“You’ve really worked hard today.”
Before they knew it, evening had fallen.
Gauss and Alia had been running around all day, and only now were all their errands finally done.
They’d met with the broker, discussed terms, finalized details, and placed an order at the food workshop.
The jerky they commissioned—made from the Rustfrog meat—would take a full week to finish, even on a rush order. Normally, it would have taken much longer.
Once processed, the total weight would shrink considerably—yielding only about 200 pounds of compressed jerky.
Still, for Gauss, that was plenty to last a long time.
After all, Rustfrog thigh jerky was high-quality, calorie-dense food.
A hundred grams could keep him chewing for quite a while.
Of course, he’d still need to carry other foods for variety on future quests. Less dry rations, perhaps—but not none at all.
First, to maintain a balanced diet and avoid health issues from eating only one thing for too long.
Second, while monster jerky didn’t seem to affect him, Alia couldn’t eat too much of it in a short period. Otherwise, her mouth would go completely numb—to the point she couldn’t even speak.
A real shame—such a good food, but off-limits for her in large quantities because of her weaker digestion.
After arranging the jerky, they moved on: buying autumn and winter clothes and boots, visiting the property, signing the contract—
By the end, Gauss collapsed into a chair, unwilling to move.
Somehow, managing all these everyday tasks was more exhausting than fighting monsters.
But when his gaze fell on the small two-story house he’d bought for 1 gold, 15 silver, the fatigue faded, replaced by a warm sense of satisfaction.
The modest living room glowed with warm yellow lamplight, while the orange-purple sunset spilled in through the window, settling his mind.
He stared for a while, blinking, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
After half a year in this world, he finally had a place of his own.
“So… this is really my home now?”
The thought brought a tangle of emotions.
In two lifetimes, this was the first time he’d bought a property.
In his past life, fresh out of college and working a low-paying job, owning a home had been a far-off dream. Get full chapters from NoveI[F]ire.net
In this life, the body’s previous owner had wanted the same thing—but his progress had been glacial at best. To outsiders, a house seemed completely out of reach for a poor boy from the countryside—just an unrealistic dream.
Now that it had actually happened, Gauss’s feelings were complicated.
“You’ll need some furniture, and these curtains are dirty. Do you want to wash them or just replace them?” Alia paced the living room, enthusiastically offering suggestions.
The house came with some furnishings, but it was far from complete. He’d need to buy more later.
At least it was perfectly livable for now.
Gauss planned to spend the night using Prestidigitation and Gust to deep-clean the house—especially the bedroom, bed, wardrobe, and bathroom—erasing all traces of the previous owner.
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it then,” Alia said after another quick look around.
“Want to grab dinner together?” Gauss asked.
“Better not. You probably have personal stuff to sort out. Good luck.” She gave him an encouraging smile before heading back to her own home nearby.
After resting a bit, Gauss stretched, pulled out his bone staff, and muttered:
“Alright… time for the real battle.”
“This floorboard’s damaged… Mending!”
For the next few hours, he cycled through his cantrips—cleaning every room, repairing small furniture or items where possible. Not every Mending attempt worked, but he tried anyway.
When his mana ran out, he relied on his Energy Gland to restore it, eating as he went, then diving back into cleaning.
Repeat. Again and again.
By the time night had deepened, the house gleamed. The wood floors shone, the furniture was spotless, and even damaged spots had been restored.
It no longer looked like a “second-hand” home—cleaner than some new ones. No hired cleaner could match this level of restoration; only a spellcaster willing to burn through mana could achieve it.
Though drained, Gauss was pleased with the result.
As a bonus, the marathon cleaning had even improved his cantrips:
Prestidigitation +5 proficiency
Mending +3 proficiency
Both Gust and Mending leveled up from Lv1 to Lv2.
In the kitchen, he lit a fire, heated water, and mixed it with cold in the bathroom’s wooden tub.
Sinking into the warm bath, towel over his shoulders, he leaned back and let the steam blur his vision.
For the first time in a long while, he felt completely at peace.
A home of his own. It might have been bought with money, but it was really a perk of his growing professional strength.
From here, he just had to keep working—improving his abilities—until he could live even better in this world.
“Gauss, over here—something came for you.”
Even with the new house, he still met Alia at the inn for their daily meet up.
He’d barely stepped inside when Sophia called him over.
She handed him a well-wrapped package. Gauss frowned in confusion.
This world didn’t exactly have “courier service,” and he hadn’t ordered anything recently. The few people he knew would’ve just handed something to him directly—not left it at the inn for Sophia to pass along.
“Who brought it?” he asked.
“A slim girl in a black cloak. Moved like a cat—no sound at all. Nearly scared me when she showed up.”
As Sophia described her, Gauss felt a flicker of recognition.
He unwrapped the package.
Inside was a finely crafted set of adventuring tools—for mechanisms and trap removal—along with a letter.