Chapter 106 - Kurune's New Home
After finishing the lively breakfast, we left the house to head for the cleaning of Kurune's new home.
In my hands were a bucket and a long brush. Toak had a bucket and measuring tools for placing furniture. Kurune carried things like a bucket and soap, and Flora walked while carrying a basket containing sandwiches for lunch.
And Aisha was completely empty-handed, with rags and hand-held brushes stuffed into the pockets of her work clothes.
"Those work clothes are convenient."
"Work clothes are versatile clothing. With these, they serve as protection against the cold, and I can do dirty work. On top of that, there are many large pockets, so I don't even need a bag."
It certainly was convenient when put that way. Since they were basically long-sleeved, it wasn't cold even in winter. If it got hot, she could just roll up the shirt she was wearing underneath. The fabric was durable and made thick, so she could go into the forest and do some gathering just like that. She didn't have to worry about her skirt or underwear, so she could move around to her heart's content.
Just as Aisha said, work clothes might be the ultimate versatile garment.
"Even so, you shouldn't stuff too many things into your pockets, okay? Because like before, the pockets will tear and the things inside will fall out."
"I know. I won't make the same mistake as that time."
Flora said with a chuckle, while Aisha made a bitter expression.
"The pockets tore—what on earth did you put in them?"
"Five jam jars. My mother gave them to me to distribute, and they reached their limit at Flora's house and went crash..."
Aisha explained with a distant look in her eyes.
Ah, jars filled with jam were quite heavy. And unfortunately, they fell on the floor of Flora's house.
"The cleanup must have been difficult."
It was just as Kurune said. If only she had dropped them outside, the damage would have been minimal.
I could easily imagine Fiona-san and Flora wiping the floor while giving wry smiles.
"You've been doing stupid things since a long time ago."
I agreed with Toak's words. Or rather, it seemed Aisha's way of thinking hadn't changed since long ago.
"Shut up. But it's fine now. After that experience, my work clothes have evolved."
"Evolved?"
"Look at this pocket!"
Aisha showed off the pocket on her stomach to us as we tilted our heads.
As expected, Toak and I couldn't directly grope it, so we had Flora and Kurune observe it.
"Ah, it's reinforced with cloth!"
"It's true. The pocket is thick."
"Yes! By reinforcing it with cloth, I increased its durability! Now I can put things in my pockets to my heart's content."
Aisha asserted with a confident expression, puffing out her chest.
That might be true, but it felt like the direction of her effort, or rather evolution, was wrong.
"Normally, you'd give up and put things in within a range that doesn't put a load on the pocket, right?"
Kurune spoke for what probably everyone except Aisha was thinking.
"No way. If I did that, I'd have to carry a bag or something. I hate those because they get in the way."
Come to think of it, it was very rare for Aisha to carry any kind of bag. Was it only when she went gathering or for bartering? Even though the women in the village carried them wherever they went.
Well, but I could understand the feeling that bags were a nuisance.
"By the way, how many minutes is it from Aldo's house to Kurune's house?"
"It's about ten minutes on foot."
The house where Kurune would live was the one Elgis-san first showed me, located to the west of the plaza.
Naturally, the distance was close to my house and Flora's house, as we also lived on the same west side.
"That means we'll be neighbors from now on."
"That's right, I look forward to working with you again."
Kurune and Flora giggled together after exchanging greetings again.
Seeing the two of them, Aisha looked a bit lonely.
"...Aah, somehow I'll feel lonely being the only one whose house is far away."
"Hahaha, when we play, I'll make sure you're the only one left out."
"...Are you a child?"
I wondered who was talking, considering he was trying to do the same thing to Toak this morning.
"It's okay. I'll properly invite Aisha too. I won't leave anyone out."
"...If you say so."
Aisha had answered curtly to Flora's words, but her expression had softened somewhat.
◆
"This is the house where I'll be living!"
After walking for ten minutes from my house toward the plaza, we arrived at the two-story house where Kurune was planned to live.
"It's huge as always. It's even got a stone wall surrounding the house and a gate."
"It's because it was originally a house where a nobleman lived."
"Cleaning it looks like it'll be hard."
It was a large and grand house, but as Aisha said, it looked like cleaning it would be a lot of work.
As someone who was about to clean it, I felt a little bit discouraged.
"Come on, get in, get in."
Kurune pushed open the gate and urged us in as if it were her own home.
Her tension seemed to be rising at the prospect of cleaning her new home. Since I could understand that feeling, I felt it was heartwarming.
Thinking that this was the house where you'd be living made you excited. How you'd live in this house, what kind of furniture and things you'd place to make the rooms—no matter what it was, she probably couldn't help but look forward to it.
Passing through the gate and going straight, the entrance to the large house came into view.
"I wonder what it's like inside."
"Huh? Toak, you haven't seen it?"
"No, it's a vacant house, so I wouldn't look inside unless I had business there."
That was true. Unless you were looking at it as a property or doing periodic cleaning, you wouldn't enter a vacant house.
"Well then, I'm opening it."
With the key she got from Elgis-san, Kurune unlocked the door.
When she opened the door and we went inside, a wide entrance hall greeted us.
"Wow, even the entrance is wide."
"Maybe because the ceiling is high, it looks extra wide."
The entrance of this house felt spacious because the ceiling went up to the second floor.
Having an entrance this wide made an impact. It was a big difference from a house like mine where the living room was visible right from the entrance.
Even so, this width from the entrance...
"""...Sigh."""
Whether we were thinking the same thing, not only I but also Toak and Aisha let out a sigh.
"Hey! Why the sigh!? Isn't this entrance amazing!"
"It's wide and amazing, sure, but when I think about cleaning this from now on, I can't honestly be happy."
I was prepared for it, but looking at the entrance again, I realized it would be difficult. There were stairs and a second floor, so the number of rooms to clean was far more than a general house. I started to feel uneasy about whether the five of us could finish in one day.
"The bath! There's a large bath in the back, so let's all go in after the cleaning is finished!"
"A large bath! That sounds lovely!"
"But for that, we have to clean the bath properly, right?"
Flora was purely happy to hear there was a large bath, while Aisha was suspicious of Kurune's sweet words.
However, Kurune wore a relaxed smile and said,
"Don't worry. I've already properly cleaned around the bath, so we can go in right away."
"Oh, not bad, Kurune!"
"Because it was so wide. I wanted to go in right away, so I worked hard to clean it!"
Since I had already toured it, I knew how much space the bath had. It was large enough for about ten adults to fit. If I was being pessimistic, it might even be wider than the living room of my house.
Well, we can take a bath at my place anytime, but if we can enjoy something that wide, it's not bad.
"Well, I guess I'll work hard looking forward to the bath after the cleaning."
"That's right."
Hearing about the large bath, Toak also seemed to have suddenly gained motivation.
Perhaps because it was an environment where they couldn't easily take baths, all the villagers loved baths. It would be even more so if it didn't require the labor of drawing a large amount of water and boiling it oneself.
The members who had been overwhelmed by the size of the house were changing to expressions full of motivation.
"Well then, let's start cleaning!"
"""Oh!"""