Hydrangea.
Delvers' Guild, Hydrangea Branch. Guild Master's Office.
"I am truly, sincerely sorry!!"
"Um, um um, I'm so sorry!"
"This one really is my fault. My bad."
We each apologized to the person before us and bowed our heads.
That was Arance.
The Guild Master of the Hydrangea Delvers' Guild.
Short blond hair and narrow golden eyes. A well-featured face.
Long pointed ears adorned with several piercings.
A tall, slender build, dressed in a white shirt and black slacks.
An elf with lipstick and makeup on — the effeminate type.
Training Ground Number 16 had completely collapsed and was now off-limits.
I'd heard later that the blue-purple light had leaked through to the other training grounds as well.
Arance crossed his arms and let out a sigh.
"Apology accepted. So what happened?"
"Actually..."
I explained everything.
Arance listened and nodded along.
"I see. I understand it was purely an accident. Fortunately, there were no casualties. So that's that. I'll let you off this time with just compensation for the training ground."
"Ah, thank you very much..."
In debt to a witch again. Good grief.
"Then I'll handle the compensation!"
"Huh? No, but—"
"Um, um um, I-I'll help too!"
"Even you, Juicy?"
"Anyone's fine as long as the compensation gets paid."
Arance gave a wry smile.
Narcissus said to us:
"I'm the one responsible this time. So leave it to me. Besides, if I ask Dukkha, it'll be done in the blink of an eye."
"Now that's reliable."
Dukkha. A strange man with a bizarre afro and flamboyantly odd clothing.
A Class 1 delver who had mastered the Relic [Earth].
He really would have it repaired in the blink of an eye.
Yeah. Alright. I'll leave this to Narcissus.
"Please."
"Um um, yes. Please."
"Yes, leave everything to me. Why did you bark just now?"
"Waf?"
And that settled it. Phew.
But... that had been insane. That blue-purple [Banish].
It couldn't be used carelessly.
It had been strengthened, but wasn't it strengthened too much?
After leaving the Delvers' Guild, Narcissus said:
"I'm hungry."
"Um, um um, yes. I'm hungry too."
"Then—"
Just then, the tower bell rang.
Ah, this time of day. That meant Sidl Hall was still on afternoon break.
Going back to Heisen, the Berk Dining Hall would also be on afternoon break at this hour.
"There's no restaurant open at this time."
"Um, how about the yakitori stalls?"
"I'm bored of those too."
"Then what should we do?"
"I want to eat Wof's cooking."
"You want mine?"
"Um um, um, I-I want to eat it too!"
"Sure, but what do you want? I can't make that many different things."
"Meat scrap soup."
"The soup needs to be simmered, so it'll take quite a while. Can you wait?"
"I can't."
She answered instantly. Yeah, figures.
Juicy wagged her tail and raised her hand.
"Um um, um, I— I want to eat dried meat!"
"If that's the case, I have plenty of— Oh right. Is it okay if I do a little shopping?"
"What are you buying?"
"Bread-beans. I was thinking of making hot sandwiches."
A regular press would work too.
The two of them tilted their heads in puzzlement, not understanding what I meant.
Hydrangea. My home.
My room.
"My, what a strange room. Having a kitchen right next to the bed."
Murmuring that, Narcissus sprawled across my bed without the slightest hesitation.
The sheer nerve was impressive. She was lounging about.
"Um um, um, was the room always like this from the start?"
"...I brought the bed here myself."
Originally — or rather, this space was a kitchen. This house was... probably not actually a house.
A watchtower in the courtyard. A building disguised on the outside but concave in shape.
I wonder. Some kind of hideout, maybe?
Between this and the hidden place in Heisen...
Uncle. Where on earth does he keep finding these properties?
"I made it into a room with the kitchen in mind for winter."
This house had no fireplace or anything like that.
Well, since it wasn't really a house, it probably never had one to begin with.
With a kitchen stove, if you used it cleverly, it could double as heating.
Putting a bed in here and calling it a room had been a casual decision like that.
The other perk turned out to be more convenient than I'd expected — I could make breakfast right after waking up.
And then there was... the visual feast.
From Narcissus's vantage point on the bed, Juicy's swaying tail was perfectly visible.
The height of lying on the bed and the height of standing at the kitchen counter happened to be exactly the same.
Not that it meant anything, but the number of women standing in this kitchen had been growing.
Not that it meant anything, but I was grateful to Uncle.
Now then, time to make hot pressed sandwiches.
Ingredients: black bread-beans, dried meat, vegetables, and assorted seasonings.
First, cut the black bread-beans in half. They were hard, which made them perfect for pressing.
But no matter how many times I handled them, it was still strange that these were beans.
And because they were beans, you could cultivate them.
That was why people in this world rarely made bread from wheat flour.
Most people didn't even know you could make bread from wheat flour at all.
Heat two frying pans.
In one frying pan, chop and stir-fry the dried meat.
After stir-frying, add the cut black bread-beans into the same fat.
"Now, I'll use the other frying pan that's been heating up."
"Um, yes. Wanh!"
I explained to Juicy, who was inexplicably excited beside me.
She had put on an apron, tied up her hair, and was raring to go.
"Why did you bark just now?"
"Waf?"
Narcissus lay on her side with her chin propped on her elbow, watching languidly.
She looked like the owner of the bed.
A moment ago she'd been doing a yoga cat pose. Flexible, that one.
But a cat pose.
That was something I'd love to see Pakira do, the cat-beastkin.
I wanted her to perk up those cat ears, sway the long and short forks of her twin tail, and strike a pose.
Maybe I'd ask next time. If I Soil-and-Under Occarla her, she'd probably do it.
No no no, what am I saying, Hei-Yan!?
Place the heated frying pan on top of the black bread-beans and press lightly.
Juuu— That sound was so satisfying.
Fat, bread, and a hot frying pan.
Lifting it slowly, the bread had grill marks on it. That was nice too.
"Um, um um, um, it—it's beautiful."
Juicy said with eyes sparkling like gems.
"Why didn't you bark that time?"
"Waf. Um, that's, um, I held back a little."
"...You managed to hold back, huh?"
"Waf?"
She did hold back.
After making the hot pressed sandwiches, I moved on to the sauce.
Crushed tomatoes in the frying pan with orange juice and seasonings, stirred it lightly.
Slip the stir-fried dried meat, vegetables, and sauce between the hot pressed sandwich halves.
I made two for each of us, enough for three people.
For drinks, I prepared fruit water. Milk tea was a bit tricky.
Milk didn't keep well.
I could use the refrigerator at the witch's house, but butter and such were another matter.
And I still hadn't given up on the idea of an Elvis Sandwich.
A sandwich with peanut butter, bread, bacon, butter, and banana.
I still hadn't found bananas, but right—I'd do a proper search at the Heisen market.
I wouldn't give up. There had to be bananas in this world too.
"Now then, let's eat."
"Munch, munch munch munch, gulp! Hm. Not bad."
Big bites. Narcissus chomped half the hot pressed sandwich in one go.
Well, she seemed to like it, and that was what mattered most.
"Chomp. Chomp chomp. Good. Chomp chomp. Chomp. O-It's delicious."
Juicy nibbled in small bites. Quite the contrast.
"Especially the sauce!"
"I made it light."
I could have gone with the orange sauce from my past life's memories, but I was worried it would overpower the dried meat.
I'd also considered rehydrating the dried meat with water or hot water, but that took too long, so I abandoned the idea.
We ate while chatting idly.
Just then, the cloth serving as a door was lifted.
The face that appeared was Munieka's. In her usual maid outfit.
"An unusual combination."
She murmured that upon seeing us.
Narcissus looked at Munieka with a bored expression.
"What do you want, Auto-Doll?"
"I have no business with you. I have matters to discuss with Master and Juicy-sama."
"What is it?"
"Um um, what is it?"
"Just a moment ago, Lord Dova and Lady Sheshu returned to the mansion. The maids came with them."
Munieka reported in her expressionless, flat tone.