Life in Another World as a Maid Mage

Apartment facing the boulevard, close to the guild. The building lacquered with brick was said to have been a residence of a leading merchant for about 200 years. Now that major renovations had been made, kitchens and bathrooms were installed in each room, making it a comfortable room.

A room on the third floor. Clement, the owner of the room, was in the middle of a year's closing - a year-end sweep.

Winters in northern countries, including the Kingdom of Stridia, are harsh and it is not customary to sweep in the cold. At the end of winter, the spring announcement birds begin to fly during the sweeping season. However, in merchants like Clement's parents' house, it was customary to clean up beside paperwork as a closure for a year.

This habit, which was helped from a young age, has not even been lost decades after leaving home and stepping into adventurer business. I often leave the room alone, and daily cleaning is enough, but I still have the habits I have.

When I stroked the shelf with a stick made of the white feathers of a fluffy crystal peacock, the dust that had slightly accumulated fell down with a light sound. Remove the shelves one by one from the top, and collect the dust that fell on the floor with a spatula for dust removal.

"... like this?"

After that, wipe the furnishings with light water to finish cleaning the smaller rooms.

With that in mind, Clement turned to the bookshelf and walked towards it after thinking for a moment.

"It's time to organize this shelf...."

Several books were brought out of my parents' house. Everything else I bought since I started my current job. In addition to guidebooks and atlases for adventurers, there are also business books and aristocratic yearbooks, books on social issues and politics, and novels in a series that I have loved since I was a boy.

Grab a few of them and think about them as you go through a few pages.

"Maybe we can dispose of this area already."

The guidebooks, swordsmanship books, and learning books that I received from the old adventurers I mentored in my newcomer's era were largely loaded and scraped off, but some people will still need them. You may donate to a union (guild) to welcome new recruits.

That's when I pulled some books out of the bookshelf.

A piece of paper fell off the guide book, and Clement, who noticed it, bent over and picked it up. I could see through what was written on the inside of the unfamiliar bi-fold piece of paper. Will I write a note? With his neck tilted and his gaze open, Clemens took a breath away the next moment.

It was an awfully awkward, seemingly childish handwriting exercise from a woman who was thinking. I lent it to her about a year after I came to this country, and I acknowledged it.

"... I didn't realize. Did you write something like this?"

I know that I wrote one letter at a time, even though it was awkward. Her sincere appearance, which spells this out, seems to come to mind, fu, breaking her mouth. At the same time, a slight pain stabbed my chest.

I'm a bitch, too.

The pain seeped into her chest and she smiled bitterly.

I can't stop my chest aching in a flash. However, we are only a few moments away from disconnecting our thoughts on Shiori. Remembering her happily with her best friend, Clement once again dropped her gaze on the piece of paper.

"We're almost there. I'm almost done celebrating your relationship with him."

Murmuring while tracing awkward characters at the fingertips.

The reluctance towards Shiori, who was born on the border of the incident, caused her to distance herself. If I had loved you, I should have been closer to you like Alec. On the contrary, I even pretended not to realize my own feeling that I loved you. That's why I couldn't cross the line with Zach, perhaps the closest.

It's nobody else's fault. It's just an excuse for not thinking about Theori and Zach, who would have thought of her just like me.

"... maybe you're cowardly, I..."

----The bitter memories of a boy's life that fitted into the scheme of a woman who tried to fit into the fiancée of the second son of a large shop and spent the night in a secret room with that woman in thin clothes probably gave rise to a cowardly heart.

My family and close friends believed Clement that there was nothing. The doctor's diagnosis proved that the woman was a genuine virgin.

But the scandal that once spread to the world didn't go away easily, so she turned her contempt on her daughter, who had a gloomy love affair - that day, she stuck a little thorn in the soft part of her chest.

She was the daughter of a downstream aristocrat. She was a daughter with a rumor that she was willing to marry the son of a big store. I was supposed to have had a good relationship with her a few times, but after all that, she's lost her mind.

I think that if we had a proper discussion at that time, maybe there would have been a different conclusion. The inability to fill the gap with her, who had a noble daughter's cruelty, was due to her own indecency.

The same goes for Theori. I couldn't step out.

If you step forward without hesitation. I wish I could be closer.

"--Because of cowardice, this is the end. That's why I really have to cut it off."

And if there's a next time, I'm not going to make a mistake anymore.

"Yeah, but, yeah. One last time. Just once."

Gently mouth the part of the open piece of paper with the signature of Shiori spelled on it.

I loved you, Theoli.

I told you in the past, how I feel about a woman who is not here.

It is a ritual to accept the end.

The words melted quietly in the room where the soft afternoon sun plunged in and disappeared.

After meditating for a while, Clement stopped trying to burn the piece of paper and remembered it and sandwiched it in her notebook. You can leave this as a reminder.

Place the notebook gently on the writing desk, then wrap up the books to be disposed of and tie them up in the corner of the room. If you bring it to the guild at a later date, Zach will do the right thing.

Then wipe off the finished water and squeeze the washed rags hard to dry them.

This should make the New Year feel good.

Clement glanced at the room satisfactorily and exhaled.

"... you want to take a bath?"

It may be a little too much fun to say after a big cleaning, but first you go to the bathroom that has been cleaned and filled with hot water. Remove the hand wipe and dusty clothes that were covered in dust, throw them into the cage, and gently take a shower to wash away the dirt.

Then I slowly soaked in a hot tub with warm water.

The exotic bathing method of removing dirt outside the bathtub and warming the body in a bathtub with plenty of boiling water has rapidly spread since about thirty years ago, when water utilities were laid as usual and the development of life magic equipment progressed.

Bathing habits have long existed in water-rich kingdoms, but boiling water was still prevalent to the extent that it was put into the toilet and gently flowed through the body. Even the nobles soaked in the bathtub about once a week.

This is why bathing with plenty of clean water is becoming mainstream in recent years.

A tribute to the efforts of successive kings and those involved in the policy. It is Clement's pride that his grandfather and father were responsible for one end of it. Though I have left the house, it is because of my pride that I continue to be involved in some aspects of my household business while walking another path of adventurers.

It is also my own redemption for the scandal caused by my own arrogance, which injured my family name.

Fu, he exhaled and looked down at his own body. For the kingdom, there are several scars on the bare skin of the ground black. You would never have followed me if you hadn't left home. Gently trace it with your fingertips.

It is a warning of failure, a proof of survival, and a proof of victory.

"... I don't know if it means anything to you... but your limb wounds are proof of your fight. So don't be ashamed. I'm sure... Alec too."

I'm sure that man thinks so. That's a good man. That scar Theoli is ashamed of, and I will accept her for it.

So...

Be happy. With Alec.

--- Shizukuzuku dripping off the silver thread's forehair created a ripple in the water, hiding the face of the man distorted by the slight pain reflected on the water surface.

About an hour later.

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Clement poured the cold water from the freezer into a glass and drank it all at once in an attempt to soothe her burning body. Exhaling relieved by the feeling of soaking into his body, he looked at the vial next to him.

A few vials of Oriental liquor were transferred for mobile use. It's a vial of liquor that Alec and Zach think is a bad brand.

"... it's time to dispose of this, too. Everything was a bit of a masochist."

I opened the lid with a bitter smile and threw the contents into the flush. At the same time, I felt that there was some left in the large bottle, and the brand tasted good anyway, but it was all empty.

They should have dealt in more fortunate brands in the stores they went to. Dried sake from the east suited my taste, but next time you might want to try something sweet.

With that in mind, while rinsing an empty bottle, someone knocked on the door of the room.

Hello, Clemens.

A slightly lower glossy voice called himself from behind the door.

It's Nadia.

"- What's wrong?

"If you have time, why don't you come out for a drink? Others were told they had plans."

While opening the door and asking, Clement had an approximate idea of what to do, and a small burst of answers to the question. Nadia raised her willow eyebrows.

"What is it? Suddenly laughing or something."

"No."

While forgiving the tall beauty, Clement said.

"I thought you were the only woman who asked me out for a drink without weird ambitions."

There are many women who are attracted to this appearance that they are somewhat better equipped than others, or invite them to a meaningful length, but only this woman will never imitate lack of such quality.

It's because this woman's character is truly superior, even though she has an eye-catching flashy figure, she never gets vulgar.

"Hold on a second. I'll get ready."

Drinking it across from a beautiful and elegant woman is not a bad idea.

Wipe your wet hair back thoroughly, then cover it with a cold shield, then cover it with a jacket and stick your wallet into your inner pocket.

So Clement, who locked the door of the room, urged Nadia out.

Have you decided on a store?

"The usual shop - it's fine, but sometimes I don't think a different shop is okay. Do you know what's good about it?

Then there's a nice shop.

There was no snow outside, and the moon peered from the clouds. Even in the freezing cold, the New Year's Land Capital is bustling. The streets lined with restaurants are filled with warm light and a pleasant fragrance that invites appetite. The pleasant laughter that can be heard leaking from the store resounds in the street.

"It's a local liquor store. I can taste various brands one by one. The delicious cuisine goes well with alcohol, and you can buy your favorite liquor on the spot. Somewhat lively but not bad vibe."

Hee.

Nadia smiled brightly as she broke her red glossy lips.

"That's nice. Let's make it your recommended shop."

Well, that's the deal.

Clemens laughed.

As the beautiful man smiles like a drop of color, the lady who goes on the road dyes her cheeks and looks back.

"I feel like drinking tonight. Stay with me. I'll pay for the drinks."

"Oh, that's very generous. Let's make it a treat."

Let's have a drink tonight. And I want to have fun drinking.

Escorting a smiling beauty, Clement walked down the snow path.