Bathing

  I had Grulf escape into the house.

  He had a very good sense of smell, which made him more susceptible to the harsh stench.

  We all stared at the smoke after that, until Milka came out of the house.

  Milka and Luchila had been cleaning the house for a while.

  “Agh! That stinks!”


  “We’re burning demon rat carcasses from the sewers. It will be over soon.”


  “I’m surprised you would bring such things back with you!”


  “It’s not like we just picked them up off the streets for fun……”


  Maybe she thought it was some kind of hobby.

  Well, Milka didn’t understand the system of Adventuring, so it couldn’t be helped.

  After everything was burned, Ario said,

  “Well then. We’ll go and deliver the magic stones to the guild.”


  “You must come with us too, Miss Serulis and Mister Locke.”


  You had to record the number of kills on your Adventurers card after delivering the stones.

  The more you hunted the higher your rank. It was very important.

  “You go, Serulis.”


  “What about you?”


  “I’m fine.”


  To be honest, it would be rather inconvenient if my rank went up after killing so many monsters.

  If my rank went up, they would run my card through their magic tools.

  And then they would be able to tell that information was hidden on it.

  They would know that I was really an S Rank Sorcerer and the Grand Duke.

  I wanted to be an F Rank Warrior for as long as possible.

  “But that’s such a waste!”


  “It really is. We killed so many demon rats after the goblin lord’s horde. A promotion to E Rank is a possibility.”


  Ario and Josh said seriously.

  And Ario was right, being promoted to E Rank was quite likely.

  And that was exactly something I did not want.

  That was fine and all, but it was also incredibly suspicious to not report it when you met the requirements.

  And I did not want to draw attention.

  “I……I don’t want to draw any attention to myself.”


  “Ahhh.”


  “Ahhh.”


  Ario and Josh looked as if they had just been hit with a realization.

  They were quite sure that I was once part of an Assassins guild.

  In fact, they were looking at the mansion now and amazed at how much money a brilliant assassin could make.

  They thought that I was afraid of being targeted by my old guild, and wanted to lie low.

  They stopped asking me to go after that.

  Of course, if I really was trying to escape the Assassins guild I used to work for, I would not be living in a big mansion.

  But Ario and Josh didn’t know what was normal for assassins.

  Most people didn’t. It was what it was.

  “Alright, we’ll go without you.”


  “Yes. That is for the best.”


  “But we’ll bring the reward money back and split it between the four of us.”


  “No, I don’t need that either.”


  Ario and Josh narrowed their eyebrows at this.

  “But why?”


  “Well, you helped me capture Kabino, after all.”


  “But we already received the reward for that……”


  And so I explained to Ario and Josh.

  That it wasn’t a request through the guild.

  And because of that, it did not affect their rank.

  Also, the guild did not take a percentage of the reward money.

  That meant that as the person who hired them, I had not paid as much as I would have.

  That wasn’t fair. So it was only right that I should pay them extra.

  I said this as seriously as possible.

  “But if we accepted your share of the reward……”


  “We would then feel indebted to you.”


  “No, this is me repaying my debt to you two.”


  It took a while, but they were finally satisfied after much talking.

  And so Ario, Josh, and Serulis set off to the guild with the magic stones.

  I decided to bury the bones of the demon rats in the yard.

  “I’ll help you!”


  “Me too!”


  Milka ran out of the mansion and along with Luchila, helped me in digging the hole.

  “Groof-groof!”


  Now that the fire was gone, Grulf came out and helped us.

  He dug with his front paws as fast as he could.

  “Cluck-cluck.”


  Gerberga had come out into the garden with Luchila and was taking a walk in the garden.

  When we were finished burying the bones, Milka said,

  “It still stinks!”


  “Burning demon rats tend to do that.”


  “No! You stink, Mister Locke! You smell like sewage water!”


  “Oh.”


  Well, I had been thoroughly soaked in it. Why wouldn’t I smell?

  “Mister Locke, will you take a bath? I think you should.”


  “Yes. I think I will.”


  “Yes! I had it prepared so you can take one any time!”


  “That’s very helpful. Thank you, Milka.”


  “It-it’s my job! Don’t even mention it.”


  She said bashfully.

  I returned to my room first to get a new set of clothing.

  Then I headed for the bathing room.

  “Groof-groof!”


  Grulf followed me. His tail was wagging happily.

  “I think you need to be washed too……but have you ever taken a bath?”


  “Groof?”


  Most cats hated it. For dogs, it could vary.

  But I did feel that most dogs disliked bathing.

  “I washed you in the river, but I think we should clean you up again.”


  “Groof!”


  The bathing room was very large. This was a nobleman’s mansion after all.

  Milka and Serulis seemed to have done a good job cleaning it.

  It looked very nice.

  “Grulf. Come over here, I’ll wash you.”


  “Groof!”


  I used some soap to wash his fur.

  “This sewage water is really filthy. We have to get it all off.”


  “Grrff.”


  Grulf looked very comfortable.

  It was clear that he didn’t hate bathing.

  After I finished washing Grulf, I took my time cleaning myself, then entered the bathtub.

  “The water feels great!”


  “Groof!”


  Grulf seemed to really enjoy it.