Vol 1 Chapter 11 – Let’s Go for a Walk【Vol 1: A Man Who Wants to Buy a Slave】

The day after I felt like Nemu and I had gotten closer, I only ended up seeing her in the maid outfit during meals. Despite postponing my Guild business and staying home for her.

The only words that came out of Nemu’s mouth were “good morning,” “thank you for the meal,” “I’m done eating,” and “good night.” Even if I’d made a rule about calling me “master,” it would’ve been meaningless since Nemu never called me anything anyway.

Well, just seeing a real cat-eared girl in a maid outfit—not some fake—made being reincarnated in this world worthwhile.

After that, I spent my days looking forward to seeing Nemu in her maid outfit once a week.

Meanwhile, my adventurer activities weren’t particularly lucrative. The reward from the wyvern corpse—two large gold coins—went entirely into savings, which was good, but I couldn’t pull similar stunts frequently.

Doing it too often would make people think “Isn’t this guy too lucky?” and raise unnecessary suspicions. So lately I’d been earning money by taking slightly more gathering and monster subjugation requests that paid well.

Then, a month after defeating the wyvern—

“Nemu’s coming along today too.”

After finishing breakfast, as I was about to head to the Adventurer’s Guild, Nemu called out to me looking completely prepared. Caught off guard, I froze for a moment before regaining my composure.

“Wait, what are you talking about, Nemu? You’re currently suspended. There’s no way you can come along, right?”

“No problem. The suspension only prohibits adventurer activities. Nemu’s just going for a walk outside the city with Yuuki.”

Nemu stated this with a straight face. Where had she learned such a loophole-like excuse? Or had she always been this cunning?

“Ah… So if we run into monsters during our walk, that’s just coincidence and can’t be helped?”

“Hmm, that’s Yuuki’s thought. Nemu didn’t say anything. Nemu’s just inviting Yuuki for a walk.”

Nemu carefully avoided saying it outright. Apparently this was intentional.

Honestly, I wasn’t happy about Nemu’s suspension either. Not that this was my reason, but I had no desire to refuse her company.

“Fine, I get it. I’ll accept this invitation of yours. So where are we walking?”

“Hmm. The walk destination is ‘Lake Hounien.’ It’ll take time, so prepare for camping too. I want to eat lots of food.”

“Got it, got it. I’ll handle the preparations, so wait for me outside the city, Nemu.”

“Mm, okay. I’ll go ahead and wait.”

After saying this, Nemu left the house first. Left behind, I sighed before storing the pre-made meals I’d prepared into my Dimensional Storage.

The “Lake Hounien” Nemu had chosen as our destination was a large lake two to three days’ walk from here. Lots of moonflower grass—an ingredient for healing potions—grew there. Her wanting to go there meant—

“She wants me to take the moonflower grass gathering request, right? Geez, what can I do.”

For some reason she wanted to take a request but couldn’t due to her suspension. So she’d used the walk as an excuse to make me take it instead. She could’ve just said so directly. Apparently she had a surprisingly shy side.

Learning this unexpected side of Nemu, I headed to the Adventurer’s Guild with a grin.

I pulled the target request from the board and submitted it at the counter. When Furla received the request form and saw the contents, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh, a moonflower grass gathering request! That’s unusual for you! Taking such an unprofitable request—what’s gotten into you!?”

“No particular reason. Just thought I’d take this kind of request sometimes. Community service, you know.”

“Hahaha! Never thought I’d hear those words from you! In that case, you’re very welcome! Do your best out there!”

Furla laughed loudly while stamping the acceptance certificate. As he said, this request wasn’t worth it. Travel took time, and moonflower grass didn’t sell for much. For her to want me to take such a request, Nemu must have her reasons.

I left the Guild and passed straight through the city gate. Following the road forward, I found Nemu squatting on the path waiting.

“Ah, finally here. Then let’s go for our walk.”

Saying this, Nemu stood up and started walking toward the lake. Walking beside her, I decided to indirectly ask about the reason for this “walk.”

“Hey Nemu, why’d you suddenly decide to go out using such a loophole? Actually, couldn’t you have gone alone?”

At my question, Nemu stopped and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Hmm? It’s not sudden though? I told you before about going for walks, didn’t I?”

Nemu tilted her head. Come to think of it, during this past month, she’d occasionally said she was going for a walk and left. I’d assumed she was just walking around the city, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Wait, all those times you said ‘I’m going for a walk’—you were sneaking out like this every time!?”

“Yeah. But today’s destination takes too long and I can’t get back in time, so I thought I’d bring Yuuki along for the walk.”

Seeing Nemu’s matter-of-fact expression, I felt embarrassed for letting my imagination run wild.

Maybe she’d been asked by a city orphan to gather moonflower grass for their mother’s medicine, and she’d made that promise—I’d been indulging in such delusions. How embarrassing.

Nemu was just being Nemu. A cat-girl who acted at her own pace, doing whatever she pleased.

“So you were dutifully keeping curfew, huh? Fine… Just tell me where you’re going next time, okay?”

“Got it. Then let’s go for our walk.”

Saying this, Nemu raised her hand looking slightly happy. I covered my face with my hand in embarrassment as I walked alongside her.