Ronnie's House

We had finished registering everything and boarded the carriage, and we had just arrived in front of the Royal Academy's main gate after seeing Longo-sensei off.

"Longo-sensei, thank you very much for accompanying me today for the registration."

"Not at all. I'm glad we managed to register everything without any problems."

"Yes! I look forward to seeing you at school again."

"Yes, see you at school."

After seeing Longo-sensei off, I returned to the estate. The registration had finished much faster than expected.

I was supposed to meet Ronnie shortly after noon, so it was a little early, but perhaps I should eat lunch now? By the time I finished, it would probably be just the right time.

"Roger, it's a little early, but can we have lunch now?"

"Yes. At this hour, there is no problem."

"Then please prepare lunch."

"Certainly."

After that, I leisurely enjoyed lunch, and soon it was time to leave the estate.

"Leon-sama, are you really going to pull the handcart by yourself? I could have a servant pull it while sending you by carriage..."

"No, I'll be fine going alone! My friend is going to have to pull a handcart to work every day from now on, so I want to know how difficult it is."

"I see... In that case, I suppose it cannot be helped..."

Although Roger looked quite displeased, he somehow agreed. Has Roger been more overprotective lately?

Is this normal for a servant? Maybe I'll ask Lucien and the others sometime.

"Then I'll be off."

"Have a safe trip. Please be careful."

I left the estate with Roger watching me worriedly. The handcart held the cooking utensils I had bought the other day, along with storable goods such as honey, salt, sugar, flour, oil, vinegar, and butter. It was quite heavy.

I didn't need to use Body Enhancement, but I had to put in a fair amount of effort to keep it moving smoothly. Perhaps I needed even more strength because I had asked them to give me an old handcart that would not stand out among commoners.

They had actually prepared a new one for me, but it was so clean and even decorated that it would have been stolen in an instant if Ronnie had been using it, so I had them change it. It was best not to stand out.

I walked along pulling the handcart with a rumbling sound, and finally arrived at the Royal Academy after taking more than twice as long as I would have by carriage.

Phew... This is good exercise. Ronnie doesn't seem to be here yet.

I sat on the handcart and drank water from the bamboo water bottle Roger had insisted I take along. Of course, I had secretly used water magic to make the water. As expected, freshly made water tasted best.

As I was taking a breather, Ronnie soon arrived.

"Leon! Sorry, did I keep you waiting?"

"No, I just got here too."

"That's good. Is this all the luggage you need? There's quite a lot of it."

Ronnie said that as he looked at the luggage on the handcart.

"That's right. Carrying this every time will be difficult, but are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Yes! I think I can manage this much."

"That's good. Then could you show me to your house? I'll carry the luggage there."

"Got it!"

Ronnie said that, fell into step beside me, and began walking with a light step. He seemed brighter, more lively, and happier than usual. I wonder if something good had happened.

"Ronnie, did something good happen?"

"Huh? Why?"

"You just seem happier than usual..."

"What!? Was I really that excited?"

"Yeah... It was pretty obvious."

When I said that, Ronnie covered his face with both hands and stopped. His ears had turned slightly red.

"Ugh, this is so embarrassing... Actually, I've been really looking forward to today. I told you I grew up in an orphanage, right? Everyone at the orphanage is more like family, so I don't really think of them as friends, and I never had a chance to make friends outside the orphanage. This is my first time playing with a friend... So I was really looking forward to it..."

Ronnie, don't say things like that or you'll make me tear up! I'll play with you whenever you want!

"Also, I might seem more carefree than usual because we're not inside the Royal Academy. I'm always tense at school..."

Indeed! Ronnie didn't have that strange tension today and was acting naturally. I thought it would definitely be better if he could always be himself, but that would be difficult at that school...

"I'm happy you were looking forward to it so much."

I said that in a slightly teasing tone to bring the somewhat downcast mood back around, and Ronnie gave me a mildly angry look.

"Leon! No teasing allowed!"

"Ha-ha... Sorry, sorry."

"Come on, let's hurry!"

"All right."

With that, Ronnie walked briskly off ahead of me by himself.

"W-wait a second! You're going too fast! I have the handcart, remember!"

"It can't be helped. I'll wait, so hurry up!"

Even as we exchanged those words, I was incredibly happy. I was much more pleased than I had expected that Ronnie was treating me completely naturally instead of keeping me at arm's length.

This was the kind of relationship I wanted. I wished I could become this close with the other children in my class too.

Thinking that, I did my best to pull the handcart.

After that, Ronnie's mood improved, and we walked slowly while chatting. Before long, we arrived at Ronnie's house.

"This is the house where I live. My room is the one at the far right on the first floor."

Ronnie's house was at the end of a back alley and looked like an old, two-story wooden apartment building.

"There's really nothing here, but do you want to see inside my room too?"

"Can I?"

"Yeah. Compared to the ducal estate where you live, Leon, it probably looks like a storage shed..."

"Even I am still surprised by the ducal estate. My family home is a commoner's house, so I might actually feel more at ease here."

"That's true. Then come on in!"

Ronnie said that and opened the door to his room. At least, it had a lock.

I entered the room hesitantly. People in this world generally did not have a habit of taking off their shoes, so I walked in with them on.

The moment I stepped into the room, I was shocked.

Huh? Wasn't this way too small!? As soon as I opened the door and entered, there was a simple bed made by laying cloth over wooden crates lined up together. A window was at the back of the room. There was barely enough space for a small table beside the bed, and apparently there had been no room for a chair, because the bed seemed to serve as one.

That was all there was in the room. Nothing else caught my eye.

Um... Was this the normal life of a commoner? Where did he keep his belongings? I had thought my family home was relatively privileged for a commoner's house, but perhaps I had grown up in an even more privileged environment than I realized.

"Ronnie, where are your things?"

"My things? They're in the wooden crates."

I see... So the wooden crates serving as his bed were also storage boxes. In a cramped room, that might be the most efficient arrangement.

"You were surprised by how cramped it is, huh?"

Ronnie said that with an awkward smile.

"Um..."

I was panicking because I had no idea what the right thing to say was. If I complimented the room by saying something like, "It's a nice room," it would be painfully obvious that I was just being polite, but I didn't know if it was all right to say bluntly that it was cramped...

"You don't have to hold back. I think it's cramped too."

"Yeah... I thought it was cramped."

"Ha-ha, you're honest, Leon! But it really is cramped. If I lived in a family-sized room, it would be more spacious, but this one is cheaper. There's no point in having a larger room if I have no use for the extra space."

It was true that a large room would be pointless if he had no use for it. In that case, perhaps this cramped room was fine.

"That's true. A larger room would just be a waste if you didn't use the extra space."

"Exactly. Oh, and one of the wooden crates is empty, so I can put these cooking utensils in it. If I ask the landlord, I can borrow a place to leave the handcart too."

"Does that cost money?"

"Hmm, I think it costs a little... But I have enough money for that, so it's fine."

"No, I'll pay for it. The handcart is needed to transport the equipment for my food stall, after all."

I ought to pay for this. Ideally, I would pay for him to move into a cleaner, larger room, but that would be overdoing it...

"Huh? But people don't normally pay that much for someone else, do they?"

"Even so, it's fine. That's one of the rules of my food stall!"

"Is that so? Then I'll gratefully let you pay for it."

"Then it's settled. Ask the landlord later and let me know how much it costs."

"Okay. But the landlord's house is right next door. Do you want to go ask now?"

Ronnie pointed to a small, one-story house directly beside the apartment building.

I see... Landlords usually lived nearby, didn't they?

"Then let's go ask."

"Okay!"

"Oh! Wait a moment first."

I stopped Ronnie, closed the door to the house from inside, and spoke to him in a whisper.

"I have something to give you, but it would be bad if anyone else found out. So keep your voice down, okay?"

"Okay, but... what is it?"

Ronnie asked hesitantly.

"This."

"Is this a little box?"

"Yes. It's a magic tool."

"A magi... mmph!"

Ronnie started to raise his voice, so I hurriedly covered his mouth with my hand.

"Ronnie, don't raise your voice."

"S-sorry. But magic tools are really expensive, aren't they?"

What I gave him was a sterilization magic tool. Soon afterward, Richard-sama gave me a magic stone and magic iron, so I made it. If an egg was placed inside the box and the magic stone inserted, it would be completely sterilized in a matter of seconds.

However, making this had been quite difficult. A magic tool that removed everything harmful to the human body consumed far too much magic power. I had somehow reduced the consumption by focusing its magic solely on sterilizing eggs.

I had given up on adding a switch function, since I would have to ask a blacksmith to make one.

"It's expensive, but I received it from the ducal family, so it's fine."

"I see... So why are you giving that magic tool to me?"

"This magic tool sterilizes eggs, and the recipes I'm going to teach you use raw eggs, so you have to sterilize them."

"Raw eggs...? If you use that magic tool, does it eliminate the risk of food poisoning? Are there really magic tools that can do that?"

"There are. But it isn't widely available yet, so don't show this to anyone besides me or tell anyone about it, all right? You could be put in danger. So could you buy the eggs the day before, sterilize them at home, and then bring them to the food stall?"

"Y-yes. I absolutely won't tell anyone. And I'll sterilize them properly too!"

Ronnie said that with a slightly pale face. He had little magic power, and as a commoner, he had never even seen a magic tool before coming to the Royal Academy.

That was why he didn't realize how abnormal this magic tool was compared to other magic tools. To Ronnie, every magic tool was an amazingly advanced device.

I felt vaguely guilty, as though I were deceiving Ronnie, but for his own safety, there were probably some things he was better off not knowing.

"Thank you. I'm counting on you."

"Yes! Leave it to me."

"Also, this needs to have its magic power replenished about once a week, so could you bring just the magic stone to the Royal Academy once a week?"

"Got it. I won't forget to bring it."

"Thanks! Then let's go to the landlord's house this time for sure."

After finishing our conversation, Ronnie and I left the room.