Can't We Skip Dating?

"This is a sealed mesh over the windows. It's to keep the cat from getting out. I'm strictly a house-cat person. Always make sure the door's shut when you come and go."

To avoid scaring Nanami further, Akira explained the prison-like appearance of his home in advance, then opened the door.

"As I said before, your main duties are cooking and cleaning. Oh right… and scooping cat litter and giving the cat a bath once a month.

 You can take a look around and start writing a shopping list—for kitchenware and food supplies, that kind of stuff."

Nanami nodded and began cautiously surveying the living room. Even with permission, it was still awkward to explore someone else's home on the first visit.

Akira figured it was time to adjust her mindset.

"Everything in here will be under your care from now on. So don't feel guilty or like you're invading my privacy. 

You're familiarizing yourself with your work environment. The more thorough, the better. Check every drawer and cabinet."

"My personal items are under your jurisdiction too. Just don't move them somewhere I can't find."

Sure enough, Nanami immediately relaxed. Her curious gaze turned evaluative, and she even played with the cat a little. 

After all, bathing the cat was her responsibility—better to make friends now or the job would be miserable.

Compared to Utaha, Nanami was clearly more skilled with cats. She didn't even need Akira's guidance and quickly found Big Kuro's soft fur.

Watching her enter the kitchen, Akira was suddenly filled with a strange sense of doing something good.

No, it wasn't that helping people gave him spiritual satisfaction—it was more of a metaphysical reaction.

It usually happened after he exploited a big corporation and donated half the profits to charity.

Akira opened his system menu and saw the golden Merit bar gently undulating like a wave.

It was rising. The change was almost imperceptible—but it was going up.

As mentioned before, earning Merit was hard. 

After his initial failed experiments which added to the black bar instead, Akira had started donating steadily for three years—half his income, despite his vast savings, properties, and expenses. 

And yet, his Merit bar was only about the length of a finger.

That was even with him verifying every recipient himself and donating directly, bypassing any intermediaries. 

He didn't want to donate enough for 100 points and only get 10—or worse, none.

Though that's just metaphor—Merit didn't have actual numbers.

Recruiting a high school girl as a maid shouldn't be Meritorious. 

But he had told Nanami, "Heaven rewards the diligent." Maybe that counted as doing Heaven's work?

Akira's mood was hard to describe. When he looked at Nanami now, it was like seeing a walking Merit Generator.

"Um… Mr. Ogiwara, your kitchen is way too clean. Have you really never cooked? Also, your laundry is piled up—not much, but still… How do you normally live?"

After inspecting upstairs and downstairs, Nanami returned, confused and slightly annoyed.

If Akira weren't an adult with a relatively tidy house, she might've assumed he was another self-neglecting Mashiro.

Akira spread his hands and replied to his walking Merit Generator: "Takeout. Housekeeping services."

"H-How could you live like that? Weren't you self-sufficient before?"

"That's why I don't do anything now. I had to do everything myself back then—it was exhausting. Now that I have money, I don't want to do anything."

Then, as if making a heartfelt confession, he added:

"I know it's not sustainable. That's why I hired you."

That shut down all of Nanami's complaints about his lazy lifestyle.

Right—if Mr. Akira did everything himself, then what would be left for her to do?

Under the pressure and temptation of money, Nanami gave up trying to lecture him on self-reliance. 

She pursed her lips and went to write the shopping list—because to cook and clean, she'd need to buy some things first.

Akira leaned over and helpfully offered suggestions.

"I'm not short on cash. Your goal is to improve my quality of life, not save money. 

Add a microwave. Add an oven. Write down anything—egg beaters, potato mashers, whatever."

"Don't skimp on food either. Get the best. Otherwise it's maid abuse. Why are you looking at me like that? Write!"

"For housing—take the guest room on the first floor. Buy whatever furniture, appliances, and personal items you need. 

Don't let people say I mistreat my maid. Budget: 200,000 yen… Okay, okay, you can use your first paycheck instead."

Tch. No Merit boost from that one. What a waste.

Half an hour later, Akira and Nanami arrived outside a shopping mall.

With the "maid's shopping card" in hand, Nanami went into the ATM, inserted the card, and entered the PIN.

Then she saw the number in front of that long string of zeros—the digit in the "hundred million" place.

She nearly passed out.

Panicked, she looked around, quickly pulled out the card, and sprinted back to Akira to shove it into his hand.

"Th-th-this is too much! I can't carry this! It's too much!!"

Akira sighed like he'd been let down. 

"Sure, it's a lot. But are you going to become a fugitive over it? Even the most useless police could catch one high school girl, right?"

"S-still no! It's seriously too much!"

"Please understand your position, Miss Aoyama. If I ask you to buy something expensive, do I have to withdraw the cash cash for you myself?"

"We can do bank transfers! Right! I heard we can send money by phone now!"

"As a maid, you should overcome all obstacles and complete your master's requests cleanly and efficiently. 

Why should I take on extra work for you—even just lifting a finger? If I'm too lazy to do that, will you stop working?"

Nanami had no comeback.

At her level—and in her role as a maid—there was no way she could win this argument.

Akira placed the card back in her hand and declared a new rule:

"From now on, you'll also withdraw your salary from this account."

Nanami opened her mouth as if to beg for mercy, letting out a tiny, helpless sound: "Even… my paycheck too…?"

Akira patted her shoulder and smiled like an old manager sweet-talking a new hire.

"You have to be a mature maid. Start by learning to pay yourself."

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In case you skipped it.

The reason why he never denied the accusation of Onmyouji being a fraud is 

"If you're aware of the other side, your chances of encountering it will skyrocket."

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Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics 

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