He opened his eyes and glanced to the side. He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed her at first, but she was just chilling in a self-made hammock strung between the chimney and one of the solar-powered dishes.
"...I thought you were inside the garage?"
She scoffed. "I know I might look like a masochist to you, but I’m not that suicidal. I thought about it, sure. But no, doing it remotely is far safer."
"Hm. Is that so?" Arthur leaned his chin on his hand. "About earlier, I’m sorry for lashing out at you. You’re right. I’m just a stranger, and we’re only cooperating because of happenstance. Still, I want there to be some ground rules that neither of us crosses."
Ever since he left, he had been thinking about it. Them being together was unavoidable, but if they wanted to get along, they needed boundaries. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one thinking about that either.
"I agree. In that case, I won’t put my life on the line again. Not because your words influenced me, though. I just realized that a lot of my methods can be changed. Now, what I want you to do in turn is not dig too deep into my life. Also... I don’t want you to fall for me, since that’ll only make you hurt."
Arthur was taken aback. Fall for her? Sure, she was hot, but from the moment they met, their relationship had been one of convenience. More like a business relationship, rather. There were no feelings involved, and at this rate, he doubted there ever would be.
As for what else she said, he was in agreement.
"Alright. I only have one thing to add, then." He approached her, stopping in front of her. "You mentioned you used to be some rich girl in the past. I don’t know much about you, but from the moment you woke up, you’ve been treating me like your lackey."
He narrowed his eyes. "I’m not your lackey, so if you tell me to do shit for you when you can very easily do it yourself, just remember my words. That’s all."
"Fine with me. Just make sure to keep cooking your food... It’s delicious." Victoria turned away in her hammock.
He rolled his eyes at her and lay back down only a meter away from her. Honestly, she was an enigma, and her powers only made her more unpredictable. What if one day she decided to just wipe everything out on the off chance that she could go back home? She would definitely have the power to do it.
I guess I’ll just have to trust her.
Arthur hummed in satisfaction and closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep for a little while. But again, a certain someone didn’t let him.
"Tomorrow, we’re going out into the city to sell some jewelry."
"Hm? We are?"
"Yes, we. I’m going too."
Arthur sighed. "How long do you think it’ll take before you get swept up and forced to work for them?"
"On the contrary, I’ve come up with a plan," Victoria replied mysteriously. "You see, one of my Laws allows me to absorb information from my surroundings. Your laptop, to which I give my condolences, I used to absorb all the information I could find on the web."
"...And?"
"Vivum Academy. It’s the largest concentration of magical knowledge in the city. According to what I found, they have entire departments dedicated to spatial Laws, dimensional phenomena, mana theory, and world-crossing anomalies."
Which she was definitely going to use to help herself go back home. Yeah, he had a feeling that would be the case when he read about the departments himself. There were a lot that focused on mana theory and healing, all of which interested him.
"I see."
"Mm. I was thinking that if I washed the dishes from now on, you’d help me make a submission to the academy?" she asked.
"Sigh. When I said the lackey stuff, I meant stuff like, oh, kidnap me. This is just a request, dummy." He chuckled and closed his eyes again. "I’ll get it sorted after we can get inside our home."
"About that... The laptop was destroyed after I absorbed all the knowledge. That’s why we’re going together tomorrow, and with the money we get, we’ll both buy the things we need," Victoria said.
He opened one eye, gave her the side-eye, and returned to resting again. It was nice to talk to her every now and again. While their goals weren’t similar, their paths to achieving them were similar, at least so far.
Though, should he apply to the academy as well? He didn’t see why not. It would be a good way to kill time alongside some training to increase his stats. He might actually meet some cool people and make friends.
The only problem was the lack of an age limit. The only thing they said on the website was that one had to be above 18. After that, the odds of him meeting an eighty-year-old veteran were pretty damn high. But he was willing to take those odds.
I guess I’ll apply as well.
Finally, with Victoria no longer talking, Arthur fell asleep.
***
When he opened his eyes, he felt a bit groggy. Whether that was because the sun was giving him a tan or because he had barely eaten yesterday, he had no idea.
Either way, he got up and went back inside the house. The temperature was back to normal, and Victoria was just roaming around the house, occasionally bumping into some smooth corners as she placed dozens of pieces of golden jewelry on the sofa.
Bracelets, necklaces, and some simple rings. They had nice designs, which was surprising, considering she was blind. But that was the least impressive part. When he glanced toward the open garage door, he saw a nearly endless pile of gold jewelry.
His jaw dropped.
Victoria suddenly walked up to him and popped his jaw back into place before pointing at the sofa.
"This is all I’m planning for us to sell today. It should get us around 300,000 Pora. Oh, right. This is also our first time going out together, right? Since you’ve told the government that we’re married, you better act the part, hubby."