[V12C5] I Ate

There was a girl crying in front of Monica.

Monica’s consciousness, which had been immersed in the world of numbers, surfaced ever so slightly.

Who was this girl? Why was she crying?

She wore beautiful clothes fit for a princess, but she was sobbing like a child, without caring for her smudged makeup.

Monica initially assumed that this had nothing to do with her, until she heard the girl speaking her name several times.

Rather than converting words into numbers to protect herself, Monica tried to listen to the girl. Only then did she understand.

The girl was angry and crying for Monica’s sake.

(…Why?)

That doubt caused her world to expand slightly.

There was the crying girl, the girl with her black hair tied into a bun, and the big scary man.

The big scary man was staring at Monica.

(Big people are scary.)

Whenever the big man opens his mouth, either her father or herself will be insulted.

If the big man is holding something, it will be swung down on her.

(It’s scary. Save me, Daddy.)

Monica was busy averting her eyes from the scary man, so she did not know how much time had passed.

The next time Monica looked around, she saw the two girls preparing something inside the room.

The girl with black hair tied into a bun spread a mat in front of the bed, bringing in dishes and food.

The stylish girl with flaxen hair lifted a bowl of soup and offered it to Monica.

However, the soup was still steaming and smelled good, so Monica knew it wasn’t for her.

The tasty things were never for Monica. She would only get hard bread and the leftovers from the bottom of the pot, diluted with water.

Monica froze, thinking that she would be scolded if she ate it. Meanwhile, the girl with flaxen hair pursed her lips and said, “Come on!” She tore off a piece of bread, dipped it in the soup, and brought it near Monica’s mouth with a spoon.

Monica glanced anxiously between the girl and the spoon. What should she do? What was the correct option to avoid getting yelled at? She didn’t understand.

Meanwhile, the girl poked at Monica’s lips with the spoon.

“Say ahh!”

“A-Ahh…”

Monica did as told, and the spoon was quickly thrust into her half-open lips.

The bread was so soft. Biting down caused the flavor of the soup to spread throughout her mouth.

This was a soup made by simmering seafood and vegetables over a long time, so it must have taken a lot of effort to make.

(…Why do I know that it’s hard to make? I’ve never made it.)

Once Monica swallowed the bread, the girl in front made a face that seemed like a mix between laughing and crying.

“…Good. You ate… Hey, can you hold the spoon yourself?”

“…Mm…”

“Monica, sit down here!”

The flaxen-haired girl and the bun girl helped Monica down from the bed, placing her on the mat. Then, the bun girl arranged the dishes in front of Monica.

“Hey, this kinda looks like a picnic. Waha! It feels special if we think about it as an indoor picnic!”

“We skipped class for an indoor picnic during our student days… You were there too, Monica.”

The flaxen-haired girl handed Monica a spoon.

Monica awkwardly moved the spoon, scooped up the soup, and brought it to her mouth. Even though she was eating the warm and delicious soup, no one scolded her.

“This soup is too good! I wish I could have it every day. The bread is fluffy too. Freshly baked is the best!”

“He’s seriously as good as our chef… Walker-san is kind of… Ugh, nevermind, I probably shouldn’t say this out loud…”

The two girls chatted with each other while sharing the meal with Monica.

Monica listened absentmindedly as she filled her belly with tasty soup and soft bread.

＊　＊　＊

After finishing their meal on the mat, Karina quickly stacked the empty dishes and stood up.

Seeing this, Lana gave Karina an apologetic glance.

“Um… I’m really sorry for making you do this…”

Earlier, Lana had tried to help by carrying the meal tray, but her handling was quite precarious. As a result, they decided to have Isaac carry it to the door of the room, then have Karina carry it inside.

That said, Karina understood that Lana was a genuine noble, so she didn’t mind at all. In times like these, everyone should play to their strengths.

“Don’t worry, President Colette. Monica-chan seems a lot happier when you’re around, and that’s good enough for me. You should stay by her side.”

Surprised, Lana glanced at Monica.

Monica seemed absent-minded after finishing the meal, but the color had returned to her face and she wasn’t murmuring any numbers.

Karina had no intention of revealing this, but when she first entered this room and saw Monica on the bed, she thought one thing:

——Is that really a person?

Karina was granted the title of “Divine Eye” by the Black Lion Emperor, and her eyes recognized Monica as some sort of magical tool for spewing a continuous stream of numbers.

But now, Monica looked like a normal human. Just a regular girl.

“Alright, I’ll go return the dishes!”

Karina deftly lifted the stack of dishes and headed to the kitchen.

There, she found the eyepatched man named Isaac Walker preparing the after-meal drinks. She was working next to an unfamiliar-looking silver pot on the countertop.

“Walker-san, here are the dishes! The food was amazing, thank you very much!”

Isaac paused his arrangement of the cups and smiled. It was a strange-looking smile that could be interpreted as angry or troubled.

“Feel free to leave the empty dishes in the hallway next time. By the way, did Monica eat well…?”

“Um, yeah! She ate one piece of bread and a whole bowl of soup!”

Isaac’s intimidating face shifted to become a bit softer. He raised his right hand and grabbed the hair above his right eye.

“…Good.”

His voice seemed to be quivering with genuine relief.

This indicated that he was really worried about Monica.

(In that case, he must be a good person.)

Isaac lowered his right hand, but his elbow brushed against the stack of dishes that Karina had brought. The eyepatch covering his right eye had limited his field of view on the right.

While none of the dishes were in danger of falling off the countertop, the momentum transferred to the silver pot, causing it to tilt over.

“Watch out!” Karina exclaimed, almost simultaneously as Isaac moving into action.

Without hesitation, he reached out his right hand to catch the silver pot. Coffee spilled from the pot and onto his right hand.

“Walker-san, a-are you okay!? That’s hot, right!? We need to cool it off! Water, water…”

Meanwhile, Isaac was staring at the silver pot rather than his coffee-drenched hand. After confirming that the pot was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. Even though his hand was red from burns.

“Walker-san! Your burned your hand! We need to cool it!”

“…Huh? …Oh.”

It was only then that Isaac noticed the pain in his right hand.

He placed the coffee pot at the back of the countertop and submerged his right hand in a bucket of water.

“Sorry about that. Did I spill any coffee on you?”

“No, I’m fine, but…”

Karina immediately realized that this was not good.

That pot was clearly very important to Isaac. However, prioritizing it over his own well-being was the same as neglecting himself.

Karina sometimes forgot about her own pain and fatigue when she was absorbed in crafting magical tools.

But Isaac was completely different. Right now, he did not value himself at all.

Karina summoned her courage and spoke up.

“Walker-san, listen. I’m a craftswoman.”

“Right, from Miss Colette’s company…”

“I can repair a pot if it breaks… but I can’t fix Monica-chan’s heart or your injuries, you know?”

Isaac, who had been looking at the bucket of water, glanced at Karina with mild surprise. After a moment of hesitation, he gave an awkward reply.

“Well, I hear the Empire has unbanned research on body manipulation magic, right? Even in Ridill, we’re starting to use medical magical tools for…”

“Healing based on magic and magical tools still has a long way to go before it becomes practical. Besides, such things are only available to the wealthy few. I’ve seen the medical tools in Ambard. They’ve come a long way, but even now, they can’t heal large injuries perfectly.”

Her expertise as a craftswoman left Isaac silent. Perhaps he was considering how to counter her argument with fancy rhetoric.

However, Karina looked straight at Isaac without averting her eyes.

“You know, Walker-san. It feels like you might suddenly fall over and die, and that scares me a lot.”

“…I can’t die yet. Not until I retrieve what was taken.”

Isaac pulled his hand out of the bucket. His hand was slightly red, but it didn’t seem to be a severe burn.

As if nothing had happened, he washed off the pot and started brewing coffee again.

Karina was captivated by the peculiar shape of the pot. It seemed to use the power of steam to quickly extract coffee over a short period of time.

She could tell that it was made of metal, so it seemed to be used by directly heating over an open flame. In other words, Isaac had grabbed a hot metal pot using his bare hands without hesitation. This looked incredibly precarious to Karina.

After pouring three cups of coffee, Isaac put extra sugar and milk into one of them.

“Do you want sugar or milk?” Isaac asked.

“Nah, I’ll take it as is for the first time.”

“I see.”

Isaac put the three coffee cups onto a tray, along with sugar cubes and a milk pitcher.

Apparently, he had prepared them in case Karina wanted them later. Even in these dire times, his consideration knew no bounds.

“Could you take these over? Also, the bath should be ready soon, so could you help Monica take a bath once you’re done?”

“Okay.”

Karina took the coffee tray and began walking off.

However, she stopped midway and turned back to face Isaac.

“Walker-san, this is a technique passed down from my big brother.”

“Yeah?”

“Shouting ‘Waha!’ will help you cheer up.”

Isaac put on a wry smile, or perhaps one mixed with a condescending smile. It was difficult to judge.

While hoping it was more of the former, Karina headed back to Monica’s room.

＊　＊　＊

While washing the empty dishes, Isaac let out a heavy sigh of relief.

He needed to consciously take deep breaths, or else his chest felt tight and unbearably suffocating. Perhaps, he was feeling more anxious than he realized.

(I’m glad those two came.)

Isaac’s biggest worry was that Monica might stop eating and succumb to starvation.

Simply hearing about how Monica finished a meal filled him with relief to the point of tears. Monica still possessed the will to live.

In addition, Lana and Karina had said they would stay overnight to take care of Monica. Isaac intended to do a quick clean-up before showing into the guest rooms.

After checking the temperature of the bath and preparing for tomorrow’s breakfast, Isaac intended to read through the documents again.

——Also, there was a certain thing he wanted to find.

Isaac had examined all of the documents Monica left behind, except for the one place he couldn’t investigate: the locked drawer on Monica’s desk.

Monica typically stored her research documents and magical books in locked compartments on the first floor or the study.

Isaac had a master key for those compartments, but he couldn’t find the key to the drawer in Monica’s room.

Since he wanted to gather as much information as possible on Gluttonous Zoe, Isaac needed to check that drawer. Ideally, without forcibly prying it open.

(The key wasn’t in her bag or wallet… Or the pockets of the clothes she was wearing today.)

In which case, it was reasonable to assume the key was somewhere in Monica’s room.

Perhaps it would be best to consult with Lana and request her help in finding the key.

A man like him searching through Monica’s private room would likely make her feel uncomfortable. Although technically, he already entered her room on a regular basis for cleaning.

As Isaac pondered the whereabouts of the key, the back door creaked open, and Nero slipped in from the darkness, in black cat form.

Nero had gone out to scout the city at Isaac’s request.

“Welcome back, Nero… How’s the situation?”

“The gates are all buried in bricks and stuff, so it’ll take time to clear them. Water dragons have flooded the harbor, but they have no way of coming ashore. They seem intent on swimming around the port though.”

All of this matched what Isaac had heard from Melissa.

Melissa also mentioned that she didn’t plan to go on the offensive until reinforcements arrived from the capital, so the deadlock may last for several days.

“Also, I checked on Monica from outside the window a little while ago. She was actually eating. Good job to Lana.”

“I couldn’t agree more. By the way…”

Isaac looked over Nero’s entire body. He was in his usual black cat form, not wearing or carrying anything.

——In other words, there was no sign of the anti-dragon detector gem that Isaac gave him.

“…What happened to the magical tool I gave you?”

“I ate it.”

“…”

Without a word, Isaac lifted Nero and secured the cat’s torso with his left hand. Then, he forcefully inserted his right hand into Nero’s mouth.

Nero bristled his tail and started screaming.

“Oi, stop that! Don’t stick your finger in my mouth, gweeegh…!”

“This won’t work, I can’t reach… Can you transform into human form for a moment? I’ll put some pressure on your stomach.”

“Why the hell should I!? I kept it close just like you told me to!”

“We humans don’t consider ‘eating’ as ‘keeping close’.”

“I didn’t chew on it, so it’s fine!”

And so, the to-do list of the exceedingly busy Isaac gained an additional item: ‘Verify if the magical tool still works after being swallowed by the user.’

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