Vol 1 Chapter 18: Daily Life【Vol 1: A Man Who Wants to Buy a Slave】

The next day. When I woke up, I was surprised by the hardness of the floor—so different from the bed I usually slept in—and realized I’d fallen asleep in Nemu’s room last night.

Thinking this might be bad, I sat up and turned toward the bed where Nemu was sleeping. There she was, her face darkened, staring at me.

“…I’m sorry.”

Tears welling in her eyes, Nemu clutched the blanket tightly and muttered quietly. After being hurt so badly, the first words out of her mouth upon waking were an apology. More than that damn pajama set, I wished she’d value herself a little more.

I wanted to tell her that, but I couldn’t think of any clever words. In the end, I just laughed like usual and said something completely ordinary.

“Why the hell are you apologizing!? You should be saying ‘good morning,’ right?”

“But…”

Nemu still looked down apologetically. But I couldn’t back down here either. I kept staring at her silently until she finally gave in.

“…Morning.”

“Yeah, morning! Well then, how about some breakfast!”

With that, I left the room and headed to the kitchen. Nemu came out of her room right away, sat down in a living room chair, and watched me silently. Feeling like our usual life was finally returning, I let out a small chuckle.

I finished making a light meal and placed it on the table. We began eating as usual, and I thought we’d return to our peaceful daily life just like this—but there was something that had been bothering me.

I couldn’t just keep it buried in my chest, so even though I felt bad about reopening the wound, I decided to ask Nemu.

“Hey… can I ask you just one thing?”

“Mm-mm… what?”

“Why’d you go with those guys? I told you I’d come get you in two weeks, didn’t I?”

“Mm… they said, mm… that Yuuki borrowed money from Denard to buy slaves. And that you needed my help to extend the repayment period.”

At what Nemu told me, I accidentally dropped the sandwich I was holding onto my plate. I never imagined the reason Nemu was taken away was because of me. And I was surprised those bastards had obtained information that I liked slaves.

And they’d investigated that Nemu felt indebted to me, her host, and wanted to do whatever she could to help. Was it thoroughly researched, or had their plan just happened to work? I didn’t know, but this needed to be corrected properly.

“Listen, Nemu! I have never, and will never, borrow money from others to buy slaves! I want to welcome my destined slave girl with only the money I’ve earned myself! Got it!”

“Gulp… okay.”

Nemu swallowed the sandwich she’d been chewing all at once and nodded. That should settle the slave matter. Now for one more thing—

“Also, when I need your help, I’ll ask you directly! So even if someone comes to you saying ‘Yuuki said he needs your help!’ never believe them! Got it!”

“…Mm, got it.”

Nemu looked me straight in the eye and nodded. Now she definitely wouldn’t fall for something like this again. With my worries cleared, Nemu finished off all the remaining sandwiches.

“Thank you for the meal… I’m full.”

Watching Nemu mutter contentedly, I finally felt our daily life had returned. But to restore things perfectly, there was still one thing missing.

I picked up the empty plates and headed to the sink.

“Once I finish washing these, we’re going out, so go to your room and get changed.”

I called out to Nemu to go buy that thing, but for some reason, she wasn’t enthusiastic.

“…It’s fine. Nemu will sleep in her room, so Yuuki can go out alone.”

After saying that, Nemu looked down with a dark expression and started heading up the stairs. I hurriedly stopped washing and grabbed her hand.

“No, no, no! There’s no point going shopping without you!”

“…Why? You can always buy things without Nemu, right?”

Apparently Nemu thought the shopping trip I was talking about was the regular grocery shopping I usually did. In that case, I could certainly go alone, but this shopping trip had a clear purpose.

“That’s true for regular shopping, but… I promised you, remember? That I’d buy you new pajamas. If I go alone, I’ll end up buying dog-patterned pajamas, you know?”

“!!”

Nemu’s ears perked up at my words and her tail started swishing around. I’d promised to buy new pajamas to replace the ones that had been torn to shreds. Only by buying those could we truly return to our normal life.

Nemu had been openly showing her joy, but for some reason she curled up her tail again and flattened her ears. She looked down and bit her lip.

“…Nemu doesn’t deserve to get them.”

The words spilled from her mouth, but her feelings were clearly contained in them.

She wanted me to buy them, but she didn’t deserve it after letting her pajamas get destroyed. Even though it wasn’t her fault they were ruined, Nemu was worrying about me. Maybe it was because Nemu had such a kind heart that I felt she was different from other pumpkins.

So I decided to act a little cool.

“Idiot, you think you’re getting them for free!? While we’re buying pajamas, we’re also getting a new type of maid outfit! From now on, you’ll be rotating between two maid outfits! Got it!”

“…Is that okay?”

Nemu, understanding my true intentions, asked while swishing her tail in circles again. Instead of nodding, I smiled lightly and headed back to the kitchen.

“I’m going out once I finish these dishes, so hurry up and get changed!”

“…Mm!”

Nemu responded happily and ran up to the second floor. And so our life together began again.