Spring Is Coming #1
I knew exactly why Melvin and Diarmuid had followed me. Why else would anyone show up at the cooking club room? They clearly wanted something to eat. Teenagers in the middle of a growth spurt get hungry again almost immediately no matter how much they eat. After throwing everything they had into dungeon combat, that hunger would only be stronger. Eating a full meal again felt excessive, so a clean, simple snack probably sounded perfect. That kind of thinking was only natural.
That was why I took the Snowflake Lily I had just brought back from the dungeon and tossed it into the mortar the student council had given me not long ago, then began grinding it vigorously. The lily crumbled like snow. It looked like a simple task, but maintaining the right rhythm was surprisingly important. If you didn’t control the exact tempo and pressure, the moment it broke apart it could melt away completely.
Pat-pat-pat—
After grinding the lilies for a while, I transferred them to a plate at precisely the right moment.
Pop.
Tiny stars burst inside the bowl. Those little stars were the crafting effect of a Tier 2 item.
Tier 2 Dessert
It melts in your mouth like snow. Delicious. Yet somehow it feels like something is seriously missing. Maybe there’s a way to make it even more enjoyable…?
The snow shaved ice came out exactly as I had imagined. It was on the lower end even among Tier 2 desserts, but with our current lack of ingredients, this was more than enough.
“This is a test sample, so I won’t charge you. Eat it and give me an objective evaluation.”
“This is…”
Melvin stared at the bowl in front of him, mouth hanging open in a perfect circle. Was this his first time seeing shaved ice?
“Putting snow in a bowl like this reminds me of home. Back in Draheim, whenever it snowed we used to eat it just like this.”
Eating snow? What kind of hometown food was that? Before I could even ask, Melvin grabbed a spoon and scooped up a huge mouthful of the Snow Shaved Ice. His already fierce-looking face grew even fiercer.
“Whoa, it tastes nothing like the snow back home! This is way sweeter. It’s like… like… what is it? Ugh, my vocabulary isn’t good enough to describe this flavor. Diarmuid, hurry up and try it too!”
Even as he spoke, Melvin’s spoon never stopped moving. Diarmuid, watching him, muttered, “We just came back from a cold place and now shaved ice…” with a hint of wariness. Still, he eventually picked up his spoon with careful movements and took a bite. His whole body gave a little shiver.
“This… is a flavor I never expected. It tastes like milk. I thought it would just be bland snow flavor, but it’s completely different. And it’s faintly sweet. It’s really good.”
Their evaluations were positive, but I suddenly grew curious. Why did everyone seem to know what snow tasted like? It felt like something I shouldn’t dig too deeply into, so I didn’t ask.
That left Megaira, I supposed. Ever since she had gotten her hands on the Snowflake Lily, she had been strangely quiet. The girl who could never keep her mouth shut for even a second was staying silent, which actually felt worse.
I pushed the bowl toward her a little more and said, “Eat this and head back to Enio soon. You three sisters are Enio’s shadows. Have you ever seen a shadow abandon its owner?”
In other words, stick close to Enio and deal with her yourself. Because you three aren’t doing your jobs properly, she keeps coming to bother me. That was the full meaning behind my words.
Whether she understood or not, Megaira shot me a quick glare before picking up her spoon. She opened her mouth and put the white, snowflake-like substance inside.
“Mmm!?”
Megaira’s whole body trembled violently. Her red hair stood on end like a cat’s fur.
“It’s only natural for your head to hurt if you swallow something that cold in one go.”
“I know that much. I know, but… it’s more than I expected… yeah.”
“What?”
“…It’s delicious. Victor, I can’t believe you can make something like this…”
“What do you mean by that?”
Megaira ate every last bite of the shaved ice that had been given to her. If plain snow shaved ice was already this good, I could probably make a fortune in the summer by adding toppings—chocolate shaved ice, strawberry shaved ice, or even the Tier 1 superior version, Snowflower Shaved Ice. Though it was still a bit early since spring hadn’t even properly arrived yet.
“Call us again if you have work! Biego—Victor! And make sure you call us when you develop new dishes too!”
“Understood.”
Diarmuid and Melvin didn’t return to their dormitory until eight o’clock. The fact that they had eaten two whole pockets’ worth of the jerky I had been saving for myself, leaving my life a little more impoverished, was just an added bonus. That Melvin really ate like his size suggested. Still, I had bought their goodwill with it, so it wasn’t exactly a losing trade. I could just have them handle the hunting and dungeon clearing I found annoying.
In the long run, helping raise their specs would probably be beneficial too. The stronger they got, the wider their activity range and material-gathering range would become.
“So you’re not leaving?”
“……”
Megaira was sitting quietly in the club room like a cat a friend had temporarily left in my care. I had thought she would leave with Melvin and Diarmuid, but it looked like she intended to stay put.
“Just so you know, mixed-gender overnight stays in the club room are strictly prohibited. You must vacate this room before ten o’clock.”
“Ugh…”
“Megaira, you’re in the room next to Enio’s, right? Are you scared you might run into her?”
At my question, Megaira gave a visible start.
“How do you know I’m next to Lady Enio’s room?”
“Well…”
Well, because when I played as Luke I had rummaged through her drawers and closets while collecting items. Of course, saying that would obviously get me treated like a lunatic, so I lied instead.
“I know as much about you as you know about me. I was from the Arclight family, so knowing about the Blackstar family’s hostile underlings is only natural.”
Groooan.
My stomach hurt. Had I almost reached today’s limit of three lies? Victor hated lying, but the more you lied the duller your conscience became. At first even one lie had caused terrible pain, but lately three times a day was manageable. Any more than that and I would faint. Please just accept it.
Whether my prayer reached her or not, Megaira seemed to accept my explanation with a reasonably convincing reason of her own.
“That makes sense. Since I know a bit about you too, Victor. For example, that you were an abandoned orphan who was picked up by the Arclight family.”
“You know well.”
“But you abandoned your master. I never imagined you would do something like that. Ever since you did it, I’ve felt like something has deviated from its predetermined path.”
“It’s just your imagination.”
“Why did you abandon your master?”
“Didn’t I say before that another woman appeared?”
“That was a lie. I don’t know about other people, but I can tell at a glance that there’s nothing like that between you and that Mokemoke girl.”
As expected of Enio’s subordinate, her senses were sharp. There was no point in playing dumb now. At this rate I had almost used up today’s three-lie limit.
Megaira asked, “I don’t know what the reason is, but… if I ever ended up in the same situation as you, would I abandon Lady Enio?”
No. Megaira would never do that. The relationship between her and Enio was slightly different from the one between Victorica and Victor. While the latter had been a contractual, obligatory relationship, Enio and Megaira were true friends. The kind who would take an arrow for each other. No matter the reason, this girl would never leave Enio’s side.
If I had even one friend like that, my life as a debt slave might have been bearable. But such friends couldn’t be bought with money. Since I knew that all too well, I could answer this easily.
“Megaira, you are different from me. So do well while you have the chance. Don’t end up like me, struggling in a shabby place after all your connections have snapped. In other words, don’t get abandoned by Enio.”
At that, Megaira flared up.
“Lady Enio would never abandon me!”
“You know it well. Then hurry up and go back. Don’t sit around looking pathetic by yourself.”
“……”
Megaira stood up without a word. Then, with a frown, she said, “To be honest, I wanted to get out of this dreary place anyway!” before heading for the door. Right before leaving the room, she asked me,
“Hey, why don’t you come over to the Blackstar family? I’ll talk to Lady Enio about it.”
“We already had this conversation before, didn’t we? I refuse.”
“Suit yourself. I give you a chance and you choose to suffer. Idiot…!”
With that, Megaira whirled around and left.
“She called me an idiot instead of an imbecile.”
Wasn’t “idiot” the line you heard when Megaira’s favorability, which normally started in the negatives, rose into the positives? Had there been anything in that conversation that could have raised her favorability? No, there shouldn’t have been. Megaira’s favorability wouldn’t go up no matter what choices or gifts you gave her unless you handed over the November issue of the magazine that featured Enio.
“With that in mind, starting tomorrow we will begin the new semester’s classes in earnest. Since all of you are now second-years, the focus will be on practical skills and real combat from now on, so prepare yourselves thoroughly.”
The first day of classes after the town crier incident had ended. The lecture itself was nothing special—just an explanation of the monsters living near Ludens and the surrounding fields. Since I already had all of it memorized, I honestly didn’t need to listen.
“Whoa, Melvin. Isn’t that ice fang leather you’re using as a knee blanket? I heard in class earlier that you can only find those in the frozen wastelands up north. You’ve already been there?”
“Huh? This is…”
When I turned my head, Melvin met my eyes and gave a slight nod. It was as if he were saying, “I’ll keep your secret, so don’t worry.”
At that moment, Enio, who was sitting in the seat next to me, asked,
“Victor, what did you do with Megaira yesterday?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Well, she’s been looking a bit down lately. But yesterday she came to my room and gave me a flower made of ice. And she talked about you a lot.”
“It probably wasn’t anything good. She must have badmouthed me plenty. That girl hates me, after all.”
“Is that so? Now that I think about it, it didn’t really seem that way. Anyway. You made something called snow shaved ice, right? I’d like to try it too. Are you free after school today?”
“I am. I have to make shaved ice for the delegate Arnoi that you recommended anyway.”
“Arnoi? That eighth-year Arnoi?”
“Yes. The delegate you said you recommended me to.”
“That’s strange. The people I recommended you to were someone else. Morian, Eris, and Senior Ashtar—those three.”
“……”
Then what on earth was that eighth-year Arnoi? Hadn’t she specifically told me that Enio had recommended me or something?
“Could it have been a lie?”
What a truly strange girl. To think she could deceive even me, someone who had been steeped in this D&A world. She was no ordinary person. Well, if she wasn’t actually one of Enio’s recommendations, I didn’t have to make her dessert, right? That saved both ingredients and time. Thanks to that, my afternoon had unexpectedly opened up.
I was pondering what would be the most efficient way to earn Rene during that free time when someone slowly approached me.
“Enio, I have something to say to Victor. Could you give us a moment?”
“Sure. My business is finished anyway.”
Enio waved her hand and said, “See you later, Victor,” before disappearing out of the classroom.
“I wonder what Victorica and Victor are going to talk about.”
“What could it be?”
“I want to listen.”
The students around us began to take interest. Since Victorica was well aware of that, she let out a small sigh and said,
“I have something important to discuss. Something that must be said between just the two of us. You and me.”
“If that’s the case, we can do it in the club room. It’s quiet there.”
With that sort of exchange, Victorica and I moved to a different location. Nike apparently still had classes left, because the club room was extremely empty. In that quiet space, Victorica spoke.
“Victor, my older sister who went to the mainland will soon return to Ludens. Probably tomorrow by ship.”
“So it’s already that time.”
Originally, Victorica’s older sister only appeared after spring had fully bloomed. Her arrival meant that the new semester of true spring days was beginning in earnest. However, Victorica’s expression was quite serious.
“If my sister hears that you and I have broken off our engagement…”
“It will become complicated in many ways.”
But I hadn’t demanded the breakup without any countermeasures. After all, I—Ha Seungri—was also possessing Flora Arclight, Victorica’s sister. Still, it would be a bit messy. While I was thinking of a solution, Victorica said,
“So, what I’m saying is… couldn’t we pretend that we haven’t broken off our engagement?”
“Pretend? What do you mean?”
“At least in front of my sister, let’s act as if you and I are still engaged.”