Searching for a Property
Thus, on another day, Katya-san and I went to a real estate agent to look for a place to open our studio.
Now, we are currently on our way via carriage with a male real estate agent to show us the properties. Of course, Leaf is in the carriage with me. He is sleeping peacefully on my lap.
“Is he Lady Daisy’s familiar? No wonder your parents let you go out without any guards. Is he actually very strong in reality?” Katya-san asked me curiously.
Katya-san gently extended her hand from the other side of the carriage, then timidly touched Leaf’s back.
“Yes, he’s called Leaf, and he’s actually a big wolf around the size of an adult. He’s stronger than your average guard.”
When I responded, Katya’s hand that was petting Leaf stopped in reaction to the words ‘big wolf’.
Noticing her presence, Leaf, who was having some shut-eye, slightly opened his eyes, saw it was Katya-san, then shut his eyes once again as if nothing happened.
As Katya-san’s hand moved away from Leaf’s back, I stroked his back and combed his soft fur, causing his tail to sway in comfort.
While we were chatting, it seemed like we had arrived at the first property as the carriage came to a stop with a jolt.
I opened the carriage door and the agent turned up.
“Misses, we have arrived at the first property,” he said, then held out his hand and helped the two of us out of the carriage.
“This location is right on the border between the lower class noble district and the merchant district. It is a location where it is possible to expect both nobles and commoners to be your customers.”
Having said so, the agent unlocked the entrance to the property and led us inside. Accompanying us, Leaf entered the property as if taking it for granted.
“This property is characterized by the fact that the garden is the center of the building. The building was built in a circle around the garden as if to wrap around it. You can see the garden from any angle—”
“That’s no good! There’s no sunlight exposure for the fields!”
I stopped the agent in the middle of his explanation. If I settled on this property, the sunlight would only shine at fixed times and the fairies and mandrakes would be sad.
“…The fields?”
The agent rolled his eyes in surprise. After all, a young miss of noble birth rejected the property because of the fields. Not the garden—the fields.
“I’m sorry. Miss Daisy may be performing alchemy, but she also dabbles with cultivating medicinal herbs. Thus, sunlight and space are very important for the garden that will be used as fields to grow medicinal herbs,” Katya-san followed up with an easy-to-understand explanation to the astonished agent.
“If that is the case, then this property here does not meet Miss’s conditions.”
The agent, who gathered himself together, nodded his head in agreement and pondered for a while.
Then, at that moment.
There was a sound of the entrance door being locked with a clack.
There was the sound of rough footsteps and three rude men burst into the premises during the tour.
“Sorry for interrupting your business, Mr. Real Estate Agent. But, we have business with your customers: those two well-dressed missies.
Having said that, the rude men approached us while smirking.
Leaf’s body was still small and he was growling with his tiny fangs bared.
The agent also stood between us as if to protect us with his back to us. In his hand, he held a dagger for self-defense.
“Ahahaha! A little puppy and a fella with trembling hands aren’t strong enough here.”
The rude men took out knives from their pockets and tried to get closer.
“Both of these missies look good enough to be ransomed and with their pretty faces, we’d make good money selling them off!”
The moment one of the men raised his knife, Leaf returned to his original large Fenrir form. The fangs sticking out of his snarling mouth were thicker than a grown man’s fingers.
“…Huh?”
The three intruders’ movements froze at the shadow of the beast that suddenly appeared as if covering them.
Leaf did not overlook that chance and bit the first man holding a knife, making him drop his knife and ramming into his stomach with a thud. The man’s back slammed against the wall vigorously, then he blacked out.
Afterward, Leaf slipped past the other two and came up behind them. With a flash of his sharp claws, he slashed across and tore off all four of their ankles at once. The two ruffians, whose leg tendons had been cut, collapsed onto the ground together with a thud.
“Misses, let’s leave temporarily and call for the guards! Quickly, this way!”
We were led by the agent to the exit. Katya-san’s feet were still moving awkwardly and the agent apologized for his rudeness before picking her up. Leaf stayed where he was, probably to keep an eye on the ruffians.
The agent unlocked the door and let us out first, then called out loudly for the guards.
Two guards immediately came running and after being briefed by the agent, they entered the building. Then, as soon as they entered the building, Leaf reappeared as a puppy and came to me. I quickly picked him up in my arms and gave him my thanks.
The ruffians were captured by the guards and hauled away on charges of attempted kidnapping of a noblewoman and the daughter of a big merchant.
“…Certainly, he is stronger than an average guard,” Katya-san breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Leaf being held by me in his small, adorable puppy form.
Afterward, we continued to look around for a property since it seemed like it would be fine as long as Leaf was with us. Then, one property caught our attention.
Northwest Gate of the Royal Capital.
“If you have the budget, it would be best to buy a plot of land and create the building as you prefer, isn’t it?”
After a full day of searching, the sun was already crimson red. Katya-san stood contentedly looking out over the wide, vacant land covered by the sunlight.
I stood beside her and said, “Thank you.”
After saying so, I held Katya-san’s hand while being bathed in the evening sun.
The shadows of the two of us holding hands stretched out long, long, and far.
A brief digression, but after I signed the contract to purchase the land, the information reached the ears of the most powerful person in the country.
“That is a good piece of land she got her eye on. I want you to double the number of guards at the northwest gate to four in a year,” they ordered.
