“Don’t do such misleading things!”
“Exactly. Anyone would misunderstand if they saw that!”
Lara and Marise pouted. Am I the one to blame here?
“I… I admit I was also at fault,” Diana said, looking down. “I got a little carried away…” She seemed to be reflecting, but I could see the corners of her mouth twitching. She clearly hadn’t disliked it.
After that, the three of them dried off and got dressed. Their hair was still damp, which gave them a different atmosphere than usual. I found myself getting flustered just looking at them.
“Anyway, I’m getting kinda hungry,” Lara announced, rubbing her stomach.
“You’re right… It’s well past lunchtime,” Marise agreed.
“Yeah! Hey, why don’t we eat here? I’m starving, I can’t wait!” Lara suggested, clapping her hands.
My barrier still had plenty of power. Eating here wouldn’t be a problem.
“Alright, let’s eat here. But what?”
“Since we have a lake, let’s catch some fish! I saw a few when we were bathing,” Lara said, pointing.
“An excellent idea. That sounds rather enjoyable,” Diana agreed.
“But… catching fish isn’t that easy, is it? Won’t it take a long time?”
“Leave that to me,” I told Marise.
I held my hand out toward the lake. Activate detection magic… yup, plenty of fish. The water’s so clear, it must be a good environment.
I targeted a dozen of them with my magic. Then, using Gravity magic, I lifted them from the water—
“Whoa! A bunch of fish just flew out!” Lara’s eyes went wide.
More than a dozen fish rose from the lake, floated through the air, and settled gently at our feet.
“See? Catching fish is easy,” I said, dusting off my hands. That should be more than enough to fill everyone up.
“Now, how to cook them…” We couldn’t very well eat them raw.
“Leave the rest to us! I’ll do my best!”
“I-I’ll help too! I think the utensils are in the carriage…”
Lara and Marise’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the fish. It seemed they would handle the cooking.
“Fish alone is a bit boring. While you two are working, I’ll go find something else we can eat. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay! We’re counting on you!”
Watching Lara and Marise bustle about, I headed off into the woods for a moment.
I returned to their side, and after a short wait…
“Dinner is served!”
The fragrant smell of cooked fish wafted through the air.
“Oh… impressive.”
We were in the middle of a forest, so they couldn’t do anything fancy. But Lara and Marise had worked together to make the fish delicious. While I was gathering wild vegetables, they had gathered dry wood and lit a fire with magic. They’d scaled and gutted the fish, seasoned them lightly with salt, and grilled them.
It was a charming sight, but how did it taste?
“Well, let’s see.” I took a bite of the fish they’d grilled.
“…This is delicious!” I couldn’t help but raise my voice.
The seasoning was simple—just salt and sauces from the carriage—but it perfectly brought out the fish’s rich flavor.
Incidentally, the wild vegetables I’d brought back had also been cooked by Lara and Marise. They added a splash of color to the meal, making it feel like we were enjoying a full-course meal.
“Really? Yay!” Lara puffed her chest out with pride.
“I barely did anything…” Marise, for some reason, looked crestfallen.
“Are you not much of a cook, Marise?”
“No… I’ve spent my whole life focused on magic training, so I only know the bare minimum about things like this.” Her voice was quieter than usual, as if she felt ashamed.
But…
“You looked quite competent helping Lara,” I noted.
“Huh…?” Marise’s eyes went wide.
“Besides, there’s nothing wrong with focusing on magic. Because you did, you’re one of the most skilled mages at the academy.”
“I’m sure there are plenty who are far more skilled than me… I still have a long way to go.”
“Don’t say that.” I placed my hand on her head. She flinched but accepted it. “You’re only going to get stronger, Marise. You have no reason to put yourself down just because you’re not good at other things.”
In fact, I’m the same. I spent a thousand years obsessing over magic and I’m useless at everything else. Magic can solve most problems… but it could never have helped me meet and become friends with people as important as Lara and Marise. That’s why, in this era, I want to focus on the things I couldn’t do a thousand years ago.
“Th-Thank you!”
From the sound of her voice, Marise seemed to have cheered up. Case closed?
But… the conversation wasn’t over.
“Kurt, Kurt! What about me!?” Lara suddenly shoved her face in from the side. “Marise isn’t the only one! I want a pat on the head, too!”
“O-Of course.” I moved my hand from Marise to Lara’s head and stroked it gently.
“You were great, too, Lara. You’ll make a wonderful wife someday.”
“A wife…”
Hm? Lara just zoned out. Her expression went blank, and then a slow smile spread across her face.
“K-Kurt! So you want a wife who can cook!?” Marise suddenly blurted out from beside me.
“Hm? Well, I’ll admit I’d love to eat delicious food every day. I don’t like the idea of forcing a girl to do all the cooking, but… if I ever get that chance, someone who’s a good cook would be nice, I guess.”
What am I even saying? Talk of marriage is way too early for us.
“I-I’ll try my best to get better at cooking, Kurt! For you, I’ll try my hardest every day!” Lara declared, making a fist.
“Lara! That’s not what this is about!”
“Ehh? But Kurt said he wants a wife who can cook.”
“A powerful mage would be a much better match for you! Besides… cooking is just something I have to practice from now on…!”
The two of them seemed to be having a heated discussion. I was already outside the loop.
“Kukuku. This is quite amusing,” Diana chuckled, biting into her fish. She turned to me. “But as a practical matter, Kurt, which one would you choose? Lara or Marise?”
“There’s no way I could marry someone as pretty as them. Besides, we’re students. It’s not something I can think about.”
“Now, now, it’s just a hypothetical. If you had to choose…”
Lara or Marise…
I tried to imagine it.
If I married Lara, every day would probably be bright and cheerful. I’d come home from a long day in a dungeon, and she’d be waiting for me.
‘Welcome home, Kurt. Do you want your bath first? Dinner? Or… m-e?’
Just imagining Lara in an apron saying that made my heart skip a beat. Of course, she’s a skilled mage too. It would be fun to go adventuring together sometimes.
Next, Marise.
If I married Marise… she’d probably just get even more intense about her magic training. Even after marriage.
‘How can I use this spell more efficiently? I’m having you teach me all night long, so be prepared!’
Imagining her saying that, blushing slightly… that’s hard to pass up, too.
This is… a difficult choice. Therefore…
“I’d want to marry them both,” I told Diana honestly. “Assuming they’d have me, of course.”
“O-Oh…” Diana stammered, her eyes wide. “You’re… quite ambitious. I didn’t expect that answer.”
Apparently, our conversation had been overheard.
“K-Kurt!?” Lara and Marise whirled around.
“What did you just say about making both of us your wives!?”
“That sounds… kind of fun, but… surely you’d be my—I mean, what are you making me say!”
They crowded in close.
“Kurt, you’re forgetting the third option,” Diana chimed in, a smirk on her face. “You could always make me your wife, you know.”
“Headmaster!?” they both shrieked.
“I won’t lose to you, Marise… and I won’t lose to the Headmaster, either!”
“Marrying a student is indecent, Headmaster! I won’t allow it!”
Somehow, the conversation had spun off in a strange and complicated direction again.
And so, amidst the chaos, our enjoyable lunch break came to an end.
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