“...Excuse me?” Nanami was dumbfounded at the supernatural phenomenon. She had wiped out all the plants and vegetation that were in front of them and instantly created an empty plot of land. Nanami had never heard of a spell capable of this. Not only that, but Ristia hadn’t even drawn out a magic circle beforehand to do so. Normally, one would need to draw a magic circle and recite an incantation in order to use magic, but... it was said that you could omit the incantation and circle part from the highest-level of magic that one could use to about two levels down. Ristia was using a Level Four Item Box while omitting a magic circle, so she predicted that she was capable of at least using Level Six magic. However, her magic just now was without an incantation and was clearly above Level Four. Perhaps Lady Ristia is able to use Level Seven magic, the level the True Bloods were said to have reached before they went missing, thought Nanami.
“Item Box, ooooooopen on up~!”
While Nanami was standing around in surprise, Ristia used her Item Box with a drawn out voice. Then, in the empty plot that she just made, a small house popped into existence.
“Wh-Wh-Wh-What is this house?!”
“Huh? If it were any bigger, it would destroy a lot of the trees here, so I decided on a smaller one, but... Would a bigger house have been better?”
“No, that wasn’t what I meant! I was... Haah, forget it.”
It was said that an Item Box’s storage capacity was proportionate to the user’s mana and magic skill levels. Nanami was told that the max storage capacity was about the volume of a wooden box carriable by human hands. With logical consideration, the idea of a house coming out of one of these was absurd. Yet, Ristia asked Nanami whether a bigger house would have been better, which meant that there was the possibility of there being other houses stowed away inside, but... Nanami just looked off into the distance, telling herself, Thinking about it sure won’t help me here.
“Okay, let’s head on inside~” Ristia adorably suggested as she went inside without a second’s hesitation. Nanami followed behind her timidly soon after.
“W-Well, here goes nothing... Oh, wow...”
Upon viewing the interior, Nanami had her breath taken away. The room was decorated with cute yet simple designs and also had a big bed and table.
“There is no kitchen, but there’s a shower and toilet in the back.”
“A... shower?”
“Yup. You can wash yourself with nice hot water~”
“Wait, I can what?” Usually, commoners would clean themselves with water from a bucket, so showers were a luxury. Aristocrats were able to take hot baths, but she had never heard of washing one’s body with hot water while camping in the forest. She really is beyond the norm, Nanami admired and let out a slightly amazed sigh.
“Oh, but a house doesn’t necessarily have food. I will go out and search for something around the area, so would you mind waiting here? Actually... what do you eat, Lady Ristia?”
“’What do I eat? Normal dishes.”
“Do you not need blood? If you do, then, um... would you care to drink my blood?”
To clarify, if Nanami were becoming a vampire’s kinswoman, she would not have to have her own blood sucked, but would instead need to drink the blood of the vampire in question. So in this case, she meant it purely as a way of offering sustenance. In the beginning, Nanami would have never offered up her own blood, but in the short time they’d spent together, she realized that Ristia was a kindhearted angel sent from the heavens above. Now, she adored her so much that she was willing to let Ristia drink her own blood if she needed it.
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine.”
“...Oh, you will?”
“Yup, I have heard that if I drink live human blood, then my physical abilities double for a few days, though.”
“...You’ve ‘heard,’ Ma’am?” Nanami asked, puzzled.
“Yup. I said so earlier, but I only use a fraction of my power anyway.”
“Ooh... So you don’t need the power, is what you’re saying. In that case, do you not have any vampiric impulses or anything of the sort?” she asked, thinking to herself, Since she calls herself a vampire, drinking blood would be a common trait. In fact, you can’t really call someone a vampire unless they do suck blood.
“I’d heard from Mother that I would have the impulses once I hit puberty or whatever, but... at the time being, I haven’t had anything like that.”
“Oh wow, is that so? In that case, if you do want to drink blood, please let me know. So long as my blood will do, I would not mind you drinking it whenever you need it.”
“Thank you, but even if that urge were to come over me, I don’t quite think I’d want to drink your blood, Nanami.”
“Huh? Does my blood seem gross, Ma’am?!” If so, that’s a little bit of a shock, Nanami thought to herself. Ristia, however, gave her a wry smile, ensuring her that wasn’t the case.
“Well, Nanami, sucking blood is for food, right? So, yes. I simply don’t wish to think of you as food.”
“...Lady Ristia.” Ristia didn’t exactly tell her that the full reason was Nanami being her special someone, but regardless, Nanami did get the impression that she thought of her in a special manner, which pleased her to hear.
“At any rate, I can eat normal food just fine.”
“I see. Okay, then. I’ll go hunt up an animal of some kind,” said Nanami as she was about to exit the house before Ristia stopped her, telling her to wait.
“There is food hot and ready right here, so you needn’t worry about that.” Ristia gently spread a tablecloth and started to skillfully put dishes on the table, including bowls of soup, a dish of meat, a bowl of salad, and a plate filled with bread. Steam was rising from the spread on the table, and it definitely looked freshly-made, but... an Item Box being a storage shed and the laws of time not applying to whatever was inside were things Nanami had never heard of. Although, that went without saying at this point.
Guess that’s Lady Ristia for you... Nanami thought, getting more and more acclimated to being around Ristia.
“All right, shall we eat before it gets cold?”
“Oh, it is all right if I eat?”
“But of course~ Come now, sit next to me.”
Nanami did as Ristia suggested, taking a seat right beside her. They were extremely close to one another, giving Nanami a good view of Ristia’s beautiful side profile, causing her to go flush in the face.
“Right then, let’s dig in~”
“Y-Yes, let’s,” Nanami said, but there appeared to be several spoons and forks laid upon the table. Being the commoner that she was, there was no way that she would know proper cutlery manners, which was getting her extremely flustered.
“It’s okay. It makes me happy just to have you you share a meal with me, Nanami. So don’t worry about manners, and just enjoy your meal.”
“O-Oh, thank you very much. Well, then... Mm! Oh, wow. This is delicious!” Nanami took a bite of the meat and found it so delicious that her eyes went wide like saucers. “Th-This is simply delectable. I’ve never eaten a roast so delicious in my entire life!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Eheh. Why, thank you,” Ristia said with a very, very pleased smile. Little did Nanami know that Ristia was having a field day in her mind, thinking, Omigod, Nanami just complimented me. I’m so happy! However, she did know that her comment pleased Ristia, which was as good as it got.
“Did you happen to make this, Lady Ristia?”
“Uh-huh, I sure did. I had hoped to have my little sister share this meal with me one day.”
“Little sister... So you do have a younger sister, then?” she asked, thinking this a prime opportunity since Ristia herself had brought up the subject that was weighing on Nanami’s mind the whole time. However, as for Ristia’s response...
“...Mm-mm, not right now,” she said with a sad smile.
What she meant by that was Ristia’s extreme and intense desire for a little sister drove her to prepare dishes before her little sister would be born and preserve them with magic, but there was no way Nanami would have possibly perceived the same interpretation. Instead, Nanami intensely regretted ever asking. She made this dish for her little sister, but that little sister isn’t here anymore. And she said that in such a sad tone. That could only mean that she was separated from her sister in death, Nanami thought. She was a kind person, as well as her literal lifesaver. And despite the fact that Ristia was so much older, Nanami felt like she shouldn’t leave her side. She wanted to support Ristia any way she could.
‘Lady Ristia? If you wouldn’t mind, could I possibly fill in for your little sister?’ Dream on. A mere human like me couldn’t dare ask for something so shameless. But if the time ever came where Lady Ristia did ask me to become her little sister, then in that case... Nanami thought, keeping those ideas a secret as she partook in the lovely meal Ristia had prepared.