Chapter 32: The Law of “Sticking Close” Conservation
“Huh?”
Peiya didn’t expect Elise to agree so quickly.
She was just joking, but ended up getting completely overwhelmed.
“Wait, what did you say? You really mean it? If I eat everything, what will you eat? And I was just joking. Fighting a boss is dangerous. What if you get hurt?”
“With you there, I don’t think you’ll let me get hurt.”
“Who said that? There’s only a tiny chance of that. If I make a mistake, you won’t even have time to regret it.”
“It’s fine. If something really dangerous shows up, just run far away so you don’t get hurt.”
Hearing this, Peiya’s expression suddenly changed.
“We agreed to team up. I can’t just leave you behind.”
“Look at you. If I really ignored you, you wouldn’t like it either. If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing?”
“Mm… just this once. Next time, no way.”
“Alright. You were planning to defeat the Ice Bear King, right? Since you’re joining, we can store the materials at my base afterward. But we did meet in a bit of a rushed way. If you’re not comfortable, I can hire you as an external consultant. You can decide later if you want to join. If you go alone to fight the Ice Bear King, the supply pressure will be huge. And if the boss drags the fight out, you might have to stay underground for quite a while.”
“That’s true. You’ve thought this through well.”
Peiya thought about it. It made sense. As a special consultant, she wouldn’t need to join the guild but could still enjoy all the benefits.
That kind of treatment was very rare, most guilds wouldn’t offer such good conditions.
It showed that Elise really treated her well.
“No problem. We’ve worked together through letters several times already, so I trust you. But for now, I don’t plan to join a guild. It’s not about you, it’s just… personal reasons. You don’t need to feel bad. If we successfully defeat the Ice Bear King, I want its magic core. The rest we can split depending on the situation. How about that?”
For Peiya, the most important thing from the Ice Bear King was the magic core.
Her Witch’s Heart was still undeveloped. Even if she ignored it, it would occasionally “eat” magic cores on its own, and if it didn’t get any, it would make her feel very uncomfortable.
This was a good chance to test what would happen if it absorbed a boss-level core.
“That’s a fair deal. I agree. After we finish moving your things, let’s set a time to register at the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“Okay.”
With just a short conversation, the two reached a simple verbal agreement.
At that moment, all the things in the house had basically been moved out. Looking at the now empty home, Peiya suddenly felt a bit emotional.
No matter what, she had lived here for quite a long time.
It would be a lie to say she felt nothing.
“You can come back anytime you want.”
Elise wasn’t very good at comforting people, so she just said something as gentle as she could.
“After you said that, I already feel better. The safety here isn’t great anyway, and it’s not good to stay here forever. And I’m about to move into a new house, right?”
“That’s right. So before moving into a new house, what’s the first thing to do?” Elise suddenly smiled mysteriously.
Peiya was confused. The first thing to do in a new house… open the windows for air?
But that answer sounded too boring…
“Let me think… buy bedding?”
“Are you that focused on going to bed? No, the first thing is to learn the way home. You’ve lived in the old district for too long. That doesn’t mean you know the roads inside the royal city. Let’s not go inside yet. We’ll walk around the area first. If you see something you want, we can stop and buy it before going back.”
“Oh, right! I almost forgot about that. Thank you, Elise~”
A small smile appeared on Peiya’s lips, like a thin crescent moon.
Elise was still as reliable as ever. At this rate, Peiya felt like she might start depending on her sooner than she thought.
The two got onto the carriage, and after a short wait, they arrived at their destination for the day, the Welsh District.
Although it wasn’t as lively as Rose Manor, nor as grand as Elise’s fountain estate, its safety and cleanliness were on a completely different level compared to the old district.
They didn’t stop right away, and instead walked around nearby as planned.
Through the window, Peiya carefully observed everything new in the area.
There were shopping centers, pharmacies, restaurants, even entertainment rooms. The environment was clearly much better than where she lived before.
After becoming familiar with the area, the carriage slowly stopped in front of a house.
A small two-story home came into view, with a patch of grass in front and a plane tree beside it. The sunset shone through the leaves, casting a deep red light.
The gentle breeze made the shadows sway, giving the whole house a warm and cozy feeling.
Such a big house…
“Th-This… I can really live here?”
Peiya walked into the attic bedroom. Everything inside was complete, and the bed was especially big.
Wait, why was the first thing she looked at the bed?
Did she really care that much about sleeping?
A witch… no, this time it didn’t seem to be the Witch’s Heart.
It seemed like she really just liked big beds.
When she was little, she had always dreamed of sleeping on a large, clean king-sized bed.
So… was this dream finally coming true?
So happy~
While Peiya was still lost in her thoughts, Elise had already leaned close to her ear and said,
“Can you get up for a moment?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“To make the bed. If you lie on it now, doesn’t it feel uncomfortable?”
“A little, but I can do it myself.”
“Wait. You must be tired after the trip. Let me handle something this small.”
Elise brought a brush and started making the bed for Peiya, while also quickly cleaning the room.
In the past, these tasks were usually done by servants, but today Elise decided to do everything herself.
“Hey, you’re going too far. Let me do it. I should be the one doing these things. You’re going to turn me into someone useless.”
“Then let’s do it together. The sooner we finish the room, the sooner you can rest.”
Without any complaint, Elise started wiping the floor with a wet cloth. She didn’t care if her clothes got dirty, focusing only on cleaning.
Then she used the cloth to clean the dust stuck in the corners of the walls. After all, breathing that in wouldn’t be good.
So Elise carefully cleaned every corner.
Unlike Anna, Elise had been used to cleaning her own room since she was young, so she was very skilled at it.
Her cleaning speed was far beyond Anna’s.
After all, Anna was the type who would get angry for a long time just because she couldn’t fit a pillow into its case, while Elise was not.
Elise gently touched the clean, freshly made bed and looked at Peiya, who was still busy, and called out.
“It’s ready. Try lying down and see if it still feels uncomfortable.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
Peiya walked back.
The blanket Elise had folded was surprisingly neat, almost like a piece of art. It looked very pleasing.
“You’re amazing. Thank you so much today. I didn’t expect you to help me clean for so long.”
“It’s nothing. I ate so many of your cookies before, so think of this as returning the favor.”
“Then next time you want to eat, just call me.”
Elise nodded. “Take another look around. If there’s anything else I need to do, tell me now. Since I’m going downstairs, you can give me the trash too.”
Peiya looked around carefully but couldn’t find anything wrong.
If she had to say something, it was that the place was too clean, so clean that she almost wasn’t used to it.
“Nope, everything’s perfect. Full marks. Thumbs up for you.”
Seeing Peiya actually give a thumbs up, Elise relaxed a bit.
“That’s good. Since everything’s fine, I’ll head back now.”
“Okay…”
Peiya nodded and watched Elise leave. Just as she was about to disappear at the end of the stairs, Peiya suddenly called out.
“Wait, I suddenly have something to say…”
“Hm?”
Elise turned around and noticed Peiya’s slightly complicated expression.
At this moment, what did she want to say?
Peiya bit her lip, her mind going back and forth, hesitating. But her reason kept pushing her to speak.
Elise had helped her so much. Saying nothing didn’t feel right.
After taking several deep breaths, Peiya finally gathered her courage and said,
“Be careful on your way back. Thank you for helping me clean my room, and… About what happened this afternoon, I was wrong. I’m sorry. That’s all!”
After saying that, Peiya ran back into her room without looking back.
Elise was left standing there, a bit stunned. Thinking about how Peiya acted cute earlier in the afternoon, her expression became slightly absent-minded.
So she still cared about that…
That really did sound like something she would do.
Once you stop getting close to her, she will take the initiative to get close to you instead.
What is this?
Some kind of “law of closeness conservation”?
Elise didn’t think too deeply about it. She just looked at the now empty staircase and softly said,
“Actually… I wasn’t angry at you at all. But I forgive you anyway. Next time too.”