I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 13

Chapter 13: The Villainous Knight Commander, Unable to Refuse

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“Th-this is my shop… Somehow, it feels so strange!!”

Ciel stood in front of the building along the main street, her body trembling with excitement. A few days earlier, Ciel had received a large investment from Tiana and gotten her hands on a fortune.

She used that money to buy a property she’d had her eye on for a while. Normally, a place along such a busy street would cost no less than 800 gold coins, but due to certain circumstances, she got it for just 500 gold coins.

Apparently, there were rumors of a ghost haunting this building. Both Ciel and I were the type who didn’t care much about things like that, so we bought it without hesitation. 

Well, there’s someone who’s scared though…

“Whimper, whimper…”

“Geez. It’s okay, Mofumaru. Ghosts aren’t scary, not scary at all.”

“Awuu.”

Mofumaru looked absolutely terrified. Perhaps because he had intelligence close to that of a human, the concept of ghosts must have frightened him. With his fluffy tail tucked between his legs, he trembled all over, and seeing Ciel gently petting Mofumaru was unbearably cute.

However, if this kept up, life here would become stressful for Mofumaru. I was left with no other choice. I had to put his heart at ease. 

“Mofumaru, let me tell you something good. Ghosts can be defeated with physical attack.”

“Woof?”

“Eh?”

“It’s simple. When you see one, just tackle it with all your might. Back when I had just joined the knights, I defeated a wraith that appeared in a graveyard that way.”

The rumored ghost was probably just an undead-type monster. Although this was a very rare occurrence, if the previous resident had died a tragic death or passed away with lingering regrets, their soul might still remain in this world. If that soul was left alone for too long, it would gradually absorb the natural magic power around it and become a semi-corporeal undead like a wraith or ghost, which were hard to hit with physical attacks.

Such undead looked misty; they were resistant to slashing attacks but extremely weak against attacks that blew everything away in one go. It was easier to understand this concept by imagining water vapor. You couldn’t cut vapor with a sword, but you could blow it away with a fan. 

Hence why I had tackled it. I couldn’t defeat it with the first blow, so when it appeared again the next day, I tackled it again. Whenever it showed itself, I tackled it. Eventually, the undead had their spirits broken and returned to the heavens.

“The important thing is to tackle them the moment they appear. By planting trauma, they will abandon their regrets and pass on peacefully.”

“Woof!!”

“Lars-san, isn’t that a bit too cruel to the poor ghosts…? N-never mind.”

Ciel looked at me reproachfully, but fell silent when she saw Mofumaru had regained his energy.

Still…

“Ghosts, huh.”

In the original story, there were no rumors of ghosts in the property Ciel bought for her shop. In other words, buying this building itself was already a deviation from the original plot. Maybe it was because my presence had made Ciel and Tiana meet earlier than they were supposed to.

Well, it was too late to worry about it now.

“Ciel, go ahead and unlock the door. It’s the privilege of the buyer.”

“Y-yes!!”

Ciel stood before the door of the building and inserted the key she received from the realtor into the keyhole. Then, she slowly opened the door. Ciel’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, excited by her first big purchase.

“It’s s-so spacious!! And surprisingly clean too!!”

“They say it’s been maintained regularly. It used to be a tool shop, so the layout is already well-suited for a store.”

The property Ciel bought was a two-story building. Right through the entrance on the first floor was a counter, and further inside was a spacious workshop. A staircase led up from that workshop, and at the top were four rooms. Of the four rooms, one was a living room, and the other three were private bedrooms.

The shower and toilet were separate and located only on the second floor. The bathtub in the shower room was large enough that even Mofumaru and I could bathe together comfortably.

Maybe the previous resident had loved baths.

“Lars-san, which room will you take?”

“…Huh? Wait, am I living here too?”

“Eh? You’re not going to live here?”

I was stunned by something I’d heard for the first time.

“I was planning to rent a cheap inn nearby and commute here every day…”

“Oh, I-I see. But, um, you know, I’d feel safer if you lived here with me… Is that… Not okay with you?”

How could I possibly say no when she looked up at me like that!? But this was a problem. No matter how you looked at it, a boy living under the same roof as a girl was definitely problematic.

“So, you really don’t want to live with someone like me, Lars-san…”

“That’s not it. Fine. I’ll stay here without hesitation.”

I couldn’t resist the slightly teary expression on Ciel’s face. It couldn’t be helped—she was just too cute. Besides, if we were under the same roof, it’d be easier to protect her than if I were commuting. It wasn’t all bad. Yes, this would do.

“Ehehe. I’m so happy!!”

Ciel’s face lit up in a bright smile as she went downstairs with Mofumaru. Damn it, every single one of her gestures was just too cute. Right now, Ciel wasn’t dressed up like when she met with Tiana. Yet the smile she showed was just as adorable as back then.

“Lars-san!! Lars-san!!”

I heard Ciel calling from the first floor, so I went downstairs. When I arrived, Ciel’s eyes were sparkling even more brightly.

“What is it?”

“I didn’t notice it during the viewing, but there’s a garden in the back!! And it’s actually quite big!!”

“Hm, you’re right. But it’s pretty overgrown…”

So the real estate agent hid the garden on purpose because it was in such bad shape.

“With this, I could make a herb garden!!”

“…Well, if you’re happy, then that’s good.”

“Woof!!”

“Hm? What is it, Mofumaru?”

Mofumaru dashed out into the backyard. He ran in circles around a spot at the edge of the overgrown garden, then sat down with a plop.

“Mofumaru, do you like that spot?”

“Woof!!”

“Hm. Then I’ll have to build a doghouse to fit your size.”

Not to brag, but I was confident in my DIY skills. In my previous life, I often helped my big sister with her hobbies and made all sorts of things.

Well, she’d lose interest after three days, but I was a perfectionist and got hooked on crafting for a while. When I was in the Azure Kingdom’s knight order, I’d even helped repair buildings in villages that were half-destroyed by monster attacks. A doghouse for Mofumaru should be no problem.

It might not match a professional carpenter’s work, but I could make something decent. I’d have to go buy materials later.

“By the way, Ciel, have you decided on the name of the shop?”

Ciel was going to run a potion specialty store here. In these situations, a name was crucial. If it sounded shady, customers wouldn’t come, but if it was too generic, it’d get lost among all the other shops.

Adventurers who already knew about Ciel and her potions would come no matter how bad the name was… But when it came to attracting new customers, nothing was more important than the shop’s name.

“…Ehehe.”

“…You haven’t thought of one, have you?”

Ciel looked at me with a sheepish smile. Well, in the original story, too, she hadn’t thought of a name until right before opening the shop. It seemed some things never changed.

“Okay! I’d like to hear everyone’s ideas.”

“Woof!!”

“Yes, Mofumaru?”

“Arf, woof!!”

“‘The Fluffy and Their Cheerful Owners,’ huh. I like it, but it might be a bit long and hard to remember.”

Is it… Really good?

“Lars-san!!”

“…‘Ciel’s Potion Specialty Shop.’”

“That’s way too plain, so rejected!!”

“Woof!!”

Hey, wait a second!? That’s the name you came up with in the original story!! 

I shouted in my heart, but of course, Ciel couldn’t hear me. Ciel and Mofumaru got all excited trying to come up with a name for the shop.

“Woof!!”

“Yeah, something impactful would be nice… Impact… impact… ‘The Mysterious Horned Beetle Man’s Potion Shop’…?”

“…Hmph.”

“J-just kidding, okay? So please don’t point your spear at me, Lars-san!!”

Naturally, any joke that went that far was immediately rejected. I couldn’t let the story of Mysterious Horned Beetle Man spread any further.

“All right!! I’ve decided!!”

“So, what’s the name you settled on?”

“Mofumofu Potion Shop!”

…Hmm. She probably took “Mofu” from Mofumaru. It definitely had impact. But with that name, it sounded like a restaurant, and it felt like Mofumaru was the shop owner… Then again, if Mofumaru were the mascot, it might not be so bad.

“It has a nice ring to it and it’s easy to remember.”

“Right!?”

“Woof!!”

And so, preparations began to open the Mofumofu Potion Shop. We spent days wandering the marketplace buying tools and equipment for potion-making, going to the forest to gather wood to build Mofumaru’s doghouse…

Time flew by, and a week passed since Ciel had bought the property. That was when the incident happened.

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