Chapter 61 Part 2

"Heeeave?"

"Ho, sir!"

Tama and Pochi had started weeding in the garden, and Liza was checking on Sara, Nana and the children.

"Kura,"

"What is it, Mia?"

As I felt a tug on my sleeve, I turned to see Mia standing behind me. She wanted to visit the Ivy Manor, so I quickly activated a Return seal slate at the entrance of the mansion. In an instant, we were teleported to the beautiful Ivy Manor.

"Lelill, clean,"

"This broken-down old house, Lady Misanaria?"

"Mm,"

Mia wanted to retrieve Lelillil from here. She would likely be a valuable asset as a house fairy with the 'Cleaning' skill.

"Kura,"

"What is it?"

"Turn the pretty on,"

"All right,"

Mia requested I release the spirit light that I usually suppress. Despite there being no longer any miasma in the mansion, I presumed there was a purpose behind her request, and thus, I complied with her wish.

"Mm, pretty,"

Because Lelillil didn't have the Spirit Vision gift, she was just confused.

"Lelill, House Magic,"

"A… as you wish, Lady Misanaria," Lelillil obediently began a lengthy chant. "… House Cleaning le Senjou."

As the lengthy chant came to a close, the room was transformed into a sparkling, pristine space. Intrigued, I lifted my foot and discovered that the spell had miraculously removed the dirt from under my own feet. And to my surprise, Lelillil was gazing around in awe at the immaculate floors and windows as if she were seeing her own magic for the first time.

It turns out that the magic that Mia had referred to as 'House Magic' was actually a type of Spirit Magic. Surprisingly, Lelillil had the ability to wield Spirit Magic despite not being able to see spirits. I distinctly remember Miss Lua, an elf, telling me that Spirit Magic could only be used by those with Spirit Vision. Maybe Lelillil acquired the 'Spirit Magic: House Fairy' skill as an innate skill or a gift?

"Great,"

"Th… thank you for your kind word, my lady... However, it appears that my magic was more effective than usual,"

"Mm,"

It seemed highly probable that the spirits that surrounded my spirit light were responsible for enhancing its power, but Mia showed no interest in elaborating. So, I choose to remain silent, too.

"Next,"

"J… just a moment, please, Lady Misanaria. Unlike the blessed elves, we have precious little power. That spell used most of mine. I will not be able to use magic for some time,"

"Mm, Kura,"

Lelillil looked apologetic as Mia tugged my sleeve again. It seemed like her intention was for me to utilize the technique of 'Mana Transfer' in order to replenish Lelillil's magical abilities. I didn't have any objections, so I proceeded to carry out her request.

"Huh? What was that? What did you do to me, wh...? Erm, Lady Kura?"

"I restored your magic since Mia asked,"

"Restored it? This much?"

Lelillil appeared confused, yet she employed spells such as 'Clean Up House' and 'Heal House', per Mia's instructions. In no time, the entire estate was transformed to its original state. The damaged walls and floor were also restored, thanks to Lelillil's Healing Magic. Although I couldn't fully comprehend its mechanism, it was a remarkable skill.

"This is very impressive,"

"Mm, amazing,"

"Why, thank you very much," Lelillil blushed a little at our compliments, but she did seem proud of her work. "Let's do the outside next!"

The brownie was raring to clean the outside now, too, but I stopped her, asking her to leave it as it was. I could already hear Satou saying something like… "The leaky roof and such are a problem, but I'd like to keep it that way for now, please. This doesn't seem to be any ordinary magic, so I wouldn't want to surprise people too much," It would really go against his plan to lay low, even if he rarely succeeds when it comes to that plan.

"I simply don't understand you humans. Surely you have a difficult time following their foolish logic, too, Lady Misanaria?"

"Mm,"

It was not unusual for Lelillil to be impolite, but shouldn't Mia have spoken up or supported me instead of simply nodding along? Despite this, Lelillil appeared slightly annoyed about being interrupted during her peak excitement. Nonetheless, since she was present, I opted to inquire if she could assist with a different task.

"I'd like to ask for help with the guesthouse and annexe, too, but..."

In addition to the main building, the property also featured a detached guesthouse and an annexe for resident servants. The guesthouse spanned two levels, while the annexe was limited to one. The annexe consisted of numerous compact rooms, with some equipped with desks and others furnished with wooden beds.

"...maybe we should save that for another day?"

"Lelill, you can do it,"

"Yes, my lady! As long as you keep the magic coming, I'll take care of the rest!"

Mia's unwavering support ignited a spark of passion within Lelillil, and she eagerly fulfilled my request by diligently fixing and tidying up the additional structures. With Lelillil drained from her efforts, I left her in the main wing and left to go check on the kids. When I reached the barn, the beastfolk girls immediately trailed behind me.

"Looks like the kids have recovered a little,"

I noticed that the children's skin had regained some colour, so I decided to use 'Everyday Magic' to tidy them up.

"Let's change their clothes and get them to the main wing,"

"Yes, master,"

"Allow me to help,"

Sara, Pearl, Nana and Liza assisted in swapping out the children's clothes. At the same time, Tama and Pochi transported them on a stretcher. I hastily arranged some beds in a freshly tidied room for the exhausted kids to relax. While carefully placing the final child onto a bed, I spotted Arisa and Satou making their way back.

"All right, we're here!"

Satou was leading his horse with some young kids riding it and Arisa riding on hers. They had brought twenty-odd children with them. Around half were human, while the rest were assorted beastfolk like weaselfolk and rabbitfolk.

"Welcome back," I say, coming out to greet them. "Looks like you brought more than enough people."

"Yeah, we got a big flood of applicants, so I decided to hire them all." Arisa shrugged, then raised her eyebrows. "Boy, Tama and Pochi, you really went all out. Weren't these kids supposed to weed that area?"

"Hee-hee..."

"We worked hard, sir,"

It was understandable that Arisa was taken aback. They had already completed over half of the vast grounds, clearing out weeds along the way. However, the front yard still remained overgrown, and there were a few smaller spots that required attention. So, it wasn't as though all the work was done.

"Little kids, you'll take these gloves and baskets and gather up the weeds in the places that have already been cut! Big kids, take gloves and sickles and cut the weeds around the mansion!"

"Heh-heh, gloves..."

"Wow, these are nice!"

The children collected their gloves from Lulu, putting them on and showing them to one another excitedly.

"But, Miss Arisa, if we wear these gloves while we're picking up weeds, the gloves will get dirty,"

The eldest girl seemed anxious about the idea of dirtying the gloves.

"It's all right. If you're pulling weeds without gloves, you could hurt your hands,"

"B… but..."

"If you hurt your hands, you won't be able to work as well tomorrow, right?"

"R… right... Okay,"

Arisa's explanation seemed to reassure her somewhat. However, she still looked worried about whether it was really okay to get the gloves dirty.

"All right, let's get to work! If you finish by sundown, Master will make some delicious food for all of you!"

"""Food!"""

"Let's do this!"

"""Yeah!"""

Energetically cheering in response to Arisa's motivating speech, the children wasted no time in getting started. After ensuring that the young ones were actively engaged, Arisa paused to take a deep breath before making her way to the manor.

"Oh? If it isn't Lelillil," Arisa said, noticing the house fairy resting in the manor. "If this little lady's here, does that mean the house is already clean, by any chance?"

"Miss Arisa, I believe I asked you at the tea party to stop calling me 'little lady'!"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Brushing off Lelillil's protests, Arisa looked around the manor. "Wow, great job, Lelillil! Brownies sure are amazing. We really owe you one!"

Arisa playfully twirled around and flashed Lelillil a big thumbs-up. In response, Lelillil proudly puffed out her chest, showing that she was the kind of person who allowed compliments to inflate her ego.

"Oh? Hello there, Miss Lilellel,"

"Excuse me, you little tart! I told you my name is Lelillil!"

"Oh dear. But I believe I also told you that my name is Lulu, not 'little tart.' Have you forgotten already?"

As Lulu made her entrance into the manor, it was clear that she and Lelillil were not on friendly terms. Lelillil had a tendency to be hostile towards most people, except for Mia. But, seeing the usually calm Lulu involved in a confrontation was unusual. Arisa explained that Lulu's animosity towards Lelillil stemmed from the latter's rudeness towards Satou. While this worried me slightly, Arisa optimistically assured me that they would likely patch things up eventually.

Since Lelillil couldn't leave the Ivy Manor unattended for too long, she received a present of delicious honey pastries and was sent back using Teleportation Magic. As a gesture of gratitude, Satou invited her to join us for a home-cooked dinner that evening. But now that she is gone and I have Satou right now, I let him know about the kids we found in the barn.

<0>

While the children were cleaning up the rest of the weeds, Satou, Sara and I headed for Viscount Siemmen's residence, where we gave a letter to the maid to pass on the information that we had changed addresses. We brought Pearl, Lulu and Liza with us so they could learn how to get to and from the house. I wanted to go around the neighbourhood and greet the locals, too. Still, since our new mansion was famous for being under Zen's curse, Satou suggested we wait until we spent the night safely there.

On our way back, we stopped in the nearby shops and bought some small goods and supplies we needed for the new house. Along the way, we went to a merchant the commerce guild had introduced us to. Satou had letters to send to Zena in Seiryuu City, Miss Karina in the Muno Barony, I had a report to send to Count Seiryuu and a letter for his daughter Henry, and Sara wanted to send a letter to the Holy Woman in the old capital.

"Lulu, can you stop in front of that temple?"

"You shouldn't go there if you were looking for help,"

"Yes, those places aren't like normal temples,"

Sara and I tried to stop Satou from visiting those so-called temples, but he must have thought we were joking. Still, he did apologise for doubting us when he returned looking flustered.

<0>

"All right, Lulu. Shall we start preparing dinner?"

"Yes, master!"

The weeding was finished by sundown. As promised, Satou started cooking a meal for the kids. Some of the older kids offered to help, so he had them wash vegetables, peel them, and do other simple jobs.

"Meat!"

"So much of it, ahhh!"

The kids cleaning up the tools noticed the wolf meat Satou was planning to use for steak tips and exclaimed excitedly. Liza suggested tougher meat, like wolf meat, would be more filling and satisfying than soft frog meat.

"Wow, it smells so good..."

"Do you think we'll get some, too?"

"Don't be stupid. That's only for those other kids,"

"Ours is probably those potatoes, right?"

"Potatoes, huh...?"

Noticing the hopping potatoes I was frying, the kids' enthusiasm sank considerably. We used Treespirit Pearls to remove the harsh bitterness from these, making them different from the potatoes commonly eaten in Labyrinth City.

"What's that red stuff? Smells sweet,"

"I'm so hungry,"

"I don't even mind if it's potatoes,"

In the absence of tables and chairs, we improvised by serving the food on makeshift lunch plates crafted from wooden boards and Treespirit Pearls, handmade by Satou. The spread featured gnocchi and tender leafy greens coated in a delectable sweet and sour sauce, crispy salted potatoes, carrots glazed with sweetness, and succulent wolf steak tips cooked to perfection in butter seasoned with salt and pepper. The menu was intentionally heavy on vegetables to address the children's vitamin deficiencies. Satou made one single dish of mushroom steak for Mia's main course since she still didn't like the fatty taste of meat-based dishes.

"Ahhh..."

"Yummy!"

"I want another sip,"

"Clean water is expensive, you dummy!"

"Wehhh, I'm sorry,"

Liza and Pearl strolled around with buckets, intending to provide a means for the children to clean their hands. However, their intense thirst led them to opt for drinking from the buckets instead. In hindsight, perhaps we should have distributed cups of water beforehand.

"All right, everyone line up!"

Even when the food was done, and it was time to hand out the plates, the kids still clustered at a distance, and Arisa ordered them to get in line.

"Wow, this whole feast is for us?"

"That's amazing!"

"They're not gonna change their minds, right? Right?!"

"Don't even say that!"

The children's eyes lit up with joy and anticipation. As soon as their plates were placed in front of them, they eagerly began to eat. Some eagerly stuffed their mouths with as much food as possible, while others took their time to savour each delicious bite. Surprisingly, none of the children reacted to the taste of the food. Their attention was entirely consumed by devouring the meal, leaving no room for conversation. In fact, a few of them were even moved to tears while indulging.

"You've gotten really good at cooking, Lulu,"

"I hate to admit it, but it is good. Falling short at cooking to a mere human is a point of shame for a house fairy. Your sister is an odd one, Miss Arisa,"

"Oh my, Lelillil. Our master is even better, you know,"

"That wh… Erm, Mr. Satou is?"

"He's the one who made those castellas we had in the afternoon,"

During dinner, Lelillil was seated next to Arisa, and I couldn't help but notice that they seemed to be getting along surprisingly well. I couldn't help but feel hopeful that Lelillil and Lulu would eventually develop a good relationship as well.

As several of the younger children completed their meal, they looked down at their empty plates, longing for more. Satou offered them a few of the fried frog skewers he had prepared for the beastfolk girls to cheer them up. It was clear that they would happily devour as many as they were given. However, we had to intervene and stop them from overeating to avoid stomachaches.

Our new home had so many rooms that when we went to bed that night, we each had our own room. But for some reason, I woke up the following day to find Sara, Pearl, Nana and Mia had crept into my bed during the night.