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“HOW did things go with Lord Revireus?” I asked.
“Well, since unlike you, he doesn’t have any real jobs to speak of, I told him to stay in the divine realm for now and focus on training,” Air said. “He’s not even close to Renge’s power, which is honestly disappointing, but I know he’ll grow. Dragons mature quickly.”
“Interesting…”
I was worried about Lord Revireus. Renge told me that Air’s training hinges on being life-threatening. And he said that with a very traumatized look in his eyes.
“From here on out, I want you to come here whenever you have the time to train,” Air said. “The sooner you learn to control it, the easier it’ll be for you. And honestly, I’m surprised you’ve progressed so much and learned how to sense the Spherits on your first day. I wasn’t expecting much out of you, given half of your blood is human.”
He always said “human” like it was a dirty word.
“I was a bit surprised, too,” I said. “But since I learned the mana recovery technique, sensing the Spherits was easier than I expected.”
“Hmm. So your endeavors thus far have borne unexpected fruit, is what you’re saying.”
“Yes.”
When he put it like that, it made me feel a hint of pride. After all, my work as an alchemical apothecary was what gave me this edge.
“If you keep up this fast pace, you might learn to control the Stella sooner than I expected… Hmm. Holy Woman Tinaris, do you have any interest in deifica—”
“None whatsoever,” I flat-out declined.
“Drat,” Air said, looking very much stumped.
“Oh, would you like to have dinner?” I asked, trying to cheer him up.
“What are you thinking of making?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question.”
I’d been making a lot of rice-based meals recently, so I felt like I should diversify for dinner.
Hmm, but I could make curry… Maybe curry rice would do? I have some curry powder left over, so maybe we should go with that. But then again, I haven’t perfected the flavor yet, and I wouldn’t want to serve it to Air when I’m not confident I did it well yet…
“Right! Let’s go with a mouth-watering chicken!” I said.
“Mouth-watering chicken? What’s that?” Air looked suspicious. “Is it a dish? That doesn’t sound very appetizing.”
“Yes! It’s called that because remembering it makes your mouth water. It’s good with rice, I have the ingredients for it, and I’ve been meaning to try it!”
“So you’re experimenting on me.”
“Pretty much! I remember all the steps, so it’ll be my test dish.”
“A test dish, eh?”
Unlike curry powder, I made this dish once in my past life. I never made it in this world, but I had everything needed for it, and I’d been dying to try it.
As I walked up from the parlor to the second-floor dining hall after teleporting back to the fort, I ran into Jiril and Mirage, who were relieved to see me back.
“Oh, good, you’re back, Holy Woman! Mm!”
“What a relieeeef! Do something about thaaaat!”
“What?” I asked.
Apparently they weren’t relieved that I was safe, but because they were waiting for me to return and resolve some kind of problem. They pointed at Dad and Lico, who were grabbing each other angrily by the collar.
Wait, weren’t things just hunky-dory between them before I left?
“What happened?” I asked.
I was fairly confident it wasn’t anything too major, but since Jiril and Mirage wanted me to handle it, it must have been something personal.
“Well ,you see, mm, they’re arguing over how to educate Moné.”
“Oooh. Yes, I see.” I nodded.
That pretty much answered my question. Since we sent René abroad to study, Dad likely wanted Moné to study to become an alchemical apothecary, too. Moné, however, sent a letter asking to stay at the Rofola Lodge to fill in for my share of the work. This was something Dad could resolve by just talking it over with Moné, but when he consulted Lico for help, they started arguing.
After all, Lico was a researcher at heart when it came to alchemy. She would likely prefer for Moné to attend an alchemy school in De Marl. That led to further disagreements, leading to how they were arguing now. Mirage and Jiril’s story added up in my mind.
“Dad, Lico!” I stepped in. “If you’re going to argue, do it in private!”
“Tina?! You’re back!” Dad exclaimed.
“What was the divine realm like?” Lico asked me, instantly changing the topic. Typical.
“It was an amazing place. But forget that, were you two arguing over Moné?” I asked.
“W-Well, yeah.” Dad looked a bit sheepish. “Lico said that Moné is a talented alchemical apothecary, but she doesn’t hold a candle to you.”
“That goes without saying.” Lico was insistent. “Maybe you can tell both of them have talent, but Tinaris is an exceptional alchemist. There’s no comparing Moné to her!”
Huh? Compared to me…? I wasn’t expecting to be a part of the argument.
“Dad, Lico’s right this time!” I scolded him.