When I headed to the Etranger's bridge, something seemed off.
"What happened?"
Riv wasn't sitting in the pilot seat dead ahead — she was in the third seat from the right.
Bid was peering over with great interest.
Riv murmured.
"Um... I kind of... messed up..."
"Messed up how?"
"Um... it wasn't a terminal, it was an app..."
"Ohhh..."
I see.
She already had a terminal on hand, so the assumption was that the app would work on it.
"What's an app?"
"It's... more like data, yes. Something that's useless on its own."
Very hard to explain.
"What about it. Can't you use it?"
"...The terminal is... a Nothing... but a simple terminal would... work."
"What's that, exactly?"
"Um... a terminal with only... one app's worth of functions. It's really... meant for emergencies..."
"Then all you'd need to do is install the app and you could use it."
"Mm... the problem is... the vessels for the simple terminals... are needed..."
"Another problem stacking on top of the last one, huh."
"What kind of vessels would work?"
"Basically... anything... metal will do..."
"Then we've got plenty of those."
"Hmm. Being told 'anything' makes it tough to decide, though..."
"Still, it'd be nice to keep them uniform, right?"
"There might be options that are easier to understand. But being told to unify them... hmm."
Pakira looked troubled. That's when I noticed the bracelet.
The bracelet I'd given her.
Riv and Bid were both kind enough to still be wearing theirs.
The bracelet... oh.
"How about the bracelets everyone's already wearing?"
"Oh. Now that's a good idea."
"Mm... that... works..."
"But that's a ton of work. If we're converting the bracelets everyone already has, they'd have to come all the way to Etrange just to turn them into simple terminals, wouldn't they?"
Bid had a point.
They'd have to come to Etrange's bridge no matter what.
"Mm... super... annoying..."
And the process of converting them into simple terminals would be handled by Riv.
The burden is too much.
"Ideally, there'd be something here that could churn out tons of simple terminals on the spot."
"Like bracelets or something, right?"
"That's right. If we had something like that... we'd... ah, there is."
There is.
Something metallic, available in bulk, right now.
There is. There absolutely is. Inside my pouch.
"There is?"
"There is."
"Mm... show me..."
"Um, here it is."
I pulled out the blank rings.
Instantly, everyone's eyes changed.
"A ring, you say?"
"Mm... a ring..."
"Right?"
"Um, it's called a blank ring — when you put it in water, it multiplies."
"Oh. How interesting."
"It does take a fair bit of time, though."
"Mm... then, let's try it..."
From the bridge to the kitchen.
I drop the ring into a water-filled bowl.
"Wof. What's with that ring?"
"I got it from the same street vendor where I bought the bracelet. Apparently this one can change colors and stuff too."
"Oh my. That's quite the find, isn't it."
"Mm... if I do this... with the terminal... account linking..."
"Still, you ended up with a ring, huh."
Bid-san muttered with a wry smile, his tone oddly meaningful.
What's that supposed to mean?
The rings were multiplying — roughly one per hour.
"Hmm. Quite the time-consuming process."
"I'll just leave them in like this."
"Mm... I'm hungry..."
It was already nighttime.
"Then I'll whip something up with whatever we've got."
We had plenty of ingredients, so I could make just about anything.
Well, not literally anything, but let's see. Something simple should do.
I looked through the pantry and decided on pasta with bacon, asparagus, and spinach.
We had bread-beans, so I wasn't going to bake wheat bread, but we had everything else you'd expect.
Pasta, pizza, crepes — the works. The only thing I wasn't making was bread from wheat flour.
First, the prep work. I cut the bacon, asparagus, and spinach into appropriate pieces.
A little bird's-beak chili and minced garlic for hidden kick. Plus some olive oil.
While I was cooking, the girls headed off to bathe.
Nekia came downstairs and was surprised to find me still there.
I told her the others were around, and off she went to the bath as well.
I boiled the pasta, tossed it in the pan with the prepped ingredients, and plated it.
A smaller portion for Pakira. A regular one for Riv. Big helpings for Vid and Nekia.
Then I prepared the tea and fruit water I'd brewed in the "Crescent Moon Vessel."
"How's this?"
I took a taste. Yep. Delicious.
Come to think of it, witches can make ginger ale and craft cola, can't they?
I'd have to ask for a lesson sometime.
"Might as well make one more thing."
Pasta alone felt a little lonely, and since pasta was already rich and oily, I wanted something lighter.
After a moment's deliberation, I made tomato soup and a mixed vegetable salad.
"Hmm… yeah, that's it."
I picked up a potato. I'd make a galet with this.
A galet was a galette. They existed in this world too.
I peeled the potato, sliced it into thin strips, added salt and pepper, kneaded them, and squeezed out the moisture.
I packed the potato into an oiled frying pan and set it over low heat to cook.
"The trick is you're not supposed to cook it too hard."
Once it gets a light golden sear, flip it and cook the other side the same way.
Then add butter and cook it a second time. This time, really let it get a proper crust.
"I think you're supposed to shake it now and then so the melted butter spreads evenly… or something."
I'd learned how to make this potato galette back at the Cider Inn.
The galette had a nice, firm crust on it. It was done.
"Smells great."
I set the finished pieces out on the table. This should be enough.
Just then, the girls came out from their bath.
A soft wave of soap and flower scent drifted from all of them. And they were all dressed lightly.
"Oh my, it's all ready, isn't it."
"Mmm… it looks delicious…"
"No no, it's nothing special really."
"It's a potato galet!"
"Put whatever sauce you like on the galet and dig in!"
"I can't wait! Let's eat already!"
"Nekea, drooling like that is unbecoming of a queen."
Everyone took their seats.
Pakira noticed me and looked over.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I already ate, so I'm not hungry."
"Then... the bath... Riv and the girls... their leftover bath water... go enjoy it."
"Huh?"
"Riv!"
"Aha ha ha, Wof-kun. Don't worry about it!"
"R-Right."
But I can't help but stare.
Pakira, who was clearly irritated, had slightly damp ears and hair.
Riv was still flushed from her bath.
Bid's underwear kept threatening to peek through.
Did Nekia actually dry off properly? Her hair was plastered to her skin.
It was Nekia who rushed me.
"Just eat already!"
"That's right."
"Mm... thanks for the meal..."
"Eat lots!"
The girls started eating.
Honestly.
I sighed and headed for the bath.
At that moment, none of us noticed.
The rings multiply by one every hour.
I hadn't thought too carefully about what that meant.
Also, the bath.
It was... filled with all sorts of scents, and all sorts of shed fur.
"............"
This is all Riv's fault!