Chapter 61 Occupation
It was searching. Searching for the warmth of a home.
The place where it had dwelled in until now had become impossible to stay in after a long time.
For that reason, it was looking for a new “home tree.”
The place it had dwelled in before was extremely comfortable.
It has existed for a long time. It has been in numerous places.
Among them, the place that it had lived in until recently was the most comfortable.
However, it could not stay there any longer.
So, it decided to look for a new “home tree.”
The place where Humans lived together was called a village. It had visited many human villages before, but it didn’t find a suitable place for it to stay.
When inside villages, it tends to move slowly, from one street corner to another.
Many say that it is invisible to humans. That is not true, however, as some humans can hear its voice and a few can even see it.
While weaving in between humans, it was looking for a place to stay.
However, it couldn’t find the “home tree” that it really likes.
Is there nothing suitable for it in this village too?
While it was thinking about such a thing.
It finally found it.
A “home tree” that is suitable for it to stay at.
It could understand just by looking at it. This “home tree” is even more comfortable than previous “home trees” that it had stayed.
When it was pleased that it found a new “home tree”, it quickly approached the “home tree” while skipping happily.
A chair with extravagant decorations.
An old man who was sitting on the chair opened his mouth towards the person kneeling before him.
“… I see. He is a very thoughtful person.”
“Yes. As the person who was in charge of the scene, I judged that with his way of thinking, we would be able to save more lives, and so that is why I let him take over as commander.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. The one who’s in charge of the site is you. Any action you deem necessary is fine with me.”
The old man reclined his body to the back of the chair and smiled slightly shy.
“The knowledge from a foreign country… How was it? From your perspective, do you think that you can can spread that foreign nation’s medical knowledge in this country?”
After thinking for a while about what was questioned, the kneeling person looked up to the old man and answered
“I am afraid that it is impossible. It is because that knowledge conflicts with this country’s common sense, and the nobles won’t stay quiet, even if your Majesty was the one who spread it.”
“Is that so…”
The old man closed his eyes with his back at the chair.
There will be no problem in convincing him to incorporate this new knowledge, but to convince everyone else is another story.
The old man slowly lost in his thoughts without moving a bit.
A long time had passed. Meanwhile, the kneeling person as well as the guard escorts standing behind the old man waited without complain for the old man to return from his thoughts.
And then.
“…Taülorde.”
When the old man opened his eyes, he looked down at the kneeling man.
“Giuseppe… Tell that old man that I want to talk with you again together with your father.”
“By Your will.”
The kneeling person, Taülorde Chrysoprase, lowered his head again towards the old man in front of him and tried to leave the audience room.
“Wait a minute, Taülorde.”
However, an unexpected voice called him, and Taülorde stopped and look at the person who voiced it.
“Your Highness… When did you…”
Taülorde’s line of sight was directed towards the back of the overlapping curtains behind the throne – the extravagantly decorated chair sitting by an elderly.
No, Taülorde was watching a boy’s face peeking behind the curtain.
The boy emerged from the curtain’s shadow.
His age was around 14 or 15 years old. A teen who looked to be a bit under the age of maturity, and with one look, people could understand that everything on his body was of the highest grade.
And even though he showed up, the knights including Taülorde were surprised, but they were not to blame.
The boy spoke towards the old man sitting at the throne, ignoring Taülorde who stopped, with no ill intent.
“Hey, grandpa.”
“What is it?”
The man on the throne responded to the boy’s voice with a laid back atmosphere.
“Just now, the one grandpa talked about was the rumored magician right?”
“Yes, that’s right. What seems to be the matter?”
“It’s just that, maybe, grandpa, by calling Grandpa Giuseppe over will mean that the magician will also come with him… So, will you be inviting them here to the royal palace?”
The man on the throne didn’t respond to the boy’s question, and just laughed.
However, the boy take it as an affirmation, and a smile similar to the man on the throne was shown on the child-like face.
“If so, then… Will you let me meet the magician?”
Morning… the time was much closer to noon than to dawn.
At last, Tatsumi woke up, picked up the wristwatch by the bedside and checked the time.
“… Uwa. Have I been sleeping till this late hour…?”
Surprised to wake up at around noon, while casually looked beside him, there he saw the sleeping face of his beloved woman.
Looking at the peaceful sleeping face, Tatsumi unintentionally smiled.
Usually, Calcedonia wakes up early in the morning and prepares breakfast, but she seemed to have overslept today.
While thinking that something was wrong, Tatsumi recalled yesterday’s incident and thought that it can’t be helped.
Yesterday there was an accident at the royal palace, and Calcedonia used her magic until both her mana and stamina were exhausted.
You must be really tired, huh, Calsey.
Tatsumi thought as he tried to get out of bed quietly so to not wake up Calcedonia, who was still sleeping happily.
However, as he looked closely, Calcedonia was holding his arm tightly while sleeping.
Tatsumi narrowed his eyes lovingly as he gently opened up her fingers and pulled out his arm.
Well, he was thinking of washing his face before Calcedonia woke up, but when he tried wearing his indoor shoes, he felt something amiss.
“Huh?”
When he looked at his feet, the shoes have been reversed.
“…That’s strange. Even though it was supposed to be aligned when I went to bed…”
After re-arranging the shoes, Tatsumi wore his.
“…Did I remember it wrongly?”
Tatsumi left the bedroom and headed for the well, all the while wondering with his head tilted.
“Um, I’m sorry!!”
Calcedonia, who seemed to have woken up finally, went to the living room with disheveled hair.
“Good morning, Calsey. Today we were given a day off by the church, so you don’t have to worry.”
He made a report about yesterday’s incident to Giuseppe, and was given a special day off as a reward for their work.
So today, both of them can relax all day.
“But, but, I let my Husband get hungry…”
“That’s why, when I got up earlier, I prepared a meal. Well, compared to Calsey’s, I can’t really make anything extravagant.”
When he was still in Japan, Tatsumi was someone who never did any of his housework.
Even while living alone, he mostly ate take-outs, and he never did any home cooked meals.
However, in this world, it is necessary to know how to prepare some dishes and to go outdoors and go monster hunting.
“That’s not alright! Making my Husband’s meal is an important job for me! This role is only mine and I cannot give it to anyone else! Not even to my dear Husband!”
Calcedonia was fired up with a strange sense of purpose. To that, Tatsumi couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“Okay then, go ahead. I’m actually still hungry to be honest.”
“Yes! I’ll prepare it right away!”
With a happy smile, Calcedonia nodded while immediately headed to the kitchen.
However.
“Huh?”
When she entered the kitchen, several wooden dishes that were supposed to have been washed last night were lying there on the kitchen.
“…Strange. I remembered that I cleaned it up…”
Calcedonia tilted her head. However, she thought of using the dish for preparing breakfast for now and started preparing it.
That day Tatsumi and Calcedonia stayed at home all day, but strange things often happened.
The tea that she brewed in a container earlier was gone before she knew it.
There was also one viand consumed during one meal, even though they didn’t remember eating it.
One window that should’ve been closed was open.
Also, the laundry that was dry was taken in, and the bedroom which was not used during the day was cleaned mysteriously.
“…Perhaps, there is someone here other than us…?”
Tatsumi murmured while sitting in the living room.
When he was still in Japan, he heard about mysterious strangers settling in the ceiling and so on.
Tatsumi, remembering that, thought that someone had settled in the house unknowingly.
“I may have to search through the house then…”
“No, I do not think it will be necessary. But, as Husband said, there is no doubt that something had settled down.”
“Whaa? Something settled down?”
Tatsumi lifted his body from the chair unexpectedly and looked around the room uneasily.
However, unlike Tatsumi, Calcedonia seemed calm.
“I think… I think that a Brownie had settled down here.”
“Brownie?”
Brownies are spirits that dwelled in homes.
Although the Brownies sometimes caused mischief towards the people living in the house, despite the fact that they never show themselves publicly, Calcedonia explained to Tatsumi that if anything, it is an existence that watched over the house and their occupants.
“Although it is certainly not mischievous now, won’t it become a problem in the future?”
“I don’t think that will happen. If you prepare a small meal for the Brownie in the kitchen, it will not cause any mischief. In fact, it is said that when a Brownie lives in a house it will bring good luck.”
“Whoa. It’s like a zashiki-warashi, don’t you think?”
Well, since it is just a harmless spirit, Tatsumi thought that it would be fine for it to stay.
Moreover, if it brings happiness for the household like zashiki-warashi, there’s no reason to refuse.
Also, if the Brownie likes the house and their occupants, it will sometimes help with housework as well. That was why the laundry was taken in and the bedroom was being cleaned.
“Well, it seems the Brownie liked both us and the house.”
“I think so too.”
Tatsumi and Calcedonia laughed heartily.
“Alright… then, Brownie. Let’s get along from now on…”
“Thank you very much.”
With this, Tatsumi and Calcedonia decided to welcome the invisible patron.
“Ah… but, don’t peek at me and Husband’s bedroom at night… alright?”
Calcedonia added so at the end while blushing, and Tatsumi glanced at her, smiling.
