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“Uh? Why is there a fire… Ah! Elysia!”

How much time has passed? Lindy’s voice rang out from the entrance, and I could hear her light footsteps as she bounded back, full of energy. Finally, I could face Lindy after a long time.

It hadn’t been that long since I last saw her, yet dark circles were still etched around her eyes.

“Lindy, you’re back. Welcome.”

“…This is my house, you know. It looks like everyone had a grand old time without me.”

The expression on Lindy’s face was one of disbelief. It’s understandable. After all, she came home after working hard, only to find guests had randomly invaded her house.

Those guests are carelessly rummaging through the kitchen, leisurely snacking on tea and treats. Even Luna is happily rocking back and forth in an armchair. Lilith is pushing her in rhythm.

“Haha… I guess the last time you said I could make myself at home here, I got a little too comfortable…”

I had to apologize to Lindy on behalf of everyone since I was the one who caused this situation.

“Uh, no, no! This house is also Elysia’s house! Yes! Make yourself comfortable! Feel free to grab any tea or cookies or anything you want!”

Fortunately, Lindy didn’t seem to be too angry and forgave me right away. Instead, she picked up the plate in front of me, opened a high cupboard that Gumtaengi and Tokki couldn’t reach, and returned it filled with high-end cookies she had hidden there.

I grabbed a cookie and popped it into my mouth, then took another one and fed it to Frecia, who was lying on my thigh with her eyes still closed. It was adorable to watch her hold onto my hand, still clutching it while just mumbling incomprehensibly, trying to munch on the cookie.

While I was admiring Frecia, Lindy brought a chair over and sat down in front of me.

“By the way, are you taking care of your health while working? You looked terrible last time you came home in a hurry, and you don’t look too well today either.”

“Eh, it’s nothing I can’t handle… at least I’d like to say that, but I have to admit I’m a bit tired. Can you tell?”

“To be honest, it’s almost a miracle you’re still standing right now.”

Last time, I had managed to hide it a little with makeup, but today, because I hadn’t been able to put any on, my worn-out complexion was on full display.

“Come on, scooch a bit closer.”

“Like this?”

“…That’s a bit too close.”

When I told her to get close, she really stuck right up against me, startling me, and I had to gently nudge her back a bit.

“Now face forward.”

Next, I turned Lindy to face away from me. Slowly, I raised both hands and placed them softly on her shoulders.

“Eep? Elysia?”

“Relax.”

“But even if you tell me to relax…”

I ignored Lindy’s protest as I squeezed her shoulders gently but firmly, careful not to hurt her. If I pressed too hard on her already tense muscles, it might end up worse than if I hadn’t done anything at all.

“Haah…”

My fingers traveled up her trapezius muscle near the back of her neck before trailing back down along her shoulder. I didn’t realize how long I’d been sitting at my desk; every inch of her was knotted. Knowing her struggles stemmed from me only made my frustration grow at her negligence of her own health.

“Ahh… Ow!”

So, I lightly pinched her arm, and she let out a satisfied noise before letting out a short yelp.

“Alright, that’s enough of the massage. As I always say, you really need to put your health first. Even if it means losing one demon race, your wellbeing is the priority.”

Of course, that one lost demon might cause unexpected problems. But sacrificing Lindy’s health for my sake seemed completely backward. I could just step up my own efforts to make up for it.

“Hehe… still, if I can get a massage from Elysia like this, it’s a good trade, right? I’ll be asking for this again.”

I wondered if I might be spoiling her a bit, but I could always threaten not to give massages in return.

“Senpai! I’m hungry!”

Just as I finished the brief massage for Lindy, Luna poked her head out from the rocking chair, whining about being hungry. Speaking of which, I had been planning to prepare dinner before Lindy arrived, but I lost track of time watching Frecia, who was lying on my thigh with her eyes closed.

“Lindy? Can I use the kitchen?”

“Uh, huh? Why all of a sudden?”

“You haven’t had dinner yet, right? We haven’t eaten either, so let’s whip up something together.”

I was confident in my cooking skills, so I thought I’d show off for Lindy, who must have tired herself out today.

“Ah, no! Elysia can just sit and relax. I’ll quickly make something!”

But Lindy vehemently rejected my offer. Even the looseness she had from the massage moments ago seemed to have vanished, and she shook her head stiffly.

“Come on! It’s fine, it’s fine. You must be exhausted from working; just take a moment to rest in the bedroom. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

But before I could even get up, Lindy stood quickly and pressed down on my shoulder, preventing me from moving.

“No matter what, as the host, I can’t let my guests serve me. Just wait a moment. I’ll take care of dinner.”

“Well, then at least let me help…”

How could I just sit there and watch when someone who had been working hard wanted to cook dinner? So, I made another concession and offered to help again.

“Just sit quietly, okay? Hmm?”

“Uh, okay…”

With her dominating attitude, I ended up giving up even the chance to help and quietly sipped from my teacup. For some reason, my throat felt dry.

After a short wait, I could hear the rustling of things being moved around and the clanking of pots and pans. The sound of chopping followed.

The chopping was quick and steady, so it seemed Lindy’s cooking skills were pretty solid. She might not be as good as me, but I was starting to get excited about what she would serve.

“By the way, what about the handover you mentioned last time? Is everything wrapped up?”

Frecia seemed to be asleep, not moving an inch, while Luna was too busy playing in the rocking chair with Lilith. I needed someone to talk to, so I raised my voice to Lindy in the kitchen again.

“Yeah, honestly, I had people I could trust, but since it’s not a solo operation anymore, I had to get agreement from the shareholders, so it took a little while. Everyone wanted either themselves or their people to be representatives, so a lot of time went into persuading and pressuring them.”

It was a headache just hearing about it, but I took it to mean Lindy managed everything well. I just had to watch her cut through the opposition like she always did. To put it grandly, you could say it was workload distribution.

“Still busy, huh? Glad to see you just got off work.”

“Yeah, something came up suddenly. It’s not like I had to stay late or anything, but work is work. Oh, do you dislike spicy food?”

“Hmm… the boss isn’t great with spicy stuff, but it should be okay if it’s not too hot. By the way, what kind of work?”

“I guess I’ll just leave out the spice then. It’s nothing major; just a report came in saying a low-grade demon race has been spotted nearby. It turned out to be a real tip, but it’s not urgent enough to deal with right away. So I just put a few watchers on it and left.”

“Hey. You should still deal with it quickly if you know. Just let me know where it is. I’ll take care of it in haste while dinner is being prepared.”

“You really don’t have to…”

I subtly lifted Frecia’s head, swapping my thigh for a cushion as I stood up.

“Then I’ll…”

Frecia may not have been sleeping, or maybe she woke up from my voice, but she tried to follow me, so I gently pressed her back down by her shoulder. If I felt the situation was bad, I’d go along with the others, but from what I heard, there was no real danger to be had at all.

Even if there were higher-level demons lurking that Lindy hadn’t caught, at the very least, there would have to be at least a couple of them laying in wait to put me at risk, but even then, I was confident I could hide and escape if necessary.

“Boss, you should take it easy. It’s just a low-grade demon; what’s the big deal?”

“Still…”

“You know my skills. Even if it’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings, as long as they don’t fall into a trap, I can easily escape.”

“…Fine. Just be careful.”

“Yes. Thank you for worrying. Lindy? So where’s that demon located?”

“…I guess they won’t listen, even if I try to stop you? I’ll send a guide along, so hurry up and come back. I’ll wait for dinner without eating.”

With a heavy sigh that could be heard from the kitchen, Lindy eventually gave in to my persistence and raised both hands in surrender. She set down the knife she was chopping with, came back, and took out a communication Magical Crystal to call in one of her subordinates.

“I can’t promise I’ll be back before dinner’s ready, but I’ll definitely return before it’s served.”

I left the house with only a Holy Sword in hand, feeling as light as a feather.

Yeah. With a very relaxed mindset.

 

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