Somewhere deep in her gut, Megumi had a feeling — the kind you couldn't quite explain — that this was the guild she'd been dreaming of. So she'd gone ahead and spent that last skill point without a second thought.
Nobody in the Gourmet Palace had ever looked down on her for knowing nothing but Explosion magic. Even Kyaru, a fellow mage, had simply been surprised by how absurdly lopsided her build was — no judgment, just disbelief.
"Jhin, what do you think was going through his head when he decided to take in a mage like me?"
"Probably something along the lines of: 'This is the mage who blew me off a cliff. I'm going to lure her into the guild and make her pay for it.'"
Megumi gave him a light headbutt against his shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey — this was supposed to be a heartfelt moment between comrades, you know? Why are you suddenly airing all those sinister thoughts out loud?"
"I apologize. That really was what I was thinking at the time."
"Ugh, you are absolutely rotten. Give me back my touching moment! Does that mean the skill point I put into Explosion magic at the very end was a total waste?"
"Oh? You were still holding onto a skill point that whole time?"
"Obviously. I was saving it to learn Teleportation — you know, the spell that keeps you alive."
"Next time you get a skill point, you should hold onto it again."
"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?" Megumi's eyes narrowed. She tilted her head to look at Jhin's profile — that ambiguous, half-smiling expression he always wore. "You're not planning to get revenge on me in some inhumane way, are you? Like sneaking into my room while I'm asleep and stealing my stat card to force me to learn a different kind of magic."
"Can anyone use a stat card?"
"No, only the card's owner can."
"Then what are you worried about?"
"I'm worried that when you realize you can't use my card, you'll get so frustrated you'll come up with something even worse."
"Are you a masochist?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Then why do you keep fantasizing about being persecuted?"
"That's — isn't that entirely your fault for having such a terrible personality?!"
"I think my personality is perfectly fine, actually." Jhin had already walked out of the rubble wasteland with Megumi on his back. He found a flat stretch of ground, tossed down the Capsule House, and set her onto the sofa inside. "How about something simple for lunch?"
"Sure — and grab me a Coke while you're at it!"
"Got it."
Of the five people in the Gourmet Palace, only Megumi and Jhin actually liked Coke. Everyone else couldn't handle the carbonation. It didn't take him long at all before he came out of the kitchen carrying two steaming bowls of noodles.
"What kind of food is this?"
"Hm? You've never seen noodles before?"
"Never." Megumi picked up a strand with her chopsticks — then squeezed a little too hard and snapped it, sending it splashing back into the broth. "Can something that looks like this actually taste good? Though the soup does smell pretty nice."
"Your world really is something else. You've got crêpes, you've got rice — but no noodles?"
Megumi barely registered the teasing. What caught her attention was the very beginning of what he'd said. She set down her chopsticks and stared at him, wide-eyed. "'Your world?' The way you said that — it's like you're not from the continent of Astraea."
"I don't think I've told you or Kyaru yet. I'm from Another World."
"Ohhhh~! I don't totally get it, but that sounds incredibly cool! Someone from Another World!" Megumi forgot all about the noodles. She pushed herself up on her barely-recovered body and started circling Jhin, peering at him from every angle as though searching for some visible difference between him and an ordinary human.
Jhin put a hand on her face and pushed her away. "Stop staring. There's nothing to see. You're not that different from an ordinary human yourself, you know."
"W-well, of course!" A faint flush crossed Megumi's pale cheeks, as though something had just crossed her mind.
"Eat your noodles before they get soggy."
"Soggy…?"
"It means the noodles clump together and absorb the broth. They get bloated and the texture turns awful."
Jhin suddenly remembered he hadn't gotten Megumi her Coke yet — but he figured he'd grab it after the noodles; there was no way she'd actually drink Coke with her ramen.
"What?! The texture gets worse?! Then I'm eating right now." Megumi scrambled back to her seat, picked up her chopsticks, and lifted a slice of deep-forest boar onto her noodles before eating it all together.
Trying noodles for the first time, Megumi felt like she was eating a very special food that had soaked up all the flavors of the broth. If she had to describe it, it was a bit like the ochazuke she used to eat back home — the noodles themselves were plain on their own, but paired with the soup, they were incredibly good.
She polished off the entire bowl in record time, not leaving a single drop of broth. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her full belly with a satisfied sigh. "Phew~ These things called noodles are actually really good."
"Glad you like them."
After the meal, Megumi's curiosity came roaring back. She fixed her red eyes on Jhin, who was washing dishes in the kitchen. "Jhin, why did you come to the continent of Astraea in the first place?"
"Someone asked me to. I had some business to take care of."
"People from Another World are amazing — you can just travel between two whole worlds like that."
"It's not quite as easy as coming and going whenever I feel like it. What about you? Running off to become an adventurer all on your own — don't your family worry?"
"I write to them regularly, so they don't worry. Besides, Dad is completely obsessed with inventing magic gadgets — he doesn't have time to care what I get up to out here. At most, Mom and Mimi write back."
"Mimi?"
Megumi flopped forward onto the table, arms stretched out flat in front of her. "My little sister… Hey, Jhin, I'm thirsty. Where's my Coke?"
"Do you not see me washing dishes? It's in the fridge — get it yourself."
"Ugh~ But I really don't want to move. Just grab it when you come out, okay?"
"You're basically a sloth at this point."
Megumi pretended not to hear him and spread all ten fingers wide, staring at each fingernail with vacant boredom.
Jhin walked out of the kitchen and pressed the ice-cold Coke can against the back of her neck.
"Yah!"
Megumi yelped and shot upright, clutching the back of her neck — then immediately snatched the can from his hand, pulled the tab without even blinking, tilted her head back, and downed it in two long gulps.
"Burp~ Ha! Now you've got no ammunition!"
"I'd suggest you appreciate your remaining Coke-drinking days while you can. There isn't much stock left in the fridge."
"What?! Seriously?!" Megumi bolted to the refrigerator and flung it open. Only about a dozen bottles of Coke remained inside. She couldn't accept this. She clamped both hands on her head in horror. "How is there so little left?! Jhin, is this your twisted way of tormenting me?!"
"Stop assuming I spend every waking hour persecuting you. This Capsule House was never stocked with that much food to begin with. At the rate of two bottles a day like you drink, of course it's going down fast."
"Then why don't you pop back to Another World right now, restock a whole year's supply of Coke, and come back?"
Jhin flicked her on the forehead and closed the refrigerator, which had been beeping away with its door open. "Keep dreaming. Get some more rest — we're heading back soon."
"Coke… my Coke… how am I supposed to live without you?!" Megumi dropped to her knees in front of the refrigerator, pressed both palms to the floor, and wept rivers of tears. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was mourning a dear friend by the name of 'Coke.'
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🔥 New history: Danmachi: Summoning Ruri Gokou, And other Chuunibyou Brats
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