I Don’t Mind It
A cool breeze drifted over the gravestones as I stuffed a convenience store rice ball into my mouth.
Big Teach had let Kyouko get away. But this time, she actually listened to what I had to say and believed me.
Serial murder was apparently forbidden in Villiers too, and Big Teach said she’d keep searching for Kyouko to bring her in. She even promised to share any new info with me.
Anyway, that wrapped up the case of the serial killings, and the world would soon regain its usual lonely, boring self. Now that Villiers had its eye on Kyouko, she probably couldn’t cause that big of a trouble anymore.
Days of pure indulgence and perfect peace. Just sitting here, chewing on this rice ball, was pure bliss.
At least, that’s how it used to feel before I met them. Before I met Eu and the girls.
I didn’t know why, but I felt like something was missing. I wanted to hurry back to that loud, chaotic place.
When I got home, the living room was noisy for once. Haruna and Sera were in the middle of an argument.
Seriously, what now?
I peeked in and found the table piled high with soap bars.
“How the hell do you end up with soap when you’re trying to make pudding?!” Haruna exclaimed.
“There must have been something wrong with the ingredients you provided!” Sera snapped back.
“Huh?! I matched everything to this world’s stuff. There’s no such thing as bad ingredients, only bad cooking!”
They were throwing blame at each other like little kids in a fight.
I sighed and said, “Why don’t you both just try making it again together?”
“Well, if you say so,” Haruna muttered with a pout.
“You’re right. What’s done is done,” Sera said, switching gears in an instant.
“But pudding shouldn’t ever turn into soap, right?”
Eu looked my way, but her expression was the same as always, calm as the surface of a still pond.
“Come on, Ayumu! Let’s crank these out, boom boom style!”
Haruna grabbed my hand and took a big step forward. I really wished she’d ease up on the boom boom part.
“I’ll go put some milk in the Karatsu[1] ware,” Sera said.
Wait, what the hell’s Karatsu ware? And what was she planning to do with the milk?
“All right, Sera, you go heat up the bath,” I said.
“Just how big of a pudding are you planning to make?”
“The moment you thought the bath was for cooking, you took yourself out of the game.”
“What? I’m not cooking?!”
Sera glared at me with the outrage of a soccer player protesting a foul call to the referee.
“Don’t you get it?” Haruna patted Sera’s shoulder. “Ayumu just wants to cook alone with me, that’s all.”
Not technically wrong… but also not quite right.
“I thought you were gonna start cooking. Come on, let’s go.” I squeezed Haruna’s hand back and headed for the kitchen.
I noticed Sera and Eu had come along too.
I let out a sigh. “Sera, go heat the bath.”
“Understood!” She sounded like a sulking child. I couldn’t have imagined that kind of tone from her.
“I’ll make sure you get a turn, all right?” I said.
She turned just her head and replied, “Thanks,” the word like a blade full of thorns. Then she quickly left the kitchen.
I only realized it now, but was Sera always the type to show her emotions like that? Maybe she’d opened up too.
“She always looks so grumpy, but when she’s cooking, she looks like she’s actually having fun,” Haruna said. “The end result is definitely not food, though.”
“Then should we let her cook?”
“Ab-so-lute-ly not.”
“Yeah, same here.”
Haruna and I burst out laughing.
Tap, tap.
Hearing the sound, I looked toward the sink and saw a note from Eu resting there.
It read: “Pudding, Ayumu.”
“Let’s make pudding already, big brother!”
I’d never made pudding before, but if I left it to Haruna, something decent would probably come out of it.
Come to think of it, how good was Eu at cooking?
“Eu, can you make pudding?”
“First, pour milk into Karatsu pottery.”
I found myself cradling my head.
“Eu, you’re in charge of the tableware.”
She nodded, her silver hair swaying gently.
Haruna looked so adorable cooking with her cowlick bouncing to a samba rhythm that I got distracted watching her and messed up the task she’d given me.
“Ugh, darn it. I told you not to whip it!”
“Sorry.”
Not long ago, I didn’t even want a life like this. But now? Now I wanted to cherish it.
So much had happened this past week.
Haruna appeared out of nowhere. I got attacked by a Megalo. Then another Megalo. Then Sera appeared. Then more Megalo. And more Megalo. Then another Megalo. Then Kyouko…
It felt like I’d been attacked by way too many Megalo.
Megalo were the enemies of Magiclad Girls. And I was a zombie and a Magiclad Girl, so it made sense they’d be after me. That part, I could accept.
But still, the encounter rate felt off the charts. Well, if they were showing up because Eu’s emotions stirred, then I’d take them all on if it meant I could keep living this life.
“Okay, so why did we suddenly start making pudding?” I asked.
Haruna’s perky cowlick bobbed happily. “Rejoice, Ayumu! Participants have been chosen for Operation: Megalo Extermination!”
“You can’t even transform.”
“Not me! You’re doing it.”
Why was I being volunteered without asking for my permission? And where was this going down? Don’t tell me… not in this world, right?
“This world’s gonna be swarming with Megalo and Magiclad Girls. Just imagine it! Glorious, right?”
She spread her arms and twirled around joyfully. Just as I feared, this world was about to get caught in the crossfire again. Hold on a second. That basically meant war, didn’t it?
I know I said I’d take them all on, but I started regretting that now.
I glanced at Eu and saw a quiet sadness on her face. If all the Megalo were wiped out, what would happen to the Underworld, her home? She must be worried about that.
“Yeah, this job’s not for me. Eu, sorry, can you take over?”
I shoved the task at her a bit forcefully, but she nodded and gladly stepped in. She worked more efficiently than I expected, and in the end, I had nothing left to do.
So, she could follow instructions well after all.
Watching the two of them cook side by side was like watching sisters. It was such a heartwarming scene that I couldn’t help but smile.
When it was time to bake the pudding, Eu silently came over and stood next to me. Haruna stared into the oven, her cowlick bouncing in rhythm.
Eu’s face looked the same as always, but to me, she looked like she was enjoying herself.
Haruna clearly enjoyed this life. I honestly loved it too. Even Sera was starting to open up.
But what about Eu? Was she really enjoying this? She never showed any emotion. Never said how she truly felt.
“Hey, Eu. What do you think about this life?”
I didn’t expect her to answer.
Tap, tap.
I looked down.
“I don’t mind it.”
I see. I guess I didn’t need to worry after all.
Still, something kept bothering me. Like I was forgetting something important.
Oh, right.
“Hey, Haruna. You had nothing to do with the serial killings, did you? What was all that talk back then?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, how zombies can survive being stabbed, or ninjas can vanish and reappear.”
“Oh, that. I’ve already figured it out, so I’m over it now, but… You know how mages in this world can heal or teleport without even casting spells? I’d always wondered what kind of magic they were using. Turns out they just made the people inside undead or ninjas. If you use your brain even a little, it’s pretty obvious.”
Wait, there were actually mages in this world?
“She probably means illusionists.”
Stabbing… Ah, magic tricks! And by ninjas vanishing and reappearing, she meant disappearing acts.
I felt kind of pathetic for getting yanked around by Haruna’s nonsense. Of course she wouldn’t be interested in any of this world’s troubles.
Actually, now I was getting kind of pissed.
“By the way, Haruna. That sword-stabbing trick? There’s a hidden compartment in the box,” I explained.
“What? They don’t heal the spot they got stabbed?”
“As for the disappearing act, they just move through openings in the bottom or back. There’s no real magic or weird biology involved.”
“Wh-What?!”
Haruna’s eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. That must’ve been a real shock to her. She actually believed this world had real mages.
“You seriously believed that? If you used your brain even a little, you’d have figured it out. You’re such an idiot.”
“Th-They tricked me!”
Hey! Put the knife down. Stop! Where do you think you’re stabbing?! I didn’t trick you!
Aaaaah!
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