𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔: 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞!
I’ve been taken a liking to.
Somehow, they’ve taken a liking to me.
“Nel-san! How about this breastplate? Does it suit me? Does it?”
Asuka asks, hopping around me like a puppy.
I don’t think a ready-made leather breastplate suits anyone.
“Here! Here! I had it embroidered!”
She points to the left side of her chest.
Upon closer inspection, there was a bird-like embroidery, just for show.
She’s wasting money again. . .
Even if you add an embroidered accent, it doesn’t change the defense power. How much did she pay for that? That.
The reward you receive should be used to improve yourself.
I want to lecture her.
I want to lecture her, but if I nag too much, she’ll tease me again, saying “Nel-san is like a mom. Mommy Nel.”
I have to be patient.
“Yeah. It probably suits you.”
“Put more emotion into it! Praise me with love!”
“What does Asuka want from me. . .”
“Love and courage!”
She’s a troublesome girl.
Following the goblin extermination the other day, we’ve completed about three requests in a row.
As a result, the three girls, Asuka, Miliaria, and Meisha, have completely taken a liking to me.
But it’s not a romantic something.
It’s more like a father or brother. . . no, a mother.
Really. They should at least call me master or teacher, but they call me Mother Nel.
In my old clan, the Gold-lined Butterflies, I was sometimes called Nel-san or Vice Commander Nel, but here I’m called Okaa-san.
“Equipping yourself is important, but you also need to live a proper daily life. Hurry up and bring out your sheets. I’ll wash them.”
“Okay.”
Asuka runs up to the second floor of the cabin.
This is the clan house, or rather, the clan cabin of [Hope].
It’s not as grand as a house.
It seems they took over an old, unused watermill and made it their clan’s headquarters.
And as you can imagine, an old, unused building is incredibly run-down.
Sleeping in a place like this would probably drain your energy.
It reminds me of the old days.
The Gold-lined Butterflies started out just like this.
We lived with leaks and drafts as our friends.
“Don’t run! The floor will give way!”
“Sorry!”
With those words, three sets of sheets fall from the loft.
Oh, a loft is an attic space in a barn or livestock shed where hay is stored.
These days, it seems to refer to a modern room with a high ceiling and a part of the room divided into two layers.
In our case, it’s a loft in the original sense.
The three girls live there, huddled together. I’m on the first floor.
I can’t share a bed with girls of their age.
Anyway, until we save up some clan money, we have to put up with this cabin.
Being poor is hard.
But, since it was originally a watermill, it’s a relief that the river is right next door.
Water is essential for laundry and cooking.
By the way, the first thing I did when I came to this clan cabin was to build a clothesline and a hearth outside.
Can you believe it?
These girls didn’t cook or do laundry for a month after forming the clan.
They ate out, slept in their clothes, and only washed their bodies in the river.
It’s amazing they didn’t get sick.
Youth is great.
Well, all three of them are from an orphanage, so they probably don’t care about their living environment, just like me and Luke.
As long as they can shelter from the rain and have enough space to lie down, they think it’s enough.
So, the first thing I tackled was improving the living environment.
Eat well, get plenty of sleep, and keep your body clean.
Only by doing so can you perform at your best as an adventurer.
“Nel-sama! We’ve got it!”
“It’s heavy. Physical labor is hard for a wizard.”
While I’m hanging out the laundry, Meisha and Miliaria come back.
From the direction of the town, they’re rolling a huge iron pot.
I heard that they were getting a new pot in the guild’s large dining hall, so I decided to take the old one.
It was big enough for a person to get in.
Of course, it’s not for cooking, but for making a bath.
I put the iron pot on a stone stove and boil water by burning firewood underneath. It’s simple, but it should be better than bathing in the river.
As for the roof and walls, I’ll deal with them later.
Currently, there are only women, so there’s no worry about being peeped at. I’m the only man, but I have no choice but to trust that I won’t do anything indecent.
We’re living together, so that’s a given.
“I don’t mind bathing with Nel-sama.”
No.
That’s not good at all, Meisha.
You’re a cleric, so you need to be more modest.
And be aware of your seductive body.
There are a lot of wolves in the world.
Also, stop buying a lot of meat every time you go to town. If you eat meat every day, it’s bad for your health.
“My chest is just for teasing, so don’t worry and join me, Nel-san.”
“Worry.”
What do you mean, a chest for teasing?
There are places that need to be hidden more than the chest.
