8 Tonight's Dinner Is–

The sun had set for some time now, and in my neighborhood, along with the adventurers who witnessed my magic are seeing me off as they were giving me praises.

"—Man, that really was a shock! To think that a kid at your age could cast magic that strong, I'm at a loss for words…"

"Why don't you become an adventurer in the future? With your abilities, you should be more than qualified to become one. You'd instantly become famous after joining you know!"

"If it's possible, asking you to become a party member would be a great idea!"

"Really?! Right now, I'm twelve years old so it's still impossible for me to become an adventurer, but I want to become one in the future!"

"Now that is something to look forward to!"

Noticing the necklace on one of the adventurers who wore heavy armor, it was just like the one I saw at the magic item shop.

"Hm? Ah, you like this necklace, kid? You want it?"

"Eh? N-No need to do that, sir!"

Seeing me eyeing it, he took it off his neck and offered it to me.

"Don't mind. I just picked it up in an alley surrounded by lizards this afternoon anyway. Here."

I accepted it from his hand and made a joyous expression.

"T-Thank you very much, sir!"

"This is your neighborhood, right? The adults are all busy, but you should be safe from here on. After this go straight home, okay?"

"Be more wary of monsters from now on, kid."

"Yessir! Thank you for seeing me off!"

They left after bowing my head to them.

Now that their backs are facing me, I too started walking the other way.

I studied the necklace, its cylindrical shape, dragon heads at the ends, the red fluid inside.

What wonderful people. They said I could become an adventurer, what a wonderful day it is!

With the joy I can't contain, I can't help but show a big smile on my face.

Whilst thinking about today's events, I didn't notice that I was already in front of the house.

Hmm? What is this smell? It's alluring. And here I thought no one was coming back home tonight.

This is the aroma of various spices wafting through the air.

Entering the house, I left my slippers by the door and went straight to the kitchen to see who was cooking.

It was Akemi, standing in front of the stove, wearing an apron with her blonde hair tied to a ponytail, humming a song.

"Hmm? Ah. Welcome back, Hiro."

Noticing me enter the kitchen, Akemi greeted me with a smile as she lifts the pot and puts it in the center of the table.

"…What are you doing here?"

"It's supposed to be 'I'm back, Akemi-san'. What's with that reply? And here I was making dinner for you. Would you rather sleep early again without eating? You should be grateful a beautiful lady like me is doing this out of good will."

She puffed out her chest with her hand on her waist.

If only she'd keep her mouth shut, she is beautiful. Yes, if only she'd keep her mouth shut that is.

Since she knows I can't cook, and our parents are going out of town tonight, she was probably concerned about me, right?

"By the way, after I went shopping for tonight's dinner, but the door and the windows were locked when I got back. I didn't have anywhere else to go to, and Kasumi wasn't at her house, so I decided to drop by here."

How stupid of me for thinking that she has concern for others.

The dishes are already divided and prepared, it seems like I won't have to do anything more.

"Oh, well. At least I get to eat before going to bed. What did you cook tonight?"

Having said that, I sighed with a smile to lighten the mood and sat on a chair, then replying in an arrogant manner,

"Fu fu fu~ You'll be surprised. Tonight's main ingredient is lizard meat!"

!!?

Opening the lid, the aroma exploded from the pot and completely filled the air.

Tonight's dinner is braised… braised lizard meat…

Right now, I'm sure my face is twitching, making complicated expressions, with my bad memories with this ingredient.

"...It smells good… I'd rather not eat such a terrifying creature due to that incident earlier, but…"

"What are you saying all of a sudden? Ah, are you talking about this afternoon? That… uh, Gi, Gui,… What was it again?"

"It was a Giver, a Giver alright? Seriously, don't you remember what Alex explained? And no, not that one. You see, I got chased by lizards earlier, can you believe that?"

"Heh… No wonder why your back is so dusty."

"Seriously? Ah, it's true. Why didn't you say it earlier?"

"Hey, stop- You're getting dust all over the food! Really you… Just go wash your hands for now, otherwise the food will get cold if you go now."

Getting angry all of a sudden, what are you, my mom?

After dinner, I took a bath and entered the bathtub, sighing in relaxation whilst stretching my hands.

—That Akemi, ordering me around like that.

If I wasn't as composed as I am right now, she would've been bawling outside and pleading for me to let her inside the house right now.

Well, I'm not that much of a devil. As much as possible, I would avoid being on her bad side.

It's not like I'm afraid of her or something of the sort, it'd be bad if she puts dangerous things on the plate that's all.

Soaking my shoulders in the water, feeling the fatigue leaving my body both physically and mentally, I let out a long sigh.

"Fu... Today sure was exhausting for some reason."

This feels nice… How good would it be to just fall asleep right now?

If only Akemi wasn't next in line, she even told me not to take too long.

I soaked myself in the hot bathtub for three more minutes before getting out.

"—Akemi, I'm done bathing. You can go next."

As I was drying my hair with a towel, I called out to Akemi who is sprawled out on my bed, reading a novel she took from my bookshelf.

Even though she heard me, she stared at me, who was drying his hair, and then turned to the side and continued reading.

This girl!

"Oi, did you hear me?! I said bath's ready!"

I yelled at her, she then pulled up her upper body to sit up while spreading out her legs.

"I was just getting to the good part, why did you get out so early? I thought boys usually take longer baths."

"You're the told me not to take too long in the bath… Also, get out of my bed, more like get out of my room, I'm about to sleep now. Dad said they won't return until tomorrow morning so if you're sleeping here then use the guest room- Oi, are you listening?! Stop reading that already!"

Akemi continued to read while I was talking and turned to the side while ignoring my retort.

Walking towards her with an annoyed expression, I snatched the book she was holding.

"Ah! Why you, it was just getting good! ...Hmm? Hey, Hiro, what's that you're holding?"

Akemi asked about the necklace I was holding in my hand, the necklace that one of the adventurers gave me.

"An adventurer gave me this when they saw me off, it was after I got chased by lizards… Hey, what's with that face you're making, you have a problem?"

"So, it's true you got chased huh. I can't get the feeling that you might be lying, I thought you were just making things up earlier. I mean, who'd get so scared enough to get chased by lizards? Only a child or a coward would."

...I can somehow tell that she's doing that on purpose, she's just trying not to let it show.

Studying the necklace that I handed over to her, she asked me,

"Why did they even give you something this expensive? Did you beg for it?"

"Hey, I didn't beg for anything alright?! They said it was picked up anyway, so they just gave it to me! And what did you just say, this is expensive? I saw the same item at the magic item shop earlier but didn't ask for the price."

"I remember this charm costs five gold coins because of its effectiveness. Just wearing it can attract dragon-type monsters but if you twist the top lid like this, you can open it then… There, you can dip your finger and wipe it somewhere on your clothes or armor to make it more effective."

By twisting the dragon head attached to the chain, Akemi opened the necklace and dipped her fingertip in the so-called dragon's blood contained in the cylinder.

"You can open it?! Hey, don't dip your finger in it! Five gold coins? Five gold coins, you say. That's a week's worth of lunch for me. I thought it was only around twenty silver coins or something–!! Hey, stop wiping your finger with my blanket or it'll stain!"

That means they just gave me something that amounts to two-hundred and fifty silver coins.

Well, they did say they just picked it up somewhere surrounded by lizards or something, maybe they didn't know its price, or maybe they didn't just care about it.

After all, there was that one adventurer who easily gave up two mithril coins which amounts to a hundred gold coins for a sword at the shop earlier.

"Stop complaining, you talk too much! And give me that book back, I was so close to the climax!"

Akemi pounced at me and tried to take away the book back, but I clutched her face to stop her with my left hand while holding the book with my other hand, moving it away so she won't reach it.

What a pain this girl is!

"Let go of me! Alright, fine, I'll give it back, so get out already! Here!"

"I'll put lots of salt on your lunch tomorrow!"

Snatching the book from my hand, Akemi hugged it as if to protect it from me and walked out of the room, leaving me with words of scorn.

I'll apologize to her tomorrow.

After that, I went to sleep, and then it happened –