When I got my mind back on track, I was in the cooking area, heading to the pot.

　It had been a few days since Mr. Cassandra and Sierra had moved in.

　We decided to make some arrangements for the five of us to live together.

　One of them was meal duty.

　Meifang, Meil, Sierra, and Kassandra-san will take turns cleaning, washing, and eating one day at a time.

　However, Me, Meil and Mei Fan, who are often away from home as adventurers, are not assigned to work during the day, such as cleaning and laundry.

　Instead, we take out the trash in the morning and clean the baths at night (what a tub in Mei Fan's mansion!) I was to take care of such things as

　There are also several other miscellaneous arrangements, such as sleeping together at night (suggested by Mei Fan) and hanging a [Bathing] tag while taking a bath (suggested by me).

　There's even a rule that if you want to add to these arrangements, you can ask the pros and cons at a meeting with all the residents.

Well, well. That's about it. "weak flame.

　Order the fire under the pot and adjust the heat.

　Hmmm, I think it's still too high. This is going to burn the soup.

''A little less.''

　When I chanted, the fire went from low heat to even less.

　You can also fine-tune your firepower if you are creative in how you say it. The magic language is very useful.

　I thought to myself, "That's really useful.

"You're really good at that.

　A voice called out from behind me.

'If you're there, please tell me you're there, Mr. Cassandra.

'With a mage as good as you, I didn't feel the need to tell you.

Isn't that a buy-in?　I'm not even that good.

　Well, if you can sense the magic power, I can usually tell where and who is there.

　What's more, I could tell from the flow of magic that Cassandra-san had gone out of her way to hide her footprints and signs with her magic and come there.

''Oh well. If you say so, well, that's fine.

It's true. --Yes, it's not bad.

　I spoon the soup and taste it.

'Let's see?'

Oh.

　Then Mr. Kassandra leans over and pours the spoon I just used into his mouth, which still has a bit of soup left in it.

　My cheeks burn.

Oh, you're right. You're not a very good cook.......why are you blushing?

No, no, I'm, uh, flattered by the compliment.

　Hiding my embarrassed and reddened face, I turned to the pot and stirred the contents.

　I'm not used to being a s*xy older woman like Kassandra-san.

　* * * *

　After finishing breakfast, we left the house, leaving Sierra and Kassandra-san behind.

　The fact that Sierra is still in a bad mood is worrisome, but... well, I'll just put her in a good mood when I get back.

　The destination is the guild.

　We can't make a living if we don't work.

　That's why, today, we're going to devote ourselves to adventuring.

What do you have in store for us today?

　Mei Fan speaks to me as she walks next to me, her footsteps light.

''Come on. I can't say that's something I'd like to go to, but..........I'd like to have an easy way to make money.

I'm sure Mr. Gerald wouldn't have too much trouble with any request.

　Mei Fan chuckled.

''That's true. It doesn't really matter much to Gerald how difficult it is, does it?'

No, not really. It's a lot of time and effort to search for a collection, right? If that's the case, it's much easier to defeat a demon or explore the depths of the seal site (dungeon).

'No, for most adventurers, that's the opposite of the difficulty level...'

Really?

　I think it's a pain in the ass to be collecting materials and stuff like that.

　Well, if you have magic, you can handle most crises.

　Although Karius-san says that you should not be proud of yourself, he also says that it is just as important to understand your own abilities objectively.

　That's why, from an objective standpoint, I can conclude that with my abilities, I can earn more money in the mission to defeat powerful demons.

　As we get closer to the center of the city while exchanging words, the number of people increases.

　Occasionally, I'll see people who look like merchants or street girls, but in the area around the guild, more and more people are dressed as adventurers.

　The races of these adventurers are also various.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of people who are not only human, but also short people who seem to be dwarves, elves with long ears, and beastmen with various types of beast ears.

　Swords, spears, baskets, axes, bows, knives, and many other weapons, but they are all adventurers in their own right.

　They are the people who search for the danger zone, the seal site (dungeon), which is the claw marks of the demon race, where demons roam.

Oh, aren't you a slayer?

How are you doing these days, mage?

Another day on duty?　You're doing a great job.

　A few of them come up to me.

　They know that I am the one who defeated the demon.

　Maybe that's why my name is becoming more famous, or maybe they don't know each other's names, but they talk to me.

　Sometimes.

"Yo, demon slayer!　Let's dive into the dungeon with us today!

　There were even people who invited me to come to their homes.

　It seems that my magic is valued.

　I'm grateful, but when I receive invitations like this, I turn them all down at once.

　It's because I don't have the time for it.

　When I accept an invitation, I have to accept other invitations as well.

　It's not a bad feeling to be asked to do things for me, but it's the end of the world if that doesn't allow me to move around as much as I'd like.

　As I was making my way towards the guild building that I saw, a familiar face approached me from ahead.

　He had a pale appearance and long ears characteristic of his race.

　It was the senior adventurer of the elves, Karius-san.

''You're a little boy. You're working hard today.''

　Karius-san comes up to my side and calls out to me.

　Because he's tall, he's looking down on you from above.

　Being looked down upon by Karius-san, who always has wrinkles between his eyebrows, has a certain intimidating feeling to it.

　His original face is tremendously well-defined, so he looks even more sullen.

　But despite his brusque expression, I know that he is very junior to me.

　I've been giving him advice and advice in the past, and we've been indebted to him for that.

'....Oh my God, you insidious elf.

'You still don't have much to say, Meir...'

　Sighing at Meir's unchanging reaction, I turn to Karius-san who called out to me.

''Thank you for your hard work. Is Karius-san on a mission now too?''

Yeah, well. There are a couple of demon exterminators, and then there's the foraging.

　General adventurer's mission.

　Usually, adventurers' missions are divided into two main categories: defeating monsters and gathering materials, except in cases such as escort missions.

　Most adventurers are asked to combine a mission to defeat monsters of different types according to their level of ability with a mission to collect materials from the area where the monster is distributed.

　It can also be combined with a mission to collect materials that can be collected during the escort mission. However, in this case, the efficiency of the mission is not as good as it could be because there is not enough time to collect materials.

''From the looks of it, the little bastards are also planning to go to the seal site (dungeon) from now on.

Yes. Yes, I'll be on my way when I get the assignment.

Then I need to tell you something.

　Karius-san crowded in, the wrinkles between his eyebrows that were originally stern deepening.

''Recently, there have been strange rumors in the seal site (dungeon). It's an incomprehensible sighting of a strange looking demon and a human girl following it.

''........It's certainly a strange story. Aside from demons, I've never heard of humans acting together with demons, even in a fairy tale world.

''Yeah. And since I haven't heard of anyone being attacked or injured, it's not impossible that this is a gossipy adventurer's story, but such an unforeseen event might be possible in the seal site (dungeon). Be careful.

'Yes, yes. I understand. Please take care not to hurt yourself, Karius.

I know that.

　More importantly," said Mr. Karius, looking at me with pointed eyes.

It's you I'm worried about, kid. You are indeed an excellent mage. You may be able to heal even the most dying of wounds. But in other words, your peace of mind could lead to arrogance, which could eventually lead to injuries and failures so great that even a mage would be too late.

'No, no, that's certainly not... well, maybe it is.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't make use of what's available. But just know that pride is always close to danger.

Yes. Okay.

Okay.

　As soon as I say it, Karius-san starts walking towards the seal site (dungeon).

　However, after going a few steps, he stops and unexpectedly turns on his heel and comes back towards us.

　Then he takes out a package from the pouch he carries from his waist and presses it to my chest.

''This is........''

It's portable food. Eat when you're tired.

　Saying that in a shunting tone, this time Karius-san was heading to the seal site (dungeon).

''Ah, you're still the same person, I can't quite tell whether you're angry or kind.......''

　Mei Fan commented as she put her curled tail between her legs.

　Apparently, he was scared of Karius-san.

'Hmph. It just smells like preaching, that thing.''

'I'm sure he's kind, though. It's hard to find someone who's that caring.

　Well, I think it's easy to be misunderstood because of the tone of voice and facial expressions, too. It's a waste of time.

　But the rumors are so strange, aren't they?

　The human girl who shares the same behavior with the strange demon?

　If that's the case, what's the purpose of the demon and the girl?