Chapter 22: I Want to Eat Yaki Onigiri
Magic Academy.
This academy where many budding magicians attend is a place filled with magician researchers with great individualism who respect only meritocracy and not social status.
In such a place, there is a certain student currently worrying about something.
“……”
Sitting with a blank look in his dorm room is a j.a.panese who, by some strange twist of fate, accidentally wandered into this otherworld, was found out to possess great magic strength, and thus thrown into this academy. His name is Kaga Kagato.
“……”
This Kagato-kun has been wordlessly staring at empty air while sitting on his bed for quite a while already.
Even though he is still young, his figure is exactly that of a dad who got laid off and is sitting on a swing in the park to kill time.
“……I can’t take it anymore.”
As if to complete that image, he hangs his head and spits out a half-sob.
This is bad. His figure seems to have shot straight through ‘depressed’ and right to the doorstep of ‘I can fly!’
“Here appears Ame-no-Uzume to the aid of the young man depressed after being summoned another world☆”
Behind the teenager, a G.o.ddess appears with a bosun sound onto his bed.
For some reason she is doing a side peace sign. And though her words are almost the same as what her husband said, the vibe is as different as heaven and earth.
“What should I do from now on……”
“Eh, ignored?! You ignored me?! To ignore such a beautiful woman who’s appeared in your room, are you really a man?! Are you?!?!”
But Kagato-kun shows absolutely no reaction to her. More accurately, he’s purposely chasing her presence outside his head.
But that cannot be helped. When one is depressed, there are none more annoying than extremely excited people.
The result of saying ‘Yes you can!’ to an ‘I can fly!’ person can only end badly.
Incidentally, Ame-no-Uzume-sama is calling herself a beautiful woman here, so let’s just not mention the theory that she’s the origin of the okame mask.
One must not tsukkomi a woman’s personal appearance too deeply.
“Come, come, share one or two of your worries with me. Perhaps just saying them aloud would make them a lot less heavier.”
“Eh…… even if I tell you it’s not like you would be able to help in any way.”
Upon the persistent urging from Ame-no-Uzume-sama, Kagato-kun finally turns around. Humans are best when they are obedient.
“Actually, the girls in the academy are strangely attracted to me……”
“Ah, a ‘raijuu should explode’ situation. Got it.”
Kagato-kun apparently has the so-called harem predisposition. When he was still in j.a.pan, he was one of those who got exploded by Amaterasu-sama.
Popular guys sure have it tough. Even though they should just die already.
“In short, you are troubled about how to treat the girls who have fallen in love with you?”
“Yes, I suppose you can put it that way.”
“Then I have a good suggestion for you.”
The still depressed-looking Kagato-kun is faced with Ame-no-Uzume-sama’s pointlessly bright smile.
“Just shoot them a load and it’ll all be resolved☆”
“Are you really a G.o.ddess?”
The Ame-no-Uzume-sama who’s going all thumbs-up receives a commonsense tsukkomi from Kagato-kun.
“Starry-eyed la.s.ses who have the reality of guy/girl relationships thrust into their face would come to their senses immediately☆”
“…… Do you have a grudge against younger girls?”
Ame-no-Uzume-sama’s smile seems to have turned dark, while Kagato-kun has somehow turned into the one offering counseling.
…… Today, too, this otherworld is at peace.
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“Nn? Is this not Makami-san.”
“Mu? Ah, Linbel.”
In a park inside metropolitan j.a.pan, in this absolutely run-of-the-mill park, the werewolf Makami-san and the dark elf Linbel-san just happened to run into each other.
“Were you not helping the police with their investigation today?”
“It was only till noon. After lunch I’m to switch with Graios-san and stay beside Adachi.”
“I see. So that’s why you dropped by here.”
Seeing the bag that Makami-san is holding, Linbel-san nods understandingly.
“In that case, then come here. Lately the sunlight has gotten quite strong. This bench here is just right under shade.”
“Is that so. Then excuse me.”
Makami-san accepts Linbel-san’s invitation and sits onto the bench under tree shade.
Then he takes out a lunchbox wrapped in blue cloth from his bag. It is a handmade lunchbox from the Adachi residence’s mom aka Shiina-san.
Makami-san’s high expectations can be derived from how the tail sticking out from his pants is swinging with great vigor.
“Make sure to give thanks to Shiina for making it while eating.”
“I know. ‘Itadakimasu’ and ‘gochisousama’ right?”
“Indeed. Itadakimasu.”
(T/N: Both phrases are said to express grat.i.tude, to be said before and after a meal, respectively.)
While looking from the corner of her eye at Makami-san putting his hands together with his ears twitching, Linbel-san also takes out her own specially made lunchbox.
Incidentally, though the meaning of ‘itadakimasu’ is quite well-known, the meaning of ‘gochisou’ in ‘gochisousama’ refers to the running around to procure ingredients and cooking.
If ‘itadakimasu’ is grat.i.tude towards the ingredients, then ‘gochisousama’ is grat.i.tude towards the cook.
Though a lot of people are only saying ‘itadakimasu’ nowadays, please make sure to also properly say ‘gochisousama’ with grat.i.tude.
“Hou, so today is yaki onigiri. As expected of Shiina. She always does a great job.”
(T/N: Yaki onigiri is grilled rice b.a.l.l.s.)
Linbel-san discovers, upon removing the lid, a brown-colored lunch with yaki onigiri as the main, accompanied by other stewed items and some salad. This lunchbox was specially made for the vegetarian Linbel-san.
“This smell, is it soy sauce? Despite having no meat, it still looks extremely delicious. How mysterious.”
“From my point of view, that lunchbox which has almost nothing other than meat is the more mysterious one.”
In contrast, Makami-san’s lunchbox is packed with meat with salt and green onion sauce over rice.
Almost bursting with meat and rice as if to make a statement about not needing any greens, it is a very manly lunchbox that might lead one to doubt whether it was truly made by a girl.
“More like, are you fine with eating spring onion?”
“Not a problem. But to think that Linbel-san cannot eat meat. It is such a pity that you cannot enjoy the tastefulness of this salt and spring onion steak.”
“I actually prefer miso over spring onion. Miso is great. And rice, too.”
“Indeed rice is great. It has a deep taste when going together with meat.”
Even though their food preferences are at extreme odds, these two get along surprisingly well.
Today, too, j.a.pan is at peace.