Talking About A Home

Fresh morning sunlight poured down on the Royal Capital.

Hero Marius was drinking tea after breakfast on the balcony of a luxury inn.

The exhaustion from yesterday had vanished completely, and his silky blond hair was once again immaculate.

A female priest carrying a staff approached him.

“Marius-sama. Let’s slay the wyvern today for sure.”

“I know.”

He flashed a bright, refreshing smile, showing his white teeth.

The priest furrowed her brows and scolded him.

“How can you be so relaxed after failing? The King was angry, you know?”

“What are you talking about? Yesterday wasn’t a failure.”

“Huh?”

“We just went to scout the area. That’s why we weren’t fully prepared. Today is when we’ll actually take down the wyvern.”

“I see… if you say so.”

Though she agreed in words, her skeptical, half-lidded glare did not change.

Marius drained his tea, then rose smoothly to his feet on his long legs.

Narrowing his red eyes, he gave her a charming smile.

“We just have to avoid wasting time on small fry. —First, let’s buy some warding holy water at the church.”

“All right, understood.”

The female priest nodded, her blue hair swaying.

Then Marius left the room, taking the priest with him.

Morning in the Royal Capital.

After a night of deep lovemaking with Liricia at the cheap inn, I woke to the sound of birdsong.

On the narrow bed beside me, Liricia slept naked, wrapped only in a sheet.

Her white skin gleamed in the morning light, and her disheveled silver hair made her so beautiful it hurt to look at her.

From her side-lying back, a pair of white wings shone with divine radiance.

—The fact that this angel is mine still feels unreal.

I gently reached out and traced the heavenly curves of her body.

The moist smoothness of her skin passed through my fingertips.

Her white wings were fluffy, endlessly soft, and incredibly pleasant to the touch.

Then Liricia let out a cute little “Mmh…” and opened her eyes.

Her large violet eyes looked up at me.

“Ah… Good morning, Master.”

“Morning, my adorable Liricia.”

Greeting her, I brushed a kiss against her cheek.

That alone made her smooth, pale cheek flush red.

“Eek… Master… You mustn’t… It’s morning…”

“You’re the one tempting me.”

“N-no I’m no—mmh!”

I claimed her red lips and pulled her fragile, slender body into a tight embrace.

For her part, though she made shy little gestures, her delicate fingers attacked me boldly.

In the shining morning light, I loved the angel with the white wings.

Morning in the Royal Capital.

Liricia and I were having breakfast at a small diner—200 Gort for the two of us.

The cheap inn didn’t offer meals.

The place was cramped inside.

We sat facing each other at a table, but Liricia’s face was bright red as she poked at her scrambled eggs.

“What was that about! ‘Looks like you two had plenty of fun last night!’—What was that! —Take that, and that!”

She was mimicking the innkeeper’s words when we’d left that morning, spoken with a smirking grin.

—We’d made love again and again last night, and apparently the sounds had carried.

She’d tried desperately to stifle her cute voice, but it had all been in vain.

Eating a ham sandwich, I spoke.

“This might be a sign we should think about renting a place.”

“Y-yes! That would be best!”

“Then we wouldn’t have to hold back when we make love.”

“Uu… My Master is so mean…”

Munching on her eggs, she looked up at me with those violet eyes, her silver hair trembling faintly.

She was just too cute for words.

Divinely beautiful, achingly adorable.

And on top of that, she devoted herself entirely to me—she was perfect.

—For a girl like this, I really do need to provide the best home, food, and clothing I can.

We couldn’t keep staying in cheap inns forever.

But how much would it cost?

I had no common sense and no idea what the going rates were.

So I asked Liricia.

“How much does it cost to buy or rent a home?”

“Let me think… Would we be living in the Royal Capital?”

“Right, I guess we have to decide where first.”

“In the Royal Capital, renting a single room would start around 70,000 Gort. To buy, a used one-room place would be about 15,000,000, and a new build would be around 35,000,000. A detached house would likely cost in the hundreds of millions. There are also taxes.”

“That’s steep… No way. Would it be cheaper in a provincial town?”

“Of course. Renting a room there would be around 20,000; even a large detached house would be under 100,000 Gort. Buying a detached house in town would be about 20,000,000, and in the outskirts around 3,000,000 Gort. There is more danger from monsters, though.”

“I see… Hmm. Buying is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so we’d have to think hard about the location… Honestly, I have no idea what would be best for us right now.”

“I also don’t really know what sort of place would suit an adventurer’s lifestyle.”

“We’ll wait to buy a house until we get used to living as adventurers. First, let’s just rent a room.”

“Yes, I think that’s best.”

Sipping my tea, I spoke.

“All right. Once we’ve explored the Hell Lich’s dungeon, we’ll start looking for a place.”

“Eh—really, Master!?”

“Yeah. I want to take good care of you. And thinking about it, it’s dangerous. At a cheap inn our true identities might be exposed. —And I can’t stand the idea of other people hearing your adorable voice.”

“Master…”

Liricia narrowed her eyes happily; her violet gaze on me was wet with emotion.

After we finished breakfast, we headed for the Adventurer Guild.

Remaining funds: thirty-two large gold coins, fourteen gold coins, fourteen large silver coins, and eight silver coins.

3,354,800 Gort.