by Aneko Yusagi
“She knows them?” S’yne nodded in response to my question.
“Like—” She lifted her scissors, as though defending. Hah, I was going to need a bit more than that.
“Let’s actually put it into action,” the Keel doll said. And with that, the Keel doll flew at S’yne. She lifted her hand, pointing at the doll, and swept her arm sideways. That was all it took to hook the doll and change the course of its charge?
“That should be—”
“She is asking if that is the basic evasion form, as practiced by Raphtalia and the others and that you can apply your own powers to.”
“It sounds like what she said was quite different,” I mentioned. The idea was, what? Redirect attacks using just life force? I thought I’d seen Atla do that.
“Then—” This time the Keel doll launched its own life force attacks, in the same way as Atla but incredibly weak-looking. They were flying in completely the wrong directions too. S’yne wasn’t over there—and then the orbs of life force flew on a strange trajectory, adjusting themselves to fly close to S’yne. Once all of the orbs had gathered in one place, S’yne grabbed and threw them back, with the gathered single orb passing close to the side of the doll.
“Even magic—”
“Even magic can be gathered in the same way.”
“That’s quite something,” I admitted. I didn’t know this was a possibility. I’d definitely make use of it.
“There’s more—after learning this—” Hmmm, it looked like S’yne had quite a lot to teach me too. I was still at the beginner stage, but it felt like I’d taken a big step forward.
“Wow. You’ve shown me an unknown technique.” Rishia was looking over with surprise on her face. Yeah, you said it. It looked like S’yne knew quite a lot, even if she couldn’t do it all here in this world.
“Right, let’s get dinner before the parade tonight.” My suggestion was met with a growl from S’yne’s stomach. She was always hungry. When she came to the village, she’d been looking for a meal too. I gave a wry smile and headed toward the house myself.
Filo was taking part in the parade under the condition that I make her meals, and so recently I’d been doing a lot of the cooking—although, in all fairness, the basic preparations were being done by our servants in the house.
“We’ve got some wonderful fish today,” one of them commented, showing me fish still flipping in the bucket. It was big, like a grouper. There’d been something like red snapper the other day too. I could see Kizuna enjoying the fishing here. The fish looked ready to leap right out of the bucket. A little too lively for dinner!
“I’ll just shut him up.” A thrust through the head and the deed was done. Thinking about it, I could kill fish and stuff like that—although I didn’t get any experience for it. “Then drain the blood—” I tried to think of what to make with it. I had skills like appraisal and poison sensing, so I could tell this wasn’t dangerous. I knew the proper way to handle things like squid, as well.
Q’ten Lo was a Japanese-style nation, so the residents enjoyed things like simple sashimi. A fish this big, though, could be used for all sorts of things other than just raw slices. Some kind of stew might be good. I could broil the head whole. Steaming it might work too. I’d debone it with a kitchen knife and then boil the bones for a nice broth.
As I proceeded with the cooking, the kitchen staff in the house was all watching me closely exactly like the kitchen slaves back in the village. Raphtalia had said that they were watching my technique in order to try and copy me. Something like that.
Q’ten Lo was also a rice-eating nation, so I’d clean some rice and cook that. I checked the required flow and identified where I could leave certain tasks to my helpers. Having fire magic was convenient too.
Still, this wasn’t going to be especially interesting. I wanted to make something with a bit more flair, but what? Maybe I could use a deep pan to melt the fatty parts of some of the monster meat we had brought back with us and fry something up? Now that I had some command of life force, maybe I could use that for something? I imbued life force around the hand holding the knife and tried cutting some fish.
“Wah!” My observers let out a collective gasp. I guess they would. For some reason, I’d cut down into the chopping board. What was this, an infomercial for knives?
“Amazing. He’s even cooking with the chopping board!” someone exclaimed.
“As if! Think for a moment!” The hell? They seriously thought I was going to cook with wood? Filo sometimes looked ready to eat the dishes and the table, but I wasn’t going to take things that far.
Still, just a little cut and I’d used up quite a lot of life force and magic. Raphtalia, Atla, and Rishia were using this all the time. With her command of this, I was starting to see Rishia—and Éclair, for that matter—in quite a different light.
This looked like a good chance to practice with the flow of life force through my body, anyway, and I experimented in various ways while cooking.
Once I was finally finished, I took the food to Filo and the others, who were waiting after taking their baths.
“Go ahead, eat,” I said.
“Thanks!”
“Time to tuck in!”
The food had been carried into a large room, and everyone there enjoyed it together. Once we were done eating, it would be time for the parade.
“Wow! Today’s food is so delicious!”
“Kwaa, kwaa!” Filo’s and Gaelion’s eyes sparkled as they complimented me.
“They’re right. This is more delicious than normal.” Even Raphtalia was in concert with them.
“I’d like a drink with it.”
“We’ve got a big event coming up. Don’t drink anything.”
“I know, I know!” Sadeena was clearly enjoying the meal too though.
“Delicious.” S’yne too. That one looked ready to burst into tears. Being able to hear her without the sound cutting out was rare too.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Yes. What did you do?”
“Just a few experiments. It’s pretty exhausting though. This stuff isn’t easy.”
“It looked like he was concentrating very hard,” one of those who had been watching reported to Raphtalia. “If I may be a little, well, rude—”
“It looks like he’s just messing around, right?” It sounded like Raphtalia was onto something. “And yet, when you observe more closely, he’s actually cooking very carefully. It seems simple at a glance, easy to replicate, but that’s actually very hard to do. That’s Mr. Naofumi’s cooking.”
“That’s because normally I slack off as much as possible.” That was definitely one of my defining characteristics.
“What you refer to in terms of ‘slacking off,’ when it comes to cooking, differs from our definition of that concept,” Raphtalia retorted.
“Indeed. I think Naofumi is quite an excellent chef.” Itsuki could barely speak around stuffing his mouth. Him too! Still, if he was sharing his opinions, maybe he was finally recovering a bit from the aftereffects of the curse.
“I’m sure he can at least tell the difference between times it’s okay to slack off and times it’s better not to,” he continued.
“I’m not sure he’s quite on that level—and anyway, that’s not the issue here. Imagine what he might be able to make if he actually did concentrate on it!” Raphtalia proclaimed.
“Hey, that’s not the kind of concentration we’re talking about,” I said. It didn’t change the fact I was slacking off either.
“What if he—”
Man, how would they react if I told them I’d put life force into it? Thinking about it now, it was like I’d poured something from my own body into the food. That could be nasty. Might even lead to food poisoning or something like that! Also, to be honest, it just didn’t sound very clean.
“W-what did you do?”
I couldn’t leave things like this though.
“Is there some kind of magic potio
n to make food taste better?” This from Rishia.
“I don’t know. Naofumi might have access to such a potion though. Well?” Itsuki turned the question back on me.
What choice did I have? I’d just have to come clean.
“I tried adding some life force,” I finally admitted.
“You’ve applied it to cooking?” Raphtalia immediately didn’t look impressed. That said, they were all still chowing down. I’d thought they’d immediately say they didn’t want to eat it.
“My chopsticks won’t stop moving. Just what kind of magic is this?” If this was the response I was getting, I was going to have to whip up another batch for Fohl and Atla.
“It would be nice if you just agreed that I’ve improved,” I stated.
“Delicious! Ah, that’s mine!”
“Kwaa, kwaa!” Filo and Gaelion had started fighting over whatever was left. There was never a quiet moment with these guys.
“Rafu.” It looked like even Raph-chan liked it, because she was eating more than normal.
Life force really was incredible.
After making it through another tumultuous mealtime, Raphtalia and Filo set off around the town at the head of a parade to reinforce their image as the leaders of the revolution. Filo had also been given a special outfit for a Q’ten Lo filolial and a carriage—a bit like a cattle cart, but different. Definitely different. Raphtalia then sat in the carriage and was pulled slowly along. Filo had been in a pretty good mood since that carriage showed up. Then Gaelion followed along behind while Raphtalia waved from the carriage’s windows.
“Praise the new Heavenly Emperor!” and similar shouts were elicited from the ground. Everyone was excited to see Raphtalia. Merchants had informed me that a large volume of drawings of Raphtalia had been made and was selling well. That was one of the ways we were funding this revolution. For me, it was like I was seeing the success of my daughter every single day, and I couldn’t have been prouder.
Ah, but there was Raphtalia, giving me the stink eye again. She complained each and every time about being put on display. She didn’t see what was so appealing about her miko costume either.
Anyway, Sadeena and I were posted on each side of her, for her protection. The placement of Itsuki, Rishia, and S’yne was somewhat fluid, but they were always close to me.
Raphtalia was always at the head, and then Filo and Gaelion protected her. Sometimes those who had joined us from Siltvelt, Werner and the like, also took part, although they didn’t seem very happy with their placement.
Atla and Fohl weren’t back yet either, now that I thought of it. How long were they planning on shopping for?
We took a slow tour of the town, anyway, and then returned to the house.
Once we got back inside, Atla was there, sprawled out, a hairpin in her hair. Fohl, meanwhile, looked incredibly happy.
“We’re going back to those shops that were closed tomorrow!” Fohl announced.
“What! Not more shopping, brother!” I noticed that multiple outfits had already been purchased. He was almost using Atla as a doll to play dress up.
“Welcome back, you two,” I said.
“Gah! If this was Master Naofumi, not my stinking brother, then I’d happily do whatever he asked. I’ve no idea what pleasure you derive from all this!”
“Rare, but we agree for once. I feel exactly as you do. At least when it comes to clothing,” Raphtalia agreed. Raphtalia always had to find a way to barb her words. There was no helping it, anyway. It made them better fighters too.
“You’ve got it better than you know, Raphtalia. Having an outfit that Master Naofumi loves so much is something to be happy about,” Atla expressed. Ah! That comment only made Raphtalia sigh about as loud as I’d ever heard.
“Anyway. We’ve done more than enough training and work for today. Raphtalia, you rest up. Sadeena, you guard her. Atla, Fohl, eat,” I commanded.
“What about you, Mr. Naofumi?”
“I’ve got some things to do before bed, so I’m going out to see the old guy, places like that.” I just hoped I could avoid further entanglements with his master.
“Then I’ll go with you—”
“Me too!” Filo perked up.
“No, you can’t. Think of the fuss having both of you along would cause. I just need you to stay here.” To be honest, even though I was supposedly the leader of the revolution, everyone’s attention was so focused on Raphtalia that I kinda got ignored. That actually made it easier for me to get around.
“Kwaa.”
“You too, Gaelion.”
“Kwaa . . .” That said, if he was in baby mode I could probably handle taking him along. If I did take him, though, Filo would get all pissy, so better to have him stay behind as well.
“I’m so tired,” was her contribution. Good.
“So get some sleep. We’ve got an early start again tomorrow.”
“Okay! I wonder what Melty is doing right now?” Filo wondered.
“Fighting a mountain of documents, maybe?” I doubted there was any need to worry about Melty. I’d heaped plenty of praise on her before we set out, but . . . the effects of that had probably worn off by now.
“Then I’ll go with you, especially if Raphtalia is staying behind,” Atla announced.
“No. You eat your dinner, with your brother. You haven’t had a bath yet either, have you?!”
“Spending some time with you, Master Naofumi, is far more important than that.”
“What are you talking about!” Fohl was quick to step in.
“Okay then, Raphtalia, Sadeena, Fohl, you all keep an eye on Atla.”
“Very well. Come on, Atla. Settle down and take a rest, just as you’ve been told.”
“Bah! I’ll slip out, I promise it!” And so Atla was reluctantly dragged away by Raphtalia and the others.
Chapter Seven: A Terrible Sense of Direction
Rather than in my parade getup, I set out into the town at night dressed in clothing more suited to Q’ten Lo. Ah, but regardless of what I said, S’yne followed along behind me. Could she really not take her eyes off me for even a moment?
In any case, S’yne wasn’t going to cause much of a fuss. Q’ten Lo was a nation that had demi-humans, therianthropes, and humans too. Even though there was a civil war going on, the streets didn’t look that different from when they did during the daytime. I’d heard that nights in Edo were pretty quiet, people going to bed early, but Q’ten Lo looked different in that regard. The sakura lumina also functioned as illumination, keeping the nighttime somewhat bright. That faint cherry-pink light had a real atmosphere to it. It mixed with the moonlight to create an atmosphere that would definitely be really popular among Japanese people.
As to why I was heading to see the old guy, it was because I’d finally made some headway with life force. Taking the example of my cooking from earlier, there was a high possibility it could also be used when making items. It might be hard for him to learn it, but if he became able to do so, he might be able to create an even greater range of items for us. So I’d decided to go and report to him. I was thinking about that as I walked toward the forge where he was located, when—
“I’m sorry. Excuse me?” A pretty relaxed-sounding voice stopped me.
“Huh?” I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman standing there with a bit of a vacant expression. Still, she had quite a nice face. With her baggy clothing, I couldn’t tell if she was a demi-human or human. It did kinda look like I’d seen her before somewhere, but no, this was our first meeting. Right?
Yeah, this was definitely our first meeting, but a woman who I really felt like I’d seen before was looking at me with an apologetic look on her face.
S’yne, a little on guard, reached for her weapon.
“My apologies for the question, but could you tell me where Main Road is?”
“The Main Road? That way.” I was currently walking on Craftsman’s Road. Main Road was, apparently, the large thoroughfare that cu
t through the center of the town.
“Thank you so much.” The woman looked in the direction I pointed, bowed her head deeply, took three steps that way, and then, looking up into the sky, started off in a totally different direction.
“What’s with her?” I tilted my head, and S’yne did too. She took a completely different turn from the one I had indicated. Had she even listened to what I said?
No matter. I’d just carry on and see the old guy.
I headed to the forge where the old guy was staying. It was the place responsible for such tasks as repairing the weapons for the revolutionaries. Of course, the local blacksmiths were also taking part, and the old guy was helping them.
Motoyasu II was pretty famous, in certain quarters of Q’ten Lo, so I thought we’d get into the forge just on the strength of his reputation. At the forge in question, people were coming and going, some permanently posted there, making weapons and armor.
Ah, there, I found the old guy.
Motoyasu II was rolling around, tied up. If I gave him the time of day, that would be the end of it.
“Hey.”
“Hello? Ah, kid! What brings you here so late?”
“I was busy training during the daytime. There have been quite a few developments, so I thought I’d come to let you know.”
“Erhard! It’s dark out! That’s the time to go drinking! If we don’t go drinking, where the hell are we going to go?” After spending all day getting chased around by Fohl, he still had nothing in mind other than having fun. I couldn’t help but give a sigh.
“Okay, and how are things going with that cursed sword?”
“The basic prep is all done, but I need somewhere I can get some real peace and quiet first.”
“I see.” Well, even if we could use that sword, the one among my retinue most likely to make use of it wasn’t even here. It would be tough without Ren.
“We’re planning on taking the old city within a few days. You should be able to reforge it there,” I mentioned.
“Ah, my master has his own studio there. Yeah, that would be perfect. So many good experiences to be had by coming to my master’s homeland!”
