Chapter 193: Summer Vacation (2)

Chapter 193: Summer Vacation (2)

“What do people live by?”

Whether Iris was pushing out her small chest or her soft belly, it was unclear, but she struck a cute pose and proudly declared.

“This is a question where each person’s answer can be different yet all correct. However, if I dare to speak an undeniable truth...”

“Go ahead.”

“People live by consuming food!”

“...That is indeed an undeniable truth, but also quite a sudden statement.”

Having asked Faye to make plenty of tanning lotion, we headed to the mansion together.

We spent the day showing off to Iris, who had gone through great effort to gather reinforcements, and bragging about my promotion to intermediate magician.

After that... I spent the day pampering Iris to my heart’s content and fell asleep as if I had passed out.

And now here we were.

The menu was rather luxurious, possibly due to Pamela’s family’s efforts. In front of that, Iris declared again.

“People can only move by eating!”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I want more eggplant.”

“...Would you like some of this?”

What’s with this childish behavior?

I transferred half of my eggplant dish to Iris.

It wasn’t just any ordinary eggplant dish. It was a high-class dish with minced meat inside and a tangy, sweet sauce on the outside.

It was quite delicious.

Even though Iris wanted it so much, when I handed it over, she looked startled.

Seeing this, Faye mumbled absentmindedly.

“Our junior’s ‘egg’.”

“Are you talking about eggplant? You mean eggplant, right?!”

Saying such things in the morning, and during a meal no less!

“Huh? Did you think I was making a dirty joke? Of course, I’m talking about eggplant.”

“Why are you trailing off your words?! And starting with ‘egg’ isn’t right!”

“Ahaha...”

Faye, with her characteristic creepy smile, began to savor the eggplant dish slowly.

While I was laughing at the absurdity of it, Carla gulped beside me.

“Well... it’s smaller than the Master’s!”

“That’s not a look you should be giving food!”

In the chaotic atmosphere, only Elisha calmly stared at the table.

Her blue hair and eyes, reminiscent of a clear sky, and her elegant curls added to her sophisticated demeanor. And she was...

“...”

Clatter, clatter.

Silently cutting the eggplant into bite-sized pieces for some time.

“Um... Elisha?”

“...Huh? Oh, what’s the matter, Dear?”

When I called her name, she finally stopped her pointless slicing of the eggplant and looked up at me.

“Well. You’ve been zoning out for a while, so I was wondering if something was wrong.”

“Oh... it’s nothing. When I heard the Master’s words about people needing to eat to live, it made me think of something... or maybe not.”

Saying that, Elisha unconsciously crushed the eggplant she had cut.

Although I knew it wasn’t because of Faye’s comment, it still bothered me immensely.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

Unable to say anything, I watched the eggplant being mashed helplessly.

Suddenly, Elisha seemed to realize something and stood up abruptly.

“Ah!”

At that time, everyone fought regardless of age, gender, nationality, or even species, so it was likely they fought together.

Thinking about it that way, it made sense why Iris rushed to cling to me right after we defeated Ayla and why she nonchalantly agreed to eradicate the cultists with Iona.

They were already well-acquainted, it seems.

...Though they don’t look particularly friendly.

“Hey, hey, did you know this, Yandel? During the war, Iris used to bring along about a dozen servants and demand tea time?”

“Ugh... That was when I first went to the battlefield! Besides, at that time, I was raised as royalty, and it was my first time leaving the Great Forest!”

Nowadays, high elves are respected for their religious significance, but in the distant past, they were actual royalty.

Even if they didn’t ascend the throne, all high elves were treated as royalty.

It must have been that such customs still lingered during Iris’s childhood.

The reason high elves passed the throne to the more capable ones was to survive wars.

In other words, Iris, at the beginning of the war, was really an ignorant princess.

To Iona, who was rampaging for revenge at that time... yeah. She must have been quite unimpressive.

As I nodded in understanding, Iris hurriedly started flailing and opened her mouth.

“Isn’t it true that you were quite a troublemaker too, Iona?! Every time you saw a cultist, you lost your mind and disobeyed orders like it was nothing... I first thought you were a priest of the Church of Righteous Radiance.”

“Hah! At least I wasn’t asking for elven tea in a besieged castle!”

“I was better than someone who dashed out the gate, charging forward like a mad suicide candidate!”

“Anyway, we won, didn’t we?”

“If you put it that way, I also boosted our allies’ morale in my own way!”

“You’re really trying to justify being treated like a child by humans 200 years younger than you? Where’s your conscience?”

“I’m cute, so it’s fine!”

“Have you finally lost it?!”

“Waaah!”

Iris and Iona bickered with me in the middle.

Carla, Elisha, and Faye found the scene interesting, too, their eyes sparkling as they watched the argument unfold.

The stories from the Great War that came up occasionally were quite amusing, too.

Listening to them made me smile, and I inadvertently muttered.

“You two are so close; why haven’t you spoken until now?”

Both of them fell silent for a moment, exchanged a glance, and then spoke again.

“...Master, I’ll say it again, but we’re not particularly close.”

“Yeah, yeah. If I had to compare, it’s like the difference between Yandel and another Class A student...”

It was my turn to be silent.

I do have at least one friend in my class... I do...!

Unable to refute, I let out a frustrated shout.

“Ugh! Anyway, both of you are my girls now, so get along! That’s an order!”

“...”

“...”

Iris and Iona exchanged a peculiar look.

“Hmm... The Master is right. We should get along from now on.”

“Master... I didn’t think much about it before, but isn’t this incredible? You bought Elisha and me together. I knew you weren’t an ordinary person, but where did you get that much gold?”

“Oh, now that you mention it, we were supposed to hear the full story today. Since the others already know, let’s explain quickly.”

“See, see. There was something, right?”

Iris puffed up with pride, and Iona, excitedly anticipating the story, urged her on.

Iona should adapt quickly. That’s a relief.

But how long do I have to stay between them?

Not that I mind, but my legs are starting to cramp.