Chapter 10 - Cleaning Complete
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Once we decided on the new house, it was already around noon, so Elgis-san and I decided to eat our lunch sandwiches by the stream.
I sat down on a slight slope and removed the cloth covering the basket.
Inside, my eyes met a tightly packed assortment of sandwiches. Between the slices of bread were juicy tomatoes, lettuce, and herb-sauteed chicken; they looked delicious.
The smell of fresh ingredients and the fragrant aroma of wheat was irresistible.
Perhaps because I caught that savory scent, my stomach growled in protest of its hunger.
"These look delicious."
"Yes, let's dig in right away."
Keeping the conversation to a minimum, I immediately bit into a sandwich.
The texture of the soft bread and the crisp lettuce felt wonderful. Perhaps because of the watery lettuce and tomatoes, the strongly flavored herb-sauteed chicken was tempered to just the right taste. The balance of ingredients was very well thought out. I could feel Flora's kind consideration.
For a while, I ate the sandwiches intently, and once my stomach had settled a bit, I looked around at my surroundings.
A pleasant breeze blew, and the water of the stream rippled and spread out smoothly.
As I gazed at the stream, I could see small river fish swimming briskly through the water.
"Are the river fish here tasty?"
"Yes, if you prepare them properly, they are quite delicious. The fish here don't taste very muddy."
Since it was a clean river, I wasn't too worried, but it seemed the river fish here were good to eat. Occasionally, there are river fish that taste muddy no matter how you prepare them.
"Maybe I'll have some salt-grilled river fish for the first time in a while."
"Oh, that sounds good. We have fishing rods and traps at my place, should I lend them to you?"
"Really? That would be a great help."
"Sure, in exchange, please share some with us. I've started wanting to eat river fish too."
"Understood. Then, I'll catch a lot."
While having such a peaceful conversation, we finished off the sandwiches.
"Well, Aldo-san, you have the house cleaning to do, so I should be heading back soon."
After drinking some water and resting, Elgis-san stood up holding the two baskets.
Normally, I would have liked to relax and chat like this, but I had to clean the house by the end of the day. If I took it too easy, I might not finish before the sun went down.
"Yes, thank you for introducing me to such a nice house. Oh, by the way, is there anyone in this village who makes furniture?"
After I finished cleaning, I needed to get daily necessities like furniture and tableware.
I wanted to get the necessary items quickly so I could start living there.
"Ah, that's right. Some furniture takes time to make, so it's better to ask early. Yes, there is. Right nearby, in fact."
Saying so, Elgis-san pointed his finger.
Beyond that was a house standing as if blending into the forest.
"That house over there belongs to the furniture craftsman, Toak-san. I'll put in a word for you later, so please try visiting him tomorrow morning."
I was surprised he was closer than I thought. At this distance, I could go there immediately.
"I see. Toak-san, then. Thank you!"
When I thanked him, Elgis-san lifted the baskets he was holding as if to say it was no problem.
"Once the house is ready, let me know. Next time, I'll introduce you to the hunters."
"Understood!"
"Well then, I'll be off."
When I replied, Elgis-san turned around and started walking.
I watched Elgis-san leave for a while, then returned to my own house.
Now, time for the big cleanup.
◆ ◆ ◆
With my stomach full and both my physical strength and morale at their peak, I immediately set to work cleaning the house.
As for the state of the house, it wasn't that terrible.
In this village, it seemed the villagers in the area took turns cleaning vacant houses to prevent them from deteriorating, so I likely had that to thank.
However, perhaps because a considerable number of days had passed since the last cleaning, the inside of the house was covered in dust.
First, I'll open all the windows in the house to change the air.
Then I'll sweep out the dust with a broom and wipe everything clean with a rag.
With that thought, I rattled open the windows in the living room.
"Cough, cough!"
Perhaps because the dust kicked up all at once, I reflexively started coughing.
It seemed better to cover my mouth with a cloth before opening all the windows.
I took a small cloth out of my hemp bag and guarded my mouth and nose.
My eyes stung a bit too, but there was nothing I could do about that.
Then I went around opening all the windows in the living room, bedroom, bathroom, storage room, and toilet.
As a result, the air in the house began to flow all at once, and the dust started drifting along with it. I could see it clearly with my eyes thanks to the sunlight streaming through the windows.
I thought it would be better not to be inside the house for a while, so I hurried outside.
Since it would be a waste to just stand around idly, I observed the walls of the house to check for any cracks.
I looked at the walls around the house, but there didn't seem to be any damaged areas like cracks.
It was in very good condition.
The weeds around the house were overgrown, and some were even clinging to the walls, but if I just removed those, it should be fine.
I'm grateful to the people who took turns cleaning it after the owner left. When I go around to give my greetings, I'll have to thank them for that as well.
Thinking such things, I put on gloves and began peeling off the weeds clinging to the walls.
For the stubborn weeds that wouldn't come off by hand, I used a knife to tear them away.
Once I finished peeling off all the weeds clinging to the walls, I went back to check on the house.
Yeah, the air has cleared up quite a bit. This should be fine.
Taking the broom I borrowed from Elgis-san's house, I began sweeping out the dust on the floor.
I had borrowed all the necessary cleaning tools, so I was all set.
The dust piled on the floor kicked up again, but thanks to the cloth covering my mouth, I was okay.
I swept from the storage room, bathroom, and bedroom in the back, put it in the dustpan, and threw it outside.
After finishing the back rooms, I moved to the spacious living room and swept the dust straight out the door.
After confirming that the large dust was gone, including in the kitchen, I went to the stream to fetch water with a bucket.
I didn't need to use well water for wiping things down with a rag. This water was clean enough.
After putting the rag in the bucket of water to soak it, I wiped the kitchen first. If I wiped the floor suddenly, the rag would probably get filthy right away.
I wiped the walls of the kitchen and living room, repeating the process of rinsing the rag in water when it got dirty.
After that, the walls of the back rooms. Once that was done, I moved on to wiping the floors with the wet rag.
I went back and forth to the stream many times to change the dirty water, and wrung out the rag countless times.
My lower back started to ache from wiping the floor, and I reflexively patted it.
Then, I stretched to loosen my stiffened muscles.
"Ugh..."
Housewives who do this every day are impressive. On top of this, they have chores like cooking and laundry, taking care of children, side jobs, helping in the fields...
I felt like I understood just a little bit of the feelings of housewives who complain that their husbands don't praise them despite their desperate efforts with housework.
While admiring the greatness of housewives, I wiped single-mindedly and managed to finish cleaning the inside of the house before the sun went down.
"Oh, it's gotten quite clean. It's like a different place."
Looking at the cleaned room, I reflexively let out a voice of admiration.
The walls and floors that had been dusty were polished clean, regaining their original colors.
The colors of the walls and floors were more vivid and beautiful than when I first saw them.
A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from cleaning the house with my own hands spread through my chest, and I felt refreshed.
I sat down on the clean floor, gazed at the living room, and muttered softly.
"I wonder if this is what they call the joy of a housewife."
It's a completely different feeling from the accomplishment of a quest. Is it because it's the house I'll be living in?
I found it somewhat amusing myself and chuckled.
When I removed the cloth I no longer needed, I noticed it was covered in dust.
This won't do; if the cloth covering my mouth is this dirty, my hair and clothes must be dirty too. If I sit on the floor in this state, I'll just get it dirty again.
With that thought, I hurried outside and brushed the dust off my entire body.
I could see the dust flying every time I patted my body.
Once I realized my body was dirty, a sudden feeling of discomfort washed over me, and I wanted to take a bath.
Tomorrow I'm going to Toak-san's house to order furniture; I should definitely make myself presentable.
Telling myself that, I decided to prepare the bath.
I took two bracelets out of my hemp bag, equipped them, and headed to the bathroom.
The large bathtub, the pride of this house, was sparkling because I had polished it diligently as if responding to the feelings of the previous owner.
I thrust out my hand equipped with the bracelet engraved with a light blue magic circle and chanted the spell.
"[Magic: Water]"
When I chanted that shortly, a light blue magic circle appeared on my outstretched palm, and water gushed out vigorously from there.
If I changed the spell to [Magic: Water Lance] or [Magic: Water Ball], water would be ejected in a spear shape or a water ball would fly, but the consumption of mana contained in the magic stone would increase.
With just [Magic: Water] to produce water, the mana consumption is low, so it can be used for a long time.
Once enough water had entered to fill the tub, I clenched my hand into a fist.
Doing so caused the magic circle to vanish and the magic to be canceled. It's a convenient thing.
Now that the tub was filled with water, next was to warm it up.
This time, I thrust out my left arm equipped with the bracelet engraved with a red magic circle and chanted the spell.
"[Magic: Fire]"
Then a red magic circle appeared from my palm, and a fist-sized flame jumped out from there.
Perhaps because the high-heat flame was plunged into the water, the water in the tub made a sizzling sound and splashed.
It was scarier than I expected, so I hurriedly took refuge in the changing room.
"Whoa, that's scary. I thought it would be fine since Kurune did it so casually..."
Waiting until the sizzling water settled down, I returned to the bathroom.
The water in the tub was now giving off a gentle white steam.
A mage like Kurune could make precise adjustments, but unfortunately, this fire magic tool can't make significant adjustments, so it might have become hotter than bathwater.
For now, I opened the window and waited a while before timidly putting my hand into the hot water.
Yeah, it's a bit hotter than standard bath temperature. Since it's like this even after waiting, I'm glad I didn't jump right in.
After waiting a bit longer, it reached a nice temperature, so I took off my clothes in the changing room.
Just like yesterday, I poured water over myself to wash away the dirt clinging to my body.
Unfortunately, I hadn't prepared soap yet, so I had no choice but to scrub my body with a towel and hot water.
After thoroughly rinsing my body and head with hot water, I entered the tub and let the day's fatigue melt away.
After getting out of the bath, I realized I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes to the changing room and returned to the living room.
Perhaps because I was thoroughly warmed by the bath, walking around the room naked felt very good. It felt like it could become a habit. Yesterday was someone else's house, so I couldn't do something like this.
While savoring the feeling of refreshment and rummaging through my hemp bag for a change of clothes, there was a knock on the door.
"Yes."
I replied quite naturally to that.
—Ah, crap. By the time I realized I was naked right now, it was already too late.
"Aldo-san, excuse me. Um, I thought you might be busy cleaning the house, so I brought some dinner—"
Flora, who had opened the door and stepped inside, froze when she saw my nakedness.
I wanted to scream, why of all people did it have to be a woman?
""............""
I could feel Flora's gaze slowly moving down from my face. Along with that, Flora's face turned red in the blink of an eye.
"U-Um."
Not knowing what to say at a time like this, I reflexively spoke up, and Flora snapped back to her senses.
"I-I'm sorry! P-Please excuse me—!"
She let out a loud cry and bolted out.
Ah, I've done it. The next time we meet, she'll probably run away again.
I felt like the distance between her and me, which had finally gotten a bit closer, had become far away again.