"'Disarm all the traps in this house,'

　I chant that as I put my hands on the floor of the hallway.

　I can feel my magic enveloping the mansion.

　This mansion is quite large. On the outside, it looked like it was about three stories high.

　The magic power that envelops a building of that size is quite something.

　But that's not even a problem for me.

　This is because while I continued to use my magic, I had changed into a peculiar constitution that could absorb the magic power contained in the air and make it my own.

　In short.

　In effect, I can use my magic power inexhaustibly (..........).

　If only I could construct spells in Japanese (magic language), there is almost nothing in this world that I can't do.

　The proof of this is--.

Good. That should break the trap.

What?　Wow, it's true, the trap won't activate at all.

　Even though Mei Fan, who knows the structure of the house very well, stepped fearfully on the floor of the hallway and pushed in a part of the wall, there was no sign of the trap being activated.

　'Yeah, it looks like we've successfully disarmed the trap.

'Wow, that's amazing, Gerald-san. I didn't expect you to use your magic like this.

Mm-hm. Gerald, you're still awesome!　I can do anything and it's cool!

　Mei Fan and Mylfang would gloat over my praise.

　.........But hey.... I can't get used to being lifted up like this, no matter how many times I've experienced it.

　It's not a bad thing, but it is embarrassing to be praised and respected.

'Don't praise me so much for every little thing. I didn't do anything serious. More importantly, can you ask me to continue showing you around, Mei Fan?

Okay. I was.

　I apologize, and with a bow, Mei Fan resumes her guidance.

　In this way, our new life was beginning as we moved to Mei Fan's mansion.

　* * * *

　Mei Fan's mansion had three floors.

　On the first floor, there was an entrance, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room, and a toilet.

　On the second floor, there were three large rooms that would have been used by the students who were staying at the inn. Each room was large enough to accommodate five people.

　And on the third floor, there was a bedroom and a study that Xiao Lang would have used, as well as Mei Fan's bedroom, apparently.

　There was also a remote hut, which was used as a pantry. At the back of the hut, there was a small field, and they were somewhat self-sufficient in growing their own vegetables.

　Incidentally, I wasn't allowed to see Mei Fan's bedroom. According to him, there was a 'maiden's secret' there.

　Nevertheless, that secret was soon revealed as well.

''But I'm curious!　I'm a woman to a woman, and I'll be fine!

　Myl, who insisted, quite forcefully overcame Mei Fan's restraint to search Mei Fan's bedroom, where she was fuming and scowling.

　As a result, a large number of romance novels for women were unearthed.

　They were of the extreme nature, such as a man and a woman embracing or not embracing, and sometimes they even included illustrations of naked men and women stacked on top of each other on the bed.

Mr. Mill........you said it was a secret between us girls....

　Blushing and covering her face, Mei Fan was wilting her henna, silver ears and silver tail.

　

　On the other hand, Myl, on the other hand, opens the page of the illustration and shows me the page.

''Wow ... hey hey Gerald, look at this!　It's awesome!

I'm not looking, you idiot!　Now go and put it back in its place!

Yeah, but you might want to study while you're ahead...

I can assure you, Meir doesn't need to study for this.

Huh?　Oh, so that means Gerald is going to study.

'How could it be?　I don't need it either!

'Oh, no... I mean, Gerald's already been there!　Who?!

'How could it be?　I was just about to tell you that I'm a child....

　That was close!

　

　* * * *

　--The next morning.

　I woke up quite early.

　When I turned to the window, the sun still seemed to have just risen and a weak white light was shining into the room.

　Mei Fan was still sleeping on the futon laid out next to me to my right.

　Our place to sleep was one of the three large rooms on the second floor for students, and it was the room with the most sunshine.

　In this room, there was plenty of room for at least three people to sleep side by side.

　That's why the three of us decided to sleep with Meiru and Mei Fan in the middle last night.

''Myl.......isn't here.

　Contrary to Mei Fan, the futon on the left side of the room was empty.

　Meiru, who should have been there, was nowhere to be seen in the room.

''I wonder if she's up already.''

　She gets up and leaves the room.

　She is curious. She may have started early in the morning to explore the mansion.

　In the slightly cold early morning air, I decided to wander around the mansion.

''It's a big mansion, though. Mr. Xiaolan, you must have made a lot of money.''

　I muttered to myself as I stepped forward.

　The house had an earthen floor at the entrance, and unlike the common style of dwelling in the Kingdom of Halkenya, that's where they took off their shoes. They are not designed to go up indoors with clay feet.

　Moreover, the building material used is not brick or stone, but wood cut from the forest and the outer walls are plastered.

　Although this style of architecture is different from the Halkenian style, there is a calmness that reminds me of Japanese houses and I feel relaxed.

　It must be because of the memories of being Japanese that remain in me.

　I go down from the second floor to the first floor.

　While I was peeking around the room to see where Meir was, before I knew it, he was at the front door.

''Huh?''

　There were two pairs of shoes there, mine and Mei Fan's, each with its own set of shoes.

　But I couldn't find Meil's shoes. They should have been there yesterday.

　Did he go out there without permission? Without a word to us?

　I just tilted my head at the inexplicable situation and my ears went 'dang! I caught a high pitched sound.

　Apparently, it was coming from outside.

　Perhaps this sound might have something to do with Meil.

''Mei Fan........well, let's just let her sleep yet.

　I couldn't bear to wake Mei Fan, who was still breathing in her sleep.

　I hooked the boots on the dirt floor to my feet and decided to step outside for a bit.

　--

　Meir was in the training hall.

　He wore light armor and held a sword in his hand.

''Hah!　Hey!

　She was performing the kata Ms. Gardner had taught her with great enthusiasm.

　Myl's red hair danced with each movement of the kata.

　The splattering sweat glistened in the morning sunlight.

　I watched Meir's performance for a while.

　It was a sophisticated kata for battle. There is nothing flashy or fancy about the movements themselves.

　But for us adventurers, such movements, honed and refined, can be the difference between life and death at the last moment.

　Soon, Meir's kata will be finished.

"Yo, Mill.

Gerald!　Good morning.

　When I called out to him, Myl turned to me, his cheeks rising to the top of his head.

　He tucked his sword into the scabbard at his waist and ran over to me.

''You were supposed to still be asleep when I woke up, what's wrong?

No. I don't know what it is, but I just woke up.

So you're saying that you woke up because you missed my body temperature next to you and you missed me.

It's not even close.

Hmm........because we have the same feelings for each other, I guess?

　Putting the tip of his index finger to his lips, Myl utters his congratulations.

　Really, this guy, he's still the same........

　It's a bother to keep up with this flirtation, so I decided to change the subject.

You are the one who has to practice early in the morning.

　Beads of sweat were floating on Meir's neck and forehead, and Meir's red hair was clinging to it.

　I wouldn't be sweating so much just from moving a little.

　I could lightly imagine that he would have been tracing the mold more than an hour earlier than I was up.

'Yeah. I wanted to get stronger. That's why I decided to practice a lot.

I'm sure Myl is still very strong.

　Through the sealed site (dungeon) and the training by Mr. Gardner, Myl has become much stronger.

　The part of him that was my style before has been refined, and he is now able to fight more seamlessly.

　I think he's better than me when it comes to simple swordsmanship.

　The only reason I'm able to win fights with Meir is because I can anticipate his movements based on the flow of his magical power.

　The excellent physical ability and instinct for battle are her innate sense and talent.

　But.

''Nope. It's not enough. I don't want to be an impediment to you.

　With a straightforward will in his eyes, Myl said such a thing.

I wanted to go to the fight against the demons. I wanted to help them. But at that time I couldn't help you.

''That's because ... physical attacks don't work on demons. Meir isn't a mage, so there's no point in worrying about it.

'But May and Gant did go. Neither of them can use magic like Gerald does.

''Gant had equipment that was impervious to demon attacks, and Mei Fan was just a good match for his skills.

But I wanted to fight with you, too!

　Myl insists, clenching his fists tightly.

''That's why I'm going to be strong. Because the next time a powerful enemy appears, I want to fight alongside Gerald.

.... You....

　As usual, she's the kind of person who thinks with her emotions, not logic.

　But to tell the truth, I don't dislike that kind of straightforwardness in her. In fact, I even had a good feeling about her.

Well, go for it.

　I said, and patted his head. It was a little damp with sweat, but I didn't find it uncomfortable.

''Huh........''

　You may have been startled, and then Meir made a strange noise.

What's that look? It's not that I have any intention of mocking you for trying to be strong.

　It's not hard to see why Myl wanted to be strong.

　If our positions were reversed, I would have tried not to be an impediment.

　It's because I can imagine this that I thought it would be good for me to be strong.

Well, let's see. Then Meifang should be up by now, so let's go back. We need to wipe off the sweat so that we don't get cold.

　I take my hand off Myl's head and turn on my heel.

　If we weren't both in the mansion when he woke up, Mei Fan would be worried.

'Oh, you know what?'

　And Meir grabs the hem of my clothes from behind and pulls them off.

'What's the matter?　You'll catch a cold if you don't.

Well, thanks, okay?　Just tell me to hang in there.

'Well, don't worry about it. I just said it because I wanted to.

'But when Gerald says that to me, I feel like it gives me some strength. So ... thanks.

　It's embarrassing to be thanked like this in a shio-like way.

　But I'm glad I was able to cheer up Myl, even if only a little.

　So.

Yeah. Be strong and have my back, will you?

Yeah, yeah. I'm going to be strong. And I'm gonna get behind Gerald.

　I said some powerful words to Meir.