CH 95

I’m showing Retze around~

It’s decided that Retze will be our renter number one. The price of the houses fluctuated ever since the first subjugation. Even though the houses here are cheaper, that’s the opposite for the other areas. He already predicted this, but he prioritized being promoted.

Another option is to buy a cheap place, renovate it to raise its value, sell it for a higher place and move on to the next, but Retze’s buying his food from outside, and he doesn’t have the confidence that he can renovate it. So, his plan is to buy a house that’ll be his permanent residence, apparently.

And so, it seems like he wants to wait until the price has stabilized.

「Private toilet stalls, bathroom and storehouse, huh. 」

The toilet and the bathroom are a given, but it seems that he also wants a personal storeroom aside from the pantry, a place where he can store his weapons and other stuff he buys.

I think about the floorplan while listening to Retze and Butler’s wishes. So they prefer a layout geared towards adventurers, I guess?

「Maybe I can add a door to this side so you can access the well without going through the kitchen, huh. And maybe make the washing place a bit more spacious. 」

Livestock and monsters are disassembled at a place dedicated for that work, either inside or outside the city. It’s stinky, after all…

But then, small animals like birds and rabbits are dismantled inside the house, and the adventurers also bring their monster spoils so the washing area must be spacious enough. There’s a washing area around the well, too, but the drainage is poor, so it’s scary to clean those things over there. There’s a danger of contaminating the drinking water, after all.

The waterways are connected, and I don’t think changing one or two houses will make a difference. Still, I figure doing something about it is much better than doing nothing, so I made sure unclean stuff won’t seep into the well or the ground At Ash’s and my house. Well, I suspect that the sewage underground is already leaking, though!

Firewood is stored under the stairs. Folks usually consume around a small busload of firewood during the winter, and it has to be easily accessible since it’s a daily necessity. The cellar has an area to store the remaining firewood and a pantry, so I won’t change this, too.

And so, the days pass with me doing a lot of work. They held the third subjugation expedition during this time, apparently. While the subjugation was ongoing, Ash and Retze returned to bear hunting and other work, and I also delivered the recovery medicine to both guilds.

Finally, I’m done. Time to show it off.

「It’s done already? That’s quite fast. 」

「Did my best. 」

Not to brag, but I made full use of this physical ability, you know! By the way, I also asked the spirits’ help for stuff like drying that would take time.

I guided Retze, Ash and Butler around the house.

「You’ll find the living room, bathroom, and kitchen on the first floor. Oh, and there’s a place where you can put your luggage temporarily. 」

The houses in this area are mostly occupied by the craftsman’s family, and they will also be the landlords. The first floor is dedicated to a workshop, the living room and kitchen, while you can find the family’s rooms on the second floor. If they have apprentices, they will live on the third floor, otherwise they’ll also rent it out. The attic is used as a storage room or a rented room.

This house won’t be rented out to a huge family, but in case it’ll be sold to an artisan in the future,I didn’t alter most of the places too drastically except for the bathroom.

「Ahh, it has become a lot more comfortable now. 」

Retze said, but I just spread a rag and put a table, though.

「Let’s go to the cellar first? 」

The staircase going down the basement isn’t really wide, but it’s spacious enough to carry a normal-sized wine barrel going down.

「The area in front is for common use, and if you go further in, you’ll see that I divided the place into a few rooms. The key is the same as the one for your room. 」

「 Oh, so you put a lattice gate, huh. 」

Retze opened one of the unlocked gates and entered.

「So the expensive wines and the spare weapons go here, huh. 」

He’s already planning where to place his stuff.

We then went up. The second floor is divided into three — the first is above the kitchen, the second above the entrance hallway. I added something like a cross between a closet and a backroom inside the room.

「Is this a bed?… Darn, this is way too awesome.」

「What might this be? 」

Butler continued checking the place while ignoring Retze as he happily rolled on the bed

「It’s a closet. 」

「Mm…」

「Ash, it won’t open no matter how you push it. 」

It’s a sliding door.

I demonstrated how to open it and was met with dropped jaws. Sliding doors are usually used as partitions in castles. Plus, they can be easily removed so it’s only natural that they aren’t really used in this world where public safety is a concern.

「Hoh, so you can open it from both sides to see inside. 」

He kept on shutting and opening it, relishing the novelty.

「I just thought that it’d be troublesome entering this place with a candle. Just smear some wax on the groove under the doors if it’s getting harder to open, alright? 」

「Those lumps on the walls are for shelves, right? 」

「Yeah, I already placed two, you can arrange it as you please, and you can also add more shelves if you want. 」

I replied to Ash.

So, the rooms come equipped with a bed, a fireplace and a closet. The room is narrow, but there’s a vacant space beside the closet that they could use to put a cabinet or a chair they can use to warm themselves in front of the fireplace — they can buy or do whatever they want with it.

「We also have a storage area for silverware inside the stewards’ room, but this is a lot more private and comfortable than those rooms. I’ve heard that it’s not only the adventurers who hoard whale oil inside their room. This is pretty convenient. 」

I got Butler’s approval. Seems like folks here hoard or make things while they are still available. Most of the stuff is stored for around 6 months to 1 year, so no matter how much storage they have, it seems like it will never be enough.

Generally, the cellars are filled with salted meat and wine — with low alcoholic content ones that they drink like water — while the attic is used to store dried meat and straws. Normal houses use straw beds as mattresses, after all. By the way, if they’re keeping chickens and goats, their food is also stored inside the house.

The third floor also has the same layout. These rooms are quite spacious and can be considered as quite luxurious, but since I don’t want too many people living here, I plan to just make it expensive to narrow down the number of people. Well, it’s not like I have to rent it out, after all.

Retze seems like he wants to buy blankets immediately, eager to move in tomorrow.