房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

*thump*

"...?"

She opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a small silver box and deliberately put it on the desk forcefully enough for it to make a sound loud enough to get her attendant's attention.

"My lady...?"

Zoemi shook his head to clear his mind and focused on the beautiful box.

"Is this maybe a hair accessory of some sort? Do you want me to style your hair around it?"

The black-haired boy asked politely with sparks of curiosity glistening in his eyes.

"Mm-mm~"

Miriette held back a smile and lightly shook her head.

"No, this is not for me."

She declared proudly.

"Ah! Then it's something for the first prince!"

The scarred attendant became excited and this time Miriette had to hold back a long sigh.

"No, Horeo doesn't need a thing such as this."

"...?"

That perplexed Zoemi...

"Then is it something for your pare...?"

"Oh, just get it right already! It's for you!"

Miriette got impatient and interrupted her confused attendant.

"For me...? My lady, I live to serve you, as long as I can do that I don't need anything else!"

"...!"

Miriette was pleased with his words and she blushed slightly, nonetheless, she then opened the silver box and moved it so that the black-haired boy could see its content.

On the inside, there were three tiny crystal vials filled with deep-blue opaque liquid.

"...?!"

Zoemi never saw that before in this life nor did he see it while playing the Kampf um die Liebe.

"Since today is the magic examination I got those for you, they are a brand-new product and are very hard to get, so you should be grateful."

Miriette puffed up her chest and was speaking with pride since the item she got for her beloved attendant was being released in small batches and had a status of a rare commodity from the get-go, it was also very expensive, therefore some nobles wanted to have it as proof of their status...

Zoemi might not have seen it in his life, but it didn't mean that the potion wasn't known for Kuro Aku the gamer.

Miriette picked up one vial and wiggled it above her head.

"This is something called mana potion - a liquid that can replenish a certain amount of mana instantly."

"!!!!!"

The dark-haired girl declared, leaving the wide-eyed Zoemi speechless.

A mana potion!

They were never mentioned in the game so he thought that they didn't exist in this world!

"I have been told that this is not a complete product - a dose such as this can only replenish

an amount that is equal to the amount of mana that an average magicless commoner has. Until the potion's effectiveness would rise, it will stay only as a gimmick for bored vain nobles wanting to show off their riches."

The dark-haired girl was satisfied with his reaction and she continued the explanation.

---

The standard for the mana amount went like this:

Unit for measurement was a commoner whose overall mana amount wouldn't be enough to make them awaken to magic.

Then there was a darkness magician whose mana should be five times the amount of the commoner's.

Next was the earth magician, whose mana pool should be five times larger than the darkness magician.

The wind magician should – similarly - have five times more mana than the earth magician.

The water magician should have seven times more mana than the wind magician.

The fire magician should have ten times more mana than the water magician.

And finally - the average light magician should possess a mana reservoir equal to twenty average fire magicians combined.

---

In short - unless they were willing to drink gallons of it, those newly created mana potions were ineffective for anyone with a mana level above that of an average earth magician.

But the black-haired youth staring at the blue liquid in the bottle wasn't a part of that privileged group!

"This can instantly refill half of my mana!"

The scarred attendant gasped in awe.

"Exactly! And today is an important day and I want you to do your best. So don't disappoint me!"

Miriette was acting smug and after returning the vial to the box she pushed it towards her attendant but Zoemi didn't reach for it immediately – he was already carefully calculating the pros and cons...

"My lady, this thing is too valuable to use everything in one day... how about I'll just take one with me and store the rest for the future, just in case..."

He went on his knees and asked cautiously.

"No."

"N-no...?!"

Miriette cut him out without hesitation.

"You have to try your hardest in every test! I'm giving you an order to use one vial as soon as your mana will fall below half!"

She declared without hesitation.

"...!"

At first, Zoemi felt bitter because of receiving an order to use the possibly Miriette's-life-saving medicine on the comparatively trivial thing which was getting a good score during magic examination - but then he realized the loophole in the command!

"As you wish, my lady!"

He bowed his head and declared.

|Good! If he will follow my orders he won't get into the state of mana depletion!|

Miriette congratulated herself.

She managed to mask her true purpose with the 'don't disappoint me' attitude!

If not for the appearances that she had to keep, she would be the first one to make Zoemi use up all his mana and then nurse him through the whole night - but as the official fiancee of the first prince and a daughter of a duke, she couldn't allow herself to do such thing.

It would cause a great deal of trouble - mainly for Zoemi - and Miriette would hate that more than anything.

That's why, if by any chance Zoemi got drunk on mana depletion - that little wench, one of the Horeo's attendants - would be the one to care for him!

Miriette just had to prevent that situation from happening at any cost!

It just so happens that she was also aware of a situation when that girl and her Zoemi would spend the night in the same room happening at least four times already!

Four times!

What lustful, perverted, and lewd thing has that wench done to her Zoemi up until that point!?

The jealousy was gnawing at Miriette from the inside.

|If only I have been in that cunning wench's place I would have...!|

"My lady...?"

"!!!!"

Zoemi's worried voice pulled Miriette from her delusions and she flinched after realizing that she must have been making an ugly expression.

"...ahem..."

Miriette coughed once and her face became dignified again.

"Just remember, I want you to do good, but I don't want to see you acting like a fool."

|That wench won't have the opportunity to have my Zoemi again!|

"I'll be sure to do just that, my lady!"

|I'll be sure to have as much mana potion left as possible so that I can be prepared for future condemnation events!|

Both the lady and the attendant smiled to themselves thinking of their own plans.