Chapter 10

Kashin led Shinji and Calsedonia to a house in a plot of land close to the city center.

"Would this one be suitable? As per Lord Tatsumi's request, it is a modestly built house..."

It was a small house made of red bricks, the kind often seen in the city center.

Though it was small, it was relatively large compared to the mansions of the nobility they had seen before, and would be considered a large house for a commoner.

The house was made of stone, but the floor was properly boarded. There were four rooms in total. One was a large room right after entering the front door, which seemed to be a living room. From there, there were two rooms separated by doors, which apparently were to be used as bedrooms. Additionally, there was a small room in the attic.

There was also a kitchen and a toilet. As expected, in this world's cultural level, there were no flush toilets, but rather a type that collected waste in a hole.

This house also had a small front yard and a backyard, with a dedicated well in the backyard.

Commoners usually shared the wells scattered around the city, so a house with a dedicated well was likely to be inhabited by a relatively wealthy commoner.

The other thing that caught Shinji's eye was a large box-like object carved out of a rock placed near the backyard.

"What is this?"

"This, Lord Tatsumi, was a rock bath that the previous owner of this house had custom-made by a magician with an affinity for the Earth element because they wanted a bath in the house."

"Huh? So this is a bath... Isn't it, it is a bath?"

"Yes, that's right. Since you seem to be from another country, you might not know, but in this country, due to the influence of the ice spirits during the Yozuki festival, there is a lot of snow and the weather is very cold. In the cold season, it is a long-standing custom to warm up in a bath. However, even among the nobility, it is rare for a house to have its own bath. Therefore, there are several communal baths in the city."

By the way, when filling the bath with hot water, it is either heated in a large pot and poured into the bathtub, or a magician with an affinity for the Fire element is hired to heat the water in the bathtub. Both methods require manpower, time, and money, so only wealthy households that can afford servants can have a bath in their house.

"Then, the previous owner of this house must have been quite wealthy, huh?"

"Yes, that's right. I believe it was a person who succeeded in some kind of business and used this house as a place to live after retiring, after passing the business on to their son. However, after the person's death, the son failed in the business and incurred a large debt, and this house was put up for sale to pay off the debt."

"How about it, Master?"

Calsedonia called out to Shinji, who was slowly looking around the house.

"Yeah, it's fine, I think. If Chico is okay with it, let's go with this one."

"I have no objections either. From here, the temple is not far away. Then, Sir Sankirai, how much is this house?"

"Thank you! Now, the price of this house is—"

Not knowing the standard of prices, Shinji left the negotiation of the price entirely to Calsedonia and took another slow look around the house.

In Japanese terms, it was a house equivalent to a 3LDK to 4LDK, more than enough for two people to live in.

Of course, there was no furniture now, but it would certainly be fun to think about what kind of furniture to place where with Calsedonia.

By the way, how would they pay for the house? Shinji didn't know how much assets Giuseppe and Calsedonia had, but did this world have something like a mortgage?

"I'll ask Chico later. It would be too much to ask for the full payment, so I need to find a job as soon as possible to help Chico financially... Until then, I'll have to do whatever it takes, even if it's just a menial job at the temple."

Upon learning that the price of the house was equivalent to several years' worth of living expenses for an average citizen, and being surprised by Calsedonia's financial power, Shinji was even more astonished.

On the way back to the temple.

Although they had bought the house, they couldn't live in it immediately.

They needed to prepare furniture and make some repairs since it had been left unattended for a while. Calsedonia entrusted the repairs to Kashin, and Shinji and Calsedonia decided to return to the temple for the time being.

"Is something wrong, Master...?"

Calsedonia looked at Shinji, who was walking with his shoulders slumped.

"No, it's fine... I just got a dose of reality..."

It seemed that Calsedonia was making quite a lot of money. This was the reality that Shinji had to face.

Indeed, yesterday, she had mentioned that she had a certain income, but he hadn't expected her to be able to pay an amount equivalent to several years' worth of living expenses for an average citizen so easily.

Perhaps, religion was profitable in this world as well, Shinji thought. In his original world, he had a vague image that religion, regardless of the type, was profitable.

However, from now on, he would be living with Calsedonia.

Even though she had once been a pet parakeet, Calsedonia was now undoubtedly human and a very beautiful one at that. Living with such a woman seemed like a dream to Shinji, but it wasn't a dream.

Indeed, in Shinji's mind, Calsedonia was already considered family. However, relying entirely on Calsedonia for everything would be too embarrassing.

He needed to earn money, even if not as much as her.

Reaffirming this, Shinji knew that he would have to work hard, even though he was unfamiliar with this world.

"A job that I can do and that pays well... There's no such convenient job, is there..."

If such a job existed, someone would have already taken it.

"When it comes to a standard in a different world, the typical answer would be an adventurer..."

Would there actually be a profession like an adventurer in this world? If it existed, how much could one earn?

"Hey, Chico. Are there adventurers in this world?"

"Adventurers...? I haven't heard of them, but what kind of people are they?"

Adventurers are jack-of-all-trades who take on dangerous jobs for money. They slay monsters that harm people, serve as guards for merchants, and sometimes delve into ancient ruins to retrieve treasures, battling the monsters that nest there.

Shinji explained to Calsedonia about the typical adventurers he had seen in games and novels.

"There are no adventurers as you describe, but if I had to say, monster hunters are the closest."

"Monster hunters?"

It seemed that, as expected, this world had monsters like magical beasts.

While there are dangerous species among ordinary wild animals, magical beasts are a different category, Calsedonia explained.

"Some magical beasts can even cause phenomena similar to magic, and when they appear near human settlements, they become very dangerous. The law of the jungle is that the strong prey on the weak, and it is natural for powerful magical beasts to attack weaker humans for sustenance. However, humans do not have to be silent prey for magical beasts. Therefore, there are people called monster hunters who slay dangerous magical beasts."

Naturally, it requires a certain amount of payment to hire these monster hunters. Since they are taking on dangerous magical beasts, it is natural for them to demand a reward that matches the danger.

Moreover, some magical beasts have meat that is suitable for consumption, and their fur, scales, claws, fangs, and bones can be used as various materials.

Therefore, some monster hunters actively seek out and hunt magical beasts without being hired, as they can earn a considerable amount of money by hunting a single magical beast that can be used as food or materials.

"But, wouldn't the army or soldiers of the country or lords take care of slaying magical beasts?"

"Of course, His Majesty the King and the lords in various regions sometimes dispatch their soldiers. However, the knights and soldiers of the army are specialized in human combat. When the opponent is a non-human magical beast, they often cannot fully utilize their skills. Additionally, requests to slay magical beasts are often urgent, so it is common to hire monster hunters, who can act quickly, from the beginning."

Listening to Calsedonia, Shinji nodded in understanding. It seemed that, in any world, government work was slow.

"Also, our temple sometimes receives requests to slay monsters."

"Really? The temple too?"

"Yes. The requests we receive at the temple are mostly for exorcisms, not for slaying ordinary magical beasts."

In this world, there are monsters that do not have physical bodies, which can be called spirits.

These monsters are collectively called "demons." While they are not particularly dangerous in this state, when they possess other wild animals or magical beasts, they become more powerful monsters. To distinguish these possessed wild animals or magical beasts from others, they are called "monsters."

When possessed, these demons amplify the animal's or magical beast's instincts, such as appetite, destructive urges, and territorial awareness, transforming them into mad monsters that attack others indiscriminately.

Even if a monster is defeated, it only means that the possessed animal or magical beast has been defeated. The spirit, the demon, is not affected by physical attacks and can abandon the possessed body and possess another one.

Therefore, to eliminate the demon, the only way is to use the exorcism magic of the Light and Holy systems.

There are also weapons that have the same effect as exorcism magic, but they are extremely rare and called holy swords or holy spears.

"Could it be that, Chico..."

"Yes. I have an affinity for the Holy system, so I sometimes take on requests to exorcise demons. Those who belong to the temple and slay demons, like me, are called exorcists, distinct from the monster hunters in the city."

It seemed that the reason Calsedonia had more assets than Shinji had expected was due to the rewards she received as an exorcist.

Additionally, she earned money from requests for healing magic. While not all of the healing rewards went to her, as half was paid to the Savive Temple she belonged to, her reputation for high-level healing magic, thanks to her high Holy affinity and excellent magical power, was high, and requests for healing magic never stopped.

Indeed, while Calsedonia had other affinities, her highest affinity was still the Holy system.

Her high-level healing magic and her track record as an exorcist were among the reasons she was called the "Holy Maiden."

"Demons... huh. There are terrifying monsters in this world. But, how do you distinguish between ordinary magical beasts and demons that have possessed them?"

If one cannot distinguish between a simple magical beast and a demon-possessed monster, it would be problematic for both those who request and those who accept the slaying requests.

If a request was made to a monster hunter thinking it was a simple magical beast, but it turned out to be a demon-possessed monster, the monster hunter might not be able to handle it, and in the worst case, the monster hunter might lose their life.

Therefore, there must be a way to distinguish them. When Shinji asked Calsedonia, she confirmed that there was indeed a way.

"Demons that have possessed a monster have eyes that glow ominously red. This glow is clearly visible even during the day, so it is almost impossible to mistake them."

"Huh? Red eyes...?"

Shinji inadvertently stared at Calsedonia's ruby-like