"So, I said I'd give you a room, but there’s no spare one around here," Welter murmured, scratching his cheek and looking around his narrow dining area. The table was only big enough for two, with just two chairs.

"Guess I’ll just make a room, then. Let’s head outside," he announced, full of energy as he led us out of the house. It’d been a while since I’d seen the sun—the first time since we were summoned, in fact. The dim light of the Devil’s Forest hadn’t prepared me for how bright it was out here.

"It’s pretty open here," Yuzuki remarked, as we found ourselves standing in a cleared area about 50 meters across, encircled by a wall, with the house sitting alone in the center.

"Yep. With this much of the forest cleared away, monsters don’t tend to come close," Welter said. "And I’ve planted some monster-repelling herbs outside the wall. At least within the walls, you should be safe."

Looking around, I noticed he had a vegetable garden. Did he clear this area on his own?

"Alright, let’s get this done. Stand back a bit," he told us.

"Yes, sir."

Welter took out his staff, muttering as he examined the house’s surroundings. He raised the staff, and the soil began to rise and flatten itself. After a moment, he reentered the house, carved an opening in the wall, and created a door-shaped hole. Within minutes, walls and a roof appeared, forming a brand-new room.

"And there you go," Welter said, wiping invisible sweat off his brow as he conjured a floating orb of water to drink from. Watching this, I felt like I’d just seen a magic trick, but then I felt the flow of mana. It really was magic.

"That was amazing," Yuzuki said, almost speechless.

Now, Welter’s house had a dining area, bedroom, storage room, and a new room for us. The three of us went to inspect it—it was empty, just freshly constructed bare walls.

"There are some old furs in storage; use them to sleep on if you want," Welter said.

"Thank you."

"Well, this’ll be… your room now," he added, making Yuzuki and I glance at each other in surprise.

Our room? Like, Yuzuki’s and mine? I felt my cheeks warm up as the meaning sunk in, and Yuzuki’s face turned a shade of red as well.

"Feel free to use anything from storage to set up your room. I’ll be out hunting for a bit, so the house is yours."

"Got it."

"Take care..."

After Welter left, a long, awkward silence followed. Last night, we’d held each other while sleeping, but that was an exception. We were in the Devil’s Forest, starving, scared of monster attacks, and alone. But now, we were safe, and face-to-face, the atmosphere felt different.

"Maybe we should check out the storage room?" I suggested.

"Yeah, good idea."

The storage room was right next door, without a door of its own, just like our new room.

After setting up our room with a few furs as bedding, there wasn’t much else to do. Now, Yuzuki and I sat across from each other, seated on the furs laid out on the floor.

"Well, um, let’s keep looking out for each other, okay?" she said shyly.

"Yeah, of course. Are you, um, sure you’re okay sharing a room with me?"

It wasn’t something I could just gloss over. This needed to be clarified now; otherwise, I’d only regret it down the line.

"Maybe we could ask Welter-san to make us another room?"

I didn’t know what to say—asking for more seemed pushy. But I also felt a twinge of sadness, like maybe I’d been shrugged off with a "let’s just make do."

"Yeah, that’s probably a little much for now."

"That’s fine. I’m okay with this, really."

"Alright," I replied, avoiding any questions that might make things weird.

"Oh, and could you call me Rio?" Yuzuki asked, her cheeks turning red.

"Huh?"

"You know, Welter-san mentioned family names are only for nobles, right? So it might be good to get used to using first names while we can."

Her face flushed as she spoke quickly, but I understood what she meant.

"That makes sense. We’re sharing this place and all, so I guess we can skip the formalities… Rio…san"

Though I tried to be casual, I ended up adding "san" out of habit, feeling shy.

"No ‘san,’ please… Shu."

She seemed slightly annoyed.

"Oh, right. Sure thing, Rio."

Maybe this is what happens when two people survive hardship together—biological instincts, or whatever. I think there’s a name for this, but that’s beside the point. Stay cool, stay calm. This is just a temporary situation, and the future is unknown.