Chapter 487: Jurisdiction
We waited for Soleil to wake up, but the sun had already set by the time she did.
「Ny-sama. 」
Gramps showed up with Orlando-kun and Charles the gardener in tow.
Apparently, he had been making the rounds with Charles and checking on the damaged magic circles. The overall defense of the town and plaza was Kiel’s jurisdiction, but Gramps and Charles were in charge of the magic circles used for that, as well as the strategic placement of trees to mess with potential intruders.
The placement of buildings had been different originally, but they had actually adjusted the layout by intentionally removing or adding structures to maximize the magic circle’s efficiency.
「Good evening, sorry for causing a racket. How’s the plaza holding up? 」
「We lost a few trees, but the plants grow pretty well here, so we’ll manage… 」
Charles gave a wry smile.
「We have to set up new magic circles right away. However, if we carve them into stone again and they end up shattering, we’ll just be back at square one. I am currently thinking of another solution. 」
Gramps.
「Ah, no, well, that dragon won’t probably return, I guess… 」
I mean, normally, the giant stone slabs used for construction don’t just shatter like that. Maybe one or two could crack, but they don’t break apart that easily.
「Are you sure the dragon won’t return? 」
Ack, Gramps, don’t look so dejected like that, your brows are drooping! No, don’t look at me like that! I can’t handle that kind of sad expression!
「Master… 」
Orlando-kun also looked troubled. Thanks for being the voice of reason, buddy. At least now I know my reaction was right.
「It’d be a pain in the neck if she comes again. But, we still need to be prepared just in case. 」
Kiel, what kind of defenses are you planning to set up, huh?
「…What exactly do you think we’ll be fighting? 」
「It is anything that has the potential to attack us. 」
Auro responded to my muttered question with a grin.
At his words, the trio — Kiel, wearing an unusually serious expression, Faramir, still kneeling beside Auro, and Charles, smiling charismatically — all nodded in agreement.
…Hey, why does it feel like the Changelings view the entire world as the enemy, huh!?
「Ahh. Look, just don’t go picking fights proactively, alright? Try not to cause trouble for the ordinary townsfolk, okay?」
I give up, you guys can do whatever you want if an enemy do make it onto the island.
Changelings have had it rough since ancient times, after all. It’s so ingrained in them that compared to their misanthropy, my mild dislike of people is nothing.
「Of course. We always return kindness with kindness. 」
Auro flashed a dazzling smile.
「Oh well, let’s eat? 」
Soleil’s still out cold, anyway.
「Gladly. 」
「Yeah! And don’t forget to hand over the sweets! 」
The twins looked delighted, and Faramir gave a small nod, a faint smile gracing her lips.
「May I join you as well? 」
「Of course. Do we have enough chairs for everyone? If not, we can do it standing. I’ll whip something up real quick. 」
Gramps Paulor, Orlando-kun, Charles—everyone’s welcome. Ah, but the kitchen in my tower is pretty cramped, so I can’t just cram these many folks over there.
Plus, honestly, if we all ate there, Soleil’s recovery time would probably be even longer.
「Allow me to lend a hand. 」
Auro followed me.
Oh, my 【Storage】—Ah, yeah, he already saw it when I made the rooftop bath. Well, since we already have a contract, I don’t need to be too secretive about a lot of things in front of Auro, I guess.
「For now, let’s just go with yakiniku ー grilling meat. Can you chop some veggies? 」
If we go full-on barbecue, it’ll take too long to cook everything. In my mind, the main difference between yakiniku and barbecue lies in the thickness of the meat, with the latter being a lot thicker.
「In what matter should I cut them? 」
「Like this. 」
I demonstrated by slicing an onion into rings, roughly chopping some cabbage, and cutting up some eggplants and corn. The shishito peppers and shiitake mushrooms could stay as they were.
「Understood. 」
Auro smiled and got to work.
He doesn’t really seem like the type to cook much, but he’s a skilled guy, so as long as he has an example to follow, he can replicate it perfectly. Probably?
Actually, why is everyone here so good with knives? It’s kinda suspicious… Ah, but I’ve only ever seen Soleil use a blade, and that was just a letter opener.
Curious little spirits flitted around watching us, but I just let them be and focused on my own prep.
Might as well throw in some dragon meat, huh. We’re down to the last cuts of the black one, so if I don’t butcher the red dragon one soon, we’re gonna run out. Most of the dragon meat had already been given to the Earthkin, after all.
Oh, and cold noodles—since they’re made from wheat starch, it’s basically Morioka reimen*.
While waiting for the water to boil, I pulled some boiled eggs from 【Storage】 and peeled them effortlessly. Yup, they’re smooth as silk.
After making and chilling the broth, I cooked the noodles and dunked them in ice water to firm them up. The ice naturally came from 【Storage】too, but maybe I should make a magic circle for an ice maker?
I’ve already set up cooling bowls and containers, but sometimes you just want ice on demand. I could ask the spirits for help, but ice spirits tend to live in cold places, and if I’m going to go somewhere freezing, I might as well just harvest natural ice instead of bothering them.
I already rely on Riche for making ice cream, so I don’t want to keep making him do stuff like more than that.
Auro had cut the cucumber and green onion into absurdly uniform pieces. I arranged them on top of the cold noodles along with boiled egg, chashu, and kimchi, then added a sprinkle of white sesame seeds to finish it off.
「All done. Can you help carry this out? 」
I handed Auro a tray with the food and all the yakiniku essentials.
At this point, I feel like everyone I’m close to on this island has already figured out my skill, but I still made a show of pulling out the charcoal, grill, and brazier from【Storage】inside the tower instead of in front of everyone.
「Of course, MiLord. 」
Auro happily popped a leftover piece of chashu into his mouth. He’s so pointlessly handsome even while doing something so ordinary, grinning from ear to ear like that.
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