A Special Stew on Our One-Year Contract
The next day.
Cecil pulled out the two pieces of dried meat that she had saved for herself.
Today marked exactly one year since she had made that strange contract with the boy.
Since she didn’t know her own birthday, she decided to celebrate the contract day—like a… wedding anniversary.
That’s right. Today was a special meal.
A stew loaded with two whole pieces of dried meat.
And to keep it clean, she used an empty tin can as the pot.
She tossed in the dried meat, some bug-infested vegetables whose name she didn’t know, and a sprouted potato she had been saving since yesterday evening’s empty stomach. Then she poured in rainwater from a bucket for water.
Ah, the sprouts needed trimming.
…Too bad. Maybe I shouldn’t eat them. Rayci died after eating the sprouts the day before.
Her gaze wandered around, looking for something else to add because she felt a little disappointed, and suddenly her eyes landed on the half-slice of bread that was her share of breakfast.
The bread would swell a lot once soaked in water, wouldn’t it?
Great. I’ll add that too.
A few minutes later.
The fire in the pot had almost finished cooking when Cecil reached for the piece of wood to pull it out.
“What are you doing? It smells so good.”
“Hwah?!”
The boy came back faster than she expected.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Ah, no, that’s…”
She had originally planned to give him a surprise stew.
But now that he had already seen it, she couldn’t do that…
“Today is the one-year anniversary of our contract, right? So… I thought I’d make it like a… celebration…”
Oh. The lie fell apart.
This dumb, foolish boy.
Even without trying to charm him, this is what you’re doing.
Aaaah. I’m doomed.
Completely doomed.
Cecil naturally lowered her head, trying to hide her embarrassment.
But the boy approached with a faint smile and, without saying a word,
thumped thumped.
“?!”
He gently stroked her hair.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“N-not really…”
“It smells amazing. What did you put in it?”
“Dried meat, potatoes, and bread… and some bug-infested vegetables.”
“…It smells like yesterday’s dinner and today’s breakfast.”
“Yeah… I was… hungry.”
Thinking back, the boy had always been like this.
He would act all mature, strip me of my soul, and then tomorrow he would pull some childish prank on me again.
That contradiction was impossible to explain.
So I fell for him without realizing it.
But that time passed sooner than I thought.
“Hey…”
“…Huh? Oppa? What’s wrong?”
“Just a second, let me see you.”
“Okay. Cecil, you go ahead and eat. I’ll be back.”
The clan’s executive had summoned the boy.
It wasn’t every day, but it happened sometimes.
Anyone who had tried to look at the boy with ill intentions, even if only for a moment, before he made that contract with me.
But the executive was from the clan. If I made a fuss now, the daily life we had built would become difficult.
That’s why Cecil had always let it slide.
But.
But today.
“Hey! Hey! Wait a second!”
“Why?”
“Just take one bite. You worked so hard.”
No matter what excuse I came up with, I needed to keep him here.
He never turned down a request from me.
He didn’t really ask for things much in the first place, and I guess his personality was like that too.
“Okay, then.”
Just like today.
He would pretend not to win and accept it.
That part was actually pretty endearing.
“Hey! I said come on!”
“I’ll just taste it and go. It’s a celebration, after all.”
Even though the clan’s executive was shouting, he still took the bite.
Of course, the boy wasn’t about to give up just like that.
Cecil quickly scooped up a spoonful of stew and fed it to him.
“Mm.”
The spoon disappeared into his mouth.
When it came back out, nothing was left.
He chewed and swallowed.
His jaw moved several times.
“…How is it?”
With a tense heart, she asked.
“Not great.”
“Eek.”
The answer was completely different from what she had imagined.
Usually, when someone says it’s not great, they say it’s delicious anyway, right?
“Anyway, I’ll be going.”
“Uh, yeah…”
Her head went blank for a moment and she forgot to grab him.
When she looked up again later,
“Ah…”
The boy was already gone.
“Hmph.”
It didn’t sit right with her.
Even after she had put her whole heart into cooking for him, he left like that.
Even after he kept getting called away to other people.
Even for me, who still liked him despite all that.
Everything was going the way he wanted.
***
A few minutes later.
Something felt off.
No matter how long it took, he had always come back in under five minutes.
Cecil stood up, feeling uneasy.
Even if the executive was here, if I went to pick him up myself, he would let me.
Hah. Where else would someone like me be thrown around?
At the same time, she wondered if she was being too blind with him.
‘This is the contract I agreed to keep. Yeah. This is just paying what the contract asks for.’
With that rationalization, she started walking.
After passing several familiar alleys,
she reached the place where the boy and the executive usually chatted.
“………………Huh?”
There he was.
The boy, with a dagger sticking out of his chest, was pouring out blood in agony.
It didn’t feel real.
Maybe she was dreaming because she was exhausted from waiting.
But the scent of blood in her nose was undeniably real.
“Ah, aah… AAAAAA!!”
Without thinking, she screamed and ran to him.
“St… h…”
The boy let out only a weak breath.
He had already lost too much blood.
He would… no, he would definitely die.
“Ah, aah…”
Helpless.
The fact that she couldn’t do anything even though the person she loved was dying right in front of her was endlessly helpless.
The fact that she couldn’t wipe away the blood flowing from him was painful.
The fact that she couldn’t close his wounds was tearing at her chest.
And the fact that she couldn’t feel the pain for him made her sob.
“……Kkuk.”
But Cecil stopped crying in an instant.
She wiped away her tears and forced her body up.
It was too late to be disappointed.
Maybe… maybe he could still be saved.
His breath was still there.
He might still be saved.
Yeah. There was nothing I could do.
But she couldn’t sit there.
Cecil stroked the boy’s face once and ran with all her strength.
She didn’t know where he was going or what he was looking for.
She just ran.
Anyone. Please.
Please. Please save that boy.
Please.
***
The first person she met was a nameless adventurer.
With a lecherous gaze sweeping over her, she thought she could endure anything as long as she saved the boy, but he didn’t seem to have that ability.
It was even more so because there was no potion on his waist.
The second person was the clan’s executive.
She felt a moment of relief, but when she saw the bloodstains on his body and his dazed expression, her face hardened.
She turned and fled without looking back.
She only remembered the face clearly.
The third person was a decrepit old man.
The last spark of hope had nearly gone out by now.
Still, when she told him her situation in a desperate voice,
“Where?”
He went in the direction he pointed to with a savage smile.
Ah.
She had no strength left.
She needed one more person to ask for help.
And Cecil lost consciousness.
***
When she came to her senses, she headed back to the place where the boy had been with a devastated heart.
“…Huh?”
There was no body, only dried bloodstains and a crumpled letter.
Just in case, she hurriedly opened it.
- This bastard is my property. Payment is two below.
That was all there was to it.
And when Cecil looked down,
- P.S. I’ll fix it properly. Don’t worry.
She broke down and cried.
***
I reached out and stroked Cecil’s head.
Maybe the feeling from that time came back, because Cecil had tears in her eyes again.
I slowly recalled the memory from then.
A carriage decorated with brightly colored magic stones.
I remember the burly mercenary uncle saying it was a kind of artifact.
Hearing that, I thought it was the day I would meet Cecil in the Magic Engineering department someday.
I thought it was an old man wandering around who found it.
No.
You saved me.
The words Cecil had once said came to mind.
If you save someone’s life, you can’t help but fall in love with them.
It was a little… no, quite relatable.
I pulled the trembling Cecil into my arms and patted her back.
“Ugh, sniveling… kkuk…”
At first she startled like she was surprised, but soon she clung to me and sobbed.
For the sake of the woman who saved me.
For the pain she must have endured while living alone all this time.
For the girl who recognized me from the first time but pretended she didn’t.
With comfort, affection, shyness, understanding, apology, and the still-awkward love.
Regularly, gently.
I patted her back.
Until she stopped crying.
For a very long time.
(It’s over now)
***
“Sniff.”
“Want a tissue?”
“Uuuuh…”
Is that a positive “Uuuuh” or a negative “Uuuuh”?
Hard to tell, so I just pulled out two tissues.
“Grammer…”
Kii!
It was the positive one.
“Hehe, I have to eat but I cried so my appetite’s gone. You eat first.”
“Okay.”
I gave her a slightly awkward spoon of stew.
I watched her in the arms she was holding, waiting for my reaction.
She was sitting with her back against my stomach, looking in the same direction.
“H-how is it?”
I savored the taste in my mouth.
I rolled it around on my tongue, bit it with my teeth, and swallowed.
And with a clear, plain expression,
“Not great.”
Slurp!
