Arthur didn't even get the chance to respond before Casca jumped in.
"If you can clean my room too… could you maybe clean the whole house while you're at it?"
Arthur stared at her, expression flat. "The whole house?"
Casca nodded casually. "Yeah. It's not that big. Just two rooms, the kitchen, and the living area. Shouldn't take that long, right?"
Arthur sighed. "Cleaning your room gets me one week of free rent."
Casca raised an eyebrow, but before she could protest, Arthur continued, "Cleaning the whole house? One month free."
Casca thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But clean the kitchen too, okay…"
Arthur squinted at her suspiciously. "Wait… you're agreeing? Just like that?"
Casca shrugged, relaxed. "Why not? Clean house, I'm happy, you save money—win-win, right?"
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "This feels suspicious."
Casca smiled sweetly. Too sweet. "Well… if I change my mind later, maybe just one week free, and the rest half-price. Still a good deal, isn't it?"
Arthur glared. "What? That's not the deal."
Casca looked at him without a hint of guilt. "Deals can be adjusted. Depends on the landlord's mood."
Arthur let out a loud sigh, borderline frustrated. "This is extortion."
Casca grinned. "And if you complain… I could always tell the guild master you tried to peek on me while I was bathing yesterday."
Arthur closed his eyes, doing his best not to throw a baguette at her face.
Bounciechomie let out a small bloop that sounded suspiciously like muffled laughter.
"This… is absolutely forced labor," Arthur muttered as he walked toward the kitchen. "At least the kitchen doesn't come with false harassment charges…"
Arthur grumbled as he dragged his feet back to his room.
" I'm supposed to be living the adventurer's life, not working part-time as freelance cleaning service…"
He placed the bread bag carefully in the corner of the room, treating it like stolen treasure from a dungeon. Bounciechomie hopped off his shoulder with a soft bloop and immediately disappeared under the bed.
Arthur took a deep breath and raised his hand.
"Alright. Slapvice mode: on."
With an annoyed look and hands at the ready, Arthur marched past Casca toward the first floor. He began slapping anything that looked dirty, suspicious, or just plain ugly. Dust on the ceiling? Slap. Spiderwebs? Slap. Stale-smelling curtains? Hard slap. Even a vine creeping out from under the stairs got smacked just for existing.
Slap.
Whap.
Pak!
"This isn't the life I imagined," he muttered. "But at least my hands are glowing."
After clearing out the first floor with his signature slap-cleaning method, Arthur trudged back upstairs. His steps were heavy, energy drained, mood sinking fast.
And there stood Casca—right in front of her bedroom door. Arms crossed, chin slightly raised, with the smug expression of a queen inspecting her overworked servant.
Arthur looked at her flatly.
"I cleaned the kitchen, the living room, and that weird plant that tried to bite me. I'll clean your room too—but I'm only cleaning the dirt, not the sins you've got hiding in there."
Casca opened the door and gestured for Arthur to come in. He stepped inside and glanced around.
"Hmm… pretty clean. Doesn't look like a cockroach habitat," he said casually.
"What did you just say?" Casca snapped, clearly offended.
Arthur ignored her and got to work, slapping around the room with mechanical focus. The room wasn't particularly dusty, but that didn't stop him. He slapped the curtains, the furniture, the pillows, even the mattress and blanket.
As he lifted Casca's blanket to give it a slap, a small white object fell onto the floor.
"What's this?" Arthur asked, picking it up.
"Th-that's for… blood," Casca replied, her voice suddenly shy.
"For blood? Like a bandage?" Arthur pressed it to his forehead. "Pretty efficient. If I got a head wound, I could use this in a pinch."
"It's... it's only for women!" Casca blurted out, her voice faltering.
"Huh? Why only for women?" Arthur rubbed it against his cheek as he turned around—just in time to see Casca's face turn bright red.
"F-for that kind of blood…" she mumbled.
Arthur froze. "Ah… for that...?"
Casca nodded silently.
Arthur immediately tossed the item back onto the bed and walked straight out of the room. "Excuse me," he said flatly as he passed her.
Damn it, he thought. That thing's not like the ones in the modern world. I rubbed it on my face. Damn it!
Arthur entered his room and lay down.
He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before slowly sitting up at the edge of the bed. The orange glow from outside the window began to seep in, signaling that evening was settling in.
"At this hour, I'd usually still be at the office," he muttered, glancing at his empty hands as if hoping a laptop or a cup of instant coffee would magically appear.
In his previous life, this time of day was usually spent staring at spreadsheets, drowning in deadline notifications, or writing reports his boss never read. Now? A new world, a healthy body, a slime companion... and absolutely no idea what to do as the evening rolled in.
Bounciechomie let out a soft bloop, then curled itself into a small ball at the corner of the bed, already preparing to sleep earlier than usual.
Arthur stood and walked over to the window. He looked out at the darkening sky, the quiet little town, and a few adventurers returning from their quests, laughing tiredly as they celebrated their small victories.
Arthur let out a sigh.
"My life is seriously weird. From a no-life weeb, to a corporate slave with a pulse, and now... living as a side character in some low-tier webnovel that doesn't even sell."