They were laughing. They were laughing at me. Both Eri, and Mika. Now that I think about, I would laugh at myself too. Going to dig a big hole full of spikes, only because a cute girl asked me to. Going to dig a hole, only because a cute girl asked me to?

Am I a virgin or something?!

Oh, wait… I am.

“How long do we need to go Mikori?” I asked, and she looked at me.

It was the name of this wizard girl. We were now going through the city, heading to her house, and for some reason the road seemed familiar.

“H-How do you know my name?” she asked, with a frightened face.

“Didn’t you shoved this piece of paper with it to my face?! Why are you walking faster!? Hey, who do you think I am?!”

“Ohhh… I’m sorry. For a moment there I thought you might be a very bad person, and I even invited you to live with me. Anyway, it won’t take long. By the way, what is your name? I didn’t ask in this commotion.” she said, and smiled.

“It’s Ryan.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ryan. I hope we will have a great future together.”

I’m sure that we have a great future before us, but there are some things that interest me. For example...

“What were you doing outside in the night yesterday? Were you looking for valuable things in this trashcan?”

“H-Hey! I’m not that kind of person! I j-just really didn’t want to go home…” she said, and looked away bashfully.

Wait, why? What is she talking about?!

As I thought about those things, we approached a very familiar shop, and she stopped. In an instant, I remembered why this place looked so familiar.

“It’s here! I live here with a very kind old lady.” she said, and pointed at a big sign. It read “Best sweets in Flark”.

“Hey, hey, hey. Are you sure it’s that place? And why you didn’t want to return home? It’s very important now!”

“O-Ohh. it’s just that the lady here can sometimes be scary. But don’t worry, I’m sure she will like you!” she said, and entered the building.

I stopped for a moment, to think if what I did was a good thing to do, and after that I went after her. There was no reason to think about those things now.

When I was inside, I was greeted by a familiar smell. Bread, cakes, chocolate buns, and other tasty things. They were all put on the display, behind the glass, and near the counter an old lady was standing. I remembered her well.

“Oh, you are back Mikori? They threw you out early today.” she said, and smiled.

“T-They didn’t throw me out! I came back because I wanted to!”

I looked at them talking. Wasn’t I supposed to live alone, with a cute girl? This isn’t what I agreed to. This is not that at all!

“Anyway! Look at who I brought with me! He said that he will help me!” Mikori said, as she pointed at me.

“Oh, what a nice boy.” the old lady replied, and looked at me. After that she seemed to remember something “Wait, wait. Aren’t you this one, that came to me yesterday without any money, only to deliver this outrageous message?!”

Wait! What message! I didn’t know that this envelope had an outrageous message in it!

“Oh, so you know each other? Then I don’t need to introduce him.”

Wait young girl! Don’t you see that the situation is intense?! Shouldn’t you say something more?!

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Ehh… Anyway, can he be here now? Isn’t he working with this witch?” the old woman asked, and Mikori smiled.

“He’s not working for her anymore! He will be living with me now!”

When she said that, the old lady looked at me, like at the worst thing that has ever lived in this world. Her eyes were so full of disgust, that they reminded me a little of my mother.

Oh, beautiful times.

“What were you thinking?! Why didn’t you ask me first?! You can’t just live with a boy in one room!?”

I wonder if I will come back while kneeling, they will let me in. Maybe I should buy a present? I have some money with me. Maybe a cake from this shop? Heh, it would be a nice joke. Eri will probably lower my salary even more.

“Why?! What is wrong with that? He said that he will help me, so I must help him too!”

“And who do you think will feed him?! He will live here for free? There is no way. You should tell him to go back.”

Oh yeah. Should have known that something like this will happen. What was my luck again? I don’t remember. Oh, wait… I do remember. My luck resembles a tire… a wheel… a nice, empty circle.

“I-I will feed him! And what’s wrong with him living in my room?! You won’t need to pay for anything then!”

Don’t worry Mikori. This adventure was fun while it lasted. Now I need to practise kneeling.

I looked at the old lady. She was angry, but she also looked resigned. After a moment of thinking, she took a glance at me.

“We have an empty room. If he will work, then I might let him stay...”

Wait! What are you talking about?! I don’t want to work! It’s the same as before!

“Really!? Thank you!” Mikori said, and went to hug her. After that she approached a door, that was on the back of the shop. “I will just go and grab some shovels! I’ll be back in a minute!” she said, and went through it, leaving me all alone.

I took a glance at the old lady. There was a smile on her face.

“I hope you are ready...”

Ready? Ready for what?! I didn’t even say anything?! Did you hear my saying anything?! I was just standing there! Why did you decide everything on your own?!

“Oh, don’t look at my with those frightened eyes. I’m not like this witch. I will pay you one vlawnia for a day of work. I can’t pay you more, if you are going to eat, and live here.”

What?! Is this old lady an angel? I thought that she was someone bad!

“H-Hey, there is no reason to cry! Anyway, Mikori have free weekends. If you are going to help her, then you will have them too, but…” An angel! An angel! This lady is an angel! “If you even touch her, I’m going to kill you.”

A demon! A demon! This lady is a demon!

“I’m back! Why is Ryan shaking?” Mikori said, when she came back with two shovels. They were big, and looked new.

“Oh, don’t worry about this my child. Anyway, if you want to go now, then you should take this.” old lady replied, and handed me a basket. In it there were a few chocolate buns, and two sandwiches “Don’t do anything dangerous, and come back early. We will have a lot of work tomorrow.”

I knew it.

“Thank you! Come Ryan, we need to go. You will see, how perfect my plan is.” the girl said, and gave me a shovel. I felt like a certain knight, but I don’t think he had a basket full of food in his other hand.

I looked around. Mikori was smiling near the door, and the lady was glaring at me. I don’t know if they even noticed, but since I came here, I didn’t say even one word.

“I don’t know if you even care, but I accept your offer.” I said, and both of them looked at me puzzled, after that we left the building.

The day was still young, but now more people were walking on the road. I thought about what happened. It felt weird, but it seemed that the deal I had now was better, than the one I had before. From the beginning I just wanted to grab this potion, and then I would find a better way to earn money.

Even in a world like this, there must be a way to become a NEET.

“Thank you Ryan.” I heard the voice of the girl, that was now walking before me. She didn’t had her staff with her, but only a shovel.

“For what?” I asked, and she looked at me.

“For everything. I’m happy that you agreed to help me. You’ll see, that you won’t regret it!” Mikori said, and smiled.

I hope that I won’t regret it. It’s hard to believe you now.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask it before, but why are you wearing those clothes if you can’t even cast one spell?”

“O-Oh, d-don’t worry about it!”

What’s with that weird response? Are you sure that goblins are not dangerous?! You weren’t lying, were you? I don’t want to find out while running from them!

As I thought about those things, I noticed that some of the people were looking at us. I could hear laughter coming from them.

“Hey, Mikori! Aren’t they laughing at us?! They are laughing at us, aren’t they!?”

“T-They are not!”

Yeah, she must be right. Why would anyone laugh, at the two of us. A guy without any skills, and a girl that wants to kill goblins with a hole. Why would they laugh at us, now walking through the road with two shovels…

“Mikori, I’m pretty sure that they are laughing at us! Mikori?! Say something! Don’t just start walking faster! Hey! Mikori!” I shouted, but there was no response.

And just like that, we approached the city gate.