Madam, You'll Have to Pay

Garlic, onion, some rosemary and butter, then wrap the lamb chops in foil…

Ding—!!

"Mu En, someone's at the door on Privet Drive," Lucifer reminded him.

Mu En nodded, placed the lamb chops on the mantelpiece, instructed Lucifer to watch the heat, and then went to the front door.

First, he glanced at Harry, who was working outside. He didn't know what the kid was thinking, but he had a smile on his face, clearly slacking off.

Bang!

Harry, on the other hand, stared blankly at the suddenly closed door.

Huh?!

Of course, Mu En didn't care what he was thinking. He twisted the doorknob, turned the exit to Privet Drive, and then opened the door.

A thin, stern-faced woman stood outside with the little fatty from earlier. The little fatty's face had scratches, and he was red-faced and teary-eyed, clearly having cried a lot.

When Penny saw the man who opened the door, she was first drawn to his face. Then, all her prepared words vanished under those emotionless eyes.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" Mu En asked.

Penny took a deep breath and quickly said, "Excuse me, I noticed you brought a child into your home earlier. That's my nephew, and I need to speak with him."

Just now, after Dudley was chased home by cats and dogs for no reason, she had immediately and keenly sensed that such a situation might be related to that thing.

That thing, the thing she didn't want to mention, the thing her family hated.

She only knew one person who possessed that kind of power.

So, fueled by her anger, she had come straight to the door to take Harry back and punish him properly.

Just thinking about her precious Dudley's handsome face being messed up by that little bastard made her furious.

"Oh, so you're Harry's guardian. Pleased to meet you," Mu En said, nodding. Although his words were polite, he made no move to shake hands or invite them in to sit.

He continued, "I was just about to look for you. I'm very sorry to tell you that your nephew has damaged my carefully cultivated plants. We should discuss compensation first."

"Wh-what?"

"Yes, the flowers I planted over there. The neighbors should have all seen them. They are very valuable, a rare species from Tasker Country in Africa, and also their national flower. I spent at least ten thousand pounds transplanting them here," Mu En explained.

"So, I'd like to discuss compensation with you or the master of your house," Mu En looked down at her, his words carrying an undeniable magic.

"Tasker Country… national flower?" Penny repeated, somewhat disbelievingly.

"Yes, the export of this flower is already prohibited there. This might be the only flower of its kind in Britain, and there won't be any more in the future.

The initial estimated damage should be around ten thousand pounds. If you don't believe me, we can go through legal channels."

"What? That's impossible! You want our family to pay for that brat's mistake, and for tens of thousands of pounds!!" Penny suddenly yelled.

"Sir, we refuse to make any compensation. To be honest, he just lives in our house; we are not his parents!"

Mu En frowned, clearly displeased with such hysterical behavior.

After a while, he said helplessly, "Alright, alright! Madam, let's try a different form of compensation."

Penny stared at Mu En, her face flushed, waiting for him to continue. She looked ready to let out a screeching alarm if she didn't like his terms.

"You know, I've just moved in. Perhaps I need someone to run errands for me. How about compensation in the form of labor?" Mu En said helplessly.

Through Mu En's broad shoulders, Penny could vaguely see the messy interior of the house.

"This… of course!" She thought for a moment and then readily agreed, "This guy is great at running errands. When it comes to housework, he's definitely beyond ordinary."

"At least for the next year or more," Mu En added calmly.

Penny hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Of course."

After all, in London in the 90s, a handyman's monthly salary definitely wouldn't reach a thousand pounds.

"I think a child should bear the consequences of his own mistakes. This will be the most valuable lesson of his life," Penny quickly changed her expression, saying with feigned satisfaction.

"Fine," Mu En nodded calmly, then added, "However, I need to clarify that a little brat wouldn't just jump into my flowerbed and crush my things for no reason. Honestly, if it weren't a child, I would have shot him."

This was London in the 90s; firearms were not banned for civilians. Residents had absolute dominion over their property. Shooting an intruder was no joke.

Mu En narrowed his eyes and looked at the little fatty, Dudley, "Whether it was bullying or a prank, I hope some people understand that outside is not at home, and you still need to follow some rules."

Dudley, who had been feeling indignant and a bit smug about Harry's misfortune, suddenly felt Mu En's gaze fall upon him, as if being stared at by a fierce beast.

He quickly lowered his head, all smiles gone. He mustered all his courage just to keep from trembling.

"Alright, that's settled," Mu En said, then closed the door, leaving his lingering words to drift in the air.

"When night falls, your nephew will go back on his own."

The door closed, and Penny looked at her precious son. She thought Dudley was lowering his head to express his sadness and displeasure, so she hugged him and comforted him, "Oh, darling. Don't be angry. Harry's mistake shouldn't be your burden; he has to work as a handyman for a whole year."

She vaguely knew what had happened. But she didn't want to blame her precious son; he had already suffered too much today.

On the other hand, what if he had been bullied?

Was she going to scold her own son in favor of a parasite?

Mu En didn't care what the Dursley family was. More importantly, he was concerned about whether Lucifer had overcooked the lamb chops.

"Tsk tsk tsk, 'He's a great hand at chores.' From that sentence alone, I already know what kind of life that skinny kid is living in that house."

Lucifer extended a small fiery hand, flipping the lamb chops on the rack. Delicious juices flowed from the gaps in the foil, which he caught with his mouth, sighing at everything he had just heard.

Mu En wasn't surprised by Harry's experiences at the Dursleys. One reason was his vague memories from a long time ago, and the other was—

"You can tell just by looking at Harry's clothes and how he's dressed."

As Mu En spoke, he opened the door to the wilderness again. Harry was standing outside. Seeing the door open, he let out a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Sir, I've finished transplanting the Moonpetal Flowers."

Mu En glanced at them, confirmed there were no issues, and nodded, letting Harry in.

"Get two sets of tableware from the cupboard," he instructed, still without any pleasantries.

"Okay," Harry nodded.

Strange, why don't I feel any resistance at all?

This thought suddenly popped into his little head.

Mu En sat back down on his exclusive red patent leather sofa and said, "Your aunt came to see me earlier."

Harry froze instantly, then asked with a hint of dejection, "What did she say?"

"I made her pay for it, because you broke a flower that I brought from Tasker Country in Africa, which is unique in all of England," Mu En said with a faint smile, seemingly very pleased with his own fabrication.

Of course, his words were delivered with such "sincerity" that Mrs. Dursley believed him, not even considering taking legal action.

"So..." Harry

God, Harry didn't even dare to imagine what kind of punishment he would face when he got back.

"Of course, she wasn't willing," Mu En said.

"Yes... that's... that's only right," Harry's voice was very quiet, his spirits low.

"So I said, let's try a different way of trading. And your aunt agreed," Mu En said, looking at the plates Harry handed him. "Are you expecting me to hold the plates while I eat? Put them on the table."

"Really?" Harry's voice suddenly regained some spirit. He quickly put the plates on the table, tidied up the miscellaneous items, and even brought over chairs, working very proactively.

"So sir, what did you mean by a different way?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Work for me as a handyman for a year."

Mu En stood up. He didn't really care about Harry's reaction to this decision. If Harry wasn't willing, he wouldn't mind letting him go and be a wild child.

He casually picked up the lamb chops from the fire, placed them on an iron plate, then went to the dining room and took out the fried eggs, bacon, and sausages he had prepared earlier. Beside them was a large portion of vegetable salad.

After dividing the meal, he looked at Harry. "What are you standing there for?"

Harry seemed a little slow to react, pointing at himself. "Is... is this mine?"

Mu En nodded and explained, "Although the castle is very big, I'm the only one living here."

Harry quickly sat down, looking at the sizzling, oily roast lamb chops on his plate, with warm fried eggs and sausages beside them.

"Eat up, don't worry about etiquette," Mu En said, seeing Harry hesitate to pick up his knife and fork.

As soon as the words fell, Harry eagerly speared a sausage and put it in his mouth.

"Mmm... it's so delicious... thank you..."

Harry had never eaten such delicious sausage before. It was firm and springy, full of juice, and had a meatiness he had never tasted. It was much better than anything he had eaten before.

"The flavor sausage stuffed with that thing is indeed good," Mu En also nodded approvingly.

Harry asked curiously, "What thing?"

"A kind of monster. You wouldn't want to know too much about it," Mu En replied casually, then remembered he hadn't introduced himself to Harry yet.

"My name is Mu En Jones. You can call me Mr. or Uncle," Mu En said, calmly cutting the lamb chops.

"Eat more. You need to be full to have the energy to work. Your workload is substantial," Mu En said.

Yes, that's evident. Harry stuffed food into his mouth while looking around at the messy environment.

After more than ten minutes, Harry finally felt somewhat full. Holding a lamb chop, his mouth greasy, he asked with a slight apology, "So Uncle Mu En, is that flower really unique in England?"

"Of course not. The national flower of Africa and all that was just something I made up."

Hearing this, Harry breathed a sigh of relief, his sense of guilt lessening slightly.

"The Moonpetal Flower is unique in this world."

"Ah?"

Mu En ignored him and instead asked, "It seems you don't mind working for me."

When this topic came up, Harry unconsciously lowered his head again, his voice much quieter. "Yes."

"Do you hate them? Or, if you were given powerful magic right now, what would you want to do?"

"Leave!"

Harry's quick and decisive answer caught Mu En slightly off guard.

"It seems you don't hate them," Mu En nodded.

Harry shook his head, then nodded again, falling silent for a long time.

Mu En simply watched him quietly, only saying, "Remember to eat some vegetables."

Only then did Harry hesitantly begin to speak:

"I don't know how to put it... I hated Dudley when he bullied me in front of everyone at school, and I really hated Uncle Vernon when he locked me in the cupboard... In short, there were countless times I loathed them.

But overall, I don't hate them. After all, without them, I wouldn't even have food, let alone go to school... I'm not their son, and they aren't my mom and dad..."

Harry's voice grew softer and softer, until his eyes were filled with tears. He just lowered his head and stuffed food into his mouth, doing his best not to let out a ridiculous whimper.

Mu En leaned back in his chair, saying nothing.

He had no intention of comforting a crying child. This was a mature and stubborn child who didn't want others to see his vulnerability.

So Mu En felt... he should respect Harry's stubbornness.

After an unknown amount of time, Mu En only knew that after he had reconstructed the advanced human transmutation array diagram exposed on the ground in Democritus's Alchemical Notes thirty-two times, Harry finally composed himself and looked up.

Apart from his eyes and nose being a little red, there was no other abnormality.

"Alright, let's get to work, kid," Mu En said, standing up and stretching. "Your task today is to clean the entire living room."

"It doesn't seem too difficult," Harry said, standing up with renewed vigor. The living room, which had seemed chaotic to him before, had already been accurately divided into several sections, with the cleaning order precisely determined.

Mu En glanced at the confident Harry, a smile tugging at his lips. "I hope so. If you finish your task with time to spare, I don't mind showing you some magic."

Hearing this, Harry felt even more motivated. He quickly began clearing the dishes, then looked at the unfinished food.

"Just throw it all into the fire," Mu En waved his hand.

Harry nodded, gathering the leftovers and walking to the fireplace. He looked at the food again.

"It feels like such a waste..." Harry said with some regret.

Suddenly, the fireplace flared up, and a terrifying, grotesque face appeared in the flames, along with two incongruously slender little hands.

"What do you mean, waste! Am I not even allowed to eat leftovers, you scoundrel?" Lucifer roared in fury, causing the entire castle to emit a groaning, steaming sound.

Harry was stunned, falling back onto the ground. He looked at Lucifer in terror, then turned to Mu En.

A peculiar smile spread across Mu En's face, but he said with feigned regret, "Oh, damn it, sorry. I forgot to introduce you. Although I live alone, there are still other beings here.

This is Lucifer, a demon and the guardian of this castle. If you don't know anything while you're working, you can ask him."

So that's how it is...

Harry looked at Lucifer, waving a hesitant greeting with some fear.

He thought to himself: This place is really interesting!