Is this a dream? I’m on a date with Yusuke right now—a date shopping at the market for ingredients for tonight’s dinner. I’d managed to be relatively casual when I convinced him to come over to my place. Oh, I’m so glad I had the courage to grab onto his shoulder.
Love truly was a force of nature. Going out to buy groceries for dinner was just like something two people living together would do. Aah, is it getting kind of hot in here?
“Minerva, do you drink?”
“Just a little bit.”
“I guess we can pick up some wine too then.”
What is he going to do once he has me drunk? Well, that was fine. He was worthy of being my first time, as well as my lover for life...
Oh, but before that, dinner! ♡ I had to use plenty of medicinal herbs and elixirs to inscribe this taste of heaven into his mind and body forever. They do say that the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I have to make him lots of delicious food so he can’t leave me...
✦ ✦ ✦
Once we were done buying groceries for dinner, we headed to Minerva’s house. He had said he was going to pay for the ingredients himself, but there was no way I could let him when he was already doing me such a big favor. I even got a kind of nice wine for us to share. It’d be my first time drinking together with a guy friend since arriving in this new world. Tonight, I wanted him to teach me all sorts of things about this country.
Minerva’s apartment was located away from the heart of town. It was down an inconspicuous back alley and appeared somewhat like a hideout. But the building’s interior was spacious, and no matter where you looked, it was obvious he’d spared no expense.
“Your place is pretty nice,” I commented.
“Not really.”
“No, seriously, you don’t have to be so modest.” That was when I noticed the circular bathtub just visible beyond an open door. “Oh, wow, you even have your own bath?”
The bathroom itself was spacious enough that it could easily fit several people, and the bottom of the bathtub was lined with blue tiles. It looked extremely luxurious.
“Would you like your bath? Or your dinner? Or perhaps, little old m—mmph!” Minerva was cut off as blood gushed out from beneath his silver mask. Don’t tell me he’s coughing up blood?!
“Why are you bleeding?! Get a hold of yourself, Minerva!”
“Sorry, my powers (of delusion) got away from me. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine at all...”
“You may not believe me,” he said, “but I’m actually feeling great right now. So great, I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Is he experiencing some backlash from his powerful magic?
“Go ahead and have a bath. I’ll make us dinner in the meanwhile.”
“I’ll help you,” I offered.
“I don’t want you to come into the kitchen...”
“All right. I’ll go ahead and take a bath then.”
“Take your time.”
With a wave of his hand, the bathtub instantly filled up with hot water—truly the work of a first-class mage.
✦ ✦ ✦
I hadn’t expected this, but just the thought of Yusuke holding me was enough to trigger a nosebleed. Now was my chance to take off my mask and wash myself off. Time was of the essence; I needed to prepare the Black Lizard innards to use in my cooking. Though they took an exceedingly long time to prepare, if you ate them, you wouldn’t get sick for an entire year. Plus, they made a man stronger in certain other ways...
Oh no, my nosebleed again... I have to get a grip. I need to make sure I keep my true love healthy!
“Cry out, Dancing Sword! And Sealing Barrier, activate!”
I used my Martial Arts Magic to finely chop up the ingredients and apply pressure to the pot to prepare soup.
My magic is working better than it usually does. I’m sure this is the power of love. I feel like I could become even stronger, so long as it is for Yusuke’s sake.
The meal was coming along nicely. Yusuke emerged from the bath.
“It smells good in here.”
He had changed into a sleeveless shirt, so his arms were bare to the world.
Oh no, he’s pretty muscular... I had always thought he had beautiful fingers, but I loved arms like these too. I was itching to get my hands on them.
“If there’s anything I can help with, let me know.”
No, no, I have to concentrate on my cooking.
“Don’t worry. Just go ahead and play that ten-rim game.”
I somehow managed to suppress my emotions and finish making dinner.
✦ ✦ ✦
Did some hot oil splash on Minerva or something? I’d seen him writhing around. I didn’t think I had to worry about him too much, though, considering he was a master of Recovery Magic.
I brought out the ten-rim game as I was waiting for dinner and decided to try it out in the living room. I wanted to somehow get my hands on that universal elixir tonight.
More and more coins were sucked from my pocket with each moment I spent on that ten-rim game. The farther down a coin progressed, the more difficult the game became. The machine had drained thirty-two of my coins in the blink of an eye, but I finally felt like I’d gotten the hang of it.
“Oh, honeeey...♡ Oops, I mean, Yusuke! Dinner’s ready.”
Hm? Did he call for me? I was so focused on the game I hadn’t heard him clearly.
“Did you call me?” Then I noticed the entire feast laid out on the table. “Whoa, this looks so delicious! You’re amazing, Minerva!”
I pointed to one of the dishes. “Wow, what’s this one?”
“Lobster mousse.”
I pointed to another. “And this one?”
“It’s broiled lamb with mustard but, like, it’s still got the bone.”
“Like...?” There he goes again, talking like a girl...
“It’s broiled lamb with mustard. Now eat up. I’ve got dessert too.”
“Sure...” We took seats on opposite sides of the table, facing each other. “By the way, how are you planning to eat? I dunno how you’re going to with that on...”
Dagashi were small enough to fit in the gap under his mask, but he probably couldn’t eat dinner with it on.
“Yeah, I’m gonna take it off.”
Wait, what?! He’s taking it off?! I was surprised, but I simply kept my mouth shut and waited. Now, what will his face look like? ...Hold on, what’s this?
✦ ✦ ✦
I had already prepared for this moment. I had to take off my mask if I wanted the two of us to eat together, but I couldn’t let him know that not only was I a girl, I was also the witch Michelle. I didn’t know what would happen once he found out who I really was... I still lacked that confidence.
“Hey, what did you do? You’ve got a smiley over your face!”
“Sorry, I heightened the intensity of my cognitive obstruction spell. I have my reasons.”
“I see... Well, whatever! Let’s eat.”
He was way more easygoing than I could have ever imagined, and we spent a brief but special time together. It was like a dream come true. He had plenty of topics to bring up, and he happily listened to me explain more about this country. But even though Yusuke was smart, he surprisingly lacked common sense in certain areas. He didn’t even know about licenses. This man... I have to keep a close eye on him! ♡
Oh wait! I can just have him live here with me!
“If you want, you can live here too, Yusuke,” I eagerly offered. “I have plenty of rooms you could borrow.”
“I can’t do that. Plus, I wanna rent my own place.”
I don’t want to let him go. The sweet temptation to confine him here stirred within me. I wanted to spoil him rotten until he couldn’t live without me, so that he wouldn’t leave me. Shall I cast the barrier spell Infinite Tower to trap him here?
No, I can’t do that. He wouldn’t love me if I did. Plus, I adored watching him interact with the other adventurers at his dagashi-ya.
But to tell the truth, I wanted him to be my own little dagashi-ya, even if only for a short while.
Oh, what should I do?
I continued to agonize over it long after Yusuke had fallen asleep.