Chapter 43

I’m currently sitting down by myself taking a short break after our meal .

Today’s dinner was better than normal though my mothers mushroom gratin is still the best .

I ate a bit too much though and it’s lying a bit heavy in my stomach, however, this feeling of fullness is pretty good .

Everyone else has gone into the workshop . My father learnt Ray was interested in making swords so he enthusiastically took him to the workshop .

Misha and Sasha also disappeared .

It’s been a while and they still haven’t come back, however, I can hear laughter from time to time so they are still chatting away .

Leaning back in my chair I can hear noises from the kitchen .

My mother? Let’s take a look .

It was actually Misha inside .

“What you doing?”

Misha turned around with her usual deadpan expression .

“Gratin . ”

I can see the stone ovens lit . Is she actually making gratin?

We’ve finished eating though .

“What about it?”

“Making it . ”

“You are?”

*Kokuri* Misha nods .

“Arnos’ mother is good . ”

“Well I won’t argue with that but why?”

Misha blinked a couple times .

“Taught me . ”

Sasha and Misha did help out when preparing dinner . Did my mother teach them how to cook it at the same time?

“Practising by myself . ”

I see .

“You wanted more practice making gratin?”

“Nn . ”

“Well, my mothers mushroom gratin is the best there is . ”

Misha nods again .

“Arnos’ favourite food . ”

“…… . Does that mean you are practising because it’s my favourite food?”

It’s only a little bit but Misha suddenly looks shy .

“I like Arnos’s happy face . ”

She’s saying something cute .

“I’m glad . ”

Misha smiles at my words .

“Arnos is close with Sasha . ”

“That’s right . ”

Sasha exposes all her emotions without holding back and talks to me rudely . She’s also meddlesome and unintentionally amusing at times . I had no such subordinate 2000 years ago .

“Something wrong with that?”

“It’s nice . ” Misha stares into my eyes . “But I’m a little lonely . ”

“I see . Does it feel like I’ve stolen your older sister?”

Misha’s eyes opened slightly and she shook her head .

“Opposite . ”

Misha suddenly points at me .

“Me? By Sasha?”

Misha nods slightly .

Unusually for Misha, she’s a.s.sertively looking me in the eyes .

“I made friends first . ” Her voice becomes thinner . “…… . But Sasha is closer now…… . ”

I unintentionally laugh .

“So even Misha can think like that . ”

She looks down and says in a small voice .

“…… . . Jealously is not good………”

Our feelings don’t always go the way we want them too .

“I’m not on better terms with Sasha than you . ”

“Really?”

Misha stares doubtfully at me .

“She just talks more”

“… . . I speak less……”

Misha’s voice gets even quieter .

“That’s one of your good points Misha . ”

Her face relaxes slightly .

“Really?”

“Yeah . I can feel calm when I’m talking to you . ”

*Fufu* Misha laughs shyly .

“I’m happy . ”

Fumu . This misunderstanding seems to have been solved .

“Ah . ”

Misha suddenly notices something and puts on some mittens before fetching a pot from the oven .

A delicious scent of white sauce and cheese drifts out .

“I did it . ”

Misha joyfully puts the pot on the table before taking a wooden spoon and scooping up some gratin, blowing on it to cool it down and then eating it in one gulp .

Did it go well? Misha’s nodding while tasting her gratin .

“Is it delicious?”

Misha turns around to face me with her deadpan expression before scooping up some more gratin and pointing the spoon at me .

“Eat?”

“Ah, no, I just ate a while ago . ”

“………………………………… . . I see…………………………”

Misha stares at the gratin on the spoon .

She somehow looks lonely .

Oh, she did say she liked seeing my happy face so that’s why she was practising .

In that case, no matter how full I am I will eat it .

“Fumu . Actually, I’ve changed my mind . I’m a bit peckish . Can I have it?”

Misha smiled happily and nodded before blowing on the gratin .

Moving forward she brought the spoon to my mouth .

“Here . ”

Misha’s demanding that I open my mouth .

“……… . . ”

I’m not a baby . I can eat by myself .

When I didn’t open my mouth she tilted her head to one side .

“… . . Aaahn……”

Did she think her intention wasn’t communicated? She’s asking me to open my mouth again .

Whatever . It’s fine I guess . Do what you want .

I opened my mouth and Misha fed me the gratin .

Umu, this is exquisite . She’s only just learnt from my mother but she can already perfectly replicate my mother’s mushroom gratin taste .

“… . . How is it……… . . ?”

“Exquisite . ”

*Fufu* Misha laughed .

“One more?”

“Let’s have it . ”

Misha brings it to my mouth again .

“………Aahn…… . ”

Did you think I wouldn’t open my mouth if you didn’t do that?

Misha feeds me the same way again .

I was already stuffed but in the next 10 minutes, I managed to eat another dish of gratin .

“It was delicious . Misha’s good at cooking . ”

“…… . Normal……” She says a little shyly . “I’ll make it again . ”

“Don’t overdo it . You don’t need to make it to remain friends with me . ”

Misha falls silent and looks troubled .

“No good?”

Apparently, it was an unnecessary concern on my part .

“If you actually want to make it then please do . ”

“I like making it . ”

She must be a creative person . She’s also good at Construction Creation .

“Will you let me eat it again?”

“Promise?”

“Yeah . I look forward to it . ”

I touch the plate and spoon and activate my magic . They’re quickly washed before floating in the air and returning to the cupboard .

“Did you go to the workshop?”

“Not yet . ”

“Shall we go then?”

“Nn . ”

I head to the workshop with Misha but inside there’s only my mother . No one else is in sight .

“Where’s Ray?”

My mother raises her index finger and puts it in front of her mouth in a shus.h.i.+ng motion .

Near to her is Sasha wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping .

“Sasha-chan became tired . ”

To be fair she used a lot of magic power in the test .

“Ray-kun and the others have gone to the garden to enjoy some night air . ” My mother says in a quiet voice .

Shall we go to the garden?

We leave the workshop and head outside . The sun may have gone down but the moons pretty bright tonight .

Where we live is very densely packed with houses so light spills out from them as well .

“But thank you for today . ”

From our garden, I heard the voice of Misa .

Peeking into the garden I see Misa sitting down amongst the roots of a tree with Ray standing by her side .

“In what way?”

“Fufufuu . You invited me . If Ray-san hadn’t spoken up I don’t think Arnos-sama would have let me join the group so thank you for that . ”

Ray smiled .

“That wasn’t my intention . ”

“Ah, how modest . You’re kind . ”

Misa laughs then smiles .

“……It’s the first time I’ve met someone like Ray-san…… . ”

“Like me?”

“…… . . Hmmm . How to put it . You don’t care about being royalty at all………?”

Ray laughs .

“I think both those Necrons are also the same though . ”

“Ahaha… . . but it’s a bit different with you, right? Sasha-san and Misha -san know about the meaning of royalty and understand it but still became Arnos-sama’s subordinates . ”

“I’m different?”

“Yes, you are . Royal lineage or mixed blood . Neither matter to you . You don’t seem to be interested in the blood of the founder . I can’t find the right words but what I’m trying to say is you just don’t seem to care?”

Ray laughs again .

“You might be right . Like I said in the group test I’m not good at it . ”

Ray looked away from Misa and stared into the distance .

“I only really want to think about the sword . How can I swing faster? How can I cut something that can’t be cut? Anything beyond that is troublesome . ”

“Anything beyond that? Are there no circ.u.mstances where you’ll think about anything but the sword?”

Misa asks a simple question .

“Well, there’s various things if you are alive . There’s eating for example . ”

Misa burst into laughter .

“You’re just lazy Ray-san . ”

“My origin is an easygoing fellow . ”

Ray turns his eyes back to Misa .

“Therefore I won’t be entering the unification faction . The royalty aren’t in the right though . ”

“Ah, no . I had no such intention . ”

Misa panicked and waved her hands before putting on a serious face .

“I did think it though . A person like Ray-san might be the ideal person for the unificationists . Whether you are royalty or not, the mazoku are split in two . It’s troublesome and I don’t care . The person who can say that is surely someone who doesn’t discriminate against people . ”

“It’s embarra.s.sing if you lift me up that much . If you say that then there’s Arnos . He really doesn’t seem to care about anything . ”

“…… . . Arnos-sama…… . . ”

“Since you want him to be the face of your cause can’t you see him with calm eyes?”

Misa looks at Ray in surprise .

“That’s very forthright . ”

Ray doesn’t answer back . He just looks at Misa who looks away awkwardly .

“……For us, there’s no other way than to believe in Arnos-sama . I know it might not be a good thing for Arnos-sama…… . ”

“I think it’s okay . ”

Misa’s face took on a surprised look again .

“No matter what Misa-san does he won’t be influenced even the slightest bit . ”

Misa buried her face in her knee’s having no answer to give back .

“He truly doesn’t care . I honestly believe that . Is it useful? Is it bad or poor looking? Arnos doesn’t have that perspective at all . A bucket of water thrown into the ocean will not make a wave . To me, he’s transcended all that . ”

“You’ve only just met him . How can you be so sure?”

Ray laughs again .

“It’s just my intuition . I’m not good at thinking about difficult things . ”

Misa laughs .

“I feel a bit more easy somehow . ”

“Can I ask you something?”

Misa’s face takes on a curious expression .

“Yes”

“Is Misa-san a half spirit half demon?

“Yeah…… . . ”

“Is your bodies condition not worsening?”

As if not understanding Misa c.o.c.ks her head to the side .

“Errrm… . well……there’s times when I feel a little unwell but basically I’m always fine . Why do you ask?”

Ray closes his mouth for a moment then speaks with an unusually earnest expression .

“I’d heard that half spirits half demons don’t have very long lives . ”

“Eh… . . ?”

“But as far as I knew there were no lively half spirits who could use spirit magic . I think Misa-san is special . ”

“Is that so? I don’t know myself………”

Ray stretches his hand out to Misa .

“Shall we head back? My bodies getting cold . ”

“Ah, yes . ”

Misa took Ray’s hand and stood up .

“Thank you very much for today . I will do my best to make a society where people like Ray-san are the norm . ”

As soon as she spoke Misa made a face like she’d made a mistake .

“Sorry . I shouldn’t have said something so bothersome . ”

“It’s fine . ”

Ray laughs .

“I’ll support you . Because I’m a royal and a member of the chaos generation I’m honestly tired of being pushed around all the time . ”

Misa’s face blooms into joy and she makes a fist .

“Please leave it to me . I’ll do my best so the day Ray-san can relax will come . ”