Love Nest (Property) Stroll

Morning in the Royal Capital.

After we had a late breakfast (200 Gort), Liricia and I walked down the cobblestone main street.

Liricia clung to my arm and pressed close.

“Hehe, I am so happy, Master.”

“You seem in a good mood. What is up?”

“Yes! Having a home where we can live together really is something special.”

Liricia clung to me even more; her luxuriant silver hair shone in the morning sun.

After that, we visited a real estate agency in town.

We wanted to rent a place that would serve as our base in the Royal Capital.

Since it was a business listed on the map we had received from the Adventurer Guild, I figured it would be reasonably trustworthy.

The real estate office was on a side street one block off the main road.

Sheets listing properties were posted in front of the shop.

One-room, two-room, without bath, with bath. Shop with residence, detached houses with gardens, mansions with carriage stops.

All kinds of properties were listed.

Every single one of them was expensive.

Beside me, Liricia knit her beautiful brows and let out a groan.

“Mmm. As expected of the Royal Capital… everything is expensive.”

“Well, in the worst case, we could just rent the cheapest room and use the cabin in the forest as our actual home.”

“That cabin is… surely too dangerous with the monsters, is it not? There is a chance it could be destroyed while we are away. We do not even know who owns it.”

“That is why I wanted to come to a real estate agency vetted by the Adventurer Guild, including to ask about that.”

“Sigh… if you have some plan in mind, Master…”

“For now, let us go in.”

“Yes.”

We went into the shop hand in hand.

The counter ran across the center of the shop, and in the corner there was a consultation space partitioned off by screens.

When we walked in, a sullen-looking middle-aged man with glasses was sitting at the counter, but he suddenly broke into a pleasant smile and half rose from his seat.

“Oh, welcome. Adventurers, are you?”

“That is right.”

“Please, this way. I am Rent, the owner.”

He showed us over to the consultation space in the corner.

At a glance, it was a friendly reception.

However, I had seen the look in the owner’s eyes the moment we stepped inside.

In that instant, he had taken in my sword and Liricia’s armor and flail.

He must have decided we had good equipment—adventurers with money.

I had to make sure we did not get fleeced like at the slave trader’s.

Liricia and I sat side by side on a two-seater sofa, and the owner sat opposite us with a file in hand.

“Welcome. We specialize in rooms suited for adventurers, so I am sure we can find a property you will like.”

“Suited for adventurers?”

“Yes. Houses where an entire party can live together, or multi-room places with separate rooms and baths for men and women. Ah, and since many people are injured, we also have properties near clinics.”

“I see. You certainly have thought this through.”

“But of course. So then, what sort of property are you looking for today?”

I glanced over at Liricia.

She shook her silver hair and looked at the owner with serious eyes.

“We are looking for a rental property. As for our conditions, there will be two of us living there, so we do not need many rooms—one room is fine. The location can be anywhere within the Royal Capital. However, we would like a first-floor room.”

“First floor? Why is that?”

“After finishing an adventure, we are often so exhausted we are barely standing. In that state, climbing stairs up to the second or third floor is hard.”

I had to admit, she had come up with a very good explanation.

To create a dungeon entrance, it had to be either underground or on the first floor.

The owner believed the lie and nodded.

“I see. With so few party members, the burden on each of you must be great… In that case…”

He flipped through his file and pulled out several sheets describing different properties.

He laid them out on the table as he explained.

“First, this one is near the southern outer wall. It has three rooms, plus a kitchen and storage space. There is a well nearby, and it is also close to the gate, so it is convenient for coming home.”

The monthly rent was 130,000 Gort.

It was expensive, but with three rooms it felt fairly priced.

Then Liricia’s well-shaped features tightened into a frown.

“The wall is too close; it looks like it would get poor sunlight. The drainage does not seem good either, and the laundry might not dry well.”

So she looked at things like that too.

The owner produced another sheet.

“In that case, how about a property in the northern part of the city? An apartment in a neat residential district. It is a one-room unit with running water and a bath, but each room has a balcony and gets plenty of sun.”

The monthly rent was 150,000 Gort.

Expensive.

However, the northern side of the Royal Capital was a high-class district where many nobles and bureaucrats lived. It had good security and was a quiet area. Having running water was also a good selling point.

Liricia touched a finger to her chin and thought it over.

“It sounds nice, but… judging from the layout, there is no storage or kitchen. It feels like the kind of room noble children who eat out would like. I do not think it really suits adventurers.”

“Madam, you have a keen eye.”

“M-Madam? Oh, no, I could not…”

Liricia waved her hands in front of her reddened face.

The owner brought out yet another sheet.

“Then how about this one? It is a fairly old two-story detached house, but it stands on the north side of the street, so it gets good sunlight. It has lots of storage, and both a bath and running water.”

The monthly rent was 160,000 Gort.

There were two rooms on the first floor and three on the second; it actually felt cheap for that.

Liricia stared at the sheet and let out a thoughtful hum.

“The price seems fair enough… but since it is in the northwest, it is far from the south-eastern forest and the dungeon… And if the first floor is taken up by the kitchen and bath, we would have to climb the stairs and rest on the second floor, which might be rough after finishing an adventure…”

I voiced a question that had suddenly occurred to me.

“There are not many properties near the center of the city, huh?”

“The main street and the second and third streets have heavy foot traffic, so the first floors are usually rented out as shops. The second floors are used as storage or residences for those shops. On the third and fourth floors, there are many buildings with rental units… but that would mean climbing stairs.”

“I see. That is true.”

I nodded as I recalled the layout of the city.

Almost every first floor facing the street had some sort of shop on it.

He continued introducing properties after that, but none of them really stood out.

I concluded that insisting on the first floor or underground really was the sticking point.

I stood up and spoke.

“Sorry, but none of these properties really speaks to me. I would like to walk around the Royal Capital and think it over again.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You have helped us a lot… Oh, right.”

“Yes?”

“There was a log cabin in the south-eastern forest—who owns that place?”

“In the south-eastern forest where the monsters live? Where exactly?”

Liricia answered.

“Quite a ways down to the south… It would be about seven hours on foot in a straight line, I suppose.”

“That deep in!? No, that is far beyond the danger line where ordinary people can go. It would be impossible to send materials and craftsmen that far to build a house. Even if you hired adventurers to guard them while they built it, monsters would destroy it soon after it was finished.”

The owner spoke with eyes wide.

That surprise had to be genuine. It confirmed the cabin had no owner.

I was glad to have heard a professional opinion.

“I see. Then maybe I just saw it wrong. We will stop by again. This has been helpful.”

“Thank you very much. We will talk things over with Master and come again.”

“Yes, please do, anytime. We always have good properties available.”

With that, we left the shop.

The morning sun was dazzling.

I spoke to Liricia standing beside me.

“Sorry I could not decide.”

“No, it cannot be helped. One should not decide where to live so easily.”

“Then shall we go explore the Royal Capital?”

“Yes, Master!”

Smiling, Liricia clung to my arm again; her soft body pressed against me.

The two of us walked through the city.

We wandered around looking at all sorts of things; it might have been the first time I had walked all over the Royal Capital not for work.

When we got hungry, we bought skewers, fried bread, and crepes from the stalls and ate as we went. 500 Gort.

We also sat close together and rested on a bench in a small park.

On the bench under the dappled sunlight, Liricia let out a cute little sigh.

“Somehow, just doing this makes me happy, Master…”

“When we walk together, even a boring city becomes fun. I never knew that before.”

“If you are happy, Master, then I am happy too.”

She hugged me, pressing her chest against me.

The smile she turned up at me was incredibly cute.

I wrapped an arm around Liricia’s slender waist and stood up.

“Then let us stroll some more.”

“Yes, Master.”

We walked through the city pressed tightly together.

Then—

It happened while we were walking down a back alley about five minutes from the Adventurer Guild.

A building covered with a notice caught my eye.

There was a small space on the first floor of the building.

It seemed a boxed-lunch shop had been operating there.

A sheet of paper had been posted by the entrance.

When I went closer and read it, it said, “Closing down. Thank you for your long-standing patronage.”

Apparently the owner had died and the place had become an empty storefront.

Peeking inside from the entrance, I saw there were no stairs leading to a second floor; it was a ground-floor shop unit only.

At that moment, an idea suddenly struck me.

“I see. If we only need to make an entrance, it does not have to be a residence!”

“Huh!? You do not mean here, do you!?”

“We just need an entrance. We can live in the cabin in the forest.”

“B-But, that place is…”

“If my guess is right, it will be fine.”

“I-I understand. I will trust you, Master.”

Liricia looked up at me with a serious expression.

That straightforward sincerity made me happy.

Total funds on hand: 45 large gold coins, 31 gold coins, 11 large silver coins, and 58 silver coins.

4,826,800 Gort.