by Hiro Ainana
“Awww…”
Ignoring Arisa’s disappointment, I headed to the study.
“Hmm. It’s a little later than I had planned.”
Disguised as Kuro, I returned to the Ivy Manor and headed toward the private room-slash-study I’d had prepared for me.
On the way to the room, I asked Lelillil to get Tifaleeza for me.
“What’s this?”
For some reason, all the lights in the room were off except the footlights.
Between the light of the full moon from the window and my “Night Vision” skill, however, I could still see perfectly.
That said, it would probably frighten Tifaleeza if all the lights were off when she came to my room, so I opened my magic menu to activate Mana Light.
“…Lord Kuro.”
I paused mid-menu and looked to the door, where Tifaleeza had entered.
“Sorry it got so late. I know I said I’d call for you after—”
…Huh?
For some reason, Tifaleeza was clad in some skimpy negligee.
Worse, she didn’t seem to be wearing underwear.
As the door closed behind her, I heard Neru whisper, “You got this, Tifa!”
My vague phrasing appeared to have caused a serious misunderstanding.
Then I heard a soft rustling noise.
As I was still kicking myself for my carelessness, things were moving way too quickly.
The silky lingerie had fallen to the floor at Tifaleeza’s feet, and the moonlight now fell on her beautiful bare skin, giving her a mystical allure.
Her head was tilted slightly downward, her expression hidden by her wavy hair.
Uh-oh, this is bad.
For just an instant, I was transfixed by her beauty.
“…Put this on.”
I pulled a plain overcoat out of the Item Box and gave it to Tifaleeza.
Once she’d put it on, I used the Mana Light spell.
“…It seems I failed to explain myself properly. I didn’t call you here to demand some love affair.”
If I needed something like that, I’d pay a visit to the lovely ladies who specialized in that sort of thing in the red-light district.
“Th-then what…?”
“I need one of your skills.”
At that, Tifaleeza’s beet-red face went completely blank.
Somehow, I got the sense that I may have hurt her maidenly feelings, but I decided that was best left to her redheaded friend, Neru, to handle later.
“Tifaleeza, give me a new name.”
“Very well. What sort of name would you like?”
Her cool eyes betrayed no emotion as I listed some random names of famous people from Earth.
“Lord Kuro, even if I give you multiple names, only the last one will matter. Is that all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Tifaleeza nodded and began the chant in a calm, clear voice.
“ Name Order Meimei: Trismegistus.”
This was the name I’d spread around for the creator of the light-stone accessories I made in the old capital. If I remembered right, he was a famous alchemist in my old world.
Once Tifaleeza finished her chant, she tilted her head in puzzlement.
“Master, I’m terribly sorry. I believe that ‘Name Order’ may have failed.”
I opened my menu to see what she meant.
My name in my social networking tab was indeed still Kuro. Checking the list of options in that tab and my status tab, I found that Trismegistus had indeed been added.
“I’ve never actually seen it happen before, but I have heard rumors that if one has received a name from someone particularly powerful, it may be impossible to overwrite it afterward.”
Not knowing that her skill had done what I needed anyway, Tifaleeza offered a reason why her “Name Order” might have failed.
In this case, it must be because the name Kuro had been given to me by the powerful black dragon Hei Long.
“It’s all right if it fails. Give me the next name, please.”
“V-very well, if that is your wish…”
She sounded as if she wanted to object, but her cool composure quickly returned, and she continued with “Name Order.”
Once she’d gotten through the third name, she was running low on magic, so I used the Practical Magic spell Mana Transfer to supply her with more until she’d given me ten or so different names.
In addition to major names like Aristotle and Hephaestus, I also included throwaway names like Akindoh and Kaja, adapted from the Japanese words for merchant and blacksmith respectively.
“Thank you.”
“I-I’m pleased I was able to be of some use to you.”
Despite her affirmative answer, Tifaleeza looked woozy.
“Tired?”
“N-no, I can keep going…”
The cycle of “Name Order” and receiving Mana Transfers had probably been exhausting.
I sent her back to her room to rest, warning her not to tell anyone else.
“T-Tifa, ya finished already?”
Neru must have been waiting for her outside the room; I heard her concerned voice.
Judging by the number of lights on my radar, the other girls were there as well.
“Whoa, ya look wiped! What kinda role-play were ya doing in there?!”
Clearly, Neru still had the wrong idea.
You really think we’d be done already if that was what we were doing?
Though I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at Neru, I had to admire her for waiting in the dark hallway to make sure her friend was all right.
However, that admiration quickly evaporated.
“Okay, my turn next!”
Neru charged into the room half-naked, so I spun her around at the door and sent her right back out.
“Huh? Oh, I get it. This is that ‘neglect play,’ right? I dunno. I’m still new to this. That kinda advanced stuff might be beyond me…”
Ignoring her, I headed toward the teleportation mirror.
““““Lord Kuro, if one’s not enough for you, take all four of us!”””
Neru and the other three girls all barged in without so much as a knock this time.
I was on the verge of slapping my forehead in frustration, but I managed to resist, since that wouldn’t fit Kuro’s image.
Oh, I know.
“As I already told Tifaleeza, I have no intention of demanding love affairs from any of you.”
“C’mon, man, I’m offering here—”
“More importantly, I have something to ask you all.” Neru started to say something ridiculous, so I quickly cut her off. “Put some clothes on and meet me in the living room.”
““““…Y-yes, sir.””””
The four girls looked oddly disappointed, but I edged around them and went to the living room.
The girls gathered there before long, and I asked them about what had happened when the fire broke out.
“We were feeding the creatures in the basement when the oil slimes suddenly started going crazy.”
“Normally they were very calm, but then they suddenly started crashing around and escaped their buckets.”
This was the math girl and the sewing girl.
The oil slimes had gotten upstairs and caught fire, trapping the girls in the basement.
“Lord Kuro!” Neru shouted my name and hopped up. “Right before those two came running, I saw a weird pink-colored slime, y’know!”
“Oh right, you were all worked up over that.”
The “Analyze” girl nodded.
Come to think of it, the slime at the building I’d rescued them from had an unusual pink core.
According to the girls, oil slimes were normally an ocher color.
“Did you see any suspicious-looking people or anyone doing anything strange?”
The young women looked at one another.
“Everyone who hung around there was suspicious, y’know.”
The o
ther girls all nodded in agreement with Neru.
“I’m not sure whether this is suspicious, but…,” Tifaleeza spoke up hesitantly. “A middle-aged man dressed all in green used to visit our master from time to time.”
“Oh yeah, the guy who was always going ‘indeed, indeed.’”
Well, that was unexpected… Mm, actually, I could believe that.
If this were a mystery show, though, I guarantee that character would be a red herring.
“Do you know what he was doing there?”
The girls exchanged glances again.
As far as they could tell, they said, he just showed up and had friendly, meaningless conversations with their master.
From that information, it almost sounded like they were friends, but Tifaleeza and the others said it hadn’t seemed that way at all.
“And was he there on the day of the fire?”
“No, he didn’t show up once that—”
“I saw him.” Tifaleeza interrupted the “Analyze” girl. “He didn’t visit our master, but I saw him from the window, walking around near our building.”
“When was that?”
“Not long before Neru started shouting that she’d seen a pink slime.”
Mentally, I started sorting the girls’ testimonies into chronological order.
• The green-clad noble had sometimes visited and spoken with their master.
• Shortly after Tifaleeza had seen the green-clad noble, Neru discovered the pink slime.
• The normally docile oil slimes had gone wild and escaped.
• The oil slimes had caught aflame somehow, causing the massive fire.
That about summed it up.
My arbitrary logic would conclude “the green-clad noble somehow set the pink slime on the oil slimes to send them running wild and started the fire,” but…that probably wasn’t it.
I saw no reason for the green-clad noble to start a fire like that, and even if he had wanted to, he probably would’ve just sent an underling to do so.
If I were the protagonist of a mystery drama, I’d probably go interrogate him about why he was seen at the site of the fire, but I didn’t want to stick my nose where it didn’t belong.
Sure, if the chance arose, I’d ask him a question or two, but there was nothing to be gained except satisfying my own curiosity.
As always, it generally pays to let sleeping dogs lie.
“…I-it’s quite busy today, indeed.”
Between the power of the housewives and the sheer size of our staff, the green-clad noble was unable to get into the staff area of the soup kitchen this time and had to stand off to the side and mutter.
“Good morning, Lord Poputema.”
“Sir Pendragon. Good morning, indeed.”
I made my way around behind him and greeted him with a smile.
“I’m on my way to investigate the scene of the fire. Would you like to come along, Lord Poputema?”
“Are you certain you should be leaving the soup kitchen, indeed?”
“Yes, with this much assistance, there’s no need for a noble like me to help out.”
I’d decided to tactfully imply that his help was also unnecessary and lure him away from the area by sacrificing myself instead.
At least now the kids would be able to come without fear.
“They’re rebuilding faster than I expected.”
Many of the houses had collapsed due to the flammable mortar, but more than half had retained their basic structures, at least.
We walked along the road, taking care not to prevent the soot-blackened workers from doing their jobs.
Seeing our noble attire, some people furrowed their brows or even spit on the ground; far from reprimanding them, however, the green-clad noble smiled as if he was enjoying every bit of it.
As usual, his mismatched expressions made him very difficult to read.
“Many of the roofs are still burned, indeed.”
Sure enough, most of the houses still lacked roofs—probably because it took time to dry the grass needed for thatching.
It didn’t usually rain in Labyrinth City, but winds from the west often carried sand from across the mountains, so a roof was certainly a necessity.
After observing like this for a while, the green-clad noble stopped and looked at one of the intact buildings.
“Many of the homes around here are burned, but this one appears to be fine, indeed.”
“Do you know the owner of the house, Lord Poputema?”
“Not at all, indeed. I don’t know anyone who would live in a place like this, indeed.”
He quickly denied my off-the-cuff inquiry.
It didn’t seem like he was lying, but considering that he’d been working for the Ashinen family’s intelligence agency for years now, it was probably no trouble at all to deceive me.
I didn’t want to keep poking the hornet’s nest, so I decided not to press him for more information.
I’m not a superhero or a detective or anything like that.
Once Arisa contacted me with Telephone to let me know that the soup kitchen and volunteer work was over, I ended my green-clad-noble diversion strategy and headed back toward the plaza.
“Done already, indeed?”
“Yes, I think I’ve seen enough.”
“Then I shall return to the viceroy’s estate, too, indeed.”
Parting ways with the green-clad noble was no small relief as I walked away.
“The thinner areas have gotten darker, too, indeed. That squishy pink sphere was a wonderful thing, indeed.”
Hearing the green-clad noble talk to himself, I turned around, but he was nowhere to be seen among the other people walking downtown.
His words didn’t make any sense to me, but for some reason, they lingered unpleasantly in my mind.
“All right, our work is done for the day. You’re all free to use the rest of your time however you please.”
I attempted to convince my group to go have fun.
Miss Miteruna and the others had already left with the soup kitchen supplies, so there wasn’t really anything else left to be done.
“Are you going exploring again today, Pochi and Tama?”
“Aaaye?”
“I’m going to draw a map, too, this time, sir.”
Pochi held up a little sketchbook from her Fairy Pack, evidently feeling competitive with Tama.
“It might be hard to draw with that. You should take a little board with you, too.”
I produced two boards from Storage by way of the Garage Bag, used the Multitool spell to make a few small holes, and attached a clamp for the paper and strings so they could wear them around their necks. Then I handed the completed portable drawing boards to Pochi and Tama.
“Yaaay!”
“Thank you, sir!”
“Thankeeee?”
Tama and Pochi did a little dance for joy.
“It’s a contest, sir!”
“I won’t looooose?”
With that, the pair ran off with the boards in hand.
They were probably going to have a map-drawing competition.
“If you run into any trouble, just yell for me!” I called after them.
“Aye-aaaye!”
“Yes, sir!”
Looking over their shoulders, Tama and Pochi waved as they dashed away.
“I’m going back to the mansion to give Rosie and Annie cooking lessons.”
“Mm, concert.”
Mia must be heading back to that pond to put on another show for the elderly.
“And you, Liza? More market research?”
“No, I would hate to squander your—”
“It’s not squandering. Finding out what products are sold in Labyrinth City is very important.”
With that, I handed her a bag of silver coins.
I would gladly give her an allowance of gold coins if she wanted, but I got the impression she’d be afraid to use them, so I was sticking with silver coins until she go
t used to shopping.
Once Liza set out, that left only Nana and Arisa.
“Master, I would like candy, I request.”
It seemed odd for Nana to ask that out of the blue, but I shrugged and handed her a piece of candy.
“Not just one. I would like a lot of candy, I request.”
“A lot?”
“Arisa has informed me that sweets are the best way to entice children to be fawned over, I report.”
I glanced at Arisa, who silently pressed her palms together in an apologetic pose.
Since she seemed to regret her actions already, I probably didn’t need to punish her this time.
“Here. I have a lot of leftover candy that I made from honey and ugi sugar a while back, so you can take a bunch of that.”
“Thank you, master.”
I gave Nana a bag of about a hundred candies, and she bounced away happily toward the guild.
“You sure? Isn’t that candy expensive?”
“It’s fine. I’ve still got plenty of both ingredients.”
That might have been a big deal a while ago, but now that I had connections in Lalagi, the Kingdom of Sorcery, and could procure massive amounts of sugar easily, I didn’t have to be so sparing with it.
I could go back to Lalagi at any time by using the Return spell repeatedly, and since I was buying it from the source, it was ten times cheaper than in the Shiga Kingdom.
Now, what am I going to do today?
I had plenty of options, but I supposed I would probably just do some crafting with monster materials.
“Master, let’s go on a date!”
Arisa grabbed my arm, rubbing her cheek against it like a cat.
She looked so innocent that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.
Oh well. I guess I can enjoy some crafting later tonight.
“Want to shop around Labyrinth City’s magic tools or something, then?”
“Okey-dokey! Rosie told me about a side street where you can find some serious bargains, so let’s go there!”
Led by the excited Arisa, I soon found myself on a twisting street populated by mid-ranking explorers.
“Huh. It’s got a sort of topsy-turvy charm, doesn’t it?”
The shops on this street were largely long and narrow buildings with small entrances.
“Right? I’m excited to sniff out some of those bargains Rosie was talking about!”
