This wasn’t like any building extension I’d ever heard of. And before I knew it, master had another door, identical to the one she’d just set up, in her hands. “Where do you want your room, Aishia?”
“H-Huh? Y-You’re giving me my own room, master?”
“Yeah. If you’d rather have one bigger than this, just let me know. I can make it as big as you want.”
“Th-Then, I’d like my room to be right across from yours! And I’d like it to be the same size as well!”
“Okay. Since the doors are identical, I’ll put nameplates on them too, so we don’t get them confused.”
Just like that, I had my own room. Seriously, this wasn’t like any building add-on I knew of... Oh, right, this was how goddesses added on to their buildings, huh? That must have been it. Oh well, it didn’t matter—because now I could head straight to master’s room every morning as soon as I woke up!
“Oh, right, I should probably make locks for these rooms too. It’s important that we both have our privacy, after all.”
“O-Oh, right. Yes, indeed.”
And so, master added bars onto the inside of our doors, for privacy. Curses! Well, I guess there’s no helping it. Even if I’d like to be by her side twenty-four seven, master will surely have times where she’ll want to be alone.
After that, she also built a bathroom and kitchen, then she turned the original space into what she called a “living room.” At first I built a makeshift stove, using the stones master brought with her to cook some simple meals for us, but it didn’t seem to satisfy her enough, and the next day she built a kitchen proper. Then, after saying “while I’m at it, might as well try making these,” she made a box that froze anything you put into it, a boulder stove that could maintain constant heat, and containers that perfectly preserved fresh ingredients, foodstuffs, or whatever else you put inside...and all sorts of other devices that were far beyond my own understanding. This is all “while you were at it” to you, master?!
“I just used a little spatial magic is all. No big deal. Use all these however you see fit.”
“Well, I at least understand that these are all incredible devices. Thank you so much, master!”
She was a mystery. A complete enigma. But there was no disputing that these would all be incredibly convenient.
“Oh, right, actually, there is something I’d like you to do for me, Aishia.”
“Yes, master, with pleasure! Just name it!” I’ll do anything for you! Anything!
“There’s something I want you to search for.”
Information gathering, is it? Absolutely—you can count on me! I’ll show you the skills I picked up when I was a minstrel! What will I be doing? Going undercover to infiltrate a corrupt business, perhaps? Or—
“You don’t have to go out of your way, though. Just keep an eye out for it if you feel like it. I’ll be doing the same.”
O-Oh. So it wasn’t that important after all, huh?
Um, Master, isn’t there anything else I could do to help you? Some important task that would allow me to show my gratitude and devotion to you? I don’t... I don’t want to have any more scary dreams where I’m more useful to others dead than I am alive! You can even extract my blood every day and sell it—it’s quite valuable! As long as I can be of use to you, I don’t mind!
Sob... Master... You’re just so kind to me that I don’t know what to do with myself!
#Side: END
“Master, welcome back.”
“O-Oh, yeah. I’m home.”
Several days had passed, and it felt like they’d gone by in the blink of an eye. I’d spent the majority of that time wandering around Solasidore trying to gather information on the sacred treasure’s whereabouts while taking on delivery quests inside the town to make some money on the side. I’d also sent Aishia out on various errands and asked her to keep an ear out for information in the meantime as well. I set the entrance to the space of holding in one of the back alleys that had become much safer.
“Did you learn anything on your end, Aishia?”
“Yes! I heard the slave trader—or rather, the former slave trader, Bareas, has a bounty on his head.”
“You don’t say?” Sounded like the slave trader gave law enforcement the slip. C’mon, guys, do your jobs right! She then proceeded to mention that his seized assets had amounted to considerable worth, including several incredibly rare potions. The total value of these was reportedly enough to compensate the slave trader’s victims, and enough to set both the Adventurer’s and Trader’s Guilds abuzz. (Aishia wasn’t considered a victim, though—so she wouldn’t be eligible for compensation, which was a little disappointing.)
“According to what I heard, the reward for the bounty will also come out of the money from his seized assets.”
“Dammit! If I’d only gotten there first, those potions and all that money could’ve been mine!” And if I’d known the authorities were gonna put a bounty on him, I would’ve slapped some magic on him so I could track his whereabouts! Right now I didn’t even remember his face well enough to go look for him!
Oh well, I guess I should prioritize looking for the sacred treasure anyway. I’ll just look for the slave trader later, if I still feel like it.
“What about you, master? Did you find anything out?”
“Sadly, no. But I did get you a souvenir.” I passed her a knife I’d bought at the general store while I’d been out.
“Ooh! A kitchen knife! Now I won’t have to trouble you to chop the ingredients anymore! I’ll store this in the kitchen right away!” She scurried away to the kitchen. Up until now, I’d been chopping the ingredients at the same time as I’d stored them, though, so I didn’t recall it being much trouble. To be honest, I’d thought she’d find it more convenient to have her vegetables precut, but she’d been adamant on doing it herself since cooking was her job.
Oh, right—I forgot to mention it, but I made a kitchen. I’d made the space I’d been using up until now the living room, then built a kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms for me and Aishia around it. I also built doors with simple bar locks and placed them on the border of each of our bedrooms. They looked no different from regular rooms with regular doors at first, but much like a matryoshka doll, the doors each opened into a larger, surrounding layer of space, which then connected to each room in the house. It did look a little surreal to see two doors across from each other placed in the middle of absolute nothingness, though.
I’d made good use of the woodworking method Blade had shown me. Essentially, I’d used spatial magic to mimic the process by cutting up some raw lumber I’d gathered in the mountains and sticking the pieces together. They would probably come apart in due time, but I could always just fix them with magic if they did, so it didn’t really matter.
I’d also gradually begun to fill my spatial base with other conveniences as well. Probably the toughest of these to replicate was the oven, which I’d made by slicing a giant boulder I’d found in the mountains and creating a space inside it that was fixed at two hundred degrees Celsius. Some of the heat leaked outside the oven, so it wasn’t perfect, but Aishia seemed happy to be able to cook at a constant temperature, at least. (And in fact, the pot-au-feu she’d made to test the oven out had been incredibly delicious.)
I’d also made a refrigerator and freezer, but unless I actually needed something to be cold, it was far more convenient to preserve food in a pocket of stopped time. That way hot food would never get cold and was always ready to eat, and I could even copy a dish as many times as I wanted until I had my fill.
Huh? Was it okay to copy foodstuffs, you ask? I wouldn’t be selling the food for personal gain or anything, so I’d say it’s fine. I’ll properly dispose of the portions Aishia makes, but I wouldn’t want her to starve either, so I gotta have some stock food on hand!
Also, just in case you were wondering, I hadn’t done anything with Aishia yet. I mean, considering I’d be the one bringing it up, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it. I’d attempted to frame it as a command, but I got nervous and froze up before I could give the order. She’d looked up at me with those sparkling, expectant eyes and underage-looking half dwarf body, saying, “What is it, master?” Guilt overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t bring myself to continue.
Curses... If I’d just been up-front about it with her from the start, we could’ve already been doing it! Instead I just had to put on airs and act all cool! I missed my chance!
Aishia returned from the kitchen carrying a tray with cream stew and bread on top—today’s breakfast. She set the tray on the living room table, and we enjoyed our meal together.
“Thanks for the food,” I said.