Chapter 9: Eirene
Felix quickly returned home and remembered to put on the still sweat-soaked tank top. He didn't want to appear in front of Lily and Viola in such a state.
"Oh, welcome back."
A rough male voice pulled Felix out of his thoughts. He looked up and closed the door behind him, looking at Abraham, who was sitting at the table, casually drinking tea and reading the newspaper.
"Mm... I'm back," Felix said and added, "I'll take a bath. Is it free?"
"Bath? Hm, I think so," replied Abraham in a strange tone, which Felix didn't pay much attention to.
Approaching the bath, located at the very end of the house, he opened the door and froze. Before him was a sight – a beautiful and slender girl was taking a bath. Her body was exposed in the way she was born. Her beautiful chestnut hair was wet, and her eyes were closed – only her eyelashes fluttered occasionally as she applied shampoo to her head.
As if in rewind, Felix closed the door behind him and went out to Abraham, who was still carelessly drinking tea. Seeing Felix's excited look, the man smirked cunningly. It was then that Felix realized that Abraham had deceived him.
"For God's sake, you're an adult... why such childishness?" Felix said with a tired voice, sitting down at the table – he had nothing left but to wait for his turn.
"Oh, come on. Besides, it doesn't seem like you were worried in any way. Got used to girls, huh?" Abraham asked with a sly grin.
"Used to, used to, but that doesn't mean you have to play me like this. Think about your daughter," Felix said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, if it turned out that way, maybe you'll become her husband?"
"No, thanks."
Felix instantly declined. He couldn't accept something like marriage under these conditions. One year is a short period, and although a year of married life sounded attractive, he didn't want to ruin the fate of the benefactor's daughter.
Abraham seemed surprised by Felix's reaction, but his only response was a slight raising of the eyebrows. Then the man shrugged and continued reading the newspaper.
During the time the bath was being vacated, Felix studied his profile. All his characteristics were a nightmare and represented nothing but a synonym for "weakling." He could only sigh bitterly.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on a small arrow pointing up, glowing green. Out of curiosity, he pressed it, and suddenly a pleasant coolness enveloped him.
"Hm? By my feelings, it's like I underwent some kind of enhancement, although my characteristics haven't changed. And it seems that the experience I gained after accepting the task has dropped to zero."
Felix recalled his gaming experience. Most likely, this experience allowed him to level up, although there were no changes – probably, he lacked the experience.
"If this is how I can become stronger, it's a very cool feature! Not every day you get the opportunity to easily become stronger, although the 'ease' depends heavily on the tasks, and how to activate them – who knows," Felix thought, scratching his head.
Meanwhile, while he was contemplating, Lily entered the room – she was already dressed in a cute pink nightgown. Coincidentally, at that moment, Felix closed the interface and met her gaze – Lily was the first to look away.
"You're back.... Welcome back," she said in a quiet voice and then ran into her room.
"..."
"Heh," Abraham chuckled, shaking his head.
***
After bathing and getting rid of the dirt, Felix felt light on his body and lay down on the floor, placing a mat and a pillow beforehand, then covering himself with a thin blanket. At that moment, Abraham entered the room, jumping onto the bed without undressing. During his prolonged sigh, the man noticed coins on the bedside table.
"What's this? Your money?" asked Abraham, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. I earned it today, helping a trader," said Felix with a serious expression, adding, "This is for you. Although the amount is small, I still hope it will help you a little."
"Eh... no, take it for yourself, okay? Buy something to eat, maybe some clothes," immediately refused Abraham, looking at Felix and straightening up. "You're a young guy, you need the money more. Besides, you don't have to feel like a debtor; I took you in willingly, so I won't demand anything from you, just like my wife and child."
"Even if you say so..."
Felix couldn't agree with Abraham's position. He was an adult responsible for his actions. Living off someone else's money without even trying to repay him was extremely rude, so this time Felix didn't give in. Abraham could only sigh and accept the money.
"Alright, alright! Your stubbornness, young lad. But again, I'll tell you, you need to relax more and live happily, not toil away at work. You have your whole life ahead; there's no need to spend it so diligently on work."
Abraham wearily shook his head and ended the conversation, saying he was a bit tired. Felix just smiled.
"Unfortunately, my situation is not as rosy," he thought and sighed.
Then Felix shifted his gaze to the book in his hands. Since he needed to replenish the Library of Knowledge, he borrowed various useful books from neighbors.
Now he had more than twenty books next to him. His task was to simply flip through the pages, and his skill would quickly memorize all the information.
At first, he thought he needed to read carefully, but it turned out to be much easier than he expected. Nevertheless, the pages he didn't open were somehow blank in the Library of Knowledge, so he was cautious.
The next morning, Felix left the house and headed to the forge. He waited for a few minutes until Victor came out, looking sleepy.
"Come in, let's go. I didn't get enough sleep, so I'm not taking new orders today; tell the clients that," said Victor, yawning, heading to the second floor.
Felix was speechless. This blacksmith didn't even bother to explain anything to him.
"Hello, are you the new worker?" suddenly a shy voice sounded, and Felix soon saw a twenty-five-year-old girl descending the stairs – she was in such a hurry that her two hills jumped with each step.
She had long black hair and blue eyes, and she was short.
"Hello. My name is Felix, and I was hired yesterday," said Felix, avoiding looking at the girl's chest and gazing into her eyes. He asked, "My task is to work with customers and accept supplies, loading them into the warehouse. If I'm mistaken, please correct me."
"Y-yes, that's correct. Y-you'll stand at the cashier and take orders," said the girl with a shy tone and a quiet voice, then added, but speaking a bit louder, "Oh, and my name is Eirene, but you can call me Rene."
"Alright, Rene. I understand that I need to start working now?" he asked.
"Y-yes..."
The girl was a bit embarrassed that Felix casually called her by a cute nickname, but quickly answered his question.
Felix stood behind the cash register and waited. Eirene seemed a bit tense due to the silence, so he suddenly started a conversation.
"I understand that customers don't come here very often?" he asked, looking at Eirene, who nodded.
"Yes, that's right... although my father is a good blacksmith, the orders take a long time, but the quality is very high. And the prices... to put it mildly, are high. Not every resident can afford it."
"So, are you operating at a loss?"
"Not exactly... although, you're right."
The girl sighed heavily, acknowledging their difficult situation. Felix just smiled and shrugged – he didn't care about anything else as long as he was paid steadily.
Chapter 10: Rest assured, dear, Auntie will do anything to satisfy you.
Felix expected that there wouldn't be many customers. He was prepared to stand all day and see only ten clients, but...
"I didn't think it would be so bad," he thought, finishing cleaning up the shop. Glancing around, he saw that it was already night. "Not a single customer for the day..."
Victor's situation was not sweet. Not a single customer for the entire day, which was a very bad situation for a businessman, but the gentleman seemed not to mind.
"Here's your pay for today. Come back tomorrow at eight in the morning," Eirene said, handing him today's payment – 1500.
Fortunately for Felix himself, during the day of interaction, Eirene could express her thoughts much more precisely, without stuttering. She was a bit shy, so Felix mostly accepted consumables himself.
"Thank you. And is Mr. Victor still sleeping?" Felix asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hehe... yes," Eirene awkwardly smiled. Felix was speechless and shook his head, not understanding how someone could sleep all day. It was terrible.
The next day, Felix came to work right at eight in the morning. Coincidentally, Eirene came out and opened the door.
"Good morning, Felix."
"Morning, Rina. Is Mr. Victor still asleep?" Felix asked, to which he saw Eirene nod. Losing his speech, he asked, "Is it normal for him to sleep so much? I thought it was bad for health."
"Huh? No, no. He only sleeps during the day and works at night. He explained that it's easier to concentrate on work," explained Eirene, although it was clear that she hardly believed it.
"Is he an owl?"
Thus, communicating with each other, they became very close. While there were no customers, Eirene took out a board game.
"Look, it's called 'Game of Life.' Here, you need to roll the dice, and then move as many spaces as the number you get. Like that until the end. If you land on a task cell, you have to complete it," explained Eirene, and then added, "I often play with friends; you need to complete tasks – either those on the fields or those suggested by other players. I find the second option much more interesting."
"Yeah?... Then let's go with the second, I don't care," said Felix and nodded with a strange expression on his face. He thought, "Isn't this something like Monopoly?"
Despite Felix's doubts about such a game, he still agreed to play with Eirene because there was nothing else to do – customers were not a common occurrence here.
***
In the evening, Felix returned home... he smiled, realizing that this place had become almost like a second home to him.
He opened the door and said he was back, but there was no response. This slightly surprised him.
"Usually, Abraham and the others are already home by this time... what happened?" he wondered and entered the living room. There was a note on the table.
Approaching closer, he unfolded the note and read it, then raised an eyebrow. It was from Abraham.
[Felix, my wife, and I need to visit the village chief's house to discuss some matters. Until then, please occupy yourself with something. You can eat some fruit for now.
Abraham.]
"How considerate..." mumbled Felix and smiled, putting the letter aside.
He sat on the couch in the living room, and although he would have liked a TV and a game console in front of him right now, unfortunately, the world was not that developed.
"The Library of Knowledge," he thought, and then a translucent book appeared in his hand.
It was an ability he discovered. He could summon books from the library without entering, but in return, it required more 'mental strength'.
What was 'mental strength'? Felix called it the energy with which he could control his abilities obtained from reincarnation. However, he still didn't know how to develop this type of energy, which somewhat saddened him.
"I have an hour to finish reading this book," Felix thought and shook his head. "Too bad I can't enter the Library of Knowledge directly. At home, I'm alone; what if someone breaks in."
And so, half an hour passed reading the book. The book was a typical cultivation story in which the main character had to seduce his Master to avoid death. Although it sounded funny, the book's element was interesting, and the moment when they drank together and their bodies got closer... ahem, ahem.
In general, this book titled "Mission: Seduce the Master!" was not bad. Felix strongly recommended reading it at least once.
After another half-hour, his mental strength ran out. He sighed and shook his head.
"I hope this author sinks into the ground. Seriously, how can he make me excited and then leave me with blue balls? Damn bastard."
Sighing heavily, he got up from his seat and started walking around the house to stretch. While heading to the temporary room, the door to the house suddenly opened.
"Hm?"
Felix raised an eyebrow and looked at the door. He thought Abraham and Viola had returned, but instead, he saw a beautiful woman.
"Hello?..."
"Oh, hi! You're the boy Abraham picked up, right? Heard about you!"
"Picked up..."
The corner of Felix's mouth distorted at the words of this woman, but he maintained his carefree appearance and nodded.
During this time, he also noticed the appearance of the unknown woman. She had long gray hair neatly tied into a ponytail. Her eyes were an unusual color – pink, while her body deserved special attention – it was slender and "developed" in the right places.
In pure beauty, she surpassed Viola and all the other women he had ever met.
"My name is Aunt Lina, I'm your neighbor to the left. Nice to meet you!" she said with a teasing tone and then pulled out a letter from her cleavage, handing it to Felix. "Here! This is from Abraham..."
"Hm?"
Felix chose not to comment on why she had stuffed the letter into her cleavage in the first place. He simply took it and started reading, and his face became stranger with each paragraph.
Then, finishing reading, he looked at the woman with a peculiar expression on his face.
"I apologize, but... are you offering services of 'that' kind?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hehe, of course not," Aunt Lina replied, smirking. Suddenly, she leaned her entire body towards Felix, breathing heavily near his ear. She whispered, "I just really like you."
"Hm..."
Despite such an unusual situation, Felix maintained a calm expression.
Abraham's letter read as follows...
[Recently, Lina had a big fight with her husband and is now in a depression. She asked me to 'lend' you for, you know, certain purposes. I think you can use this chance.
Good luck!]
"..."
Felix was speechless. However, before he could immerse himself in his thoughts, a strange touch in the area of his groin forced him to snap out of it.
"Let's get started... rest assured, dear, Auntie will do everything to satisfy you."
***
Abraham and Viola were sitting in the chief's house. It was a regular meeting, and this time, he also brought his daughter, Lily.
"Father... why am I even here?" she asked discontentedly – it was evident she was bored.
"Hm... you need to know what happens at these meetings. In the future, you will participate in them on behalf of our family with your husband" Abraham said with a smile.
"Eh? No thanks, I don't need a husband in the next ten years; I'm still too young," the girl replied, snorting.
"Well, well."
Abraham just shrugged and thought about Felix, whom he left alone with a hungry lioness. He smiled.
"Well, have fun there. After all, you're a man; sometimes you need to satisfy yourself after a working day". Abraham thought, recalling Lina's situation and shaking his head, "Although I don't quite agree with how she's trying to get rid of depression. She's lucky she chose our Felix."
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