Is That an Ant?
“Brother Gene, are you okay?”
I handed a sports drink to Brother Gene, who was sitting down and panting.
“What the heck was that? Let me see it.”
“Huh? You mean this?”
When I handed him the kunai, he stared at it intently.
“I’ve never seen a hidden weapon like this before.”
“Um… I had Old Tom make it based on memories from my previous life.”
“Jo… were you some kind of assassin or something?”
“No, no, not at all. Just an ordinary commoner. I saw it in books from my previous life. Oh, this training outfit too.”
“Ehh~ Still, Old Tom must be amazing if he could make it just from your memory.”
“I thought the same. I only gave him vague descriptions, but he still managed to make it.”
“This tip is rounded, but if it were sharp, this could definitely be lethal.”
“Oh, the real ones are sharp. They even used to coat the tip with poison, apparently.”
“Ugh, I knew it… I want one too. I’m going to ask Old Tom.”
Old Tom used to be an S-rank adventurer.
He managed all the weapons and hidden weapons in the Lampail household, and using his dexterity and Earth attribute, he even crafted hidden weapons. That’s why he was able to recreate the kunai based on Joan’s vague memories.
＊＊＊＊＊
After about one koku (roughly two hours) of training, I took a bath, changed clothes, and headed to the living room. There I found Grandfather and Grandmother relaxing until breakfast.
“Good morning, Grandfather, Grandmother.”
“Oh, good morning, Joan.”
“Good morning. Still keeping up with your morning training, I see.”
As I sat down, Sarah served me tea.
“Yes. I trained with Brother Gene this morning.”
“Oh my, Gene too? That’s rare.”
“Well, well, even Gene joined in today? Must be a blizzard coming.”
“”Ahaha.””
As the three of us chatted idly, Nancy came to call us for breakfast, so we moved to the dining room.
This morning’s meal was a Japanese-style set.
Rice, nori, miso soup with green onions and tofu, grilled fish, and some nikujaga (meat and potato stew) we’d made yesterday. The meat in this nikujaga came from a Jet Bull that Mike had hunted at the end of the year.
By the way, since Western cutlery doesn’t suit Japanese food, everyone in the household—including the servants—had learned to use chopsticks.
Grandfather took a sip of miso soup and said,
“Phew~. Still, ever since Joan started cooking, I look forward to meals so much more. I especially like this tofu.”
“I know, right? Thanks to Joan, I’ve realized again how tasteless food outside our home is.”
“Thank you… Um, Grandmother? What do you mean by ‘outside’?”
“Oh, by outside, I mean the other noble households. We visit their homes sometimes for parties and such, right? I always thought our cooks were better, but since you started cooking, I’m even more convinced that our food is the best.”
“Is the food outside really not that good?”
“Joan, let me be clear. It’s bad. I’d rather eat from a food stall.”
“Huh? But you're talking about noble houses, right, Father?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Even so, the food stalls taste better than nobles’ kitchens?”
“The food in noble homes focuses only on wealth and appearance. They use fancy ingredients, but season it with just salt and pepper. Especially pepper—so much it stings your tongue. And the desserts are overly sweet. Some are so bad the sugar is gritty.”
“”Uwaah~…””
Even just imagining it from Father’s description, both Brother Gene and I winced in disgust.
“Is the overuse of pepper and sugar because they’re expensive, Father?”
“Exactly, Gene. They use lots of it to boast, ‘Look how rich we are!’”
“Brother Noel, you’ve eaten food at those parties before, haven’t you?”
“… N…no, I haven’t.”
““““““Huh?””””””
“”Kyaahahahaha.””
Brother Noel’s voice was so quiet no one could understand him.
Everyone except the twins echoed back in unison, and the twins burst out laughing.
“Speak up a little more, Noel.”
Mother prompted him, so Brother Noel answered again.
“… I’ve never eaten food from other houses.”
““““““Eh? Why not?””””””
“”Kyaahahaha! Why not~?””
The twins, lately obsessed with mimicking people, chimed in too.
“Because you never know what’s in it. I heard from a senior in the magic department that they once ate something at a party without knowing it had a drug in it, and it turned into a whole mess…”
“““““Ahhh~…”””””
Brother Gene and the adults seemed to understand what he meant, but I didn’t.
“What do you mean?”
“”What do you mean?””
“… Apparently it was an aphrodisiac in that case.”
“Ewww~ Is that even allowed?”
“”Ewww~ Is that ant-llowed?””
“Pffft… Hu, Ly, not ants. Let’s eat for now. If you don’t eat, I might steal your rice balls—they look delicious~.”
“Gene bro, no!”
“Bwother Gene? You can’t take people’s food, you know? Don’t you know that?”
Now that they’re four, the twins can say all kinds of things. Especially Lyla, maybe because she’s a girl, started speaking earlier than Hugo and now talks like a little grown-up.
“Ly… maybe think a bit more about how you say things? Brother Gene looks heartbroken…”
Brother Gene drooped his head, clearly shocked by Lyla’s words…
“Gene bro, here, cheer up.”
Hugo, perhaps feeling sorry for Brother Gene, took a candy from his pocket and gave it to him. What a kind child, really.
“Ah, thanks. But… why do you have candy in your pocket?”
“Because you never know what’ll happen. Big sister said.”
“… Joan, we’ll talk later, okay?”
“Y-yes…”
And thus, I received one of Mother’s very educational lectures.
What do you think about this chapter?
