3
“This stupid tower… There isn’t a map, but I’m sure if there were one, it would be in the most annoying place. I hate these kinds of buildings that feel like they were a mess from the initial design stages…”
That was Subaru’s conclusion after having walked around the tower with Beatrice to get a feel for things while waiting to eat.
“What are you saying now? Given how nasty the examinations are, there is not much point commenting on how twisted the person who made it all is. It has been clear for a while.”
“Ah! You were bad-mouthing Master just now! This shrimp just badmouthed Master, who made this tower! If you think you’ll get it easy for being a kid, you got another thing coming! She deserves to be scolded! And all coddling that hasn’t been collected on should be given to me!”
“Give it a rest already…”
Shaula triumphantly leaped at Beatrice’s grumbling,
It wasn’t even really grumbling, but it would be a pain to explain it.
“Come on. Don’t keep causing a fuss. You too, Shaula. Behave.”
“Ehhh, I can’t accept that. This is discrimination. Discrimination, I say.”
“If she really did something bad, then Subaru would properly scold her. And it’s only normal to take special care of little children. You and I both just have to accept that, Shaula.”
“Betty does not like the idea of being treated as a child like it’s only natural…”
“Now, now, this is the time to show the magnanimity that comes with age.”
Subaru laughed wryly as he tried to soothe Beatrice’s ruffled feathers.
They had gathered again at the base to eat. Everyone who wasn’t still unconscious was present, meaning…
“May I say one thing before we begin eating, Lady Emilia?”
Julius, who had been the last to come to the room, interjected.
He had been thrown into the green room to focus on healing, but him showing his face wasn’t because he had an empty stomach.
Emilia, who had arranged everything for the meal, nodded.
“Of course, go ahead. I don’t have a reason to say no.”
“With Lady Anastasia not present, you are the person who should be most respected here, Lady Emilia. And yet, I have already caused you such trouble through my selfish actions. Though it is woefully late, I must address it.”
Julius shook his head while elegantly elaborating.
That stuffy, formal, chivalrous sort of thought was more and more like his usual self, but there was also someone there who did not take it particularly nicely.
“How laudable. If only you had understood that sooner.”
“Ram…”
“We already get enough mindlessness from Barusu. It is only natural to lose faith in someone who acts without thinking. I hope you can convince us you won’t do it again.”
Ram icily addressed Julius’s impulsive decision in the harshest terms. The coldness in her eyes was the same as usual, but her expression felt stiffer than normal. They were harsh words, but they were softened a bit by concern in her own way.
“Ram, that was too much.”
“…My humblest apologies, Lady Emilia. I shall be more careful henceforth.”
Ram apologized when Emilia called her out.
She’s more on edge than usual, so it would be a mistake to blame her for that. It’s not like she hates or despises Julius. She just wants to save Rem and do all she can to make that happen.
“I have caused you much trouble, Ms. Ram, and everyone else as well.”
Understanding that, Julius recognized that her harshness was the just deserts he had earned and bowed his head without argument.
Taking responsibility like that was what he had wanted to do before the meal began.
Subaru sort of understood the impetus of Julius’s rash decision, so Subaru had already been able to forgive him, but Julius forgiving himself was a different story.
This is a necessary first step toward that.
“All right! Julius apologized, and I accept. So as far as I’m concerned, this conversation is over.”
With a clap of her hands, Emilia answered Julius’s apology. Subaru nodded as well, of course, as did Beatrice.
“I already said what I wanted to say, so the rest is just a samurai’s mercy.”
“Same for Betty. Just make it up with your efforts going forward.”
“…Sorry…”
Julius closed his eyes at their responses.
After them, Meili was the next to react. She was sitting on the ground with her legs splayed out, playing with her hair.
“No one ended up dying, so that’s good enough, isn’t it? Mister knight doesn’t really bother me.”
“If Master says no problemo, then that’s enough for me. No espresso.”
“You’ve got the wrong word there…”
Meili’s response was disinterested, probably more out of genuine disinterest than any intention of being nice. And Shaula was probably being honest, too.
And…
“ ”
Ram was the only one who had said anything one way or the other in response to Julius’s apology.
She just closed the robe draped over her shoulders and looked down at the food. Julius silently accepted that. And so did Subaru and the others.
The rest is between them to resolve and not something for anyone else to butt into.
“All right then, let’s eat. Ram and I prepared the meal today.”
“No fire was used, but it should be mostly fine other than being a bit rough.”
“Right. It’s reeeally mostly fine… Wait, isn’t that a weird way to put it?”
Emilia moved the conversation along, recollecting herself, but she cocked her head at Ram’s elaboration. Ram did not follow up further, though.
Anyway, with that exchange, they began their meal in the tower.
Incidentally, of the people gathered, the only ones who could make a proper meal were Subaru, who had built up some cooking skills during his one year working as a butler, and Julius, who could perform pretty much anything he attempted without significant issue. Other than the two of them, Ram was the only one who could do any decent cooking.
On the way to Pristella, Subaru, Otto, and Garfiel had used rock-paper-scissors to see who would be in charge of cooking.
Anyway…
“…Why are you staring? Do you have a complaint?”
“…It’s nothing. Just even after traveling for a month, I still can’t get used to the idea of you being able to cook.”
“And I was wondering what you would say…”
Ram did not hide her exasperated sigh at Subaru’s comment.
“The reason I don’t go into the kitchen at the mansion isn’t because I can’t cook. I just don’t. Steamed potatoes are one thing, but ordinary food I leave to Frederica or Petra.”
“I see… Okay.”
“Indeed… Why are steamed potatoes special, Betty wonders.”
Ram frowned, as if a bit unsure what she said herself. Subaru let out a tiny sigh.
Ram’s skills in every sort of chore paled in comparison to Rem’s. But with all memory of Rem erased from the world, Subaru understood that fact quite literally did not exist anymore.
In truth, Ram could do pretty much anything she set her mind to. That didn’t just apply to her work as a maid. The loss of Rem likely had nothing to do with that.
Even while Rem was still conscious, Ram could have done the jobs if she had decided to do them.
But it wasn’t only her natural slacker tendencies that kept her from doing it.
“ ”
Subaru rather intentionally did not want to delve too deep into it.
She wouldn’t understand it right now, and even after we get Rem back, there wouldn’t be any point in bringing it up.
“Anyway… Not that I couldn’t have guessed, but you’ve really got no grace at all when it comes to eating.”
“Mgh, mgh… Huh? You say something, Master?”
After those thoughts darkened Subaru’s mood, he glanced over at Shaula, who was stuffing her face.
There are a lot of girls in this world who waste their looks, but she has to be in the top tier. On Liliana’s level at least.
“The half naked lady is really packing it in… Are you really that hungry?”
“More like this is way too delicious! I didn’t think I cared that much about food, but I’d be willing to apprentice under the half-demon to get this flavor.”
“Eh? Apprentice under me? For cooking?”
Shaula did not stop moving while Meili spoke, swallowing the food in her mouth in one gulp while pointing over at Emilia. To Emilia’s surprise, Shaula nodded wildly at that question.
“Food this good is something else. There’s no hiding from my eyes. I’m gonna learn to cook better, grab Master’s heart through his stomach, and make sure he doesn’t get a wink of sleep.”
“Your true ambition is showing.”
“I understand how you feel, Shaula. But the path of cooking is reeeally difficult and perilous. If you have the resolve despite that, then I’ll consider taking you on as an apprentice.”
“You’re really audacious when it comes to the strangest things sometimes, Emilia.”
Ram probably made about three quarters of the food. Emilia talking big about the depths of cooking and Shaula getting way too impressed by amateur cooking are both pretty hilarious.
“But our food supply is going to be an issue…”
It was a troubling problem for Subaru.
Before his eyes, Shaula was grinning and almost in tears as she stuffed her mouth, and Emilia’s nurturing instincts were stimulated seeing that, so she would surely add more food going forward.
I had counted on one month as our time limit considering the food we had, but…
“We might not have even that long, at this rate…”
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