The Caretaker of Tenants From Another World - Chapter 125

Alt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MzjzO29DiK0Vcay4bRl4Hv5soBL7yN1EGz1STsN8GB4/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter 125

"Akira, what is this?" Ange asked about the round, robotic vacuum that whirred toward her. She stepped away from its line of path, letting it bump against the wall and turning another direction.

"It's a vacuum!" I answered excitedly. "This baby can vacuum for up to six hours before needing to recharge. I've been on a waitlist for months. With this running, I can cut down on the amount of work I need to do in the living room and kitchen— because boy, are you guys messy eaters. Not to mention… all the hair…"

Living with women was bad enough, considering how much hair they shedded. Throwing netherfolks with fur and wool into the mix, including a whole sheep, was like walking on a field of hair.

A sharp hiss drew our attention to Cresta, who was on the ground, one hand pressed to the vacuum to keep it from moving and the other with claws out prepared to strike it.

"CRESTA, STOP!" I shouted, causing her to jump in fright and hide behind the couch.

"It still hurts if you yell out of nowhere like that!" Cresta pouted.

"You were about to hurt my $800 vacuum! Don't touch it. Everything you lay your hands on dies or breaks."

"Well, why did humans have to make everything so fragile?" she fired back.

"I'm pretty sure we've been through this, my dear cat-eared friend. It's not that everything is fragile; You netherfolks are just too strong for your own good!"

"Hold on one second… Did you say the vacuum is $800? Why would you buy something so expensive?" Ange asked.

Cresta and I glared at the millionaire succubus.

"Caretaker, how long will you keep us waiting?" Val hollered from the vestibule.

"Where you guys going?" Cresta asked.

"A garden supply store. Val won't stop pestering me about it since her garden got destroyed." I sighed.

"I'd love to accompany you, but alas…" Ange frowned, casting a spiteful look to the armlet that doubled as a tracking device.

If Ange were to leave the dormitory premises, it would send a signal straight to Reggie and Grace. She couldn't so much as take one foot past the backyard or parking lot. Doing so resulted in her immediate deportation without appeal.

"I think it's stupid that they put that on you. Akira, aren't your people always harping on about this being a free country?" Cresta asked.

"Free for some people," I corrected her. "I don't like that Ange is being monitored either, but I've been talking with Reggie about it. If she behaves, he'll push for removal of the tracking device and let her leave the dorm, but the anti-magic stays on."

"Better than nothing I suppose—"

Cresta jumped onto Ange's back and pumped a fist. "Then we can go to the beach together!"

That was the hope. Until then, we just had to play it safe.

The whole fiasco with the Royal Black Guards was over. Saralash became a harmless pimple. As long as I continued pushing, Reggie would break first and then both of us could team up against Grace.

I drove Val and Isla to a garden supply store to spruce up our backyard again. The building was situated in a plaza alongside a big box toy and sports store adjacent to it. Children skipping to stay in pace with their parents and bored teens on a weekend outing were plenty.

Isla, who was next to me and watching one kid skip, tried to mimic their movements. Her attempts led to several awkward but cute hops, causing the petals on her head to flutter with each skip. The hair roots curled up in frustration. Determined to succeed, she tried again but tripped over her own feet and face planted to the ground.

"Isla!" I picked the alraune girl up and was met with a teary-eyed face, pink nose, and bruised confidence.

"Uu… Papa, it hurts…" Isla sobbed.

"You only recently got used to your legs. It's a little too early to be trying to skip like that. Here, hold on to me." When I extended an arm outwards, Isla's own arms unwound into vines that clung to me. She was able to skip without falling. Only now she looked like a shirt hanging out to dry in the sun.

Well, whatever made her happy.

Val, who was walking slightly ahead, glanced over her shoulder and smiled.

"Don't let my gratitude get to your head, but thank you for looking after Isla," I said to her.

"You couldn't simply leave your job. What I did was the expected thing to do," Val replied as a matter of factly.

"See, Isla? Val loves all of us. The tsundere just has a hard time expressing it."

"You're always misconstruing my words! Whatever ts… tsun… dee… ray…? I may not know what it means, but I don't like the tone you're taking with me!" she huffed and took a sharp turn inside the store to the starter plants area.

The pseudo-outdoors section of the store was like a jungle with a variety of plants available for purchase. A giant black cloth mesh served as the roof to control the amount of sunlight coming through. Val browsed through rows of flower bushes, tree saplings, and fruit plants. Many of them didn't catch her eye. In fact, she appeared more disappointed than anything.

"What exactly are you looking for anyway?" I asked.

"Anything healthy and worth saving. As far as I can tell, most of these plants will die soon to parasites in their roots," Val said.

"Excuse me— what?!" A nearby employee tending to some plants gawked at us with a horrified look.

"You may want to replace the soil. Or get rid of everything here and cut ties with whomever your usual supplier is," she calmly added, a stark contrast to the fear in the worker's eyes as he ran off to tell his manager.

Isla let go of my hand to climb onto my shoulders. She gazed down at the plants around her with an air of caution.

"It's not dangerous to Isla, is it?" I asked.

"No, Isla's body is too toxic to serve as a host for this world's organisms," Val answered with certainty.

"Toxic… doesn't inspire confidence…"

Having grown weary of browsing through unhealthy plants, Val moved onto empty pots made of ceramic, glass, and metal. They were stacked and arranged by size, all awaiting to be filled with soil. Some were as small as my fist, and others large enough to fit a young tree.

"Ooh!" Isla slithered down my back and planted herself inside a dark brown, ceramic pot.

"Is that your new home, Isla?" I teased.

"I want this!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Please, don't put your children in the planters!" A tall man in thick glasses, wearing a green apron with a graphic of a cartoonish tree, came hollering at us. Judging by the name tag that read 'Steve' he was an employee.

"Oh, don't worry. My child is a plant," I said.

My man Steve stared blankly at Isla and underwent an existential crisis in the span of two seconds.

He sighed. "A netherfolk… I don't get paid enough to do this. Sir, ma'am… can you please secure your child. At worst, they can get hurt if the planter tips over and shatters."

"Fair enough. Come on, Isla. Back in my arms. We can plant you inside after buying it." I picked up the alraune, squirming and longing to return to the planter.

With Steve's help, though it seemed more like an eagerness to get us to move along, we got a flatbed and personal assistance in finding what Val needed. Plant pots, gardening tools, bags of soil, and some natural pesticides to repel insects in the backyard that wouldn't harm Rakka.

At some point during our shopping ventures, while Val laid into Steve about the importance of maintaining proper plant roots health, Isla slipped away unnoticed. I only realized what happened when a severed vine was all that was held in my hand.

"God damn it, Isla." I groaned quietly so as to not cause Val panic.

As they talked, I slinked away back to the plants and pots section of the store to search for Isla. She wasn't at the planters. There was, however, a group of elderly women surrounding something towards the medium-sized plants area. Unbeknownst to them, they were staring at none other than Isla. Her jaws were wide open. Viscous saliva dripped down the trap like sludge.

"I've never seen a venus fly trap like that before."

"Maybe it's from Australia. I hear their fauna can be quite scary."

"Darcy, for the last time that's flora. Fauna means animals!"

"Pardon me, ladies. That's not a plant!" I exclaimed, trying to squeeze between them.

Just then, a fly landed in Isla's mouth. Like a bear trap, her jaws slammed shut with a sickening crunch. Not from the fly being eaten, but from the many teeth clicking back into place. The geriatrics around me gaped, dentures slipped off, and another lost hold of her walking cane.

"Oh, my heavens—"

Her friends caught her before she cracked her skull on the ground.

While they were petrified, I reached Isla and saw that her leg roots were firmly buried into the dirt along with another plant. After digging her out and apologizing to the ladies who lost a few years from their already aging lifespan, we hurried back to Val in time as she finished talking.

"Isn't that right, Caretaker?" Val glanced at me to back her up.

"Uh… Yeah," I half-heartedly replied.

Steve couldn't be happier once we paid for our stuff and left. Back at the comforts of our dormitory, Val went right to work replanting, pruning, and tilling topsoil. She even pulled out the wallet to buy a whole walk-in greenhouse that would be delivered to us in a few days, apparently intending for it to be Isla's room.

Meanwhile, Tamara and Ivory were helping me fill a large planter with soil. We patted it down until we can still worm a finger underneath the dirt, just compact enough for Isla to take firm root within.

"Okay… It's ready, Isla!" I told the eager alraune girl.

"Yay!" Isla climbed atop the planter and dug her legs into the soil until she was waist-deep inside. A content smile spread across her face, and she began to do a wiggle dance in happiness.

"Aw, man. They grow up so fast. Guess I ain't needed as a pot anymore," Ivory said.

"Isla, ahh~" Tamara picked up the watering can to give Isla a light shower.

The weight of it proved too unwieldy for Tamara's small hands. She lost hold and waterboarded Isla instead, soaking the soil down to the bottom.

"I-I'm sorry, Isla!" she cried.

"Uu… Too much water," Isla mumbled, leaves drooping from being overwatered.

"Let's stick with the hose next time." I chuckled, patting Tamara on the head to reassure her. "For now, let's help Isla out before she gets sick."