Chapter 79

Good morning. Let’s do our best today as well.

I’m expecting an encounter with the Brass Band today. Yes.

Breakfast is rice. Rice, miso soup, omelet, and pickles. A classic. I’ll also make a lunch box.

Today’s bento is pork fried with ginger. I tried to put in some greens with the simmered pickles, but the color is not so good. It’s brownish overall. …but I’ll do my best.

Speaking of which, when they cleaned up the monsters, there was quite a bit of meat, so maybe it’s time to make some bacon. Will the waiting time today be spent on dismantling and processing the meat?

Now then. Everyone who ate breakfast looked ill.

It can’t be helped. Today’s collection schedule was near the English Department Lab. I don’t know how it is now, but at least it was the place where Fukuyama-kun used to be. In other words, they might encounter Fukuyama-kun.

It’s natural to feel ill. If only Homura-kun and the others were here at such a time…! I can’t help but think that they’d understand my feelings.

Also, Homura-kun and the others contacted me this morning. Even if they don’t have anything in particular, they’ll contact me regularly so I can see how Homura-kun and the others are doing.

Seems like they’re now in a jungle when they crossed the lava field, and searching for classrooms was difficult.

Instead, the monsters weren’t that strong, and the fruits and meat seemed to be abundant and delicious, which was good.

Yup. They sounded relatively relaxed so I want them to do their best without overdoing it.

And while everyone went out with dead eyes, I will dismantle and process the meat while maintaining the monitoring system.

Recently, there are a lot of herbs and spices, so it’s fun to have a wide range of dishes.

And so, I’m making bacon.

…huh? You say it wouldn’t rot if I throw it in the Physics Lab that has become an item inventory, so I can reserve the meat as it is? I can store it like that, but…bacon is delicious.

There are so many delicious parts on the meat, and I have a lot of spices, so I want to make delicious food.

…that’s why it’s bacon.

Yeah, really, it would be best if a pig monster appeared. But I don’t see any pigs. So I’ll make do with the wild boars.

Cut the young boar meat into blocks and salt them with spices.

Yes, this is all I have to do today. After that, I have to salt it for about a week. …but this is a lot of work.

For some reason, there are a lot of wild boars. Maybe about two digits.

The dismantling is just a moment, but I have to divide the dismantled meat again!

What’s more, although I only used three parts of the meat for bacon, I want to boil the front legs for soup, and I also want to fry, bake, and boil the loins, tenderloin, and other things without smoking it. When I looked closely, I inadvertently found a deer thrown behind the wild boars and decided to process it as well…and…yup, it was really hard.

But when it’s over, it became a neat item inventory (Physics Lab).

Yeah, grocery stores must be like this. It has to be neat and tidy. As expected. This feels so satisfying!

…wait, if you think about it.

…seems like there’s no time lapse inside when the classroom is left behind. That’s why it helps that the things inside don’t rot.

That meant that if I left it like this, the salting will not proceed at all.

And so, I have to leave the salted meat in a place where I can leave it out all the time. [Transfer].

“Ah, Maito-senpai! What’s wrong? …uhm, what’s that?”

“Hi, Hanamura-san. Is George-san here?”

“He’s in. Looks like he’s sleeping, so I’ll go wake him up!”

Yes, this is the pawnshop in Deichemoore. In here, the salting of the salted meat will progress properly. So I’d like to borrow a corner here and leave the meat on it…

…somehow, I heard a terrible slamming sound and George-san’s scream from what seems to be his room…after a while, Hanamura-san, who looked happy, and George-san, who isn’t energetic, came.

…uhm, uhm…yeah, I won’t say anything. Hanamura-san was called by Utagawa-san and went somewhere.

Well, yeah, George-san was awakened and left behind, so he looked morose. Yeah, let’s put that aside.

“George-san, I’d like to rent a room that’s cold and dark here.”

“Hn? …ahh, are you leaving that? Yeah, that’s fine…what is it?”

“It’s meat.”

When I opened the lid from what looked like a huge wooden vat, the meat was packed inside like sushi.

“This is the finest meat of wild boars, which will become bacon soon. Spices and seasonings are used abundantly without any overlaps. You can put it in soup or use it for stir-fry. The umami and aroma will surely be wonderful. Ahh, of course, it’ll be juicy and crispy even when fried as it is. …well, I think it’s just right for a snack while having sake.”

After repeating the explanation, I found George-san drinking his drool.

“If you have the place, I’ll divide the rental fee with the bacon made as a thank you.”

“Okay, leave as many as you want! I’ll lend you a basement.”

…gotcha.

“Then, you can put it here.”

He guided me to a basement of about 6 tatami mats. It’s a vacant room with nothing.

“Next door is the food inventory, but I’m not using this one. Feel free to use it. However, I want compensation, okay?”

“Yes, thank you very much. Please look forward to the bacon.”

I brought all the meat to the basement and [Transferred] again. Next, I have to process the venison.

By afternoon, the venison was also dismantled and salted, and the maid dolls finally gave me the feeling of [They’re coming]. Ohh, they’ve finally come! The ghost maid comes into play!

When I looked at the visual information from the maid dolls, it seems like they’re steadily picking fruits from the fruit trees and coming to this side.

The fruits grown on the fruit trees were intentionally reduced so that they’ll move at a fast pace.

Because the number of monsters decreased, there are no battles, so they’re at a medium pace. If they follow the fruit trees, they could already see this building. And if they could see it, maybe they’ll come by.

I [Disguised] myself as a ghost maid since they could come at any time.

Also, I warned the maid dolls placed at specific locations in the house so that we can enter Pattern B at any time. These kids will be my eyes, so this is important.

After that, I also reported it to everyone using the [Communication] bracelet.

They said, “Do your best, but if it seems impossible, run away immediately.” Eh, I’ll show you that I can do it well.

Shortly thereafter, the members of the Brass Band finally found this house.

…but, it seems like everyone was discussing what to do, so they didn’t come here at all.

Yeah, be careful at all times. But hurry up also. I want to go soon.

When I left the entrance while making as much noise as possible, the Brass Band members saw me all at once. From a distance, I might look like a normal person.

But even when they found me, they were confused, so I approached them.

“Uhm, guests, right?”

I’m a ghost, I’m a ghost. I called out to them while telling myself that. The girl who was in charge of giving instructions during the fruit collection stepped forward.

“We are the Brass Band Trumpet Clarinet part!”

…well, that self-introduction wasn’t very informative. It makes a lot of sense that they’re not giving out their personal information.

“Uhm, what’s a Brass Band?”

I’m a ghost maid in this world, so I won’t know that.

When I replied, the people over there began to panic. Yup. This is the first time these guys met the people of this world. And it’s even a ghost.

“H-her leg!”

And finally, one of them noticed that my legs were transparent. Ah, I’m glad. I thought they wouldn’t notice it.

“I was a maid who served this house but died in an accident a few years ago. However, I still have some regrets, so I’m still in this world.”

“Clarinet, please support! Trumpet, start battle formation!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

…Pattern B! Listen to people’s stories to the end!

“W-wait, just listen!”

The maid dolls were also in the yard, so it’s not a problem to see their moves, but I assumed that the inside of the house would be the battlefield, so I didn’t expect to fight in a wide area!

“If you ask me, I can just ascend to heaven properly!”

Also, during this time, I’m avoiding the swords and spears of the trumpet group.

“If anything, I’ll give you that house as it is! I’ve been taking care of it even after I died, so you can live in it right away!”

Uoh! The magic hit! But there’s no damage, only a slight impact. Amazing, this maid outfit.

…and, just when I thought that, the attacks stopped.

“Trumpet, stop attacking! Let’s hear the story!”

“Yes!”

…do that from the beginning!

“…and so, I would like you to pick up the ring that I dropped in this pond.”

Right. The Brass Band members listened to me as if they changed personalities.

And so, the [I dropped the ring that my master gave me into the pond behind me, and I dived into the pond to take it, but I drowned and died. I’m not a ghost and I can’t enter the water, so I want you to get the ring.] nonsense was told. With that dashing “Yes!”, they quickly decided the division of roles and started preparing to dive into the pond.

“So if we do this, we can get this house?”

And this girl, who seemed to be the party leader, is completely hooked.

Yup. I don’t hate that. It helps that the story moved quickly, and I like realistic people.

“Yes. It’s a house where no one lives anymore. I used to clean it all the time because of habit, but I’m sure it’d be better if new people were living in it than if no people were living in the house.”

“How many people can live here?”

“There were a lot of servants at one time, so 80 people can live here comfortably.”

We prepared beds for 100 people. Yes. I don’t know how many people they have.

“Did you clean such a house all by yourself?”

Ohh, are you sympathizing with me? Yeah, I like you more and more. This person.

“Yes. I was cleaning it little by little, every day.”

And while I was talking, a person came out of the pond.

“I have it! Is this it?”

He had a ring in hand. Yup. We purposely dropped this ring (Maximum MP Increase) into the pond for Pattern A. By the way, Katori made it.

…but something unexpected happened at this point.