Felt pondered for a long moment.
With a look of pained reluctance, she counted out five gold coins from her pouch. She hesitated, put two back, hesitated again, and finally, only a single gold coin remained in her hand.
"This place isn't big enough for the four of us. We need to find a new spot."
"For the next couple of days, we'll work together to fix up a place to stay. This gold coin will cover our expenses for those days."
"Alright! Sweet—"
Gojo Satoru's cheer had barely left his throat before Felt lunged upward, slamming her hand over his mouth to cut him off.
"Absolutely, positively, no sweets for you!"
Sweets were something that people at the bottom of society like them simply couldn't afford. Even those living in the residential districts wouldn't dream of eating desserts as a meal like Gojo did; being able to afford them once a month was considered doing well. After all, besides satisfying a craving, their cost-performance ratio was abysmally low. The money spent on a single treat could buy a substantial amount of actual food.
"This money has to go toward household supplies, food, and some second-hand clothes..."
Felt counted off the necessities on her fingers. Having lived on her own for a while, she was intimately familiar with the cold realities of budgeting. One gold coin was the figure she had arrived at after squeezing their potential expenses as tightly as humanly possible.
"What a stingy employer," Gojo said, throwing his hands up and shaking his head.
"I think if you keep talking, there won't be any dinner for you today," Subaru Natsuki leaned in and whispered.
"Hahahaha! Don't worry, Felt will handle everything. Don't let her age fool you; she's very capable!"
Old Man Rom looked at Felt with a gaze full of pride. Having watched this child grow up, seeing her handle these affairs so systematically brought a deep sense of relief to his old heart.
Once the plan was set, Felt led them through the slums to scout for a suitable base. "Base" was a generous term; in reality, they were looking for a shack that wasn't too severely trashed. Fortunately, Felt's long tenure in the slums meant she was intimately familiar with the layout.
They soon found a place that was passably acceptable, though the roof and walls had massive holes, and the interior was overgrown with weeds and cluttered with trash. It would need a thorough cleaning.
"This is the spot. Let's try to get this cleared out today," Felt said, nodding in satisfaction as she surveyed the surroundings.
"Old Man Rom, you and this guy stay here and start clearing it out. I'll take Subaru to buy some food and essentials."
"Leave it to me. These old bones still have some strength left," Rom said, flexing his arm with a chuckle.
Felt pulled Subaru to her side and then glared at Gojo Satoru.
"Don't you dare slack off, got it? Or you're not eating today."
"I know, I know."
"I wonder if the Knights handle cases regarding such tyrannical employers."
"They don't! So give it up!"
With that, Felt led Subaru away.
Old Man Rom looked at Gojo and smiled. "Well then, shall we get started?"
Gojo stretched his limbs, found a spot in front of the shack where the sunlight was just right, and soaked in the warmth. He spoke lazily.
"No need to make it that complicated."
Gojo extended his index finger, and a blue sphere the size of a fingertip quietly manifested at his tip. Seeing this, the expression on Old Man Rom's face stiffened. He remembered very clearly—the last time this happened, the blue sphere turned red, and then...
"Wait, wait, young Gojo!"
"What are you doing? This old house can't handle such rough treatment!"
"Relax. I'll be very gentle."
Gojo spoke with a beaming smile. With a light flick of his finger, the blue sphere flew into the house. Rom watched the sphere tensely, worried that a terrifying explosion of power would erupt like before.
But he had worried for nothing. Under his gaze, as the blue sphere drifted through the room, an invisible force pulled everything—trash, debris, and weeds—toward it, swirling them around the sphere.
In no time at all, the sphere was completely encased in a ball of junk. After circling the interior for less than two minutes, the entire house had been scrubbed clean. Gojo pointed his finger to the side, and the sphere, now laden with trash, flew over to a nearby empty lot.
Throughout the entire process, he hadn't even shifted his feet. It was efficient, fast, and effortless.
"All done."
"Come over and soak up some sun, Old Man Rom," Gojo called out enthusiastically.
Rom looked at the pile of trash in the distance, then walked over with a complicated expression. "Young Gojo, you truly are a genius. To possess such power at your age and be able to control it with such precision..."
Gojo laughed, nodding without a shred of modesty. "That's right. I am a genius."
"But your eyes are quite sharp too, Old Man Rom."
Gojo adjusted his sunglasses. Deep within those ice-blue eyes, there was a faint, distinct glint.
"Hahahaha. When you get old, you just start having all sorts of random realizations." Rom rubbed his bald head, laughing sheepishly.
The conversation ended there, and the two figures—one massive, one slender—sat quietly enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Felt and Subaru didn't return until nearly noon. Felt looked exactly as she had when she left—empty-handed, her steps light and agile. Subaru, however, was not having nearly as easy a time.
He was buried under a mountain of bags and bundles. From a distance, his upper body was completely invisible, hidden behind a tower of miscellaneous supplies. He wobbled with every step. Judging by the dust on his trousers, he had clearly taken a few tumbles.
"Old Man Rom... I'm back..."
Arriving at the shack, Subaru finally hit his limit. He dropped the supplies and, heedless of the dirt, collapsed flat on the ground, gasping for air.
"Geez, you're useless," Felt said, leaning over the exhausted Subaru and pouting. "You don't look that frail, but at this rate, you wouldn't even qualify as a laborer for a merchant caravan."
"I feel like... my value shouldn't be measured in manual labor," Subaru said, shielding his eyes from the blinding sun and looking at his trembling arms.
"I'm supposed to be a Hero, after all."