Translator: Kureha
Elvie POV
Only a ten or so minutes walk from the Signos Academy is a residential area.
Elvie lives in one of the students apartment located in that residential area.
He has been living there by himself since he started his part-time job when he was in his 4th year. However, a new resident has moved into his flat recently.
Moreover, his new roommate is not exactly a human being.
That "roommate" is currently the size of a cat but has a noticeably long neck and its body is completely covered in beige coloured scales. This animal is one of the ancient dragons, which has been told to support the magical cycle of the entire universe.
n.o.body knows why Elvie has befriended the dragon or why the dragon has decided to stick around with him.
Luckily, the apartment flat which he was renting allowed pets and familiars. So, the sand coloured dragon, Va.s.s was welcomed into Elvie"s home without any problems.
One day, the doorbell to his flat rang while he was cooking.
Turning off the stove, he opened the front door. There, nervously stood Elvie"s younger sister Marca.
Next to her was her close friend also, Elvie"s kouhai, Aru.
「Onii-chan, we came to visit!」
「Sorry for our intrusion!」
「Welcome, good timing, I just finished cooking lunch.」
As the two of them walked through the door, their face lit up the moment they saw the beige coloured dragon float towards them from the back room.
「Hey Va.s.s, we came to see you too!」
As Va.s.s nodded, Marca happily hugged the dragon.
She really enjoyed playing with the dragon. Whenever Marca saw Va.s.s, she would either be cuddling it or sitting right beside it.
Va.s.s, being a laidback dragon, would let Marca cuddle it all she wanted without showing any resistance. However, Elvie who have seen Va.s.s" human form got a mixed feeling every he saw them together.
Though, Elvie thought it would be childish of him to separate the two of them for such reason. So, he just faced the other way and went to grab some plate, only to find out that someone has already grabbed it for him.
「There you go senpai.」
「O, oh, thanks. You sure are aware of what"s happening around you.」
Aru replied bashfully as Elvie thanked him, taking the plate.
「Ehehe, well I do help out my father a lot. Which reminds me, he told me to give this to you. For after lunch.」
Before putting the pasta onto the plate, he looked into the paper bag and saw delicious looking tarts just enough for everyone.
The bag had two letters attached to it. One was signed with Nectar"s name and said, 「Don"t even think about touching Aru」. Elvie"s face twisted into an awkward expression as he finished reading the letter. The second letter was written in a beautiful ancient language, leaving Elvie in confusion.
However, there were no difficult words in the letter. So, he managed to read it with the limited vocabulary he had learnt from his cla.s.s. The letter said, 「Don"t mind Nectar"s letter.」
It was such a comforting note that Elvie decided to pretend that he has never read that first letter.
「The lunch is ready.」
「「We"re coming!」」
Elvie Laid out the neatly served pasta along with the salad he has made just to show off, then took out the juice that he bought that day. Marca and Aru who were looking around the room suddenly rushed over to the dining table.
Sparkling their eyes at the glossy arrabbiata sauce, their expression softened the moment they took a bite.
「Brother, this pasta is really good!」
「I really like the tomato sauce」
「I"m glad you two liked it.」
"I want to try food that brother made"
Yesterday, as Marca wanted to know what her brother"s daily life was like, both herself and Aru has asked Elvie if they could visit his flat.
Elvie, relieved to see the two of them enjoying their meal gave a small sigh and started to eat his lunch as well.
Seeing how happy the two of them were, he felt that the burden of cleaning up his room that morning and going out to get some groceries has paid off.
He was also glad that it was yesterday that they said they wanted to come over to his flat.
That is because yesterday was payday.
A shiver ran down his spine as Elvie thought what would have happened if they asked him last week…
「I"m just really relieved. Io senpai told me that brother"s eating habit was disastrous. If he"s always eating like this, there wouldn"t be any problem. Right, Va.s.s?」
「I do not fully comprehend what they meant by disastrous. However, Elvie rarely cooks. Last week, he only consumed bread and fruits.」
「What? Bread and fruits?」
「 He was required to restrain on his spending in order to obtain equipment for magic machinery… Mmph…」
Elvie quickly blocked Va.s.s" mouth but it was already too late.
「I knew it! Onii-chan, you need to make sure to have a balanced diet!」
「It was just last week….」
「Still, only bread and fruit… Senpai, you"re going to faint from nutrient deficiency.」
As Marca scolded him in a dumbfounded tone, and Aru giving him a worried expression, Elvie couldn"t do anything but to remain silent.
He just looked down at his pasta and gave a quick glare at Va.s.s.
However, both Marca and Aru enjoyed the arrabbiata and the salad. So, he guessed that his role as the older brother has been fulfilled.
As they finished their meals, Marca and Aru said they will wash the dishes. As Elvie looked over at the two of them worriedly, he saw Marca washed the dishes and Aru wiped them. Like that, the two of them managed to fish the task without any accidents.
Elvie felt a little moved to see how much his little sister has grown as he laid out the tarts on the table. Both Marca and Aru enjoyed the desert and the lively chatter filled Elvie"s usually silent room.
Unexpectedly, they mainly talked about Va.s.s.
Va.s.s is a quiet dragon, but if someone asked a question, it will respond so there was enough conversation going on.
「So you really don"t need to eat anything.」
「Indeed. However, it is possible to consume food for the purpose of luxury. In that case, I will recover a very small amount of magic.」
「Wait, does that mean you don"t need to sleep either?」
「Incorrect, since my form is mostly organic, for reasons such as maintaining my health, some level of sleep is necessary. I also require to take a break whenever I use a large amount of magic.」
「Oh, so you do sleep.」
As Aru nodded in agreement, Elvie was also surprised to hear more about Va.s.s.
He knew Va.s.s didn"t really need to eat but he knew nothing about sleep.
It was because Elvie has never seen Va.s.s sleeping.
When he heard the response, Elvie was surprised to learn that Va.s.s is more of a living organism, compared to a magical being.
「By the way, where do you usually sleep?」
To Marca"s sudden question, Va.s.s tilted his long neck.
「Apologies, could not fully comprehend the question.」
「What I meant was, if you need to sleep, what do you use as a bed and when do you sleep?」
「Question understood. The response, no beddings are required or provided. No set place is chosen either.」
As the sand coloured dragon casually responded, Marca and Aru widened their eyes.
Suddenly, the two of them turned to look at Elvie as he gave a panicked expression.
「….. Onii-chan.」
「Wha, I mean, I did make some place for Va.s.s to sleep. Look, there"s a s.p.a.ce right next to my bed…」
As Elvie pointed towards the somewhat cleaned up corner of the bedroom, Marca and Aru"s expression twisted even more.
「You mean… er… the closet?」
Even Aru seemed shocked when they saw the makeshift closet from a large wooden tool box with a bunch of clothes thrown into it.
Marca"s green eyes filled with fury and she pushed her body forward.
「I can"t believe you"re making your friend sleep in a place like that!」
「but, Va.s.s can sleep anywhere it likes so it doesn"t really need a specific place to sleep. Right, Va.s.s!!」
「Indeed. I am satisfied with the current situation.」
Va.s.s itself agreed with Elvie but Marca did not step back.
「Va.s.s is going to be living with you from now on. So, I think you need to make a nice place for Va.s.s to sleep!」
「You think so?」
「Of course! It can"t be helped, I"ll make Va.s.s"s bed!」
Marca stated as Elvie"s response came out a moment too late.
「Huh, Marca wait…..」
「You need a comfortable bed to sleep in. Va.s.s, you"re okay with our plan, right?」
「Understood, I agree?」
Va.s.s nodded and tilted its head as if Marca wasn"t going to take no for an answer. Then Marca gave a smile.
「Just leave it to me! I"ll make sure to make a cute bed for you. Onii-chan"s room is so plain.」
Elvie froze for a moment as he heard his sister say the word cute.
Seeing how excited Marca was, Elvie started to get a bad feeling about this whole situation.
「Marca, I appreciate that you"re doing this but…..」
「I can"t wait to start working on it! Aru, let"s start planning what sort of bed we"re going to make!」
「Of course!」
「Onii-chan, I"ll borrow your pencil and pencil sharpener!」
「O, okay.」
However, seeing the two of them excitedly draw out their ideas on a piece of paper, Elvie couldn"t help it but to let them be.
As Iori heard what happened for the rest of that day, he gave out a loud laugh.
「Iori, this isn"t funny.」
「You sure? Because that was the most hilarious thing I"ve ever heard in my life … !!」
Iori"s laughter quieted as Elvie glared at him from his desk. However, his mouth was still twisted up into a wide grin.
「I was wondering what those two were up to these couple of days. But I didn"t even imagine that they would be up to something as ridiculous as that!」
「Say that again after you see their plan.」
「What did it look like?」
「As fanciest as it could get.」
「Fan…!」
Not being able to resist the laughter, Iori"s long ears started to shake once again. Then, Elvie kicked Iori"s chair as hard as he could.
Iori gave a hateful glare at Elvie as he fell along with the chair with a loud bang.
「What"s your problem? Can"t you just tell them to cut it off? Just make up some random excuse like this style isn"t exactly me.」
「As if! Marca is putting in so much effort sewing up this bed. How could I tell her to stop it!?」
Elvie couldn"t stand the thought of making Marca cry. Iori, who understood what was going on gave out a defeated sigh.
「Like I care. Va.s.s has likes and dislikes, right? How about you get Va.s.s to ask them?」
Iori, who didn"t seem to really care, turned to see the pale yellow dragon blankly staring out of the window.
「Hey Va.s.s, you don"t mind not having bedding, right?」
「Correct.」
「Get Va.s.s to tell them…」
Liking the idea of getting Va.s.s to ask the two of them, Elvie was about to say something. Then, the door to the club room suddenly opened.
「Onii-chan, Va.s.s! We finished making it!!」
Marca rushed over with a bright smile on her face. Then, she dropped the stuff she was carrying onto Elvie"s desk.
Realising he was too late, Elvie turned to look at the bed. His mind filled with despair. But when he saw the bed, his face twisted up.
Overall, it was a well-made cushion.
Elvie was impressed with how well the two of them have sewn it up.
However, the cushion was made from blindingly bright pink fabric and was sewn in the shape of a heart. The parameter of it was hemmed with lacy frills.
On the centre of the cushion was an applique of some kind of ill.u.s.tration. Without a doubt, this cushion had a very cute and feminine design.
「Oh, well this is…」
Even Iori who have curiously moved closer to the desk gave an awkward smile.
Any average boy would have been a little overwhelmed by this design.
However, Aru, who was a little different gave a satisfying smile.
「So how is it? I made that applique by transferring Marca"s drawing to a piece of fabric!」
「And how did you do that?」
「By using a spell!」
As Aru replied casually, Elvie and Iori froze on the spot dumbfounded.
They could not believe that Aru has used a high-level spell to put an applique on.
It was beyond what their mind could understand.
However, there was one thing Elvie was sure about. Even if it was a present from his little sister, it was going to be a challenge to keep that cushion in his room.
「Va.s.s, what do you think about it?」
As Marca asked Va.s.s delightfully, Elvie looked over at the dragon with dead eyes.
Pleading Va.s.s to say no.
As Va.s.s lazily flew over to the desk from the window, he looked at the cushion with a confused look. Then, Marca started to explain.
「We chose a fabric that was nice to touch. We also made sure to choose the fluffiest stuffing we could find. Aru and I wanted to make sure your bed was going to be really comfortable for you to sleep in.」
「Question, what is this diagram?」
As Va.s.s pointed at the applique, Marca replied proudly.
「We appliqued a drawing of you so we could tell that it"s yours just by looking at it! Don"t you think it"s cute?」
Slowly, but definitely, Elvie was starting to realise that the drawing of a beige coloured lizard on the applique did resemble Va.s.s.
Around the ill.u.s.tration of Va.s.s was decorated with lovely applique of flowers.
Elvie thought it would be uncomfortable to sleep in a bed that had a picture of yourself on it.
「An object, which I possess.」
「That"s right! It"s all yours, Va.s.s.」
After Va.s.s stared at the cushion for a while, he slowly approached it and hesitantly placed his front foot onto the cushion.
「… it"s very soft」
「I know right! Please use it if you liked it.」
「Understood.」
Saying so, Va.s.s got onto the cushion and sat down, tacking his legs underneath himself.
Elvie noticed that the dragon"s expression seemed slightly pleased.
Then, Va.s.s looked over to Aru.
Aru"s eyes were filled with curiosity but then he giggled innocently.
「Va.s.s, you should say those sort of things out loud.」
「Understood. … Marca.」
Marca widened her green eyes, surprised to hear it call out her name so suddenly. Va.s.s continued.
「Thank you.」
「… you"re welcome!」
Hearing what Va.s.s said, Marca"s face lit up.
With the exchange of those few words, the keeping of that fancy cushion was decided. Meanwhile, Elvie looked up at the sky with a lifeless pair of eyes.
**********
Later that day, the eye-catching cushion was added next to Elvie"s bed.
The painfully bright pink didn"t bother him once the light was turned off.
However, when he woke up the next morning, the presence of that cushion has wiped off his tiredness like a morning coffee.
Yet, on the cushion was Va.s.s, still curled up and fast asleep. Elvie was surprised since Va.s.s was usually awake by the time he was up.
Elvie sighed as he saw how peaceful the dragon looked in his sleep.
「… Oh well.」
As Elvie gave a bitter smile, he started to get ready for school.
After this, Marca got into sewing and the sudden increase in fancy cushions being added to either her or Elvie"s room is a story for another day.