couldn’t be purified as it always ran away, so didn’t you make a profit here?”
Even if we send out a priest who can use holy magic, we can’t expect any alms if the priest can’t exorcise the wraith. That wraith gave us a hard time on many occasions until now. A wraith that runs away as soon as it feels the presence of a churchman is unheard-of.
“That man purified it for free. A much better bargain than asking the church. Don’t be so greedy as trying rent it out above the market price.”
“Yes, this Rinnenheim has nothing but the highest admiration for your deep sermon, Cardinal Hohenheim.”
“Humph! I told you before, didn’t I? The higher you climb in the church, the less belief matters.”
“Yes, it’s very sad.”
“Indeed.”
For the Armstrong House’s second son’s existence to draw so much attention recently…well, I just need to make sure that he’s of use to me in the future, since we’re going to pretty much become relatives.
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