CH 11

When you wake up, there are two rich mounds before you. They are soft, but at the same time, they are hard and tight with muscle. When Ellis woke up, she was terrified as these mounds completely obfuscated her sight, but then she remembered.

“Oh, I slept in Frau’s bed last night.”

Ellis remembered her situation and did her best to slip out of Frau’s grasp without disturbing her peaceful sleeping face. She tiptoed across the room and lightly closed the door behind her. After that, she made her way downstairs to the living room.

“Good morning…” A thin voice came from the entrance.

Huh?

“Good morning…”

Oh!

Ellis realized the situation.

In a hurry, Ellis ran back upstairs and woke up Frau and Reeve.

We do not have time to bask in the afterglow, Frau.

Don’t give me that look of ecstasy so early in the morning, Reeve.

“Both of you get up, we have a guest!”

At her words, they hurried downstairs as if they had both remembered something.

“Good morning! Glad you could make it.” Ellis greeted Claire at the entrance who was carrying around a large bag.

She had straight black hair combed in the back and rare jet black eyes that you could swim in. Her expression makes one think about both a boy and girl.

She was wearing carpenter pants with a ragged shirt. There is no beauty here, if you look at it normally. But Ellis had the eyes of a hikineet. Ellis saw the cuteness of a shy boyish girl.

“Good morning, glad you could make it.”

“Claire, thank you for coming.”

Having finally woken up, Frau and Reeve came downstairs and greeted Claire.

Today’s breakfast was oatmeal lightly boiled with the broth separated form last night’s vegetable stew.

“Claire, please join us.” Frau invited Claire to the table.

Frau took the initiative and is leading Claire along. That’s right. The only person here who Claire really knows is Frau. Eventually, Ellis will wedge her way in, but for now, she figured she would leave it to Frau.

Ellis sat at her normal spot at the table, and Reeve sat across from her while Frau took up the position to Ellis’s left. Claire sat in front of Frau where her dish had been placed as if it was a landmark.

“Is it okay to have such a feast for breakfast…?”

Her gentle voice and gestures flipped Ellis’s switch.

Damn, I’m already getting excited this early in the morning.

Frau responded to Claire’s question with a smile. “Don’t worry, because this was all made at Ellis’s request.”

What?

Ellis?

Abandonment?

Oh, this girl, she’s trying to pretend to be a responsible guardian.

What should I do?

Would it be better to hand over the reins to Frau and Reeve to make this place seem safe for Claire? OK. I suppose that for today, I will be weak.

For now, let’s give Claire a lovely thanks as a test.

“Claire, thank you for coming so quickly.”

And now, what type of response will Claire give me.

“That’s because the idea Ellis showed me yesterday was so amazing!”

Alright, Claire has already dropped her politeness with me. Claire will easily talk to a younger, more modest girl. I have confirmed the direction of the spider web, so the future policy has been decided.

Ellis’s thoughts spun through her head as she picked up her spoon and started eating. The vegetable bouillon’s gentle taste soaked into the morning stomach.

The breakfast room was filled with conversation centered around Frau, and breakfast was finished safely.

When Frau and Reeve began to clean up dirty dishes, Ellis called out to them. “Frau, Reeve, I will show Claire around.”

Ellis’s words gave the two a sense of crisis.

“I will also go!”

“I will go as well!”

But this reaction only served to light a flame in Ellis’s heart. In short, she was a sadist.

“Frau should make preparations for lunch, and Reeve needs to go to the market to pick up some more towels. We don’t have enough.

While giving her instructions, Ellis enjoyed the reactions of Frau and Reeve, but she was also sure to check the reaction of Claire as well. She had to see if Claire was sensitive enough to notice the transfiguration of Frau and Reeve. If Claire is sensitive to such a thing, the next step would have to be reworked. However, Claire is dull as expected. She seems like the type to not worry about the little details.

“Claire, I will show you around.” Ellis hung her favorite shoulder bag around her shoulder and grabbed Claire’s hand, and she made sure to look back at Reeve and Frau’s dissatisfied expressions.

First, Ellis guided Claire to the northern stream.

“If it’s the gradient from here to the mansion, we could install a 1 meter wide waterway, right?”

Claire doesn’t think to ask about how an 8 year old knows about the gradient of a slope and instead just honestly nods her head.

“Although it depends on the angle, we should be able to draw water at a degree loose enough that a slippery fish would be able to swim back into the river.”

Next, they headed south to the wetlands on the other side of the road.

“It’s about 2000 meters from the creek to this point. How about having the route from the northern stream end here?”

“This is good. Since there are many creatures in the wetlands, decomposition of dirty water is quicker.”

The story goes that we will draw the water from the stream to a public bath and flush toilet and then drop the dirty water into the wetlands. This world needs a sewage system, and other people can add on to the stream.

“However, I think 1 meter wide waterway is too large.”

Claire is right. The scale of the waterway would be too large if it was only meant for the toilet that Ellis had described to her yesterday.

Ellis whispered to Claire, “If you can set up a proper heat source on the way, you could set up a public bathhouse as well.”

Claire frowned at Ellis’s words.

“Ellis, it is impossible. Even if you could prepare the water, the cost of the firewood would be unimaginable.”

Claire assumes I will use firewood. Her imagination isn’t quite there yet.

“Besides, just the waterway is going to cost a lot of money.”

“We can’t just make it out of brick and plaster?”

“Tile would be ideal. Square tiles are 500 millimeters on all sides, and I will need about 24,000 of them to complete the waterway plus an additional 12,000 for processing.”

“Are tiles expensive?”

“The tiles themselves cost 100 ril a piece, but it also costs money for transport. The tiles will cost 3.6 million ril, but add on the cost of transportation and an extra freight charge, the total cost will rise to about 7.2 million ril.”

Hmph.

“How much will it cost to construct the waterway?”

“500,000 ril to lay the foundation for the pathway, and it will cost an additional 2 million ril as a material cost to make the wooden frame for the waterway. Add on another 500,000 ril in order to tile the inside of the wooden frame and the construction fee will come to another 3 million ril.”

Total construction costs add up to 10.2 million ril. Then I guess there is no problem. I made 30 million ril from selling Kevin’s possessions alone.

“Alright, thank you for your help.” Ellis thanked Claire and pulled her hand to return home.

“Ellis, welcome home. I made your favorite risotto.”

Frau is trying to preserve her impression in front of Claire to the very end. I wonder when I said I loved risotto? Well, I do enjoy it, so I guess it’s fine.

“I have done the shopping as ordered. Please check the items.”

This is a game of loyalty. Ellis answered Reeve with a smile instead of a verbal reply while checking the towels that Reeve had proudly arranged.

The four people took the same seats as this morning.

Frau set out four plates for four people, and four people started to eat from their plates.

“Wow, Frau, this is delicious!” Ellis had to admire the rich umami taste of the risotto. It was seriously delicious.

“She’s right.” Even Reeve had to raise a white flag against the skill of Frau’s dish.

Then Claire opened her mouth. “Do all three of you live in this mansion?”

The question was immediately answered by Reeve.  “Only the two of us live here. The chef lives in the neighboring house.”

And there is the unnecessary provocation…

……

huh? Frau will not reply?

Reeve took a look at Frau.

As if to ignore that gaze, Frau slowly puffed out her chest.

“Yes, we three all live here alone in this mansion.” It seems that Frau’s intention really is to just ignore whatever Reeve says.

But that’s not all. Something was included in the phrase from Frau to Claire. It was a certain gentleness. Ellis and Reeve both picked up on it.

Frau knows something we don’t. It probably has something to do with Claire’s circumstances.

Ellis noticed Claire gently open her mouth, “Sounds fun.” And the air around Claire changed from the bright aura she had before to a jealous expression. Somehow the air in the room became heavy. Then Frau changed the topic as if to protect Claire.

Ellis understood with Frau’s response. Claire was hurt in the past. However, Ellis had no idea what had happened. The girl is carrying a burden, and Frau knows about the circumstances.

“Reeve, could you show Claire to the guest room?”

Reeve was surprised at Ellis’s sudden instructions, but she reflexively followed up on them and stood up.

“Oh yeah, let me show it to you.” Reeve took Claire’s hand and grabbed her baggage and dragged both of them inside the mansion.

When the two had both vanished from sight, Ellis turned to Frau.

“The wound of that child, domestic violence?”

To Ellis’s question, Frau gave her a momentary look. “Do you understand…?”

Frau began to tell the story.

Claire was born to a couple belonging to the Warren Mage Guild. While raising Claire, the couple educated her about magic as a matter of course. However, when Claire turned ten, an emergency summons was brought to all magicians from the guild’s headquarters in the Magical City. Claire’s parents had to attend however they were unaware of how dangerous it would be, and they did not want to risk their child’s safety. So Claire was entrusted to her father’s brother.

This was a mistake.

Claire was assaulted by her uncle, but Claire’s body managed to remained safe. She used the magic she had learned from her parents to blow her uncle away.

What was discovered the next day was Claire stained pink along with meat and blood and a horrendous stench. Naturally, Claire was not in a good state.

Claire’s parents wouldn’t return. She was unable to even know if they were alive or dead. The small number of magicians left at Warren’s mage guild did not know what to do in such a situation. So the adventurer guild master, Frau’s father, made a decision. He deposited Claire with a well-known artisan and asked him to teach her how to build things instead of destroy them.

“Claire is a magician?”

To Ellis’s question, Frau swung her head. “Claire can use magic, but she hates magicians. Especially the mage guild.”

“What do you think will happen if we tell Claire about my ability?”

Frau could not confirm.

Ellis came up with a plan. She did not want to do it, but looking at Frau’s expression, she came to a decision.

◊

“Claire, this will be your room for the night.” Reeve guided Claire to the guest room at the top floor.

“Thank you, Ms. Reeve.”

In such circumstances, Reeve’s cheeks became loose. “Please, just Reeve is fine.”

“Um, Reeve.”

“What is it, Claire?”

“The Lord of this house is Ellis, right?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by Lord, but I am Ellis’s shield.”

At the blatant expression of their relationship, Claire couldn’t help but blush.

And then Claire thinks.

“There are no disgusting people here. There is no one here to blame me.”

Unexpectedly Claire’s expression relaxed in relief.

Before this innocent appearance, Reeve resigned herself.