17. The Flu (4)

.

Fortunately, Neria finished getting ready to leave after saying that.

I had been wondering what I would do if she kept chattering beside me until just before I fell asleep, or even went so far as to crawl under the blankets with me. At least that was a relief.

Even if I was Neria's fast charger, she seemed considerate enough to let me rest when I was busy feeling awful.

For a moment, I wondered what it would have been like if Lady Erzel, rather than Neria, had come to visit—but my body aches soon made me shelve the thought.

"Please get home safely, Lady Neria."

"You take care of yourself, idiot."

"Yes…."

Until just moments ago, she'd shyly been showing me the results of her self-study, but not much time had passed before Neria returned to her usual self.

A girl who seemed to care for you while being prickly at the same time. An unpredictable girl.

Still, she had grown strangely quieter than before.

Apparently, telling someone else about her preferences had been more embarrassing than she'd expected.

That was something I could empathize with.

In any case, if what I'd just heard was true…

For someone like Neria, she secretly wanted rough sex.

Had trying it herself made her interested in that kind of sex?

She hadn't told me the exact reason, but for someone who wanted to have my fill of Neria, it was the best possible news.

I'd been having a hard time holding back out of consideration for Neria, who wasn't used to sex, but now it meant I could do a little more as I pleased under the pretext of indulging her preferences, didn't it?

So, partly to get a small revenge, I wanted to grant her wish right away like the Monkey's Paw, but…

Maybe the shot was wearing off.

I felt like I was dying from the body aches, so I gave it a pass today.

The most I could do was walk her to the door, my head heavy.

"I'm going. Get better soon."

After adjusting her snow-white coat, Neria disappeared from my view.

It wasn't that she'd used teleportation like Team Leader; the stairs were simply very close by.

In any case, I hoped Neria hadn't come down with it.

Only then able to breathe a sigh of relief, I properly closed the door and trudged slowly toward the bedroom.

When I checked the time, I found that ninety minutes had already vanished.

All I seemed to have done today was eat the porridge Neria had brought and chat a little.

Time passed far too quickly whenever I was with her. That was the problem.

They say even twenty-four hours feels short when you're busy, and it was exactly like that.

I didn't dislike it.

"Ugh…."

…As for the delivery containers I'd seen on my way in, I could clear them away after waking in the evening. Or just leave them until tomorrow.

Having made that decision, I collapsed limply onto my bed.

*****

After sleeping deeply—truly deeply—and waking without the help of an alarm clock,

at times like that, I felt as if I were standing somewhere at the intersection of a dream and reality.

I vaguely knew I'd woken up, but I was still lying there with my eyes closed, enjoying a dream that was slowly falling apart… That was more or less what it felt like.

Waking up under my own power in that state was not easy.

I was already having a pleasant time in the dream, so why get up and do anything?

It was better to stay like this until the dream completely disappeared.

And the setting, too, was inside a soft yet toasty winter blanket.

It was hard to find a paradise greater than this.

If one's body allowed it, this was the season when one could spend an entire lifetime under the blankets.

And yet, despite all that.

There was one truly effective remedy for waking someone who had become 'deeply immersed in sleeping late.'

"……?"

A pleasant food smell brushed past the tip of my nose while I was half-awake.

It was probably soy sauce… something of that sort….

"…What is it?"

That wasn't the important thing.

Rather than guessing what seasoning the smell brushing my nose was, I had to first ask why my home, which I'd maintained all by myself for years, smelled like cooking.

I pulled the blankets down with a rustle and climbed out of bed.

Fortunately, perhaps spending half a day wrapped in blankets had done the trick; my fever had gone down considerably.

My body felt a little stiff, but otherwise I was in good enough shape to move without trouble.

After steadying my breathing, I left the bedroom, slightly tense.

Still, there was about a one-percent chance that a thief who happened to love cooking had broken in.

"Oh, you're awake?"

"…Team Leader."

Fortunately, reality was the remaining ninety-nine percent.

That possibility was that Team Leader, who could teleport at any time, had thankfully come all the way to my house.

As always, she flashed me a bright smile and held up the ladle in my direction.

…Come to think of it, that apron she was wearing was something even I, its owner, had completely forgotten existed.

I had no idea how, but she'd somehow managed to find it.

"How are you feeling? Are you still having a hard time?"

"I'm fine now. I was feeling pretty awful until noon, but I feel better after sleeping."

"That's a relief. But you know you still have to make sure you take your medicine, right? It has painkillers in it, too."

"Yes. I intend to finish all three days' worth of medicine they gave me."

"Good-."

"……."

Having answered that last question almost in a whisper, Team Leader turned her gaze back to the food she was cooking.

A large pot sat over a hot flame, with a bubbling sound rising from it. Add those two together, and the answer was soup.

Add the smell I'd been picking up until now, and… the identity was probably seaweed soup.

I slowly approached and stood beside Team Leader.

"There shouldn't have been any seaweed left at home. Did you bring it yourself?"

"Of course. Thanks to you, I've incurred a debt of a few hundred won."

"There definitely wasn't any beef, either…."

"I had some left at home. I lightly stir-fried it before adding it."

"Lightly" was an understatement; there was quite a lot of it.

To exaggerate a little, it was enough to rename the dish beef soup with seaweed in it.

Besides, Team Leader didn't seem to be making all that much money, either.

Could I really accept such generosity?

"I'm planning to extract far more protein from you than this anyway, Mr. Dowon."

"……."

I guess I should accept it.

I understood at once and took a step away to the side.

"I'm joking, joking. Surely I wouldn't actually try to extract this much, would I? I have to take care of my apprentice witch first."

"…Is that so."

"Besides, I was planning to eat before I left, too. I heard seaweed soup is good for people with colds and new mothers alike."

"New mothers…? ……Ah."

So that was the joke.

Realizing why Team Leader had specifically prepared seaweed soup, I took another step to the side.

That was true when I'd moved away a moment ago, and it was true now.

It didn't mean much, though, since Team Leader immediately followed me.

"Oh, right. When you contacted Neria to tell her I was taking sick leave today, what did she say? Was that porridge over there something Lady Neria bought?"

"Ah, yes. Lady Neria ordered it and told me to eat it."

"Oh-ho…. Looks like she's taken a liking to you? Well, you can tell just by seeing that haughty apprentice witch meekly getting eaten."

"……."

"Maybe she's terribly disappointed that today's sex plans fell through, too?"

After a short laugh, Team Leader took a step toward me first this time.

Given the short distance between us, her steps were a little smaller.

Thanks to that, we were now close enough that our shoulders seemed ready to touch.

Considering we'd already fucked each other plenty, what did a mere shoulder matter?

Anyway.

"Huh, no way. Did you do it with Neria again today?"

"I didn't. …Besides, I can't risk passing my cold to you, and while I'm suffering from body aches, where would I find the energy?"

"But why? You know that saying, don't you? A man only needs enough strength to lift a spoon!"

"…That's only a metaphor. When you're sick, both your appetite and your sex drive go down."

"Hmm. Is that so? Even when I took time off sick, I masturbated a lot."

"……."

Information I hadn't particularly wanted to know, but that would probably stay with me for a long time.

At the same time, Team Leader's shoulder gently came to rest against mine.

"So? When you tell men things like this, do they get turned on? Or does it turn them off instead?"

"…I don't really know. It probably depends on the person."

"You only need to tell me how you feel, Mr. Dowon. That's all I need to know."

"……."

"Well?"

"…A little, I guess…."

"A little turned on? Hee-hee-heee…."

I'd always thought she was uninhibited when it came to dirty jokes, but after crossing that line once, she'd raised the intensity even further.

At this rate, the dignity associated with the title 'Team Leader' was going to get strange, but Team Leader Eve didn't seem particularly concerned about such things.

Instead, she only laughed like a girl and fanned her cheeks with her hand.

Just then, as if cooking had finished, a small notification sound came from the rice cooker.

It was telling me to give the delicious white rice a good stir now that it was ready.

I couldn't ask a guest to do something like that, so I moved first.

"The seaweed soup is almost done too, so how about we eat now?"

That was good news.

After I agreed, Team Leader took out soup bowls, filled each with seaweed soup, and carried them to the table one by one.

Naturally, my role was to carefully serve the freshly cooked rice onto the table.

…Picturing us as though we were newlyweds, I sat down and

"Let's eat."

offered a brief greeting.

The more comfortable I became with Team Leader, the more important it was to mind my manners.

Then I took a spoonful of the broth and swallowed it.

"……."

"How is it? I followed the instructions online."

I held off on answering for a moment.

Fortunately, there was a bowl of glossy white rice sitting beside me.

I scooped up a large spoonful of steaming rice, chewed it thoroughly, and unlike before, picked up only the seaweed and chunks of meat with my chopsticks this time.

"…It's delicious."

"Oh! Then I'll try some too…."

I guess I'll have to move the pot and add some water later.

I kept that thought to myself, knowing Team Leader would soon realize it herself.

*****

"Cough…, cough……!!"

"……."

"Hey, Nam Dowon…. Because of you, fuck…."

"…Haa."