The Perverted Old Geezer Negotiates, and the Great Sinner Comes Alive

“......And so! I mowed down the monsters that came at me in droves, left and right! After a fight to the death, I made it all the way to this place, you see!”

Earthcell's long, long story about himself, begun right after their shocking first meeting, was finally over.

It was already nearly noon.

......Earthcell's story was really long.

Seriously, long.

Earthcell, the mysterious perverted old geezer wearing panties on his head, who had suddenly arrived at Giovanno and the others' base.

Hugging his knees under the blazing sun, dead-eyed, Giovanno had patiently listened to this epic old-geezer saga, which began with the secret story of Earthcell's birth.

For the most part, it was just the old geezer bragging, but since an interesting episode would crop up every now and then, he hadn't known when to stop and had ended up listening until the very end.

Spending day after day with the fairly quiet Emi, Giovanno had perhaps grown starved for human conversation without realizing it.

As for Emi, she had got bored of the old geezer's story halfway through, and was now off nearby, roasting a Forest Topopolock whole and eating it, bari bari.

“Ahh...... Earthcell-dono, if I may?”

Now, fearing that if left alone, this old geezer would start blathering about other unnecessary things, Giovanno moved to wrap up the conversation.

“In other words, you have come to this land on the orders of the Adventurers' Guild Headquarters, to open a branch office. Is that it?”

“Foooh~~~! Precisely so!”

Earthcell nodded vigorously.

“And, Giovanno-dono! I would very much like you to let me build a branch office at this base of yours! Thanks to your efforts, it's nicely cleared, and there's a watering hole nearby too, isn't there? There couldn't be a better site than this!”

“Hmm............”

Giovanno crossed his arms and groaned.

“Of course, I intend to offer you a fair return as well! For example...... Giovanno-dono! Where do you sleep?”

“Sleep? That's...... over there......”

Where Giovanno's eyes went, there were logs and leaves spread over a hollow.

Emi's handmade bed for Giovanno.

“What!? That!? That's worse than a doghouse!?”

“Wai, quiet! She'll hear! The maker will hear you! You'll hurt the kid's feelings!”

Giovanno hurriedly covered the old geezer's mouth and glanced toward Emi, who was roasting meat.

Emi...... had turned her lovely face, unreadable as always, toward them...... and was staring, fixedly, at Giovanno and the old geezer......

(Uh-oh...... she heard every word, that one......)

Cold sweat ran down Giovanno's back.

“I am a former special-grade adventurer, granted the epithet ‘Earth Sage’! With my earth magic, I can easily improve your living situation! I can build a house in no time! You can bid farewell to that beastly bed!”

Meanwhile, Earthcell continued to speak in high spirits, completely oblivious to Giovanno, whose blood was fast running cold.

But, the very next instant!

“Hey.”

“Foh!!?”

Suddenly bearing down on Earthcell, an extraordinary intimidation! Killing intent!!

And, whispered right by his ear, a beautiful girl's voice!!

When Earthcell fearfully turned around, there was the girl who was supposed to be over there roasting meat; somehow she had closed the distance in an instant, and she was staring fixedly at him with unreadable black eyes......!

“You, can make a house?”

“O, of course I can! It's my specialty!”

“Then, make one.”

“Th, that's, if you'll let me build, the branch office here......”

“Now, make it.”

“N, no, like I said, that's......”

“MAKE IT!!!”

(Fo~~~!? My life in danger, here!? Here, of all places!?)

Yelled at by Emi and hit with a pretty serious 【Intimidation】, Earthcell clutched the panties on his head tight in spite of himself!

(Or rather, what is this child!? I'd thought she was just Giovanno-dono's daughter, but she's an outrageous monster!? Is she the same kind as the Supreme Commander!?)

Earthcell was a former special-grade adventurer.

Past his prime though he was, when hit with an 【Intimidation】 this strong, he could read his opponent's measure without even trying.

And Earthcell, belatedly, recognized this black-haired, black-eyed girl as a terrifying threat.

“Hey, now!”

But still, something happened that astonished Earthcell.

Giovanno, who looked as if he had no combat ability whatsoever, rapped the head of that monster-like girl, whom no number of Earthcells could defeat.

Then he tousled her hair.

Just like that, the intimidation melted away.

“Don't be unreasonable, Emi. I understand how you feel, but rein it in. We can't talk like this.”

(......Hm? A black-haired, black-eyed girl, named Emi......?)

Here, Earthcell almost remembered something.

Almost remembered...... but couldn't.

He's a grandpa, after all.

So, for the time being, he decided to set that strange feeling aside and continue the negotiation.

“My apologies, Earthcell-dono. The point is, this child is upset that the bed she made was mocked.”

“S, s, so that's it...... Emi-chan, was it? Sorry about that? Grandpa was in the wrong!”

“............”

Emi turned away in a huff.

Seeing this, Giovanno gave a wry smile.

And, for the first time in a while...... he flipped a switch.

He thought he'd let the old man in front of him suffer a bit for having upset the mood of his little partner, who was occasionally as easily hurt as any child her age.

“Hahaha, the little rascal, she's sulking. What a problem; when Emi's in a bad mood, she goes on a rampage and there's no stopping her.”

“Foh......!?”

“But this child is a bright one. If she actually sees a house made with Earthcell-dono's earth magic and understands how splendid it is, I believe she would come around.”

Giovanno narrowed his eyes and glanced at Earthcell.

(F, Foooh~~~...... this Giovanno-dono is a bother too, isn't he~! The roundabout way he steers the talk, it's like dealing with some nasty noble! I'm no good with his type......)

Now, while Earthcell was breaking into a cold sweat thinking such things, Emi was staring fixedly at Giovanno's face.

And she seemed to have understood something.

“............”

Silently, she began shadowboxing.

Byu! Byu!

Every time Emi's fist cut through the air, a tremendous sound rang out.

Just the wind pressure made Earthcell's mustache sway.

And Emi's face remained fixed on Earthcell the whole time.

......Honestly, it's pretty scary.

“Aah~~~! Oh, honestly! All right, all right, I give in! In that case, just this once! As a grand bonus! I shall let you taste the very essence of my ultra-virtuoso earth magic!! Having seen it, I do hope you will give the matter of the branch office your favorable consideration!!”

In the end, Earthcell gave in.

He decided to build Giovanno and Emi a dwelling, no strings attached.

“Now then! Behold my magic, which does no shame to the epithet ‘Earth Sage’! ......‘O earth, become a wall and protect me! 【Wall】!’”

A few seconds after Earthcell finished his incantation, the earth in front of them began to swell with a meri meri sound.

At first, it was just a large cube rising up out of the ground, but gradually the cube was whittled away, holes opened up, and an entrance and windows took shape.

““Ooh......!””

Seeing this, even Giovanno and Emi let out cries of admiration!

For in less than a few dozen seconds, a structure that was square and a little short on charm, but undoubtedly worthy of the name “house”, had been completed before their eyes!

“......How's that! For now, that's the basic form! I can work the details inside and out, and I can even make simple furniture!”

“Well, well...... that's tremendous.”

“Yeah...... magic, is amazing.”

“Emi-chan, a slight correction! I am the one who is amazing!”

It seemed that even Emi, sulking a moment ago because her bed was mocked, now recognized Earthcell's ability and gave him some respect.

“But, you know......”

But!

Even after seeing such a splendid performance, Giovanno crossed his arms and sighed.

“What is it! Have you still got some complaint!?”

“Earthcell-dono, this is a demon realm. This house is certainly splendid, but a house alone means nothing. We need a wall to protect it. If you were the king of a desert country and were given a ship on the sand, would you be pleased?”

“Aah~~~! Honestly! What a tiresome man you are! I know! I'll build a defensive wall too! But that one takes time! Not right away, it can't!”

“And another thing: if I'm driven out of here, I have nowhere to go. The rights to this land belong to Emi and me. After all, we're the ones who felled the trees and began living here. The Adventurers' Guild is only being lent the land. Is that acceptable?”

“Acceptable! The Adventurers' Guild ‘recognizes that this land belongs to you’! Will that do!?”

“You heard that? Emi.”

“Heard it.”

“Very well, then we have a deal. Out here, we can't exchange anything in writing, but don't you go breaking your word, now? On that condition, we welcome you, Earthcell-dono!”

With a beaming smile on his villain face, Giovanno held out his right hand to Earthcell.

Utterly worn out, Earthcell took it and shook hands.

“......The Adventurers' Guild, you know, isn't such a wicked organization...... you needn't be so wary; the sort of things you just asked for, I'd have helped with of my own accord, you know?”

To Earthcell's wry smile, Giovanno returned one of his own.

“It's my nature!”

“Earth Sage” means “sage of the earth”, and in Japanese it puns on doken, “construction work”.