"Understood."
I handed 150 gold coins to the branch manager and obtained the contract along with the beautiful slave.
Children usually didn't bring luggage, but it seemed like women of her age did. After stepping inside briefly, she emerged with her belongings.
As the branch manager and the young assistant bowed to me, I led her out of the slave trader's hall.
Having purchased Lisa from the slave trader, I decided to take her with me to buy some essentials at a nearby general store.
Since the shop was close and the streets were bustling, I opted to walk normally instead of using Transfer, heading to the store where I had previously bought supplies for the children.
"Lisa, go buy what you need. This amount of money should be enough. I'll carry your things, so just hand them over."
With that, I took her bag and handed her two gold coins and a few silver coins. I immediately stored the bag away in my item box.
"Okay." Lisa said, stepping into the shop. About ten minutes later, she emerged carrying a package.
"Here's your change." She handed me roughly eight silver coins. I couldn't tell if it was expensive or cheap; I just had to accept it.
"I'll carry that package for you, so just give it to me."
"No, I can't let my master carry my things."
"I'm not going to carry it for long. Lisa, from today on, you're part of my family. Just so you know, I have a skill called an item box. It's a handy ability that allows me to store things regardless of their weight or size, and I can take them out whenever I want and wherever I am."
"I've heard of such a skill, but I'm surprised that my master possesses it. In that case, please." She handed her package to me.
Honestly, I could have stored it without her needing to hand it directly to me, but I just followed the etiquette. I quickly placed the package into my item box.
"At such a young age, having easily paid 150 gold coins, perhaps I should feel lucky to be bought by my master, who possesses the incredible skill of an item box."
The expression "perhaps I should feel lucky" gave me pause, but considering she had somehow become a debt slave, it was likely she had faced her share of hardships.
"Hey, could you come over here for a moment?"
I led Lisa into a quiet alley. Noticing her flushed cheeks, I reassured her, "I promise I'm not going to do anything weird. From here, I'll use my skill, Transfer, to take us to my house in an instant. Just hold my hand to transfer together."
With some hesitation, Lisa grabbed my hand, and I was taken aback by the softness of her grip. Although I could have transferred directly to the living room, I thought it better to show her the entire estate, so I chose the front yard as our destination, and we both transferred.
"Welcome to my mansion," I said.
As her surroundings changed suddenly, Lisa began to look around in surprise.
"Where is my master?" she asked.
"I am my own master. I make a living as an alchemist by crafting potions."
"An alchemist? You mentioned your skill was Transfer. Is that a form of alchemy?"
"No," I replied. "Transfer is unrelated to alchemy."
"Alright, let's head inside," I said, leading Lisa into the mansion. As we entered the grand foyer, I called up the stairs, "Hey everyone, come down to the living room!"
Immediately, a chorus of "Yes!" echoed from the second floor, followed by the sound of children hurriedly descending the staircase. By the time Lisa and I entered the living room to wait, the kids had gathered around us.
"This is Lisa, the girl I bought to help with housework, especially cooking," I introduced her to the children.
"Lisa Big Sister!" they exclaimed, recognizing her since we had all been at the same slave trader's.
"I'm glad you all know her. I hope you'll get along well," I encouraged them.
"Yes!" they replied eagerly.
"Hi everyone," Lisa greeted them lightly.
"I've decided to let Lisa handle most of the house chores, but you all need to help out whenever Sky's around," I reminded them.
"Yes!" they responded in unison.
"Alright, take Lisa on a tour of the mansion. I'll go put her bedding and belongings in her room, which will be next to the kids' room," I instructed.
"Yes!" they chorused once more.
The children led Lisa through the dining room and kitchen. I headed upstairs, placing her bedding and the belongings I had kept for her in her room.
It wasn't a huge task, but after finishing, I realized it had been a while since I had taken a bath. Deciding to treat myself, I went to the bathroom and tested the waters by filling the tub.
In a typical Japanese home, the bath draws water directly from a gas heater connected to the tub, but here, water is boiled separately in a stove next to the bathroom, then ladled into the tub. Of course, the water must be drawn from a well, adding considerable effort and cost in firewood just to take a bath.
Luckily for me, with the help of my alchemy workshop, I can easily heat water if I have enough.
After entering the bathroom, I made my way to the backyard well to gather water. The well has a convenient hand pump, allowing me to draw water effortlessly by simply moving the handle up and down. I wasn't sure how much water the well held, but I doubted that my pumping would lower the water level significantly. If I could look directly into the well, I would have been able to store the water in my item box, but unfortunately, the well was completely covered by a thick wooden lid, preventing me from peering inside. For some reason, I also couldn't perceive the water's surface inside the well through my skills.
So, I diligently pumped the handle and filled a bucket each time, storing the water in my item box. After a total of forty pumps, I figured each bucket held about five liters, giving me about 200 liters overall. It turned out to be quite the workout. By the way, the water for the kitchen would also need to be gathered from here, as there was a barrel in the kitchen for storing it. Deciding to fill that barrel first, I turned away from the bathroom and headed to the kitchen instead.
In the kitchen, two large barrels sat on a shelf about 30 centimeters high. They were likely there to ensure a steady supply of fresh water. After transferring some water from my item box to the barrels, I realized I had already emptied a third of the second barrel.
Fetching water turned out to be more challenging than I expected. I wanted to come up with a better method. Perhaps I should visit a clean lake and store a large supply of water in my item box. This way, I could use it for anything other than drinking as it was, and if I needed it for drinking, I could purify it into distilled water at the alchemy workshop—definitely useful.
In terms of materials, seawater is rich in sodium and other elements, so I'd like to stockpile it. However, I currently don't have the luxury of searching for the ocean in this world. It would be much easier to go back to Japan and visit a beach I know.
Having drawn water from a well and brought it to the kitchen, I quickly realized I needed more, so I started pumping again. Considering the bathwater, I desired an additional 300 liters. Since it wouldn't go to waste, I aimed for a total of 500 liters—equivalent to 100 buckets.
With that, I focused intensely on the pump's handle, bringing up water with each stroke. It was good exercise, but I was sweating and getting thoroughly exhausted by the effort. By then, Lisa's tour had wrapped up, and everyone began to gather around me.
"I've filled the kitchen with water," Lisa said, a hint of apology in her voice. "It was originally my job, and I'm sorry."
"I was going to take a bath anyway, so I did it while I was at it. Don't worry about it."
"If you're taking a bath, I can heat the water," Lisa offered.
"I can turn water into hot water without using fire, so there's no need for that."
"Really?"
"I told you I'd teach you, right? This is one of those things."
"I'm going to take a bath now, and in about an hour, we'll all head into town for dinner. So, please gather in the living room."
"Yes," they replied.
"After we finish eating, we'll take turns in the bath. I'll keep the water hot for you."
"Can we have a bath too?"
"You should definitely do that."
"Y-yeah, you're right. Thank you."
"As the head of the household, it's my duty to take care of everyone. No need to worry."
"Yes."
"Hey, Lisa, wasn't it a good thing to be bought by master?" a child whispered.
"That's true," Lisa replied.
I could hear their soft voices chatting. I needed to keep that feeling alive.
After dismissing everyone, I headed to the bathroom and filled the tub with the hot water I had created in my alchemy workshop.
I stripped in the changing room and stepped into the bath. It had been days since I'd last bathed, and my scalp felt itchy.
Once I submerged myself completely, hot water spilled over the sides of the tub.
"Ah, this feels great," I sighed.
I realized I had forgotten to buy body soap and shampoo. Once I withdraw some cash from Tomorrow Bank, I'll have to pick some up. After soaking in the warm water for a while, I decided to call it a day and get out, saving the real bath for tomorrow.
I dried off with a towel I bought in Japan and changed clothes from my item box. However, since I hadn't properly washed with soap, I felt a bit unsatisfied. I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I wondered how people in this world bathe. Surely, they must have some sort of soap for washing their bodies or shampoo for washing their hair?
Now that I can travel between Japan and this world, I don't really need to search for or buy those things here.
After getting ready, I sat down on the sofa in the living room to relax when the children and Lisa came in. Outside, it was getting dark as the sun set.
"Alright, it's time to go," I said. "Everyone, hold my hand."
Once everyone had a grip on me, we transferred.
We appeared in the alley next to the diner where we last ate.
"It's the same place we visited before, but if there's a better restaurant nearby, I'd prefer that," I said. "Does anyone know a good place?"
"There is a nice place a bit further down, but it's a little pricier," Lisa replied.
"Then please show us the way," I said.
"Sure," Lisa replied.
We followed her to a restaurant she insisted was a good one.
From the entrance, it was clear that this place was different from the casual diners we had been entering. It exuded an air of sophistication. An impeccably dressed man stood by the door, adding to the ambiance—almost like the maître d' of an upper-class establishment. It felt ludicrous to compare it to a slave trader's shop, yet the look of the place made you believe it could be anything from a high-end restaurant to something more sinister.
"Can you seat six?" I asked, trying to assert some authority as a customer.
"Yes, we can accommodate you right away," the man replied.
He led us inside, and we followed him into the restaurant.