“Good morning, everyone,” she said, then turned to me. “Sleepyhead― Actually, I look sleepier than you today, so I can’t really call you that. One Healthy Breakfast Set, please. With tofu, if you have any.”
It surprised me how popular tofu was.
I walked over to the table where Doula played tug-of-war with Gaston for the newspaper. Once there, I gave them some apple juice as a token of apology for being out of tofu.
“You seem to like light flavors,” I told Doula. “I’ve been worried about you staying up late with war councils all of the time, so I’d like to know your food preferences.”
“Thanks for the concern,” she replied. “Hmm, your dishes tend to be lightly seasoned. But I like how they usually have a sweet aftertaste or depth. Can you teach me how to cook some time?”
Doula ran a hand through her red hair, and an accessory on her ring finger glinted as it caught the light. She would soon marry Zera, which might have been why she looked so composed. I told her I would be happy to teach her, and she flashed a feminine smile that was rare to see on her.
The mood changed immediately as the old man, who had given up on the newspaper, spoke up again, “Hey, why didn’t Zera wake up with you, anyway? You two are gettin’ married, right? Get in a quarrel already?”
“What a stupid question. Only children get into fights. We’re just staying in separate rooms, that’s all,” replied Doula.
“Huh? What, you need to be in different rooms because you’d be busy making babies all night otherwise?” asked Gaston.
I could almost hear a poof as Doula turned bright red, her mouth flapping although no words came out. She could neither deny nor confirm the question and suddenly punched Gaston right in the face. The old man fell out of his chair and couldn’t get up, though he struggled from laughing too much rather than from the damage.
“Ah ha ha ha! It’s too early for this, Doula! My sides! You’re killin’ me! Ha ha ha ha!” howled Gaston.
“Y-You! You have zero consideration for others! Eve, why are you laughing too?!” retorted Doula.
“Pff, that’s why you two got separate rooms?! Ow, my sides! Doula, the hellish commander feared by everyone... I can picture the great Holy Knight trying to hold in the urge to make babies... Aha ha ha!”
What a mess. It was supposed to be a refreshing morning with a nice breakfast, but the boisterous laughter from the dark elf and old man filled the air. As I placed a breakfast plate beside Doula, I wondered if it would be better for me to eat and bathe in Japan. Marie and Kaoruko would come out of the open-air bath soon, so I would discuss it with them.
After a long silence, all Doula could manage was to shout, “Jerks!”
§
Shirley walked along a path with a basket in her arms. She wasn’t in her ghostly form but had physically manifested herself so others could see her.
Dawn was slowly showing, and there was a chill air in the oasis. The sand crunching beneath her feet wasn’t from the ancient labyrinth but created by nature. This place was just outside the labyrinth and used as a campground for a large-scale raid team. While the color of the sky resembled Shirley’s hair, it seemed like it could melt away into nothingness.
The woman walking in front of Shirley, carrying a basket on her shoulder and a bucket in the opposite hand, turned around. While the twilight-haired woman was slender and more petite in frame than the others near them, she hadn’t even broken a sweat.
“You’re a lot stronger than you seem. I didn’t think you could carry such heavy objects for so long,” said Puseri, the master of Team Diamond. Shirley recalled first meeting her in the manor of black roses. It was strange to think back to that night of terror when they were now working together under the same roof.
Then someone who couldn’t speak on Shirley’s behalf spoke from behind her. “If you ask me, Puseri’s the weird one for being able to carry that huge container full of soup. We passed through the entire first floor, and she didn’t even sweat.”
“You’re right about that. She’s a gorilla with a lady’s face. If you think about it that way, it all makes sense. Remember how she sent a whole horde of ogres flying?”
“What?!” Puseri growled. The two speakers, dressed in servant outfits, were her friends and team members. They had known each other for a long time and were inseparable.
Shirley had once tried to kill them all, and they had once gathered to put an end to her. Yet, by some strange twist of fate, they were now carrying food together. She valued life and death equally as the being who governed their cycle. However, she realized that there was also value in the present.
It was a strange feeling since there was so much she didn’t yet understand. Shirley laughed at the sight of Puseri spitting angrily at her friends.
Lost in her thoughts, Shirley and the group stepped into the rocky mountains that surrounded the ruins. They had taken one of the countless byways to get through. When they exited the other side, they found numerous soldiers waiting there, with blankets that helped them get through the desert night.
A man who had been looking into the distance through a scope noticed the group’s footsteps and turned around.
“Ah, breakfast is here! Thank goodness, it was starting to get chilly.”
“Wake up, boys! These beautiful ladies brought us some homemade cooking!”
About half of them rose, and the others would surely awaken soon. There were only about two hundred, not nearly enough to face the Gedovar forces. With the presence of Hakam and Aja, who were approaching the women, it would be a completely different story.
“A warm meal. What a sight for sore eyes. I can’t make do with military rations anymore. Maybe I’ll bury them in the sand once they grow mold,” Hakam said.
“Hakam, you’re the one who said extravagance is the enemy. Rations are good enough for a big brute like you,” responded Aja.
The bronze-skinned warrior Hakam had fought in several battles and emerged victorious in just as many. Although his upbringing as a commoner made it difficult for him to rise through the ranks, he was a man of wits, resourcefulness, and explosive fighting prowess.
Aja, the gray-haired man beside him, was a magic user known within Arilai as an oddball. He was a master of Magic Tools and taught Marie how to use Auto Mapping. There were rumors that the old man was looking forward to the arrival of the Gedovar army. Supposedly, he had been saying this would be a good opportunity for him to demonstrate some large-scale magic, which was quite disturbing―for the enemy, that was.
They opened the lids of the food containers to find white rice that had been compressed by hand, and the seaweed aroma wafted into the air. The food was so-called onigiri, or rice balls, which were easier on the palate due to the kelp mixed into it. The girls didn’t have nearly enough to feed every soldier, but others would be bringing more food later.
After Puseri observed her surroundings, she asked, “So, do we have sufficient defenses? I’ve heard the enemy will be upon us soon.”
“They’re not perfect, but they should be good enough,” answered Aja. “Thanks to your friend’s Premonition, we’ll at least avoid the worst-case scenario.”
“Premonition” was an ability that belonged to Puseri’s nomadic friend, Hakua. She was a fortune teller by trade and adept at predicting the future. But it was difficult for her to read the entire outcome of the war due to it having so many branching possibilities. There was no such thing as absolutes in this world, and the Gedovar army could massacre every last one of them.
Dawn had fully arrived as sand danced in the wind along the horizon. The massive Gedovar army was kicking up dust, charging at a much larger scale than expected.
The decisive battle for life or death was finally about to begin. Just then, the desert sky cleared up beautifully, as if to spite those who would soon meet their end.
§
Wridra was flying across the blue sky, her wings filled with Spirit Power. Every bit of wind she gained powered her flight, and the wind pressure didn’t bother her due to her spirit mastery. Yet there was a disgruntled look on her face, perhaps because she wasn’t gaining enough speed to be satisfied.