[V15EX2] Crunchy

The Silent Witch and her disciple got splashed with water due to an accident during magic training.

After heading out in their wet clothes to apologize to the neighbors, they returned to change. Then, they held an emergency meeting with the topic of, “What do we call Isaac?”

Monica, now dressed in summer outdoor wear, took her seat at the table and began with a stern expression.

“Okay, let’s begin the meeting. What should we call you, Ike?”

“Zack should be fine, right?”

The emergency meeting lasted five seconds.

Apparently, Monica had expected the discussion to take much longer. She blinked her round eyes in surprise, looking caught off guard.

“Zack…?”

“Yeah. That one should be pretty easy for you to say.”

To tell the truth, Isaac possessed countless aliases.

He often went by fake names when enjoying the nightlife or conducting secret investigations. If he needed to come up with an alias, he could simply list one he hadn’t used yet.

That said, Monica would be the one calling him by this name. In which case, he wanted it to be as close to his real name as possible. The joy of hearing her say his name was not something he would give up easily.

Since Monica had been all fired up for the “Master-Disciple Emergency Meeting!”, she awkwardly lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.

“Oh… I was thinking of a few mathematically memorable names…”

“Mathematically memorable?”

“You know, by converting the numbers of your face into letters… Ah, I’ll write it as a formula. It’s easier to explain that way!”

“How about we just stick with Zack?”

“Zack… Zack…”

Monica crossed her arms and repeated the name a few times.

It was then that Nero, who had been curled up in front of the sunny window, wagged his tail and jumped into the conversation.

“Zaku-Zaku? So we can call him Crunchy1, huh. Easy to remember. I like the sound of that.”

Crunchy. Isaac could not help but stare at Nero with a deadpan expression.

“…That’s not funny coming from you.”

Nero was currently in the form of a cat, but his true identity was the Black Dragon of Worgan, a dangerous creature that had once shaken the entire Kingdom of Ridill to its core.

With a wry smile, Isaac stood up to fetch a fresh towel. Monica’s hair was not completely dry, and that bothered him.

“They’ve probably seen you calling me Ike before my face changed. That means we need to come up with a new name for this face.”

As he said this, Isaac walked behind the seated Monica and began gently drying her hair with the towel. Rather than a rough rubdown, this was more like a light tap to absorb the moisture away.

During this, Monica continued murmuring “Ike” and “Zack” over and over again.

“Ike for the unscarred face… Zack for the scarred one… Ike… Zack… Ike… Zack…”

Meanwhile, Nero silently hopped up onto the table and murmured softly into her ear.

“Zaku-Zaku(Crunchy).”

“…Zack, Zaku-Zaku(Crunchy), Zack, Zaku-Zaku(Crunchy)… Ugh, Nero!”

Monica puffed out her cheeks and glared at Nero, before suddenly looking up at Isaac behind her in alarm.

Her flustered, apologetic expression was just too adorable for Isaac to handle.

“Um, um, it’s not that I have trouble remembering your name, Ike. It’s just… no matter what face you have, you’ll always be Ike to me. That’s what I’ve always called you, so changing now is a bit hard…”

(That’s one hell of a pick-up line.)

Isaac chuckled to himself as he gently pressed down on Monica’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I understand. Come on, sit up straight and point your head forward.”

“Ugh… okay…”

Monica followed Isaac’s instructions, though she resumed fiddling with her fingers on her lap.

A moment of peace and quiet passed as Isaac continued drying her hair.

The sunlit room. A cat sitting at the window. The girl he loved was right in front of him. This was all the happiness Isaac needed.

“Ike, um…”

“Yeah?”

“I remember everything about you. The shape of your ears, your height, your shoulder width, the length and thickness of your arms and legs, the breadth of your torso, your shoe size, your research topics, your proficiency at magecraft, the meals you cooked for me—everything. I remember it all, okay?”

It sounded so passionate and romantic. Isaac could not help but smile.

Since Isaac was currently wiping Monica’s hair from behind, there was no way for her to see his face. In other words, he was allowed to make whatever face he wanted. Or so he thought, until he saw Nero staring at him from the top of the table.

The black cat gave him a very human-like look of exasperation. An expressive face that clearly said…

—— “You’re actually happy about this, huh?”

(Of course I’m happy,)

Isaac met his stare with a smug grin. Then, he put down the towel and picked up a brush.

“So it’s not just my magic? You even remember my cooking?”

“Yes. I remember everything you make for me, Ike.”

It was true. Monica actually remembered everything made by Isaac, from magical formulas to documents, and even meals.

Back when Isaac knocked on her door as an uninvited disciple, Monica did not seem very interested in food.

But now, she clearly looked forward to Isaac’s cooking. This was not his imagination.

(Ah, what am I supposed to do about this? I’m just so happy…)

Isaac Walker could stand above powerful figures as Second Prince Felix Arc Ridill, but in truth, he had always enjoyed serving others more.

His obsessive dependence played a part in this. He felt secure when pledging loyalty to someone. But that’s not all there was to it.

If the girl you love was happy, then of course you would be happy too.

Isaac gently brushed Monica’s hair while savoring the warmth bubbling up from deep in his chest.

“In that case, I have a question for my dear master. What is your favorite out of my recent dishes?”

“The fried one you made for dinner four days ago, with the crispy coating. It was so good.”

Monica’s reply came instantly, so she must have really liked it.

She continued her praises while squeezing and opening her hands above her lap.

“That coating makes everything delicious. Meat, fish, vegetables, mushrooms, everything!”

“If you ask me,” Nero interjected. “Crunchy is way better, especially with meat. In fact, get me more meat.”

The Silent Witch, one of the most powerful mages in the country, and her familiar, the Black Dragon of Worgan, were debating whether fried meat should be crispy or crunchy. A very peaceful scene.

That said, it was about time to prepare the sweets to bring to Mrs. Knolles’s tea party.

Isaac’s freshly baked lemon cake had been given enough time to cool, so now was the perfect time to put on the icing.

For this, a firm coating was best. He knew that Monica got dejected if the icing ended up runny and gooey.

Isaac put away the brush and picked up his apron, before calling out to Monica.

“By the way, Monica.”

“Yes!”

“What name should you use for me right now?”

Monica put on her “serious master” face and replied…

“Zaku-Zaku(Crunchy)!”

A cheerful, immediate answer.

“…”

In the silence that followed, Nero burst out laughing while Monica froze with a gasp.

Isaac walked over and, with a gentle smile, pinched the soft cheeks of his esteemed master. Both of them, of course.

“Bad girl.”

“I’m shorry, Ike!”

“You should be calling me Zack.”

“Zack, it huwrts!”

“Wow, these go pretty far.”

Despite Monica’s lack of fat, her cheeks stretched a surprising amount when pulled.

As Isaac enjoyed the feeling, Nero squinted up at him in disapproval.

“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

“Only to people I’m close to.”

“Oh, I see. So it’s like play-biting, huh?”

Isaac released Monica’s cheeks and lifted Nero off the table. Then, he gently pressed the cat’s front paw against Monica’s reddened cheek.

“I promise my cake is going to be delicious. Look forward to it, okay?”

Monica’s “mathematically memorable” names tend to be awful, so Mr. Walker was very wise to reject the offer.

Translation Notes

  1. “Zaku-Zaku” means “Crunchy” in Japanese. ↩

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io