I came to the mansion alone at night.
Normally, I would have thought a real estate agent would show me around in a situation like this, but instead, the owner of Salamus Trading Company said,
「I’ll take care of all the details.」
and did not come with me.
What’s in it for me? I asked, and he rambled on in a subtle, rapid voice about making contracts, registering with the government, arranging for missing furniture, and so on.
Can’t we do that later? And now…
「Our motto is to make your life as comfortable as possible as soon as possible.」
I said something to that effect.
Well, he escaped earlier on. He must be really scared of this mansion, I thought.
I used the key I had been given to open the door of the mansion through the fence that separated the property and went inside.
Taking the lamp, I checked the rooms one by one.
It was a large mansion with more than twenty different rooms, including a living room, a parlor, and a bedroom.
It doesn’t look lived in, but it’s fully furnished.
「I knew you’d run.」
A funny feeling came over me. There was no way that the businessman could not have grasped the fact that we had all of this, at least in a situation where we hardly needed to arrange for furniture.
Giggling, I walked up the carpeted stairs to the second floor. There was a balcony, so I went outside.
It was just on the outskirts of the city, and from there we could see the whole city at night.
The sparse lights and flickering lights in the center of the city are beautiful, and at the same time, they make you realize how high the rank of the place you are standing in is.
The original property was expensive, so this kind of view must have been taken into account.
It felt good.
This night, after a good night’s sleep, I rested in the most magnificent bedroom.
Maybe it was because the bed was too big, but it didn’t bother me that much.
The next day, after hunting a mountain ox to meet my quota, I wandered around the city.
I can make more money, but now that I’ve got the mansion, I want to fill it full of things.
I want to replace some furniture here and there, and I also want to have things that I actually use on a daily basis.
For example, I had a hard time sleeping, so I wanted to change my pillow and futon mattress.
There are many things like that, but there is one thing that is more important than all of that.
「I’d like to hire a maid.」
That’s what I said to the worried-looking shopkeeper when I came to Salamus Trading Company.
「Maid, sir?」
「Yeah, maid. It’s impossible for one person to maintain a mansion like that.」
「I see, that’s what you meant.」
「The …… haunted house thing, isn’t it really scary?」
「No, I don’t think so.」
Salamus panicked a little, then coughed and apologised.
「We’ll take care of it for you. If you think about it, it wouldn’t look good for someone who lives in a mansion like that to not have even one maid.」
「Do you deal in that too?」
「Absolutely, sir.」
Salamus said with a bit of pride.
It was a little strange to see the difference from earlier, so I decided to tease him.
「What kind of maid would come to a haunted house?」
「You needn’t worry about that.」
Salamus said with a straight face. It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. I was like, 「Oh?」as I thought to myself.
「There are people who will come to work in any house, …… even the house of a murderer, as long as they are paid.」
「Hmm, I see. So I guess we’re good.」
「Yes, sir. So, what kind of maid would you like?」
「How’s it going with ……?」
I thought about that.
I came to the Salamus Trading Company with the sole intention of getting a maid when I got my house. I came to the Salamus Trading Company with only one thought in mind, “If I get a house, I’ll get a maid!
When it comes to maids, there are maids who can do it and maids who can’t.
……
The steel-faced maid who wears a long skirt and gets the job done.
Or a clumsy little maid in a miniskirt who is constantly making mistakes and is very emotional.
I wonder which one is better.
「…… a maid who can do her job properly, I guess.」
「I see. The right person for the job is someone who can also be the head maid in the future.」
「Head maid, yeah, something like that.」
I imagined it and got a little excited.
A head maid who supervises the maids.
I’m the one who will be using the head maid.
It’s really exciting.
「So let’s look in that direction. Finally.」
「Yeah.」
「A slave maid and a maid with common origins. Which would you prefer?」
「Slave.」
I responded immediately.
That’s the obvious, non-negotiable part.
「I didn’t think slaves were common ……, but that’s how it is.」
As I wandered around the city in the daytime, I ruminated on Salamus’ last question.
I left the store after that. As expected, they couldn’t prepare a person right away, so they asked me to come back tomorrow so they could look for one.
Now we’ve managed to talk about the maid.
As I thought about what to do next, I felt a pit in my stomach.
I walked into a nearby store at random.
It was like a diner on a street corner, and it was a busy place.
「Welcome to the Pross Restaurant.」
I was greeted by a young woman dressed in a kerchief and apron.
I guess she is the waitress of this restaurant, or rather the poster girl.
「What can I get for you?」
「Uh, let’s see.」
I looked inside the store.
There was a menu, but I couldn’t even read it.
「I’m not sure, do you have any recommendations?」
「Sir, are you a traveller?」
「It’s kind of like that, huh? I just got here and I’m thinking about living here for a while.」
「That’s how it is. How about grilled mountain ox rice? It’s one of our most popular dishes, made with the city’s famous mountain ox and rice, grilled to perfection.」
「That’s it then.」
I answered immediately.
By the way, I realized that I had earned a lot of money from hunting mountain oxen, but I had never eaten a single one of them.
「Yes, grilled mountain ox.」
「Oh, a large one.」
「Yes, a large one.」
The woman returned to the back of the store, leaving with a bright smile on her face.
A little while later, she returned with a plate full of grilled rice.
「Thank you for waiting.」
「Oh, that looks so delicious. Oh, by the way, how much is it?」
「Ten coppers.」
「Huh, for this?」
I don’t have any copper coins, so I take out a silver coin and put it on the table.
Then the woman looked troubled.
「Silver coins, hmm.」
「Was that not enough?」
「No, no, no. It’s the other way around. It’s enough, but I’m not sure if I have enough change.」
「You don’t have enough change? Yeah.」
I guess it means she’s short on change. Sometimes that happens when you go to a convenience store or something like that.
「Well, then, with the remainder of this, bring me some other recommendations.」
「Are you sure?」
「Something delicious.」
Then the woman smiled brightly again, took the silver coin, and went back to the back of the store.
I ate the grilled rice.
「Oh! Yummy!」
It was only by recommendation that it tasted so good.
It tasted nostalgic, like a diner, or a home made meal.
However, the mountain ox meat used was very soft and juicy, and as soon as I bit into it, the juices rushed out and filled my mouth with delicious flavor.
I gobbled it down. It was so good that I finished off a large bowl of yaki-meshi in no time at all.
It’s more than usual, but not quite enough.
After taking a break, I wondered what the next recommendation would be.
That’s what I was thinking.
「It’s not safe to collect any more copper coins in this city.」
Suspicious words were caught by my enhanced hearing.
I was distracted by that, along with the earlier discussion about change.