Interlude: The First One, or So It Was Told

“Damn, girl. You already popped a little one out of there?”

“Out of where?! And no! That’s not my kid!”

A blushing Shion was shouting at the top of her lungs. Renya glanced at her, wondering what she was getting so worked up about. Granted, the way Frau was half-dangling from his waist did make them look like father and daughter.

The three of them were in Caryl’s store. They had come here at the urging of Shion, who proposed that Renya should learn some more magecraft. Caryl herself sat across the table, leaning back in the same casual manner as last time.

Ever since being told his mana pool was hopelessly small, Renya had been training whenever he could to improve his mana capacity. Recently, he had even started sharing his mana with Frau. As a fairy, Frau’s main source of sustenance was the mana that passively exuded from people. When he had asked her what would happen if he tried actively feeding her mana, she responded with, “Frau is happy to have more for her tummy.” Ever since, he had been letting her have as much as she wanted, figuring it was a better use for his mana than simply burning it off.

Once he incorporated this into his training regimen, however, he discovered that it had an unintended side effect. Normally, mana crafts that used manastones for fuel could not use mana from people in the same way. Frau, being intimately linked to the house and its various fixtures, presented an exception. She could convert the mana provided by Renya into her own, and then use it to power the mana crafts in the house.

In fact, when he had first bought the place, Renya had asked a specialist about it. That is, he brought Azu over to examine the house, and the mage concluded that the house was simply riddled with appliances that used manastones. Examples could be found throughout his home from the kitchen to the toilet, including things like the fireplace, lights, ceiling fans, and water pipes. Presumably, business had been booming for the merchant who owned the place before. Or he had other methods of accruing wealth. Either way, it meant that Renya would be bleeding money if he had to keep everything running.

In came Frau to save the day. Renya could feed his mana to her until he passed out, and he was fine with that. It wasn’t like he could use the mana for much else anyway. Strangely, the fairy seemed to have no concept of being full, as she never once refused a supply of mana. No matter how much she ate up, she could always eat more. A curious Rona had once asked Frau about it.

“When mana comes into Frau, it gets squished so she can use it later. Frau thinks it’s something like compression.”

“There’s a limit to how much you can hold, I assume?”

“Of course, but even when Master turns blue from spewing out mana, Frau is only maybe one-fifth full. The house sucks up mana too, so Frau can always put more in her tummy.”

The conversation had ended with Rona scampering away with the distinct sensation that the fairy was looking at her with the eyes of a predator who had found its mark.

Later on, Renya gradually began to realize that even if he gave Frau almost all his mana, his Super Regen would quickly heal him back up. As a result, he adjusted the rate of transfer to match the rate of recovery so that he was perpetually feeding her mana. Frau also mentioned that the transfer of mana was more efficient when in close contact, so from then on, she began clinging to Renya whenever she had the chance. On a side note, her preferred position happened to be riding on his shoulders, which resulted in an influx of reports to the town guards about a strange man who walked around with a tiny maid sitting on his head. That, however, was a story for another time.

“So… is it just me or are there two monsters in my store?”

Paying no attention to the red-faced Shion glaring at her, Caryl looked at Renya and sighed.

“Are you seriously the same person I saw last time? Because you sure don’t look it.”

“I’m… pretty sure I am. What do you mean?” said Renya with a puzzled tilt of his head. The fairy hanging onto his waist tilted her head as well.

First of all, he had no idea who Caryl was referring to as “two monsters.” Considering there were only four people present — him, Frau, Shion, and Caryl — and Shion probably wasn’t it, by the process of elimination, it had to be him and Frau.

“I mean your mana is literally orders of magnitude stronger than when I last saw you. Then there’s also that… fairy, I assume? The little fairy girl that you’ve got wrapped around yourself. It’d be almost comical to compare my mana to hers.”

“Frau’s a fairy so Frau doesn’t mind, but calling Master a monster is a no-no.”

Still clinging to Renya’s waist, Frau grunted disapprovingly at Caryl.

“Okay, okay. My bad,” said Caryl with a resigned smile. “I was just exaggerating a little. I apologize if I caused any offense, so spare me the death glare.”

“I don’t particularly mind, but… hm. I guess I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t call me that,” said Renya. Feeling that the fairy tightened her grip on his clothes, he gave her head a few reassuring pats.

Caryl apologized a few more times as she righted herself in her seat and placed her arms on the table.

“All right. So, what can I do for you today?”

“I think I’ve got a bit more mana than before, so I figured I’d ask you to teach me some more spells.”

“Is this supposed to be some sort of cruel joke? Sorry, but you can put a hundred of me together and we’d still be a drop in the ocean. And that’s compared to your little fairy girl there, never mind you.”

“So you say. I don’t feel anything, though.”

The growth of his mana pool did not bring about any obvious changes. He didn’t feel any inexplicable surges of strength, and he certainly wasn’t walking around with a halo of power glowing behind him. Firebolt and Illuminate were still the only spells he could cast, and the benefits of all the extra mana were limited to the paltry convenience of being able to throw a bunch of them out.

“I managed to get rid of the usage restriction for non-elemental magecraft, but I’d prefer to have some wind spells too. It’s my aptitude, after all.”

“You make it sound so easy, but just so you know, if everyone started removing their restrictions, people like me might as well close up shop. How did you even do that?”

“Don’t ask me. I just did somehow,” said Renya as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “I don’t know the other incantations, though, so I can’t cast anything except Illuminate.”

A session of indignant grumbling ensued, during which Caryl rattled off such terms as “freaking Wanderers,” “stupidly overpowered,” and “makes no damn sense.” Finally, the mage pulled two books and a piece of paper out from a shelf.

“Here. Incantations and usage instructions for non-elemental and wind-elemental magecraft. These are trade secrets, by the way. And I’ll give you a talisman that removes the restriction for basic wind spells. That’ll be ten gold in total.”

“That’s way more than what I have on me.”

“I’ll pay then.”

Renya didn’t have nearly enough cash on hand because he thought he’d be spending maybe about a gold to learn a couple of simple spells. Before he could say anything, Shion dropped a pile of coins on the table.

“Your patronage is appreciated.”

“Hey, Shion.”

“It’s fine. You’ll make it back sooner or later. We’ll just call it advance payment.”

“Well, well, Shion. You sure are putting a lot of faith in the lad,” said Caryl with a smirk as she picked up the gold coins on the table. Seeing that her comment caused Shion’s cheeks to redden a little, her expression softened and she turned to Renya. “Are you really that great of a catch? Anything in it for me if I got in on the action too?”

“How would I know? Don’t ask me,” said Renya with a scowl.

Caryl snickered, then took half the coins she just collected and pushed them back across the table.

“I’ll invest in you too. Maybe something good’ll come out of it.”

“Don’t blame me if you make nothing back,” Renya said sharply, but Caryl’s grin remained unfazed. She clearly had a good impression of him.

There were some people, however, whose impression of him was definitely on the bad side, as evidenced by what happened later that evening.

After consuming the dinner he had prepared, the residents of Renya’s household were nursing their bloated bellies and enjoying a period of rest and relaxation. Their day-to-day meals were prepared by either Renya or Frau. Rona could cook as well, but she tended to be rather careless with the minutiae of flavoring. As for Shion, what she did could technically be called cooking. Technically. On a good day, one might feel generous enough to refer to it as such. Renya, however, wanted to eat good food all the time, so he volunteered to be the house cook.

Meanwhile, Frau certainly lived up to her name. Being a house chore fairy, she was predictably — but no less impressively — adept at cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and just about every other job around the house. As a result, she and Renya ended up taking turns with the cooking.

The two of them happened to be in the kitchen washing dishes when Frau suddenly looked up at the ceiling and started whispering to herself. Renya glanced at the fairy as he put the clean dishes back to the shelf and, noticing her strange behavior, asked, “Frau? What’s the matter?”

“The house is surrounded,” she answered, the relaxed manner in which she kept washing the utensils at odds with the disconcerting nature of her statement. It was startling enough to cause Renya to freeze briefly. “Lots and lots of people come around here, so it’s easy to miss them. They’re good at not being noticed.”

“Assassins, huh. How many?”

“Fifteen people. Five are women. The poor things. Frau is sad for them.”

Once he had confirmation of their numbers, Renya picked up his katana, which he had leaned against the wall. He was about to leave the kitchen when something occurred to him.

Did I just hear her say that?

He stopped and turned around to look at Frau, who had just said something he was very much not used to hearing. Propped up on a stool, the tiny fairy stood just tall enough to reach over the counter. She was still staring at the ceiling as she washed the dishes. He wondered what she saw up there. Eventually, she looked back down at her hands.

“Everyone is holding daggers and wearing lots and lots of black. And they all covered their faces with masks… Probably, they’re people that nobody would be sad to see gone.”

“Uh, okay?”

“Master, put these dishes back please. Frau is going for a little walk.”

“What? Frau!”

“It’s okay. Frau will be right back.”

She hopped off her stool and handed the dishes she’d just washed to Renya. He watched in a daze as she daintily pattered out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, there was the sound of a door closing. Only then did his wits return to him and he rushed after her. His pursuit, however, ended at the door, because no matter how hard he pulled on it, it refused to open. Being the door to the dining room, it didn’t even have a lock, which meant Frau was the only one who could keep it shut. He knew it was probably some sort of magecraft, but he had no way of undoing its effect.

“Hm? What’s up, Frau?” asked Shion as she took a sip of post-dinner tea. She was lounging in the guest room when she noticed Frau standing in the doorway.

“Miss Shion, keep doing what you’re doing please. Frau just needs to keep the doors closed.”

“Huh?”

“But don’t worry. It’ll only be for a teeny tiny bit.”

The door shut with a thud. Shion gave it a curious look. Then, figuring it couldn’t be that big of a deal, she shrugged and went back to sipping her tea.

After locking Shion in the guest room, Frau proceeded to search for the final member of their household. Sensing that Rona was currently taking a bath, the fairy decided to leave her be.

Renya had a penchant for taking baths, so he heated up a big tub of water on almost a daily basis. Most people in this world did not heat up a big tub of water on almost a daily basis. People who might have the means included the wealthiest merchants, the nobility, and the royal family itself. It was a pretty small club. The way he saw it, though, if he could somehow magecraft his way to taking daily baths, then he sure as hell was going to. Neither Shion nor Rona had the habit of bathing regularly, but they followed suit, figuring it was a waste otherwise. Soon, bathing had become a daily household routine.

Frau thought that the sight of Rona after a good bath, her skin flushed and glowing, was wonderfully luscious, so she kept a careful eye on the water temperature to allow for lengthy bouts of comfortable steeping. Only after confirming that bathing conditions were satisfactory did she step out the front door.

The cool evening wind brushed against her cheeks. She quickly shut the door behind her; a chilly house was a big no-no. Then, she snapped her fingers once. With that one gesture, all the windows of the house darkened as their curtains silently slid shut. Those who were inside were now blinded to the outside world. The sudden closing of the curtains probably startled Shion and made her jump. Judging from the loud thud, she must have fallen off the sofa in the process. It didn’t seem particularly important, so Frau ignored it.

“Dear visitors, do you hear me? I am Frau, maid to this household.” Her voice was even but entirely devoid of emotion. She continued, the calmness of her tone at such odds with her usual demeanor that Renya and the girls’ jaws would have dropped if they saw the fairy right now. “As the one charged with keeping the peace in this household, I regret to inform you that I cannot permit the entrance of uninvited visitors through the front door. I ask that you take your leave.”

The response came in the form of a silver flash that shot through the darkness and into Frau. With nary a sound, she looked down at the hilt of a dagger jutting out from her chest.

“May I presume this to be your answer?”

Her expression remained unchanged as she placed her hand on the weapon and pulled it out, leaving behind no trace or scar. It was as if the dagger had never entered her at all. She held the blade before her and looked at it. It seemed to be lightly coated in a dark slime.

“I see. Poison. How unseemly,” she said placidly, showing no hint of pain from the injury nor panic from the poison. “Allow me to venture a guess. You are here on the orders of a parent of one of the students at the school who was taught a harsh lesson by Master. You truly are a hopeless lot. Despicable, are you not?”

Frau shook her head disappointedly. From the shadows of the trees and plants and fences all around the garden, hushed gasps of surprise could be heard. With icy cold eyes, she looked in their direction.

“You poor little fools, coming here to make an attempt on the lives of my Master and Misses. If any of you presume to leave this place alive,” she said with a low growling laugh, “I urge you to reconsider.”

Her laugh grew louder and louder until she was howling wildly into the darkening sky. It was not at all the laughter of a little girl. The dreadfully uncanny sight chilled the spying intruders to the core.

“No one is getting away! Worthless vermin, you dare to breathe before me? Filthy trash, your existence affronts me! Your foul gazes, your vile blades, none of them shall ever touch anyone in this household!”

The trees swayed. The shrubs rustled. The fences cast long shadows across the bare earth. Then, it all came alive.

Hands reached at flailing limbs. Claws tore away skin. And fangs sunk into flesh. Cries of terror filled the garden, cresting into the ear-splitting shrieks of bodies being ripped apart before the climax of a resounding gulp. A short coda followed, the morbid melody of dying wails fading over the rhythmic percussion of crunching bones. At the brink of nightfall when the light grew dim, what was once a simple garden transformed into a nest of otherworldly horror. The corners of Frau’s lips curled up into a crescent. The intruders were likely not amateurs. Nevertheless, they were powerless before the dwellers of this hellish hunting ground.

“Die! Die like the trash you are! Worthlessly! Pointlessly! Erased without a trace! If you wish to blame, then blame the folly of those who hired you and your own foolish selves!”

After the echoes of Frau’s voice faded, silence descended upon the shadowy garden. There were no more screams; no more moans. Eventually, Frau spoke again. This time, her voice was exceedingly gentle.

“But ease your hearts, for those worthless bodies of yours shall be kneaded firmly into the earth. Once you are buried, you shall feed my dear little darlings. They are all good girls, so they shall turn every last bit of you into nourishment for their budding flowers.”

She unconcernedly threw the dagger she held onto the ground and gently curled up her right hand. Light streamed out of her balled fist. She let out a satisfied breath, delight evident in her features. Slowly, she opened her hand to reveal the clear gemlike crystal that had formed in the middle of her palm.

“I shall use your meaningless lives to further Master’s interests. Even the lives of lowly scum can be turned into some money this way.”

She took the manastone, made by harvesting the lives of all those who were just slaughtered, and slid it into her skirt pocket. Then, she clapped her hands together.

“…Oopsies. Went a little too far off the rails. Frau’s been a bad girl,” she whispered regretfully as she gave herself a few quick raps on the head. When she finished, she took a look around the garden to confirm that everyone was gone. Then, she daintily pattered back into the house.

Renya was still stuck in the dining room, and Shion had probably spilled her tea in spectacular fashion when she fell off her seat. The tea needed to be cleaned quickly. Otherwise, it would leave a stain. A bath towel and a change of clothes needed to be delivered to Rona before she finished her bath. The long steep would probably leave her thirsty, so a drink needed to be prepared as well.

“Maids have so much to do! Frau is a busy little fairy!”

With a grin, she quickly headed toward Renya to release her master from the confines of his dining room.