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Chapter 36: No Longer Homeless! Actually...

As soon as he was out, Josh\'s UW started beeping so much it almost reminded him of the video that went viral. Glancing at his messages it was all about his time at the Black Squad Headquarters.

-Dale the Phoenix: Josh you are alright?! Where are you?! Is this some sort of conspiracy?! Did they send messages from your UW to try and fish for proof of guilt?! You are clearly innocent!

Dale was clearly over-thinking this but at least he was trying to help. Funny how he was one of the few that actually knew the whole story and Josh\'s exact motive. Now, why didn\'t the Black Squad even bother to….

-Dale the Phoenix: They interrogated us but we obviously have no idea what happened. We just told them honestly that you are a peaceful and calm individual as far as we know. Hope you come back soon. Otherwise, I\'m taking this to the media! I\'ll denounce this injustice and …

\'Peaceful and calm individual? Now would be the perfect time for a flashback of the goriest kills so far haha. Wait….taking it to the media?!\' That part wasn\'t good! This whole episode was already behind him, there was no need to make it blow up, especially that it would sour his blackmail- friendship with the interrogators.

Quickly sending a message back, Josh made sure Dale would behave. The man kept insisting on doing a video call directly while in disbelief. Before long appeared his tear-stained face on the screen.

"Josh! You\'re fine! Is it really you! I was so worried….Where were you?!"

"In the Tower, don\'t worry a friend bailed me out. Anyway, talk later!" Quickly hanging up Josh saved himself from a further emotional and pointless talk. He\'d let him time to process it all. He clearly left a stunned Dale on the other end, one that would probably start speculating about that friend\'s identity.

Now paying attention to the other messages, they seemed to be from the Guild. They had been tagging him relentlessly. A few of these were:

-Just Damien: @Healer Ronan, are you sure you brought @Josh MF Malum back? You didn\'t just fake a report, right?!

-Healer Ronan: Screw you! He\'s in the Tower! Why aren\'t you climbing yourself, you dumbass!

-Lily of the Frontline: …..you guys are in the same party! Anyway, @Josh MF Malum Come back soon! Try not to walk into a murder again!

-Friendly Terry: Yes, peace is necessary to…

-Liam the Ultimate Samurai: @Friendly Terry, aren\'t you on the Black Squad watchlist? @Josh MF Malum, hope you come back soon buddy.

-Friendly Terry: That\'s just because of my class! It\'s discrimination I\'m telling you!

-Peaceful Joe: @Josh MF Malum, heard about the bet, GJ !!! *Thumbs Up* x100 Feel free to win more from this guy.

-Healer Ronan: Hey that\'s the price of a whole D-Rank Item! How dare you celebrate the misfortune of a guild-mate!

-Serene Brings the Heat: @Peaceful Joe +1!!! @Healer Ronan Please, you stingy bastard! You are already in full D-Rank equipment! You can totally afford it!

It actually went on for pages and pages… These guys had a lot of free time, to say the least. In the end, Dario had to send a message to tell them to cut it out.

Josh figured that there was something he should probably do. He had recently received a lot of Credits, already had awesome gear for his level, and thus decided to splurge a bit. Splurge for something that was not entirely necessary but that would be nice for sure.

-Josh MF Malum: Sup guys, I\'m looking to rent/buy an apartment. Does anyone have good advice for that?

-AIYA: HE\'S ALIVEEE!!!!

-Dragon Daddy: Did you reflect on your actions so you aren\'t put in a similar situation in the future and ….

(It kept going but Josh stopped reading, it was a literal wall of text)

-Healer Ronan: Just in time! Wanna bet on something else? I\'ll get back those 10k!

-Liam the Ultimate Samurai: Welcome back! Ask @Lily of the Frontline, she can help for sure with that.

Josh quickly sent her a private message. Apparently, her family worked as real estate agents. Seeing that Josh was at the Tower she simply told him to sit tight. After a dozen minutes, someone approached Josh.

The newcomer was a small dainty lady. She was wearing a white summer dress and her hair was completely white. Josh wasn\'t sure if it was natural or not but it did fit her quite well. Her chestnut eyes were looking his way as she waved at him!

"Josh, right?! I came as fast as possible! Oh, by the way, congrats on surviving the interrogation and winning that bet! I gotta say I\'m a bit jealous. Ronan will think twice or even thrice before betting again with you haha. Still, you totally deserve it. I heard about how you had to withstand that perverted guy\'s torture. If he is ready to mistreat himself that much there is no way he will be gentle when it comes to others. Are you alright, by the way? I don\'t just mean physically but also-"

"Wait! Wait! Take a deep breath and slow down. One thing at a time. Hello, I\'m Josh. Nice to meet you." Who knew how long she would have kept going. It almost seemed like she was recording a whole audiobook right there!

"Ah, I\'m Lily. Nice to meet you! Sorry about that, whenever I meet someone new I …"

"No worries, alright how do we proceed for the apartment?"

"You are looking for an upgrade since you can now afford it, right? How is your current place and what exactly makes you unsatisfied with it?"

As she inquired, she guided the way toward the…D district it seemed.

"Haha, it can only be an improvement. All I need is something close to the Tower so I can go in as easily as possible."

"Perfect! Here we are."

They had reached a medium size-building that seemed especially well maintained. As soon as they entered Lily seemed to be sneaking around. Josh couldn\'t help but look questioningly at her. At a desk was a young lady that couldn\'t help but chuckle seeing Lily act.

She stood up, "Welcome to <TopDwellings>, the worst name but the best property agency!", she said while smiling.

Then came a voice from the nearby room: "Hey! I heard that! What do you mean the worst name!?" Entered a middle-aged lady.

Upon seeing Lily, she jumped in surprise before dashing at her and giving her a bear hug. "You came to visit! How sweet! Are you eating well? Are your guild colleagues taking care of you? Are you careful when entering the Tower?"

Lily almost looked like she was about to suffocate, helplessly standing there. By now the saleslady had already erupted into laughter. It is only then that the middle-aged lady seemed to notice Josh. "Hello, young man, who might you be? Are you her boyfriend?"

"Mom! What are you talking about!" Lily cried out!

"C\'mon. No need to hide it from me! How long have you guys been together? Young man, where did you guys first meet? Ah, are you guys using protection?"

Josh sighed. "Aunty, you need to get on with the times. There is healing magic for that now. But don\'t worry she\'s in very good hands."

"MOM! He\'s not my boyfriend! Also, why are you making it worse!" By now she was completely flushed red. In her panic, her tone had also raised a few octaves. "Anyway, we came here to look for a place for him. What do you have near the Tower?"

Her mother nodded: "I see, let\'s look for a place big enough for my baby girl and her lover, what do we have…"

"Mom!!"

The salesgirl chuckled: "Lily, just look at her face. She\'s clearly making fun of you haha."

That is when the mother erupted into sonorous laughter with the daughter facepalming.

The mother finally went to the back again. Leaving them to their own business. Looking at the computer, the salesgirl quickly compiled a list of all locations available.

"Alright between good lighting, spaciousness, peaceful neighborhood, price-" she started asking.

"It needs to be close to the Tower, that\'s all."

"What if it\'s closed to a very noisy area you wouldn\'t be able to sleep then! That could be a potential danger. Imagine falling asleep in the Tower! That would be a death sentence!", she seemed proud of her analysis.

"Close to the Tower, that\'s it." Josh could hear her grumble about how bad of an idea it was. She even glanced at Lily, but the latter simply shrugged.

Lily quickly looked at the screen before signaling Josh to follow her. Then they walked some more reaching the A district, directly in the center of the Metropolis and right next to the Tower.

"I didn\'t even know there were places to rent here…" Josh looked around and there didn\'t seem to be any housing in the area."

"I didn\'t know either! In fact, I\'m sure you\'ll love it!" She had a mischievous air about her. "The place we are going is a steal, it has a big lawn, is right next to the Tower, and has no neighbor!"

Josh loved the sound of that. About 500 meters from the Tower plaza she went toward…a manhole cover! Then she pushed it aside before gesturing Josh to head in first. What kind of apartment was located in the sewers?! No sane person would accept that!… So Josh stepped in. Down there the air was surprisingly breathable.

Seeing Josh looking around curiously Lily explained. "There are water and air purifiers all around the place. Besides the occasional rats, this place is pretty neat. There are even a few U-bots making the rounds around here to clean everything."

"Impressive! Are you kidding me or is there really a room down here?"

"Apparently there used to be a room for employees to take a break while they were cleaning the sewers once every other month. Ever since the U-bots, it has remained unused. I\'m just messing with you, I\'m not even sure why it\'s listed with us. Still, I kinda want to see what it looks like."

She then guided him through a small side tunnel near the access ladder. Before long, a clean but empty room could be seen. Rectangular, small, stone walls and floor. It was barren but relatively well maintained.

"It\'s kinda cool in a sense. They ask for 100 Credits a month for this place haha. Of course, it is not a place for a human to live and-"

"I\'ll take it. It\'s better than where I was sleeping before. A slight walk but worth it."

"What do you mean you\'ll take….Wait where were you sleeping before?! Worse and closer to the Tower?! Did you sleep in a bush by the side of the road?!"

"Ah, no. I slept in the Tower."

"Y-you, you\'re kidding, right?! Right?!"

"Nope, it\'s not that bad actually. Not only is it super cheap but sometimes you get an item to drop too."

"You\'re kidding, right? Haha", she started to nervously laugh.

"Nope." That is when she realized that Josh was serious.

"Madman, madman, madman, madman…"

"Lily…you okay?"

Her eyes were lifeless, the mental shock too big for her. She sounded like a broken record. That is when Josh heard his UW beeping.

-Dario the Dragon: All Gold-Rank members and above get your asses back to <Draconic>. This is an emergency! Whoever doesn\'t make it will be kicked out of the guild!

What was that about?!