Chapter 251: So We Can Live Together…

Right after that the maids came into the room, and under Melaine’s direction they started helping Nimi and the others and cleaning.

I was taken to the bath then and soaked, but when a maid tried to wipe my body I declined.

...Having anyone but my lovers do that is embarrassing.

I tried to stay by Nimi and the others, but Nimi smiled and said, "Please rest." Melaine also had several maids standing behind her, bowed, and said, "Please take your rest."

There was nothing for it. I kissed the five of them, left the room, and went back to the living space at Nifa Inn. There I ran into Hiero, who had probably just woken up.

When I told her I had been kicked out of the room she puffed up and got angry... why.

On top of that she started patting my body, so I warned her and kissed her forehead. That made her get even more sulky.

So I kissed her forehead again, gently, until she settled, then headed to my room to sleep.

I went in, lay down on the bed, and before long sleep hit me and I let go of consciousness.

I really had been tired...

"Instructor, please wake up."

"Instructor... wake up, it is noon."

A voice calling me woke me. I sat up, rubbing one eye with the back of my hand.

From the voices, Micon and Scon...?

I sat on the edge of the bed, blinked a few times, then stared at the two of them wearing troubled smiles.

They had on everyday clothes and aprons. I could tell at once they had been helping at the tavern.

I was glad they were helping, but more than that I was glad they looked well.

As thanks for waking me I gently stroked Micon’s head with my left hand and Scon’s with my right.

They got shy and fidgeted in that cute way, so I laughed without meaning to.

I left the room, went to the bathhouse, cleaned myself up, and came back to the living room. The two of them had lunch ready on the dining table.

While the three of us ate I heard that while I was asleep Maya and the others had come by to check on Nimi and the others.

...Does information really travel that fast?

"Also..." they went on, and happily reported that Nimi had hired them at Rude Tavern.

I took the after-meal tea they gave me, drank a sip, then smiled in that troubled way.

"I am grateful you are helping. But a student’s job is study and training. Do not forget that. And swear you will not push yourselves. All right?"

"Kus kusu. Just like Nimi-san said."

"Fufu. Yeah... you are exactly the same. Surprising."

Their words left me blank for a second. Then I gave a wry smile and rubbed the back of my neck with one hand.

Seeing that, the two of them looked at each other and started laughing like they were having fun. I ended up tilting my head.

After they washed the dishes they went back to the tavern. I remembered their happy backs and smiled alone.

Well then, I should help a little too... before that I would show my face at the annex.

"So Melaine turned you away?"

"Aah. ’Please spare us today,’ she said. And there was a message from Nimi too. Do not help at the shop, so the two of them can learn the work..."

"Kind, and strict when it comes to raising people. Like a certain someone, is it not? Fufufu. Truly two of a kind."

"Muuu..."

I was having tea with Erika on the first floor of Erika’s house.

We sat at a round table that could seat six or seven. Across from me Erika lifted her cup with elegance and smiled.

At her reaction I folded my arms and smiled with a troubled face.

I had just reported what happened, and she had laughed like she was enjoying it.

When I opened the door to the annex to check on Nimi and the others, Melaine was standing there as if she had been waiting.

She told me the same thing I had just told Erika. When I headed for the tavern, the two long-time helpers told me to rest.

It was one now. I had rested enough, and sitting still did not sit right.

Watching that, Erika laughed, kus kusu, set her cup down, and smiled.

"I believe that is called an occupational disease?"

"...Stop. Now I am picturing the Chancellor."

I let out a big sigh, smiled wryly, laughed with Erika, then got to the real topic.

I had not come for small talk. I had come to consult Erika.

Whether we could do something so I could live together with Nimi, Elysia, Lucian, and Eima and Rinelle...

But when Erika heard me she sighed as if fed up, folded her arms, and opened her mouth with flat eyes.

"I cannot believe I have to ask this, but did you think the annex was only a place for that sort of thing?"

"No, well... I did think that."

"Why does your head not work where it matters? That place was prepared so that ’we’ could live together in time. Did you not notice? That there are fewer neighbors, and more adventurers."

Erika let out a big breath and started explaining. Behind her, Sateur and the others were smiling in that troubled way.

First, the viscount house did not have that many maids. The ones who could not live in the annex were, for now, staying in rented rooms nearby.

The Fenley sisters lived next door as well. It was not a bad deal for the maids, and for Erika it meant a business partnership.

Erika’s goal was to buy up the buildings in this whole area and lock it down with the clan, the maids, in other words Bell House.

The way she talked while the breasts on her folded arms swayed was a noble daughter looking ahead and moving.

She had that glossy air she had when she negotiated with me. I almost stared.

It really was the right call that Erika had the money. I had no confidence I could move funds that well... a reliable lover.

When I smiled and said that, Erika’s cheeks went red and she turned her face away with a huff.

"Erika-chan, are you embarrassed~~?"

"Wai, do not poke me, please stop."

"You just say things like that so easily, Instructor."

"Master, the fact he does not notice makes it worse."

What is that supposed to mean? I smiled wryly, rubbed the back of my neck with one hand, and looked at Erika being poked in the cheek by Minty’s index finger.

Sateur and Roll smiled at me in that troubled way too, but I had only said what I honestly felt.

Hmm... I had not thought Erika was planning something that large.

Then as her lover I had to do something for her too, right? The moment I said that, Erika froze with a snap.

I let the corner of my mouth lift in a grin. The four of them, seeing my face, wore stiff smiles.