Despite the shocking turn of events early on when I just arrived, we just settled on the conclusion that Lilia-san and I should enjoy this opportunity to enjoy each other's company. So, the both of us dropped our luggage off in our chosen rooms and decided to go sightseeing together.
As I entered the room and began organizing my belongings, Alice appeared right at that moment.
[I'm back~~]
[Unnn, thanks... So, how did it go?]
I asked Alice to punish Lunamaria-san, but I honestly don't expect that she would be sorry even after that.
That's why I half-heartedly asked Alice... and she gave me an impish grin.
[...I punished her so much that she said that "she's sorry for being born".]
[...What the heck did you do to her?]
She's sorry for being born!? I know I was the one who asked her to do that, but what the heck is Alice's punishment to her...
[Errr, first, I physically beat her up until she became tattered... Ahh, she's alright, I properly healed her.]
[U- Unnn.]
I feel like it's important to note already when someone's being beaten up by one of the Six Kings, but well, since she's healed, she should be fine... It's Lunamaria-san after all.
[Afterwards, I mentally beat her up.]
[...Mentally?]
[Yes. First of all, I duplicated a picture she wrote when she was eight years old, titled "Mama, I love you", and handed it out to all the servants in the house.]
[...Are you the devil...?]
W- What a frightening mental attack that was... Even though I wasn't the one receiving such an attack, I feel cold sweat running down my spine.
[Next, I revealed to everyone a notebook she wrote when she was about 14 years old, filled with ideas for what her finishing magic would be...]
[...]
Please don't do that... That would really kill someone.
[And to finish her off, I've presented her daily diary to "her mother".]
[...Lunamaria-san, somehow, I'm sorry... for unleashing such a devil to you...]
I wonder why, I'm sure I felt nothing but anger just now... but now, I just feel sorry for Lunamaria-san.
I mean, seriously, what she did was really frightening... I mean, she even prepared such personal secrets easily... As I thought, Alice was the most frightening among the Six Kings.
For the time being, let's just... buy some tasty souvenirs for Lunamaria-san.
While praying for Lunamaria-san's soul, I finished sorting out my luggage and decided to go out to the tourist city I had just visited, together with Lilia-san.
It seems that Lilia-san had been here once before, as she was looking at the stalls lined in the street with a somewhat nostalgic look.
[...It's very lively, isn't it?]
[Yes, for real... This area is famous for being a tourist destination after all.]
[Hehh... They also have some strange things here too huh. What's that? That iron ball-like thing...]
As expected, since this place is within the Demon Realm, which I'm not really familiar with, there are many foods I've never seen before, and the one that caught my attention was a 50cm black iron ball with a number of spikes on it, which I guess is food considering the other items lined up beside it... Sea urchins?
[That is a needle shell, a shellfish. It's a pretty high-quality food.]
[...It's big.]
[No, that one is rather small... The big ones are several times that size.]
[...H- Hehh...]
Several times that size, which means that it could easily exceed more than a meter in size... The heck is that, that's scary.
[Aahhh! Kaito-san, look! It's a Tempest Dragon!]
[Ehh? Errr, that dark green dragon?]
[Yes. It's a fairly large species of Dragon, a very rare and high-ranking Demon... I never expected that I'd see one here...]
At the end of Lilia-san's gaze, who seems to be excited and happy, a large dragon is flying near the top of a mountain, which is quite a distance away from here. According to Lilia-san, that dragon is called the Tempest Dragon.
Just its name itself sounds kinda disturbing, so I wonder if it will be alright? It's not like it would suddenly attack us or anything like that, right?
[...Lilia-san, wouldn't that dragon attack us?]
[No, Tempest Dragons are gentle types of dragon, so as long as you don't harm them first... Oya?]
[...Lilia-san, is it just my imagination or is that dragon flying towards us?]
[...Y- Yes, I kind of feel like that too.]
The Tempest Dragon, looking similar to those pterodactyls... just like wyverns... Anyway, it was flying towards the tourist city by largely flapping its wings that were integrated with its front claws.
However, it doesn't seem to be attacking the tourist city, but after it flew in circles twice in the air, it then flew off somewhere else.
[...I- I wonder what that was?]
[Wouldn't that be someone's pet?]
In this world, keeping monsters as pets is common, and I even remembered seeing a dragon pulling a cart in the Symphonia Kingdom.
So, I asked if that Tempest Dragon was someone's pet too, but Lilia-san shook her head.
[No, that isn't possible. Tempest Dragons may not be belligerent, but they are prideful and aren't attached to people.]
[...Is that so… Then, what was that just now...]
[I dunno?]
Tilting our heads at the action of that unfamiliar Tempest Dragon, we didn't find out the true meaning of its actions until we returned back to our cottage.
[...Ummm, Lilia-san.]
[W- What is it?]
[That one in front of our cottage... Isn't that the Tempest Dragon earlier?]
[I- I guess so.]
As we returned to the cottage as the sun began to set, we were met with the strange sight... of the Tempest Dragon, which somehow seems to be waiting in front of our cottage.
When the Tempest Dragon noticed us, it placed a huge... boar-like beast that it was carrying with its mouth to the ground, and for some reason, it deeply lowered its head to us who were on guard, before flying away.
As I was dumbfounded by its actions, which made no sense to me at all, I heard Alice's voice out of nowhere.
[It probably just came to greet Kaito-san.]
[...To greet me?]
[Yes, the Dragons of the Demon Realm have received strict orders from Magnawell-san to treat Kaito-san with courtesy when they see you... The two circles in the sky earlier were a sign of welcome, and this time, I think it came to greet you with an offering.]
[...The heck is that, that's scary.]
Apparently, the series of strange behaviors was due to the strict orders of Magnawell-san, the Dragon King, and while I'm relieved to find out the cause... I also slightly shuddered at the thought of being such actions every time I meet a dragon in the Demon Realm.
[...Ummm, Kaito-san...]
[What is it?]
[...That, errr... I'd also love to see Dragon King-sama too... Ah, no, it's nothing.]
Lilia-san was about to mutter something, but she just flusteredly shook her head and entered the cottage, her cheeks slightly red.
Seeing her off, I look at the huge boar placed in front of the cottage.
[...What do I do with this though?]
[Should I dismantle it?]
[...Unnn. Please do, then you can leave aside some meat for us two and take the rest of the meat with you.]
[It's done!]
[So fast!?]
I decided that it was impossible for Lilia-san and I to eat this really huge boar, so I told Alice, who offered to dismantle it, to leave some for the two of us, and that Alice could eat the rest... and in just a few seconds, the boar turned into meat.
[Well~~ Magnawell-san is quite the gracious one. This is the first meal I've had in four days...]
[...You'll get a scolding when we get back.]
[...Eh?]
Coldly telling Alice, who was joking around as usual for now, after receiving the meat, I went into the cottage.
Thereupon, Lilia-san brought some of the ingredients that we had bought in the tourist area in the kitchen and checked the tools over there.
Arehh? Could this be the pattern where Lilia-san is cooking for me?
[Lilia-san?]
[Ahh, Kaito-san. It's just about dinner, and I was about to prepare it.]
[...Errr, is Lilia-san going to make it?]
[Yes, that's what I was planning... what I was actually planning...]
Unnn? I wonder why, the way she spoke just now sounded incoherent... No, it may just be my imagination...
[I had Alice dismantle the boar earlier.]
[Then, since there's that, let's use it.]
[Yes, let me help too.]
[Thank you.]
And so, Lilia-san and I decided to prepare dinner together, and we stood in the kitchen side by side.
While I'm washing the vegetables with water, Lilia-san seems to start cooking the meat right away, putting it on the cutting board and holding her knife aloft... Eh? Holding her knife aloft?
[Taaaahhhh! wait, a- arehh?]
[L- Lilia-san!? What in the world are you...]
Lilia-san held the knife aloft, and leaving a shining trail, swung it down into the meat, slicing the meat in half... along with the cutting board.
No, no, isn't that weird!? Why did you cut the cutting board in half!?
[...Eh? N- No, I need to properly cut it...]
[...By slicing the cutting board as well?]
[Ugghhh...]
[Ummm, could it be that Lilia-san... You've never cooked before?]
[...Yes.]
Hearing me pointing that out, Lilia-san shoulders slumped down.
Come to think of it, it was easy to forget because of her usual friendly demeanor, but Lilia-san is a former princess and is currently a noble... A high-class lady from birth. It wouldn't be strange if she's never cooked before.
[I- It's alright! I know how to cook to some extent... You just cut, grill, and let them boil, right!?]
[I think we could agree... that cooking is almost unknown to you.]
[...Auuu.]
[...Ummm, I'll go make it, okay?]
[...My apologies.]
Even though I feel sorry for Lilia-san whose shoulders were slumped down, but if I leave it up to her like this, the kitchen will be destroyed before we can even eat anything.
[No, there's no need to apologize... Or rather, couldn't you just leave it to me from the start? Though it's not like I'm good at it either...]
[...I- I mean... I- I'm also a woman too... s-so, even for a bit... I wanted to look feminine...]
[...…]
Apparently, Lilia-san wanted to show me her femininity, and to do so, she decided to try cooking, something that she had no experience with.
Why is she so cute? The sight of her shyly hanging down her head while sticking her index fingers together, makes me feel protective of her, making it hard to believe that she's older than me.
Dear Mom, Dad——- It isn't that there's one problem after another, but various things still happened today. Well, even if that's so——- I think Lilia-san really is cute.