Al-sama continued to laugh for a while until he started coughing and choking.
“”Was funny~?””
“... Cough. Sorry. I was too surprised by the words I had not expected.”
“”Uniyu?””
“I was expecting that you would reply to Takumi’s ‘You did well bringing it over’ with ‘It’s done~’ or ‘We brought it’ like usual, so I did not think you would say ‘Somehow’ there.”“”I see~””
Allen and Elena found the laughter strange, but it seems that they understood(?) with Al-sama’s explanation.
“”Onii~chan.””
“N? What’s up?”
“We want to.”
“Eat that~”
“That? This thing!?”“”That~””
After Allen and Elena understood, they changed their mind to “Don’t care about the laughter anymore” and started saying that they want to eat the Water Horse meat they got for me.
“”As is~””
“A, as is!?”
“”Yup!””
By as is, do they want me to whole roast the meat of this size?
I have no confidence that it will get cooked properly in the middle, you know!?
“Th, that would be a bit impossible, I think~”
“”Ehhh~~~””
“Even if I only use salt and pepper, it would take a long time for the fire to cook the insides, and it’s likely that the outside will get burnt in the meanwhile. It might be possible to cook the inside nicely with fire magic, but I have basically not used fire magic before~”
“”Do it~””
I have been granted ‘Fire Magic’ by the Fire God Salamanteel-sama, but I have used it only a couple of times. I wouldn’t have a problem using it to thoroughly burn monsters to defeat them, but that’s totally different from a minute adjustment of the heat level. Vector is surely much more capable in that aspect than me. Well, Vector is still undergoing special training, though!
But, it does not seem that Allen and Elena will give up. Now then, this is troubling.
N~... what do I do~ —Ah!
“Najack-sama!”
“Yes, what is it?”
Najack-sama is a person of the Ignis Household. The Ignis Household is famous for producing knights specializing in fire magic one after another!
“You specialize in fire magic, right?”
“Yes, but I am still considered a greenhorn.”
“What are you saying——Takumi, Najack is quite the master of fire magic.”
Najack-sama was humble, but Al-sama promptly objected.
If Al-sama says so, then he must be considerably skilled. Then, let’s have him roast this meat!
“Won’t you cook this meat inside out as it is, please?”
“”Roast~””
“... Eh?”
Allen and Elena looked up at Najack-sama and pleaded.
“These children want to eat this meat as it is no matter what, it seems. As I said before, it won’t cook properly on the open fire, and I am not that skilled with fire magic myself, so I would like to ask you to do it, Najack-sama.”
“No, however... I have never used fire magic for cooking myself before, so...”
I thought so. Few people would use fire magic to cook their meat. Most likely, the son of a noble would never even cook himself.
“We won’t say a word of complaint if you fail!”
“”Won’t say~!””
Allen and Elena are saying that they won’t complain if he fails. They probably won’t sulk even if the meat gets wasted.
“Ahh, cooking it in hand might be difficult, no? I will prepare it right away.”
I placed a tray-like thingy made from iron on the ground, placed the meat on top of it, and carried it before Najack-sama who had a hard time rejecting.
“Preparations.”
“Complete~”
Allen and Elena stared at Najack-sama as if saying “Go ahead!”.
“Eeeh!?”
“Kukuku.”
Al-sama started laughing at the baffled Najack-sama.
“Your Highness, please stop laughing and help me out here!”
“Y, you just have to do it, no? Fufu, they are saying that even a failure is acceptable anyway.”
“Your Highness!?”
“The magic used should be the elementary level ‘Heat’, all that’s left is to adjust the temperature with magical power, yes? Certainly, a degree of skill would be necessary to cook it whole equally.”
“Claudio, please stop with that calm analysis of yours!”
Najack-sama showed frustration he had not shown up until now.
Allen and Elena approached such Najack-sama and pulled on his clothes.
“Is fine~”
“Can do it~”
Being assured by the two, Najack-sama hung his head down despondently.
“Haah~ I got it, I got it.——Allen, Elena, you really won’t complain if I fail, right?”
“”Won’t!””
Al-sama was holding back his laughter, but Allen and Elena reaffirmed.
“Will get.”
“Another one~”
The two declared “Won’t” but what they meant is that they won’t give up on the manga meat and will hunt more of the same meat without any problems.
“... I, I see. Well, fine.——Najack, you are trying to cook, but there won’t be a problem if you turn it to ashes! Think of it as testing your skills.”
“... I understand.”
Being pushed by Al-sama, Najack-sama reluctantly acknowledged and extended his hands towards the meat.
“Oh fire, raise up ‘Heat’.”
When Najack-sama activated the magic, steam raised from the meat, and the fragrance of roasted meat spread around.
“I am not sure about the central part, but... how about this?”
“”Ohh~ ama~zing!””
“Thank you very much, Najack-sama.”
“Yep, yep, it looks good, Najack.”
Being praised by Al-sama, Najack-sama’s expression turned a bit shy.
“Allen, Elena, you guys should properly thank Najack-sama too.”
“”Yea! ——Thank you!””
“No, I am glad I could be of use. Rather than that, you said you wanted to eat that meat as it is, but how will you go about that?”
Now that I think about it, how do Allen and Elena want to eat that meat?
If they wanted to cut it up, there was no need to roast it as is in the first place, no?
“”Nibble~””
“......”
Najack-sama who confirmed with the children sunk into silence while Al-sama burst into laughter once again.
Well, I thought so. There’s no other way~
The manners are not too good, but it’s not like I don’t understand the feelings of wanting to try to eat it as it is, so I will shut my eyes this time.
“Allen, Elena. Are you fine with salt and pepper then?”
“”Yup!””
“It’s hot, so be careful not to scald yourselves.”
“”Yeee~s.””
When I sprinkled the meat over with salt and pepper, Allen and Elena immediately held up the meat on both ends and bit down.
Seeing the children bury their faces into the meat that was bigger than their heads was one of a kind of spectacle.
“Is it tasty?”
With their cheeks stuffed, the children nodded while chewing and bitting.
“”Delish!””
After sinking in their teeth to satisfaction, they chewed for a while then finally gave their impressions.
“Onii~chan too.”
“Say ahh~”
“Me too!?”
“”Yup!””
Then, the pushed out the meat to me and urged me to take a bite.
“”Quickly~””
It couldn’t be helped, so I also took a bite of the meat.
The two who watched me with smiles of all people presented the meat to Al-sama next.
“Oh, I can have a bite too?”
“”Yea!””
Unexpectedly, Al-sama was very willing as he bit down without any hesitation.
“Yeah, it’s tasty. Rather, eating in a way like this is quite a unique experience.”
Allen and Elena continued and presented the meat to the three knights. Well, Kevin-sama was immediately on board, but Najack-sama and Claudio-sama were hesitating considerably. But, being stared at by Allen and Elena who were urging them “Quickly”, the two had no choice but to have their turn.
