Lately, whenever I take on Dex's quests, I am building house in dungeon, so I've been getting back pretty late to report in.
The reason I've been building houses is simple: on my journey to hunt down the Demon King, I want to sleep in a real bed—even when I'm outside the city.
When you open the front door, there's a small entryway with a shoe cabinet. Obviously, you can't leave your shoes outside when you're in the wild. Past that is a hallway. There are five doors on the left wall and four doors on the right.
The first door on the left is the toilet. The second is the sink-and-bathroom combo. The remaining three are bedrooms. On the right side, the first door leads to the shared living room and kitchen. The last three doors are more bedrooms.
The size of all six bedrooms are small, but that's fine—just enough to hold the essentials and leave room to walk.
Now, why did I build so many rooms? Because I'll need a few companions to help me—and to talk to on the road. Traveling with company makes the lonely hours pass easier.
Later, I'm planning to ask the king for three companions. The other two rooms are just in case. But whoever those three end up being, they'll have to keep their mouths shut. I might let them learn ancient magic or advanced elemental magic someday.
Back to the house itself—at the end of the hallway there's a ladder leading up to the water tank and power system. Getting Lina to make the elemental mana stones for all this took a lot of effort. Hiding the whole thing from her wasn't easy at all.
Also, the house has zero windows. If a light were to shine in the forest at night, both people and monsters would spot it instantly. If someone comes because they smell food… well, that I can't do much about.
But don't worry about ventilation. Every room has an exhaust fan. They're quiet, so we can sleep without being disturbed.
On top of that, I embedded magic cores into all the outer walls. Even a magic attack wouldn't leave a scratch. This is the sturdiest house ever built.
And today is December 24th—the travel house is finally finished! Just in time for Lina's birthday. Perfect!!!
I left the dungeon in high spirits, reported back to Dex at the guild, picked Lina up from work, and that brought us to the next day.
Lina had taken the day off today. I got up early, finished all my daily tasks, and after breakfast with Lina and Lani, I headed out to build a BBQ pit. We'd celebrate Lina's birthday outdoors tonight.
It only took me half a day to finish. A square grill pit with a ring of wooden planks around it serving as a table. I also added a roof and paved the ground with tiles, along with some outdoor sofas.
Even if the outdoor sofas get soaked in the rain, there's nothing to worry about—just leave them out in the sun and they dry up fast.
After that, I started preparing the ingredients and sauces. Side note: the cheese is finally ready to eat. I'm going to pour a mountain of melted cheese on everything later—rich, gooey, and absolutely delicious.
Then I took out the strawberry cake and handed it to Lina.
"Lina, happy birthday."
"Bid sis, happy birthday."
Lani no longer speaks with that babyish lisp—she's such a smart baby now. She's even learned the language from my previous world, so watching movies has become way easier for her.
"Thank you."
After Lina thanked us, we dug in. Good thing I hadn't eaten much earlier, or I wouldn't have room for cake.
Once we finished, I cleaned up and went to take a shower. When I came out, freshly washed, I saw Lina—also freshly washed—sitting on the bed. Then she suddenly came over and hugged me, burying her face in my chest.
"Karen, I'm an adult now!"
The sudden hug startled me, but since it's her birthday, I'll allow it. I wrapped my arms around her in return.
"Yeah. Congratulations on becoming an adult."
But just burying her face wasn't enough—Lina started rubbing her cheek against me, sounding cheerful as she spoke.
"Hehe, now we can sleep together."
"Why?"
Her words confused me. Did we ever agree to sleep together? Did I forget something? Hearing my confusion, Lina immediately lifted her head, looking shocked and emotional.
"Karen, you forgot?!"
"Forgot what?"
Did I actually forget something? I'm not the forgetful type, and I was sure we never made such a promise. Lina continued, visibly upset.
"You said that when we become adults, we can sleep in the same bed! Were you lying to me?!"
Ah. That was the lousy excuse I made back then just to avoid sleeping together. And now the time limit has come back to bite me. I needed another excuse—fast. But no matter how upset she was, she still refused to let go of me.
"That? Well, I didn't say we'd sleep together the moment you turned adult."
"That's the same thing! I want you to say it clearly. Do you want to sleep with me or not?"
Crap. My attempt to twist the wording failed. Lina cornered me, forcing a yes-or-no answer. I chose neither—only the "stall for more time" option.
"Lina, can you wait a little longer for me?"
"Why?"
"I just need more time. I promise you this: once the day comes, even if you want to sleep separately, I won't allow it."
I already wrote the letter for Lina—she'll understand everything the day I leave. Hearing my words, Lina pressed her face back into my chest.
"If you say it like that… then I'll wait a little longer."
"Thank you. Let me hug you a little longer."
The reason I kept hugging her was because I genuinely wanted to thank her for understanding me. Lina, on the other hand, was just being her usual clingy self. Still, the two of us enjoyed the quiet warmth of the moment.
"Big bro, big sis, I want a hug too."
Lani's sudden voice startled us, and we quickly loosened our embrace. That's when I realized the door had been left open. Lina scooped Lani into her arms, and I opened mine to hug them both. We stayed like that for a while before heading to the movie room.