Chapter of Midsummer, Episode 2: Let’s Eat Summer Vegetables

Clouds drifted in the reddening skies outside of the window. I was surprised to realize that the day was already ending.

I recalled that it had been quite a busy day of walking around and sweating a lot as I removed my shoes.

The fan was diligently working, even while we left to get some ingredients for dinner, and we were greeted with a pleasant breeze as we entered the room. The black cat that was lazing about wasn’t watching the house in our absence; it was just there as a result of refusing to leave the room so it could take a nap. I still hadn’t quite adjusted to seeing the semi-transparent jellyfish floating around in the room.

Marie poked her head under my armpit and looked up.

“Oh, look, the spirit is still working. That’s good. It seems like there aren’t any issues even if I’m away from it for a short while. The ice spirit is very easygoing and likes to sleep often, so you can poke it gently if it stops moving.”

“I guess it’s different from managing an AC or other appliances if you can manage by poking it...”

“Of course it is,” Marie laughed as she removed her ear covers, revealing her characteristic long elf ears. She then walked over to the fan to cool off the sweat on her skin.

“Ahh, that’s nice! Hee hee, it’s nice not having to worry about the electricity bill. I couldn’t stop thinking about it when we had the AC running all day.” Marie flapped her skirt as she spoke. I turned around, and then it hit me. The electricity cost of keeping the place cool had pretty much been reduced to zero.

“What? But we were spending like 5,000 yen a month before!”

“Oh, you just realized it? This should help alleviate some of the cost of living, and this is what they call eco-friendly, right?”

Really, I hadn’t seen such an eco-friendly air conditioner in my life. I couldn’t help but feel surprised and impressed, and I walked over to place the shopping bags on the floor. Ordinary vegetables one could find at any supermarket came rolling out of them as I did so.

A hand reached over from beside me and picked up one of the vegetables, and then a pair of purple eyes inspected it. The look in Marie’s eyes wasn’t one of curiosity, but instead seemed to say “Why do vegetables even exist?” She hesitated.

“I was looking forward to dinner, but to think it’s going to be full of vegetables... I think I’m going to cry,” she said.

“Now, now. Summer veggies are really good. Vegetables in season are especially packed full of nutrients. Didn’t your mother scold you for hating vegetables?” I asked, and Marie let out a big sigh while maintaining her staring contest with the vegetable. The memory of getting scolded must have replayed in her mind.

“Then, just as we promised...”

“Yup, I won’t make any vegetable dishes without your approval,” I replied right away to reassure her. Marie blinked, seemingly taken aback by my lack of protest. I didn’t want to force her to eat anything she didn’t want to, and I could always have balanced out nutrients with other food.

“My, aren’t you confident? Do you have some sort of secret plan, perhaps?”

“Hm? Nope. I’m just going to cook normally so you can enjoy some food.” I added that it was for the sake of a vegetable-hating elf, and Marie made a non-committal sound and stared at me dubiously. I could tell she had her guard up, and I hurriedly began the prep work.

I turned on the water, and Marie came up to me while putting on her apron. The jellyfish floated up behind its master, and I wondered if it was curious about cooking made by a barbaric human like me. Marie’s shoulder gently pressed against mine, and she moved me in front of the cutting board. It seemed she wanted to split up our tasks.

“Vegetables in this country certainly do have pretty colors and shapes. They have a luster to them. They must be very well maintained.” Marie stared at the vegetables, impressed, and began washing them thoroughly. Then, she handed me a big, tasty-looking eggplant.

“Eggplants have been loved in this country since the old days. At first, only a select few influential people were even allowed to eat them. Once they became available to the common people, they quickly spread throughout Japan because of how good they tasted. They were modified over time to improve their flavor and yield, and now, eventually, they’ve ended up here in front of you,” I explained as I cut into the eggplant. I wanted Marie to become interested in vegetables, and I genuinely thought the in-season eggplant looked delicious. She stared at me as I cut smaller slices into the vegetable to make sure it would cook evenly, but it seemed she still hadn’t let her guard down.

“I suppose you ended up hating vegetables because of your time in the Sorcerer’s Guild?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s because the smell of boiling noinoi had seeped into my room from the kitchen. I was fine with it at first, but after a month, I was having nightmares about them. A noinoi appeared next to my pillow and intimidated me into eating it. It’s unforgivable. According to my roommate at the time, I was groaning about the smell and the bitterness in my sleep. You probably would have hated it too in such an environment.” Marie then handed me an onion, which was very similar to a noinoi. She narrowed her eyes at me, as if to say, “I can’t believe you’d put such a thing on our dinner table.”

I cut the onions into rings as I considered this. She must have hated vegetables so much because of trauma from her past. In my opinion, Marie was a bit unusual for an elf. She loved sweets and meat, and she had no interest in other food, like vegetables. But it wasn’t that she hated them completely. Simmered dishes and salads that didn’t have the smell of raw veggies didn’t seem to bother her. She had even asked me to make hot pot repeatedly.

“So not all hope is lost. Oh, don’t mind me. Just talking to myself. You didn’t go back to the elven forest even in such a horrible environment, huh? Is that because you really wanted to be a wizard?”

“Yes. I couldn’t just go home without accomplishing my goal of becoming a wizard. Aja the Great is just about the only wizard in Arilai, and he always surprised me with his mastery of Magic Tools and creative ideas. My teacher at the guild was also very kind, and I respected both of them greatly.” Marie suddenly seemed to remember something. Her hands stopped washing vegetables, and her purple eyes turned to me.

“I forgot to mention this, but our merits in clearing the second floor were recognized, and I was told that I could be promoted to an Advanced Sorceress as long as I passed an exam.”

I nearly responded with a lighthearted “Oh, that’s nice,” but then my eyes widened. Only a select few highly talented magic users were permitted to become a Sorceress, and Marie was already an extremely rare class, being a Spirit Sorceress. This meant that she was going to move up to an even higher class.

“So you’re one step closer to becoming a wizard, then. I was just enjoying my time in the ancient labyrinth, but I’m glad I was able to be of use.”

“It was the same for me. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. I got to eat so much delicious food, and we got to stay at a luxurious manor recently. We even went fishing on the second floor. I wonder if I really deserve to be promoted like this. I’ve been putting off the exam because it was weighing heavy on my mind.” Marie let out a deep sigh. It felt like a strange thing to be worried about.

But an Advanced Sorceress, huh...? I wondered what kind of benefits came with being promoted. Being oblivious about the inner structure of the Sorcerer’s Guild, I asked Marie that very question. She looked up at the ceiling and thought it over for a moment.

“Advancing in rank does come with many perks. First of all, there’s an increase in salary, but I’ve been getting paid plenty lately, so that’s not the important part.”

She was right. We had put in so much work that Arilai had paid us in platinum coins, so a salary increase didn’t feel like much of a benefit. We didn’t have too much to spend it on anyway, and although Marie did want to be wealthy, an Advanced Sorceress’s salary wasn’t nearly enough to attain that goal.

“I’d also get the right to access the archives, which is said to be a treasure trove of knowledge. But personally, I like the libraries here more. I would also get my own personal room, but the Manor of Black Roses was far more comfortable, so...” Marie stopped in the middle of her explanation. She seemed to be deep in thought with a vegetable still in her grip, then looked at me with a curious expression.

“For some reason, I just got the feeling that becoming an Advanced Sorceress doesn’t really matter. How strange. I’d been trying too hard until now, thinking I’d be able to go shopping and enjoy tasty food if I just increased my salary...”

“Maybe because we’ve been shopping and eating good food all this time? Like I mentioned before, we’ve been spending all our time playing around in the other world.”

Marie blinked, then let out an “Ah!” She had just remembered that ever since we moved our home base to Arilai, we’d been staying at a noble manor, and we’d also been eating delicious food and sweets in Japan. Such desires would naturally wane after living a lifestyle like that.

“I feel like I’ll end up getting corrupted into a dark elf someday,” Marie noted.

“I wouldn’t exactly call ours a humble lifestyle. Though, I think we’re living pretty modestly here in Japan, at least. After all, my lifestyle is as ordinary as you can get.” I realized we had finished the prep work. Water was dripping from the basket full of washed vegetables. I had stocked a few each of in-season eggplants, pumpkin, asparagus, shishito peppers, bell peppers, and shiso leaves. The onions I had bought were there just because I liked onions.

The pumpkin I had bought already came cut into quarters, so I just had to scoop out the seeds and slice it into smaller pieces. On tonight’s menu was summer vegetable tempura, as was apparent by the oil I was preparing. Marie appeared wearing a head wrap on her head and was ready to learn another foreign dish.

“It’s easy for tempura to end up too soggy, so it’s pretty hard to make. That’s why I don’t make it often, but since we are, I wanna make sure it comes out good.”

“Oh? What makes it so hard? Is it the seasoning?” It was actually the temperature management. The ideal temperature varied by the vegetable, and the difference in temperature between the batter and the oil was important, too. In other words, you had to manage the temperatures perfectly in order to make delicious, crispy tempura. And since I couldn’t be bothered to do the extra work, I used mayonnaise instead of eggs to prevent the batter from ending up soggy. Mayonnaise was often used as a substitute in dishes that used eggs.

As I mixed the mayo with water, a thought came to me. I wondered if the floaty jellyfish-looking spirit could help.

As an experiment, I laid a glass bowl near it and gave it a poke. It seemed to realize it was being asked to work, and it reached for the bowl with its little appendages. I felt the air grow cold, and I laughed when I found that the water had been chilled nicely. The spirit wasn’t just useful for air conditioning, but cooking, too. This creature was proving to be indispensable for the summer.

After adding flour and stirring the mixture, the tempura pan heated up and was ready to go.

It would all be about speed and timing from here. I dried off the shiso leaves and added batter on one side, then picked it up with chopsticks and tossed it into the hot pan, making it sizzle nicely. Surprised by the unfamiliar sound, Marie’s long ears trembled.

“We’re going to put them in the pan, starting in order from the ones that are easiest to fry and smell the least. When they float up to the surface and the bubbles turn smaller, it means they’re ready to be taken out.” I removed the excess oil, placed the leaf on a mesh screen, then got to work adding the rest. Temperature management was crucial, and timing was key, as well. This was a dish that could have been made in any household, but tempura was still quite difficult. At the very least, I didn’t like making it.

I fried the shiso, asparagus, and shishito peppers in order, and the room was filled with a warm, gentle smell. The lighter items were fun to fry due to how quickly they cooked. As I continued the process, I sensed something below. I looked down to find a black cat roaming around my feet and meowing restlessly.

“I’m busy right now, so no snacking for you. You’ll have to wait until I’m done cooking.” Fried food wasn’t good for cats in the first place. I didn’t know if such logic applied to familiars, but as I mentioned earlier, frying food was a game of speed and timing.

But the cat cared not for such trivial things. I was taken aback when it dug its claws into my pants and climbed up my leg. Its eyes seemed to say “Give me a taste already, human,” as it moved closer with a look that told me it was already set on swiping something to eat. It was painful, but cats sure were cute. I relented and picked up a shishito pepper with my chopsticks, then moved it closer to the cat while it continued to hang off of my butt. The cat opened its mouth wide, which may or may not have been a threat to eat me whole.

The cat chomped down on the pepper, then narrowed its eyes happily. It seemed to be pleased by the satisfying texture and fragrance of the flavorful vegetable. The cat made a strange sound that was a mixture of a purr and a growl, then flashed an expression of pure bliss.

Things were quiet now that the pesky one was out of the way, so I decided to finish cooking the rest of the food.

I tossed in the vegetables one after another, placing them on the mesh as they were cooked through. The process took less time than it usually did to cook dinner, and I only needed about twenty minutes or so.

I then placed the food on plates, brought out some dipping sauce and salt, and I was all done. As Marie and the black cat stared at the steamy tempura, I placed our rice and beer on the table.

We said our usual thanks before the meal, then each picked up our chopsticks.

Marie still seemed to be cautious, and I was curious to know what she thought. She bit through the crispy tempura with a satisfying sound, and the scent and flavor of the batter filled her mouth. The asparagus tempura was nicely cooked all the way through, allowing her to chew through it with ease. After that came the vegetable’s inherent sweetness.

It was a warm, comforting taste that was only heightened when dipped in tempura sauce, and it was further enhanced when combined with rice. The elf furrowed her brows, wriggling around as she chewed.

“Mmmf...!” I was expecting to hear her feedback, but she seemed to return to her senses and reached for her chilled beer. She picked up the glass and tilted it back toward her mouth.

The synergy was exquisite. The oil and the natural sweetness of the vegetables didn’t obstruct the flavor of the beer; in fact, they perfectly complimented it as side dishes for the beverage. Considering we had both sweated a lot during the day, the carbonated beer going down her throat must have felt amazing. Wridra’s pink-nosed familiar watched the elf as she drank, and then Marie practically slammed the glass onto the table with an “Ahhh!”

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this?! You call this cooking modest? Try saying that again with a straight face. It’s so fragrant and satisfying... Ah, I get it now. It’s because of this. This is why my drive to become an Advanced Sorceress has diminished. I’m sure of it.”

“What? That can’t be. There’s no way tempura could sway your life so dramatically. More importantly, here. Try some of this eggplant. I just fried it, so I’m sure it’s good.” Marie’s expression suddenly turned to a pouty one, and she glared at the eggplant for some reason.

I could tell what she was thinking by the cautious look on her face. She was thinking, “This must be a trap. This is the representation of the vegetables I hate so much, and turning it into tempura won’t make a difference.”

But the eggplant had, in fact, transformed into a different being completely. By cooking it thoroughly and letting it soak up the oil, the eggplant’s texture had turned incredibly soft. As Marie bit into the eggplant, she was shocked by the distinctive texture of its exterior and its creamy interior.

“Oho ho ho.”

“Hm? What was that?” I couldn’t tell if she was commenting on the taste or laughing, so I had to ask. Marie swallowed her mouthful, then turned her slightly reddened face toward me.

“Okay, okay, I get it! I understand what you’re trying to do here, and I’m not upset about it at all! The eggplant gets a pass. I can understand why influential people would hoard them, and why they spread throughout Japan if they taste like this. I was wrong for hating them, okay?!” She burst out complaining, then took another swig of her beer. Overcome with bliss, Marie let out another satisfied sigh.

“Eggplants are delicious when fried, too. You need to be careful because it absorbs the oil, but you can trap in the umami if you take it out early enough.” Though, the reason for their popularity was because they went well with any ingredient. The strange thing about this vegetable was that it became the star of the show when fried in oil.

Vegetable tempura was quite an interesting dish. All one had to do was add batter and fry it, but the texture and flavor changed dramatically. We continued enjoying our food, picking up this piece and that with our chopsticks. The shiso was nice and fragrant, and the pumpkin was sweet and warm. Then, there was the salt. Using salt instead of tempura dipping sauce changed the flavor to a more simple one, but it was still delicious.

“Mmm, delicious! I love how light the vegetable tempura are. I could eat a million of these.”

It was hard to believe she was hating on vegetables not too long ago. But it didn’t feel bad to hear her say this; in fact, I wanted her to eat even more. I felt like an old lady watching a travel show and smiling as the host talked about how tasty the food was. But for tonight, I would’ve been a lot happier if I managed to help her overcome her dislike for vegetables.

Watching the black cat munch away at some tempura on a small plate, I slowly sipped at my drink. Of course, I wouldn’t have given this kind of food to an actual cat.

The plates were soon left empty, and the elf girl’s stomach was full of food.

The jellyfish-like creature floated around in the air, and a fan continued to blow a nice breeze.

I chuckled to myself at the familiar sight and began washing the dishes. I wanted to lounge around too, but it would have been more of a hassle if I left the dishes for later, and I wanted to take a bath early and prepare for bed.

As I washed the dishes one by one, I heard Marie’s voice from behind me.

“The summer vegetables were so delicious. I was so happy the whole time I was eating. I could picture veggies marching around inside my head! All of the vegetables in the other world taste so awful, I never would have even thought about eating them.” When I turned around, I found Marie hugging the backrest of a chair with her face still pink from the alcohol.

“That’s just how it is, really. It’s hard to keep food fresh over there. Even the noinoi that you hate so much taste good and don’t smell too bad when they’re in season. They’re just hard to get while fresh for ordinary people.”

Maybe selective breeding was a big part of it, too. Farmers were constantly making an effort to make their food better tasting, bigger, and easier to grow. It was just that the farmers of our world had spent many more years going through trial and error... Not only that, but the fact that there was no way to store the vegetables in the other world had to be a big reason why they tasted the way they did.

I told this to Marie, and she made a face that said “It’s such a shame.”

“Aww... If only I could eat vegetables from Japan in the other world, too. Though, farmland in Arilai is very limited, and it’s all owned by others already.”

“Yeah, there’s no way we’re going to conveniently find some land to cultivate...”

Something felt off. We each looked at each other, and time quietly passed by. It felt like we were forgetting something, and remembering it would solve this problem before us. Marie, the black cat, and I all stared at the ceiling in silence for a while.

“This is frustrating. It’s like I feel a sneeze coming on, but it won’t come out.”

“Yeah, it feels just like that. We won’t be able to bring seeds over to the other world, though. I can only bring food and drinks with me. But wait, you can cook pumpkin seeds and eat them, so would they count as food?”

“Meowww!” The black cat, which had been curled up on the table earlier, cried out in realization. Those eyes like pretty glass beads lit up, and the cat plopped its paws on Marie, who was sitting there blankly. It seemed to be pleading for us to notice something. Marie, who was satisfied with a stomach full of tempura, just giggled and noted how cute the cat was.

I was starting to get used to that annoyed expression on the cat’s face. After wiping down some plates, I brought some cups of tea over to the table where the others were sitting. Just then, I heard Marie let out a cheer.

“Wow, you can stand? I’ve seen a video like this on TV before.” I was surprised, too. I nearly spilled the tea all over the place. The cat was waddling around on the table.

“Huh, I didn’t know cats could stand if they tried. It’s cute how it’s curling its paws in front of its chest.” Marie laughed in agreement. Meanwhile, the cat glared at us as if scolding us to take this seriously. Maybe it wasn’t playing around, but trying to tell us something.

“Aha, that waddle is so adorable! Let’s take some pictures.”

“Looks like it’s imitating a ghost with that pose. Whoa, why are you hugging me all of a sudden?” The cat plopped its arms around my shoulder, then looked at me with glittering eyes. But what could it have been trying to tell us? The cat seemed to be reacting to what I had just said, so it must have been trying to convey a message. Marie finally caught on too and stared at the cat contemplatively.

“Is it just me, or did it just react to the word ‘ghost’?”

“Maybe it wants to see a horror movie again...? No, that’s not it. Hey, don’t scratch. That hurts,” I said to the cat.

“Speaking of ghosts, that reminds me of the second floor we spent time on in the other world. There were ghosts all over the place then. It felt more strange than scary, though.”

“They were mostly undead with physical forms, like Living Armor and Reaper. The floor master, Shirley, might’ve been the most ghost-like out of all of them. She was semi-transparent and took people’s souls, after all. Whoa, why are you rubbing your head against me all of a sudden?” I was surprised when the cat suddenly purred and rubbed its head against me. Not only that, but it moved its face right up to mine.

It repeatedly slapped its paw against my shoulder, as if urging me to give my answer. It seemed I was getting very close, but I still didn’t know where this was going.

“Shirley, Shirley... Hmm, what are you trying to tell me? I get that it’s supposed to be a hint, but... Come to think of it, what were we trying to remember earlier? We were talking about vegetables, right?”

“Ahhh!!!” Marie shouted and stood straight up from her chair. The elf and black cat stared at each other, the light shining in their eyes... Sadly, I was the only one left out of the conversation.

“Huh? What? You figured it out? What was it?”

“Hee hee, then let me give a hint for the sleepy-faced little Kazuhiho. Here, we have a pumpkin seed. What’s one thing it needs to grow?” I mean, the answer was obviously farm land. I stared blankly, which felt like an appropriate reaction. Marie saw that I couldn’t answer and smiled happily.

“Do you remember seeing any suitable land in the ancient labyrinth?”

“A farm in the ancient labyrinth? Come on, this is an amazing labyrinth from ancient times we’re talking about. If there was land like that in the area, I would’ve remembered...” I trailed off.

Wait a minute, hadn’t I done something unusual there? Didn’t I have an unnatural experience that was out of place in the ancient labyrinth? The first thing that came to mind was the fact that I became friends with the floor master, Shirley. It really was hard to believe, but it was the truth, and I had spent time playing on the second floor where she lived.

As for what I did specifically, I had managed something that couldn’t normally be done, even here in Japan. I recalled the shade of the warm tree and how the wind felt nice as it caressed my face. Insects cried out all over, and the smell of soil and grass felt nostalgic. It was as if I had arrived at a rural summer retreat.

The fishing pole in my hand swayed as I hummed and walked alongside Marie. I heard the river flowing gently as we proceeded through a footpath and declared I would catch a big one today, and then...

“Oh, the hall on the second floor! Something like a river and sun were created by Shirley’s power. Is that what you were talking about?!”

“Exactly. I’ve never seen such healthy soil in Arilai, and if we bring seeds with us, we may even be able to start a farm. I’m sure Shirley would smile and agree, too. I mean, we would be able to eat so many delicious vegetables!” Marie touched my arm and smiled besides me. Her eyes were full of curiosity, though part of her motivation was a desire for food, as she had just mentioned.

“Well?” she asked, cocking her head at me. Her large eyes seemed to say “Let’s grow crops to our hearts’ content and enjoy some delicious food.” With those eyes and that smile directed right at me, I had no choice but to surrender. I stood no chance.

“Hm, even if the farm ends up failing, we’d only feel a bit sad about it. So, we might as well try. We’ve got nothing to lose, after all.”

“Yes! I can’t wait to go to the dream world. As an elf, I’m very particular about farming. Will a skinny modern man like you be able to endure it?” She booped my nose with a finger teasingly, a cheerful smile on her face. I didn’t know why, but Marie was so beautiful at times like these.

She was giddy as she hopped on my lap, her toes waving back and forth, as if to finish me off. It would have been quite cruel if she was making me feel this way subconsciously.

“Hee hee, I can’t wait to farm. First, we’ll have to find out if we can bring seeds with us. If it works, let’s start preparing for our trip to the second floor. It should take a whole day to get to the oasis where the ancient labyrinth is, and we’d have to wait until we get orders to go there as Team Amethyst, so we’ll have to figure out a method of transportation. Well, now that we know what to do, I’ll be taking a bath. You should hurry, too. Don’t just sit there blankly, or I’ll have to leave you behind.”

Marie hopped off of my lap, waved goodbye, and headed toward the bathroom. It was hard to believe someone so restless had lived for so many years. Considering this was all over a desire to eat good vegetables, she seemed even more human-like than me. I sank lower into my chair.

I could see the sun had set through the window, and I sat at the table alone.

It seemed the cat had been really into bathing as of late, and I could hear the faint sound of happy voices from the bathroom. As for me, I was rearranging my documents and doing work for my company.

Most people would have been scolded for bringing work back home with them, but I wanted to get home as soon as possible. As long as I finished my work as scheduled, no one had any right to complain. It was fine as long as no one found out.

I was writing with my pen when I noticed something. The ice spirit was gently floating through the air. I figured it may have disappeared if it tried to follow its master, and I decided to talk to it.

“Hey, thanks for the hard work. I’ll probably be in your care a lot this year, so thank you in advance.” The jellyfish glowed with a pale light as if to say “Leave it to me!” My room was becoming lively even without the other two present. This felt very strange to me.

Their voices became louder. It seemed they had finished bathing.

I decided to prepare some iced tea while they dried their hair. As I bundled the documents together and prepared to stand, I heard the door sliding open behind me. They got changed very quickly tonight, I thought, as I turned around...

“Hey, welcome baaack?!”

“So hooot!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mariabelle had opened the door without getting dressed. I froze in place as I saw her wrapped in a bath towel, her wet hair clinging to her body. There was sweat on her pale skin, and despite the towel covering her breasts, the sweat-soaked piece of fabric seemed to accentuate her slight protrusions.

Marie walked barefoot toward the fan, waving at her heated face with her hand.

“I’m surprised... I didn’t realize it would be so hot getting out of the bath in summer. Nn, that’s a nice breeze! I’m so glad we decided to make this.” Marie’s face expressed pure bliss as she leaned forward into the cold wind. She must have really loved it, considering she sat down in front of the fan and let out a “Waaah...” Then, the jellyfish-like spirit floated over in search of its master, and plopped onto her head.

Marie was getting more thinly dressed as we went deeper into summer. She had been exposing her shoulders more often as of late, but wearing nothing but a bath towel was a whole other story... It made her incredible attractiveness all the more apparent.

The bath towel stuck to her body made me all too aware of her slender, feminine figure. The way she sat there with her legs folded under her without covering up her slim waist, butt, sweaty thighs, and exposed shoulders was so alluring that I couldn’t help but follow her with my eyes.

...I kind of like the bath towel look.

Marie turned around, as if to ask if I’d said something, and I tried to play it cool. I wanted her to stay aloof like this, if possible. Though, that probably wasn’t a thought I should have been having. Feeling a twinge of guilt about it, I walked by Marie while trying not to look at her and decided to bring out some drinks from the fridge.

“They say that in Japan, it’s bad manners to walk around in a bath towel.”

“Ah, but it’s just you here, so it should be fine, right? It would be one thing if it was in front of others, but you’re my boyfriend. Oh, oh! Can you get me some ice cream, too? I have some vanilla ice cream in there!”

I didn’t realize she had prepared some after-bath ice cream. It seemed Marie had been learning how to enjoy her time in Japan even more than I assumed. Though, I wasn’t quite sure if having ice cream after a bath would fall under the category of the proper way to spend one’s summer. I grabbed some vanilla ice cream as requested, then poured some iced tea into a glass and brought them over to Marie.

A sweets-loving black cat came running over from the dressing room and leaped onto the chair right as I placed the dessert on the table.

“Hey, even you haven’t dried off, Wridra? Do you realize how awful it would be to catch a cold in this heat?” The cat stuck its pink tongue out at me, but the nasty expression was actually quite comical, and it made me laugh.

Marie joined us late and took a seat, and their moment of bliss began. She scooped some ice cream with her silver spoon and put it in her mouth. The coldness was just right, and the rich sweetness immediately melted on her tongue, making her furrow her brows and squirm.

“Mmm, delicious! Ahh, I’ve finally discovered the way to enjoy bathing to the fullest...” All she was doing was having some ice cream after a bath, but she looked like she had stumbled upon an ancient secret. Or maybe her expression was more like that of a detective who had just deduced who the criminal was.

The black cat also ate the ice cream on its own glass plate. It licked away at the partially melted ice cream, joy sparkling in its eyes.

“Meowww!”

“Yes, it seems you’ve discovered it, too. Heaven’s door, that is,” Marie said knowingly. Was this what girls liked to talk about? I didn’t quite get it, but I was having trouble figuring out where I was supposed to look, so I hoped Marie would change into her pajamas soon.

I wanted to at least help her dry her hair, so I picked up a bath towel and walked up to her. She was still squirming from the cold sweetness, but straightened her back as if she was giving me permission. She looked composed, like some sort of noble lady, but I was having trouble keeping my eyes off of her. Taking full advantage of my privilege as her boyfriend, I spoke to her in the most casual tone I could muster.

“The only thing is, vanilla ice cream is full of sugar, so it might make you gain weight.” I was half-joking, but Marie reacted as if she had been hit with a fist. Sweat rolled down her face, but she remained motionless for some time. The cat and I looked at each other and tilted our heads. We waited for some time, and eventually Marie spoke with a shaky voice.

“Have you ever heard the saying... that elves don’t get fat?”

The cat meowed as if to say, “What kind of saying is that?!” But wait... judging by the way she still didn’t meet my eyes, and the look on her face that told me that was what she wanted to believe...

“Did you... gain weight?”

“...”

Marie continued to sweat profusely, despite cooling off from the fan and the ice spirit on her head. Her reaction told me she already knew it was true before I’d asked. But come to think of it, she did seem to be a bit rounder around the edges. Though, perhaps I shouldn’t have made such observations. Mariabelle’s shoulders trembled as she opened her mouth to speak.

“...did... weight...”

“Hm? What was that?”

“I-I did gain a bit of weight lately! I can pinch the meat on my arms now!” She was half-crying and red-faced as she turned to face me, and she repeatedly squished the meat on her upper arms. To be honest, I thought it was absolutely adorable.

“Nooo! Don’t smirk at me with that sleepy-looking face! I can’t do it! It’s all over! I’ve never heard of an elf that got fat because they couldn’t resist the urge to eat sweets!” With that, she covered her face with both hands.

But why had she gained weight in the first place? It wasn’t as if she was snacking every day, and I did put effort into managing nutritious meals. With that in mind, I considered the possibility that it had to do with the change in environment.

“Oh, I get it. It must be because we haven’t been exercising in the dream world,” I commented, and Marie turned to me, on the verge of tears. She blinked her pretty eyes, then thought about it for a moment.

“Now that you mention it, we’ve been on a long break over there, so we haven’t done anything.”

“Yeah, because we finished conquering up to the second floor. There hasn’t been any work for us to do while they check through the piles of treasure, but maybe you didn’t gain weight until now because we were active before that.”

Arilai, where we worked, allowed adventurers into ancient labyrinths for the benefit of the country. The treasure, knowledge, artifacts, and Magic Stones found there would directly contribute to the country’s power, and we had obtained mountains of spoils when we cleared the second floor.

I presumed Arilai had been steadily gaining an advantage compared to its neighboring countries. Though the royal family was certainly happy about it, it took time to appraise all of the loot, so all activity in the labyrinth was on hold for now. This led to a decrease in physical exertion... In other words, it was simply a lack of exercise.

“How terrible... I’ve been getting fatter because of Arilai.”

“Ah, well, you gained weight because you kept eating, not because of...” I swallowed my words before finishing my sentence. Marie moved her face right up to mine, wordlessly insisting she was right, and all I could do was nod in agreement.

“Then, maybe we should get some exercise outside of the labyrinth, too. The farming we were talking about earlier would be a good option, and going to a pool or the sea is a staple of summer exercise—”

Marie, the cat, and I came to a realization at once.

Trayn, the Journey’s Guide, was a long-distance travel skill that allowed me to move between one shrine of the travel god to another once a day. I loved traveling so much that I often made cross-continent trips, so naturally, I had a tropical paradise registered with my skill, where I could take the girls with me.

“Yes, yes, let’s go to the sea! Oh my goodness, that’s amazing! Who knew your skill had uses like this?”

“Well, I’m glad I learned it. Let’s get ready to go as soon as we get back to the dream world. Team Amethyst would be unavailable for a bit, but I’m sure we could get away with being gone for a day or two.”

“Yaaaaaay!” Marie could hardly contain her excitement, and she embraced me right after raising her hands in celebration. Her body was warm from being fresh out of the bath, and her soft, feminine skin against mine made me freeze in place. I had practically turned into a statue. But Marie didn’t even seem to notice, and smiled brilliantly with her face right next to mine. How inadvertently cruel she was.

“Hee hee, I can’t wait to go to the sea. And knowing you, I’m sure you know about some beautiful beach to show me. Say, what should we bring? We’ll have to make sure we don’t forget anything so we don’t have any regrets.”

“Y-Yeah...” I replied awkwardly. She smelled like soap, and her cute face was far too close. Not to mention, the fact that she was wearing nothing but a bath towel was too much for me.

I couldn’t tell if I was lucky or not. She bounced with so much excitement in her pale purple eyes, and my gaze fell to the loosening knot on her bath towel. She didn’t notice that her towel had fallen right away. I was sweating profusely the entire time Marie went on about taking a stroll while enjoying the view of the sea. She clapped her hands together and said “Doesn’t that sound like fun?” when she finally noticed I was deliberately looking away from her.

Marie went quiet, and then her gaze lowered to her own body.

“Nnyaaaaaaaaa!” It was the expected reaction. Marie screamed, her face completely red.

Later that day, there was a notice put up in the corner of the room that read “No walking around in nothing but a bath towel.” I admired how good Marie’s handwriting was as I stared at it.

Now, it was just about bedtime.

I laid there in my room, dim with only indirect lighting.

Marie rested her head on my chest like a cat that liked to nestle into tight spaces. Her hair was disheveled, and she was breathing rhythmically in her sleep. Although it was a rather comforting rhythm, I was having a hard time sleeping at the end of the restless day.

Marie turned over in her sleep, turning her cute face toward me. Her skin felt smooth against mine, and the stifling air of the previous night was completely gone. She had made the stuffy room comfortable in a single day, which I still found surprising each and every day since.

Looking up, I saw a small bag on a shelf next to my pillow. Inside of it were some pumpkin seeds for our experiment to see if they could be brought into my dreams. If we succeeded in carrying them with us, we just may have been able to start a vegetable farm.

“We have our trip to the sea, too. This summer definitely feels different from the rest.” I chuckled to myself, and the long ear in front of me twitched. I wondered if she heard my voice, or the sound of wind chimes in the distance.

I thought that it might be fun if I took her to the Wind Chime Festival. I could just picture her with her mouth agape at the sight of mountains of wind chimes before her. I had a feeling she would try her best to find the cutest one. In my mind, I could see her gesturing to them and saying how pretty they were. Even though I had never been to the festival myself.

Such thoughts always occupied my mind as of late. As I imagined all the ways I could make her happy, I began to doze off. The days we had spent together were simple, but I found joy just imagining such sights.

The warmth of her body, the quietly spinning fan, and the purr of a cat from under the blanket... Our room in the summer was full of comforts that were unbefitting of the season.

Good night... I uttered in my mind, and before I knew it, I was fast asleep. In my dream, I would catch up to the other girls.