Chapter 134 - Chapter 133: A Property With Issues?
"Really, why bring this out at this hour...? Things like this should have been done much earlier..."
Paraleira confirmed the overnight stay request written by Mika while holding a mug in one hand, grumbling complaints.
Something like a squid's tentacle was sticking out from her mouth.
Mika had run back to the dormitory from his newly rented house and managed to arrive before curfew.
He went to submit the overnight stay request to Paraleira, who was drinking a round in the room, only to be scolded by her, who was already red in the face.
Wait a minute, that's not just "a round," is it?
I wouldn't say she was completely sloshed, but she was definitely quite drunk.
"Also, I'd like to live outside for a while, so could I ask about the handling for that case tomorrow?"
"Live outside...? What are you, planning to become a Homeless on purpose? Are you an idiot...?"
"...You've had too much to drink. Your head isn't working, is it? I rented a room somewhere other than the dormitory, so I'll be living there for a while."
I can't help but sigh, thinking, "Shouldn't you know that much?"
"You rented a room...? Why would someone with that kind of money enter the dormitory?"
"Starting with that!? Um... if possible, I'd like to discuss the details tomorrow."
But Paraleira had a difficult expression on her face.
Mika pointed at the mug Paraleira was holding.
"It would be bad if I interfered too much. I'd like to consult with you after school tomorrow."
Paraleira glanced briefly at the mug and let out a long sigh.
She then turned her back to Mika and walked back into the room.
"Come right after school tomorrow. Otherwise, I might start drinking again."
Saying that, Paraleira waved Mika's overnight stay request around.
If he didn't come right away, it seemed he would have to deal with a drunkard again.
"Understood. Thank you very much."
Mika confirmed that Paraleira had gone back into the room and headed for his own room.
Basal was in the room.
It would have been troublesome if he had gone to the dining hall or bathhouse, so it was a relief he was here.
"Basal, I can't go on with you anymore. I'm returning your sword. See you."
As soon as Mika entered the room, he said in a somewhat theatrical voice and packed the luggage he had put in the desk drawer into the Magic Bag.
"Huh!? W-What is the matter, Mika-dono!?"
"I'm leaving. Good for you, now you can use the room alone."
"Wait, wait! What on earth has happened!?"
Basal looked surprised and came to Mika's side with a panicked face.
Wait a minute, is he turning blue?
Did I go too far...?
Mika quickly explained the situation while packing clothes from the dresser.
Of course, he omitted Kistil's name.
"You rented a room...?"
"Yes. As for the dormitory, I don't know how it will be handled. I plan to talk to the dorm mother after school tomorrow, but depending on the situation, leaving the dormitory might be possible."
"I-I see..."
Basal seemed to be thinking about something.
"...Then, what was that 'I can't go on with you anymore' at the beginning!?"
"If I leave the dormitory, we can't go on together, right?"
"That's all it was!?"
"Yes, that's it."
Mika tilted his head.
"What about returning the sword!?"
"I won't be able to return it as quickly as before, so I thought it would be better for me to keep it myself."
Basal collapsed.
Did I scare him too much?
Well, I did it on purpose to scare him.
"My lifespan has shortened..."
"No, that's an exaggeration."
Mika laughed it off with "Wah-ha-ha-ha."
"It's no laughing matter! It's terrible, Mika-dono!"
"My apologies. Well, I'm a bit busy for now. So, what about the sword?"
When Mika asked, Basal thought for a moment.
"For now, please keep it for me. If there are any inconveniences, I'll think about it again. ...Honestly, I'm anxious about leaving it in the room."
"Understood. Well, I'll continue attending the academy normally. Let me know if anything happens."
"I will do so."
Since he had informed his roommate Basal for the time being, it was just...
"Then, I'm off. See you later."
"Understood. Be careful."
Mika ran through the capital again.
And he arrived at Yaroibarov's inn.
For the time being, he wanted to tell Yaroibarov that he had protected Kistil.
Mika shook off the pain in his chest, which throbbed, and deliberately raised his voice cheerfully.
"Good evening!"
When Mika jumped into Yaroibarov's inn, there were several groups of adventurers in the lobby.
Yaroibarov was serving customers at the counter.
Ah... bad timing.
It was normal for adventurers to return in the afternoon.
Before he could even think about what to do, Mika took the paper, ink, and quill pen that were on the counter.
Yaroibarov noticed as well but said nothing.
Several adventurers looked at Mika strangely, but Mika placed the paper on the floor and wrote notes with a rustling sound...
Protected. Taking a short break from work. Details tomorrow, evening.
He folded the note he had written and handed it to Yaroibarov.
Yaroibarov silently accepted it and continued serving customers.
Mika put the ink and quill pen back on the counter and immediately ran out of the inn.
Now he could go home.
Actually, the straight-line distance from Yaroibarov's inn to Mika's house was about five hundred meters.
If Mika used [Physical Enhancement] and "Low Gravity" to run at full speed, it was a distance he could cover in ten-plus seconds.
However, since he was running on the road, it wasn't a straight line, and if he ran at that speed, he would blow people away if he hit them.
The victims might die.
Or rather, they would simply die.
In terms of speed, it was over one hundred kilometers per hour.
Mika himself would probably be seriously injured at best.
I really wanted to report to the guild too, but that's for another time.
Waiting times were inevitable at the guild.
Thinking about such things, Mika hurried home to his new residence.
He caught his breath lightly and stood in front of the entrance.
And there, he hesitated for a moment.
Should I knock? But this is my house. Knocking would be weird. ...But still.
As he thought about various things, he faintly heard Kistil's voice coming from inside the house.
...? Talking to herself?
It felt somehow cheerful.
Well, whatever.
Mika opened the front door normally without knocking.
"I'm home."
"Oh, welcome back."
Kistil, who was sitting on a chair, turned around to Mika with a smile.
She reached out her hand to the table and held up a finger.
And at the tip of that finger was----.
"Kistil!"
"Kyaa!?"
Mika instinctively rushed into the house, grabbed Kistil's arm, and pulled her towards him.
He switched their body positions and directed his left hand towards it.
It was floating in the air.
A ball-like object floating gently on the table.
No, not an object.
It was light itself, the size of a tennis ball.
"Um... Mika-kun?"
"Kistil-san! Are you hurt!?"
Mika shielded Kistil while not taking his eyes off the light.
Surely, I saw a ball of light like that before...
I feel like there was something like that in the mansion where I went for a designated request... But at that time, it was the size of a marble.
But the light before his eyes was far larger than that.
He couldn't tell if it was the same type, but it was certainly a suspicious existence.
Dammit, that real estate agent! They tried to force a 'property with issues' on me!
It seems they made him sign a contract for a property that was supposed to be a kid's toy.
I absolutely will not forgive this.
As Mika retreated step by step while shielding Kistil on his back, the light approached him gently.
"Mika-kun?"
"Back up!"
As the ball of light approached, Mika also retreated.
It would be better to get out of the house once.
If I can subdue it, that would be good, but last time I got hit by a dazzling light.
He had suddenly been struck by strong light and lost his vision.
As he was thinking such things,
"Mika-kun!"
Kistil suddenly called out to him strongly.
"What's wrong, all of a sudden?"
"What's wrong? Look, you can see it! That!"
What was this temperature difference?
Kistil looked at the ball of light Mika was pointing at with a bewildered expression.
"What's wrong with that child?"
"What's wrong with----."
Mika couldn't find the words to continue.
It seemed like Mika was the one acting strange by making a big fuss out of nothing.
"Um... Kistil-san?"
"It's Kistil. You called me 'san' just now too."
He was being corrected for using 'san'.
Wait a minute, that doesn't matter right now!
"Kistil. Do you know that?"
Could it be, do you know each other?
When Mika asked suspiciously, Kistil tilted her head and made a slightly difficult face.
"Hmm... I wouldn't say I know her, but I saw her just now and was a little surprised."
No, this isn't something that can be passed off as "a little"!
"I thought, 'Maybe she's a good child?'"
"...Huh?"
What the hell are you saying?
At Kistil's words, Mika's eyes went wide.
"Um... it's a bit embarrassing. After Mika-kun went out, I was lonely... and I cried a little..."
Yes, Kistil confessed while acting shy.
"Then, that child appeared. ...It seems like she's comforting me."
Mika alternately looked at Kistil and the ball of light, stunned.
This means...
"I understand, Kistil."
Mika smiled brightly at Kistil.
"I'll subdue it right away, so wait a moment."
"Wait, Mika-kun!?"
Kistil must have been possessed and controlled.
She was made to believe that that was a harmless thing.
There was no doubt about it.
He didn't know how to subdue it.
But Mika stared seriously at "that ball of light" and concentrated all his magic power into his left hand, intending to make it disappear.
Then the ball of light jumped once in a twitch and retreated into the corner of the hallway with a pyuu sound.
And it peeked out from the corner as if spying on them. ...It made a movement like that.
It flickered its weak light finely and trembled with a gaku-gaku buru-buru sound. ...It looked like that.
"............"
That movement really saps my motivation.
It's starting to feel a bit ridiculous.
"Mika-kun, if you say that, it's pitiful."
Kistil passed by Mika's side and went to the ball of light.
"It's dangerous, Kistil!"
"It's not like that."
Saying that, Kistil stretched out her arm, and the ball of light happily jumped onto Kistil's arm.
"See. She's a good child, isn't she?"
Kistil turned around to Mika with a smile.
The ball of light hid behind Kistil's back and peeked at Mika, showing just a little of its face.
"............"
When he looked at the ball of light with a squinty eye, it immediately hid behind Kistil's back.
And then, it timidly showed its form.
"Really, Mika-kun. She's scared, you know? Don't look at her like that. This child isn't a bad child."
What is this?
Is she really possessed?
Mika let out a sigh, "Haa...", and headed for his own room.
It was already agreed that Mika would use the widest room on the right, and Kistil would use the room at the back on the left.
"Well, never mind. Call me when you're ready for dinner. I'll organize my luggage in the room."
"Okay. Understood."
Mika passed by Kistil and opened the door to his room.
Then, before Mika, the ball of light entered freely with a hyuuu sound.
"Hey, wait! What are you doing!"
As the ball of light entered the room, the pitch-black room became slightly brighter.
It wasn't bright enough to read books, though.
Mika let out a deep sigh again while watching the ball of light float around the room on its own.
Then, a giggling sound came from the side.
"It seems she likes Mika-kun's room."
"No way..."
Mika slumped.
Was he going to be driven out of his room by an incomprehensible thing occupying it?
If there's an extra room, there's no problem, technically.
No, no, no, there is a problem!
Anyway, I don't want to live in a house possessed by such a thing.
"...I guess I'll subdue it after all."
When Mika muttered softly, the ball of light suddenly brightened for a moment.
After that, it trembled with a weak light.
"...It seems you understand words, you know."
Understanding language should require a fairly high intelligence.
It might just be sensing his presence.
Mika let out a large sigh once again.
"Delicious!"
Mika took a bite of the food Kistil had made and couldn't help but mutter.
Kistil had said, "I haven't finished preparing the kitchen yet, so sorry for the simple meal," but it was very delicious.
"Hehe... I get shy when I'm praised too much."
Saying that, Kistil also took a bite and nodded enthusiastically.
It seemed she was satisfied with the result herself.
"By the way, can you almost recreate Yaroibarov-san's cooking? Could it be that I can eat that kind of cooking all you can eat every day?"
"She taught me how to make it, but I can't make it as delicious as Yaroibarov-san."
Kistil was modest, but Mika's tongue wouldn't be able to tell the difference even if he compared them.
Kistil's cooking skills were that high.
Even though I shouldn't say this, I got an unexpected bonus.
It was like having a personal chef.
This made him look forward to future meals.
As Mika was feeling excited, the left side of him flickered slightly.
At that moment, his mood was completely ruined.
"Hehehe... She's completely won you over."
Kistil smiled while looking at the ball of light perched on Mika's left shoulder.
Mika instinctively put his hand to his forehead.
For some reason, this ball of light.
It clung to Mika excessively.
When Mika carelessly brushed off his left shoulder, it floated away and then came back again.
It had been repeating that since before.
"By the way, let's give this child a name."
"Haaaaaaaaa!?"
Does she intend to make it a pet!?
"Do you intend to raise it!?"
"I wouldn't say raise, but if we're going to be together, it's better to have a name, isn't it?"
Kistil clapped her hands lightly, satisfied with her own idea.
Forgive me... I don't intend to be together.
He didn't want such a suspicious pet.
Or rather, isn't this a type of monster?
Kistil looked at Mika with a beaming smile.
"............What is it?"
"I was wondering what name to give it."
"............?"
For a moment, Mika didn't understand the meaning of Kistil's words.
"I'm going to give it a name!?"
"Because it's Mika-kun's house. And she's really won you over."
The ball of light came in front of Mika's eyes and danced. ...It looked like that.
Is it a strange pīri?
Kistil looked at Mika with excited eyes.
My head started to hurt.
"Ah, geez, then 'Pochi'."
The ball of light deflated.
It seems she didn't like it.
"Then 'Tama'."
It deflated even more.
Don't be so picky, it's troublesome.
"'Ball'."
No good.
"'Sphere'."
No good.
"Then, 'Fear'."
The ball of light hit his face.
Th-this guy...
"I guess names aren't needed after all, this thing!"
"Really, let's think of a proper name."
Kistil scolded Mika, who was throwing a tantrum.
Mika turned his head away pouting, and the ball of light cried to Kistil. ...It moved like that.
"Hmm... then how about this."
Looking up at the ceiling, Kistil put her index finger to her chin and thought.
"Based on the name Mika-kun thought of..."
Saying that, Kistil smiled brightly.
"How about 'Fee'? Fee-chan."
When Kistil called it that, the ball of light, unlike before, flickered with strong light.
It floated on the table as if jumping.
"Hey, you just removed one character."
The meaning was quite different, though.
But Mika's protest was ignored, and Kistil and the ball of light, now renamed Fee, played happily.
Thus, the name of the strange roommate was decided, and a new life began.
............Really, shouldn't I subdue this guy?