Chapter 168
A beach where the waves crashed and the grains of sand sparkled.
Everyone, including Franz, was gathered in the shade created by a giant parasol.
“This is really delicious. Franz, do you want some?”
“Sure.”
Yuna held out a small, round fruit like a grape.
When Franz reached out to take it, she shook her head and pulled her hand back.
“Say 'ah-'.”
He had hands and feet, so why on earth was she trying to feed him?
Franz harbored such doubts but opened his mouth anyway. There was absolutely nothing good to be gained from getting on their bad side.
Taking responsibility, he had just managed to put to rest the issue of seeing their underwear, and he couldn’t let all that go to waste.
“How is it? Delicious, right?”
“Yeah, it’s really delicious.”
It looked like a grape but tasted like an apple, which was a bit baffling, but one thing was for sure: it was delicious.
However, the real problem occurred after that.
“Magic Tower lord, this is delicious too.”
“As an Elf, I guarantee it. The most delicious fruit among these is this one.”
“Franz, eat this too.”
Arian, Hera, and Yusti-ah shoved fruit at him.
Franz was quite dissatisfied with the current situation, but he had no choice but to open his mouth in the end, because Yuna had set a precedent just before.
This must be why everyone emphasized that precedents are so important.
After that, Franz was fed fruit by them to his heart’s content.
“This too.”
“I’m first.”
“Mmm, it’s an excellent fruit.”
“You’re not going to refuse mine, are you?”
The fruits he started eating one by one soon filled his stomach. He had eaten so much that it was hard to even breathe.
It would have been nice if anyone had come to their senses and stopped halfway through, but because their competitive spirits had been ignited, they were all solely focused on feeding him.
'I’m never letting them feed me again.'
Franz vowed deep in his heart.
“But is that thing really alive?”
Arian expressed her doubt as she looked at the wooden basin placed next to them.
Inside the wooden basin was an eel, which was none other than leviathan, along with seawater.
“For now, its magic power hasn’t completely disappeared.”
Living creatures lost all their magic power upon death. This applied to all organisms, including demons and monsters.
Therefore, the fact that leviathan still had magic power remaining meant that it was alive.
Of course, it was barely clinging to life, so it would take some time before it opened its eyes.
“I guess my punch was just that strong.”
Yusti-ah, the very person who had put leviathan to sleep, triumphantly displayed her confidence.
It was a remark that made it hard to believe she had been beaten up right before this.
“Yusti-ah, hold on a second.”
Suddenly noticing something, Franz reached his hand toward Yusti-ah’s face.
“W-Wait a minute…! We aren’t at that stage yet…!”
Yusti-ah squeezed her eyes shut and muttered something, but Franz ignored her and continued his action.
Tap-.
Franz’s hand touched Yusti-ah’s cheek. But that was all. Nothing else happened after that.
“This was stuck to your cheek.”
Yusti-ah opened her tightly shut eyes and looked at Franz’s hand.
In his hand lay a single small black seed. It had gotten stuck to her while she was eating the fruit.
“I-Is that really it…?”
“Yeah, that’s it…?”
When Franz spoke as if it were obvious, Yusti-ah pouted her lips, as if there was something she had been hoping for.
Not knowing the reason, Franz was simply bewildered by this situation.
“Was there something I should have done…? A prank like poking her cheek with my finger…?”
Franz was continuing to ponder.
“Franz, what are we eating for dinner tonight?”
“For dinner tonight…”
Franz naturally turned his head as he answered the question, but he couldn’t bring himself to continue speaking.
Fruit seeds were stuck to both of Yuna’s cheeks.
It seemed that taking the seed off Yusti-ah’s cheek had been the source of the trouble.
He had just realized that precedents were important, so why had he forgotten them in that short amount of time?
Franz felt regret, but he still reached out and picked the seeds off Yuna’s cheeks.
“Thanks, Franz.”
Yuna gave a bright smile.
Franz turned his gaze away from her and looked at Arian and Hera. Given the current flow of things, they were definitely doing something similar.
Sure enough, he was right.
Hera had stuck seeds not only on both cheeks but also on her forehead and lips.
He didn’t know about the other spots, but the lips were too blatant. Honestly, it was a location he couldn’t possibly miss.
But that made it rather funny. He also wondered just how long they were going to keep up this foolish competition.
“Hera, lean your face over here.”
“Y-Yeah. I will do that.”
As Hera subtly leaned her face in, Franz picked off the seeds one by one with his hand.
Starting with the ones on her cheeks, he moved to her forehead, and finally, his hand touched her lips.
His hand flinched for no reason at the soft and tender sensation of her lips, but he somehow managed to take it off.
“Thank you, I will repay this debt someday.”
Hera’s ears flapped wildly. It was to the point where she wondered if she might be able to fly with her ears.
Aside from that, he wished she wouldn’t mention debts if possible.
The debts that Elves talked about were honestly scary.
With Hera finished like that, the only one left now was Arian.
Since he had done it for the previous three, he naturally intended to do it for Arian as well.
However
“…Arian.”
“W-What is it…?”
“Don’t you think this is a bit much?”
Arian’s face was completely covered in seeds.
It must have been hard to stick them on one by one like that, so her dedication was impressive in its own way.
Haa-.
Franz let out a long sigh.
“Come here.”
Since it seemed like it would take a long time to pick them off one by one by hand, he wiped the seeds off with his palm in a sweeping motion.
Arian’s soft cheeks were swept up by his hand and moved this way and that.
“U-Ugh, do it gen-tly…”
“Seeds are going to get in your mouth, so keep it shut.”
After he said it, it felt somewhat like a curse, but he didn’t really need to care.
No, it was actually better. She deserved to be cursed at for this much.
After she dealt with all the seeds stuck to her face like that, he splashed water on her with magic.
It was obvious her skin would become sticky if left as it was.
Patter-.
The water flowing down from her face fell onto her chest. Because of that, her slowly drying clothes got wet, and her sky-blue underwear showed through.
“Oh my, you should have just said so if you wanted to see.”
Ah-.
Franz let out a short, stifled gasp inwardly.
Precedents truly were important after all.
“My face is also a bit…”
“Mine is too.”
“I’m hot, so I want it sprayed all over my body…!”
…If you’re hot, go into the sea.
After spending quite a while in such a noisy manner, everyone faced the sea once again.
What they were going to do this time was none other than fishing.
Since the duty of preparing dinner was on the line, it could be called a very important showdown.
“Y-You’re telling me to put this on the hook…?!!”
Arian freaked out as she looked at the wriggling earthworm.
In truth, he just hadn’t said anything, but it wasn’t an easy task for Franz either.
To the point where fighting a monster felt more comfortable.
“Sheesh, give them all here. I’ll put them on for you.”
In the end, Yuna, who was used to fishing, stepped up and put the earthworms on Franz and Arian’s hooks.
If there was anything surprising, it was that Yusti-ah managed to do it skillfully.
He thought Hera would naturally be good at it, but Yusti-ah was truly unexpected.
“I used to dig in the dirt and play when I was young too, you know? It’s not like a Saintess just drops out of the sky.”
“It must be nice that you’re so good at touching earthworms.”
“Ducal daughter, provoking me won’t make the fish bite. The world of competition is cold…”
It was when Yusti-ah was rambling on as if she were relaxed.
Splash-!
As soon as Arian cast her fishing rod into the sea, she caught a fish.
And it was quite a big one at that.
“Wow…! I caught one…!”
“I-I can catch one too, you know?!”
While Yusti-ah pouted her lips and threw a tantrum, Yuna removed the hook from the fish with skillful hand movements.
“Franz, it’s okay if I put this in here, right?”
Yuna asked as she looked at the wooden basin containing leviathan.
At that, Franz nodded.
“I don’t mind.”
Either way, weren’t they both fish?
Living together with a friend for a little while wouldn’t cause any major problems.
After that, the fishing went quite well, to the point where everyone, including Franz, could excitedly enjoy the thrill of the catch.
There was no need to worry about the ingredients to be used for dinner.
“Look at this…! I’m good at catching them too, right?!”
“Yusti-ah, you’re the best. You’re really good.”
“Franz, do you know that your words have no soul?”
“Words don’t have souls to begin with, though?”
He didn’t know why she was saying something so obvious as if it were profound.
It was when Franz and Yusti-ah were having that conversation.
Flap, flap-!
Suddenly, the eel jumped out of the wooden basin and floated up into the air.
[W-What on earth is the meaning of this…!]
Oh, it finally woke up.
Snap-.
Franz immediately snapped his fingers and restrained it.
It seemed it was finally time to ask the things he was curious about.