Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter3 (section)

===Part 21===

For the time being, Mikoto and Shokuhou got rooms at the inn.

Which meant the only inn in town automatically became their base of operations.

“Ew, it’s worse than I thought.”

Bikini armor Mikoto stopped in the doorway after taking a look at the small, wood-floored room.

To be blunt, she was a little afraid to go in.

Even from this far, she could see little things hopping around the bed. Bloodsucking things about the size of rice grains, to be specific.

The inn certainly wasn’t going to be a place for pleasant dreams.

But maybe that was what you got in a cheap inn for soldiers and adventures. If it was too comfortable, those ruffians would overstay their welcome and bring trouble to the village.

(So is my first job getting rid of the fleas and airing out the bedding?)

Being disgusted with the task wouldn’t get it done any faster. Were there any camphor trees growing nearby? If she dry distilled the wood, she could extract an insect repellent from it. She could probably manage that much even in a fantasy world.

“…Ugh.”

Dancer Shokuhou emerged from the neighboring room, looking close to death.

That lover of natural ingredients looked like she was seriously considering if she could survive here without relying on chemical insecticides. She must have gone through a fair amount of confusion and shouting inside the room because her hair was sticking out every which way and her handbag’s chain was tangled weirdly around her neck.

Mikoto didn’t care about that, so she asked a carefree question.

“So where’s Patissiet?”

“In my room. The bed might be the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but there is at least a hot bath. I let Patissiet take the first-”

A shrill scream cut her off.

And then a small figure in a towel scrambled out of the room.

The red-faced, dizzy-looking girl was Patissiet.

“What, was there a rat or something?”

“H-hot, water hot, why would bath be hot?”

She had boiled in seconds.

It wasn’t just her face – her entire body was a bit red.

“Shokuhou, are you like those stubborn old men who like their baths to be scalding?”

“Of course not!! I bet elves normally bathe outside in cold springs, so they aren’t used to 40-degree baths.”

Whatever the reason, they couldn’t leave a young(?) girl out in the hallway wearing nothing but a towel. They carried her back into Shokuhou’s room. The room was much like Mikoto’s. Which also meant it would take courage to sit on the bed.

That said, there were also chairs and a sofa.

“Ahh, well-ventilated spots are so refreshing.”

The elf must have wanted to cool her body. That much made sense.

However.

“Hey, Patissiet, why are you curled up on top of that wardrobe?”

“Hm? Because scary enemies can’t get you when you’re up high and you can see when dangerous animals are approaching.”

Did the forest-dwelling elves live up in the trees?

She would probably love it if they made her a DIY cat tower.

Mikoto sighed.

“By the way, what do we do about the mayor? Personally, I want to go and talk things out with him.”

“Ehh? But I have Mental Out and I’d rather not do that boring quest myself, so can’t I just brainwash some random villager into doing it?”

“We’re supposed to be fighting ''against'' slavery here, you lazy queen!!”

Mikoto grabbed Shokuhou’s arm and dragged her out of the room.

Dancer Shokuhou was still complaining.

“Level grinding is a thing of the past. I’m more a fan of idle games.”

“The character in the game is still working busily the entire time, idiot.”

After the village benefited so much from the elves’ work, they had to make sure the mayor repaid the elves.

The #5 was very clearly just tired and wanted someone to take her irritation out on, but Mikoto decided she wasn’t interested in defending the mayor who had worked those elves so hard.

After arriving at the mayor’s house – the largest in the village – Mikoto made her demand.

“Repay the elves for the work they’ve done for you. And I mean all of it. Right now.”

“Um!”

He had to know better than anyone he was in no position to argue.

The paled mayor’s tongue trembled as he got out a short response.

“H-have it your way.”

“That was never in question,” said Shokuhou, but she was actually slightly surprised on the inside.

She had expected him to make a desperate and ugly attempt to defend the village’s assets.

“First priority ability is probably the weapons and food.”

“Hm? You don’t want the money?”

“No thanks. It’s going to be worthless soon enough. Oh, and if you don’t want your people to starve, I recommend keeping around any gold or jewels you have. It would be a shame if you ended up dying from this. Not because I care about you. I just don’t want to see Patissiet looking sad.”

The mayor still looked confused, but they were under no obligation to explain it all to him.

Mikoto could mass-produce as many valuable fulgurites as she wanted. It was very possible that money would be worth less than a grain of sand in a day’s time.