Raga of the Dry Branch - Chapter 18

I don’t think so? Wasn’t he just saying what he prefers?

Well, it was my first job, but should I just leave because I know I wouldn’t get along with them? There is a bit of money which I haven’t spent, so I will be able to go somewhere and not die from starvation. If that doesn’t work, then I can ask Mahoren for some pocket money or something. Would he give me a lot? He did say he would give me a lot of money.

The human heart acts differently when it wants something, so if I go and ask, I am sure he would give anything I want.

“Ah, it has been a while since I laughed out loud. Don’t worry rookie. I like everything, so please understand us. There is no other place as free and famili – like as this, so even if it makes you a little anxious, hold on. Ah, when did you come here from Cheiva? There are dorms for employees here, so if you haven’t found a place to stay, apply there.”

Mino, who seemed to notice that I was at a crossroads with this job, spoke while brushing off her green bangs.

“I have a lot of family members, so staying in dorms is impossible, and I found a house.”

“Is that so? Where is that?”

“It is a 20-minute walk from the embassy, near Charan Park.”

“By any chance, is it that privately owned one near the resort construction?”

“…Yes.”

His resort was finally done.

“Woah, aren’t you talking about that pretty house in front of the resort? It is a little weird since it was built in under a month, but it is such a beauty, a three-story mansion. White and blue sparking glass. That looks like a fairy tale street because of it.”

“W-well.”

Well, it is a house.

I should have known because Mahoren had ranted to me about it. It wasn’t like a castle, but more like a mansion. He said it would be so, so I agreed to it, but it turned out to be an amusement park of hopes and dreams. And there is still a lot to be done. I stayed silent as the two women next to me kept talking.

“I want to visit it. Even if the mansion is a bit weird, the resort too will be done pretty fast. And I’d like to try that high-end slide at the end of the pool, by the way, who owns it? One of the construction managers there was from the ‘Taverna’ construction. When I heard that, ah, this time they are going to stay at a resort business instead of a luxury hotel was what I thought, but when I heard that the resort is a private one, I almost cried.”

“Sir Mino too? When I heard that there would be a large theatre there, I was expecting to see ‘Fruit Man, the Hero of Justice’ on the big screen, but I was very disappointed.”

“That movie, Dame Ilina.”

“It is like one of those warrior things. That hero just can’t stand injustice and is so wonderful.”

“But violence isn’t good.”

… slides, large movies. The resort which mahoren was building, they seemed to know. I couldn’t say that that resort was being done behind our house.

I pretended not to know and continued to talk about other things, after looking at what all I needed to do in the place, it was time for me to leave.

The celebration for a new staff was to be done when all the people of the Division were present, so I headed back home.

How far did I walk? As soon as I saw the white mansion in the distance, my foot stopped.

Beyond the not so high, white wall, the endless green grass was the first thing I could see. In the middle of it, following a long straight white stone path, there was a large three-story mansion.

Did they call it a fairy tale like house?

The door was on the first floor. The open door revealed the interior of the mansion.

The gorgeous lobby, drawing room, indoor swimming pool and the banquet hall which were clearly visible if the glass doors weren’t lowered.

And at night, the glass doors are lowered, and like the windows upstairs, they shone blue. On days when the light or moonlight is bright, they glowed blue, which was probably why it stood out from a distance.

When I opened the gate, I saw the flower garden on the left side of the mansion and a blue swimming pool which looked like three large and small ones connected to the entrance. I hadn’t used the pool till now, but the water was so pretty that I often looked at it.

At night, it would twinkle under the lights, the sight was fantastic to look at.

Such a pretty place.

However, it was too much, like whenever you enter or exit, you end up looking around like I did now. Mahoren and Heli diligently used magic devices and except for those inside, no one else could enter past the main wall, so there was concern for thieves or crimes happening inside, but too many eyes would fall on this mansion.

And currently, the biggest concern in this part was the owner of this house and the resort under construction behind, were being searched for.

According to the rumors going around, the reasoning that the owner of the mansion and resort were the same person was spreading fast. Someday it will be known to all, but for now, they asked me not to think too much about it.

The owner of the house is Ren.

As there was no one at home, Poppy greeted me warmly. Right next to the front door, was a note saying ‘Gone to the market’ in neat letters.

It had to be written by Fay.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how my day was?”

[How was it?]

“Well, life is never easy.”

I sighed and answered Poppy and then started to annoy it on the sofa.

Rub! Rub! Rub!

[Why are you doing that! ah! Don’t run! My hair will fall out! Do you have any idea how dangerous stress-related hair loss is these days?]

“It is fine, your hair won’t fall out.”

[You aren’t a human!]

“Yes, I am not a human anymore.”

Ignoring Poppy who was screaming, I silently touched it’s pretty silver hair. Because of its large size, stroking its hair gave a pleasant feeling. Ah, it felt so good.

And Poppy just gave up as it lifted its legs up and then walked away towards the refrigerator and took out a bottle of beer with its snout.

[You dog-lover.]

“You might not know, but there are dog sellers these days.”

[… tch. Whatever the dog-lover wants.]

Maybe I made too much fun of it, so I decided to back down. It would really be a huge deal if its fur fell out. Because its fur is precious.

“Would you like to take a bath?”

Poppy’s ears stood up. Almost on the verge of biting my bait. It was impossible for Juli, who hates being bothered by others, to wash Poppy. And it seemed like Poppy had been groomed with magic. Maybe that was why, when I gave him a real bath for the first time, it looked like Poppy was on the verge of going insane.

I went out of the garden, found water tools to use, and hooked up a hose. I tested to see if the spray function worked, and Poppy liked it as its huge body ran towards me with happiness.

Despite being used to Poppy running, it was scary when it would run towards me. As if it wanted to step on me and run away.

[Ugh~ do good~ so good! Feels like heaven!]

Giving Poppy a bath in a bathtub which could fit five people was funny. Occasionally, when the soap bubbles float in the air and touch its noses, it would try to blow them away. And was flapping the paws as if to clap.

“Is it nice?”

[Uhhh~ Al is the best.]

“Huhu. And you forget that right away.”

After rinsing the soap with water, I was drenched too. Since Poppy was so huge, washing it without getting wet is impossible, literally, I was wet from head to toe. I had to take a bath and change…

[I am sleepy.]

Now all that is left was for its hair to be dried with magic. Getting up, Poppy began to shake the wet body, and I picked up the hose and began to roll it to place it back in its place, but since a while ago, it felt like I was being stared at.

“Is there anyone else here beside us?”

[Huh? Are you talking about the person over there?]

“What?”

I hurriedly looked back. And I saw a tall boy looking at us from over the wall and flinched.

“Ah!”

The large grey cat-shaped eyes were wide open, and the hair was purple and a bit long, glistening too. The person seemed surprised by something, looking at how the white face was stiff.

[I am not a scary one! Why does he look so scared?]

Say that after you pull out those fangs in your mouth! The person must have been shocked by the size of Poppy and the fangs in its mouth. Well, Poppy is from a beast family, so it makes sense.

He seems to be from around here. What should I do? I don’t even know why the person is here, was it because they thought it was uncomfortable having a beast next door? I looked at Poppy and then at the boy and smiled awkwardly.

“You, are you fine? You…”

“…?”

I was thinking of saying something, when Poppy decided to say.

[You used to be a pretty crazy person till a while back.]

Stop saying weird things.

“Yes, I am fine. This one is a mixed breed dog.”

[Right, right. I am a mixed breed. Look at me!]

Ah, stop it you bastard!

As I held my forehead at the constant intervening of Poppy, the sound of laughter entered my ears. The boy who was frozen stiff till a moment back, was clutching his stomach and laughing.

“ahahahah~ dogs? Hahaha, did you think that I was surprised by that beast? Hahaha!”

Although it was a long laugh, the boy pointed to the door and asked if he could enter. As soon as I unlocked the safety, the boy walked in towards me.

“Ahaha~ha! I laughed a lot. Are you the owner of this house?”

The pretty boy, with cat-like eyes and tall height, asked me. I told him that I was not the owner, but someone who was just living here. Struggling to hold back, he introduced himself.

“I live in the second red mansion across from here. My brother and I are staying here for work, so please look after us.”

“Ugh, yes, look after us too.”

“And it wasn’t because of that big friend of yours that I was shocked.”

“…?”

Now I was frozen stiff. So much that I was confused. The boy smiled again. He was pretty and had a nice smile, but for some reason I couldn’t shake off the weird feeling.

As I looked at the smiling boy, he reached and stroked my hair which ran down to my shoulder.

“I knew it was a summoned one at a glance.”

The boy’s voice was lower.

“You are all wet.”

I did get soaked as I was bathing Poppy.

However, since it was autumn, the fabric of my clothes was thicker, so nothing could be seen. Which meant I didn’t have to worry about someone finding out the secret, however, it felt as if I was naked in front of him, and I didn’t like that feeling.