Chapter 6

“Cerulia, you must have received a really good education. You wouldn’t be able to help me out like that otherwise.”

“Oh, stop it, Master. I only did what was natural.”

She said that, but the slightly smug look on her face was adorable.

However, the fact remained that there was a Succubus standing right there—

“Mommy, look! A Succubus lady!”

“Don’t look, dear!”

“But Daddy said before that she’s cuter than Mommy…”

“He said what?!”

Crap! We’re standing out! We’re standing out way too much!

“F-for now, let’s head to the market, grab some ingredients as fast as we can, and get out of here!”

“U-understood!”

We bought some vegetables, meat, and bread in a hurry. For dinner, I planned on making a basic vegetable-heavy stew. Whether it would actually taste good was debatable, but in terms of nutritional balance, it was the safest bet.

But once again, Cerulia spoke up. “I shall do the cooking.”

“I feel bad making you do everything from start to finish…”

“No, on the contrary, a familiar must work. Besides, this is well within my capabilities.”

Well, I suppose if you had a maid at home, it would be a bit strange not to let her cook.

“Alright then, I’ll leave it to you…”

Watching her cook, she cut the vegetables with practiced ease and used fire magic to start the stew. It didn’t look like I had to worry about a “failed cooking” trope where a purple soup turns into a disaster.

Still, looking at her from behind, she really did look like she was wearing nothing but an apron. It wasn’t good for my heart. In a way, I felt like my own worldly desires were the real problem, but it felt like an act of god at this point.

“Cerulia, should we buy you some clothes…? I can’t help but be… aware of you.”

“A Succubus with low skin exposure is unheard of. That would be an insult to my kind.”

“I see, so that’s the culture… Understood. I’ll leave it as is, then…”

Soon, a delicious-smelling stew was finished. In fiction, the cooking of such a devoted girl is often inexplicably terrible, but—

“Th-this is delicious! Why is it so rich…?”

Even though the ingredients were the same, it was leagues better than anything I could have made.

“By carefully controlling the cooking time, I can serve it at its peak deliciousness. I learned that in the Underworld! ♪”

Is the Underworld ahead of us in everything?

So, I’m going to be living with Cerulia from now on. I’m going to have warm stew made for me like this every day. Not bad. Not bad at all!

“I mean, if it’s this great, why did Dark Magic decline in the first place…?”

I’d think plenty of people besides me would jump at this.

“That is because, unlike White Magic, Dark Magic relied heavily on a ‘Master-Apprentice’ style of passing down knowledge,” Cerulia explained.

She seemed to have a good grasp of the history, too.

“The Master-Apprentice system is difficult to systematize, and the hurdle to become a disciple is quite high. Consequently, it was overwhelmed by White Magic, which shifted to a school-based education system early on.”

“That makes sense. If you want to be a painter, you might hesitate to go straight to a master’s door and ask to be an apprentice. But if there’s a school for painters, it’s easy to enter.”

“Exactly. Plus, it is true that some branches of Dark Magic required sacrifices. Naturally, people grew to avoid it. Thanks to that, it became known as the ‘3D’ industry: Dirty, Disgusting and Dangerous.”

I could see why it would fade away, then. Though I suppose it has survived just fine in the Underworld where Cerulia came from.

“However, it seems the Dark Magic industry in the human world decided they couldn’t stay like this. They’ve begun a movement to become a ‘New 3C’ workplace: Clean, Comfortable, and Clear.”

“The industry was actually putting in the effort!”

“Clean and Comfortable are easy to understand, but being Clear is also important. Dark Magic has always had a closed-off image, so they want to promote the idea that there’s nothing to be afraid of and that it’s a safe career choice.”

Maybe one day the Dark Magic industry would actually overtake White Magic.

By then, we had finished our meal.

“Since we have running water, I can use fire magic to heat up the bath. I’ll go get it ready.”

“Oh, I shall do that as well!”

“Fine, you handle the water. In exchange, I’m at least doing the dishes!”

I felt too guilty letting her do literally everything, so we reached a compromise. I figured if I didn’t go in first, she’d be too polite to go at all, so I took the first bath. I didn’t want her thinking I was the type of creep who wanted to soak in the water a beautiful girl had just used… I’m not that much of a pervert.

The water temperature was perfect.

“Man… life in a company dorm is the best. Dark Magic life is heaven.”

I accidentally muttered it out loud. You just tend to talk to yourself in the bath.

“—In that case, shall we make it even more like heaven?”

Cerulia had entered the bathroom.

Needless to say, when a beautiful girl who is practically naked enters your bath, you panic.

“W-w-wait…?! This is the ‘Let me wash your back’ thing, right…?”

However, Cerulia slowly shook her head.

“I shall also perform the duties befitting a Succubus, Master…”

Cerulia’s face was flushed red. It likely wasn’t just because of the steam in the bathroom. This was something she wanted, too.

However, my reason sounded an alarm: Is it okay to just go with the flow?

I asked her with a serious expression. “Listen… I can’t ignore this, so I have to ask. Am I going to be okay if I do… that… with a Succubus?”

If it were a life-threatening danger, I’d have to overcome any temptation. And more importantly—if she was trying to do something that would put me in danger, I wouldn’t be able to trust her. That would be too sad. I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“I would never, ever do anything to harm you, Master!” Cerulia declared, placing a hand over her heart.

“At this moment, I am your familiar! If you were to die, it would be a permanent stain on my record. Who in their right mind would want that?!”

After snapping at me like that, her face immediately slumped. “Since I can only offer my word, if you cannot believe me, I shall do nothing…”

I stood up from the tub, approached Cerulia, and took her hand in mine.

“Of course I believe you.”

Only a fool would doubt her now. “I’m not such a coward that I can’t even understand the feelings of my own familiar.”

“Th-thank you so much…”

Relieved and happy to be accepted, Cerulia’s eyes brimmed with a few tears.

After that, I did many things with Cerulia in the bathroom. Yes, many things.

“By the way… is it okay for a Succubus to do this kind of thing while remaining ‘harmless’?”

“My wages are paid by the Dark Magic company according to our contract. In my case, it will probably be around twelve to fifteen silver coins a month.”

So that’s how it works!