Chapter 183 – Another Freeloader
She was indeed there when I visited the place the following day.
“Good morning, Minsto. How was your trip?”
“Good morning. It was long and boring.”
“Haha, yes, I agree with that. Did you have time to look for some accommodation?”
“I didn’t find anything yet. I slept at the hotel last night.”
Hotels did exist, but they were far and few between. Considering travel prices, only the wealthiest people usually moved between domes. As such, there wasn’t a need for many hotels. In a peripheral dome, like 82, there only existed two, a high-class hotel and a super high-class one, both asking for a minimum of several hundred lods per night for a room.
“That must have been expensive.”
“It was.”
I waited a couple of seconds, wondering if she would add something, but she didn’t. As such, I moved the discussion forward.
“Do you still want to start working? I can give you more time to get settled.”
“I want to start working.”
“All right. Should we go to the construction site?”
“Yes.”
We crossed the city, walking through the streets, with my companion looking around at the scenery. I soon noticed she was sweating a little.
“Are you doing okay? It’s almost summer, and the weather is getting warm.”
“I am hot. Dome 2’s temperatures were dropping because winter was getting close. I never lived in a place with such warm weather.”
Her innocent remarks told me a lot. I now knew that 82 and 2 were located in different hemispheres of the planet, probably on different continents. 6 had more temperate weather, but I had no idea where it was situated relative to the other domes. It was in times like these that I missed having a world map available to me.
“We should get to the site soon if we walk quickly. We have water there.”
She nodded and increased her pace. A few tens of minutes later, we arrived there. Suuru was watching the construction from the house’s shade while a bunch of sweating women were working hard in front of her. The construction was about two-thirds completed now, with the walls being erected and the roofing being in progress. I showed it to Minsto with a gesture of my hand.
“This is it, your future workplace. What do you think?”
“It’s small.”
She truly didn’t mince her words.
“It’ll only be for you, a single person. Is it too small?”
“I will make do with it for the time being.”
“Great. Let me introduce you to your colleague.”
I took her to Suuru, who was aware of the situation. She smiled at Minsto as she came closer.
“Welcome, Minsto. I’m Suuru. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you. What is your role in the company?”
“For now, I’m managing the workshop construction. After that, well, nothing has been decided yet.”
“I understand.”
Minsto looked at Suuru’s house and asked.
“What is this place?”
“It’s my house.”
“Why is the company building a workshop next to an employee’s house?”
“That’s… well… because…”
Since Suuru was stumbling with her words, I took it upon myself to answer the question.
“Suuru is technically an employee, but we started the business together, so she’s also a sort of co-founder. That’s why she agreed to lend us the space next to her house to build the workshop.”
“Does that mean I will work next to where you live?”
Suuru nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Speaking of which, did you manage to find a place to live?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh… Then, why don’t you live with us until you find something?”
“Us?”
I responded to that inquiry.
“I also live here.”
Minsto looked at me, and then at Suuru, before coming back to me.
“Are you two married?”
“No, I’m just freeloading.”
This made Suuru laugh.
“Huhu, yes. That’s why, I wouldn’t mind you freeloading for some time too, Minsto.”
“Yes, I will do that.”
Her response lacked so much hesitation that we stared at her blankly for a second.
“Ah… That’s great! You’re very welcome here!”
Suuru took hold of herself and grinned happily. This was just like her, allowing a random person to live at her place, just like she had done for me. On my side, I thought it might be a good opportunity to build a good relationship with my new employee. Plus, I had no say in this since it wasn’t my house in the first place. That didn’t mean I wasn’t curious, though.
“You accepted so fast, Minsto. Is there a reason for that? Is the hotel too expensive? I can pay for it if it’s only for a few days.”
The woman shook her head expressionlessly before looking my way.
“No. I want to live here because I am interested in you.”
She managed to startle us again.
“Me? Why?”
“There is something unique about you, but I am not sure what yet. I want to investigate this further.”
The more I talked with her, the more I believed she truly never lied. She just revealed any plans she had as if there was no reason to hide anything. Suuru was also bewildered, but since I told her about Minsto’s personality beforehand, she glanced at me and giggled.
“Oh, Tila’s indeed very unique. You have good eyes, Minsto.”
“I knew it. What makes her unique?”
“That’s not for me to say!”
Suuru laughed again while Minsto turned to me. I wasn’t certain if allowing her to live here was such a good idea anymore.
“What makes you unique?”
“It’s something personal, so I can’t tell you, sorry.”
“You should tell me. I will find out about it anyway.”
“Why are you so curious about me?”
“I dislike it when there is something I cannot figure out.”
“Right… That’s why you like to do research?”
“Correct.”
“Well, don’t worry about me anymore. I’ll give you a lot of stuff to research.”
“This is this, and that is that. I will find out what makes you unique.”
She was stubborn, but there was no malice in her. Her eyes were still as pure as a newborn's. It was like vice was an unknown concept to her. It was impossible for me to hate someone like her.
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