My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C84

Chapter 84: Rental Housing

It seems that Camilla can only speak broken words of the people in this world.

So even if she became a slave, she could hardly communicate and was treated badly as a fierce beast.

But I don't really understand the language of this world to begin with; it's more like an automatic translation for spoken language thanks to a bonus from the God of reincarnators (I'm still struggling with reading and writing).

So, if it's me and Camilla, can't automatic translation work, allowing us to communicate normally? That was the gamble.

To be honest, I've been interested in Camilla since we first met, and Camilla seemed interested in me too, without barking at me. So, I was hoping we could get along, without any logical reason.

It's true that a lifelong otaku with no experience with women is quite optimistic.

"I was worried, Master."

But I did something wrong to Nolte. I think I was really on edge. Besides, we're going to live together as party members in the future, so I should have asked Nolte's opinion first.

"I'm sorry for adding a female slave without your permission..."

"Uh, well, that's fine, but... she's quite beautiful, isn't she?"

Yeah, you'd think that.

"I'll continue to take care of Nolte, so can we get along?"

"That's, of course, it's up to the Master to decide."

"Not like that, if Nolte doesn't like it, I'll decline starting from now."

"...I think it'll be okay. Um, I didn't think she was a bad person."

Yeah, she was captured by adventurer parties, so she must have had some reason.

We were about to return to the guild.

Camilla's purchase was scheduled to take place tomorrow evening, with a high-ranking priest putting an "oath" on her to ensure she wouldn't attack us. So, for today, since it's already evening, we decided to stay at the guild headquarters' lodging again. The Genesis Festival has ended four days ago, and there are more empty rooms now, but it's still okay to have a double room, right? From tomorrow, it won't be just the two of us anymore, and since I made Camilla anxious today, I need to strengthen our bond.

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I woke up feeling refreshed today, it's the "5th day of the second month under the waning moon."

It's about February 20th on the lunar calendar, I guess.

There's something like a calendar in this world too, but I still don't quite understand how to read it. Looking at the one posted on the wall of the guild headquarters, I think I was reincarnated into this world on the "3rd day of the first month," so it's been a month already. It feels like modern Japan is a world far away. Camellia and the others should be back in Suctary soon.

The task for this morning is to secure a place to live.

In the afternoon, Camilla will join us as a companion, so it's becoming inefficient to keep staying in inns and such. Yesterday, I consulted with Mayor Hammett of Ozak Village about renting a house in the village, so if there's a good property available, I'd like to rent it.

The quest for the Ozak Dungeon hasn't been posted at the guild yet, but I intend to challenge it, so it's convenient to live nearby for the time being. It's about 5 kilometers from Ozak to the capital, so there should be no problem working here.

By the way, when I asked about the market price within the city walls of the capital at the guild, even for a small one-room rental, like a studio apartment, the minimum monthly rent is one gold coin. That's a bit tough for me, especially after buying Camilla.

So, I rode the ceramic unmanned carriage (also called an autonomous vehicle) I made yesterday and arrived at Ozak Village in about 30 minutes, heading to the town hall. Thanks to Mayor Hammett, a woman with white hair named Gales had already found two candidate properties for me.

The first place I was shown was a detached building of a local large farmer near the center of the village. It was a relatively new one-story building with three rooms, but the fact that it was designed for daily interaction with the family in the main house made me a bit socially awkward. Not to mention, I'm a bit worried about whether Carmilla and others can get along with the neighbors, and there might be contempt for demi-humans.

Another house was an old folk house located at the eastern edge of the village. Until recently, an elderly farming couple lived there, but they moved to the central area after oni-rabbits started appearing, leaving it vacant.

It's quite run-down, but despite being a one-story building, it has a large room with a dirt floor, three other rooms, and even a small attic-like space where you can see quite far through a peephole window. It's convenient that I was told it's okay to make some modifications on our own, given that it's a bit worn-out.

It's a bit farther from the neighboring houses, which makes us feel more at ease, and I like the fact that there's a small stream flowing from the nearby forest, so we decided on this place. Gareth-san recommended the house in the center, but it's only four silver coins a month. That's much cheaper than the capital city for sure.

When I asked when we could move in, they said anytime after tomorrow if I clean it up a bit, so I went back to the office, signed the documents (which I had secretly had Lina read), and paid two months' rent in advance for now.

Needless to say, one of the challenges in this world is the lack of essential utilities like electricity and running water. The toilets here are at best pit latrines, and in some places with poor conditions, they use buckets and dump the waste in the river. It's quite challenging from a modern Japanese perspective. It's something that needs to be improved for hygiene.

In Ozak, there's a system where farmers take the waste in fertilizer barrels, which is still better. I'll need to work on that as soon as we move in. I want to experiment with Lina's magic and my clay skills.

Before returning to the capital city, I decided to check out the labyrinth. It's right through the forest from this house at the eastern edge of the village. That was one of the reasons we chose this place.

The absence of monster presence in the forest might be because the barrier is still functioning, or it could be due to the presence of soldiers who are currently monitoring it.

At the entrance to the labyrinth, construction work was in progress. It seems to be infrastructure development by Mayor Hammet. The soldiers guarding it wear the national military emblem I saw in the capital city, but the people working here seem to be villagers. Most of them are elderly and women, with very few working-age men.

"Who are you?"

One of the soldiers challenged me, so I greeted them as politely as possible and showed my guild card.

"I'm an adventurer living in this village. Is this facility for the labyrinth?"

"What, you knew? Word spreads fast. We're planning to release the newly discovered labyrinth to adventurers, but it's risky if monsters come out of the labyrinth. So, we've surrounded it with soldiers and barriers. It's a simple setup, so it should be ready by tomorrow."

I've heard that in the case of large labyrinths, they even build inns and equipment shops nearby, turning it into a sort of town. Is this place serving as a supply base for Ozak Village?

That inn alone doesn't seem like it can accommodate more than 20 or 30 people, so adventurers who can't stay there might have to make a day trip from the capital city or camp outside.

We were fortunate to secure our own home ahead of time. It's quite spacious, so we can expand our party with more members in the future.

Upon returning to the capital city, I first went to the guild. Since we can start using our new home in Ozak Village from tomorrow, I wanted to ask if we could stay at the guild's lodgings tonight.

They said our current room would be fine, but with Carmilla joining us tonight, we'd be three people. They mentioned that there were no three-person rooms available. Currently, there are two double rooms available or one single room.

"...How about this: Nolte and Carmilla share a double room, and I take the single room?"

I suggested this gentlemanly arrangement, but Nolte seemed a bit puzzled.

"Um... It's not that I don't trust you, but sharing a room with Carmilla all of a sudden..."

Ah, that's right. Considering the beastly state she was in, it's understandable to be worried about being alone with her and having her pledge allegiance. At first, I was concerned about Nolte and Carmilla being alone together, too.

However, making Carmilla stay in a single room all of a sudden is also a different kind of concern. I have no idea about her level of common sense... Don't give me that look, Lina... Oh, I've got it!

"Lina, can you become life-sized and stay with Carmilla in the double room?"

"You're thinking I might eat her, aren't you?"

I was.

"Well, if something seems off, I'll use 'Return Home' to bring her back. If she suddenly starts causing trouble or acts inappropriately, it could make it difficult for us to come and go at the guild."

"Fine, but don't think you can have fun while I'm struggling, I can hear everything, you know."

"I-it's not like we would do that..."

Nolte blushed, and Lina exaggeratedly sighed.