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“Oh, by the way, what happened to Letty and Lina? Weren’t they part of the same party as you?”
“Letty was summoned by Grand Hero to exterminate monsters immediately after our last encounter. As for Lina, her whereabouts have been unknown since then. However, her name is still listed in the party registry,”
Eve responded in a monotone voice, not bothering to look at me. I couldn’t fathom why she held such animosity towards me.
Nevertheless, it was expected that Letty was dispatched to exterminate monsters. Being a hero wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It would be dreadful to travel to different places and fight monsters without any respite. The reality was far darker than the romanticized tales.
As for Lina, well, it was to be expected. She had always been highly suspicious, but there was no evidence to remove her from the party, so her name remained on the registry. If it were up to me, I would report her to the knight order regardless.
“Also, the princess of the Univercia Kingdom asked me about your whereabouts. Is there anything you can remember that might have caused her to inquire?”
“Wh-what? I didn’t do anything. I don’t remember a thing.”
Eve stared at me with an intimidating silence, and I felt beads of cold sweat forming on my forehead.
“Eve-san, if possible, could you please refrain from mentioning this to Letty and Rafine?”
“… “
Eve formed a circle with her thumb and forefinger, similar to the hand sign she made when demanding money. It was odd.
“Here you go, please.”
I took out my wallet and displayed its contents to Eve. She shook her head disapprovingly.
“…Alright. I’ll play my trump card here–“
“Just kidding. I won’t say anything because it’s too much trouble.”
As I knelt down and gently pressed my palms and forehead against the ground, Eve calmly muttered, “I knew it. You never intended to spill the beans.”
“But I’ll tell them after all.”
“Please, forgive me.”
I scraped my head against the ground, begging for forgiveness with a touch of melancholy. “Please don’t say anything, I’ll do anything!”
“I won’t say it… just stop that.”
Eve slapped me as I knelt and pleaded, her voice filled with disgust. “Enough already.”
“Good. Promise me you won’t utter a word.”
“Fine… just don’t talk to me anymore.”
Eve stressed the point and spoke unhappily, clutching a different magic book while emitting an aura that clearly conveyed “don’t talk to me.” It felt as if her disdain for me had multiplied.
…Oh well, let’s just eat and take a nap.
I retrieved the lunchbox I had brought from my extradimensional space, but…
“Excuse me, can you move over?”
I spoke up, bothered by Eve sitting next to me.
“Why?”
“…I always lie down on this bench while eating.”
“I see.”
“So please move over.”
“I was here first. You can go somewhere else.”
Eve refused to budge and even pushed the magic book she had on her knee toward me, as if trying to provoke me.
…
Silently, I took out my lunch and plopped down heavily on the bench. I could feel her irritated gaze piercing my cheek from the side, but I had no intention of giving in. This was the perfect spot for lunch and a nap, and I wasn’t going to move, no matter what.
…
In silence, we consumed our lunches, accompanied only by the ticking of the magic clock.
…
The sound of Eve turning the pages of her magic book made me uneasy.
…
To be honest, it was incredibly awkward. The food was delicious, but the atmosphere was dreadful. I didn’t particularly want to engage in conversation, but the suffocating silence in her presence was unbearable. And if we had just argued, it made things twice as difficult. It was too much.
…
We continued to eat our lunch in this torturous silence for a few more minutes.
…
When Eve finished reading her book, she closed it with a snap and reached into a small decorative pouch hanging from her waist—a magic tool called “Storage”—to retrieve something, most likely her lunch.
I wondered if she was expecting some friends to join her later and share the meal, as there was no way she could consume that much food alone. It seemed physically impossible for such a small and slender person to consume it all.
“Bon appétit.”
But as Eve brought the food to her mouth, it vanished into thin air as if it had been sucked away. I realized there was no need to worry. Seriously, this girl…
The food disappeared one after another, almost like magic.
Eve’s expression didn’t betray whether she was enjoying the taste or not.
I couldn’t sense any magic at work. It meant that what I was witnessing before me wasn’t magic.
As I stared at Eve in astonishment, she said, “Don’t look over here.”
“Ah, sorry. My bad.”
Eve spoke while shyly covering her mouth, and I quickly averted my gaze.
A few minutes later, the enormous bento box was empty. It wasn’t just a matter of being a little hungry.
Disturbed by the peculiar phenomenon and feeling restless, Eve picked up her grimoire once again and started reading it quietly. I was curious, desperately wanting an explanation.
I’m very curious… but it might be rude to ask a woman. I can’t sleep because I’m curious. What should I do?
…That’s right. In times like this, I’ll just occupy myself with tinkering on magic tools.
Randomly selecting a magic tool from my extradimensional storage, I attempted to perform maintenance on it. It was calming…
“Huh? How does this work again? …Oh no, I completely forgot.”
However, since it had been a while since I last used that particular magic tool, the maintenance instructions had slipped from my memory. I groaned, trying to recall… but nothing came to mind.
When was the last time I did the maintenance…? If I remembered correctly, it was about four years ago? If that was the case, I should do it soon… but if I tampered with it too much, it might break. And if I didn’t do it now, I had a feeling I would never get around to it. But I couldn’t remember…
“…Is that the ‘Sky Soaring Shoes’?”
As I furrowed my brow, attempting to jog my memory, Eve stopped reading her grimoire and addressed me.
When I confirmed, “Yes,” Eve closed her grimoire with a snap and leaned her body toward me for some reason—she was so close!
“To activate the ‘Sky Soaring Shoes,’ you need to infuse magic power here. And you mustn’t forget to perform maintenance. They’ll break if you neglect it.”
“O-Okay…”
Eve deftly activated the “Sky Soaring Shoes” and performed maintenance on them as if she were well-acquainted with the process. She handled the “Sky Soaring Shoes,” which were notoriously difficult to operate among magic tools, with ease… Could it be…
“White Hawk, Beautifully Made-up Woman, Guiding Thought.”
Suddenly, I uttered words that only true magic tool enthusiasts would understand.
In response, Eve’s ears twitched…
“Black Eagle.”
Without hesitation, she immediately replied.
“Fear, Ugly Goblin, Hatred.” “Dimensional Ghost.”
Again, she swiftly provided the correct response.
“One-sided Love, Red Curse, Clumsy May—” “Twin Dolls.”
Before I could finish speaking, she had already answered.
“Black Hungry Ghost, White Abyss, Dead Sacrifice—”
–From then on, Eve and I engaged in a Zen-like question-and-answer session for about thirty minutes.
For each of my questions, Eve answered without error, promptly naming the correct magic tool.
To an outsider, it would have been difficult to comprehend what we were doing.
“…You’re good.”
“…You’re good too.”
We shook hands simultaneously and exchanged knowing glances.
Somehow, it felt like I was in the presence of a fellow survivor of a fierce battle.
Eve, too, seemed to be smiling in her own peculiar way. Though her expression was mostly impassive, there was a hint of a smile.
Afterward, the chime signaling the start of afternoon classes rang, and Eve and I made our way to our respective duties with heavy steps.
From that day on, we naturally gravitated toward this spot during lunch breaks to discuss magic tools. It was the first time I could delve so deeply into the subject, and it brought me a great sense of fulfillment.
I experienced a sensation I had never felt before in my life, thinking, “Is this what it’s like to have a friend?”… It wasn’t half bad, I mused.
Translator Note :
For those who got used to Daily Updates and whoever read this, I’m very sorry
Today, I experienced a truly unfortunate incident. While I was biking home, I was mugged and robbed, resulting in the loss of approximately 1500 USD. As a result, I won’t be able to provide daily updates for now until I can resolve everything. Hopefully, I will be able to recover soon and resume my daily translations.
I apologize if this sounds like begging, but I must admit that any donation would greatly assist me in overcoming this unfortunate event. I apologize for burdening you with such bad news.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll gain access to 2-5 additional chapters translated into English and receive updates before everyone else. Not only that, but your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
I’m so sorry to hear that… hope you got out ok at least
My condolence