Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, I couldn’t believe it when I heard about tofu hamburger steak for the first time…This is a travesty that rivals broccoli pizza! But when my sister went vegetarian for a while, she managed to convince me to taste it--it was as bad as it sounds…I couldn’t eat burgers for quite a while after without feeling nauseous.”

 

It’s already evening, huh?

 

“Here, here, come here!” Arisa and Nana have just returned from looking at some of the overly cute animals--Arisa went with Nana, to make sure she would come back at a reasonable time.

 

The two of them grabbed my hands and lead me over to another section of the Yamato exhibition--maybe because it’s evening, there are only a few people around.

 

Pochi and Tama are wearing Japanese-like clothing and posing while holding swords that seem to be modeled off Katanas.

 

“Fufufu, they look the part, right? I’ve brought them from the cosplay corner, or rather--souvenir corner.” Arisa speaks with a proud tone as she and Nana lead me around the two Beastkin.

 

“Arisa, I cannot commend your wasteful spending.” Liza scolds her.

 

But Arisa’s pocket money comes from the salary that she gets from Nina. I really can’t get used to the ‘What belongs to the slaves belongs to the Master.’ mindset.

 

There is also a corner exhibiting Japanese Katanas, but they are treated as Ancient Swords--luckily it seems that the Japanese influence didn’t spread and devour the true society and developments of this world. The way that the main characters from Light Novels always try to destroy the culture of the worlds they go to, and try to overwrite it with Japanese culture--always annoyed me.

 

 I mean, you can spread science and culture, but it is better to spread the theories instead of already developed examples, and allow the worlds to follow their own paths--I would be all for giving the people Chemistry, Physics, and Economic textbooks, and see where it leads.

 

The dummy of Yamato’s main weapon, the Holy Sword Claiomh Solais, is being displayed at the center of the Katana exhibition corner. It’s a two-meter long great sword--from what I remember, Claiomh Solais should be a one-handed sword in the mythology of Earth; then again, people are summoned from many Earths, so it is likely that the mythology differs between them as well.

 

If Yamato can use this sword, they probably had a large body.

 

A huge, three meter wide picture is on display behind the dummy sword.

 

It’s a picture of Yamato fighting against a Demon Lord with a golden body standing on top of a castle wall. Yamato is depicted riding on a Dragon’s back, while wielding the Holy Sword--Yamato looks strangely small, but since the Dragon and Demon Lord are huge, I guess it can’t be helped.

 

Numerous floating swords are surrounding Yamato, it’s probably the artist’s interpretation--it’s like a scene that would appear in an anime.

 

“There’s no such thing as a Human riding on a Dragon.” Liza looks a bit displeased when she sees the picture--the Scalekin seem to be a people who deify Dragons.

 

“Eeh, doesn’t something like a Dragon Knight fire you up?” Arisa asked.

 

Mia is standing beside Arisa and nodding.

 

Before we could get to the clothing exhibit, a museum official notifies us that the the building is closing, so the tour ends.

 

According to Arisa, who toured it earlier, there are various cosplay costumes there--well, I don’t think that they’re cosplay, but what the people of that Era actually wore.

 

I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t join them all--since I was looking after Lulu, she had seemed a little down after seeing the mirror this morning.

 

***

When we get back to the Earl’s Mansion, Karina, who got left behind, tries to fight me--but she quickly forgives me after Pochi and Tama present her with the matching Japanese-like clothing and headbands as souvenirs.

 

I felt bad for leaving her behind--since her maids dragged her off somewhere, and we had to move quickly so that we could make it to the museum while keeping a reasonable amount of time to explore.

 

When I apologized, she said that it was alright--as long as I granted her one request; she said that it wouldn’t be anything like taking a promotion or anything. I asked her what the request was, she looked away with a slight blush and said that she would tell me later.

 

When I asked what everyone wanted for dinner, I learned that Pochi had a dislike for fish because it ‘fought back. She had almost choked on a fish bone once, and Arisa used the Heimlich maneuver to get it out.

 

Arisa had suggested to me that we make a fish-based dish, to fix Pochi’s hatred.

 

I wait with Pochi and the rest while Lulu and Liza cook. Pochi is curled up against me, her tail and ears lay flat--she seems scared, so I am playing with her hair and ears, comforting her.

 

“How about it, Arisa helped to dress me, do you think it suits me?” Karina comes into the room, happily showing off her new clothing. It seems that she’s pleased to have an outfit which matches the other girls.

 

When Lulu carries out what looks like hamburger patties--“Pochi!”, “Tama.”, the two girls call out each other’s names, though Pochi still seems quite tense.

 

I tell everyone beforehand that there is only enough for a single serving, since we didn’t buy much fish before this.

 

“Delishya!” Tama digs in happily.

 

Pochi carefully eats the patty, “It’s--the fish that attacks me…but it’s delicious.” She seems a little confused. So cute. Her ears and tail are alternating between nervous and excited.

 

“Delicious.” Arisa says wish a happy smile.

 

It looks like this dish is very popular.

 

“It’s the first time that I’ve eaten this dish.” Karina says with a very pleased expression.

 

Well, I don’t know if hamburger patties exist in this world, since Lulu made them based off theoretic knowledge that Arisa and I had--but they are also ridiculously simple to make.

 

“I’m eating such a luxurious dish that even Lady Karina hasn’t eaten!”

“Erina, stop being vulgar during the meal.”

 

Karina happily joined our group for dinner--however, so did her maids, somehow appearing at the table and are eating.

 

I explained to Pochi about how the bones were removed first--and when Lulu next makes fish, she will make sure there are no bones. For the time being, Pochi has become better with fish--she doesn’t seem worried about them anymore.

 

***

“Arisa, do you want to read this book?”

 

“Nn? The book you bought with Toruma? Is there a book on Intermediate-Grade Light Magic?”

 

We were currently relaxing on the sofa after our meal and evening bath--Karina spoke up in what seemed to be a subconscious manner, asking to join us. But the maids quickly stopped her, and took her over to the couch--the way she went deep crimson, her eyes becoming teary and her eyes darting around restlessly, after realizing her ‘mistake’, was incredibly cute.

 

“T-These are!”

 

I show Arisa the Magic books for Intermediate-Grade Light Magic, Explosion Magic, and Destruction Magic.

 

While she’s still gaping at these books, I pull out the Space Magic book that only has the spells in it.

 

“What’s this one? The book looks to be very badly looked-after--” Arisa’s expression changes after she sees the first spell.

 

“Hey, don’t tell me…This is Space Magic?”

 

“It is.”

 

“Don’t, say, that, so easily.” Arisa leans in, speaking with a strange intensity.

 

“It’s surely unusual right? Wait--am I forgetting this world’s common sense again?”

 

From what I’ve seen in all the cities so far, Shadow Magic is the rarest--since I’ve never seen a user beside Zen. The runner-ups are Explosion, Destruction, and Mind Magic, because beside Ringrande and Arisa--the only other users are Demons and the Demon Lord. Following them would be Ghost, Summoning, and Space Magic, which has very few users--but in a big city, there are several people who can use them.

 

“What are you saying?! It’s Space Magic, you know, Space Magic! It’s not a standard cheat!”

 

“It’d be convenient if there’s a Teleport Spell, but you don’t have enough Skill Points to learn Space Magic, right?”

 

Arisa’s excitement decreased somewhat.

 

I’m sorry to spoil the fun, but even if there is Teleportation Magic--it’d belong to the Advanced-Grade.

 

Arisa leaned back, holding my shoulders and staring at my face, “Fuhahaha! Since when did you misunderstand that Skill Points are fixed?” She imitates a super villain’s laugh, with a proud look on her face.

 

Well, that’s not too surprising.