It was a delicious-looking piece of evenly grilled chicken, and according to Luna, it was high-quality meat. I took a piece and ate it.
“Mmmm.”
It was seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper, and the second I took a bite, a violent thrill spread through my mouth. The skin was crisp while the inside was firm and chewy, and the fat burst inside my mouth. Was I afraid of my face getting dirty? No, I didn’t have time to worry about any of that! It was better than any chicken I’d eaten in Japan, and I instinctively reached to take a large swig of my drink.
“Mmmm!”
“Aha ha ha, there’s bits of skin all around your mouth!” Luna said. Her mouth was probably just as messy as mine, so we laughed at each other.
“C’mon, you two are so sloppy,” Reina said.
“Mhmm.”
She wiped off Luna’s mouth just like a mother would. Now clean, Luna left in pursuit of her next piece of meat, squeezing in next to Gram, Gyes, and the others. They seemed to accept her, maybe because she was still a child, or maybe because they were disarmed by her innocent appearance.
“What a sweet sight,” I said. It’s really great to see a kid like her crossing barriers to make friends, I thought.
Reina tried to dab my face with a towel, saying, “You too, Arata.”
“I-I can do it myself!”
“Can you?”
As you might expect, it would be way too embarrassing to have a woman her age wipe my mouth for me. I cleaned myself off with the towel Reina gave me, then looked back to everyone having a grand time.
“When you look at it like this, the difference in species just doesn’t matter at all...”
“Yeah,” Reina said.
We’d held feasts with the Divine Beastfolk before, and although Tailtiu had joined too, I had hardly ever seen such a large number of different species eating and drinking together. But now...
“Divine Beastfolk, Ancient Dragonfolk, Fierce Ogrefolk... And us humans too, I guess,” I said.
“This might be because Luna’s still only a child, but when I see her having so much fun, it makes me think that your dream might just come true after all,” Reina said.
“Yeah...” Since reincarnating here, it had become both my dream and my goal to hold a feast with all the races on this island. “I hear that some of them don’t really like each other, though...”
The Divine Beastfolk and the Alfar were one example, and the Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk now were another. But all that would surely resolve itself once they got to know each other better.
“Anyway, it looks like my portion is going to disappear at this rate, so I’ll go get some,” Reina said.
“Right. Maybe I’ll get—” A bit more too, I thought, but Reina motioned for me to stop.
“You should look after her, Arata.”
“Huh?”
“Darliiing! I have arrived!”
“Oof.”
It was a full-power tackle, on par with Gaius’s strength. If I’d been one of the Ancient Dragonfolk, I definitely would have been sent flying.
“Darling, darling, darliiing!” She squeezed me around my waist as hard as she could and nuzzled her head against me. Prying her off would have been simple, but she would probably cry, so lately I had been letting her do as she pleased. “You really are amazing, darling!”
“Yeah, thanks. But, why’s that?”
“Look over there!”
Tailtiu pointed at the spot I had been watching for a while now, where everyone was eating meat. She had just been in the same circle as them.
“I am having so much fun right now!” She grinned, showing off her canines, which had small bits of skin stuck to them. “I mean, no one calls me a loner and leaves me out anymore!”
“I see.”
Having been born on this island, she had obtained power that far surpassed that of others her age. But she was still mentally a kid, so she wanted friends and companions more than strength.
“This is all thanks to you, darling!” she said.
“Not at all, Tailtiu. It’s because of your hard work.”
She looked confused. “I didn’t do anything, though.”
She doesn’t know it herself, huh? I just patted her head, and she looked happy.
“You know, Tailtiu, you make sure to suppress your power when you’re with the magicians, right?” I said.
“Hrm? But isn’t that only natural? Weaklings like Zelos will throw up if I don’t.”
“Aha ha ha... Speaking of Zelos, you’ve started to tackle him too, haven’t you?”
Perhaps because we said his name, Zelos was looking at us from a short distance away as he ate. But he seemingly prioritized his meal in the end, because he didn’t come over.
“You can be together with everyone now because you learned to be considerate to people like Zelos,” I explained.
“I don’t really get it.”
“Well, maybe that’s fine for now.”
She suppressed her power so they didn’t get sick from her mana, and she held back enough when she tackled them so they wouldn’t get hurt. She always used all her power with me, but she had grown to where she could now make accommodations for others.
“So, all this was just an opportunity,” I said.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it is. Everyone accepted you because you grew enough to make the most of that chance.”
Tailtiu paused. “Even so...”
“Yeah?”
“You’re the one who gave me that opportunity! So...I love you, darling!” She leaped up and kissed my cheek.
I was silent.
“Th-This is a bit embarrassing...” she said. Though her face was a bit red, she smiled softly at me. I just looked at her, dumbfounded. “I-I’m going to get more meat!”
I wasn’t saying anything, so she went away to everyone around the barbecue grill.
“She kissed me...”
“Hey, lady’s man.”
Someone firmly put their arm around my shoulder—it was Zelos, who had been binging on meat just moments ago.
“Oh, hi, Zelos,” I said.
“Just watch out that your popularity doesn’t get you stabbed out of jealousy one of these days,” he said.
“Don’t say something so ominous!”
“Merlyn’s been giving her some ideas, so she might start trying some tricks on you.”
With that, Zelos left to eat more meat.
“That’s not much better than what you said before...”
Left there alone, I looked at Reina as she gave a lecture to the kids who had seemingly gotten into a fight over some meat. Luna was in another spot, playing with the Fierce Ogrefolk. And Tailtiu was laughing together with the other Ancient Dragonfolk. This was exactly the sight I had hoped for.
A little ways off, Elga and Livia were watching as well, perhaps acting as guardians. Zelos and Merlyn maintained the perfect distance from the kids, probably because they’d die if they carelessly got close.
I wanted to expand this circle even further and hold a big feast with everyone someday, regardless of species, age, gender, or anything else. Looking up at the sky lit up by the bright sun, I asked a question to the god who had let me reincarnate in this world.
God, what’s next in store for my life on this island?
Of course, there wasn’t even a hint of a reply, but...
I’ll be looking forward to it.
I felt as if I heard a pleasant, cheerful voice.