14: Mii-chan worked up a good sweat while exercising

Sizzling…

I wake up to the sound of the alarm clock. Mii-chan is still deep in her dreams, going for a walk. To avoid waking her, I quietly get out of bed and change clothes. I summon one can of cat food and one bottle of mineral water, then put them into my bag.

I gently pick up Mii-chan without waking her and head downstairs. After greeting the innkeeper, I leave the inn. The air is crisp and feels wonderful. Birds are chirping away. Is this what they call “morning chirps”?

Setting aside such silly thoughts, I try to think about more reasonable matters on the way to the guild. Yesterday, I noticed that the number of summonable cat supplies had increased. I wonder why? Is it because my skill level with summoning has gone up from doing it repeatedly? My appraisal shows nothing has changed. It would be nice if it could be represented numerically. But, well, this isn’t a game, so there’s nothing to be done about it…

In any case, it might be best to summon as much as possible. If only that lethargy didn’t come with it… I’ll try to summon as much as I can. More importantly, what should I do with those empty plastic bottles? If left as is, they’ll just keep piling up. Could they be sold for money? No, that’s not a good idea. Selling things that don’t exist in this world would definitely draw unwanted attention. I need to avoid that at all costs. For now, I’ll just store them in the wardrobe.

I enter through the back of the guild and head to the room where I work. I lay a towel on the desk and gently place Mii-chan, who is still sleeping, on it. I put a dish and fill it with mineral water nearby. This way, if she wakes up while I’m occupied, she’ll have something to drink.

I go around and greet the staff. Oh! Gaiz is here.

“Good morning, Gaiz. I apologize for the trouble I caused yesterday.”

“Oh, um. I-I wasn’t troubled or anything…”

I see, he seemed to say the last part in a lower voice, so it was hard to hear, but that’s okay if he wasn’t troubled.

“Let’s do our best today as well.”

“Yeah, good luck.”

I look for Pamil and find her working at her desk.

“Good morning, Pamil.”

“Good morning, Nero. I haven’t finished writing everything yet. I’ll bring it over when I’m done, so please be ready.”

“Understood.”

I head back to the room, drink a bit of mineral water, and get to work.

I transcribe the unprocessed requests from yesterday into the designated place and erase the rest. While I’m doing this, Pamil comes by and hands me a stack of papers. Another large batch; I’ll have to do my best… Pamil gently pets the sleeping Mii-chan before leaving the room.

Alright, let’s get started.

In the end, it took until nearly six o’clock. During that time, Mii-chan woke up, drank some mineral water, and then just stared at me. Each time our eyes met, she tilted her head as if to ask, “Are you okay?” But Mii-chan, I’m fine. I’m working hard for a stable life. Aim for becoming an average citizen!

Then, the intense two hours quickly began. Mii-chan, perhaps bored, wandered around the room but eventually found a sunny spot and curled up there.

With the help of mineral water, I managed to get through the grueling two hours without missing any of the voices coming from the speakers. As the voices became less frequent, I finally took a breather. I picked up Mii-chan, sat in the chair, and tied a pink ribbon around her.

“Mii-chan looks adorable no matter what she wears.”

“Mii~”

Even the way Mii-chan is blushing and saying “Not really~” is adorable. But then Pamil breaks the moment.

“Mii-chan, it’s time for work. Oh, you’re wearing a cute pink ribbon today.”

“Mii~”

With that, Pamil takes Mii-chan away, seemingly ignoring me. My oasis of calm… gone.

I manage the remaining hour without incident, pick up Mii-chan amidst the grumbling, and return to the inn for breakfast. As usual, I feel the sharp glare of jealousy from the women there.

After breakfast, I head back to my room, take out two cans of cat food and two bottles of mineral water. I start feeling dizzy… After setting the alarm clock, I lie down on the bed, and Mii-chan curls up next to the pillow. Time for a short nap.

The sound of the alarm wakes me up… it’s already noon. I’m not very hungry, but I should have a light meal.

I go downstairs, ask the innkeeper for a light meal, and give Mii-chan her cat food on a plate. She starts munching away. Mii-chan has quite an appetite. Where does she put all that in her tiny body?

After lunch, I return to the Hunter’s Guild. I want to check out the training grounds.

Going around to the back of the guild, I see several hunters training in the training grounds.

“Hey, what’s a kid like you doing here?”

A man, probably in his fifties, with a height of about 180 centimeters and graying hair, addresses me.

“Hi, I’m Nero. I started working at the guild yesterday. This is Mii-chan.”

“Hmph. And what do you want?”

Though his words are blunt, I notice his eyes soften when he looks at Mii-chan. Maybe he’s a bit shy?

“I work at the guild, but I’m aspiring to be a hunter. I heard I could train here, so I came to check it out.”

“A kid like you wants to be a hunter? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious.”

“Got a death wish or something? If you’re planning to die, you better write a will.”

He really lays it on thick. It seems like he thinks I’m joking.

“I’m allowed to use the facilities freely, right?”

“As long as you’re affiliated with the guild, there’s no problem.”

In that case, I’ll start my training. Since I need to build basic physical strength, that’s where I’ll begin. I’ve realized that the body given to me by the gods is almost completely lacking in muscle and stamina. It’s in worse shape than the lazy lifestyle I had back in Japan. No wonder I can’t draw a bow.

So, I need to start improving from there. I place Mii-chan on a bench by the side of the training ground and set her bag down.

“Feel free to play, but don’t wander off too far.”

“Mii~”

First, I do a thorough stretch. It’s clear that my body will protest if I start exercising abruptly. After that, it’s time for some running. I ran around the training grounds with Mii-chan. I quickly got exhausted—by that, I mean me…

Still, I keep running in intervals. Mii-chan seems to have gotten bored halfway through and wandered off. It looks like she went to bother the hunters who were training. Just don’t be too disruptive, okay?

After running for about two hours, I drink some mineral water to recover my stamina. This mineral water is really amazing. Normally, I should be too exhausted to get up, but I’m still going strong. The only worry I have is whether this will actually build my stamina. I’ve heard that muscles get stronger when they are stressed. If I recover too quickly, won’t that defeat the purpose?

Mii-chan seems to be training in martial arts with the hunters. She’s performing well, and sometimes the hunters seem to be outmatched. Even Mii-chan, who usually seems so gentle, can get serious when she needs to.

When Mii-chan comes back, she drinks some mineral water. She seems to be in high spirits and her eyes are sparkling.

Since we’re both sweaty, let’s head back to the inn and change. Mii-chan is sniffing her own scent.

“Mii-chan, want to take a bath?”

“Mii~”

I guess that’s a yes.