“Master, why are you turning red?”
“I ended up remembering something other than Sara, too…”
Milkit herself didn’t seem particularly embarrassed to recall that moment. She was invincible, full of happiness after being bound to Flum.
“It kind of feels like I’ve been left behind. It’s like Sara grew up all of a sudden.”
“There’s no need for you to rush, Ink. In Sara’s case, her partner’s a demon, so common sense doesn’t apply.”
“Eterna, will you marry me?”
“You should be saying that to the person you really love.”
“But I am saying that to the person I love most of all, right now!”
Eterna didn’t show it on her face, but she must have been happy, because she gently patted Ink on the head. In that moment, Cyrill sensed something and looked toward the entrance of the party venue.
“Seems like Linus has arrived.”
There, near the entrance, was Linus, looking around the entirety of the venue. He and Cyrill must have caught each other’s eyes, because he came over.
“Hey, Cyrill. Have you seen Maria?”
“I thought for sure you would’ve come together.”
“I was waiting for her out in front of the venue, but she never showed up.”
“Maria is living in the remains of the church in the Central District now, right?” Flum said.
Linus responded, a troubled look on his face. “I popped by there, too. And Elune said that Maria had already left.”
Flum took another look around the venue herself, but sure enough, there was no sign of Maria. Just then, Leitch ran over and called to Linus, as if he had been waiting for him.
“Linus, has Maria not come yet?”
“Oh, hey, sorry, Leitch. I’m going to look for her again, so you can start without us.”
“But we need everyone to be together to…”
“We don’t want the food to get cold. Besides, I’m sure my Maria will hate to feel responsible for delaying the party. Don’t worry. I’ll find her and bring her here right away.”
Linus headed outside once again. Leitch pondered for a moment, but in the end, Linus’s words seemed to convince him. He went off to begin making the final preparations for the party to begin.
A few minutes later, Leitch reappeared, climbing onto a stagelike structure that had been built out front. He spoke into a stone that had been engraved with a spell that amplified sound.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. Now without further ado…”
The party began while Linus and Maria were still absent.
✦ ✦ ✦
After Leitch delivered some brief remarks, everyone proceeded to pile food onto their plates. The orchestra had begun their live performance on the stage. The most eye-catching of the decadent dishes on display was a massive hunk of meat. Apparently, the chef was going to cut it up and use fire magic right in front of them to serve it to them as steak.
“What a big piece of meat. I wonder how much it costs…” Milkit observed the food intently from a housewife’s perspective.
“Is that Deep Forest buffalo meat?” Gadhio said in a rare tone of surprise.
“Is that a rare monster?” Flum asked
Kleyna responded, “It’s a huge S-Rank monster occasionally found deep in the mountains. It’s rare and it’s unbelievably strong, so its meat is seldom procured. I wonder how he was able to get his hands on something like this.”
“Does it cost as much as it would to build a house, by any chance…?”
“Easily.”
“Yes, it’d cost as much as a house.”
Gadhio and Kleyna nodded at the same time. Flum hesitated to reach for the hunk of meat, which was more expensive than crude gemstones, but the children innocently held their plates up to the chef.
“Meat, please!”
“I want some too!”
Afterward, the adults followed Hallom and Ink’s example.
“I wanna eat my fill and build a house in my belly.”
“That’s crude, Werner…” Although Herrmann had said that, his cut of meat was bigger than anyone else’s.
“Wait, Werner, when did you…?”
“As soon as you wonder when he appeared, he immediately starts eating the meat. He is so childish,” Ottilie, who had just passed by, said with a cold look in her eyes. What she said in itself was entirely reasonable. She was also clinging tightly to Henriette, who must have been used to it, because she looked composed and showed no signs of discomfort.
“As you can see, Herrmann is the biggest eater in the Royal Army. In the barracks, we are restricted on how many times you can ask for seconds. A party like this, where there’s no need to hold back, must be like paradise for him.”
Imagining Herrmann looking all dejected, shoulders slumped because he was forbidden from having seconds, made Flum giggle.
“There’s so much food that even together, we can’t eat it all. Maybe it’s better to just let them tuck in. Otherwise, we’ll end up building a house with the leftovers.”
“Building…a house?”
“It seems like it.”
“Can’t we use some of the military budget for that…?”
“Ottilie, don’t think about unnecessary things. Let’s enjoy the party for now.”
“Sorry, Sister. You’re right. I need to enjoy the time I have together with my sister!”
Ottilie and Henriette, who seemed slightly out of sync with each other in terms of what they were talking about, walked away.
Before anyone realized it, Gadhio was standing in front of the chef who was grilling the meat. A chunk of meat as big as Herrmann’s was being cooked on the griddle. It looked like Kleyna had already received her steak before him.
“Flum, aren’t you going to have some?” she said.
“I’m fine. By the way, Gadhio sure eats a lot, doesn’t he?”
“He wasn’t like that when he was thin, but his appetite has increased as his body has grown bigger.”
“Isn’t it tough, though, cooking for him?”
“It’s tough, sure. But when he cleans his plate, it makes me, the person making the food, very happy.”
“Is that how it is? I wonder if Milkit feels the same way…”
“Now that you mention it, I see she’s not with you right now.”
“Yeah, she said she’d get my food. She was really enthusiastic about it.” Flum looked over at Milkit, who was making up a plate for her some distance away. When Kleyna saw her, she playfully nudged Flum’s shoulder.
“You’re being doted on.”
“Yes, I certainly am.” Flum spoke happily of her lover, albeit shyly.