Family Time For Each Household – Part One (The Alec Household)

Night.

After closing up the shop, we were in the mansion’s dining room.

Liricia and I sat side by side, with Teti and Sophia sitting across from us.

Teti sliced open another piece of bread, stuffed it with salad and meat, and bit into it.

“Mmm~ so good!”

“You really like eating things stuffed like that.”

“This way I can eat with one hand, and if someone chases me, I can run while holding it, right?”

“That’s a surprisingly bad reason.”

Teti puffed out her cheeks in a sulk.

“What~? It’s survival wisdom, so it’s fine!”

“Yeah, I get it. But don’t go doing bad things anymore, okay?”

“I won’t. I’ve got you now, Alec-sama~.”

Teti smiled brightly and took another bite of her stuffed bread.

I gave a wry smile and bit into my meat.

“As long as you work properly… so how were the shop and the herbs today?”

“They sold really well! About three hundred thousand Gort! And I even hit my herb quota all by myself!”

“That’s impressive. You really helped a lot, Teti.”

“You gathered the herbs yourself, Teti-chan? Thank you.”

Liricia and I praised her honestly.

But despite it being only light praise, Teti’s face turned bright red and she looked away shyly.

“Y-yeah… I’ll do my best. Thanks.”

Liricia and I exchanged glances and tilted our heads.

I voiced my guess.

“Are you maybe not used to being praised?”

“N-no… well… maybe… but… being praised when I work hard, being praised when I want to be praised, it’s the first time that’s ever happened… so… ugh…”

She drooped her head, her long ears—red all the way to the tips—twitching back and forth.

Even so, her small mouth kept munching away at the stuffed bread.

Liricia looked at Teti with a large, affectionate smile.

“I see… then we’ll praise you even more from now on.”

“Th-thank you… I’ll work even harder so I can be useful.”

Teti lifted her face as she spoke. For some reason, her jade-colored eyes shimmered like gemstones.

I couldn’t help but think—

—Even something as obvious as being praised for doing her best was probably denied to her for a very long time.

I lived for my own sake, but I wanted to properly appreciate those who helped me.

“Alright then, keep it up. Next, I’ll be counting on you for spirit magic.”

“Yeah, got it. I’m not good at it, but I’ll make it work!”

Teti nodded firmly with a serious expression.

—She really had become a well-behaved, adorable kid.

Liricia turned her gaze to Sophia, who was eating her bread neatly and gracefully.

“Sophia-san has been helping out at the shop as well. Should we perhaps be paying you wages?”

“Eh, me? Even though you let me use the bath? Is that really okay? Watching the shop lets me study and read all I want, and I’m getting meals too…”

Sophia tilted her head with a troubled expression. Her shoulder-length blue hair swayed softly.

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. Then how about this—basic help is unpaid, but if you use magic or combat abilities, we give you one gold coin per day as a special reward?”

“That sounds good. I think I can accept your hospitality without worrying that way.”

“Alright, let’s do that.”

I nodded while eating.

Honestly, for one of the top holy magic users in the kingdom, it was an absurdly cheap rate.

She nodded back with a smile, her short blue hair bouncing lightly.

That’s when I noticed her hair was shorter.

“Hm? Sophia, did you cut your hair? I remember it being much longer before.”

“Oh, you noticed~? I take baths several times a day, so long hair got in the way. I thought I’d try cutting it.”

Sophia lifted her short hair with her hand. The way it spread emphasized the slender nape of her neck, making her look quite attractive.

I nodded while chewing my bread.

“Yeah, it looks fresh and cute. I think it suits you.”

“Really? Ahaha. Thank you so much!”

Sophia smiled with genuine delight, her eyes narrowing happily.

Liricia glanced at Sophia and me, but said nothing.

Then Teti, watching Sophia’s joy, asked curiously,

“Hey, hey, is that bath really that amazing?”

“Yes, very much so… it feels like healing seeps in from the inside, and all the filth gets purified.”

“Oooh. So that’s why you go in so many times. —Then can I try it too?”

““No!””

Liricia and Sophia answered in unison.

Teti puffed up her cheeks.

“Why~? It’s not fair, only you two!”

“Well, that’s because…”

“That bath is for adults!”

“Yes, exactly! Sophia-san is right! It would be poisonous for a child!”

“I’m not a child anymore!”

She brushed her hair back with a thin hand in an adult-like gesture. Her blonde hair fluffed out, giving off a faintly immature allure.

But Sophia reached over and lightly patted Teti’s chest.

“Not yet~. When these get bigger, okay?”

“I may not have that, but I’ve got guts!”

As I listened to their back-and-forth, my thoughts wandered elsewhere.

—A kids’ version of the Puchi Eli bath might be nice. Half the price of the adult one.

But how much would the adult one even cost?

I decided to ask everyone.

“If we charged money for that bath, how much do you think would be reasonable? —By the way, Teti, you went in on the very first night too, remember? The one that completely healed your injuries.”

“Ah! That bath! The slightly thick one. Since Sophia-oneechan always comes out with that melty smile, I thought it was a way dirtier kind of bath!”

“It’s not dirty! It just feels so good that I end up in a bit of a heaven-like state!”

Sophia protested desperately, her cheeks flushed. Her blue hair swayed messily.

That didn’t really feel like a rebuttal, but I decided not to point it out.

Since the topic had drifted, I asked again.

“So, how much do you think it should be?”

“It fixed something I thought I’d have to hide forever, so I bet there are people who’d pay a million Gort.”

“Eeh!? That’d be awful! I want to be able to go in casually! Even once a week… maybe two thousand Gort? At most, ten thousand!”

Teti and Sophia’s opinions clashed again.

I frowned slightly while sipping my soup.

“I can see both sides. You’re both using it for different purposes…”

“It truly has remarkable effects… if it’s too cheap or too expensive, or if everyone can enter freely, various problems might arise.”

“In that case, a members-only luxury bathhouse… that just makes it sound even more suspicious.”

An adult bath that puts you in a heaven-like state.

People would absolutely misunderstand it as a place with excessive services from beautiful men and women.

Liricia covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

“Honestly, Master, you do tend to rush through life. The shop is still just getting started, after all. —Why not proceed more slowly and carefully?”

“You’re right. If I start wavering before securing my footing, I might stumble. For now, I’ll focus on Puchi Eli… but I’ll keep relying on you all for advice.”

“Yes!”

“Yeah!”

“If I can help, anytime!”

Satisfied with their bright smiles and replies, the warm dinner-time gathering continued on peacefully.