Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation

163 – The Hard-Working Teacher’s Wrath – III

A dark room lit with only a few candles. Not because there was a lack of resources to light the room. In fact, there was a pile of magic light fixtures laid off to the side that could have been used.

No, the room was purposefully kept illuminated with only candles because someone wanted to set a certain atmosphere.

And not a romantic one.

A long rectangular table in the center of the room. There, three women were gathered, on at the head and the others at the sides.

Roxy kicked her legs up on the table and crossed them, quietly looking at Eris and Sylphy. After a while, she said, "So. It's come to this after all."

A tense silence followed while Roxy waited for a response.

Sylphy was the first to crack, letting out a nervous laugh. "I-It's not really a big deal, is it, Miss Roxy?"

Following Sylphy's lead, Eris quickly nodded and said, "R-Right! It's what Rudy chose!"

Roxy let out a thin smile and slowly nodded. "Yes. I suppose it isn't a big deal. My beloved disciple is intelligent and mature enough to make his own life decisions."

Sylphy let out a more relaxed laugh and said, "Yes. Rudy is-"

*BANG.*

Roxy pulled her legs off the table and then slammed her hand on its surface.

Sylphy flinched and then started fiddling with her hair.

Eris almost fell off her chair, but she quickly caught her balance. After that, she meekly set her hands on her lap and averted her eyes.

Roxy huffed and then leaned back, crossing her arms. "It's one thing if Rudy took the initiative, but from what I heard from my dear disciple..." She glanced at Eris and Sylphy and said, "Draping yourselves all over him like that... Don't you have any shame?"

Sylphy winced. But immediately after, she regained her composure and pointed at Roxy. "What about you? Miss Roxy is Rudy's childhood teacher! You're already an old ha-"

Roxy narrowed her eyes. "Hm?"

Sylphy stammered and quickly corrected herself. "A-A mature woman! Going after Rudy is cradle robbing!"

Roxy raised an eyebrow and then looked at Sylphy up and down. After that, she said, "And you are not? I commend your efforts looking for my dear disciple, reckless though they were. But from your appearance and depth of mana... if we are talking about age, are you not older than me now?"

"Grk." Sylphy blushed and then lowered her gaze.

Another tense silence filled the room.

After a while, Eris cleared her throat and then looked at Roxy and Sylphy. "Um... Isn't it fine? If we all love Rudy, we can share, right?"

Roxy glared at Eris and said, "I do not wish to hear that from the woman who stole the position of Rudy's official fiancee."

Sylphy clicked her tongue at Eris and then nodded in agreement with Roxy. "Right. As if you have the right to talk about that, Miss Arranged Marriage."

Eris winced, but she didn't back down. Instead, she straightened herself with some conviction and said, "W-Well... Since I'm Rudy's official fiancee, I say it's fine! It's not like we're followers of Saint Milis or anything, right? So..." She blushed and then said, "S-So as long as we all love Rudy, i-it's fine to share!"

Sylphy still looked upset, but she let out a sigh. "...I guess it's better than having Rudy hate us..."

Eris rolled her eyes at Sylphy and said, "As if you weren't already on board with sharing, you perverted elf."

Sylphy looked to the side with an innocent expression and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Eri."

Roxy looked at Sylphy and Eris. After that, she shook her head and muttered, "Lily and Zenny were right about Rudy."

Sylphy perked up and said, "What were they right about, Miss Roxy?"

Roxy waved her hand and said, "We can talk about that later. But for now..." She leaned forward and laced her fingers together. Resting her head on her hands, she looked over at Eris and said, "Eris. Would you kindly explain to me why Rudy asked for me to find an official Priest? I can infer the cause, but I would like to hear it from you directly."

Sylphy blinked and then quickly looked towards Eris. "Eri?"

Eris gulped and then let out a nervous laugh. "W-Well..."

Roxy smiled. "Yes?"

"..."

-SNG-

Stella flopped into her bed and then stared at the ceiling.

It was unfamiliar. Not just the ceiling, but the room, the house, the city... everything.

At first, Stella thought it was cool. She finally met her other big sister, Aisha. Not only that, but Aisha was super calm and mature, unlike Stella's other older siblings.

Well, Norn was pretty mature too, but she could be a bit off at times.

Stella blamed their father. That man was a terrible influence... After all, just look at what happened to Onii-chan.

But anyway, although it was nice meeting up with Aisha, everything was just... *off* now.

Maybe it was because they were in a peaceful and ordinary city for once. Unlike the crazy sci-fi/utopian city of Arcadia where Stella grew up, the Magic City of Sharia that they were living in now was just a normal city.

Strip malls, concrete buildings, nice and clean paved roads, electric lights (or at least magical equivalents), and people walking around with normal clothes.

If Stella didn't know any better, she would think she was back on Earth.

Of course, she wasn't. But if she squinted...

Huh. Maybe that was why she felt weird.

A faint shimmer of ice crystals appeared over Stella before coalescing into a floating white cat. Wata.

The ice spirit tilted his head and said, "Whatcha thinking about, Stella?"

Stella held her arms up to stretch and then sighed. "Dunno. Life is weird right now."

For the first time in a long while, nothing was happening. No monsters attacking, no crazy people abducting children, no wandering around the world like it was an RPG... Just ordinary life.

It had already been a week since they arrived in Sharia. In that time, Onii-chan had gotten a job as a Magic Professor, Erofu nee-chan started up a small bookstore with Eri nee-chan, Miko and Norn nee-chan signed up for classes with Aisha nee-chan, and then Ena, Eos, and Roland wandered around everyday living it up like tourists.

That meant that Stella was all alone in the big mansion that they called home.

Of course, it wasn't like they left her behind on purpose. It was just...

"Ugh!" Stella sat up and then ruffled her hair. "This is a fantasy world! A real isekai! Why is everyone living an ordinary life like it's back on Earth!"

Wata blinked and then said, "Earth?"

Stella hopped out of her bed and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, Wata." She let out a deep sigh and then said, "I'm just getting restless."

This was Onii-chan's fault. Stella had gotten so used to his crazy antics that 'normal' wasn't normal anymore.

Stella let out another sigh and then took a look around.

The 'Greyrat Family Manor', as Onii-chan called it, was a big fancy mansion with three floors, a big basement, and a pretty courtyard. Sitting on a hill just outside the city, it was a perfect suburban-esque home with just the right amount of nature and privacy while being close enough to the city life to commute.

...That was something that Stella would never have thought she would be thinking since being reincarnated, but that was just how life was now, apparently.

But anyway, Stella's room was on the first floor and just off to the side from the main hall when you entered the mansion from the front entrance. Like, if you walked in and turned left, there was her room.

It was also pretty big. Large enough to fit a fluffy king-sized mattress, a full-sized study desk, a big walk-in closet, and more than enough room to run around in. At least for Stella.

Well, it would be if not for all of the random things lying on the ground.

Books, various magical trinkets, materials, magic stones, weapons, sheets of paper...

Seeing how messy it was, Stella felt her face warm up a bit. She cleared her throat and then muttered, "I-I'll clean it up later. I'm still unpacking."

Right. After all, she needed to sort through all the gifts they gave her as a hero back at the Great Forest.

That was the reason why it was so messy.

...I-It definitely wasn't because she got bored and started trying to break apart magical items and recreate alchemy or anything.

Stella carefully brushed a path through the mess and then started walking out of her room.

As she did, light particles starting forming beside her before turning into a fluffy white puppy. Leo, the Sacred Beast who got Stella into the whole mess of being hailed as the legendary hero.

The puppy looked up at Stella and then said, "Woof. Are we going on a walk again, Stella? Woof."

Wata rolled his eyes and said, "How many times are you going to keep acting cute, you mongrel? Just talk like a normal spirit."

Rex barked at Wata and then said, "I can talk how I want. Woof. And I'm a real dog, unlike you, fake cat. Woof."

"Fake?!"

Stella groaned and said, "Could you two not?"

Rex immediately stood at attention and said, "Understood! Woof!"

Wata sighed and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. I'll just ignore the mongrel."

Stella walked out of her room and then closed the door behind her. After that, she made her way out of the house and said, "Why is it always you two being loud and following me around anyway? I don't see Fai and Wyn being so annoying."

Wata shrugged and said, "That's because Fai is pretending to be a student with Miko and your big sisters. And as for Wyn..." Wata looked around and then tilted his head. "...I dunno? She's not here right now."

Stella furrowed her brow and then said, "Some sort of guardian spirit Wyn is." Stella huffed and then muttered, "Dropping cryptic hints all the time and then only showing up when it's important..."

Leo looked up at Stella and said, "That's because Lady Wyn has a lot of duties to attend to as well. Woof. Unlike the fake cat, she takes her duties seriously. Woof."

Wata bristled and said, "Hey! My job is to protect Stella!"

"No. Woof. That's my job. ...Woof."

"There it is! You hesitated again!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Woof."

"Grrrrrr..."

Stella sighed and then checked her magic pouch and wand. After making sure she had all her important equipment, she looked at Wata and Leo and said, "Let's just head out already, you two."