1 Chapter 1 - An Old Friend

Behind the darkness of the night that was heading towards morning, a lantern shining along the narrow streets of the Royal Capital of Belfast. The source of the lantern's light came from two mysterious figures covered by black cloth hoods. Their footsteps stopped in front of a small house marked "Rabbit Hole".

*Knock!!

*Knock!!

The slight knock sounded shrill and reverberated in all directions.

*Kreeeek!!

The door in front of them slowly opened, and from behind the door, a young man was wearing a blanket to warm his body.

"Arthur, we need your help!" shouted the mysterious figure.

The young man's reaction was cold and annoyed. He only made a small gesture to enter the house. The two mysterious figures slowly removed their hoods and followed the footsteps of the young man named Arthur.

Arthur grumbled a little about their arrival which disturbed the quality of his sleep.

As far as Arthur's life experience went, there were two types of guests he hated the most. First, guests who come unannounced. Second, guests come when they need something. In his mind, Arthur could guess about their arrival.

Arthur took a long, heavy breath. He then went to his home kitchen to prepare a simple drink. Arthur took two small cups from the cutlery cupboard and poured drinking water into the magic teapot to boil the water.

"Niko, I already told you. Don't visit at night! I almost fell asleep earlier!" said Arthur in an annoyed tone.

"S-Sorry, Arthur. My problem this time is very complicated and I need your help!" replied a young man named Niko.

"Uggh.." Arthur grunted a little. In front of him, a teapot infused with magical energy displayed a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. Arthur's dining room was adjacent to his kitchen, he had no other room to serve as a living room. So, his dining room will always be the living room in every situation. The small house has only one bathroom, one bedroom, a storage area, a shop area, and a kitchen area adjoining the dining area.

His dining table is also simple, more or less able to accommodate ten people eating together.

Arthur poured hot water from his magic teapot into a small cup, he then sprinkled the dry tea leaves and stirred them with a small spoon filled with honey.

Two hot drinks were ready to be served, Arthur then brought the two cups to the dining table.

*Taaaaaka!!

*Taaaaaka!!

"So, what's the matter? If I'm not mistaken, this is your first night after marriage right?" Arthur said while sitting on the chair. Arthur's eyes were now fixed on the woman sitting next to Niko.

"Ahaha.. something has happened" replied Niko in an awkward tone.

"Of course! I'm not surprised by that!" Arthur replied quickly.

"Ahaha.. haha.. by the way.. do you have any savings left?" asked Nico.

Arthur's expression now became flat. He had suspected this before. Every guest who visits his house and the small shop has the same goal, namely to borrow Arthur's savings for their urgent needs.

"Haaaah .." Arthur took a deep breath.

"How many?" Arthur continued.

"Uh.. a thousand gold pieces?" said Nico.

"Huh? Do you want to borrow that much? what for?!" Arthur, who heard Niko's words, could only be amazed. Deep inside, he wanted Niko's words to be just a joke.

"Uhmm.. you know. Some minor issues occurred while we were on our honeymoon."

"Ugghhh.. another problem?" Arthur patted his head.

"Unintentionally, we ran into the kingdom's rebel movement. Urk.. long short story, I accidentally helped them."

"Huh? Eh? HAH?!" Arthur was at a loss for words after hearing Niko's explanation.

"I will undergo a military trial and pay a penalty for helping them. I don't know the exact amount, I guess a thousand gold pieces should be able to compensate for the losses I've caused."

"I don't care about that. But, how the hell did you help the royal rebels on their honeymoon?!" asked Arthur in astonishment.

"Ehehe… we accidentally opened the entrance of the restaurant that was being used by the royal family and coincidentally behind us were the rebel troops preparing to attack."

"Aaahh…" hearing Arthur's explanation filled with bad luck. Arthur felt a little guilty.

"Well… I do have a thousand gold pieces in my savings account. However, I want to use it to expand my house and shop!"

"Eeeeh.. please help your childhood friend, Arthur. Do you like watching me suffer in the cold bars of the underground jail?"

"Kuuh! You should also know about my efforts to keep this shop running!"

"Arthur.. please.." Niko said with a pitiful face.

"Only this time!" Arthur stood up from the chair and rushed to his room.

As Arthur entered the room, he smiled.

"Niko.. your wife... It would be such a waste if she was by your side."

"Hmm... I have a good idea for this one."

Arthur returned to the dining room carrying a cloth bag containing a thousand gold pieces.

*Braaaaak!!

Arthur put the cloth bag on the dining table.

"Thank you, Arthur! You are my best friend!" said Nico excitedly.

"Well... I need a guarantee for these thousand gold coins" Arthur's tone became serious and his sharp eyes fixed on Niko.

"Uhhh.. um.. please don't overdo it. I will be back in three days!" replied Nico.

"Heeeeh.. it sounds suspicious to my ears," Arthur said sarcastically.

"I already suspected that one. So, I will use this!" Arthur took out a magic contract letter that was tucked away in his pocket.

Niko swallowed his saliva and read the contents of the magic contract. Niko understands Arthur's behavior, who is always careful about finances. As his childhood friend, Niko understands Arthur's calculating, precise, and tenacious nature.

"Arthur, you want Yuuki to work here as a maid to help you?" asked Nico.

"Ugh! I've been having a bit of a hard time cleaning the house lately" Arthur replied briefly.

"Yuuki.." Niko looked at his wife.

"It's okay, I can do it. The important thing is, please solve the problems that are happening to our family," replied Niko's wife.

"Of course! Arthur! I will go now!"

"Hey! Sign first!" he snapped.

"Oh... Ah.. yes!" Niko stutters agreeing to the magic contract Arthur made using his magical mana identity.

"Then we'll take our leave first!"

"You want to leave after getting your stuff huh!" Arthur's words sounded sarcastic but his intonation sounded joking.

"Uh-huh..." Nico replied.

Arthur then guided Niko and his wife toward the exit. After a few goodbyes were said, they left Arthur's house.

"Hmm.. Yuuki Shina.."

"Heeh.. she still a virgin? Very interesting.."

Behind the darkness of the night that was heading for the morning, Arthur looked at the transparent box floating in front of him.

[NTR Target: Yuuki Shina]

[Status: No Interest]

[Like: Cleaning, Lovey-dovey, Cooking]

[Dislike: House Bugs]

[Affection: 0]

"Uhh.. it will take a long time to tame Yuuki Shina."

"Well.. I'll have fun tomorrow after she comes."

That thin smile that grinned in the darkness marked the beginning of the destruction of one's household.