Volume 1 - CH 8

「Eh……?」

「Is it…… decided……?」

Ramey nodded with a sorry expression when I asked nervously.

「Touya-san I am sorry……I would like for you to stay…… But it would be troublesome to the other customers…… There are people who will leave because of this……」

「In that case…… I guess it can’t be helped then……」

With the reason given, I could not argue, I went up to my room while thinking about where I’ll stay tomorrow.

In the evening the other dwellers stared at me throughout dinner. It was a completely different atmosphere compared to yesterday.

Even though Kokuyou’s job is similar to that of a normal horse, because he is categorized as a high ranked monster, he is still seen in a negative light.

To me he’s a harmless pal, who on occasions likes to bite my head, that’s all……

「I’ll have to look for an inn tomorrow… But where …… The guild is a good place to start I guess」

I fell asleep with relief, thinking it would be easy to get information from the guild. Thinking how it would especially be helpful if that information came from someone in a similar situation to me.

The next day――

「Touya-san I am sorry……」

I opened the door and entered the guild, with Kokuyou remaining at the guild stable.

The people inside glanced at me for a moment, and then went back to their business.

I went to queue in the line leading to the reception desk, of someone I recognized, Milia. A few minutes later it was my turn.

「Welcome to the guild. Ah, Touya-san good morning. Are you perhaps here…… to take another request? I thought I told you about limits. I also do not think the assessment for your previous submission is complete even」

Milia protested, about the absurd requests I have been taking, with a pout.

「No, no. I am here because I need a new place to stay……. I got evicted because Kokuyou intimidates the others around. Do you have any suggestions?」

Milia sighed, after I ended my explanation.

「I see but …… I don’t know how any other inn I recommend wouldn’t lead to the same situation …… If inns are out of the question ―― the alternative would be to rent a place from the Merchant Guild? 」

「Merchant Guild? There is such a thing here huh. I will have a word with them」

「By the way the assessment should be done around noon, please do come back by then」

「Got it. I will be back later」

I thanked Milia, left the guild, going down the street with Kokuyou towards the Merchant’s Guild following the directions she gave me.

Guards whom I asked for a place where I can leave Kokuyou stood at the front gate. I headed to the stables they pointed out, which were at the back of the Merchant’s Guild building, and left Kokuyou there.

Stepping through the main entrance, a number of tables for holding discussions can be seen at both sides of the hall with the counters at the end of the hall.

I approached one of the unoccupied counters.

「Welcome to the Merchant’s Guild Fendi branch, my name is Samy. How may I help you?」

The receptionist behind the counter has red hair which is tied up at the back of her head, she wears glasses, and is an intellectual-looking lady.

「I would like to rent a house. I heard at the Adventurers Guild that this is the place where I can rent one…….」

She gave me a curious look, probably unsure of a young person like me renting a house; she nonetheless took out some real estate documents and placed them on the table.

「It is quite rare to see someone so young renting a house. Adventurers who’re around your age would normally be staying in an inn……Well anyway, what type of house are you looking for? We have houses with sizes ranging from mansions big enough for nobles to huts small enough for rabbits 」

I told Samy my vision and she flipped the files on the table.

「A house with a stable?…… A house with a stable would have to be quite big as well. It would normally go for 500 thousand gils monthly? If you’re fine with that, I can arrange it immediately……」

As expected, it is expensive. The money I have on hand is more than enough but living alone with such an expense seems like a waste.

「That is quite steep……」

Samy took my response as a no and continued to flip the pages of the documents. When her hand stopped, she showed me one of the pages.

「The rent is 150 thousand gil monthly for this mansion with a stable but…… it is quite a special case, the owner is staying in the town but the mansion is only for rent under the condition that the dwellers are allowed to rent only after they are acknowledged by the owner. I can arrange the meeting, if that is fine with you. Under normal circumstances a house of this size would cost around 1 million gil a month」

I was amazed by the blueprint of the house.

「Please let me meet with the owner! I want to stay there if possible」

Samy leans away from my frantic request and agrees with a nod.

「If you’ve settled on it, let’s go meet the owner now. Please give me a moment.」

Samy went in a room further in the back, probably to check with a higher up, and then walked out from behind the counter.

We walked out of the Merchant’s Guild and retrieved Kokuyou from the stables, whom Samy did not hide her astonishment of his size when she saw him.

「?! A familiar…… On top of that, quite a high rank one…….This is no doubt an Obsidian Battlehorse, am I right? It is my first time seeing it though, what a rare sight.」

I nodded simply while patting Kokuyou’s neck. The streets clear up for us because of Kokuyou, most likely because of his huge figure. But a great deal of them moved out of the way with frightful stares.

Samy came to a stop in front of the store after our fifteen minute walk.

「This is it. The owner of the house is the shopkeeper here」

I sighed looking at the sign outside the store. It’s the same magic item shop I came by a few days earlier. Samy went ahead and entered the store without acknowledgement of my reaction.

「Natalie-san are you in here? I brought someone who wants to rent the mansion~」

The one and only little girl, Sage, from the other day came out from the backroom towards us.

「Again Samy? You brought someone again…… You are quite a persistent one…… Who is it this— y-you eh? 」

Natalie wore a grin on her face as she looked up at me.

「I remember you….. If I am not mistaken you are Touya ……. Well, shall we go and see it?」

Natalie began to pack up the few items in the store as she spoke, locked the front door, and walked pompously ahead of us in the street.

Another fifteen minutes of walking, we slowly shifted into a high class residential area, passing mansion after mansion, each with vast yards surrounding them.

Am I really going to live in one of these…… Such a question made its way into my mind while following the little girl, Natalie.

Natalie finally stopped in front of one of the mansions.

「This is the mansion」

An elegantly built two-story mansion stood behind a grinning Natalie, in the middle of a vast plot of land.