088: New House

One day, a person came to visit Patrick’s room in the military barracks.
The person is a barracks maid.
They make sure the residents are cleaning up their rooms, keeping things organized, not letting food rot and so on.

The ranks are filled by the wives and children of soldiers who passed during combat.
It’s not hard work and it pays well.

Occasionally soldiers bring in unconnected civilians for certain activities, so the maids will regularly undertake unannounced inspections.

Today, one of the rooms was Patrick’s.
Obviously there was no advance notice.

The janitor who entered the room saw something monstrous.

“Geeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!” Janitor shouts

It’s a large snake.

“Yes, I’m so sorry.” Pat

I had been sitting and apologizing in between sermons by various maids for the past hour.

It seems pets aren’t allowed in the barracks.

I was told to “Get out NOW!” and booted from the barracks.

So I have to find a new place to sleep.

“Ahh, what’s with them?” Pat

I’ve got my possessions in a backpack on my back and I’m followed by a big snake as I walk around the Royal Capital.

When I asked various inns, I got refused at every one.
The cause is the snake, of course.

Do you know the anaconda? It’s a snake that’s over 8 meters long, but it’s just a big and long snake.
They aren’t poisonous.

The snake I have is pretty similar, the scales are a bluish-green with a triangular head.
Nearly all of the snakes in this world with triangular heads are venomous, so no inn will take me.
Pi-chan wouldn’t bite anyone, at least nobody who didn’t attack him first, but he might be venomous.

I guess I’ll try a real estate agent, so I can buy a property.
There weren’t any properties I could buy and occupy that day, so I had to camp out on the edge of the army training grounds.

The next day, I was introduced to a mansion that I could purchase.

“Here?” Pat

There was a large mansion in front of me.

“It’s huge” Pat

I think back to the instructions I gave the real estate agent.
I asked for a property that can be moved into as quickly as possible with a large room.
My max budget was 100 gold coins.
I’ve been saving my recent rewards, so I have some money saved up.

For the time being, I open the gate with the key I was given and enter the property.
When I reach the entrance and unlock the door, I look at the spaciousness of the entrance hall and the gorgeous staircase.

“How can this place only be 100 gold coins?” Pat

I wondered, but then I saw something black move out of the corner of my eye.

I was told this was the former residence of the Viscount Harter family, but that family had been removed after their rebellion and their properties had been taken over by the royal family.
Since the royal family didn’t want to deal with the mansion’s upkeep, it was sold to a real estate agent in the Royal Capital.

The agent hired adventurers to regularly check on the mansion, but they ran into an issue.
Before anyone realized it, rats had taken up residence in the mansion.

Rats? You might be thinking an exterminator can take care of them, right?

But it’s not just normal rats.
There are monster rats in this world, the Gigarat.

They range in size between 50 centimeters and 1 meter and breed rapidly.
They’re quick and intelligent as well.
The flesh stinks and the fur is usless, but they’re more dangerous than goblins.
They know to use their speed when attacking.

It seems there’s no less than 200 of them infesting the mansion.
If you miss even a handful, they can be back to 200 in a month.
There’s no way the agent can make a normal sale for this mansion.
That’s why he’d let it go for only 100 gold coins.

I had bought this property and waived the inspection clause, but I think we can handle this.

“Pi-chan, you’ve got plenty of food for now.” Pat

Yes, the snake’s name is Pi-chan.
People have told me I have no naming sense.
I can’t even explain why I call the snake Pi-chan.
It just popped into my head when I saw him.

Pi-chan immediately lunged at the nearest Gigarat as if he understood what I was saying.