CH 193

Chapter 193 : Securing A Workplace

「Celine, I want to continue building my house today, so can we skip working on the Portal Stone just for today?」(Mark)

「I see… Alright, let’s take a day off. But… Mark, you don’t have to build your own house, you know? You can… stay in this house if you want…」(Celine)

Is she serious?

I’m building a house so that she can sleep well at night.

Well, she must be worried if I’m living by myself.

「No, it’s okay. Besides, your room is too small for the three of us, and sleeping on a mattress on the floor can barely get rid of my fatigue. I want to sleep in my own room on my own bed.」(Mark)

「I see. If that’s what you want…」(Celine)

「My house is not far from here, so I can come anytime.」(Mark)

「If that’s the case, can you promise me one thing?」(Celine)

「Hm?」(Mark)

「You should at least eat lunch and dinner in this house together with us every day.」(Celine)

「Alright. I promise.」(Mark)

「Ah, one more thing. From tomorrow on, let’s go to the Portal Crystal after lunch because I don’t really want to see Deel. He usually goes on patrol every morning and before sunset. Well, he sometimes does that at noon too but not that often.」(Celine)

I don’t really want to see him either, so I totally agree with her.

I replied to Celine with a nod.

「Alright then, I’m going to continue building my house now.」(Mark)

「By the way, where are you building your house?」(Celine)

「Around the woods nearby. Actually, I met Ester there this morning. If she’s still around, I will ask her if she will let Nicola work at her house.」(Mark)

「Alright. Be sure to return before dinner, okay?」(Celine)

「Okay~ I’m going now.」(Mark)

「Have fun~」(Celine)

I opened the front door while waving at Celine and headed to the place where I was building my house.

――――――

*/TL : This part is in the third-person perspective.

After seeing Mark off, Celine stood still for about a minute while staring at the front door.

After that, she sat on the chair where Mark was sitting and sighed.

「Haahhhh….」(Celine)

She then looked down, held her head with both hands and started muttering to herself.

「I kissed him… Even though it was his forehead, still, I kissed him… But it’s still safe, right? Right? He looked calm when I kissed his forehead, so it’s not a big deal, right? …Aaahh… I wonder what is wrong with me lately… It’s getting harder for me to think of Mark as a child. I don’t know why but I keep thinking of him as an adult male for some reason… Is it because of his mature personality? Or… Is it because of something else…? Aaarrghh! Anyway, I have to control myself so as not to go too far!」(Celine)

Celine kept muttering to herself. She didn’t realize that Nicola, who was sleeping with Eclain in the room next to the living room, could hear her voice.

――――――

When I arrived at the construction site, Ester was still playing with the rock-climbing wall I made for her.

As soon as she noticed me, she waved her hand at me while hanging on the wall, holding a bulge on the wall with the other hand.

「Mark, welcome back~ Climbing this wall is so much fun! I can go through different courses toward the top and I can train muscles that I don’t usually use!」(Ester)

After saying that, Ester continued climbing without using her feet.

Yes, she’s climbing a ten meters wall with only her hands!

She grabbed a bulge with one hand, pulled it as hard as she could to launch her body up, and grabbed another bulge with the other hand.

She really has a strong grip and strong arms for a girl.

I think she can easily crush an apple with one hand.

It’s weird to see her climbing with her legs hanging down though.

「I’m glad you’re enjoying this game. By the way, Ester, there’s something I want to ask you.」(Mark)

When I asked that, Ester, who had almost reached the top, pulled her body up with both hands, made a hundred and eighty degree side flip in the air, and landed on the top of the wall.

「What’s the matter?」(Ester)

She then replied while climbing down the stairs.

I started explaining the circumstances as she approached me.

「My parents don’t want Nicola to stop practicing cooking while we’re staying in this village. Unfortunately, Celine and Eclain-san are not good at cooking, so she needs to practice somewhere else. She won’t be of much help but would you let her work at your place for a while?」(Mark)

「I see! She’s more than welcome! We’d love to have more people in our kitchen! My mom and dad love to teach others how to cook, so I’m pretty sure Nicola will learn a lot from them.」(Ester)

「That’s great!」(Mark)

Suddenly, Ester looked away, smirked, and muttered to herself.

「Khu khu~… If Nicola works at our place, Mom won’t keep nagging me all the time because she will be busy teaching her~」(Ester)

「Did you say something?」(Mark)

「Nothing~ Ah, as you know, we rarely do transactions with money, so we won’t pay her with money. We will pay her with food instead.」(Ester)

「She loves to eat, so I don’t think she will mind. It’s more than enough. The most important thing is that she can continue practicing cooking. Well, our mom is probably more worried if she’s getting lazy than if her cooking skills are not improving at all.」(Mark)

Mom probably wants Nicola to work every day, but…

It’s my idea to make her work at Ester’s place. She will kill me if she has to work every day because of me…

「Ester, I don’t think she’s willing to work every day. It would be great if you give her twoー no, three days off per week.」(Mark)

「Haha! No problem! I will tell my mom and dad later. I think Nicola can start working tomorrow.」(Ester)

「Alright, I’ll tell her. Thank you!」(Mark)

「You’re welcome~」(Ester)

Rejoice, Nicola! You finally have a job!

Well, I know she won’t be happy with it though…