Abnormal Moon

"The land that can be used for planting now has all been cleansed of curses by magicians. Only such land can be used to grow vegetables and build houses. However, there are too many curses and too few magicians, so there is no balance. This results in an extreme shortage of food resources and an exceptionally high status for magicians."

"Now, can you understand why refugees have such a low status?"

Hayasaka Ai and Kasumigaoka Utaha remained completely silent.

They themselves might not even have enough food to eat, yet they were willing to let these refugees stay.

Only now did they understand how kind Fuyuki City was to accept them, these useless refugees who could only cook.

"Rescuing you refugees, bringing you into the city, and feeding you is already the result of Rin Tohsaka's struggle against the Mage's Association."

After saying this, Roy stood up and went inside the house.

It was no easy feat to achieve this result in negotiations with those stubborn, self-serving old fogies in the association's branch. Those old fogies in the association's branch wouldn't care about the lives of refugees, and they had no idea how much Rin Tohsaka had paid.

The reason why no farmhouse was built in the Tohsaka mansion was simply because she was so busy all day long that there was no one to take care of it.

Hayasaka Ai and Kasumigaoka Utaha stood in the courtyard for a long time without saying a word.

The slight resentment of being treated as a refugee without dignity and without a proper status after transmigrating into this world vanished at this moment.

night.

Hayasaka Ai and Kasumigaoka Utaha had already gone to sleep.

Okita Souji was also ordered to rest.

Roy lay face down on the master bedroom bed, his eyes wide open, his hands gripping the sheets tightly, and his whole body drenched in sweat.

He was burning with excruciating pain that went deep into his bones, as if flames were scorching his entire body. He lay on the bed, unable to move, his frail body tossing and turning in agony.

At first, Roy held his throat tightly until he could no longer suppress it, and a low growl echoed in the room.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of heavy objects falling to the ground and bodies hitting the walls came from inside the room.

It didn't gradually subside until midnight.

Chapter 18 Aki Tomoya

the next morning.

Hayasaka Ai and Kasumigaoka Utaha came to the master bedroom, wanting to help Roy tidy up the bed.

Cleaning the master's bedroom is also part of the maid's job, and Hayasaka Ai plans to teach Kasumigaoka Utaha this morning.

"My room doesn't need to be cleaned."

Roy closed the door, blocking the view behind him, and smiled as he declined her suggestion.

"From now on, you don't need to clean my room. Unless it's urgent, don't come near my room. You can go and tidy up other places."

The two girls exchanged a glance.

Although they didn't quite understand Roy's thinking, not having to clean was a good thing, and they were happy to have some free time.

"Lord Roy, are you injured?"

Just as Hayasaka Ai was about to leave, she suddenly caught a glimpse of blood on Roy's hand.

The marks looked like they were left from being punched hard; the knuckles of both hands were cracked and bleeding, a rather gruesome sight.

But there was no bleeding, and it had already scabbed over.

Kasumigaoka Utaha also stopped and looked at him in surprise.

How could he have been so badly injured at home?

"Hmm? This?"

Roy glanced at his fist and smiled dismissively.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury. I'll take care of it myself. You guys go ahead and do your work."

"I understand."

Hayasaka felt a jolt of alarm and pulled Kasumigaoka Utaha away.

After the two left, Roy's smile faded. He wrote healing runes on his knuckles and sealing runes on the bedroom door before turning and leaving.

In the blink of an eye, several days have passed.

The time has come to the last day of January.

This morning.

"Lord Roy, do you have any requests for lunch today?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha arrived at the door of the study. The study in this mansion was quite spacious, about the size of two bedrooms. She knocked on the open door.

Roy was sitting at his desk, fiddling with something on it.

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't go to see it.

Roy had taught them that some magical things should not be looked at casually, or the consequences could be dire.

“Don’t eat offal.”

"We don't plan to cook dishes with offal."

"Then it's fine. You can decide on the dishes yourself. I'm not picky about anything else."

Roy waved his hand.

Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded and left.

To be honest, she's not really a fan of dishes with offal.

But times have changed. This world is now short of food resources, and no edible thing is spared by modern humans. Even offal has long been used to create a wide variety of dishes.

But she really didn't want to eat it, and Roy was saved because he didn't eat offal.

"Hayasaka, I'm going out."

"Wait a minute, we're almost out of soy sauce. Take a bottle with you on the way back."

"I understand."

Kasumigaoka Utaha went out carrying a vegetable basket.

After strolling around the shopping street for about half an hour, Kasumigaoka Utaha bought enough food for the three of them for two days. When paying, she couldn't help but gasp slightly, even though she was prepared, she was still shocked by the prices of the food.

The same food, even vegetables, is more than five times more expensive than in her world, and some are even ten times more expensive. This is under the current stable conditions. It's unimaginable how chaotic it was when the great disaster first occurred.

"Senior Shiyu?"

Suddenly, a surprised voice rang in my ears; it was a very familiar voice.

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head and looked around, feeling a surge of joy at the reunion with an acquaintance.

"Lun... what's wrong with you?"

A boy wearing black-rimmed glasses appeared not far behind her.

His face looked haggard, his lips were dry, his skin was oily, and his complexion was deathly pale, as if he hadn't slept for days and nights. There was also a scabbed wound on his forehead.

When Aki Tomoya saw Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was still radiant and beautiful, he forced a very weak smile.

"You're doing well, senior..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was startled by his appearance.

Although Aki Tomoya was a bit unkempt in the past, it was at most a common problem among otaku, and he would never look like he's about to die like he does today.

She found a coffee shop, had Aki Tomoya sit down, and ordered him some tea and snacks.

"What happened to you?"

"...It was just bad luck that he ran into an unreasonable owner."

Aki Tomoya looked blank, took a sip of tea, and moistened his chapped lips.

Kasumigaoka Utaha remembered that Aki Tomoya was taken away by that dark-skinned youth that day. She remembered the events of that day vividly. The Middle Eastern dark-skinned man had originally taken a liking to her, but Roy snatched her away halfway through.

Upon seeing Aki Tomoya's blank expression, Kasumigaoka Utaha trembled with fear.

What exactly did he go through to become like this?

Even Aki Tomoya, who was originally not favored, has ended up like this. If she had fallen into the hands of that dark-skinned youth from the beginning, what would have become of her?

How many times worse off is he than Tomoya Aki?

The thought of that possible scene sent a chill down her spine, and she instinctively hugged her arms tightly, as if this gesture could bring her some warmth.

"What exactly have you been through?"

"...Senior, could you do me a favor?"

Aki Tomoya lowered his eyes, not daring to look into Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes.

"I want to leave my current master, but I can't. My senior's master was able to take her away in front of that person that day, so he should be able to take me away too, right? Please, let me be a miner, a farmer, or a servant, I'll do anything, I just don't want to stay in that hell!"

The fear on his face was obvious.

Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't imagine what he had gone through.