This happens between the familiar chapters 158 and 159.
The perspective is from Hagasaki.
Today, it’s raining.
Kadomi said, “I’ll fly through the rain with Terra…!” and left with some incomprehensible words, Katori said, “Maybe I’ll go move the machinery at full throttle,” and he also left, Hariu disappeared saying, “I’m craving meat, so I’ll go hunt!” and President went off to “gather poison herbs that only grow on rainy days.”
Furthermore, Suzumoto and Toriumi went to the coliseum in Deichemoore, which holds a tournament once a week, and Kariya has been mobilized as the healer for it.
…In other words, only Maito and I are left in the laboratory.
“It’s a rainy day, so maybe something warm would be better.”
Maito said this while looking outside the window.
Indeed, it might feel chilly to Maito.
“I think you’re the only one who’s cold.”
Despite having “Thermal Resistance,” Maito seems to feel the cold and heat more than we do.
There must be a difference in skill precision.
“Is that so? …Hagasaki-kun, do you want to eat something?”
“Not really.”
Maito started thinking again as if to say, what a cold response.
“…It depends on what Hariu brings back, I guess… Even if he doesn’t bring anything, we have meat…”
I think we should just ignore that and make something, but Maito is strangely conscientious about it.
“…So, we have nothing to do until Hariu returns. Keep me company to pass the time.”
I’m tired of playing solitaire, so I shuffle the cards into a messy pile and cut them again.
“Okay. What shall we play? There’s not much choice with just the two of us.”
“How about blackjack?”
It’s just right for two people. It becomes one-on-one without a dealer.
“What about splitting and doubling down?”
“If you want to, go ahead. I won’t.”
“Then I won’t either. It’s bothersome. What if we get the same number?”
“Draw is fine. It’s one-on-one, after all.”
We each draw two cards.
I stand with a Q and K.
Maito’s first card is a 2. She hits for a third card and then, after a bit of thought, draws another.
“Ah, busted.”
2, 5, 6, and the fourth card is a K. Such bad luck.
“…So, what about the stakes?”
“Let’s say the one with more wins out of 9 rounds wins. It’s bothersome to prepare chips.”
“Let’s do that. So, the first round is your win.”
Maito shuffles the cards again and draws two.
…She’s not going to pretend the first round didn’t happen. Hmm.
“Gwah! Busted again!”
“You’re too greedy.”
Eventually, Maito busts four times and loses three times due to the score difference.
“Ah, Hagasaki-kun wins.”
Looking at Maito, shuffling the cards and placing them at the edge of the table with a downcast expression, I somewhat felt…
“So, I won, but aren’t you going to do anything?”
“Eh, am I supposed to do something?”
Her reaction to my question was interesting.
“Uh, well… then, yeah, I’ll make whatever Hagasaki-kun wants to eat for dinner. How about that?”
“That’s just you deciding the menu and making it easier for yourself.”
It’s too obvious what you’re trying to do.
After pointing that out, Maito looked even more flustered.
“Eh, then what should we do?”
…What would be interesting to make him do?
…Yeah.
“Hey.”
“I’m back! Got some meat!”
…And just then, Hariu returned.
“Wow, that’s a magnificent bird.”
“Right? Thought it looked delicious.”
“Yeah. Then I’ll start preparing it. Sorry, Hagasaki-kun. Let’s consider this a holdover, okay?”
…I was smoothly evaded.
Maito starts to cut the bird.
Just like that, the bird is dissected into feathers, meat, bones, and entrails. This has to be a cheat.
“Hagasaki-kun, let’s do something.”
I was invited by Hariu to start another round of blackjack.
“La-la-la-lala, la-la-la-lala.”
As I was pondering whether to hit or stand, the song ended right there. Not that I’m asking to sing it to the end, but why cut it there?
“Could you please put the bones in the oven? Just do it like you always do.”
When I looked over, Maito was giving instructions to those figures. Upon receiving the instructions, the figures gathered the bird’s bones and flew off with them.
…The oven is the one Toriumi, Kariya, and Katori collaborated on.
It’s installed where the stove used to be.
They’re probably starting a fire there. Those figures can use magic just like a pro. Though fitting for Maito’s minions, they seemingly can only use weak magic.
“Let’s make the wings marinated and grilled.”
She starts marinating the wing tips and such in a mixture of soy sauce and orange jam or something.
“For the breast and thigh… Maybe preserve the breast as chicken ham. For the thigh, maybe herb-roasted. Teriyaki would overlap in flavor. Maybe a salt base.”
While starting to boil water in a pot and chopping aromatic vegetables, she mumbles to herself.
…Looks like it’s going to be a feast of chicken today.
Before we knew it, Hariu and I had switched to observing Maito.
Well, it’s fresh to watch. And I’m tired of blackjack.
Maito places the breast meat on the cutting board.
She rubs seasoning onto the breast meat, places it into a sealable plastic bag, squeezes out the air, and submerges it in water that has boiled and slightly cooled.
…Just leave it there, it seems.
“Will it really cook through like that?”
“Surprisingly, it does. If it cooks too much, it becomes dry. Sealing it in plastic and cooking it makes even the breast meat juicy!”
Huh. Interesting. I’ll probably forget by tomorrow, but I’ll remember it for now.
After seasoning the thigh meat as well, she places it on a stone plate and puts it in the “refrigerator.”
…Though when I say “refrigerator,” it’s just a box cooled by one of those figures that can use “Petit Ice.”
“Ah, are the bones done? Oops, my bad.”
Called by a figure, Maito hurriedly sweeps off the chicken carcass and starts boiling it with the earlier bones and aromatic vegetables.
“Let’s make a soup… Tomato flavored, so it doesn’t overlap, maybe?”
Mumbling to herself, she starts chopping vegetables.
…How does she manage all that without getting mixed up?
“Hagasaki-kun, do you understand what she’s doing now?”
“Not at all.”
The figures are bustling about, and there’s just too much going on at once.
Basically, we don’t have that kind of knowledge.
“…Ah, busted.”
Hariu decided to return to the paused game of blackjack, so I joined him.
“You’re too greedy. Why hit on 15?”
Both Maito and Hariu are really bad at this.
“Next! Let’s go next! I won’t bust next time!”
…And he says that, but he’ll probably bust. Definitely.
Hariu and Maito are equally bad at this. Just a while ago, Maito said something similar and busted.
“I’m back.”
Kadomi, soaking wet, returned beaming with joy.
“Welcome back. Geez, why do you come back so drenched? You’ll catch a cold, you know?”
“It was fun.”
While having a conversation that slightly misses the mark, Maito stops cooking for a moment to “clean” Kadomi and dry him off.
…Why does “clean” dry him off? I always wonder, but it makes no sense.
“Here, a souvenir.”
Kadomi hands over something that looks like fruit.
“Oh, thank you. Let’s cut it after dinner.”
Maito, also beaming, takes the fruit and returns to cooking.
…Now that we’re three, maybe we should switch to playing The Rich Man. I’m pretty tired of blackjack.
“I’m back!”
“I’m back. Won the championship.”
“It was terrible…”
“Welcome back. I figured as much!”
Suzumoto and Toriumi also return triumphantly, though Kariya seems a bit less energetic. All three are completely soaked.
Maito flies over to them and starts dusting them off with the duster.
“We had to fight with shackles as a handicap.”
“Yeah, it was like, ‘Here, have a nice morning star attached to your leg.’ Quite handy as a shackle.”
“My job was to heal the opponents…”
…Wow. I feel sorry for the organizers and the opponents. What’s that all about?
“Here, a souvenir. It’s the championship prize.”
Suzumoto hands Maito a bottle.
“It seems to be a drink. We confirmed it’s not alcohol.”
“Got it. Then, we’ll open this after dinner too.”
Maito, still beaming, returns to cooking.
“I’m back.”
“I’m back. Sorry, Maito, can I have a moment? I got soaking wet.”
And with President and Katori returning, everyone’s back.
“Welcome back, you drenched scamps! There, let me dust you off!”
It seems Maito is almost done with the cooking, soon starting to whisk away at them.
“Yeah. Operating in the rain is fun.”
“It was a fruitful collection.”
They seem to have enjoyed themselves too, which is really nice.
“That’s great, that’s great. Now, let’s have dinner.”
Ignoring the still-excited pair, Maito starts preparing the table for dinner.
“I’ll help.”
“Really? Thank you. Could you carry this for me?”
…Well, it’s just the usual routine.
…And then, it was dinner time.
It was pretty good, I think. Hariu seemed very satisfied. Well, he did want to eat it enough to go out and catch it himself. Good for him, I guess.
The fruit and drink that were served as dessert weren’t bad either.
“I caught this bird. Was it good?”
“Not bad at all. Where did you catch it?”
“You know the grassland area to the south, right? Go a bit further west from there, and it becomes a bit like a forest. It was living there, so I caught it. Oh, but be careful when you catch it. It can summon lightning.”
…Well, once a monster is dead and turned into meat, it’s just an ingredient.
After the meal.
“Hey, Hagasaki-kun, what’s up? Do you want some water?”
“No, it’s about the blackjack.”
Maito seemed to have forgotten, but I remembered and went to tell her.
“Ugh, you remembered? …So, what do you want?”
Maito looks over here with a reluctant face.
…
“Let’s go fishing tomorrow.”
“Eh? Oh, um… Yeah… Yeah? Yes, okay… Sure…”
“I’ll catch something.”
Saying that made Maito seem somewhat pleased.
“Okay! Got it! Bring back whatever you can. I’ll do my best to make it delicious! Maybe a simmered dish, grilled, or fried… Yeah, I’ll decide once I see what we have.”
Leaving a happy Maito behind, I went back to the lecture hall to lay out my futon.
Looks like it’s going to be another busy day tomorrow, and I’m kind of tired.
By the way, I don’t particularly like or dislike fish.
