The Living Furnace
So you want to feel good with my hands—?!♡
—Grrrrooowl…! A small thunderclap echoed inside the watchtower. It was clearly just a tiny rumble, but the silence around us made the impact enormous.
…….
After that, the surroundings grew even quieter. It felt like the calm before a storm, as if a downpour of thunder and lightning could erupt at any moment. But thunder and lightning? Hardly.
—Fwoooosh…!!! Instead, a blazing red sun rose. Of course, it wasn’t the real sun. It was simply Sonya’s face burning crimson. Anyone who saw her now would mistake her for a member of the Flame Clan.
—Thud…! Unable to bear the embarrassment, Sonya silently buried her face. It was the posture of someone dying of shame. She probably wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and disappear.
—Hot! Hot! The bright red shame spread all the way to the tips of her ears.
—Grrrowl…! Yet her body remained honest. Just like earlier at the intermediate watchtower, her stomach clock kept ringing, as if begging for a meal to silence the alarm.
—Slurp…! The sound of something flowing down her esophagus was so clear it was almost audible. She had every reason to feel embarrassed.
“Ahem…!”
Her reaction was adorable, but I couldn’t afford to tease her any further. Touching her now might just cause her to die of mortification. Besides……
“……”
Even Eros, who had been teasing Sonya until now, was quietly reading the room. She must have sensed that any more provocation would be dangerous. If I pushed any further, the Ice Dragon would probably spew flames of rage. That aside……
What should I make this time? I couldn’t just leave them starving.
“Could you two wait here for a moment? I’ll try to whip something up.”
“Huh? T-Teacher? You don’t have to go that far for me……”
When I broke the awkward silence, Sonya finally lifted her head and responded, her face a mix of embarrassment and guilt.
“I already made something for you earlier, remember? Just stay here and rest, Sonya. If the barrier breaks, we’ll be in real trouble.”
“…As expected, only Teacher would do this. Th-thank you so much……”
Sonya expressed her gratitude in a voice that was barely audible, her bright red face lowering once more. She must have been truly hungry. Normally she would have refused at least once, but this time she accepted right away without any hesitation.
“Then please wait here for a bit.”
“Ehh? Then I’ll help too! I’m coming with you~!”
—Tap tap tap…! As I tried to slip away while gauging the mood, Eros followed right behind me. She probably felt uncomfortable dealing with the thoroughly embarrassed Sonya as well.
“Very well. Then I’ll be counting on you.”
“Yeah! Just leave anything to Lady Eros! I’ll listen properly from now on~!”
Eros rolled up her sleeves with a mischievous grin and took the lead with energetic steps toward the small cooking area prepared inside the watchtower. The lower floor of the lighthouse-like observation post combined the rest area where we had warmed ourselves earlier with a cooking space. A large chimney-style stove stood in the center like a partition.
‘As expected, it’s not very spacious. Much smaller than the old dormitory lounge.’
The cooking area itself was minimal. The single stove served as both a hearth and a cooking surface, with basic kitchen utensils arranged around it.
—Creaaak…!
“Hmm, the provisions are pretty pathetic……”
I muttered while stroking my chin. There was nothing usable inside the built-in cabinet. Being in the highlands, there weren’t many ingredients prepared. There wasn’t even a separate storage space worthy of being called a pantry. Everything was crammed into this tiny cabinet. Nothing particularly eye-catching. At best, there was some frozen specialty honey. The only other visible items were flour and basic seasonings. The cooking tools were old and shabby too. I’d have to wash them before use.
What could I possibly make in this situation?
‘Tsk, to think I’d end up missing the original lounge this much……’
The environments I encountered kept getting harsher. I just wanted to go back to the lounge and make desserts in peace. After rolling around all day like this, serving the fourth-year ladies would feel like child’s play.
—Rustle, rustle…!
For now, I pulled out the noticeable ingredients along with emergency rations like hardtack and jerky. If I really couldn’t make anything, I’d have to make do with those.
“Teacher? What are you going to make?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure……”
“If it’s too hard to make something, should I tell her we can just make do with the remaining jerky?”
—Chew chew…! Eros must have been hungry too—she had already taken out a piece of tough jerky and was chewing on it. Jerky really was the best for quickly replenishing calories. But I had promised to make something proper, so I couldn’t just serve jerky without any sincerity. I wanted to make something delicious for Sonya, who had worked hard protecting me. Besides……
“Huuung──♡ What are you thinking about with that dumb face?”
Eros was staring at me with her quartz-like purple eyes. The obedient attitude from earlier was gone, replaced by her usual playful expression. Still, her arrogant tone seemed to have softened a little.
‘If possible, I’d like to clear Eros’s affinity quest at the same time.’
But the ingredients were hopelessly insufficient. I wanted to make something special if I could, but there were too many constraints right now. The conditions were far from ideal for anything special.
“Haa… Should I just bake some salt bread? Or maybe reuse the hardtack—”
Just as I was about to compromise with the poor environment and choose ordinary over special……
“Bread?! No way!”
“Hm? Why not?”
Eros suddenly interrupted with a fuss, her voice quite urgent. She shook her head firmly, even crossing her arms with a stern expression. Don’t tell me she was refusing because it didn’t suit her taste like bell peppers? If that was the case, I’d have to give her a spicy honey punch—
“Sonya said if we light a fire, monsters will come running!”
“Ah?”
“Plus, Sonya’s barrier will disappear too—!”
“…I see. That makes sense.”
Now that I heard it, it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. No wonder the stove had stayed unlit. It was still cold, but thanks to Eros’s Dragon Heart and the winter clothes we found in the watchtower, I could manage. That said……
Damn it, this was bad. No ingredients. No fire. Monsters outside guarding the area, making it impossible to gather more supplies. It was one problem after another. How was I supposed to make anything like this?
“Teacher? What’s wrong? No decent ingredients?”
“Yeah, and I can’t even light a fire, so I really can’t make anything.”
“No ingredients? What about the stuff you gathered earlier? Can’t we eat that right away?”
Eros shrugged and pointed with her hand. She was indicating the bundle wrapped tightly in my vest—the fruit package.
“Ah, right…! We had that!”
“Kukuk, you~ dummy♡ You forgot about it already? So lame♡ Don’t tell me your brain froze from the cold—?”
“……”
Ah, she still hadn’t calmed down. Provoking me with that arrogant tone again…… But this time, I had to let it slide. Her words didn’t bother me at all. If anything, I found it rather endearing. After all, without Eros, I wouldn’t have thought of anything and would’ve just served the hardtack and jerky.
—Rustle…!
I reached out and gently stroked her hair. Her tone had been infuriatingly arrogant, but things were different now. I could tolerate this much. If it weren’t for Eros, I wouldn’t have come up with anything at all.
—Pat, pat……
“Hyaaah—?! W-what are you doing all of a sudden—?!”
When my hand brushed through her hair, she cried out in surprise. Though her reaction seemed like she disliked it, strangely enough, Eros didn’t pull away from my touch. She only complained with words—her body stayed obedient. Her arrogant tone probably wasn’t sincere either. It was just a distorted way of expressing interest and affection. She was simply clumsy at showing her true feelings.
“Ah, this is a token of my gratitude.”
“Tch…! Touching a lady’s body again? Don’t tell me you want to do that with me again—♡?”
Heart symbols suddenly appeared in her otherwise normal eyes. I was starting to suspect that even simple physical contact might activate Dragon’s Allure.
—Hot, hot…!
At the same time, her body grew hot. A faint steam was even rising from her. She was practically a living heater.
‘Huh? Wait a minute…… A heater?!’
Maybe I could actually make proper use of Eros’s help.
“A-anyway, even so…♡ If you keep staring like that, I’ll get embarrassed too~?”
“Hmm……”
“Really~♡ You seriously want to do it again? You’re like a beast in heat—”
“Eros! Could you help me for a moment? I just need to borrow your hands!”
“W-what—?! My hands……?!”
“Yes, that’s right. Your hands, Eros.”
“Ah! I get it—! Teacher, you want to feel good with my hands—?!♡”
“???”
What on earth was she talking about? And she was supposed to be a living heater. She had a real talent for misinterpreting things to suit herself.
“Stop jumping to conclusions and come here! Hurry—!”
—Grab!
I cut off Eros’s nonsense and seized her wrist, pulling her toward the makeshift kitchen.
“Kyaaah—♥ At this rate I’m really going to get eaten by Teacher! You klutz! Pervert—!”
“Haa……”
A sigh escaped me at her ridiculous fuss. Could I really ask this girl for help?