The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#158 Suspect Isaac (2) - Preparation Defining a person as "what kind of person they are" is quite a difficult task. Even about friends and family we've lived with for half our lives, there are countless things we don't know about humans, so how much more so for unfamiliar strangers. But there are exceptions to everything. About an hour since encountering Isadora. Isaac felt he could define her in one word. A 'very eccentric oddball.' "Now, this is where the assistant will be living from now on. Not only am I paying a salary in this harsh world, but I'm even providing housing—don't you think I'm being too kind?" Isaac made a "Hmm..." sound with his mouth closed. Air filled with dust and moisture greeted him. The paint on the walls was peeling in places, and in those empty spots, bluish mold was blooming like a surrealist painter's work. Naturally, there was no furniture of any kind. No, at this point, he should rather be grateful that there was no garbage. Isaac glanced at Isadora's face. Despite having introduced something that looked more like a storage room than a living space, there wasn't a trace of hesitation or guilt on her face. Was it just his imagination that he could even sense an air of anticipation for how Isaac would react? '...This is quite different.' Isaac felt a strange sense of interest. The Crown Prince's clones each had different personalities, and these personalities tended to become more distant from the original the clearer their 'concept' was. In that sense, Isaac, who was born with the rather vague purpose of 'changing positions according to field situations,' had a personality quite close to the main body. In theatrical terms, it was a situation where the actor's own tendencies were greatly revealed because most of the character settings to be performed were empty. Since there had been no other human who dared to test and toy with the empire's Crown Prince, Isaac, whose abilities differed from the main body but whose emotions were similar, was also finding this situation quite interesting. Therefore, he answered. "What a wonderful house. As long as lodging fees aren't separately deducted from my salary." "Haha, don't worry. I'm not such a ruthless employer!" Isadora's answer was an immediate response without hesitation, but Isaac noticed her eyebrows twitch faintly. And Isadora also noticed that Isaac had realized her change in expression. She smiled mischievously and said. "Then, tomorrow at 9 o'clock. I'll come to pick you up." *** 6 Manometre Street. The basement of a three-story building with impressive red exterior walls. That was the location of Isaac's newly acquired home. Additionally, Isadora's detective office was on the second floor, and her residence was on the third floor. That blonde hair blue eyes female detective was monopolizing an entire building all by herself. Even knowing this, Isaac didn't ask Isadora for another empty room in the building, nor did he say he would just commute from somewhere else as he was doing now. After all, challenges exist to be met head-on, not to be avoided. Isaac first checked the hand he was holding. Physical age mid-twenties, a lean and muscular healthy body. No mana. No special abilities. An outsider with no local connections. The conclusion came quickly. This was more than enough. "First, I should introduce myself." Isaac went to a somewhat large dessert shop he had seen before and spent all his money to buy a considerable amount of gift cookie sets and tea leaves. "Hello. I'm Isaac, and I'll be living on this street from today. This is just something small, but I brought it to commemorate becoming neighbors." "Which building? That red three-story building over there. I was hired by the detective office's address." "What's my ulterior motive? Oh my, as expected of a craftsman, you have sharp eyes. Actually, it's a bribe asking you to come to us if you have any requests later." "Oh ho, the furniture in this house is really wonderful. Did you buy it from some high-end store? What? You made it yourself? You're joking, right? No matter how I look at it, it looks like something for sale." "Cleaning? Hmm. Can't I just roughly cover myself with a blanket and sleep? No, I'm joking. Please don't get so angry. You'll lend me cleaning tools? Then I'm very sorry... Ah, then instead I'll help organize your shop a bit." *** The next morning. Isadora headed down the stairs to the basement, humming lightly. Additionally, it was an hour earlier than the promised time. Naturally, it was to see her new employee looking troubled. However, when Isadora actually arrived in the basement, she had no choice but to rub her eyes for a moment. Neatly wallpapered walls. Furniture that looked used but was well-made. Near the entrance, a new partition had been created for rainy weather, and the fishy, musty smell that had filled the air had changed to a strange fragrance. It couldn't be called a magnificent estate that would make visitors gasp in admiration. But at least there was a decent living space that could be shown without particular embarrassment when inviting someone. 'Did I come to the wrong place?' It was none other than the basement of the building where she herself lived. Even though she knew there was no chance of getting lost or making a mistake, the transformation of the basement was so tremendous that she unconsciously thought that way. "Oh, welcome. Detective." And the person who had leisurely renovated the ruins in just one day was sitting in a chair, leisurely enjoying coffee. With a newspaper published by the republic even spread out on the table, it was clear to anyone that he had perfectly adapted to life here. Isadora's lips trembled for a moment. Even though she knew this was effectively a declaration of defeat, she couldn't help but ask. "What on earth did you do in just one day?" "I received some help from the neighbors. After all, humans are social animals, aren't they?" "I see. That's quite impressive." "Not at all. Ah, would you like a cup of coffee? I got some pretty good beans." "Please." Isaac smiled and began preparing coffee, while Isadora sat cross-legged in her chair, quietly observing her surroundings. It didn't take long to realize that all the elements making up this space were items that could be obtained from within the same street. 'Help from neighbors.' It was quite an amusing excuse for an outsider on his first day of residence to make. It was even more remarkable that it was likely fact rather than a simple excuse. In a society where there are plenty of people who take years just to get acquainted with one person and build a reasonably friendly relationship. For a man who had no connections until yesterday to easily succeed in obtaining this much support? The term 'monster' was not an exaggeration. "Here, please." With a clattering sound, a coffee cup was placed in front of Isadora. It was coffee as black and thick as coal tar. It was something that couldn't even be offered to a child as a courtesy, but that very point aroused Isadora's interest instead. She carefully brought the cup to her lips and soon trembled slightly at her fingertips. It was intense. Setting aside miscellaneous flowery words, the flavor felt by the tongue and nose was almost violent. If you precariously concentrated sugar and coffee powder within the range that could maintain the category of liquid, wouldn't it become something like this? Yet she didn't feel like stopping drinking or that her body was rejecting it. Rather, the more she drank, the more she inhaled the aroma, the more her head seemed to clear and vitality seemed to surge. "—You have one task as an assistant. Make this every morning." "You're making quite a bold request?" "Weren't you the one who said you were skilled at odd jobs?" "That wasn't particularly a refusal." "That's fortunate." "Hahaha," laughter filled the space. It was laughter that would have made a third party feel an inexplicable chill. After enjoying her coffee, Isadora left the basement and began climbing the stairs without a word to follow, and Isaac naturally followed behind her. Creeeeak. When Isadora stopped on the second floor and opened a wooden door that felt quite aged, a spacious office greeted the two of them. It was a scene that looked quite messy at first glance. On the cork board hanging on the wall, documents and newspaper clippings were pinned with thumbtacks, and all sorts of books were scattered on the desk. The peculiar thing was that it wasn't just one book open on the desk with others closed, but several books were open simultaneously. It looked as if instead of opening one book and reading it to the end, she had been reading book A, then read book B in the middle, and then opened book C to check its contents. The sofas arranged on the left and right around the table were each different in size and design, and the lighting installed in the room also existed in three types: candlesticks, gas lamps, and Magic Lamps. Perhaps because it hadn't been ventilated for a long time, a unique smell was circulating in the office, and to Isaac it felt more like something peculiar to a pharmacy or laboratory rather than the stale smell of tobacco. "Ah, don't clean up and move things around. I've arranged them in my own way." After warning Isaac, who was looking around the office, Isadora sat down on the sofa instead of at her own desk where all sorts of books were spread out. Isaac again took a seat on the opposite sofa without any particular questions. Contrary to the messy impression, the sofa didn't have the stickiness or dust typical of spaces that hadn't been cleaned for a long time. Isadora waved her pipe like a conductor's baton and continued giving instructions. "Retrieve newspapers from the mailbox and place them on the desk. Chase away anyone who comes for purposes other than requests. You don't need to clean, but wipe the windows once every four days. Don't go up the stairs to the third floor. And—" Isadora's series of "shall do" instructions was quite extensive. The way she rattled off more than fifty precautions without stumbling once looked like hazing a newcomer to anyone watching. "—So, do you need more explanation?" "No. It's simple." But Isaac wasn't an ordinary human either, so he nodded refreshingly without even showing signs of trying to take notes on what he heard. The moment Isadora's lips curled up. Knock knock. Someone knocked on the office door.