Kokkoro gazed at the empty bed, and the pillow she had been hugging fell to the floor.
Recalling the scene she had seen upon waking this morning, a guess formed in her mind. She silently picked up the pillow, set it back on the bed, and walked out of the room.
Tiptoeing up to the second floor, she came to the outside of Megumin's room. Kokkoro crouched down and pressed her long ears against the wall; a faint gathering of wind element upon them let her hear the sounds inside more clearly.
"Mmm~"
A coquettish moan that seemed able to corrode bone with ease bored into her ears like an electric current, making Kokkoro shudder. If she had heard correctly, this was Megumin's voice—she could scarcely imagine that chuunibyou girl letting out such a bewitching, breathy sound.
"Jhin~ don't... don't..."
"Don't what? Out with it. If you don't say, how am I supposed to know what you won't let me do?"
"It tickles... stop touching..."
"Is it really just ticklish? No other feeling?"
"...It... it feels really good, okay! You win!"
"I just love honest kids. Come now, let me use the rolling pin to roll out your dumpling wrappers for you."
"Don't! Don't! Mmgh~"
Megumin's moan—teeth clenched, anguished and edged with a sob—traveled along the wind element into Kokkoro's ears. Her legs went weak and she braced a hand against the wall to keep from falling, her little face flushed so red it seemed about to drip blood.
No... I can't keep listening, I have to leave at once!
Pressing against the wall, Kokkoro propped herself up bit by bit, rubbed her thighs together and felt a slight chilly draftiness. After she dispersed the wind element and could no longer hear the sounds, strength gradually returned to her legs. On tiptoe she quietly slipped away, her pink eyes brimming with relief, looking exactly like an old mother who had witnessed her child's coming-of-age.
Let's cook red bean rice tomorrow morning—I wonder if we still have the ingredients.
Jhin stared at the red bean rice on the table, his eyelid twitching wildly. Kokkoro's tender, doting expression made him feel as though he were sitting on pins and needles. The others might not know what eating red bean rice in the morning signified, but he knew very well—it meant a happy event had occurred.
What had made the little guide believe a happy event had befallen her master?
Other than sneaking into Megumin's room last night to give her a massage, he couldn't think of any other reason.
Were elf ears really this sharp? Megumin had only been a little louder last night. It seemed that from now on he'd best use wind element to block out the sound.
Jhin gazed at Kokkoro's elf ears—they looked soft and fragrant, and felt wonderful to the touch. If he pinched them with just a little more force, they'd instantly turn pink, like a juicy, dewy peach.
As for why he knew this so clearly, it was of course because he had touched them before. Recalling the scene of Kokkoro forcibly enduring the shyness and distress in her eyes, restraining her trembling delicate frame and letting him touch her ears, his gaze grew fervent.
It wasn't until his right foot was stomped on hard beneath the dining table that Jhin came back to his senses. He reached over and stroked Megumin's superbly textured black-stockinged thigh, then nonchalantly began to eat.
Bro, you're seriously jealous.
Megumin chewed the red bean rice in her mouth and shot Jhin a sidelong glance, not knowing why he was inexplicably stroking her thigh, or what was supposed to be the matter with her thigh.
Could it be he was hinting, first thing in the morning, that he'd come to roll dumpling wrappers tonight?
Please no... I rolled them until my back ached. Couldn't you let me rest properly tonight?
To secure herself a good night's sleep, Megumin proactively pulled Jhin's hand onto her thigh and left it there, then lowered her head and went on eating.
Now it was Jhin's turn to be baffled by her actions.
What was this—a smack with the big stick, then two sweet dates as a reward?
Or was she saying... there'd be overtime tonight too?
My pants just stirred—I absolutely must clock in on time tonight!
Just as the two of them were spinning up their misunderstanding, Kyaru, seated across from Jhin, quietly withdrew her left foot. After confirming that Jhin was no longer staring at Kokkoro like a starving wolf, she nodded with satisfaction.
It seemed that even in the midst of their adventure, she had to keep watch over him to stop him from doing anything out of line. That look just now was as if he wanted to devour someone whole—far too terrifying. His everyday demeanor was much more comfortable to behold.
"Ahh~ I'm stuffed, stuffed." Pecorine leaned back against her chair and contentedly rubbed her belly. "We've got to work even harder collecting morning dew in a bit!"
"Once we've collected the morning dew, let's head straight into the depths of Maple Sugar Valley, and climb the mountains to look for the Rainbow Hen along the way."
"Mn!"
The brief hour passed in the blink of an eye. This time too, the Gourmet Edifice gathered only about as much dew as last time, but fortunately they were in no hurry. While exploring this beautiful valley they slowly collected morning dew, and after more than ten days, they finally discovered, atop a certain peak, a Rainbow Hen three or four times larger than an ordinary hen.
It looked extremely spirited, every movement carrying pride and elegance, and it had no fear of strangers. When Pecorine spotted it, the Rainbow Hen was standing atop a maple tree, cocking its neck and peering down at her, as if puzzled over what this two-legged beast was searching for here.
Even when Pecorine hollered and yelped to summon the rest of her companions, it showed not the slightest intention of fleeing. Instead, it openly and unhurriedly flew down from the tree trunk to the ground, surveyed the people of the Gourmet Edifice, then flapped its wings twice and led them to its little nest on this peak, giving a couple of mock pecks at the straw nest with its bright yellow beak.
As if telling them that it lived right here, and that they could come find it whenever they needed anything.
"So, so clever. Pecorine, besides morning dew, does it eat anything else?" Megumin felt this big hen's intelligence even rivaled the familiars some mages had contracted.
"That... I'm not sure about. The book only said it likes to eat morning dew."
Jhin rummaged through his Storage Space, but there was nothing inside suitable for feeding a hen either. He thought it over, then pulled a small strand off the ball of Honey Spider Silk and set it before the Rainbow Hen to see how it would react.
The Rainbow Hen first pinned the thread to the ground with its claws, then stretched out its neck and studied the Honey Spider Silk for a while, before pecking it into its mouth. After finishing it, it even gave him a remarkably human-like nod, as if thanking him for the treat.
"How marvelous." His exclamation done, Jhin descended the mountain together with his companions. Since they had already pinned down the target's location, they no longer moved their camp. After continuing to collect morning dew near the peak for the better part of a month, they finally amassed three full jars of dew.
Marvelously, once a jar was filled, the dew automatically turned into a jelly-like semi-solid, springy and cold to the touch, and if you looked closely a thread of morning light would flicker within it from time to time.
That very day, the group found the Rainbow Hen and offered up the morning dew. They watched its head blur into an afterimage, and in less than half a minute it devoured all three jars of dew clean. Then it scurried into its straw nest and began letting out loud clucking cries.
After a long wait, when the Rainbow Hen finished crowing and stood up from its nest, dozens upon dozens of rainbow-colored eggs, packed to the brim, appeared before everyone's eyes.
Jhin held an egg high toward the sky and shouted: "Rainbow Hen egg—I've got it!"
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