Chapter 93: The Night Before Summoning
“I’m back…”
“Oh, Ren! You’ve returned!”
“Yes.”
It had been five days since we left Laserna. Our return trip was smooth and uneventful. We were able to reach Pedrel this morning. I parted ways with the three of them in front of Malik-san’s house. When I entered the house, I saw Malik-san in the living room. Seemed like he was about ready to go to work.
“I was told you had caught a gang of bandits out of all things?”
“Yes. But I didn’t contribute much. I hope I can be more useful in the future so I will have to do my best to improve myself.”
“Support magicians tend to think like that but you do realize your buff is really a game changer, right? The difference in having a buff and not is hard to miss. Well, having an ambition to improve yourself is a good thing though.”
Malik-san said as he gently patted my head.
Haaah… When Malik-san gently patted my head like this, it made me really feel like.. ‘Ah, I’m finally home… ‘ kind of thing…
“Umm… Are you going to work today?”
“Huh? Yeah.But I’ll be back around 20.00. Do you want to have dinner together tonight?”
“Yes! I have so many things I want to tell you.”
He was dressed in his work clothes so I asked him that, just to confirm my suspicion but thankfully, Malik-san would be back in the evening. I wanted to tell Malik-san about all the things that had happened in Laserna… Mainly about Francesca-san and… About the hot springs and gambling house in Laserna too!
“Then I will go drop my luggage in my room first, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll go to work after you’re finished.”
First thing first, I needed to put my magic bag and the dagger attached to my waist into my room. I wanted to take it easy today so I would just buy the ingredients for tonight’s dinner in the nearby market. Also, I did use [Clean] on my laundry that I had stored in my magic bag but maybe I should wash them again?
I went back to the room, feeling excited for today when I saw Malik-san sitting on the sofa, drinking something.
“Ren, c’mere. Ah… Ren… No… I… I’m not sure if I should tell you or not but… Still…”
“Yes?”
When I was walking toward him, Malik-san told me to sit beside him. Malik-san usually always spoke whatever was in his mind, he was very blunt and upfront so it was unusual of him to hesitate like this.
“So…?”
“Ah… You see? Ren, you maybe don’t notice it. That’s why I think I need to tell you that… On the back of your neck… You can hide it or… Use [Heal] to erase it since it’s considered as internal bleeding…”
“Huh? ….. Wha-?!”
The back of my neck…? Internal bleeding…?
I pondered about Malik-san’s words for a while before I realized what was the cause of the internal bleeding…. I immediately put my hands around my neck, trying to cover it.
Wa-Wait a minute? Don’t tell me… Kiss mark?!
I knew there were several kiss marks on my skin but all of the marks I could find could be covered with my clothes. That was why I didn’t pay much attention to it! So there was another kiss mark on that place?! I didn’t know that!
“Umm… That… I…”
“Ren, calm down. So? Are you going to cure it?”
Seeing I was at my wit’s end, Malik-san gently stroked my back, trying to calm me down.
“Uuh… I’ve never done it before. I don’t know if I can but I will try… 【Heal】… How is it?”
“It’s still there…”
“Huh?!”
I had never done it before but I was sure I could make it disappear so I was really surprised when Malik-san said the mark didn’t disappear.
Huh? Why?
“Maybe my [Heal] didn’t consider it as an injury…?”
“Maybe but… [Heal] is a restorative magic that relies heavily on the user’s feeling. Maybe deep down in your heart, you’re happy about the mark and you actually don’t want to erase it?”
“Eh? …. What’s with that… So embarrassing….”
Since Malik-san said it was considered as internal bleeding, I thought [Heal] would cure it since it was an injury but…. What was with that reason?! I couldn’t use [Heal] to erase it because of that?!
…..
Although… It was true I felt happy about it since I could feel their desire to monopolize me when I saw the mark…
Damn, this is so embarrassing!
“Well, it’s a sign that your relationship with them is on the good side but remember. If you don’t feel like it, you need to tell them straight, okay?”
“Uuugh… Yes.”
I could feel my face turning red from being embarrassed. I should tell them to only leave kiss marks on a place that could be covered with my clothes from now on. Yup! I definitely had to tell them that! Or… Maybe it’d be better if I tell them to not leave one in the first place?
“In any case, I’m glad things are working well with you guys. Well then. I’m going to the guild now I guess? I’ll be looking forward to tonight’s dinner.”
“Yes. Have a safe trip. Remember to be careful.”
I followed Malik-san from behind as he was leaving the house and saw him off at the front door. It had been a long time since I was last here so I needed to give my all in cooking tonight’s dinner.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
When I went to the market, several people approached me, saying it had been a long time since they last saw me even though I had only been away for less than half a month. Guess I had familiarized myself with this city.
With that thought in mind, I went on to cook dinner.
“Okay! I’ve made Malik-san’s favourite! I guess I will finish the rest after he gets home?”
Tonight’s main dish was chicken teriyaki, which had completely caught Malik-san’s heart and stomach. Then I had chinese stir fry squid and broccoli along with kenchinjiru, a japanese vegetable soup. I made sure to add lots of carrots, daikon and other vegetables in it! And of course, steamy hot rice. For dessert, I made orange jellies.
I made a lot of kenchinjiru so I planned on making kenchin udon for breakfast tomorrow. I had prepared the ingredients for chinese stir fry beforehand so I only had to stir fry it after Malik-san came home.
“I’m home. The food smells delicious.”
“Ah, welcome home. We can eat right away but would you like to have a bath first?”
“I see. I will get into the bath first then.”
I asked Malik-san if he wanted to eat or take a bath first in which he replied he wanted to take a bath first. He must be planning to wash the sweat off only so I better start cooking now!
I held my hands over the magic stone, poured some of my magic into it to light the stove and began to cook quickly.
“Which reminds me, where are they today?”
“They said they want to prepare for something tomorrow…”
After Malik-san finished with his bath, the two of us started to eat when Malik-san asked about my fiancés. I did invite them for dinner but they refused because they wanted to prepare for tomorrow’s summoning and they didn’t know when they would be finished.
I asked them if there was anything I could do to help but they said I didn’t need to worry about it. Even though I was the one that was going to summon the beast…
“Ah. The summoning, right? That means those guys are still preparing for it in the guild.”
“Eh? Really?!”
If I had known they were at the guild, I would’ve come there too…! The three of them were really spoiling me a little bit too much.
“They told me to not worry about it but they hadn’t told me anything about the preparations. I wonder what kind of preparations are needed for the summoning? They did teach me the chant for the summoning so I had been practicing it the whole day but…”
Today, before we parted ways, they taught me the chanting for the summoning and wrote the chant on a piece of paper for me. As usual, I could read the letter without any problem but I still couldn’t write. I needed to practice my writing a bit more…
“If you made a mistake with the chant, you won’t be able to summon anything. The chant is very important, you know? The summoning itself will be done in the guild’s training grounds. The training grounds are equipped with automatic [Shield] so if anything goes wrong, you’ll be safe. They’ve been working hard drawing the magic circle there. Those guys have reserved the training ground today and tomorrow for you.”
Magic circle… That was something I definitely couldn’t help with. Nevertheless, I didn’t know you could reserve the guild’s training grounds.
“Most people would ask the guild staff to help prepare the magic circle. It’s quite rare for people to prepare it themselves. But they said this summoning is meant for their precious Ren so they wanted to do everything with their own hands. Those guys really love you, huh?”
“Uugh… I don’t really know what I should say about that but I’ll be sure to thank the three of them tomorrow.”
Love… That was right. They really cherished me a lot. I guess I wouldn’t be able to help them this late at night. I had to properly thank them tomorrow.
“Yeah, you go do that… Anyway, what kind of magical beast are you planning to summon, Ren?”
“I wonder… But before that, I need to make sure at least one beast will accept my summoning…”
That was the thing I was worried about. The people around me seemed to have put a lot of expectations on me so if by any chance there wasn’t any beast that heeded my call…! Ah! It’d definitely break my heart…
“With the amount of magic power Ren has, I think you’ll be fine. I hope you will get a beast with a high offensive power. You’ve prepared five rings, right?”
“I’d like to believe so too and yes, Chris-san had bought it for me… Ah! We haven’t come to pick it up yet…! What should I do…”
“You can go pick it up tomorrow though. So there shouldn’t be any problem then? I mean, Chris must’ve already picked it up for you anyway.”
“I hope so…”
I remembered that I hadn’t received the rings yet because they needed to adjust it for me first. I was flustered because I’d be in trouble if I didn’t have my rings with me when I did the summoning but Malik-san reassured me everything would be fine. Though judging from Chris-san’s personality, he was the type that would’ve already done that. He was a smooth guy after all. If worse came to worst, I just needed to go to Luxury to pick it up anyway since the jewelry shop wasn’t far from here…
“Thank you for the food. The meal’s today was delicious as always. Even after you leave the house, you will still come to cook for me occasionally, won’t you?”
“I’m glad you liked it. If Malik-san’s alright with it, I’d come here everyday!”
Malik-san finished the food today without leaving so much as a crumb. I felt happy when he complimented my cooking. I knew Malik-san wasn’t being serious about it but I’d love to cook for him again in the future.
“You better go to bed soon since you need to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Yes. Good night, Malik-san.”
After we finished eating dinner, I took a bath and went back to my room to sleep.
“I’m going to practice one more time before I sleep. 『I seek ────────』”
Tucked neatly in my futon, I practiced the chant once again before I slept. After I was done, I went to sleep, feeling excited for tomorrow.
Chapter 93: The Night Before Summoning
“I’m back…”
“Oh, Ren! You’ve returned!”
“Yes.”
It had been five days since we left Laserna. Our return trip was smooth and uneventful. We were able to reach Pedrel this morning. I parted ways with the three of them in front of Malik-san’s house. When I entered the house, I saw Malik-san in the living room. Seemed like he was about ready to go to work.
“I was told you had caught a gang of bandits out of all things?”
“Yes. But I didn’t contribute much. I hope I can be more useful in the future so I will have to do my best to improve myself.”
“Support magicians tend to think like that but you do realize your buff is really a game changer, right? The difference in having a buff and not is hard to miss. Well, having an ambition to improve yourself is a good thing though.”
Malik-san said as he gently patted my head.
Haaah… When Malik-san gently patted my head like this, it made me really feel like.. ‘Ah, I’m finally home… ‘ kind of thing…
“Umm… Are you going to work today?”
“Huh? Yeah.But I’ll be back around 20.00. Do you want to have dinner together tonight?”
“Yes! I have so many things I want to tell you.”
He was dressed in his work clothes so I asked him that, just to confirm my suspicion but thankfully, Malik-san would be back in the evening. I wanted to tell Malik-san about all the things that had happened in Laserna… Mainly about Francesca-san and… About the hot springs and gambling house in Laserna too!
“Then I will go drop my luggage in my room first, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll go to work after you’re finished.”
First thing first, I needed to put my magic bag and the dagger attached to my waist into my room. I wanted to take it easy today so I would just buy the ingredients for tonight’s dinner in the nearby market. Also, I did use [Clean] on my laundry that I had stored in my magic bag but maybe I should wash them again?
I went back to the room, feeling excited for today when I saw Malik-san sitting on the sofa, drinking something.
“Ren, c’mere. Ah… Ren… No… I… I’m not sure if I should tell you or not but… Still…”
“Yes?”
When I was walking toward him, Malik-san told me to sit beside him. Malik-san usually always spoke whatever was in his mind, he was very blunt and upfront so it was unusual of him to hesitate like this.
“So…?”
“Ah… You see? Ren, you maybe don’t notice it. That’s why I think I need to tell you that… On the back of your neck… You can hide it or… Use [Heal] to erase it since it’s considered as internal bleeding…”
“Huh? ….. Wha-?!”
The back of my neck…? Internal bleeding…?
I pondered about Malik-san’s words for a while before I realized what was the cause of the internal bleeding…. I immediately put my hands around my neck, trying to cover it.
Wa-Wait a minute? Don’t tell me… Kiss mark?!
I knew there were several kiss marks on my skin but all of the marks I could find could be covered with my clothes. That was why I didn’t pay much attention to it! So there was another kiss mark on that place?! I didn’t know that!
“Umm… That… I…”
“Ren, calm down. So? Are you going to cure it?”
Seeing I was at my wit’s end, Malik-san gently stroked my back, trying to calm me down.
“Uuh… I’ve never done it before. I don’t know if I can but I will try… 【Heal】… How is it?”
“It’s still there…”
“Huh?!”
I had never done it before but I was sure I could make it disappear so I was really surprised when Malik-san said the mark didn’t disappear.
Huh? Why?
“Maybe my [Heal] didn’t consider it as an injury…?”
“Maybe but… [Heal] is a restorative magic that relies heavily on the user’s feeling. Maybe deep down in your heart, you’re happy about the mark and you actually don’t want to erase it?”
“Eh? …. What’s with that… So embarrassing….”
Since Malik-san said it was considered as internal bleeding, I thought [Heal] would cure it since it was an injury but…. What was with that reason?! I couldn’t use [Heal] to erase it because of that?!
…..
Although… It was true I felt happy about it since I could feel their desire to monopolize me when I saw the mark…
Damn, this is so embarrassing!
“Well, it’s a sign that your relationship with them is on the good side but remember. If you don’t feel like it, you need to tell them straight, okay?”
“Uuugh… Yes.”
I could feel my face turning red from being embarrassed. I should tell them to only leave kiss marks on a place that could be covered with my clothes from now on. Yup! I definitely had to tell them that! Or… Maybe it’d be better if I tell them to not leave one in the first place?
“In any case, I’m glad things are working well with you guys. Well then. I’m going to the guild now I guess? I’ll be looking forward to tonight’s dinner.”
“Yes. Have a safe trip. Remember to be careful.”
I followed Malik-san from behind as he was leaving the house and saw him off at the front door. It had been a long time since I was last here so I needed to give my all in cooking tonight’s dinner.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
When I went to the market, several people approached me, saying it had been a long time since they last saw me even though I had only been away for less than half a month. Guess I had familiarized myself with this city.
With that thought in mind, I went on to cook dinner.
“Okay! I’ve made Malik-san’s favourite! I guess I will finish the rest after he gets home?”
Tonight’s main dish was chicken teriyaki, which had completely caught Malik-san’s heart and stomach. Then I had chinese stir fry squid and broccoli along with kenchinjiru, a japanese vegetable soup. I made sure to add lots of carrots, daikon and other vegetables in it! And of course, steamy hot rice. For dessert, I made orange jellies.
I made a lot of kenchinjiru so I planned on making kenchin udon for breakfast tomorrow. I had prepared the ingredients for chinese stir fry beforehand so I only had to stir fry it after Malik-san came home.
“I’m home. The food smells delicious.”
“Ah, welcome home. We can eat right away but would you like to have a bath first?”
“I see. I will get into the bath first then.”
I asked Malik-san if he wanted to eat or take a bath first in which he replied he wanted to take a bath first. He must be planning to wash the sweat off only so I better start cooking now!
I held my hands over the magic stone, poured some of my magic into it to light the stove and began to cook quickly.
“Which reminds me, where are they today?”
“They said they want to prepare for something tomorrow…”
After Malik-san finished with his bath, the two of us started to eat when Malik-san asked about my fiancés. I did invite them for dinner but they refused because they wanted to prepare for tomorrow’s summoning and they didn’t know when they would be finished.
I asked them if there was anything I could do to help but they said I didn’t need to worry about it. Even though I was the one that was going to summon the beast…
“Ah. The summoning, right? That means those guys are still preparing for it in the guild.”
“Eh? Really?!”
If I had known they were at the guild, I would’ve come there too…! The three of them were really spoiling me a little bit too much.
“They told me to not worry about it but they hadn’t told me anything about the preparations. I wonder what kind of preparations are needed for the summoning? They did teach me the chant for the summoning so I had been practicing it the whole day but…”
Today, before we parted ways, they taught me the chanting for the summoning and wrote the chant on a piece of paper for me. As usual, I could read the letter without any problem but I still couldn’t write. I needed to practice my writing a bit more…
“If you made a mistake with the chant, you won’t be able to summon anything. The chant is very important, you know? The summoning itself will be done in the guild’s training grounds. The training grounds are equipped with automatic [Shield] so if anything goes wrong, you’ll be safe. They’ve been working hard drawing the magic circle there. Those guys have reserved the training ground today and tomorrow for you.”
Magic circle… That was something I definitely couldn’t help with. Nevertheless, I didn’t know you could reserve the guild’s training grounds.
“Most people would ask the guild staff to help prepare the magic circle. It’s quite rare for people to prepare it themselves. But they said this summoning is meant for their precious Ren so they wanted to do everything with their own hands. Those guys really love you, huh?”
“Uugh… I don’t really know what I should say about that but I’ll be sure to thank the three of them tomorrow.”
Love… That was right. They really cherished me a lot. I guess I wouldn’t be able to help them this late at night. I had to properly thank them tomorrow.
“Yeah, you go do that… Anyway, what kind of magical beast are you planning to summon, Ren?”
“I wonder… But before that, I need to make sure at least one beast will accept my summoning…”
That was the thing I was worried about. The people around me seemed to have put a lot of expectations on me so if by any chance there wasn’t any beast that heeded my call…! Ah! It’d definitely break my heart…
“With the amount of magic power Ren has, I think you’ll be fine. I hope you will get a beast with a high offensive power. You’ve prepared five rings, right?”
“I’d like to believe so too and yes, Chris-san had bought it for me… Ah! We haven’t come to pick it up yet…! What should I do…”
“You can go pick it up tomorrow though. So there shouldn’t be any problem then? I mean, Chris must’ve already picked it up for you anyway.”
“I hope so…”
I remembered that I hadn’t received the rings yet because they needed to adjust it for me first. I was flustered because I’d be in trouble if I didn’t have my rings with me when I did the summoning but Malik-san reassured me everything would be fine. Though judging from Chris-san’s personality, he was the type that would’ve already done that. He was a smooth guy after all. If worse came to worst, I just needed to go to Luxury to pick it up anyway since the jewelry shop wasn’t far from here…
“Thank you for the food. The meal’s today was delicious as always. Even after you leave the house, you will still come to cook for me occasionally, won’t you?”
“I’m glad you liked it. If Malik-san’s alright with it, I’d come here everyday!”
Malik-san finished the food today without leaving so much as a crumb. I felt happy when he complimented my cooking. I knew Malik-san wasn’t being serious about it but I’d love to cook for him again in the future.
“You better go to bed soon since you need to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Yes. Good night, Malik-san.”
After we finished eating dinner, I took a bath and went back to my room to sleep.
“I’m going to practice one more time before I sleep. 『I seek ────────』”
Tucked neatly in my futon, I practiced the chant once again before I slept. After I was done, I went to sleep, feeling excited for tomorrow.
