Again, thanks to Nergal.

Chapter 1 ~ Protection, and New Maid

My original intention by building the tower is to use it as a temporary villa, a means to comfortably pass this winter vacation. That is the reason why I chose an elevated place with a good view of the neighborhood area and where nobody lives.

I was caught up in the elf’s war, and in a meantime, we decided to make a village and elect myself as the Lord. Our family number has also increased. As for the tower, we decided to build a new, large mansion in its stead since it is too small.

Within the dense forest surrounding the area, the village and the planned farmland area slowly make their appearance.

I’m becoming its lord and will start living here permanently. After few years, I will be elected to be a noble.

I was a simple NEET who was sent to another world, but after living here for half a year, I’ve decided to make myself a noble. I really don’t understand life sometimes……

With the help of the elves carpenter specialists, the process of building a new mansion is proceeding smoothly. Today, we have completed the third day of construction. They are preparing the household appliances as well, so when everything is finished, we just need to move in.

In addition to the three-story floor from the main building, there is an additional two floor which is the wooden floor dojo and the rooftop, making it a five-story building. After arranging the white wall and the roof tile, coupled with its huge size, the result will look like a magnificent Japanese Castle style building.

The furniture that I brought back were personally arranged to suit our taste. Of course, that furniture alone is not enough for this huge mansion. Including all the furniture and goods brought from the Elf Country, alongside the other crafts, the extravagance found inside this mansion is limitless. Moreover, since this is a favour from the elf side, we don’t have to worry about making a payment or whatnot.

If they asked us to pay, well, considering the price of the elf made goods that we saw at the market, even if we use all the previously gained rewards, they will not be enough. Actually, the possibility made me scared, not to mention God how much money we need to spend.

When the mansion is over, we will focus on the outdoor work next. This time, it will take longer since the site is very large, as far as eyes can see.

But that is not the end of the story. The people of the village also offered their help.

At first, I planned to do it myself, but now that it comes to this, I have no reason to refuse them. This road is guaranteed for 100 years by the chief. After looking at the chief’s overall works, I can safely say that I’m still an amateur. This is not a do-it-yourself thing people do as a hobby, this is a village where everybody will live.

With that in mind, the rest of the mansion and the village’s construction are done in parallel. Along with that, we also increased the amount of elf’s physical labourers.

According to the chief’s instructions, I just need to fill the wall making role, which isn’t hard.

Finishing and detailing for the mansion is done by the professionals, hence the result is perfect.

Next is to build a village. Now that I rethink about it, my initial plan trying to create a small village on my own is too reckless. The work is much more diverse and more complex than I first imagined.

The village will have a population of around 50 people.

Well, originally this project was started to fulfil Ellie and Olba-san’s wish. Normally, I find this kind of small project a pain and preferred not to do it, however I have no particular reason to decline it as well.

My gripe right now is how wonderful my mansion has become. The entire third floor is used as communal space for our family, and not only that, each room is so spacious and was equipped with an attached bathroom. Not only that, if I rearranged the kitchen and dining area together with the living room, I’ll still have some room to spare. In my opinion, the housework and chores will become a tremendous burden. This might be impossible for us alone.

Titus’s objective for coming to the house is to observe the state of the living conditions her Princess is currently living in. The same goes for Patos. She is only staying here temporarily. Not to mention, their job is to act as Lilia’s bodyguard first and foremost. They are not Lilia’s personal attendants hence not well versed with household chores. Currently, Patos is helping me with chores out of her own will, but one person alone is not enough.

We need to increase the amount of people. Of course, I’m talking about a slave.

The elves are offering someone as a temporary worker, but for now I’m putting that offer on hold.

I want to test the effect of Protection on the slaves.

Increasing our fighting forces for survival is vital. Once I’ve confirmed that Protection can be bestowed upon slavery, things will get simpler.

“First I’ll buy a girl slave who does not have a good impression on me. Then, I will observe how it goes.”

If she doesn’t qualify for Protection, she will become a normal worker in this mansion.

If she qualifies for Protection, I will put her in my party as an adventurer and train her to do the household chores.

The selection of the second one will depend on how the first one goes.

If they do receive Protection, then I will emphasize on their battle potential. If I find that girl too easy getting attached to me, I will try a second time. It’s more convenient if they fall in love with me, but that is difficult.

I’ve been to the Elf Country several times now and among the elves, none of them are granted with Protection so far. Since most of them feel indebted to us, I can try hitting from that angle.

Therefore, ever since this morning I’ve been in this regions largest city, Miyaga, and to its slave dealer alone.

I’m looking for someone with talent to become our comrade. Everyone insisted to come along, however since this is something that has to do with Protection, it’s no good unless I go alone.

“What kind of slave are you looking for today?”

I’m careful with my appearance today. As a result, I was greeted politely. Every single elf made accessory that I wore is worth several slaves here.

“Umu. I want a woman who is aesthetically pleasant and capable of housework. Unless I see her myself, I won’t spend a dime from my pocket.”

“If that is what you want, I have a suitable girl for you. She is a 15 year old girl with superb appearance. Naturally, she can do housework as well.”

However, she has androphobia, the dealer said. (EN: Androphobia is fear of men for those who don’t know.)

At first, she has a slight dislike of males, however since she looks beautiful, she was immediately bought. But one day, she was taken against her will and during her struggle, she accidentally hit her owner’s vital point. It was a catastrophe and a surgeon was dispatched. Afterwards, she was returned right away.

It was said that the buyer was aware of her phobia and consented to it during his purchase but, it turns out her phobia is more serious than what he initially thought. Was she disgusted by her buyer that much?

Although the dealer is trying to make it sound ambiguous, it’s probably on both of them, him and the previous buyer.

Simply said, she is a total failure to men. After making her give up for her night duty, she was forced to focus on housework instead.

After he finished giving off an explanation, a beautiful young girl was brought inside the room. She is wearing the thin slave outfit and her bountiful chests are poison to the eyes. I understand the previous owner’s feeling for trying to attack her.

Black hair and oriental features, rarely seen here. Make me feel nostalgic.

Young, good looking and capable of doing work. The price is reasonable too. Hence, despite she was returned once, the price pretty much cover for it.

However, there are many other girls who are in the same price range. As a customer, there is no reason for me to personally select a problematic child.

I asked if she has other skills, but the dealer said only in domestic affairs. Even the shop is at wits end in her case.

“She has a good style.”

When I come nearer, she quickly takes a step back. Her phobia is serious.

“Mr. customer, that is.”

I was scolded by the person handling the slave.

“I’m just testing the water. Hey, you! My house is big, so you need to work hard, understood?”

“Y, yes. I’ve confidence with my physical strength, master.”

Oh my. Quite a positive response from her. Just like that time with Sati, perhaps she has  remained unsold for a long time. I don’t think she is suitable as a harlot.

If I buy her, I can use her for trivial stuff. I’m a bit unwilling to do this, but perhaps it would be better if I become meaner to her.

“Is that the truth? You can claim whatever you think is true. But wasn’t the reason you were returned back here because you hurt your previous master?”

I tried to look as mean as possible while I said it. Hey now, I’m sorry so please hold back your tears. Her mental strength doesn’t seem to be strong.

“I can guarantee you her housekeeping skills.”

“Well, then, show me your body. Strip.”

I said while leering at her body uncouthly. This will certainly get me disliked. Naturally, this is an act. It’s not because I want to see her slowly revealing her erotic body.

Sure enough, she is still hesitating with tears in her eyes.

“Mr customer.”

Her clothing already smoothly underlines her figure and her legs are bare for all to see. It’s pointless asking her to take off her clothes now.

“Yeah, yeah understood. No need to take them off. So, how much is her price?”

How to say this, the price on paper is higher than Sati.

“Isn’t this a bit too expensive?”

“But she has good appearance and she can do her jobs well, too.”

“But wasn’t she returned once? If no one wants her then there is no point keeping the high price. Just a little bit less——”

I tried to haggle her price right in front of her face. This will make her less favourable of me. I’d say so myself.

In normal circumstances, I’ll try to befriend the girl but this time I have my own goal and purposes. I cannot lay my hand on her anyways even if I don’t do this.

In the end, I couldn’t get a large discount but since it’s still within my budget, I make my purchase anyway. She is capable of doing works and she looks good too. Even if I can’t lay my hand on her, I can still make her wear maid clothes.

“Alright, I will pay that much. Hey, you. What is your name?”

“L, Lufutona.”

“Alright, Lufutona. In general, you are responsible for housework and chores for my big mansion. It’s a very wide space so cleaning them is hard. Prepare yourself well.”

“P, please take care of me.”

Even thought someone decided to buy her at last, the person turns out to be an unpleasant man. She is on the verge of crying right now. I only did what I deemed necessary, but I really dislike how it turns out. I’ll be gentle to her once we have returned.

Further explanation is unnecessary since I’ve experience purchasing a slave in the past. I’ve been told that they will buy back the slave if she doesn’t meet my requirement. I was told the same thing when I purchased Sati too.

I showed my guild card, pay them money and have the right transferred to me.

“Next, please drop your blood here.”

I accept the needle, pierce my thumb and drip the bloods on the slave crest on Lufutona’s arm. Lufutona seems to have resigned herself to her fate. I’ve told her there is no need for night duty, but that is just a verbal promise. Based on her previous experience, this kind of promise has no weight behind it. For a moment, I honestly thought if I can cure her of her androphobia, will it be fine if I try to put my hand on her.

The Protection……she doesn’t have it.

Well, that much is expected. Even if she does get the Protection while in the state of distrust, I’ll be too afraid to give her any skill.

Anyhow, this is a good time to stop being mean to her.

I take out the clothes that I’ve prepared for her including the underwear and thick coat and give them to her.

Unlike the time when I bought Sati, we are currently in mid-winter, so she needs suitable clothing. This is also a great time to restore her faith and gain her trust.

“I’m a married man, and because of that I will not lay my hand on you. Since I’m the only man in the house, I think you will not have any problem working with my wives.”

“Y, yes. Master.”

“It’s tough to clean the house since it is too large, but I hope you will do your best.”

Seems like she is a bit puzzled with my sudden personality change, but at the same time she seems to be quite relieved.

But I only noticed something on the way back. I came here by flying, but it’s impossible to return the same way now.

I might scare her if I suddenly opened up the Gate……so, should we walk home? It’s only a couple of hours from here.

When we are leaving the town, I saw the horse carriages pass by and think that it’s still not too late to have her ride on Matsukaze while I Fly at her side. But having a horse appearing out of sudden will surely scare her.

Well, talking while leisurely walking is fine too. I can get to know more about Lufutona and gain her favours at the same time.

Lufutona has your standard story, sold by her household due to poverty, etc.

It’s easy to say words like poor, but in this world, that leads to the situation of life and death. Since the family is on the brink of death from starvation, it’s unavoidable if some family decided to sell off their children.

In Lufutona’s case, not only her family, everyone in the village live in a community and likely to collapse together. Some example is like when farmers cannot produce the crops for some time.

Because of that, she was sold as the representative of the village.

Being sold as a slave is not necessarily bad itself. Since most slaves are bought by wealthy people, they don’t need to worry about dying from starvation at the very least.

“You can fill your stomach full everyday if you come working at our household.”

While slavery allow meal to be taken properly, most of the time they will be served with  below average food. I decided to rest beside the highway and take out a food box. It’s the fruity lunch box that I always have ready.

“Master are you a magician?”

Lufutona was surprised to see lunchboxes appearing out of nowhere. Seems like she didn’t notice when I take out her clothes from the Item Box earlier.

“Correct. I’m a magician and an adventurer.”

See, I take out my guild card and show it to Lufutona who is sitting at quite a distance from me. Looks like she doesn’t want to be anywhere I can reach her with my hand.

“Amazing, B rank……”

While watching Lufutona eating her meals, I start talking about the circumstances in our house. Every family member is an adventurer and we just recently built a house. Since we are going to do jobs as adventurer, we are not around to do housework.

Watching Lufutona reminds me of Sati.

She is around the same age and was in the same situation as Sati. I’m sure she and Sati will get along well.

We cannot sit together unless we are separated by 1 meter apart, but here we are talking normally.

After walking for a little longer, we finally arrived at the provisional village.

This village has nothing in vicinity. Inside my planning, there will be a road to Miyaga town once the village has operated to certain extent, but for now the road is yet to be developed. To save time, I went through the non-paved road from town to town and she was able to follow me perfectly without me lowering my speed. Its true that she has a considerable physical strength.

“Is this……the place?”

It’s not weird if she is doubtful.

I’ve built the wall surrounding the village first, then comes the gate. However, it’s still an empty village without a single person. The logging process is still in progress. There are several other buildings that need to be completed first too.

I didn’t notice since I spend my time here every day, but after taking a good look at them, they look like a ruin. Doesn’t this area look a lot like a horror film stage? If someone was careless and got lost here in the middle of the night, brr, so scary.

People are still not here because it’s still early in the morning. During this time, the villager is giving priority to harvesting the farmland. Agricultural land requires a large area. If we cannot finish the development before spring, people will miss the crop planting period.

The elves will come around noon. Since they cannot work without mana, they will only work in the afternoon. Still, since magic is a convenient way of doing things, the progress is moving along quickly.

“It’s a new village. This place is currently under construction. Right now, there is not a single person, however people will come to work after lunch time.”

“Oh.”

From the village main street, straight on Lufutona’s point of view, a tower and a mansion are visible on the hill.

“That is my house.”

“……the lord of this place is you, master?”

“I’m the head of this place. As you can see, this is a newly explored land. There are no rich people around, so I can’t call myself as the lord.”

We go to the village, enter through the entrance gate and climb up the stairs to the mansion.

“Welcome back, Masaru-sama!”

Sati came to pick me up before we begin climbing the stairs.

Lilia who came a bit later than Sati ran toward here and jumped on me.

“You are late!”

She hangs on my neck and said so.

Ever since that time, Lilia has become strangely attached to me. It’s a good thing.

“Yeah, I returned back home by walking. I’ll explain things later. Here, this girl is our new maid. Her name is Lufutona.”

“My, my. Is she another one of your wife candidates?”

Lilia whispers in low voice while having a look at Lufutona.

“No, no. I will explain it later. It’s cold out here, so let’s get inside.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Lufutona, welcome to my house. Now, please don’t be shy and get inside.”

“An elf!?”

Her surprise continues until we get inside the house.

A luxurious mansion. Five wives, including the elf earlier. Titus and Patos, remind me, what is their job again? for some reason, they are staying here and work a lot.

“I’m Titus. This woman here is Patos. We are Lilia-sama’s personal attendants, but sometimes we also help around the house.”

Oh, so that’s it. They take their own initiative to help around the house, but that doesn’t change their status as Lilia’s personal attendant.

By the way, recently Titus and Patos asked me to address them without honorific. They are fairly older than us, but since we are not addressing Lilia with honorific any more, they felt uncomfortable to be addressed as such and ask us to do the same to them.

And thus, I’ve got myself a new maid. Now that I have Lufutona-chan in my house, I can leave everything to her.

However, it looks like her first impression on me could not be dispelled easily. She still doesn’t like being near me. I was told by Ann to refrain from touching her.

Afterward, they did an all-girls gathering. I don’t have an excuse to join them except for the talk about Protection, so I’m only staying that long.

Since the mansion is huge, as long both parties wish to avoid the others, we will rarely encounter each other. Plus, with my detection, I can slip away easily from her. I don’t want to complain when she does her work terribly, so I will never put unnecessary burden on her.

Sometimes, I notice her from afar, but I’ve heard a story about how Lufutona-chan is working energetically every day in some place I don’t see.

Buy sadly, one thing I regret about this is that I cannot worship her in the maid clothes that I’ve personally prepared.

 

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On the following evening after I’ve met Lufutona, I quietly went back to Siory town with one of Ellie’s gates.

I need to confirm the matter thoroughly since there are at least 2 people who are potentially to get the Protection.

The gate opened at the basement. After looking at the outside, I’ve noticed that Will is home. Like, is he still living in the doghouse inside the garden?……no, perhaps he is just happy to have somewhere he can live safely in.

After taking a look inside my menu, I’ve confirmed that Will has no Protection. Well, we only interacted for a brief period.

For now, I guess I better leave him alone. Things will go to the south if I got caught by him.

I let Ellie go back first, then I go to the town.

During this time, I think the priest is still at the shrine.

Truthfully speaking, I want to visit Sergeant-dono and listen to the latest development, but so far, each time I tried to initiate a conversation with him, I can’t elicit a good response. I cannot decide. Perhaps it’s the best if we can become a buddy, but for now I’m putting that plan on hold.

This is a general knowledge among people in Siory, that Sergeant-dono is the silent type of guy.

As dusk approaches, it’s easier to go around undetected even among acquaintances once I’ve put my hood on and kill my presence. I have many acquaintances among the people from the shrine, so I decided to kill my presence and wait outside. Unless his movement pattern has changed, the priest is supposed to be among the people inside.

“Priest-sama, it’s been a long time.”

When it has finally gotten completely dark, I call out to the priest who has finally finished his job. I completely look like a stalker now.

“W, woah! Masaru-dono!”

“Ah, please keep your voice low. I come here today secretly, after all.”

When I tell him that I want to talk about a confidential thing, he brings me to the private room nearby the dining room.

“Is Angela doing well?”

“Yes, of course. Our talk will take some time today and I would like to report to you regarding the recent status. First——”

I have successfully completed the first Quest. Ann already made her report regarding this Quest.

After I arrived at the designated place, I’ve built a house in the woods to temporarily accommodate us.

Then, the battle at the Elf Country.

“I’ve heard about that story. But from what I heard, the battle ended in a day.”

Since any news can be transferred by transmission magic, news spread out quickly.

“That battle was truly a close one. A request for reinforcements was sent by the Elf Country, and——”

The Earth Turtle King. The imminent collapse of Elf Country. The tough battle. And in the end the monsters withdrawl once the adventurer’s reinforcement squad arrived.

Afterwards, I tell him about me becoming a lord, and right now we are pioneering the land for that purpose.

“Oh, that is wonderful news.”

I took a long breath once I’ve finish reporting everything to him. And next is the main reason for my visit today.

“You see, my main objective today is to seek your opinion, Priest-sama.”

Lilia’s Protection. The newly appointed maid receives no Protection. Confirmation regarding absence of Protection from Will and the priest as well.

“I see. The condition for Protection, huh……”

“Yes. And I’m wondering if there is a way to increase the amount of people that I can share my Protection with.”

To be honest, I’m stuck if being a slave is no good. There is no such thing as a woman suddenly falling from the sky or a mature woman conveniently getting attacked by group of thieves at the right timing.

In Ann and Ellie’s cases, including Tilika, I never aimed for them in the first place, and I don’t think I have the guts to pull something like that again. In Lilia’s case, the aforementioned approach seems to be effective, but since she was in a dire situation where they were assaulted by monsters, I can see any adventurer, or even Will who can pull it off.

“I don’t think it is wrong to purchase a slave. There is a close tie between enslavement and love, after all.”

“You mean, if I buy a slave normally, without being mean or whatever, the Protection will naturally appear?”

“I don’t think the matter is that simple, but……by enslavement, it usually refers to the slave favouring their master. Psychologically, they are not much different from marriage.”

The psychological state refers to people determination to do their best for the rest of their life. Certain dependencies. Certainly, Sati was once a slave, and even now her attitude never changes.

“With that said, it’s impossible for me to receive your Protection, Masaru-dono. My loyalty lies to God and this temple, and even to my wife. No matter how much I respect Masaru-dono, there is no way I will depend on you.”

“If romantic emotion is important, doesn’t that mean a guy will never receive my Protection?”

“The bar will be set higher. I, for one, is because of my own pride. Perhaps Will-kun does not feel very much indebted to you yet.”

What is the difference between Will-kun and Lilia? There is not much different if you compare our interaction time and me saving their lives. Was it the amount of love that differs? Or does Will have some circumstances that I’m not aware of, or is there any specific reason why Will is not thinking of me as his companion?

And if we’re talking about his pride, since he is still young, I don’t think he has developed strong pride yet.

Lets say, I think by carefully taking care of selected children in the orphanage, those children might be capable of taking my Protection.

Nah, that sounds too much like a brainwash. Then, if I were to start a religion……no, I need to reveal the fact that I’m an apostle and be okay with that. Then, I will gather followers of my own. With the oracle and my tremendous power combined, and an addition of the Protection, I believe my cause will look convincing.

When we were at the Elf Country, all the achievements were distributed evenly amongst all party members. If I acted more prominently, will anyone else besides Lilia receive the Protection? Although it’s a long-passed event by now.

Well, this kind of planning can only be executed as a last resort.

“Thank you very much, Priest-sama. I managed to gather lots of ideas.”

“I hope my simple thought will prove to be useful to Masaru-dono.”

For now, the plan is to catch a woman who has fallen in love with me.

I need to find and buy slaves like Sati, a person who holds me in favourable position.

The person needs to devote themselves to respect me from early age.

A person that need saving, like Will and Lilia.

Advertise myself widely as an apostle.

So, the only feasible ways to get a person with Protection are these five. For now, taking a slave is the only fast way.

And Will too. How can I forget the existence of someone important like him? What a troublesome fellow.

By the way, I tried to ask everyone if there are any candidates among the women we saved during the locust attack after I returned back home and turned out, when they noticed Tilika is a Truth Official, everyone quickly went away.

I guess some of them do have ulterior motives.

Well……that save me from asking them by myself.