Volume 1 Chapter 43 The Wobbly Octopus, Sir Roxas, And The Girard Family's Fantasy Forest Sausage
Sir Ciel and the Saintwise folks sometimes visit the sanatorium where patients with White Moon disease are being treated.
They believe that White Moon disease is a curse caused by the moon, so it falls under the research of the Curse of the Moon and the Tears of the Moon.
However, only a few people, like the Saintwise members and the King, know about the red Curse of the Moon.
"Sir Roxas, please help me. I want to boil the octopus for about 8 hours."
"That's fine, but..."
Tomorrow is the day I promised Sir Ciel to visit the sanatorium.
Since the mages from Saintwise know the people at the sanatorium, they quickly agreed to the visit.
Cooking is sometimes done through donations from the Rest priest family and nobles, so no one questioned it.
So, I got fresh octopus from Mr. Tsukuyomi and started boiling it in the afternoon.
By chance, Sir Roxas happened to be there, so I asked him to help.
"Can your magic make the octopus tender, Sir Roxas?"
"Magic to make octopus tender? That's the best!"
"Right, Lyd-Lyd? Tsukuyomi brought a lot of octopus. Is there enough for everyone? I want to eat octopus. One-legged grill!"
At the counter, Sir Ciel, Mr. Tsukuyomi, and Mx. Margaret are sitting together.
Sir Ciel came to help in the afternoon, and we went to the market to buy octopus.
When I explained the situation, Mr. Tsukuyomi gave me a lot of fresh frozen octopus because he said it was to help others.
Since this time Sir Ciel was using the name Saintwise for the donation, he seemed to plan to cover all the food costs, but because of that, the ingredients ended up being free.
"Well, you know what they say, 'nothing is free,' right, little lady? So, how about you treat me to dinner?"
Mr. Tsukuyomi said that, and of course, I nodded that it was fine.
After returning to the shop and finishing the preparation of the 5 octopuses Mr. Tsukuyomi gave me, I was boiling them in hot water when Mr. Tsukuyomi came back with Mx. Margaret, and it seemed that Sir Roxas happened to be nearby for some errands.
"That's fine. I'll make some for Mr. Tsukuyomi too. Sir Ciel, would you like some as well? Tonight's special is the One-legged grill."
"If I eat, I won't be able to sleep, right?"
"After all, it's seasoned to give you energy and make you feel great, Mx. Margaret says..."
Sir Ciel asked, tilting his head, and I nodded.
"Also, it means it's so delicious that it makes both your mind and body feel energized, Sir Ciel."
"What Lyd-Lyd said is true!"
Mx. Margaret said, and I nodded eagerly.
"I see. But that's a problem. I'm not really good at sleeping, but if I can't sleep at all... Ms. Lydia, it's lonely to spend a long night alone, so will you keep me company tonight?"
When Sir Ciel said that, I remembered about telepathy.
The people from Saintwise can use a magic called telepathy to talk to someone far away.
I was happy to hear him say he felt 'lonely' and wanted to 'talk,' so I nodded with a smile.
"Yes, that's fine. Sir Ciel is my friend."
"Lydia. There might be a problem with just being friends and being a conversation partner at night...!"
"Is it bad to talk with a friend...?"
For some reason, Sir Roxas blushed and seemed flustered, so I looked up at his face, confused.
I didn't really understand.
Isn't it normal to talk with friends?
"Well, I-I didn't have friends at the academy, but... I always dreamed of going to a friend's room in the dorm and talking all night..."
"Don't worry, Lydia. I only have friends like Whale No. 1, Hyomon, and Hotaruika the Firefly Squit. Oh, and Margaret too."
"Lyd-Lyd, it's not about having a lot of friends. It's great that Ciel became your friend."
Mr. Tsukuyomi said while puffing on his pipe, and Mx. Margaret spoke while smoking aromatic tobacco.
Seeing them smoke made them look very grown-up.
It also made them seem more convincing.
"I see. I'm not your friend, Lydia..."
"Sir Roxas, you're a Duke, so..."
"If you're worried about titles, I wouldn't say to boil an octopus."
"I feel bad because you're a Duke, but I really want you to boil the octopus...! Sir Roxas, you also did kidnap me..."
Sir Roxas is getting involved.
I wonder if he hates boiling octopus. Maybe he doesn't want to use that power in front of others. If that's the case, he should have said so earlier, but he did say, 'I don't mind.' It's all so confusing.
"Oh, you're the one who kidnapped Lydia and made her wear a maid outfit, right, glasses guy?"
"That's misleading...!"
"Wow, for someone so young, you have quite the interesting hobby. Hmm? By the way, you said you were from the Duke Girard family. Didn't you win that spring picture (erotic art) I auctioned off...?"
"That was my father. It wasn't me. He says it's a piece of art and has it displayed in the mansion, but I didn't buy it."
"Spring picture?"
"Lydia. Forget it."
What does "Spring picture?" mean?
Now that I think about it, Mr. Tsukuyomi said something like that when he saw me tangled up with an octopus while fishing before.
Sir Roxas looks like he desperately wants to avoid that topic, so I blinked in surprise.
"Oh, Roxas. You have quite a unique hobby for someone so young."
"It's not me!"
Mx. Margaret has a smile that seems to wrap around everything.
Sir Roxas looks angry. I worry he might break his glasses from being too mad.
"...By the way, Ms. Lydia. Can Sir Roxas's magic really boil the octopus?"
Sir Ciel said in a gentle voice.
Gently bringing the topic back, Sir Ciel really feels like the top mage who leads his subordinates.
"That's right. Sir Roxas's... what was it again? Daikon... daikon radish? No, it's dankon... dankon magic, right?"
"Soul Stealing! Dakkon!"
"I see, it was dakkon. Not dankon."
"Are you doing this on purpose, Lydia? Is it on purpose...?!"
It's not on purpose.
It sounds like daikon radish. I feel like I'm kind of right.
"Dankon... makes octopus all squishy, dankon..."
"Definitely a name of magic you'd want to hide... squishy, dankon magic..."
Mr. Tsukuyomi and Mx. Margaret exchanged glances and were mumbling something.
"I'm telling you it's not like that... Lydia, stop hanging out with those useless adults."
"W-Why do you say that... Mr. Tsukuyomi and Mx. Margaret are nice to me... Sir Roxas, you go away..."
"Did you just casually curse me?"
"I made a mistake. I said something terrible, so I thought, wouldn't your glasses explode?"
"They won't explode. Even if they did, it wouldn't matter since my eyesight isn't bad."
Sir Roxas said proudly.
Even if his glasses exploded, it wouldn't hurt him. What a shame.
"You all get along so well. I'm a bit jealous. As a friend."
Sir Ciel said this with a hint of sadness.
"Sir Ciel... I'm sorry for making you feel lonely, even though we're friends... One-legged grill, I'll make a special one for you, the thickest one..."
"Thank you very much."
"Y-yes...! Sir Ciel's sausage is the biggest, and the One-legged grill is thick too. It's special."
"Wait a minute, Lydia. My octopus is all floppy, and is Ciel's dish really called the red demon king? I can't accept that."
Sir Roxas is saying something like Mr. Lucian did once.
Sir Roxas must have looked at the menu board on the wall.
By the way, Mr. Lucian's realistic sausages are popular with the ladies, so recently, Lobelia has seen a slight increase in female customers.
Sir Ciel's red demon king-like sausage is quite popular with adventurers who want to share in its strength. It's big and spicy, so it seems to go well with rice.
"Lydia. Make mine twice the size of Ciel's."
"Twice the size for the sausage...?"
"Yeah. Including my brother, make 2. Twice the size, two of them. I'll allow you to use the Girard family name."
Even Sir Ciel's sausage is already pretty big, so making one twice that size seems like it would be tough, and cooking it would be hard too.
Plus, if there are 2, that's a lot of food. I wonder if it will fit on a plate. Two connected sausages.
I think I might need a special plate for that. Maybe it's for sharing with everyone.
"...It's a fantasy, a fantasy."
"At that point, it's like a fantasy. Or maybe an ideal, or a big chunk of self-esteem, like asking the forest god to make it giant."
Mx. Margaret and Mr. Tsukuyomi said this with a look of disbelief.
"Then, let's call it 'Sir Roxas and the Girard family's Forest Fantasy Sausage'."
"...Not bad, but something feels off."
I wonder what's off Sir Roxas?
Sir Roxas waved his hand over the pot, taking the time of 5 octopuses and cooking them until they were tender.
Five was too many, so we used one for the dish and enjoyed delicious one-legged grill and fried octopus together.
Sir Roxas took fried octopus back to Duke's residence for Sir Rail, so we didn't eat together.
Even late at night, Mr. Tsukuyomi and Mx. Margaret, who brought liquor, tried to stay longer, but Sir Ciel dragged them home.
Tomorrow is the day we go to the sanatorium for some cheer.
Eating together was so much fun that it blew away any worries.
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