On Monday, I went hunting and spent the rest of the week peacefully attending classes.
By Saturday, I conducted training with Sharl at the park and held a study session at my house.
While I was seriously studying with her guidance, it was around evening when I started hearing some thudding noises from the next room.
“Hm? Is that Toko?”
Sharl looked up and asked.
“Probably.”
“Speaking of which, she wasn’t here at noon today. Your mother even brought tea and snacks.”
Toko usually comes around 3 o’clock in the afternoon with tea and ends up staying to chatter incessantly.
“That girl’s out in the forest today. She was all hyped up about hunting a bear.”
“A bear… isn’t that the number one monster we don’t want to encounter there?”
I always end up encountering that number one monster with 100% certainty.
If I told her this, Sharl might say she doesn’t want to go tomorrow, so I kept quiet.
“That’s because she’s mad. That girl’s still a kid.”
“True… but did she manage to hunt one?”
“Who knows? But I think not.”
The reason I believe that is because the noise is too intense.
And the footsteps are getting closer.
“—Big Brother!”
The door burst open, and Toko, wearing a loose house robe, entered the room.
“Knock next time! We have a guest here!”
“Are you kidding?! Not at all!”
No, you definitely should have.
“What’s up?”
“There were no bears—just wolves!”
Toko came over to me and started shaking my body.
“Are you cursed by the bears or something?”
“I carry a bear plushie and still!”
I don’t know.
That’s completely unrelated.
“It’s rare, so it can’t be helped. I just happened to be at a scene where seniors got attacked, and Ilmera was just lucky.”
“That’s unfair… I want to go again tomorrow!”
She’s really a kid.
“That sweet voice only works on Father. And also, you can’t come tomorrow. I’m going with Sharl.”
“Great! I’ll come too!”
“Wait a moment. Isn’t that suspicious that you’d even dare?”
Don’t you usually avoid eye contact?
“Big Sis, let’s go to the forest together.”
Toko went to Sharl and started shaking her body.
“When did I ever become your sister…?”
Sharl sighed.
“Come on, let’s go together and defeat a bear.”
“We’ll gather herbs and hunt a bear!”
“I’m not interested. I dislike bears, and this just doesn’t seem like a good idea at all.”
I agree with her.
“La Folle and Iver… same country, but can’t you get along?”
That line is definitely mine.
“Don’t lecture me. If you keep going regularly, you’ll encounter one eventually, so be patient.”
“Dammit! In that case, I’ll go every day then!”
What a troublesome younger sister.
“Out of curiosity, why do you want to hunt bears so badly anyway?”
Sharl asked, exasperated.
“Just pure stubbornness. She’s just embarrassed because Ilmera bragged about it.”
“Her pride is probably hurting…”
“Yeah, Ilmerla probably bragged about it.”
“Her pride really must be bruised…”
“Honestly, it feels like someone’s bragging about making a Romanée-Conti-flavored potion.”
Even as I explained, it still didn’t make any sense to me.
“I see. Understood.”
She seemed to have understood.
After continuing our conversation for a while, it was getting late, so Sharl left.
The next day, I prepared and headed to the dormitory. The meeting point with Sharl was by the lake’s safety checkpoint, so I descended the dorm’s hill and used the teleportation magic circle to head there.
I saw Sharl and Chloe in the distance, looking out at the lake.
Sharl was wearing the overcoat I’d seen her in before, while Chloe was in her maid outfit.
“Sharl, Chloe,”
I approached the two and greeted them.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Tsukasa-sama. I see you’re in athletic wear?”
And you’re still in a maid’s outfit despite heading to the forest…
“Anyway. What were you two doing here by the lake?”
“Nothing much…”
Sharl’s cheeks slightly reddened, and she averted her eyes.
“Did Chloe say something stupid again?”
“That.”
Figures. Chloe does occasionally say things that are out of line.
“It’s because the two of you are too serious.”
That’s definitely Chloe being too playful.
“Let’s ignore Chloe and gather herbs.”
“Agreed.”
“Perfect synchronization!”
What a nuisance.
Ignoring Chloe, Sharl and I entered the forest. Since this trip wasn’t for hunting but for herb-gathering, we didn’t venture too deep and stayed in relatively shallower areas.
Sharl crouched under a tree, then motioned for me to come over.
“What?”
As I approached and crouched beside her, I saw a plant right in front of us.
“This is the herb. The leaves are primarily used as ingredients for recovery potions, but the roots and stems can act as catalysts too.”
Sharl pointed at the plant and explained happily.
“Ah…”
“And this herb over here can also be a catalyst and enhances the potion’s effectiveness.”
“Really?”
It felt like a lecture was starting…
“Miss, while it’s good that you’re getting along, this is still a monster-infested forest. Tsukasa-sama is here as your guard, so please avoid being too much of a distraction.”
Chloe gently advised her mistress.
“Got it. Well, I’ll gather then. Thank you, Tsukasa.”
With that, Sharl went back to gathering the herbs I was just taught about, so I stood up and approached Chloe.
“…Sorry about that. It’s one of her bad habits.”
Chloe apologized softly, so Sharl wouldn’t hear.
“…Yeah, but Sharl seemed happy, so it’s fine. Still, I have no clue. I can’t differentiate between the two herbs you showed me at all.”
“…Right. Neither do I.”
Makes sense…
“Hm? Is something wrong?”
Sharl looked over at us.
“Nothing… Miss, despite having a talisman, remember what happened the other day. Of course, we’ll stay vigilant, but please don’t let your guard down. Besides, with Tsukasa-sama here, everything will be fine.”
“Sure. I’m good with Tsukasa around me.”
Sharl replied and went back to gathering herbs.
“…Tsukasa-sama has truly earned extraordinary trust from Miss. And yet, it’s a bit shocking.”
I kind of understand.
I thought about including Chloe too…
Thank you very much for reading.
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Thank you kindly!
