Chapter 6 – Twins and Dungeons (2)
A girl in a black dress sitting alone in an empty shop was eagerly waiting for someone while quietly reading a book.
—-Tallaang-!
As the regular bells resounded every time the shop door was opened, the girl who had covered the book she was reading reflexively raised her head.
“Welcome.”
“I’m back.”
Roxia, who brought out her greeting to greet her guest, realized that the person who opened her door was not just a guest, but Roden, who had been out for a while due to a tax issue.
Loxia’s appearance and her behavior were so distinctly different that it was difficult to find her appearance a month ago.
The body, which was skinny like a straw, has become fat enough to look good, and the body, which was bruised and scarred by beatings and whippings, has been completely healed thanks to the appropriate medicine, and the eyes that were out of focus like dead fish now feel even smarter.
“Did nothing happen while I was gone?”
“Yes! There was nothing except the visit of three customers, and I wrote down everything that was sold here. Please read it!”
ㅡ Pallang.
Roxia replied with a smile and showed Roden the sales list she had written down herself.
It’s like a child trying to show off his 100-point test paper.
She taught me from time to time, but in just one month, she improved a lot in reading and writing, and she became proficient in human speech… You seem to be very quick to learn something.
While Roden was lost in her thoughts for a moment, Roxia, who had come up to his feet, looked up at her Roden, wiggling her hands and feet.
“Master. I… I looked hard at the store this time too…”
Roxia, unable to make eye contact with her owner and hesitantly, stretched out her arms high and closed her eyes.
“Now my duty is done. You did a good job looking at the store by yourself.”
Roden, as the girl in front of her eyes wished, lowered her posture and gave Roxia a light hug, sharing her body temperature.
She was no longer a slave who always had to watch out for her master’s disapproval, but became a daughter-like girl who loved her father.
It was not unreasonable that Roxia, who had never received sustained affection from anyone since her birth, felt great joy in the embrace of her owner.
‘I didn’t know this feeling at all until recently.’
When she returned home, she realized that it was so good to have someone waiting for her—and Roden ended her hug with Loxia at that point.
“… Ah.”
Loxia’s voice was regretful. Whether she knew her feelings or not. Roden, who had spread her distance, pushed Loxia’s back gently as she opened the door inside her.
“I’ll be watching the rest, so go inside and rest. If you feel sleepy, get some sleep.”
“…”
Roxia quietly nodded her head as she embraced the book she had been reading a moment ago. As soon as she entered her living room, she took out the ring she had put on her little finger.
At the same time, her ears get longer and longer, and as her curved horns are gradually revealed, the human girl’s appearance quickly returns to that of a demon girl.
“After… Right.”
‘When I’m transforming through her ring, I kind of feel like I’m wearing her sheer clothes.’
After returning to her true self, Roxia felt more at ease, and before long, she was in her room… Instead, he entered Roden’s room.
‘You didn’t specifically tell me not to go into the master’s room, so it should be fine.’
After giving herself a plausible excuse, Roxia puts herself on her master’s bed for a while.
“Master…”
As if absorbed in the faint reverberation left by her master, she buried her head in her pillow and recalled her life before meeting Roden.
When she was born, she was abandoned by her parents as an unwanted child.
When she was branded as a low-level demon, she was abandoned and treated as trash by the demons in the facility that took care of her.
She was abandoned as a decoy by her friends, who believed she was in the same situation, when she encountered a group of mercenaries on her way to escape.
Far from her present happiness, she always recalls her abandoned life, and Roxia mumbles in a low mood.
“I will always do my best, and I will always be a good child, so please master… Me… Please don’t throw it away.”
ㅡTallaang- My daughter-
Meanwhile, there were customers who came to Roden, who was leisurely tidying up his nails in front of the checkout counter.
“Welcome… Are you guys?”
“You shouldn’t show that kind of attitude to regular customers~ Mr. Roden.”
“Hello.”
Roden’s first customer and regular customer at the potion shop, her twin sisters Merim and Maril waved her hands in front of the door.
The twins’ outfits were rather messy, as if they had visited right after finishing her request.
“If possible, at least shake off your shoes and come in.”
Following Roden’s instructions, the twins dutifully brushed off the mounds of dirt on her feet in order, then entered and sat down on a chair for guests prepared in front of the display stand.
“Ahh~ It’s a bit more comfortable now.”
“Merim. How many times have I told you not to open your mouth rudely in front of others!”
“How about opening your mouth? Let’s get some rest here.”
“It makes me even more embarrassed if I have the same face as mine and make such a stretched expression… “
Since the first visit, it has become almost a daily routine for the twin sisters to visit Roden’s store two or three times a week and quarrel.
ㅡ Dalgrak.
Roden, who served steaming tea to the seats where the twins were sitting, spoke softly.
“Looking at you guys, I often get confused whether this is a potion shop or a tea shop. Loxia is resting inside, so don’t make too much noise.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you as always. Roden. I’ll drink well.”
The twin sisters sipped their tea and sipped each sip, and their faces became more comfortable.
“I heard other adventurers talking this morning, and they said they saw someone similar to Mr. Roden coming out of the red light district to the west the day before yesterday. Really~?”
Saying that, Merim poked Roden’s side with her elbow, and an expression of anticipation of how the other person would be taken aback was imprinted on Merim’s face.
However, despite her expectations, Roden calmly nodded her head.
“Hmm… Maybe I’m right.”
“Wow…”
“Ah, you shouldn’t answer so meekly! At times like this, isn’t it normal to say, ‘I didn’t go there!’ And run around here and there?!”
“Because there is no need to deny it.”
The brothel and gambling hall operated in the red light district of Barmela Manor are strictly legal facilities that have obtained permission from the lord.
From Roden’s point of view, not dating anyone else, the fact that he went to and from a legally operated brothel was not a problem that he had to hide.
“Chi, not funny Siri.”
Merim, who poured the tea with a face that seemed to have ruined the excitement, and Marill, who glanced at Roden’s lower body with her face flushed red, stood up, picked up the potion from the display stand, and put it on the counter.
“See you next time. Uninteresting Mr. Roden.”
“Good bye.”
“You guys go in as well.”
After finishing her calculations, Roden looked blankly at the back of her twin sister as they walked away from her shop. After lightly relaxing her body, he looked up at the gradually darkening sky.
‘That’s it for today. Shall I clean it up by myself this time…’
Turning over her sign, Roden swept slowly from the inside of her shop with a large broom that stood in the corner, sweeping out all the dirt that bothered her.
Then she finished the day by simply wiping the shelves, customer tables, counters and windows with a dry rag and locking the door to her shop.
“Roxia, get ready to eat soon… “
Roden called Roxia and opened her door, but the girl he was trying to call was nowhere to be seen.
Putting the question aside for the time being, I immediately opened the door next to it, and Loxia appeared as she hurriedly tidying Roden’s bed.
“Main… ，Master，I was making the master’s bed.”
“Okay? It doesn’t matter if you cut mine loosely, so finish it in moderation. You should eat soon.”
“Yes, four! I’ll leave right away.”
Roxia brushed her surprised heart as soon as Roden, who had passed her by, turned her feet into her living room.
“Ahhhhh…”
‘Forgot to fall asleep in the master’s bed and even lie… I’m sorry. Master. I’ll make the bed tidy.’
Afterwards, the two of them, who had dinner together and washed the dishes together, went into their respective rooms after washing in order.
“… ?”
Roden, who was lying on her bed to meet her tomorrow, felt a momentary discomfort and then twitched her nose toward her pillow.
‘In my bed… Especially the pillow side seems to smell particularly good… Did Loxia spray some perfume or something while cleaning up?’
Loden, who did not expect that the smell was Loxia’s body odor, thought that she was just a nice perfume and slowly closed his eyes in a peaceful mood.
… That night. In the quiet dawn when most people were completely asleep, a sudden change occurred in the Barmela estate.
ㅡKooung-!
At first, suddenly, a short, thick sound like something heavy hitting something resounded loudly in the territory.
“Lord, master!! Did you hear now… ?!”
A few seconds after hearing the roar, Roden’s door was opened by Roxia in pajamas.
She was sleeping when she heard a sudden loud noise and was startled. For her part, she had no choice but to enter Roden’s room.
“I heard that too. Calm down and breathe… “
But, before Roden even has time to calm her girl down, her surroundings start shaking like crazy!
ㅡRurrrr!
“Kyaaaaa”
In an instant, Roxia, in a panic, was instinctively embraced by Roden, and she trembled in his arms.
ㅡWarrrr!! Clink!!!
Things fell due to the earthquake, and the sound of breaking echoed in all directions not only in Roden’s house, but also in most of the houses in the Warmela estate.
“Calm down, calm down. It’s okay, it’s okay. It’ll pass right away. Loxia. Don’t be scared because I’m by your side.”
“Yes… ,Yes. Master…”
At this moment, the person in the most calm state in the territory must be Roden.
He calmly analyzes the current situation while embracing and calming Roxia, who is trembling.
An intense roar of something colliding, followed by an earthquake.
Roden knows very well what this phenomenon means.
“Dungeon…”
