“It is only through repeated error that humans develop and mature,” Machina reminded me as she removed the tarp with one of her mechanical arms.
“What the……?” I lost all words. Before me lay a massacre of broken frying pans and pots, cutting boards snapped cleanly in two, chipped kitchen knives, smashed plates, and the ashen remains of onetime edible foodstuffs.
“We acquired most of the cooking utensils and grocers in this dimension, so please pretend you saw nothing of this. However, do take note of the great effort Lady Lanceil put into this meal.”
“It looks just like when I tried to cook, too. But rrgh. This is, well, yeah.” Lana wanted badly to criticize Lanceil’s work, but she held her tongue as it was a delicious breakfast. There was one problem, though.
“Yaya, this bread’s hard as a rock. I can’t bite into it.”
“Ah, man.” Lanceil had probably taken and used the stale bread I had kept as a reserve. It wasn’t something you could eat straight off the shelf.
Well, let’s just chalk it up to an adorable misunderstanding.
“Machina, take it away.”
“Roger that.”
My AI partner retrieved all the bread and stored it once again in the pantry. The bread felt hard enough. I should use it to cook and make something with it when we returned from the dungeon.
“Oh.”
Across the meadow, a redheaded young boy and a long-haired maiden in knight’s armor made their way toward us. I recognized the boy, but who was that girl?
She can’t possibly be his girlfriend, right?
That said, the boy was at that age, and his androgynous features caught the attention of many ladies, most of them older. It would be stranger for him not to have had a girlfriend or two by this point. All kinds of excitement and nerves set my heart aflutter. As the kid’s guardian, I had to make sure I didn’t embarrass him.
“Sorry, Lana.”
“Awww.” It hurt me, too, but I forced myself to lift her from my lap and sat her down in the chair next to me. After quickly patting down my clothes and fixing my bedhead, I got up to greet the pair.
“Why, good morning, Shuna. Who might this young lady be?” I put on my best smile, trying to imitate my departed friend’s winning grin…and immediately got the feeling I’d made a huge mistake. I think I owe you an apology, Arvin. “Hmm?”
The girl stared at me in disgust. Despite her cold expression, she had a cute appearance. Was she maybe a little older than Shuna? The knight had long, curly chestnut hair, wore faded-white armor, and carried a shield and longsword that both felt too big for her stature.
Hmm…… Huh? I’ve seen that armor, that shield, and that sword before.
“Sou, what the hell are you saying? It’s me, Bel.”
“’Course, I knew that.” She was none other than Beltriche, one of my party members. “Sorry,” I apologized. Turned out, I’d made a different type of mistake. Never would I have thought I’d fail to recognize one of my closest friends. To be fair, though, I was pretty sure Bel had shorter hair. How had it gotten this long in just three days? Some kind of magic Rogaine?
“……Whatever,” she replied coldly. Is she that pissed?
“Bel, want some breakfast? This pot-au-feu is pretty tasty,” I offered, trying to smooth over the issue with food. Nothing worked better on Other Dimensional youngins.
“Yeah.”
Before I could grab her another bowl, Bel snatched mine, took a seat at the table, and dug in. She ate in silence.
“So what’s the verdict? Though actually, I wasn’t the one who made it today. Want some more meat?”
“No.” She fell into an even deeper silence, eating spoonful after spoonful of her stew. It surprised me to see someone who despised vegetables as vehemently as Bel gobble them down so readily. I’d have to relay that to Lanceil later.
“Souya, I need you for a sec.”
“You want some, too, Shuna?”
“I’m good. C’mere.” The redhead gestured for me to follow him away from the camp.
“What’s up?” Something felt just a little off. We’re about to go in the dungeon. Is he gonna be okay?
“Here’s fine. Give me a minute,” he said, stopping as soon as we could no longer see the campgrounds. Pulling a tree branch out of his bag, Shuna stuck it in the ground. “O King of the Tree Spirits, Lord Ukhazol, I, your humble follower Shuna of Azollid, raise up a prayer in your name and entreat you to reveal your form and voice before us. May my request reach your hallowed—huuuh?”
The kid hadn’t even finished his incarnation before a blinding light shot out from the branch, and a tiny man about twenty centimeters tall appeared. With a hoe in one hand, straw hat on his head, and a sweat-catching cloth around his neck, the mini dude looked like a typical, everyday farmer.
“Shuna, my boy. Doin’ okay? Ya know you can call me more often than this, right? All the gramps and grannies round here keep askin’ about ya. I’m bound to these islands, ya know, so I’ll have ta show up in this sorry little state, but at least I can hear ya out if ya get the urge to vent about anythin’.” What a folksy little god. While not exactly dignified, he was kind and easy to talk to. Humans who were adored and loved by many and then became deities often shared those characteristics.
“Thank you, Lord Ukhazol. I reached out today because I wanted to talk to you about Bel. Oh, and this guy’s my party leader.”
At Shuna’s introduction, I politely greeted his god. “My name is Souya, the Otherworlder. I’m also an adventurer and honored to serve as Shuna’s party leader. Your devotee’s swordsmanship is unparalleled among his peers.”
“He’s still a real kid, though, ain’t he?”
“Well, I’d say he acts his age.”
“Ya know, he finally shot up a bit not too long ago, but four years back, he was just a tiny pip-squeak, taggin’ along behind Bel or Legure like a little chick. Soon as he lost sight of ’em, he’d start cryin’ and wailin’, and let me tell you, it was no easy feat gettin’ him to simmer down. I stopped counting how many times he called for me, bawlin’ his eyes out, but ya better believe I carried him home on my back over one hundred, two hundred times.”
“Ahh, I see.” What is this guy, Shuna’s doting uncle? Whoever he is, that firecracker’s gonna blow his shit if he keeps going on like that—
“Excuse me for interrupting, Lord Ukhazol, but about Bel.” When Shuna spoke up, he sounded much calmer than I’d expected. He really was growing up. Maybe that had something to do with the first steps into manhood he’d taken not too long ago?