Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 8 - Chapter 4.2

Our fake family’s rules were absolute. No sooner had we gotten back from cleaning up after the psychics and the magical girl than Type Twelve brought us—along with Lady Elsa, Peeps, my neighbor, and Abaddon—up to her UFO, which was still hovering in space.

It was time for us to sit around the low table in the Japanese-style house’s living room.

After we’d all had a moment to eat, Lady Elsa asked us what we thought of her cooking.

“Um, how is it? I hope it’s to everyone’s liking…”

Today’s dinner was composed of dishes from the otherworld made for us personally by Lady Elsa. The main course was meat, accompanied by bread, a salad full of colorful vegetables, and a soup that looked something like a potage. All of these were prepared from ingredients she’d brought here from the otherworld, and they were all foods even I had never seen.

According to Ms. Futarishizuka, who helped, she’d managed almost all of it by herself.

“It has such a profound taste,” she remarked.

“Elsa, what kind of meat did you use for the main dish?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“It’s wy—kangaroo meat!”

That was a close one. She’d almost brought wyverns into the conversation. I’d eaten the creatures several times in the otherworld; from what I’d heard, they were quite pricy. Mr. French had cooked me up a wyvern steak at his restaurant once. He’d mentioned that they were expensive because they were so hard to catch.

“Huh? Wait, are you allowed to eat kangaroo?” asked Miss Hoshizaki.

“Well, sure. They eat it all the time down in Australia,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Is that where you’re from, Elsa?”

“Not exactly,” said Lady Elsa, “but our food cultures are related.”

This was an excuse she’d cooked up with Ms. Futarishizuka. We obviously couldn’t tell the others the truth. I mean, come on. Wyverns?

Wild game made up most of the meat consumed in the otherworld; I was terrified of the infectious diseases and parasites we might get if Lady Elsa undercooked it. But if anything like that happened, I figured I’d just ask the Lord Starsage to heal us in our sleep. I’d already gotten his approval, so I was able to rest easy and enjoy the meal.

That was my contingency plan from the very start and the reason I’d allowed myself to chow down on all the best gourmet food in the otherworld.

“This soup is delicious,” I said. “It makes my mouth all tingly. I can’t get enough of it.”

“Really? The flavor is a bit divisive, so I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”

“Well, I love it, Lady Elsa. And I think it goes perfectly with the meat.”

“I am quite enjoying the soup myself,” agreed Ms. Futarishizuka. “It has a unique flavor I find rather addicting.”

“I’m really happy the two of you like it,” said Lady Elsa. “There’s enough soup for seconds. Please tell me if you don’t have enough. I can reheat it right away.”

Everyone else liked the food, too. One by one, they expressed their appreciation.

“I think I like the salad best,” said Miss Hoshizaki. “The dressing compliments it so well.”

“I agree,” said my neighbor. “The meat is great, but this salad is delicious.”

“With so many colors, it must be full of nutrition. I feel healthy just looking at it,” said Abaddon.

Compared to the meat, the side salad looked particularly otherworldly. Perhaps that was why each of the vegetables had been finely sliced so as to disguise their original forms. It kind of reminded me of coleslaw. The flavor seemed familiar to me, however—I was sure I’d eaten these ingredients before in the otherworld.

“You said there is enough soup for seconds,” said Peeps, “but is there any more meat?”

“Um, I’m sorry, little bird,” replied Lady Elsa. “There’s no more meat left.”

“Ah, I apologize for asking the impossible.”

“Oh, but you could have the rest of mine, if you want.”

“No, I could never.”

“You’re as much of a glutton as ever, you little sparrow,” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Next time, I’ll get the same amount for you as I do for everyone else,” promised Lady Elsa.

“Come now. Isn’t that a little much?”

I was exhausted from the work I’d done for the bureau, and being able to eat as soon as I got home was quite soothing. Having people waiting for me with dinner ready warmed my heart more than I ever thought it could. I had to admit, Type Twelve’s passion for family made a little more sense to me now.

“Father,” said the alien, “I observed psychic and magical girl activity outside of school again today.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “We already resolved the issue.”

“Huh? But wasn’t there a shooting just yesterday?” asked Miss Hoshizaki in surprise.

Ms. Futarishizuka assumed an air of nonchalance. “And I would expect no less. With this robot girl’s help, you could rewrite the political map. Plenty of people would make any number of sacrifices to get their hands on her. Whole nations could be destroyed in the process.”

“Mother, please do not worry,” added Type Twelve. “The youngest daughter will remain with you now and in the future.”

“Oh, um… When you put it like that, I feel a great weight on my shoulders…” Miss Hoshizaki smiled, but I sensed a stiffness in her cheeks. Type Twelve seemed to be growing more attached to her every day.

Incidentally, the section chief had contacted me earlier regarding the identity of the unknown psychics. According to him, they were part of an international terrorist group headquartered in central Asia, unrelated to the nerd’s group.

Their objective had been to kidnap my neighbor or one of her friends. They’d planned to forcibly bring her over to their side, then use her in negotiations with Type Twelve. The section chief told me this was a common pattern and promised he’d work even more closely with Miss Inukai and Captain Mason to guard the area around the school going forward.

What a horrifying affair, I thought.

As I cursed this new source of anxiety, family time came to an end. Afterward, I headed straight back to my cheap Tokyo hotel and quickly went to bed.