As A Result of Trying To Live An Erotic Slow-Life, I Have Become The Underground Ruler of This Upside-Down Otherworld - Chapter 70: Chapter Three Interlude: Do-Anything-For-A-Day Coupon - Mia

Chapter 70: Chapter Three Interlude: Do-Anything-For-A-Day Coupon – Mia

At the heart of the capital’s main street, standing before the entrance of a grand mansion, Arius looks up at the gate and can’t help but blurt out.

“Uwa… Seriously, ain’t this too damn big?”

—I want to treat Arius-san.

The use of the do-anything-for-a-day coupon.

As expected of the event’s spearhead, Mia was the first to claim her right.

Arius knew Mia’s home was in the capital’s center, but this was his first visit.

He thought she was rich, but the sheer opulence of the mansion makes him wonder if he’s come to the wrong place.

“How many Ronnyans could fit in this thing?”

Not quite Tokyo Dome, but Arius escapes reality with odd measurements.

Fact is, Mia’s house is too big for one person. Cleaning it alone would take more than a full day—easily over 24 hours.

He double-checks the address on the paper handed to him. No mistake.

The doorbell seems to demand he press it, so he steels himself and reaches out.

“Uo!?”

The gate opens on its own.

Suppressing the urge to question the mechanism, he chalks it up to magic stones doing anything and steps onto the path leading to the mansion.

“Welcome, you’ve arrived.”

“Eh, huh? Sonya-san?”

No time to enjoy the well-kept garden, he hurries to the entrance, where a familiar figure bows respectfully.

“Yes, today I’ve been hired by Mia-sama as your guide. Please, my regards.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks. Kinda relieved. Even knowing it’s Mia’s place, I felt outta my depth.”

Arius scratches his head sheepishly, making Sonya’s maiden heart go gyun gyun, but today she can’t indulge.

“Thank you very much. This way, please.”

Sonya opens the door.

Urged to enter with a polite “please,” Arius takes a small breath and steps inside.

“…Whoa.”

Good taste or bad?

Arius can’t judge, but the entrance hall is stunning.

The floor—marble, like in his past life? Polished to reflect the chandelier’s light faintly.

The red carpet laid over it seems spotless, making him feel guilty for walking on it.

“I’ve escorted the guest.”

“Well done.”

A soft click as the door closes behind Arius. A voice echoes through the hall.

“Welcome, Arius-sama. I am Mia, the master of this mansion.”

“Eh? Oh, uh? Yes, I’m Arius… Thank you for the invitation? Uh?”

His gaze lifts. Descending the staircase from the hall to the second floor is a beautiful girl in a white dress.

“Fufufu, please, make yourself at ease. I hope you’ll fully enjoy my hospitality today.”

Her usual twin-tails are down.

Her lips bear bold red lipstick.

“Eh, really Mia? For real?”

“Yes. Of course.”

The beauty—no, goddess—in Arius’s eyes makes him doubt she’s human.

She’s so otherworldly. The furnishings, the people, everything in this space makes him feel he’s still dreaming.

“Now, standing in the entrance is charming, but please, this way. I’ve prepared drinks.”

She extends her hand.

Arius knows escorting is the man’s role.

“Ah, oh.”

Mia’s refined movements captivate him.

Mesmerized, he can only place his hand over hers.

※

A welcome drink too memorable to call it that settles in his stomach.

Mia’s unusually refined speech guides him through the mansion, with Sonya silently following.

He finally accepts this as reality when they reach the mage workshop.

“This isn’t typically a place for guests.”

The door opens, implying it’s because it’s Arius.

“…Crazy.”

What catches his eye is a mountain of magic stones.

Mage workshops are workrooms and storage, but Mia’s holds an astronomical number of stones.

Even non-mages would pause, thinking, This much could let you live idly forever.

“Have you seen raw magic stones before? We call them pure stones. Mages imbue them with directional magic, turning them into useful tools. That’s part of our job.”

Mia calls it a mage’s job, but few can process pure stones.

More precisely, few can both maintain and process them.

Most specialize in one, and someone like Mia, who can even mine them, is one-of-a-kind.

“Uh, what’s this?”

“Yes. Equipment for converting to heat. The cooking tools at Ronnyan were made here.”

Machinery sits amid the stone piles.

Mia smiles as Arius looks on with interest.

“Let’s make something simple.”

“Eh…? Whoa!?”

Mia takes a small pure stone and starts processing it with practiced ease.

Magic must be flowing— the stone flattens like kneaded clay in her palm, then is placed on the equipment.

“…Fuu.”

Mia exhales softly, raises both hands to the device, and murmurs something, Arius notices.

“Done. This is a heat-generating magic stone. I made it like the ones at Ronnyan.”

“Oh, yeah… Looks familiar. Damn, you can make this in a flash?”

Arius examines the finished stone, and Mia’s smile deepens.

It took maybe three minutes, but kneading a pure stone barehanded is impossible.

Even specialized mages take half a day for a heat stone—something Arius doesn’t know.

“If you wish, I can make something else.”

“Nah… Seeing Mia’s cool side is enough. Thanks.”

Mia’s cheeks flush, knowing his words are sincere.

“Then, would you take some pure stones? As many as you like.”

That’s Mia’s real point.

The stones here are half her stock, but selling them all could build a Rongrong.

“…Mia.”

“Yes. How many should I prepare?”

Arius senses the intent behind her main topic.

So, this is another of Mia’s dreams.

“Thanks. But I don’t need ‘em.”

“…Is that so? That’s a shame.”

Hiding her disappointment, Mia gracefully covers her mouth.

※

And so.

Everything was hospitality and demeanor beyond Arius’s imagination.

The food, the sights, the feelings.

Mia’s mansion held a world Arius never touches, nor likely will.

“Hey, Mia.”

“Yes, Arius-sama. Did the dinner satisfy you?”

Both realized it.

Mia tries to change the subject, but Arius’s eyes say he won’t let it slide.

“Mia.”

“…Haa, guess it didn’t work, huh.”

Finally, they’re back to their usual selves.

Mia’s face screams genuine regret, and Arius…

“Sorry, y’know.”

“…Nfufu. It’s okay, Arius-san.”

He feels truly sorry for crushing one of Mia’s dreams.

“If we’d met differently, maybe it could’ve happened.”

“Yeah, maybe. But… I can’t imagine meeting you any other way, Mia.”

In the end.

This hospitality was Mia’s farewell.

A goodbye to one form of happiness she’d envisioned since birth, shaped by her life.

“Guess it’s a shame. That kinda meeting, I could’ve been gloriously lazy, right?”

“Fufu, it’s not too late! Take all of Mia, everything♡”

Mia straddles Arius’s lap on the sofa.

Really. Not lying. It’s not too late.

Her eyes convey that, pleading with his.

“But I like the Mia now.”

Ronnyan’s drink server and equipment maintenance worker.

Secretly tied to dark powers, supporting Arius from the shadows.

The Mia he saw here was her ideal.

A woman with much to offer, all for the man she loves.

“Mia, y’know.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s slept with a lot of guys.”

“Yeah.”

Mia keeps a smile, spinning words.

“If someone accepted me someday, I’d give them my all. I worked hard for that.”

“Yeah.”

The wealth and connections she built.

The skills and heart of service she honed.

“But nobody ever loved Mia.”

“Yeah.”

She was ready to give everything. Just no one to give it to.

A lavish gift with no recipient, no address.

“So I slept with more guys.”

“Yeah.”

Her voice starts trembling.

Regret? Confession?

That past led her to Arius.

And Arius is drawn to her because of that past.

“Then I met you, Arius-san…!”

“Yeah, we met.”

Tears spill from her eyes.

“I met a happiness I didn’t know, couldn’t imagine!”

“Yeah, me too. I can feel happy now because of you all.”

The old Mia couldn’t find happiness.

But her wandering gift found a warm home.

“U, ah… Uwaa…”

“Mia…”

He can’t yet say he loves her or adores her.

“I promise. I couldn’t make the Mia I didn’t know happy, but the one in my arms now? I’ll make her happy, no matter what.”

“Yeah… Yeah…! Make me so, so happy… Arius-san, Arius-san!”

He swears it, pouring strength into his arms.

Vowing never to let go, he seals it with a kiss, heart and lips entwined.