Back to Hayashi Maki—
Just after he got home, the landlady—looking thoroughly put out—handed him the property title documents for "her" house.
She couldn't fathom how, in less than a day, this building now belonged to this handsome kid. Living off an ojou-sama really was the good life, huh.
Hayashi Maki, all smiles, saw her out politely, then looked at the papers in his hand and couldn't help the pleased grin. No matter how nice a rental is, it can't beat owning your own place. Even if he didn't live here, he could rent it out and coast for life—barring unforeseen disasters. Thankfully this world didn't have Ultraman or Kaiju smashing homes to bits—real estate here held its value.
More importantly, he finally had a home to call his own.
It still needed a makeover, though—time for alchemy. And once it was done, he'd ask Haruno to file for a new title; the house would look different, so new photos were a must.
The next day, while everyone was out, he set a mana barrier around the block, then cast alchemy on the rental. A massive magic circle bloomed across the ground. Under his peculiar mana, the plain little building began to shift and reshape.
A while later, the alchemy ended. Half his mana spent, the humble rental had become a three-story luxury villa. His and Mahiru's room doubled in size, with an extra room prepared just for Mahiru—girls needed their own space. Sure, she could stay with him all the time, but novelty fades; she needed a private nook.
With the house sorted, Hayashi Maki headed to school content.
…
By afternoon, Aoyama Nanami was headed home from Mizutaka High's attached academy—and stopped dead. A villa stood where the rundown rental had been. She checked the street twice; she wasn't lost. But she didn't dare go in. If she wasn't seeing things, then something supernatural had happened. The house was haunted! Go in, and she'd be eaten for sure!
While she fretted, a girl with fluffy, messy blond hair—Gabriel—walked right past, ignored Nanami, and went inside.
"H-hey! Gabriel, you can't just go in there!"
Gabriel rolled her eyes at being grabbed. "Why not? I'm going back to my room."
Nanami hurried to explain: "Isn't it weird? It was a shabby rental this morning—now it's a villa! Something's off. A girl going in… she's going to get eaten!"
"Something off?" Gabriel closed her eyes and scanned the house with angelic senses. Thirty seconds later, she shot Nanami another eye-roll and strode in. "The house is fine. You're overthinking it. I'm going in."
"You're really… going in?"
Nanami watched her vanish and sighed. "No choice. I have to check too—so much of my stuff's inside."
At her door—same lock, fancier trim—her key worked perfectly. She slipped in like she was entering a haunted house. Aside from brighter floors and ceiling and an overall upscale feel, her belongings were exactly where she'd left them.
"So… what on earth happened?"
Her phone buzzed—message from the landlady:
"Notice: I came into some money and transferred the property. Here's the new landlord's group chat link. Tenants, please join."
Nanami joined the chat, then read the pinned note:
[Announcement] Hello, everyone—I'm the new landlord. If you notice the house looks very different, don't panic. It's the work of our latest construction team. Settle in with confidence. Rent remains unchanged.
Relief washed over her. It still felt odd, but she didn't care to dig. She wasn't the only one living here. A room this nice at the same price—where else would you find that?
Her spine straightened. Ghosts? The only real terror was being broke.
Unlike cautious Nanami, Gabriel had already booted up her PC to game. The carefree, lazy angel had worked a whole day with Mahiru yesterday—today she was not going. She'd earned enough for food; if she budgeted, she could get by. She could skip meals—but she couldn't skip games. Then again… maybe she couldn't skip meals either. So she'd just have to rein in her whaling.
House changes? She didn't care. She'd graduated top of her year at the Angel Academy—people kept tabs on her. Maybe her sister Gabriel (the archangel) didn't want the "younger" to suffer and fixed the place up. Just enjoy it.
…
That evening, Mahiru came home and stared. "Maki-kun, this was the surprise you mentioned on the way back from school?"
She knew every inch of the old rental. Now it was a villa.
Hayashi Maki's lips quirked. "Yup—that's the surprise. You said the place was too small, so I remodeled it with alchemy. By the way, I gave the money to Haruno-nee to handle the paperwork. This villa… is our home now."
At the word "home," Mahiru's eyes misted. Hayashi Maki quickly squeezed her hand and ruffled her hair. "Hey—no tears. It's supposed to be a happy surprise, not a scare."
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I'm happy. Maki-kun really took my words to heart."
"And I'm going to take good care of our home!"
With that, she pulled him inside.