Ludmila said quietly, still with the toothbrush in her mouth.
She twirled the rifle around like a cane, propped it up by the wall and began brushing her teeth again.
Likewise, Shizuru sheathed his knife and awkwardly scratched his cheek.
And then there was the obvious question of what the woman was doing here.
Ludmilla continued to glide the small brush along her teeth, skssh, skssh
She was charming, with black underwear on white skin, putting a hand on her hip.
âLudmila ⊠what are you doing in my clinic?â
â⊠Ah, sure, ⊠mmâ
He was weak to pressure.
Besides an examination room and an operating room, Shizuruâs clinic was furnished with one bedroom, one bathroom, and one kitchen to make it livable.
In the bedroom that doubled as a dining room, Ludmila picked up one of the cups of coffee put on the table for the two of them and gave it a sip.
Shizuru made them, of course.
âIâm sick of staying in that dilapidated shack of a houseâ
After being woken up by the morning bath and coffee, Ludmila yawned and declared with a sure tone.
âSo then I decided to borrow this placeâ
âAh ⊠I seeâ
Lady was an animal to begin with, so she didnât care as long as she had shelter from the winds and rains.
As for Casca, no matter where she lived, it would be falling to pieces within a month.
With those two around and the one other member of the third squad commuting from home, Shizuru paid their living situation no mind.
Public order was the worst, too.
âBut you shouldâve just said so. I thought you were a burglarâ
âI did say. When we split up last night. In my headâ
That means you didnât say it, right, Shizuru wryly smiled.
âAlso, I think I locked the doorâ
âHad a spare key made, it was finished yesterdayâ
It seems like she had been planning to stay here from the beginning and secretly had a duplicate key made.
She didnât have to go that far, I wouldâve lent her the key if she asked, thought Shizuru.
âIâll pick up my things from the headquarters later. Iâll be staying here until I got transferred to the fourth squadâ
â⊠haah!?â
Shizuruâs remark seemed to rub her the wrong way. Ludmila glared suspiciously at him.
Shizuru knew that she was hoping to be assigned to the fourth squad, and also the reason why Richelieu persistently rejected her.
So he just apologized and coolly nodded.
âWell, I donât really care if you wanted to use this place, but lots of injured and sick people come here, so it would really help if youâd keep that in mindâ
âOkay?â he continued. Ludmila raised an eyebrow slightly.
â⊠like Iâve been telling you, quit that roundabout way of talking! Say it straight, like be quiet when Iâm running the shop!â
âWhat kind of country is that âŠâ
Ludmila hated being roundabout. She would get irritated listening to something like that.
For her, Shizuruâs gratingly soft way of talking would be really infuriating.
Which was why Ludmila didnât like Shizuru very much.
And to sum up Ludmilaâs impression of Shizuru in a sentence:
âIt doesnât look like I could ever go on a date with you after allâ
âReally? Well, thatâs just unfortunateâ
Something like that.
As an aside, Cascaâs was âno more than looking her in the faceâ, while Ladyâs was âwalking side by side is okayâ.
It makes it hard to say whether thatâs easy to understand or not.
âWhich reminds me, Cascaâs really angry you know. I think you should better apologiseâ
Said Shizuru with his coffee cup in one hand.
Hearing that, Ludmila who was putting on a suit over her underwear snorted in annoyance.
âReally? Then Iâll just apologise for formalitiesâ sakeâ
âThat would be wiseâ
Though Casca was short tempered and a drunk gambling junkie, she accepts apologies.
Even more so if it came with a bottle of booze.
âSheâll come over for money later, so when she does ââ
âSHIZUâ! MONEHâ!â
ââ ah, speak of the devilâ
âBut what the hell ⊠sheâs completely treating you as her wallet isnât she?â
Sadly, Shizuru couldnât deny.
And itâs not like she didnât have her good sides, so Shizuru couldnât turn his back on Casca.
âSHIâZUâCHAN ⊠wait, HUUUH!? Ludmila!? The hell are you doing here!? Running away when youâre supposed to be making breakfast! Itâs about time I drill the pecking order into you you newcomer!â
âOh? Nyahahahaha, what, you understand after all! Alright, Iâll let you off just this once!â
Getting angry and then laughing, what a strange woman.
Living as Casca must be a lot of fun.
âGood grief âŠâ
While Ludmila was keeping Casca company, Shizuru left the room wryly smiling and shaking his head.
If she smashed up the place where the strongbox was, there was no meaning of hiding it here.
Stealthily, he headed for the place where he hid it and pulled out a stout metal box.
He turned the dial and slowly opened the box, there was a great number of gold and silver coins inside.
When he picked up Lady and become a magic beast handler, his value shot up, giving him more opportunities to earn money.
Well, he wouldâve had double that if he didât have to continuously pay off Cascaâs debts.
â⊠muuâ
Looking at the amount of money in his possession, Shizuru thought.
With this much money, he could live the rest of his life in a remote place somewhere.