Popcorn

Popcorn

The reason Espin has this strange misconception about Luna is probably because he had seen Luna’s human form before.

‘Of all people, Espin had to see that form.’

I could only swallow a sigh, thinking that this has become a problem.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

As I’m thinking that I can’t even explain to Espin that it’s a misunderstanding by saying that a cat is just a cat,

Espin waves his hand and says playfully.

“I’m just kidding. I know your relationship with Luna, there’s no way that could be true.”

… I suppose it’s right to think that I’ve avoided the worst.

As I’m thinking that dealing with this is more difficult than facing an enemy and drooling,

Espin stares down at Luna and mutters something in a small voice.

“Well, I’m still envious of that though.”

I couldn’t understand what exactly he was envious of.

I decided not to ask, as it seemed I might end up in a situation without an answer, so I gritted my teeth, pretended not to know, and quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, please prepare.”

“Huh? Oh, I’ll organize and send you the relevant information as soon as it comes in, so please wait a bit.”

I nodded and decided to escape before the topic changed to something strange, leaving my seat.

*

To be honest, even if the Magic Association had been destroyed by caterpillars to the point of being somewhat disappointing.

As long as the central government remained, I thought it would be somewhat difficult to escape from the Magic Association.

‘Contrary to my expectations, it seems they’ve escaped more easily than I thought and are absorbing all the surrounding areas.’

I wondered if this disaster was due to the ‘Heaven God Cult’s arrangement’ or if it was just a rotten place from the beginning.

I crossed my legs with a mocking smile.

‘Maybe both.’

If it had been a proper place, the Heaven God Cult couldn’t have spread to that extent in the first place.

I thought that thanks to the Heaven God Cult, things were actually going more smoothly, and I mentally thanked them.

‘Then shall we give them a big payback in return?’

Perhaps because we caught three high priests, the Heaven God Cult was also putting strong pressure on the Lercier Family.

Thanks to all the information they were leaking in the process, it was easier to decide what to target next.

‘The Cult’s Cathedral.’

The headquarters of the Heaven God Cult, which we hadn’t even heard information about until now.

I tapped on the desk, thinking how pleased I was to finally find a place where we could properly strike at them.

‘I wonder if a Demon Lord will appear this time.’

Whether one appeared or not, it wouldn’t be bad for me either way.

“Whatever it is, I think it’s better to proceed quickly, so I decide to head out now.”

As I’m about to leave, I notice Delia standing in front of the door with a rather worried expression.

“What’s the matter?”

I wonder why she’s like that, feeling puzzled.

Delia looks at me and calls out to me with a somewhat dejected smile.

“Ah, Deren…”

Her usual energetic demeanor is gone, replaced by a somewhat subdued appearance that makes me curious, so I silently meet her eyes.

Delia forcibly lifts her cheeks with her fingers, putting on a smiling expression as she speaks to me.

“No, it’s just… I came because I wanted to see you.”

Seeing her somewhat struggling appearance, I nod and continue speaking.

“Then let’s take a walk for a bit.”

“Ah… Is that okay? Won’t it be inconvenient for you?”

“What could be inconvenient between you and me?”

“… Huh? That’s a bit unexpected.”

Delia seems comforted by those words, and her expression softens as she gives a somewhat foolish smile.

Then she slowly sidles up to me and says.

“How should I put this… I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“I… I want to be of help to you too. Can’t you entrust me with something as well?”

“Entrust?”

“Well, you know… Senior Espin is helping you with various things, and even Rumi is at least cleaning, but I feel like I’m just freeloading. So I was wondering if there’s anything I could do to help.”

I chuckled at those words and replied.

“Aren’t you running the free funeral service and relaying rumors spreading from the Academy? I think that’s enough.”

“No, that’s not enough. How should I put it? I need something so powerful that you can’t abandon me because of it.”

“……”

A strangely twisted feeling.

I felt like I had glimpsed into Delia’s abyss, and I deliberately averted my gaze as I spoke.

“There’s no need for that. I won’t abandon you anyway, even without such a thing.”

“… No, I still need it. I think I’ll be able to sleep better if I have that reassurance.”

If we continue this conversation, I feel like I’ll be the one to break down first.

I threw out a smokescreen to escape.

“It might be better to consult Espin about such things. Espin is the best at assessing situations and finding solutions.”

“That’s true, but… Espin is, how should I say it? A competitor, so it’s a bit…”

At this point, it’s starting to get annoying.

As I was pondering if there was a solution, a decent idea suddenly came to mind, and I nodded.

“Delia.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Then, I’ll make one request of you.”

“What is it?”

I continued speaking while looking at Delia’s somewhat expectant eyes.

“From now on, I want you to greet all the people who come to this laboratory in my place.”

“All the people…?”

I nodded slowly while sprinkling the seasoning.

“To entertain on behalf of everyone, it’s usually done by a representative figure or the face of the family or group. It’s an important position that can’t be entrusted to just anyone.”

While not entirely wrong, it wasn’t necessarily true in all situations.

It was ambiguous to say this statement was completely correct.

Nevertheless, Delia seemed to latch onto the phrase ‘important position’ and smiled brightly.

Then, as if she had realized something, she snapped her fingers and exclaimed to me.

“Ah, I get it! The lady of the house!”

“……”

“Lady of the house… Oh my! Deren, Deren! So you’ve been secretly eyeing me as your official wife!”

“……”

If I said one wrong word here, I’d have to listen to her whining all day long.

So I just kept my mouth shut and nodded, which made Delia look quite satisfied as she exhaled through her nose.

“Yes, that’s right. There’s no one else who can do this but me. Alright, I’m still lacking, but I’ll do my best.”

“… I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Mm-hmm. Just wait and see, I’ll make sure everyone who comes here is satisfied.”

To be honest, the only people likely to visit here are Sien, people moving things, or someone from the Lercier Family.

I thought about telling her the truth but decided it was better to keep my mouth shut.

I just nodded and told her ‘I’ll support you.’

“Well then, I need to go prepare this and that, so I’ll be off now.”

Judging by her suddenly regained vigor.

It seems she had been quite bothered by the fact that while everything around her was changing rapidly and busy, she herself had nothing to do but wander around.

I thought, “I guess this will do,” and decided to focus on work again, rubbing my neck.

* * *

Surprisingly, the Heaven God Cult’s cathedral was located not too far from the Magic Academy.

According to Espin, the Magic Academy had noticed a huge mana stone.

It’s highly likely that the Heaven God Cult built nearby to utilize the mana stone.

‘In other words, the cathedral is a place that consumes a considerable amount of mana stone or mana.’

And places that consume high amounts of these.

Generally have a high probability of possessing ‘some strange characteristics’.

‘A prime example would be the Caterpillar Archbishop we met before.’

Due to the strange characteristic of summoning caterpillars infinitely, it consumed an abnormally large amount of mana.

Just as it settled near the Magic Academy to cover this by obtaining virtually unlimited mana.

Thinking that the cathedral might have settled nearby for similar reasons, I called Luna.

“Let me know if you detect any magic or large amounts of mana nearby.”

[Okay, got it! I’ll tell you right away if I find anything!]

As I patted Luna’s head, who was at least good at responding, and moved forward quickly.

Luna suddenly waved her front paws and pointed at something.

[There’s something over there!]

Hearing that, I immediately checked the front.

And I could spot some quite interesting figures.

‘They seem to be sent from the central government.’

However, unlike last time, the scale appears to be quite substantial.

I was contemplating what to do about the number that seemed to exceed about 200 people, so I decided to hide and observe for now.

‘Moreover, judging by the mana they’re emitting, it doesn’t feel like they’re a bunch of ragtag individuals.’

They seem to be well-organized elites.

As I was looking at them, amazed that they could mobilize such a large number of troops.

Luna rustled in my arms and pulled something out.

[Rumi told me to bring this for you to eat!]

Wondering what it was, I looked and saw her proudly holding out a piece of popcorn to me.

I ate the food, which tasted different from the popcorn I used to eat on Earth but had a similar shape, and patted her head to show my appreciation.