After arriving at the villa entrance, the two groups temporarily split up.
Sorano took Kabe back to the mansion, while Lucy followed Meredy and pushed open the door to the villa.
After flipping the switch, the crystal chandelier cast a warm yellow glow that instantly illuminated the entire first floor.
Standing in the entrance hall, Lucy looked at the neatly arranged furniture inside. The interior was clean, orderly, and simply decorated, yet still carried a refined elegance. The air even carried a faint floral fragrance, causing her to open her mouth slightly in surprise.
"So refined… it's even more perfect than I imagined."
Meredy, who was bending down to search the shoe cabinet for something, replied proudly without looking up.
"Of course. Our cleanliness is always maintained thanks to Ur-nee's supervision."
Her magic, the Arc of Time, could easily restore a room back to its most perfect state.
"Arc of Time? I've never heard of that magic before, but I can guess what it does from the name alone."
Lucy sighed in amazement.
As expected of them. Even cleaning a house requires high-level time-based magic.
While Lucy was still admiring everything, Meredy finally found what she was looking for.
"Here. These slippers are new. Even though we don't need to clean much, basic hygiene still matters."
"Oh, oh, I've been helped again."
Lucy took off her small leather boots, changed into a pair of cute yellow slippers printed with a cat face, and officially stepped into the villa.
Meredy also changed into pink rabbit-ear slippers and trotted quickly into the living room. She turned around, placing her hands on her hips as she faced Lucy.
"Before you officially move in, there are three rules I need to tell you."
Seeing how serious Meredy was, Lucy immediately stood straight and took out a small notebook as if ready to record everything.
"First, Ur only takes care of cleaning the house. Washing personal clothes, pants, and smelly socks is strictly forbidden for her."
"Second, after 12 midnight, no loud noises are allowed or gatherings that disturb other members in the house."
"Third, every member has the responsibility to maintain our shared home."
"Our principle is: build a comfortable, warm, and harmonious family together."
Lucy carefully wrote everything down word for word before closing her notebook.
"It sounds like our family atmosphere will be really nice."
"But what's with the first rule? Who would be so lazy that they can't even wash their own clothes and need time magic for that?"
However, Meredy nodded seriously.
"There is. Sorano-nee does that. She basically changes clothes every day, sometimes even several times a day."
"Over time, she just started using Ur-nee's magic for it."
"…Sorano-nee, huh. She does seem like someone who really likes dressing up."
Although Lucy had only met Sorano twice, both times she was dressed very elegantly.
It could only be said that behind every strange rule, there was always a slightly unusual reason.
"Alright, rules are done. I'll take you to pick your room now."
"Hurry up and choose quickly. Then we can go eat at Kabe's place. I'm already starving after walking all afternoon."
"You're fine. I didn't even eat lunch. I rushed straight to the guild as soon as I got off the train."
Lucy rubbed her equally empty stomach, already thinking about food.
Without wasting any more time, the two quickly ran upstairs to choose rooms.
Although they were called guest rooms, they were not much different from the master bedrooms used by Sorano and the others.
Each room was about 90 square meters, equipped with a private bathroom, a full bath and shower, a balcony, a walk-in closet, and a small study.
There were nine rooms in total in the villa: five on the second floor and four on the third floor.
Lucy did not hesitate for long and quickly chose a room facing south.
After throwing her bag onto the bed, she let out a relieved sigh.
"My first day at the guild… I completed my first quest, got a place to stay, and even became neighbors with Kabe-nii."
"Thanks to everyone in the guild, my first day went so smoothly."
Seeing Lucy lying on the bed with a satisfied expression, Meredy, whose stomach was already growling, could not help but urge her.
"Stop being sentimental and hurry up and eat something. That's the most important thing right now."
Lying on the soft and comfortable bed, Lucy looked as if she might refuse to get up at any moment.
She rolled over and started asking random questions.
"Hey, Meredy, do you all usually eat at Kabe's place too?"
"Yeah, basically every day. No, get up already! How long are you planning to stay there?"
"Sigh… let me lie here a bit longer. I was too excited last night on the train and didn't sleep well. Now that I've finally relaxed, I suddenly feel sleepy."
Watching Lucy's upper and lower eyelids already starting to fight each other, Meredy finally lost patience.
"Get up, you lazy bum! If you want to sleep, then at least eat dinner and wash up first!"