"Congratulations on passing the C-rank promotion exam, Haruki-san," the receptionist conveyed the news as I headed to the guild two days after the exam. Well, I had given my best performance yet, so passing was only natural. Failing would have been odd. Even with a conservative estimation, my recent achievements far exceeded those of a mid-level C-ranker.
I was grateful to Lily, who had motivated me. I should probably buy her a gift next time.
Leaving the adventurers' guild, I headed towards the newly purchased house I had been longing for. Although I had brought Lily along, I mostly made the selection based on my preferences.
There were three main criteria I had for the new residence. It had to be located in a safe district, have good restaurants nearby, and the bathroom and toilet had to be clean. I asked Lily if she had any other requirements, but she didn't have any particular requests.
While there were several options that met the first two criteria, I set the bar quite high for the third one, which narrowed down the choices quickly. After half a day of property visits, we settled on a contract before the day ended.
The new place was a rented house in the Secam district, the second safest district in Gardia City. Secam was a walled-off area with restricted entry for anyone other than residents, with patrols from the security forces.
Given that I was leaving Lily alone sometimes, this district was the only viable option. The safest district, the first choice, was inhabited by nobles and wealthy individuals, making it out of reach for me.
The rent was 2 million gold coins per month, and the property was a two-story house covering 60 tsubo (approximately 198 square meters). While it could accommodate two households, it was considered small in this district. Eventually, I hoped to buy a larger mansion and hire maids and cooks.
Since the house came unfurnished, Lily and I went shopping together.
"Lily, what do you think of this table?"
"It's nice... Why is it more expensive than the one from earlier?"
"I don't know. How about these chairs?"
"I'm not sure... Why are these so expensive despite being so small?"
"Right? The bigger ones from earlier were better."
Unfortunately, our sense of interior design didn't match the elegance of the house. We stood there for a while, unable to decide. If we continued like this, we would likely choose solely based on the price, resulting in an inconsistent and mismatched room.
Therefore, we decided to entrust a professional with coordinating and purchasing the furniture, while Lily and I chose only small items like tablewares and towels.
"Lily, could you pick out some cushions for the living room?"
"Okay."
I didn't have any strong preferences, but it seemed Lily liked items with floral patterns or cute animal illustrations. We had asked the professional to create a simple and elegant space, but it seemed like it was going to turn into a rather cute area.
...I had never been to a girl's house before. If I left the interior design to Lily, my house would essentially become a girl's house. If that happened, I could say I had been to a girl's house before.
Especially with Lily, I wanted her to customize her own room to her liking. And in that room, with Lily, I wanted to do more than just visit; I wanted to do lewd things there.
"Haruki, can I buy this too?"
"A teddy bear? Sure, go ahead and buy as many as you want."
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
A week later, the furnishings had been delivered and the move from the inn was complete. Lily and I moved from the inn to our new house. We had left the small items we had purchased in our new place, so the approximate layout had already been decided.
"I saw it once during the tour, but the furniture really changes the impression once it's all in."
"Yeah, amazing."
The living room consisted of milky-white wallpaper and sophisticated design furniture, creating a relaxing atmosphere. Lily's girlish items harmonized well with the decor, and both Lily and I were impressed by the work done by the professional we had entrusted with the coordination.
"Haruki, let's check out the other rooms?"
"Sure, let's do that."
Lily and I went around looking at the other rooms.
My room had been transformed into a simple space with a black and white theme. There was minimal furniture, and it felt slightly barren. But that was just my impression, assuming the bed was a normal one.
The bed was the only thing I had chosen myself. It was a super wide king-size bed with a canopy, making a bold statement. It was large enough for not just Lily and me, but probably five people to sleep together.
...Honestly, it was too spacious and felt a bit uncomfortable. It would probably take some time to get used to it. But someday, I hoped to fulfill my dream of sleeping between two girls in this bed.
Lily's room was incredibly girlish. The furniture was simple and white, but it was adorned with cushions featuring cat illustrations and stuffed animals. A floral-patterned carpet covered the floor. Although we hadn't placed any air fresheners yet, the room already had a pleasant scent.
Lily had chosen her bed herself, and it had a slightly stylish frame. It was a double-size bed. With intentions fully set on sleeping with me. Lily was adjusting the positions of the small items with excitement, and I felt the urge to just push her onto the bed right then and there.
There was also an empty room, but we hadn't put anything in it yet. It would be used for storage and we would move things in as needed.
After inspecting the kitchen, second living room, and most of the rooms, only the toilet and the bathroom, for which we had set strict criteria when searching for the property, were left.
By Japanese standards, the toilet wasn't much different from what was commonly found. In other words, it was like a warm water bidet-style toilet.
The warm water function was fairly common, but there was quite a range in quality. Since they weren't mass-produced items but handcrafted individually by magic tool artisans, the quality could vary significantly based on the craftsman's skill.
The toilet in this house was a masterpiece by a top-class toilet artisan, Mr. Aruna, with two decades of experience. It even had an automatic alignment feature. It was a top-of-the-line model that could wash away even the tiniest traces of dirt from the crevices, leaving nothing behind.
"Lily, don't you need to use the toilet?"
"No, I went before we left the inn."
"...Right, me too."
Unfortunately, we couldn't try it out now, so we headed to the last room, the bathroom.
There wasn't anything particularly unique about the changing room. If anything, the bathroom door was made of frosted glass, making it impossible to have any perverted "lucky accident" situations.
We passed through the changing room and entered the bathroom. It wasn't overly spacious, but thanks to the entire wall being covered in mirrors, it felt open.
The bath had a radius of 1.5 meters, making it a standard size for properties in this area.
Given the level of detail I had requested, it wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped. However, a considerable number of magic tools had been incorporated into it.
We returned to the changing room and pressed a button on the wall. In about 30 seconds, the tub was filled with warm water. If we pressed it before undressing, we could get in immediately without waiting. And it came with an automatic cleaning feature. It was a perfect function for Lily and me, who would likely take baths multiple times a day.
There were various other features as well, but we couldn't test them with our clothes on. Besides, some of the features wouldn't be enjoyable without Lily around.
"Lily, want to take a bath together?"
"Okay… do you want to do something lewd?"
"Yeah, I do."
