Chapter 33

First, we decided on an inn, borrowed a tub and hot water, and cleaned up Luka, tidying her appearance.

Together with Roxilus, we washed the bewildered Luka, combed her hair, and made her clothes using the "Clothing Creation" skill.

Simple, rustic clothes like those worn by town girls. Just putting on an apron dress with almost no decorations made her look completely different.

While Luka was being changed by Roxilus, Keena woke up the silent Key.

"Key, could you pick up a few skills for me?"

"Aye, sir."

"Object Creation and Tool Creation skills that I mostly didn't use even after obtaining them. And something that can be stored for a long time, like food or drink."

"It seems you plan to use them for trading to cover living expenses. Understood."

Luka, who confirmed her new appearance in the mirror, opened her mouth in surprise, looking like a well-bred young lady just in terms of appearance.

"You look very nice, Miss Luka."

"......Miss? I'm different..."

"No, you have become the daughter of your master. 'Miss' is the correct term."

"First, we should introduce you to Skalgor, right? You might be tired, but please bear with it for a bit, Luka."

Keena, holding her adopted daughter's hand, walked to the main street, which was crowded with people, and whispered to Luka, meeting her gaze.

Roxilus, who might be misunderstood if he walked with them, was left behind at the inn.

Luka, who seemed to find the large number of different races passing by unusual, kept turning her head from side to side, looking from one end to the other.

Keena took Luka to the church.

Skalgor, who had just returned from a meeting, nodded in understanding as soon as he saw Keena with a child.

"Why are you suddenly judging by someone's appearance?"

"No, it's just as you think. This young lady is the new adopted sister, correct?"

Originally, through reports from the Trade Guild, it was known that there was one survivor.

It was also known that the survivor was a child and that Keena was present at the scene, so this meeting was predictable.

Skalgor, enveloped in a 'glow,' gave a grandiose wink and a dramatic spread of his arms, taking a pose of universal love.

The high priest, illuminated as if under a spotlight, welcomed her grandly.

"Let's welcome you again! Welcome to our family, Miss!"

At the high priest's welcoming gesture, which seemed to be his most satisfactory, Luka, deeply frightened, hid behind Keena, half-crying.

"Skalgor?"

With a sound effect, Skalgor, pierced by Keena's sharp, murderous gaze, turned pale, dispelled the effects, and hurriedly prostrated himself.

Sighing, Keena released the pressure and calmed Luka, then reintroduced her son.

"Well, Luka. This is my son, Skalgor. Despite his high position, he's a pitiful pervert who can only leave an impression by overusing effects."

"Haa... Haa..."

From the worst impression given to Luka, Skalgor collapsed in tears, sobbing.

Wiping away her tears and being comforted, Luka timidly bowed from behind Keena.

Released from his mother's pressure, Skalgor squatted down, met her eyes, and smiled, exchanging greetings.

"You should have said that from the beginning."

"But, Mother, this is proof of who I am."

"Get rid of that identity."

"Putting that aside, I heard the report. Is there any mistake in the report from the Trade Guild?"

"I don't know what Exis and the others reported, but it's something like that."

With Luka present, she didn't mention the village, just stating that much.

Luka, who didn't sit on the sofa, clung to Keena's clothes, looking uneasy.

Since political talk wouldn't benefit Keena, and the introductions were done, they moved on to the next task.

"Well, Skalgor. I live in a border village, so please contact me if anything happens."

"I heard from Mai Mai, but is it true...? If you like, I can establish a branch temple there!"

"No need for that."

Skalgor, whose enthusiastic proposal was bluntly rejected, was disheartened.

Keena patted his shoulder and said, "See you later," then left the church.

She headed to Kataru's workshop and picked up the lumber she had ordered in advance.

The large pile of unprocessed wood, which was stacked like a mountain, disappeared in an instant, leaving the workshop employees jaw-dropped.

"Good, good. With this much, we can build one or two houses without any problem. Thanks, Kataru."

"Sure, but... Who's that girl? Is she our sister?"

"Your ears are quick... Ah, [Telepathy], right?"

Squatting down to meet her eyes, Kataru raised a hand and exchanged a simple greeting, "Nice to meet you." Luka, who bowed her head, smiled for the first time since meeting Exis.

"Indeed, Kataru. Unlike Skalgor, you're good with people. Maybe it's the experience of age? Luka, this is my youngest son, Kataru. He's like an older brother to you."

"You're much older than my mom... Aren't you going to introduce her to my sister?"

"Mai Mai's place is already crowded. I told her what I needed to last time, so it's fine."

Kataru, who had been thinking with his arms crossed, suddenly chuckled and said, "My sister is crying, you know?" He seemed to have communicated telepathically.

"Don't slack off and come."

"My sister is in trouble."

After saying goodbye to Kataru, Keena handed the tired Luka, who had started rowing, over to Roxilus, who was waiting at the inn, and headed to a store that handled carriages.

It was for transportation to the village.

She also planned to bring in supplies and try various things to see if they could be used to cover financial needs. The most promising skills were making ornaments that could be equipped by NPCs without level requirements, and whiskey and beer creation skills.

Another option was creating statues, which she had already done before.

"That's all."

"Good work. We need to buy a lot of barley, and maybe some gemstone crafting?"

The usual process involves sprouting barley, using the enzymes in the malt to convert starch to sugar, filtering it to get wort, and fermenting it with yeast.

But with the skill, the complicated process doesn't exist.

With water and barley, both can be mass-produced.

Deciding on this, Keena headed to the market and bought a large amount of barley, leaving the market people speechless.

For gemstones, she planned to mine them from the ground rather than buying them.

Among the [Summoned Beasts] was a Jewel Worm, a giant, sixty-meter-long crustacean worm that collects gemstone-containing minerals in its nest.

If released in a nearby mountain range, it would dig them up.

Putting that aside, the fundamental problem was the household chores necessary for living in a house.

This was something she had no experience with during her time as Kaina, having benefited from it but never actually done it.

Without any basic knowledge, she would have to learn from scratch from Maleer.

Kaina had been frail from the start.

She never experienced the common scene of standing in the kitchen with her mother from childhood to elementary school.

Before middle school, she was in an accident and ended up bedridden in the hospital.

She had seen it on TV, but she was almost a complete novice when it came to actually doing it.

Luka might even know more about it.

After much deliberation, she consulted a housekeeping expert.

Roxilus, who received a difficult expression from his master about household chores, made an outrageous suggestion on the carpeted carriage bed.

"Would you like me to take care of everything in your house?"

"Huh?"

Keena, who was sitting cross-legged with Luka using her lap as a pillow, let out a surprised voice at the unexpected proposal.

To be precise, Roxilus's service period was about to end.

To call him back after giving him his pay, she would have to ring the handbell again.

At least initially, she had considered continuous summoning for Luka's sake, as she had enough funds to keep him for two thousand years.

However, she had decided to save the in-game money and live self-sufficiently in this world.

That's why she was thinking of ways to make money by trading with the Aeline merchant caravans that occasionally came to the village.

"Well, that's just a guess. I'm not sure if I can return or not."

"Huh? What's that...?"

"To be honest, my memories before coming here are hazy. After the last time I met my master, the place where I was waiting is now empty. I'm not sure if I can return properly."

"......Ah, I see. So the system is in a gray area because the management has stopped functioning? Maybe the ghost ship appeared without any conditions because it was a quest event?"

That would mean it wouldn't be strange if all the quest event monsters appeared randomly.

Realizing this, Keena shook her head to dispel the thought.

For now, the issue with Roxilus was whether the return mansion would appear at the end of his service period.

She could wait and see before making a decision.

"By the way, is it okay if I ask for one more thing?"

"One more thing?"

"Could you also summon Roxine? It would be better for Miss Luka to have a female companion. Well, I'm not very willing, but..."

"Roxine too. That would certainly make things lively."

Recalling the chaos she caused with Ops in the game, she chuckled.

It would likely be more than just lively, but rather noisy.

The last time, it had escalated into a major commotion involving many players.

As long as it was just lively...

In the end, the return mansion didn't appear even after the service period ended, so Roxilus's request was naturally granted.

As a result, another summoned maid would be brought to the scene.

Stopping the carriage on the daytime road and confirming that no one was around, Keena rang the red handbell.

The clear, gentle sound of 'Chirin' echoed, and a bright, large magic circle opened before Keena and the others.

White phosphorescence overflowed, and a building floated up from inside the magic circle.

A small, one-story house with a red roof, white walls, and a small garden with yellow, white, and blue flowers.

Luka, who didn't expect such a thing to rise from below, stared at the red-roofed house in amazement.

The door opened on its own, pushed back by the overflowing light.

A young woman in her late teens, wearing a brown cat ear and an orange-checkered maid uniform, appeared from inside.

Like Roxilus, she was a cat person and bowed respectfully to Keena, holding the hem of her mini-skirt.

"It's been a while, Miss Keena. Roxine is here to serve you."

"Long time, Roxine. Is there anything wrong with you?"

"What? I'm in excellent health. If you called me because Roxilus is here, did this idiot do something indecent?"

A mark of anger appeared on Roxilus's temple, who was quietly standing behind.

However, he didn't say anything in return, remaining silent.

Keena's lips twitched, recalling the same scenario from the first time she summoned Roxine.

She introduced her stepdaughter, who was listening to the conversation with a puzzled look, and asked Roxine to take care of Luka.

"Understood. This unworthy Roxine will raise Miss Luka to be a lady that won't embarrass you anywhere."

"No, it's fine if she stays as she is. She just lost her parents, so it's better to let her do as she pleases for a while."

Keena shook her head, urging Roxine to be more considerate.

She thought it was better to let Luka do what she wanted for a while, as she didn't want to confine her.

She planned to leave the follow-up to Roxine.

"Exactly. Roxine, you should be more considerate. We are Keena's servants."

"I didn't ask Roxilus. If you're in charge of education, who knows how wild Miss Luka might become."

Multiple marks of anger appeared on Roxilus's temple again.

They had a strong aversion to each other, and when summoned together, they often fought fiercely.

Roxilus, who had suggested summoning Roxine reluctantly, seemed to have expected this and was enduring it.

Keena stopped Roxine, who was about to sneer and continue.

"Okay, that's enough. You two are going to be family, so no fighting. No cutting down street trees, no collapsing houses, and no throwing people. Be careful with any actions that might harm Luka's education."

"Yes, I understand, Miss Keena."

"...Understood, Master."

Keena chuckled at their reluctant agreement.

During the game, they often acted in ways that didn't seem like NPCs, making their future actions unpredictable.

Roxine, in particular, insulted not only Roxilus but also male PCs in general.

Roxilus, instead of verbally retaliating, would indirectly harass them, but only through physical means, as Keena had said.

Using them in the city would cause significant damage to the surroundings, so Keena, who had learned from experience, had summoned them together only once.

She firmly warned them.

"The village we're going to live in is a place of great kindness to me, so I'll be angry if you harm the villagers or communal property!"

"Y-Yes!?"

Keena, with a stern look in her eyes, made a forceful statement, causing the two to tremble.

Luka, who didn't understand the ominous aura, clapped her hands at Keena's stern appearance.

Puffed up by her stepdaughter's praise, Keena stood up straight.

The noisy voices from the loaded carriage were received by the golem carriage, which, to fulfill its purpose, started moving towards the village again.