Chapter 27

"Lulu, bring us down that side street over there,"

"Yes, master,"

Unexpectedly Satou changed our course. We leave the main highway and go down a narrow side road. I wonder what it is this time? Satou has changed our course before to gather rare resources or because some danger was blocking our path. But if it was a danger, he would have already run off to deal with it so no one else would be hurt.

"What's up? A shortcut?"

Arisa asks, climbing onto the coachman's stand, but the answer soon becomes clear. Looking out of the back of the carriage, I can see a large field of beautifully blooming flowers. They are so colourful and have so many different types of flowers.

"Oooh! A flower garden? How lovely! It's enormous too!"

As Arisa smiles while looking around, Satou has Lulu pull the carriage over.

"Let's have lunch here today,"

"Understood. Everyone to your lunch stations! Begin preparations,"

"Aye-aye, sir!"

"Roger, sir!"

After hearing Satou's suggestion, Liza quickly started giving orders. Tama and Pochi took care of the horses, Liza, Lulu, and Pearl helped Satou make lunch while Arisa and Mia went forging with Nana as their guard. I would typically go with them, but today I helped prepare lunch. Satou and I taught Liza and Lulu how to use the meat grinder with ingredients Satou brought in Bolehart City.

"So round?"

"Very unusual meat, sir,"

When they finished their chores, Tama and Pochi ran over to check on the meat. We had to gently stop them from playing with the meat. Liza kept a close eye on Tama as she seemed increasingly likely to pounce on the balls.

"It smells very, very good,"

"It might be a bit too soft for you, Liza. Should I prepare a rocket wolf steak as well?"

"Certainly not! Master, I swear to you that I will gladly consume anything you cook without leaving a single crumb behind,"

Liza doesn't need to get that worked up, but seeing Satou caring for her was nice. Still, despite Liza's preference for crunchy food, I'm sure she will like what we are making.

"Oh! Are you making hamburgers?!"

Arisa came running over, successfully guessing what our lunch would be today. She sniffs the air as the patties start to sizzle and drool like Pochi and Tama usually do whenever a piece of meat is cooking.

"Is it a beef and pork mix? Or only beef?"

"It's long-haired cow beef mixed with wild boar," Satou explains, flipping the burgers. "If everyone likes them, we'll explore other meat varieties, too."

That smell. It reminds me of when I would visit my grandparent's farm back home in Japan. They raised livestock and grew some crops on their small farm. Every summer, they would host a family get-together, feeding us with stuff from their farm. We would make our own burgers back then too. The only problem was that my grandmother kept sending me too much food. Even handing some out to my work colleagues wasn't enough to get through it all before the food spoiled.

I tried to get them to stop telling my grandparents they didn't need to send so much food. But then they would urge me to get married, telling me I would need that food when I gave them a great-grandchild. They acted like my love life didn't exist. I will admit there were long stretches where I was single, and my relationships wouldn't last long, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. It became awkward to visit because they kept trying to set me up with their friend's grandchildren.

But back to the meal. Liza and I made the side dishes as Lulu and Satou handled the burgers. It was the standard stuff like french fries and grazed carrots, but the food we made was special to someone who hasn't eaten this stuff in a while.

"Done,"

"Loading capacity exceeded, I complain,"

Nana looked like she was struggling to lift the bag she was carrying along with a large bundle of green bamboo. She picked a lot of bamboo. Peaking over, I can see the bad was overflowing with bamboo shoots.

"Those look tasty," I comment as Nana sits down to rest.

"Mm. Yummy,"

"They will take a pretty long time to prepare, so we will have them for lunch tomorrow,"

"Too bad,"

Unfortunately, Satou's right. I'm sure one day we could figure out a quicker way to cook it using magic. Picking up a piece, I'm confident if my Appraisal skill hadn't told me this stuff was edible, I would have thought otherwise. It's harder than it is back in Japan, and it feels like I am holding a piece of metal in my hand. We could probably make armour out of this stuff.

"Shall we make tempura with the angelica sprouts?"

"Mm. Excited,"

At least Mia seems to cheer up here Satou's suggestion for a replacement dish. Mia smiles as Lulu starts to prepare the dish.

"Hero Kura, I utilised a great deal of Body Strengthing during transport, so my magic power supply has been exhausted, I report. Magical power replenishment is required, I request,"

"I'll hand you a mana recovery potion in just a second,"

Is it me, or does she look disappointed? It is hard to read Nana at times since her face is usually blank, but I'm positive she wasn't happy with my answer.

"Direct magic supply is preferable, I entreat. Is it impossible? I inquire,"

Nana really reminds me of a kid at times. Despite her emotionless expression, she is acting like a little kid waiting for a treat. She has been working hard to master her new sword, and Nana has been a big help with chores. I suppose she does deserve a reward… even if it is embarrassing.

"Sure," I nod. "As soon as I am done here, I will replenish your mana."

"Yes!"

The cheer in Nana's voice was hard to miss, but she was getting carried away. As soon as she replies, Nana's hands go to the hem of her shirt. It is a good thing Arisa and Mia are so fast, or she would be standing half-naked right now.

"Nothing get's past Arisa's impenetrable barrier!"

"Mm. Perfect,"

Looking over the two girls' shoulders, I tell Nana I will see to her in a few moments and to keep her clothes on. I still needed a few more minutes to finish my work, but I took her to the carriage as soon as I was done.

"Ah! Please be more gentle…."

I really, really wish she would make those sounds. It's a good thing we are alone right now. Satou and the girls might hear us, but at least they know what we are doing.

"Lewd,"

"Master's definitely doing that to me later!"

Arisa and Mia keep a careful eye on us, saying they must ensure nothing inappropriate happens here. I think Arisa should be more worried about her own actions in that regard personally, but if they want to watch, I have no objections to it. But it is still embarrassing doing this to Nana when it makes her moan like that.

"Now, shall we eat?"

When we return from re… helping Nana, saying I was rewarding her just makes me feel even more embarrassed. The food is ready. Pochi and Tama had finished setting up the kotatsu's under Liza's supervision. The plates have been set up, and Satou is helping Lulu bring the food tray over. Oh, it looks like Satou made some hamburger steaks.

"Thanks for the food!"

After Arisa led everyone in the pre-meal thanks, we all dug in. Pochi and Tama, as usual, drool over the meat eating far more than I would have thought possible for someone of their size. Liza looked like she might do the same but managed to restrain herself at the last minute. Despite her preference for tougher food, Liza looks like she is a fan of hamburger steaks.

"It's delicious!" Lulu gasps after taking a bite. "And very soft. Its texture reminds me of the fish balls we had before, but I much prefer this dish."

"Yummy! It's been so long since I had this. The fries on the side are delicious too!"

Arisa is excited. She stuffs her mouth full of food while Mia and Nana trade side dishes with each other. Well, the food is good. It melts in my mouth, and the sauce complements the hamburger steak perfectly. The side dishes of crunchy carrots and french fries were just as good. It didn't take long for Pochi and Tama to finish their stakes and look to Satou for more.

After our meal, we started a practice session. Nana worked on controlling the flow of mana through her sword while Arisa practised magic with Mia's help. Pearl and Liza were training Pochi and Tana while Lulu did some target practice with Satou's gun. I usually would end up sparing with either Pearl or Nana, or I would just practice by myself but today. Today I will be sparing against Satou.

It all started when Satou asked for help practising with his fairy sword and ended up with us facing off against each other. We found a spot far away from the others just in case we got carried away, but it might not be enough. Satou and I could probably destroy a whole city with how OP we were if we weren't careful.

"First one to disarm the other wins," I suggest. "Does that work for you?"

"Sure," Satou nods. "Just go easy on me."

Usually, before a duel, someone would cast a protective spell over the participants. Since Satou and I can't do that, we decided on different rules. If my opponent wasn't Satou, I would have been worried, but since it is him, I don't need to hold back that much.

Satou gently throws a coin into the air. Our agreed starting signal for the match is when the coin hits the ground. But because of Satou's strength, it took the coin a little longer than expected to land. When it does, we both make our moves.

It seems we both had the same idea. We rushed forward, hoping to catch the other off guard, but our swords clashed together, creating a loud boom. It seems Satou's maxed out his strength, too, since neither of us can make the other move. In the end, we both jump back. Our match settles into a rhythm of us attacking and then retreating. Each time our swords meet, a loud bang echoes through the field as a gust of wind blows in every direction.

"It's a good thing we are in the middle of nowhere,"

"Yeah. If we were in the city, we would have been arrested by now,"

I couldn't help but agree with Satou. With how our fight is going, there is no way a city wouldn't have suffered some damage. I can picture the shattered windows and the terrified crowd trying to escape us. I wouldn't be surprised if they thought we were a pair of demons. The city guard would have definitely made an appearance. But out here in the middle of nowhere, we can fight without worrying about creating a scene like that.

Satou ducks down low and tries to sweep my feet with a swift kick, but I jump over him. Twisting and flipping mid-air, I end up behind him and aim for his sword, but Satou rolls out of the way. We might start getting a little carried away, but I haven't been pushed this hard in a while. Satou is just as fast and strong as me. Fighting him might be more challenging than fighting the demon lord.

But I am still in a better position. Even if Satou is just as fast and strong as me, he can't dodge my next attack. I rush forward as Satou gets up, aiming for his sword again. This is it… or so I thought. But instead of hitting his sword out of Satou's hands, I instead strike a shield. We didn't agree on something like this being against the rules, so I can't complain. But if this is how he wants to play things, then so be it.

I swing my sword again, activating the Wind magic spell Air Hammer on my weapon. This time he may have stopped my sword, but the resulting spell knocks the shield out of Satou's hands. Satou hits the ground, but I don't give him a chance to recover. Pointing my sword at him as he looks up at me, I claim my victory.

"It looks like it's my win," I smile as I offer Satou a hand up.

"Yeah, you win this round," Satou replies with a chuckle as I help him to his feet. "I wasn't expecting you to cast a spell on your weapon, but it seems pretty effective."

"Cheats!"

But before we can start another round or say another word, Arisa cries out as a round of applause begins. Turning around, it looked like everyone was watching us.

"Do you have any idea what you two were doing?"

"Er… having a sparing match…."

Satou replies as we share a look. I don't think we did anything wrong. We might have gotten carried away, and if Satou wasn't my opponent, my last attack would have most likely broken their arm. But clearly, to Arisa, we did do something wrong. She marches up to us, pulling Satou and me down, so we are at eye level.

"You two have no idea," Arisa sighs, shaking her head. "Most people can't put magic into swords that quickly, and no one can absorb it back into their bodies!"

I didn't think it was that strange. I have been doing that for as long as I can remember. No one even questioned me on it. They must have thought I used up the magic in my fight or something like that.

"Maybe they can't do it because they never tried,"

Arisa doesn't look like she believes Satou's answer.

"I seriously doubt that. If anyone could do that so easily, there be no need for magic recovery potions, would there? They could just use magic items as batteries," Arisa shakes her head and turns to me. "And you are even worse. It should be impossible to send a spell through a weapon without it being designed to use that specific spell."

"I just controlled the mana in my sword like I do with my body when casting a spell,"

"You really are a pair of cheats," Arisa releases us and gives us a "You're hopeless" pose. "You both make the impossible sound easy."

I guess we should tone it down. It isn't that big of a problem for me since everyone knows I am a hero, but for someone like Satou who wants to live a quiet life, it could be troublesome to stand out so much. Satou must have thought it was good information, too, as he hugged her out of nowhere.

"Wah! Hey, not so suddenly!"

It is rare to see Arisa caught off guard like this. She usually looks for any excuse to get close to Satou, but she is flustered and trying to get away from him.

After receiving praise from the others and some more training time, we packed up and hit the road again. Apart from when we were attacked by a pack of grey wolfs, the rest of the day passed peacefully. They weren't that tough as Pochi and Tama took them out with some assistance from Mia with her bow.

The next day was just as peaceful, but Satou and I started playing with magic that night. We didn't do anything too crazy, but we both agreed Arisa would call us a pair of cheats again if she realised what we were up to.

We melted coins to test the effectiveness of the fire spell Forge. We lost our money and burned our hands, but we learned Forge could do a lot of damage since everything it touched melted. I even go the Fire Resistance skill… just at the cost of burning my hand really badly. I'm glad I can heal my injuries at a rapid pace because that really hurt. But Forge really is a dangerous spell. It is possible to adjust the heat, but it still can do a lot of damage. Even after I maxed out the Fire Resistance skill, I still could feel the heat despite not suffering any more burns from the spell.

We practised with other spells. The highlights are us destroying boulders with the Rock Smasher spells and using Sonar in a game of hide and seek. But the last spell we tried out was the most fun. We barely stopped ourselves from giggling like a bunch of kids when we tried out the Cube spell.

"This is fun,"

"Yeah, it is,"

Satou is right. This is fun. We were creating cubes under our feet and racing through the sky, playing a game of tag. We were attacked by monsters a few times as we played, but they were easy to deal with, and I even gained a level. As well as Mid Air Maneuvers and Skyrunning skills during those fights. Unfortunately, Satou proved to be better at sky tag than me and beat me five times in a row.