By noon, Olga Marie had already scouted several houses. However, since the final decision rested with Lancer, she called him directly. After a while, Lancer and Zero appeared before her in a taxi.
Lancer had actually made his decision before even arriving.
It wasn't because he was incredibly satisfied with the house—after all, he hadn't even stepped inside. His satisfaction was mainly due to the location. The villas Olga Marie favored were quite close to the hospital where he planned to "apply for a job," which would save him a lot of trouble.
The middle-aged man selling the houses didn't know Lancer thoughts, though. He was actually quite confident in this "transaction." As an agent specializing in luxury villas, he dealt with people who were either rich or high-status. After all, even if Mitakihara wasn't a huge city, those who could afford a villa were prominent figures; these weren't just ordinary single-family homes.
When he saw Olga Marie, he knew that as long as he could offer a property that satisfied her, there wouldn't be much of a problem. She looked like the daughter of a wealthy family who had received a proper education no matter how you looked at her.
However, his eyes lit up even more when he saw Lancer, and especially when he saw Zero being led by the hand while constantly eating, he felt his chances of success rise significantly.
"Madam, although the villas I showed you earlier are a bit more expensive, they are much safer because they are in a residential villa district. It would be better for you and your daughter..."
The agent's sudden change in title made Olga Marie face turn red, but before she could speak, Lancer cut him off.
"You've misunderstood. This lady and I are not in that kind of relationship. But what did you mean by 'safety' just now?"
Lancer didn't want to make Olga Marie angry, so he decisively skipped over that topic. Instead, he was more interested in the other thing the man said. Generally speaking, a person wouldn't mention "safety" as a topic, right? Unless the current environment made it a "selling point."
"Sir, did you just move to Mitakihara recently? If so, it's no wonder. Actually, in recent years, 'violent incidents' have been occurring in Mitakihara from time to time, and most of these cases end up unresolved. It's been a bit better lately, but for some reason, there have also been several 'suicide cases.' However, as I mentioned, no similar cases have happened in this nearby area. You could say it's the safest district..."
Should he expect anything less from a salesman? Once he started talking, it was a non-stop torrent. Lancer couldn't even get a word in, but he guessed several things from the man's words. Without a doubt, the masterminds behind these cases were "Witches" or their familiars.
'But why is there no news online? As expected, it's being suppressed...'
In fact, the reason Lancer could determine which hospital he needed to find was entirely based on the info he looked up on his phone while on the road.
Violins are impressive, but most people don't pay much attention to them. Or rather, people might pay attention when someone is famous, like their name, but once they vanish, who still cares? The good news was that there was detailed information online about this local genius violinist—for instance, the hospital he was currently staying in.
Since there was much to do, Lancer didn't waste any more time.
"Where do I swipe the card?"
"I have it right here!"
Talk about being professional. As soon as work was mentioned, the man's non-stop talking ceased, and he pulled a POS machine out of his bag.
——————
Perhaps because the man's "Madam" title made Olga Marie uncomfortable, she didn't speak until he left. But once there were only three of them left in the villa, she gradually calmed down.
'I am the Director of Chaldea! I can't be shaken by such a small thing!'
"What should we do next? Find that girl named 'Homura Akemi'?"
"Of course. But this isn't a game. Approaching someone blindly might trigger uncontrollable events. Hmm... I checked before coming here; there's only one middle school. If everything goes as expected, she'll be transferring there soon. You go 'undercover' at the school first and see if you can make contact. As for me..."
As he spoke, Lancer pulled out a graduation certificate from a national medical university in a certain small country.
"I plan to apply for a job at the hospital."
Since it was from abroad, it would be hard to verify, but at least it could be found online. Besides, there would definitely be an assessment before entering the hospital. So, as long as the documents checked out and the skills were there, they would generally accept him.
Moreover, even though he needed to build relationships, after some hesitation, Lancer still assigned the school work to Olga Marie while he headed to the hospital. Aside from the fact that Olga Marie didn't know anything about medicine, he also didn't want to "waste" time.
Because he planned to apply as a "Traditional Chinese Medicine" practitioner specializing only in sprains and bone injuries, how many patients would a small town have per day? That would give him more time to train.
One must remember that to this day, as long as danger wasn't right in front of him, he never stopped training. His daily basic spear technique practice was never relaxed. However, there was nothing he could do about the last few days, where "uncontrollable factors" meant he had no spare time or energy to train.
Looking at the new passport and teacher certification in her hand, Olga Marie expression became extremely nuanced. To think that she, the head of a great noble family in the magic world, would one day use fake IDs. But she quickly tossed the stray thoughts to the back of her mind.
"What am I teaching? Surely not 'magecraft'?"
"English, obviously. I assume that shouldn't be much of a problem for you?"
"Piece of cake!"
Looking at Olga Marie confident expression, Lancer decided it was best not to tell her about the wonders of "Japanese-style English."
Although the next step of the plan was set, whether it was submitting resumes or anything else, it couldn't be finished in a day. As for why he didn't use "Suggestion" magecraft?
Simple. Because he had no idea when they would become "Magical Girls." If using it caused a rift later, that would be putting the cart before the horse. Since there was still time, it was better to be safe.
It was still early, so Lancer simply took the two of them to a department store. Although the "System" sold these things, using points that could be exchanged for gold to buy daily necessities... Lancer wasn't that extravagant yet.