Rain fell early in the morning. It might be the time that signaled the end of summer, as a late rain season began.
-Dudududu…

The sound of raindrops beating against the window. Even the pudding-like tender heart turned emotionally soft like soft-serve ice cream.

‘I feel like I’m producing female hormones.’

With a slurp, I sipped my tea while looking outside.

‘Today she won’t be able to come to work. It’s raining too much.’

As I watched the swelling river, I thought about the maid who would be preparing to come to work. A middle-aged woman in her forties. She didn’t have any special experience and was just an ordinary commoner housewife, but I hired her because her cooking tasted good.

Since I told her not to come if it rains, she probably won’t come today.

I sighed while looking at the dirty bedsheets.

‘Life is truly tough.’

I shouldn’t have woken her for breakfast.
I should have let her sleep when she said she wanted to.

I woke up the lady with the thought of her health in mind, making her eat breakfast, but the drowsy lady eventually. She ended up faceplanting into the soup on the table. Thankfully, it was cool.
It would have been a disaster if I had served it hot.

Slurp. The cheap green tea spreading inside my mouth tasted particularly bitter today.

Today was also a day off from the adventurer’s job.
I had told Hanna that we would take a break if it rained heavily yesterday.

Before I knew it, more than two weeks had passed since Hanna and I began working together.

My wallet had significantly fattened.
Now, about five days a week, I could afford to eat meat without my wallet going on strike. The laughter from the lady increased, as did my own.

I was all in all thankful to Hanna.

‘Quest.’

[Q. The Short-Lived Fate of the Unfortunate Extra ‘Hanna’]

Being ignored by her father and servants, she constantly resents her lackluster talent.

She is parched for praise.

…
…

1. Give ego-boosting praise.
(5/10)
2. Achieve an ‘Affinity of 40’ or higher.
[Affinity: 32]
3. Defeat the ‘Elite Orc Swordsman.’
(0/1)

Reward: Swordsmanship Lv. 6, Strength +3 increase
Hanna: Swordsmanship Lv. 4, Beginner Aura (C)

Failure: Histania Hanna dies.

────────────────

It seems there’s about a week left.

I thought even four weeks would be tight, but Hanna has been following along better than expected, making it feels sufficiently possible only after three weeks.

Of course, with Hanna’s current skills, she would definitely lose 100% against an Elite Orc Swordsman. After all, not just any ordinary monster, an Elite Orwell is a special monster with an ‘Elite’ qualifier.

But I was confident that with about a week’s training and the right strategies, Hanna could definitely catch one.

Hanna was growing fast.

She blushed even with small compliments, gaining motivation and quickly grew, making it her own.

I was proud of her for listening to every little bit of advice, improving and adopting it as her own. It felt like this is what a teacher’s heart should be like.

‘When I think about it, she is indeed my first disciple.’

It’s the first time I’ve formally taught someone.

Hanna wields the sword well.
And she loves the sword.

If such passion had been shown in a family that makes a living from swordsmanship, they would dote on her and cherish such a treasure, but her complicated family story was regrettable.

‘But, Swordsmanship Lv. 6.’

According to the setting guide, Level 5 is the highest realm that an ordinary person can achieve with effort.

Anything beyond that level falls into the realm of talent.

Considering characters like Michail or villains in the novel start at Level 6 after awakening, it seemed convenient.

Am I now entering the boss tier? I liked the idea that I have reached a level of martial prowess that wouldn’t let me die in the streets. If I’m at Swordsmanship Level 6, I could compete even with Michail after his awakening.

I felt both a sense of regret and anticipation for the nearing end of my relationship with Hanna.

-Dududu…

“The rain’s getting stronger.”

Rain makes people emotional.
It’s strange how water falling from the sky can stir one’s heart so profoundly.

Even though it’s damp and the laundry won’t dry, I don’t know what’s so good about it.

‘But the sound of the rain is nice.’

There was one more person soaked in sentiment like me—the landlord with melancholic eyes, blankly gazing outside.

“Heh… nice.”

I quietly called out to Olivia.

“Lady.”
“Hmmnn.”

Madam villain was intently looking outside the window. Perhaps lost in a daydream of holding an umbrella together with Michail in the rain, she did not respond to my call.

I wanted to interrupt her moment.

Madam villain was laughing silly at the window. Our villainous lady isn’t usually the emotional type, so does the weather change people?

It irritated me peculiarly.

-Chomping.

‘Chomping?’

Right as I felt irked, I heard the lady’s sound of admiration.

“Hmm… delicious.”

I carefully placed my hand on the lady’s shoulder.

“Lady?”

Startled, the villain’s shoulder quivered.
Despite the shock, Olivia stayed rigidly facing the window, not turning around to look at me like she usually would—making me suspicious of the stubborn lady’s behavior.

“What are you doing?”
“I’m guarding the house.”
“Why are you guarding the house?”
“It’s my job.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been employed since last week.”
“And who’s paying your salary?”
“…”

Madam villain remained silent.
I turned my head to see the villain’s face.

She quickly averted her gaze.
In a brief moment, I noticed something brown smeared by the lady’s mouth.
I had a hunch.
The lady was eating chocolate.

Struggling to conceal my laughter, I spoke to the lady.

“Isn’t it tough guarding the house like this?”
“Yeah. The sugar level drops, and it’s hard.”
“Why would your sugar drop?”
“Because it’s raining?”
“Hmm. Then you need some sugar, don’t you?”

Madam villain twitched at the bait I cast.
She wasn’t one to turn down free snacks.

The villainess nodded vigorously.

“Yes. There’s a great need for sugar.”

With a grave face, the villainess nodded seriously. The sweet scent had already escaped her lips, so her earnest voice was not trustworthy at all.

However, unaware of this, the villainess continued with an expectant voice.

“I think I can guard the house more reliably if I had a supply of sugar stocked up.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.”

I said to the lady.

“But, lady.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you having a bit too much sugar for it to be dropping?”

Startled, the lady shook.
Madam villain remained motionless as if seeing a ghost. She appeared to lack talent in acting.

“What do you mean? What did I eat?”

The lady gave her all to her feigned excuse.
I felt thankful every time like this that the lady didn’t have a grand ambition in acting. If she did, she would have been a villain with merely one trick.

The lady was noisily moving her jaw joint. I restrained my smile while grabbing her shoulder.

“I’m going to seize it, no matter how you managed to steal it.”

“No! I saved it up!”
“As far as I know, saving is quite foreign to the lady, isn’t it?”
“No, I got along with saving since yesterday.”

While mumbling incoherently, the villainous lady stretched out her hand to push my face away.

The chocolate from her fingers smeared on my face.

It was sweet.
There was no clearer culprit.

“Hand it over.”
“I don’t have any!”
“Your hands seem to suggest otherwise; they’re covered in too much of it.”
“Really?”

The lady looked at her own hands.
She nodded and accepted it.
It seemed she realized it was too blatant.

Olivia fumbled through her pockets.

It was the chocolate bag I had brought.

Olivia, whose clumsy hand skills had deteriorated, grabbed a handful of chocolate and made eye contact with me.

She tried to pull off a pitiful expression, but she switched tactics in the face of my stern look. Olivia gulped down her saliva.

“Ricardo. Do you know what we have to do first when the tax auditor comes for an investigation?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“Evidence destruction.”

-Gobbling.

The lady shoved the chocolate in her hand into her mouth.

“Lady!”
“Huhuhuhu.”

I burst out laughing at the sight of her chuckling wickedly like a malevolent villain.

“No… Pffft, really!”

The villainous lady munched away with passion, not offering any to her butler, eating it all herself—an offense that brought my hand to poke Olivia’s side.

“Stop, that tickles!”
“Aren’t you the one who said that eating too much sugar would rot your teeth? Especially since you hate brushing.”
“Let me go!”
“I’m not letting go until you hand over all the hidden chocolate.”

After battling a fierce tickling, Olivia sulkily began to spit out her concealed stash.

Like a corporate executive having embezzled funds confiscated, the look on the villainous lady’s face was of sheer despondency.

Somehow, she looked sadder than when she was dumped by Michail.

Beneath the pillow.
Under the sheets.
And.

“Why would you hide it there?”
“Just because. It didn’t seem visible.”
Olivia said, pulling out the chocolate between her breasts—a lot of it melted.

I repositioned myself.

As Olivia held out her hand with the chocolate, I brushed her offering aside while speaking.

“Don’t put it there.”
“Why? It’s a great hiding spot.”
“It’s uncomfortable for me.”

I was unable to get up from my seat for a while.

***

The lady and I looked out the window again.

This time we observed the outside in a daze, armed with cheap green tea and cheap snacks.

“Ricardo.”
“Yes?”
“It tastes bad.”
“…”

Olivia closed her eyes tightly and dumped the green tea into her mouth.

With a gesture that felt like crushing her hopes, I refilled the empty teacup with green tea.

“It’s good for your health.”
“…”

Wondering if my concern reached her heart, Olivia’s warm gaze fixed onto my hands.

“Jerk.”
“Arf.”

I barked softly.

Time seemed to pass quicker than I thought.
Maybe because two idiots with great chemistry were present, the persistent rain didn’t feel as bad.

It continued to rain heavily, and there were no guests arriving at the house.

We took turns sipping our tea, showing troubled frowns and emptying our cups, playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who would pour the next round—the company of fools.

It was fun.

“It’s raining heavily.”
“If I go out now, I might burn up all my sugar.”
“Gaslighting won’t help; today’s snack will be tiled in green tea.”
“Hmph.”

Outside, a torrential downpour raged on.
The river had risen significantly.
The guards could be easily seen retreating to their homes after suspending their patrols.

Once the rain stopped, I would have to go up onto the roof for some repairs, but for now, I looked up at the sky hoping the ceiling wouldn’t leak.

“Ricardo.”
“Yes?”
“There’s someone coming over there.”

Olivia pointed towards the bustling part of town with her finger. I didn’t believe it. In this weather, there couldn’t possibly be a noble soul crazy enough to come to our house. Probably she mistook a soaking wet puppy for a visitor, I assumed.

In order to clear up the lady’s misunderstanding, I replied lightly.

“No, that’s just a dog.”
“A dog?”
“Yes.”

I gave a slight nod and.
Olivia grew quiet again.
So did I, turning to look out the window once more.

“Ricardo.”

Olivia pointed somewhere again. Her pointing came a bit closer than before now.

“Someone’s coming there.”
“Are you bored?”
“A little?”
“I’ll tell you a scary story in a while.”
“Eek…!”

Olivia clammed up.

I followed Olivia’s finger with my gaze.

‘What is that?’

Indeed, something was there.
Something brown was quickly moving towards our house.

“Huh?”

It was then.
The swiftly approaching entity stopped in front of our mansion’s front gate.

Olivia looked at me.
I nodded slightly—we both knew.
In this kind of weather, the only kind of person who’d visit our house would either be a ghost or a thief.

With trepidation, I peered at the main gate more closely.

‘Who is it?’

A woman, head hung low, spinning around in front of the mansion’s doors.

She seemed familiar.

Brown hair.
Wearing leather pants and looking like a drowned rat with slumped shoulders.

“Huh?”

Olivia glanced up at me slyly.

“Is it a person?”
“It seems so. I’ll go down for a moment.”
“Mm.”

I ran quickly toward the main gate, grabbing my coat and umbrella, and headed towards the person standing drenched in the rain.

There was a soaked woman standing in front of the gate.

A familiar woman.
I had seen her yesterday.
I remembered she had left with a bright smile on her face.

She was struggling to knock on the door.

“Is anyone there?”

“Uh…”

A weak voice reached my ears.

“I missed the taste of green tea and came here.”

Hanna had come to our house.