First, I decided to show my new maid around the house. Since she was going to live with me from now on, she needed to be familiarized with the mansion.

The maid (whom I will be calling "Nola" from now on since Nolamel is a mouthful to pronounce) had a lot of baggage with her, so I helped her carry it outside.

It would be a pain to carry all of these to my mansion uphill, so we just hired a carriage to take us there.

As the carriage trodded along the path, it was evident in Nola's face that she was excited.

It reminded me of my old self back then, when I was entering the capital for the first time. That feeling of excitement to experience new adventures and the like.

.........

I really hope she doesn't get demotivated with the mess.

It would be very unfortunate if she immediately quit on the first day of the job.

The sun was already starting to rise, and by the time we made it to the front door, it was already on the horizon.

"It is certainly a big house," Nola commented.

After unlocking the door with my keys, I threw it open.

"Welcome to your new home, Nola!" I said, going in and extending my arms wide, giving her a warm welcome.

"........."

She stood speechless at the door, staring at the disaster before her.

"Yeah, I know. There's a lot of mess. Which is why I hired you, to take care of it!"

"I... I see..." Nola's voice was so low I could barely catch the words she was saying.

"Here, I'll show you around!"

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her into the house. Surprisingly, there was no resistance at all. It was like I was pulling air.

I showed her around the house, from my bedroom to the terrace, the library, the game room, the pool, and others.

Her hand got colder and she was so pale it looked like she was about to faint as we switched from one room to another.

Hmm.

Nah. It was probably just my imagination.

Maybe.

"I think the phrase 'a lot of mess' isn't enough to describe what I have just witnessed," Nola commented as we ended our tour.

"Nice observation."

"Nonetheless," she said with a determined face. "I shall do my best to clean this house and restore it to its original glory."

"That's the spirit!

Since I had a ton of job requests waiting in my mailbox when I checked earlier, I gave her extra quick instructions and information, like where to find various cleaning materials and stuff. She quickly memorized it and started cleaning.

I left her in charge of the house, while I went out to Sirvaelin again.

---

To my dismay, I finished the job requests late at night. One of them involved me accompanying a party up the treacherous mountains, which was full of high-tier monsters.

Sure, I might have gained a lot of exp from it, but the endless waves of monsters tired me out. It was like there was a mob spawner nearby.

The reason why I finished late was that one of the adventurers fell and got trapped in a ravine on the way back, so I had to cast various elemental spells just to get her out of it.

Ahh, I want to rest and sleep on my fluffy bed again.

Waking up early was starting to take its toll on me.

I forgot to bring money, so I couldn't order a carriage home.

Wearily dragging my tired body up the hill, I made my way to the front door.

"Welcome home, master. I've already finished our dinner, so please feel free to have a seat at the dining table.

"........"

I had to rub my eyes to see if I was looking at reality or not.

Okay. I was not expecting this.

The whole place was clean. This included the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the stairs, etc. Everything you can see as you entered was clean.

Spotless.

Not a single speck of dust that covered practically everything was gone.

It was like the mess never existed in the first place, snapped out of reality.

Seriously?

She did all of this on her own, in such a short amount of time?

I sat down on the chair at the dining table while Nola prepared my food.

Amazing.

I guess being an S-Division maid wasn't just some title.

The second thing I've noticed was the smell coming from the kitchen. It was a sweet and pleasing aroma, making my stomach growl. The kitchen and dining room were connected into one area, so it was easy for me to see that Nola was preparing steak.

Faldred Steak, to be precise. One of the best steaks in this country. I remembered getting it as a prize for completing a job request last week. I didn't know how to cook it, so it was just sitting around in my pantry.

The third thing I noticed was Nola's appearance.

She was wearing a red bandana on her head, and her long sleeves were rolled up to the point where you can see her armpits. Her hair was tied in a ponytail fashion, and she was sweating.

Honestly, she looked like a stressed factory worker to me.

Was it because of her efforts to clean up my mess?

If so, then I'm definitely giving her a raise.

"Dinner is served."

After a few minutes of waiting, Nola finally finished. She placed my plate in front of me.

Just looking at it, the steak already looked delicious. I can almost taste it due to the pleasing aroma coming out of it.

"Thank you for the food," I said out loud and dug in.

Even if I was now in another world, I still chose to retain some Japanese practices. Old habits die hard, literally.

I could never forget the moment I took my first bite.

It was an explosion of flavor. The saltiness of the meat, combined with the spices that were seasoned on it further enhanced the steak.

It was simply delicious.

Eager to try more, I sliced another piece with my knife and ate.

Amazing.

It was the same as my first bite. Flavorful.

This overflow of flavors needs some balancing.

I got the bread and took a bite, chewing it along with the meat in my mouth. It made a crunching sound as I did so.

The bread was partially salty but in a good way. It further enhanced the flavor of the steak.

It was like I was dining in heaven. A meal made for the gods.

Tears were rolling down my eyes.

I haven't had food this good in decades.

"Is something wrong, master?" Nola asked. She had a concerned look on her face.

"No, it's nothing," I replied, wiping the tears away from my eyes. "It's just that your cooking was so good it made me shed a few tears. I've never tasted anything like this in a long time."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, master."

"It's like I'm dining in heaven right now, food served by the goddess of well-cooked steaks herself."

"T-Thank you, master."

"If a famous world-class chef from another world had a taste of this, I bet he'd blabber on about how amazing your dish is."

"Your compliments are making me blush, m-master."

She wasn't joking. Nola's face was red as a tomato, staring down to the floor in embarrassment.

Her serious face moments ago was nowhere to be seen. There was only one word to describe it.

Cute.

Nola was unexpectedly cute when she's all flustered like this.

Hmm.

I should think of more compliments to bombard her with.

It looked like praise was her weakness.

I can't get enough of this, both her reaction and the meal.

And so, I spent the rest of the night in ecstasy, as I hammered Nola with praise. Nola was happy, as she saw me enjoying her cooking in delight.