A Lively Dinner

It was a night in the forest.

We returned to the mansion, and it was time for dinner.

We sat at the dining table and ate.

It was a stew where the meat had been simmered until tender—thick roux, softened vegetables, and meat.

Its rich savory flavor made my tongue happy. It went well with bread, too.

“This stew is good. Did you make it, Liricia?”

“Yes! I could make it even if I left it alone, and it makes a big batch, so I used to make it often. The children loved it.”

“I see. A home-cooked dish you’re used to making. As expected of you, Liricia.”

“Thank you!”

Liricia blushed with delight and smiled shyly. Her silver hair swayed.

As I ate, I asked:

“Everyone, was anything unusual? Any strange customers?”

Sophia furrowed her brows into a cute crease, went “Hmm,” and thought.

“Hmm… strange… Well, it sold here and there like usual. But people buying by the dozen were surprised by the Crown mark.”

“Is reselling the Crown-marked bottles allowed? Well, right now it’s about anti-counterfeiting. Reselling can wait.”

Liricia looked at me with violet eyes.

“About that—Kou-chan said if we want to prevent counterfeiting, we should switch to a sealed type, so I asked for it.”

“A sealed type?”

“He said new ones make a sound when you open them.”

“Huh.”

I stopped eating, pulled over the magic bag I’d left nearby, and took out a small bottle with the Royal mark.

When I tried to open the cap, it wouldn’t budge.

Liricia reached in from the side, lacing her slender fingers over my hand.

“He said you open it by twisting like this.”

There was a bit of resistance, then the lid turned.

At the same time—pssh!—a sound popped.

I opened it all the way.

There was a groove in the cap, designed so you twist to open it.

I twisted it back to close it, then opened it again—no sound the second time.

“I see. So if a bottle’s already been opened, it’s a fake. Is that sound magic?”

“He said it’s ‘science.’ Something about pressure differences. Since it’s something the King drinks, it should also prevent poison tampering.”

“As expected of Kou. I’ll praise him later.”

Teti spoke while pouring stew into bread she’d hollowed out.

“Should we tell customers when we sell it that opening the seal makes a sound?”

“Yeah. If they don’t know, they’ll be surprised when they open it. And it lets them tell new from used.”

“What do we do with used Crown-marked bottles?”

Sophia asked, scooping stew with her spoon.

“Ah… throwing them away might be a problem. I’ll buy them back for, say, about 1,000 Gort.”

At my words, Teti tilted her head cutely, her blond hair fluffing as it swayed.

“Won’t that cut into our profit? Raise the price?”

“No, not right now. First we crush the underworld outfit and the medicine dealer.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Teti took a big bite of her stew-bread. “Hot!” she yelped.

After that, we talked about all sorts of things—how it was in the forest, how Ciel had gotten better, and so on.

Liricia spoke happily.

“Also, someone whose child’s illness was cured by Puchi Elixir came to bring a gift, thanking us over and over.”

“Oh—if Puchi Elixir’s helping people, that makes me happy.”

“Yes. It makes me happy too.”

Liricia smiled and took a spoonful of stew. Her elegant movements were beautiful.

I was glad I’d set the price so even commoners could afford it.

While I ate my stew in high spirits, Sophia said:

“Ma-chan told me I might be able to go back to the Church soon.”

“Ah. Thanks for helping at the shop. You’ll need money, so I’ll pay you a bonus.”

“No, it’s not decided yet. Besides, they say I’d have to take an assignment at a church far from the Royal Capital, or enter a convent.”

Sophia scrunched her nose with a cute crease and made a face like she hated it.

Wondering why, I asked:

“You can go back, but you look unhappy. Is it because you won’t be able to use the elixir bath anymore?”

“That thing is the best. It’s the pinnacle of bath culture!”

Sophia’s blue eyes shone as she ranted passionately. Her shoulder-length blue hair swayed, emphasizing how slender her neck was.

—No surprise from someone who took five baths a day. A bath addict.

“This priest would pick baths over God.”

“Eeeh! I’m an angel, so isn’t that fine? Actually, I think I’m not the one who works for the Church—I’m the one the Church should revere, you know?”

“You’re a fallen angel, though.”

“If all I have to do is soak in a huge tub and stretch my wings, while the believers do all the care-taking, and I only come out sometimes to drink juice and get massages, then I think I’d be willing to go back to the Church.”

“What a fallen angel talking down from on high. No wonder you fell from heaven.”

At my jab, Liricia furrowed her brow and nodded.

“Exactly. Sophia-san, you may have gotten a little too stained by the secular world. Even if you are an angel, you should live modestly.”

“Whoa, whoa—coming from the angel who ‘falls’ every night, I don’t want to hear it. That’s not kindness; that’s that sin, isn’t it?”

“Ugh—!”

Liricia bit her lip and glared at Sophia, but she couldn’t retort.

She just made a frustrated face and grumbled under her breath.

I gave a wry smile and tried to calm them down.

“Alright, alright, you two. Liricia and I are a couple who’ve vowed our future together. It’s fine, isn’t it?”

“Master… thank you.”

“Are you going to have a ceremony? Also, you haven’t even exchanged engagement rings yet, have you?”

I looked at Liricia beside me.

Liricia looked back with wide eyes. There was no hesitation in them.

“It’s still too soon. I want it to be after we achieve our goal. Will you wait for me?”

“Yes, Master!”

Liricia nodded with a trusting gaze. Her silver hair bounced as it swayed.

Teti spoke while eating her stew-bread.

“That’s nice~! Then I’ll hold the hem of your dress~!”

“Kyai!”

“Huh, Rāna-chan wants to do it too? Then you two can split it.”

“Kyui!”

Rāna raised both hands in delight, still holding her spoon.

Her gestures were exactly like a child’s.

Caught up in the excitement, even Sophia raised her hand and said energetically:

“Then I’ll be the officiating priest and witness it for you!”

“Can you do that when you haven’t even gone back to the Church?”

“Grrr… I want to, but going back sounds like a pain.”

“So you’re not going back to the Church at all?”

“Hmm… it’s not impossible, I guess. If I can use the Church’s authority again like before and throw my weight around, then sure, I could go back.”

“Such a fallen angel…”

“Well, honestly I’m not that attached. The only reason my rank got so high was because I kept taking those business trips as a hero’s support that everyone else hated, and my standing just climbed on its own.”

She said it while steadily eating her bread.

All I could do was shrug.

“Then for now, I’m counting on you at the shop.”

“Okaaay, Alec-san!”

Sophia smiled, her blue hair swaying.

The fun dinner kept going after that.

Still—chewing on my bread, I thought—

Sophia’s status as a former high priest and former top-ranked member might be useful in all sorts of ways.