To buy a house and settle down, I need to save at least close to 500,000 yen.
The country’s protection tax per month is 20,000 yen per person. (Infants are exempt.)
We are squeezed out of 40,000 yen by the country for two people.
In return, they provide temporary tents and basic meals if our house collapses due to fire or natural disaster.
It’s a meager relief measure for 400,000 yen a year.
“Have a good day, my love ♥♪”
A one-month discount at a cheap inn costs 30,000 yen.
Nene sees me off.
She’s already supposed to be too tired to move. Ah, I wish she’d give birth to the child soon.
My lust is… I’m in so much pain, wanting to have sex, even if it means losing the baby in her womb…
“Yeah, make sure to lock the doors properly.”
“I’m sure it’ll be okay. You’re such a worrier… Oh?”
They’re being lovey-dovey in front of the room.
The neighbor who came out earlier grunts, and I can already feel the attitude of someone who might bang on the walls in the middle of the night, making a racket.
Well, this room is my home, costing 30,000 yen a month.
Plus meal money for two people, even frugally, comes to 20,000 yen.
That’s 50,000 yen in expenses.
With a helper or day labor, life would surely become difficult. I can probably accept that.
I do work that isn’t exactly legitimate.
I need to earn more than 50,000 yen.
To truly have my own home.
And to prevent the precious Pink Space from being disturbed by wall-banging.
And also to prevent myself from killing him.
My neighbor, the resident next door, is well-connected. Moreover, he’s healthy.
If he dies, I’ll be suspected. The soldiers will quickly close the case.
My acquaintances will start making a fuss, demanding an investigation.
He’s the type of person who stays in such a cheap inn, with that kind of history.
Damn it, why do you have to live next to my room?
If I can’t get rid of him, we’ll have to move out of this room.
But there are no other vacant rooms.
And all the residents are fellow travelers in this cheap inn.
If I were to eliminate someone to create a vacancy,
it would lead to endless, troublesome manipulations, just like with the resident next door.
It would continue until I’m arrested on false charges.
In my place, for kidnapping Nene.
It’s as if they made a culprit out of a poor person with money.
The sergeant who commands the soldiers is completely corrupt.
My workplace is a pawnshop on a back street.
It’s a popular spot for poor people to sell items they find in the trash that might be useful.
Especially for children who aren’t given meals by their parents.
There, I inject magic power into worn-out gravel (the client, who borrows the shopkeeper’s authority, insists it’s usable, but it’s basically sand, just sand!) that was used in magic tools, to turn it into magic stones that can be incorporated into magic tools.
It takes about an hour to create one, including breaks.
The price is a whopping 10,000 yen.
However, what I get paid as my salary is less than a tenth of that, at 700 yen.
The client says:
“I’m kindly giving a job to someone like you, who has so much magic power, you know? If you have any complaints, you don’t have to work here anymore ♪? There’s no one who sets their salary higher than mine ♪”
He’s completely taking advantage of me.
He’s a small fry who fawns over the shopkeeper, calling them “today’s magic stones.”
But don’t underestimate this small fry. He supplies the magic stones I create to other shops.
In other words, there’s no client in this capital who would offer a higher price than him.
I can’t believe how cunning his thoughts are.
“You’re late.”
“I’m sorry. The road was crowded.”
“Hmph. Here, hurry up and get to work. The materials are piling up because of you.”
“Yes.”
Wouldn’t it decrease a bit if you helped out too?
Ah, you have too little magic power to do that, right ♪?
I want to say that.
“What are you staring at? Hurry up and work, you slowpoke. Are you a turtle who’s in a foreign country?”
“No.”
Why did I choose this shop?
It’s because there are male geishas serving the noble patrons among the regular customers ♪
Lowering my voice, I expose my flat, firm, toned chest.
Nobody else in the shop notices, but I do know, you know ♪
Seiran-chan ♪
Entering the workshop, I grab the gravel (waste stone) in the bucket on the workbench.
“Haaah”
I inject magic power with a burst of spirit.
The gravel transmitted through my palm is imagined as solidifying into one piece.
I gradually make it larger.
“Seiran-sama ♪”
The shopkeeper calls out loudly.
Announcing Seiran’s arrival.
They always order a certain number of Regenerating Magic Stones.
It’s really great to serve rich people; they can pay in cash without worrying about money.
Once I buy a house, I’m definitely going to get her pregnant too~~ ♪
Rayos, in his Astra form, cranes his neck to visually inspect Seiran at the counter.
Seiran, unaware of this,
has the staff arrange the items on the counter, pays in cash, and leaves.
“Thank you~~ ♪”
The magic stones were sold.
Meaning, the products decreased.
“Hey, hurry up and create more magic stones!? What if the next regular customer comes? Huh?”
I’ve only created two today.
No, considering the time, creating two is amazing, you know?
When it’s Seiran-chan, he’s all smiles.
But with me, he’s greedy and self-serving, demanding more.
If Seiran-chan weren’t here, I would have given up on this long ago. Honestly, what a small fry.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Then hurry up and create ten times that amount!”
“It’s impossible, both time-wise and magic-wise.”
“Impossible!? You said you’d do your best! Then you should be able to create it!”
Here comes that mysterious logic again.
The world is made to suit him.
He doesn’t create magic stones himself. Even when he does, he takes so many breaks that it takes him half a day to create one. He doesn’t want to be scolded by the shopkeeper for that.
So, I showed up, saying I’d introduce him to a job.
After spouting lies about how indispensable he is to this shop,
he arrogantly acts like he’s doing me a favor with my current treatment.
Taking advantage of the fact that the shopkeeper doesn’t see me,
he makes false reports.
He’s so thick-skinned.
Well, you probably can’t survive on the backstreets without being that thick-skinned.
Once I get my house, I’ll frame someone and kill them.
If I have a woman I have a crush on,
I’ll ruin her reputation with a letter and make her stab me ♪
Being stabbed by a woman is incredibly effective mentally ♪ I know from experience.
The small fry yells at me repeatedly.
Then he returns to the counter and has the shopkeeper clean the storefront to see if any regular customers are coming.
