Between The Veil Of Night (3)

“I can’t feed anyone this garbage!”

In the kitchen, Ornis’s bellow rang out.

Noi, who had been in front of the hinoro hearth, stared round-eyed at Ornis.

“W-what did you say? Say it again.”

“I said—I. Can’t. Feed. Anyone. This!”

Word for word, Ornis repeated himself without a single mistake.

What Ornis held was a skewer of sweet potatoes, charred pitch-black. It was Noi’s specialty.

“I’m only saying the obvious, aren’t I!? What are you so shocked about!!”

If anything, he seemed more shocked by Noi, who reeled gaaan! with every word he hurled.

Behaving like a low-ranker—in other words, doing the chores.

Mages lived in a strict hierarchy. Even among disciples there was, of course, an order. Back when Noi studied under her grandfather, she had many senior disciples above her. When she’d been at the very bottom, she and Fengalow, who had entered at the same time, had run east and west together.

The things she invented then to make life even a little easier were the many magical tools for which Noi held patents.

I digress—but in short, Noi had no complaint about being treated this way. If you lived under a mage’s roof, then whether you were a child or even mana-less, it was only right that you take on the menial work.

—However.

Because she had never once doubted her own cooking, Noi was dumbfounded by Ornis’s blunt words.

“B-but you peel the potatoes before eating them, don’t you? I did peel the skins, you know?”

Until now, Noi had never—not once—been told by anyone that she was bad at cooking.

Back when she was the bottom rung in her grandfather’s household, Fengalow, well aware of the catastrophic boldness of Noi’s culinary “skill,” had always covered for her. Moreover, because her grandfather was a famed mage, he took on many disciples, so the period when Noi was truly the bottom rung had not even lasted several months.

Also—though she was unaware of it—Noi had both a large appetite and an iron stomach, and she could find nearly any food delicious.

It had never occurred to her that what she cooked every day might taste bad—and after she took Kardia in as her disciple, Noi had simply fed him her homemade food as well.

“Could you stop talking as if the peels were supposed to be left on? This isn’t peel or anything else. It’s charcoal!”

“C-char…coal…?”

It was too much. Of all the barbs Ornis had thrown at her since yesterday, this one stabbed the deepest.

As Noi’s knees wobbled, someone caught her from behind.

It was Kardia who easily braced Noi. It must have been midday; he had likely returned. Noi, who’d been making a racket in the kitchen, hadn’t noticed at all.

Kardia looked back and forth between the Noi in his arms and the skewered potatoes in Ornis’s hand.

“Who made that?”

Without a word, Ornis pointed at Noi. Noi drooped and looked down.

(…I’m going to be thrown out.)

She had only just renewed her resolve to stay at Kardia’s side. Because she had turned precious potatoes into charcoal, Noi would be driven out right this moment.

Kardia let go of the trembling, downcast Noi and stepped back a pace.

Then, just like that, he slumped down onto the floor.

“Wh—”

“Eh?”

“Gh… kuh!”

Right before the wide eyes of Ornis and Noi, Kardia clutched his stomach. As if his self-control were failing, laughter began to leak from his mouth.

“Ah—ahahaha…!!”

At last he gave up holding it in and burst out laughing.

“S-Sensei…?”

Ornis called Kardia’s name, eyes round. His careful tone sounded as if he feared Sensei had lost his wits.

“Y-you didn’t have to—resemble her this much…!”

“I didn’t simmer it—I roasted it.”

“Hi—hii…!”

Kardia let out a noise like a yelp. He clearly didn’t want Noi to say anything more. A mix of relief and vexation hit her at once, and Noi bopped Kardia with her fist.

Ornis’s eyes bulged, but Kardia didn’t seem to mind; he only laughed harder. When Noi raised her hand for another bop, Kardia caught it—and, enclosing her small fist in both his large hands as if to say put that away now, he patted it lightly.

“It’s been a while since I smelled that smell. Thank you. I’ll eat it.”

“Y-you’re going to eat that!?”

Ornis was aghast. Kardia smiled and nodded.

“My bride worked hard for me. And probably the insides are still fine.”

“There’s no way anything’s fine in a lump of charcoal like that!”

“No, really. Take a look—”

Leaving Noi where she was, Kardia headed over to Ornis. The two of them said something together over at the table.

But Noi didn’t listen to their conversation. She stared at the fist that, just a moment ago, Kardia had held.

(…It was big.)

The little Kardia was gone—that much, of course, she understood.

No—that wasn’t it—

(…Huh? Are… men… maybe… big…?)

Noi stared fixedly at her fist.

She was simply, utterly astonished.