Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Cover
Color Illustration
Part 1: A Housekeeping Mage’s Daily Life
Chapter 0: Four Years Earlier
Chapter 1: The Woman Who Became a Housekeeping Mage
Chapter 2: Making Portable Foods to Order
Chapter 3: Making a Visit to Comfort the Orphans
Chapter 4: Undertaking a Search for Lost Children
Chapter 5: I Will Not Serve as Your Opponent in a Quarrel
Interlude 1: A Gathering to Comfort a Brokenhearted Man
Interlude 2: The Diary of Rurii the Familiar
Interlude 3: Their Thoughts and Hearts
Part 2: The Familiar’s Homecoming
Chapter 1: The Visitor
Chapter 2: Requests and Rewards
Chapter 3: Closing the Distance
Side Story: Rurii’s Soliloquy
Afterword
Bonus Short Story
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Part 1: A Housekeeping
Mage’s Daily Life
Chapter 0: Four Years Earlier
“It’s so late.”
As she walked toward home at a pace so quick it was
nearly a trot, Shiori checked the time on her smartphone.
The screen cast a faint illumination over the dim street with
its few streetlights. The time indicated by the digital
numbers showed it was late enough that, in just a few more
minutes, the date would change over.
She hadn’t had dinner yet, but making something would
be too much work. There was a convenience store up ahead
—she’d buy something there.
Closing her phone cover with a snap, she tucked it away
in her work bag.
And then...
All of a sudden, her vision distorted. A sensation similar
to vertigo made Shiori stop in her tracks and shut her eyes
tightly. She didn’t think she pushed herself too hard that
often, but ever since she’d left her mid-twenties behind, she
found it harder and harder to recover from exhaustion. For a
while, she endured the dizziness, but when it felt like even
the ground beneath her feet began to reel, she let out a
small groan.
The ground twisted and flexed, causing her to sway
violently. In the next moment, she felt as if she were
floating, like the street had disappeared from under her.
“Oh...”
The instant she realized she was going to fall, a crushing
torrent of immense energy crashed down on her—and her
consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
Chapter 1: The Woman Who
Became a Housekeeping Mage
1
In the northwestern part of the continent of Alphandis lies
the capital of the Torisval region of the Storydia Kingdom,
Tris. Not far from the town’s market district stands a building
with plastered walls. Alec stopped and looked up at a sign
that hung from those walls as it swayed in the wind. Lively
chatter and noise could be heard coming from the building
that had once been a shuttered inn and now, having been
remodeled, was the Tris branch of the Adventurers’ Guild. It
had been a little less than four years since he’d left, but the
lively energy overflowing from the place was painfully
nostalgic.
Kreee. As he pushed open the amber-colored wooden
door, which had been worn glossy with age, its hinges let
out a creak. Inside, the clamor paused for just a moment,
and he was pierced with assessing gazes. There were
familiar faces he hadn’t seen in a while, and the number of
faces he didn’t recognize had increased. Most everyone
quickly lost interest and returned to their conversations, but
those who knew him tossed friendly salutations his way. He
returned the greetings with one hand as he headed toward
the counter.
A red-haired man had set up camp at the center of the
counter, and was flipping through a ledger. He stopped what
he was doing and looked up at Alec.
“Hey. It’s been a while.”
The man extended a rough and bony hand toward him.
Alec grasped it firmly and returned the smile.
“So, the great S-rank adventurer has finally become a
guild master, huh?” said Alec. “Should I be offering my
congratulations?”
“The previous master said he was retiring,” the man
replied. “Thankfully, they let me fill the empty seat. I was
just thinking I wanted to settle down a bit, so it was perfect.
But, man, this last job of yours was a long one, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, you could say that. I ended up shackled to a
taskmaster of a client for a really long time.”
“Did you just get back?”
“No, I came back about a month ago. Spent some time
resting my bones at my parents’ place.”
“I see.” The red-haired man—Zack—smiled knowingly. “In
that case, since I’m sure you must have energy to spare,
can I ask you to take on a job for me? The difficulty level is
A, but I’m having problems pulling together members for a
party.”
Alec paused a moment. “So, there’s a taskmaster here
too...” He looked over the request ticket Zack handed him
and frowned. “Manticore suppression deep in the Fibria
wildwood. I can see why you can’t get a party together. Not
only is the difficulty level high, this is going to be a pain to
do.”
Given the location, just getting there and back again
would take ten days. After factoring in having to confront
magical beasts along the way, the party that took this on
probably wouldn’t return for about two weeks. And it would
be hard for anyone to call that thickly wooded forest
comfortable, with its heavy, damp air. For half a month
you’d have to get by on tough, salty field rations and “beds”
so uncomfortable that it would be impossible to get a good
night’s sleep. While expenses were covered in addition to
the generous reward, considering the term of the contract,
the difficulty level, and the fact that you’d have roughly two
weeks of awful camping, the job could in no way be
considered a profitable one.
“This request has been sitting around for two months
now,” said Zack. “The Tourism Association keeps pestering
me about it. I do have a few people who said they’d take it
on for me, but we’re short on vanguards. I was starting to
think that, worst case, I’d go. But if a magic swordsman
who’s basically S-rank took it on, that’d make up for any
other minor deficiencies, right?”
Alec hesitated. “Heading straight back out into sleeping
outdoors isn’t really...”
While Alec might have had a month to recuperate, he’d
only just gotten back from a long-term job. Frankly, all he’d
wanted to do today was show he was back and grab a low-
level request to warm up. He sighed, not bothering to hide
the gloom in his expression.
Zack gave him a smile pregnant with hidden meaning, as
if to say he’d had an excellent idea. “Listen, if you do this for
me, I’ll throw in my secret weapon. And in celebration of
your return, I’ll pick up the hiring fee.”
“Some solo-type adventurer of yours, is it?” asked Alec.
“You’re being generous and I don’t understand why. Is he
strong?”
“Nah. Strictly a support-type mage. Not suited for battle
at all, but she’ll definitely prove helpful.”
“Is that so? Well, this mage must be either incredibly
skilled or very lucky.” Feeling a little like he was getting
snared in a dubious get-rich-quick scheme, Alec turned a
doubting gaze on Zack, who confidently told him that he’d
understand if he took this mage along.
“She’s the reason the Tris branch’s success and
completion rates on high-level quests has blown past those
of the other branches,” said Zack. “Just take her with you.
You won’t regret it.”
Considering that Zack was going to the trouble of paying
out of his own pocket, he must have really wanted this long-
neglected request cleared up.
