…It was well after sundown when Riselia and Veira returned to the dorm.
“Oh, something smells good!” Veira said at the front door, her golden eyes aglow.
Riselia, by contrast, was completely exhausted. She dragged her body to the living room and toppled onto the sofa.
“Welcome back, Miss Selia… Ah, are you okay?!” Leonis hurried over to her.
“Nngh, Leo…” Riselia sluggishly sat up in a daze and instantly started nibbling on his earlobe.
“Whoa, Miss Selia?!” he exclaimed.”Uh, i-it hurts…”
“Oh, s-sorry!” She pulled her lips away from him in a hurry.
“What’s gotten into you, Miss Selia? You’re never this indecent!” Leonis rebuked her, rubbing his aching earlobe.
“…W-well, excuse me for being indecent!” Riselia dropped her shoulders bashfully.
Veira then entered the room. “She has severe mana deficiency. Let her suck on you.”
“…What have you done to her, Veira?” Leonis asked in complaint as he lifted up Riselia.
“I just helped her train. She’s got promising potential, this girl.”
“Th-thank you, dragon!” Riselia suddenly got to her feet and spoke sharply, her back perfectly straight.
“D-dragon?” Leonis frowned.
“I can see why you made her your minion—she has very high latent mana potential. But she doesn’t have the mental prowess to fully utilize the Dragon Blood. If this is enough to leave her all tuckered out, my blood will suck up all her mana at once, and she’ll be reduced to ashes.”
“Dragon!” Riselia saluted, her expression as serious as can be.
“Hm, Miss Selia, why do you keep saying that?”
“My teacher told me if I’m going to embody the soul of the ancient dragons and master the secret arts of the Final Dragon Attack, I must append all my sentences with the word dragon… Dragon!”
“…Veira, don’t put stupid ideas in my minion’s head!” Leonis raised his voice.
Veira smirked impishly and stuck out her tongue. “I mean, she takes everything so seriously. I couldn’t help but tease her.”
“Huh? Tease me? Huh?!” Riselia said in confusion, her ice-blue eyes wide.
“…Miss Selia, I know you’re a serious person, but you don’t have to take everything at face value.” Leonis sighed.
For how kind and earnest his minion was, she had a way of being surprisingly ditzy…which was admittedly a charm point.
“—Leonis.”
A voice called down to him from the second-floor landing. Looking up, he spotted the Lord of the Seas clad in a towel after a bath.
“What is it?”
“I was toying with the water Spirits, and it ended up breaking the shower in my room.”
“…!” Leonis grasped his head in frustration.
But then—
“Everyone, dinner’s ready! ” Regina’s cheerful voice reached them from the kitchen.
✦ ✦ ✦
The living room table was covered with Regina’s home cooking.
A paella made from fish bred in the aquaculture plant, warm vegetable salad, a chicken mini-steak, sweet potatoes roasted in butter, onion soup au gratin, and slightly charred molten cheese on fragrant bread.
“Your home cooking really is the best, Regina!” Riselia said, smiling blissfully.
Even though Regina did try to put multiple spins on it to make it more palatable, all they had to eat in the Void World was bland military rations. So a good meal back at the dorm, and especially after a hard workout, added to her appreciation of this meal.
“And this soup, it was Miss Finé’s favorite,” Riselia whispered as she reached for the onion soup.
“Yes. I was hoping the scent would lure back Miss Finé.”
“…Yes. You’re right.” Riselia closed her eyes and sipped on the soup.
“This meat is just delicious!”
“I’ve never had this paella dish before, but it’s quite delectable.”
Regina’s cooking seemed to go over well with Veira and Rivaiz, too. The thought of the Lord of the Seas eating seafood seemed odd at first glance, but her other half, the Leviathan, was the strongest life-form that ate many a large fish. And the merman race, which occupied the depths a thousand years ago, did offer the Lord of the Seas an assortment of seafoods as offering.
…The Lord of the Beasts fed on the meat of animals, too. Leonis noted as he tried the paella.
The fish stock’s flavor blended in well with the fragrant saffron rice, making it quite delicious.
“I like you, Lobster Girl. Allow me to reward you in some way.”
“Really? Then I’d like the kid’s hand in marriage.”
“Mm. Very well.” Rivaiz consented casually.
“What are you saying, Miss Regina?” Leonis asked, taken aback.
“That’s right. Who said you get to call the shots? Leo’s mine, after all,” Veira interjected.
“I—I’m Leo’s guardian!” Riselia puffed her cheeks grumpily.
…Goodness.
Leonis sighed and reached for the chicken steak, but then he felt someone tug on his pants hem from the bottom of the table.
Looking down, he saw Shary’s hand reach out from within his shadow.
“My lord, I’d like to try some, too.” Her voice echoed in his head.
“…Very well. Wait a moment.” Leonis replied telepathically and slipped a platter of paella into his shadow.
“If it isn’t too forward of me, my lord, I’d like to try the chicken too, please.”
“…You have no modesty or restraint. Sneaking it away without getting spotted is difficult, you know?”
Leonis frowned, but out of respect for Shary’s hard work in handling the Lord of Beasts alone, he sunk platters of salad and chicken into the shadow.
“Oh, I don’t want the lentils, my lord.”
“No. Being picky with your food is bad for your nutrition.”
“…Mm, fine.”
Shary reluctantly accepted the platters and sank back into the shadow.
“You really finished your plate quick, Leo,” Riselia said.
“Hm? Yes, Miss Regina’s cooking is delicious.”
“You need to eat your veggies for a balanced diet. I’ll put some on your plate.”
“No, I don’t need more veggies…”
But then, a ringing on the front door’s bell cut into their exchange.
“…Who could it be at this time of day?” Regina frowned.
“Regina, you stay here and eat. I’ll go get it.” Riselia got up and walked over to the front door.
Leonis took this chance to sink the plate full of vegetables into his shadow. Riselia returned from the front door carrying two large boxes.
“Heave-ho…” She placed them on the living room floor and let out a breath of effort.
“What’s this, Lady Selia?” Regina asked.
“…I don’t know? Someone from the Academy’s delivery service said these are packages addressed to us.”
“I never ordered anything that big… Oh, maybe Sakuya did? She was looking for mortar on a shopping site the other day.”
“Why was she looking for mortar…?”
“She said she really wanted to eat mochi cakes, or something… Anyway, let’s open it.”
“R-right…”
Riselia brought a cutter and opened up the box. And what she found inside was…
“—Good morning, master.”
“Fwhaaa?! Leite?!”
The Deus Machina, hugging her knees with both hands.
“…Y-you surprised me…,” Riselia said, holding a hand over her heart. It seemed the surprise made her heart, which typically doesn’t beat, race for a moment. “Miss Clauvia must have sent you.”
“She didn’t need to have her delivered by mail…,” Regina whispered and took out a sheet of paper with technical specs written on it. “Lady Selia, it says she’s equipped with the newest model of artificial limbs. She also added some new attachable features. Uh, her right hand is loaded with a heat blade. She also has an anti-Void mini-machine gun, a missile pad, a burner and a mixer, a brush, and even a vacuum cleaner!”