56-With Ra-chan




 
Four years old!

 The girl, Ra-chan, who says it cheerfully, laughs innocently. And she smiles innocently and says, "Ehehehee," as if she's happy to have said it properly.

 If you look at her up close, you can see that she has an innocent but well-groomed face.

 I'm sure this is going to be an adorable young lady in the future, and as I look at her, she turns her gaze to me as if to encourage me to respond.

"I'm Alfried. I'm almost seven years old.

Al? Al-nii-chan?

Tell me more.

Al!

Not that way!

 Rah-chan laughs, as if she enjoys it when I shove it in her face.

 After that, I said, "Try calling me Al-Onii-chan! When I asked him to do so, he happily said, "Al! Al! I just call it a series of things.

 What........what is this soothing feeling? If I had a younger sister, would I be like this?

 Because I was surrounded by older people, both in Japan and in the other world, this kind of exchange is new to me.

I'm Meena, the maid. You can call me Meena-o-neechan, if you want.

 What? Even I haven't been called Onii-chan, and yet Meena is being called Onii-chan, it's not even close to offensive.

"I don't want to waste that word on Meena. It's fine to be a crappy maid.

 I slowly shook my head twice and then spoke to Ra-chan. Then Ra-chan piled on the pinpoint words.

'd*mned maid!'

Yeah, yeah. Great, great.

 I smirk and gently stroke Rah's head.

'Ehehe,'

'Oh! Master Alfried, how dare you say that! See, Ra-chan has learned a funny word!

'Oh, yes, yes. I'll give you some cookies later, so shut up.

I want one too!

Well, if you ask me.

'Oh! That's the cookie I brought you!


 Eating a cookie makes me thirsty. Rah-chan's complaint about it is inevitable, and that's why two copper coins disappear from my wallet.

 The juice Ra-chan is drinking is green in color and looks very healthy. It's a combination of various fruits and vegetables.

''Would you like to take a sip?''

 Rah-chan recommended it, so I decided to take a sip.

 I took a sip, and when I tried it, it was pretty good. When I get back to the mansion, I think I'll develop a blender and make one myself. I think it would be great to juice up some of the ribbons that Elinora-san and I picked up in the forest. It sounds good for your health, too.

It's also delicious.

Yes.

It's nice. I feel at ease with this kind of thing.

 I let go of Meena, who was snickering beside me, and get to the point.

'By the way, what have you been doing, Ra-chan? From the looks of it, it looked like he was looking for someone, but... maybe he was lost...

It's not!

 Raa shakes her hair and clearly denies it.

 But the sight of him loitering alone on the side of the road looks like a lost child, no matter how you look at it.

'But loitering alone with a troubled look on your face.

'I'm lost, I've been looking for my lady!

You're not going to admit to the sin of being lost, no matter what?

 You're not going to admit to the sin of being a lost child that you've taken on, no matter what. But if you try to attack it any further, you might end up crying. Let's say that the culprit is your sister.

How old is your sister?

Seven years old!

 So that would be a girl about my age.

 As far as I can see now, there doesn't seem to be any girls my age in sight.

'Where did you and your sister get lost... where did your sister get lost?

 When Rah-chan sounded like she was lost, I got teary-eyed and hurriedly corrected her.

''Err~.......I don't know!

 That's right. Because Rah's a lost child. I won't tell you because I think you'll cry if I tell you that.

 Crying over a younger girl in the street is definitely not a good idea.

"I see. I don't get it.

'What does your sister look like? Like your hair, for example.

Well, she has my hair color and she's very pretty!

 Okay, that's not clear.

 It seems that when Meena asks a series of questions about her clothes and other things, this is what she looks like.

 She has the same hair color as Rah's, and its length is up to her waist. The hair is not habitual and Rah-chan says it's so smooth that she wants to touch it all the time.

 She's about the same height as me.


 The most distinctive feature is that she wears a magic school uniform.


 Come to think of it, I've seen a kid wearing a robe a few times. I remember looking at them, wondering if they differed from class to class, because they were different in red, blue, black, etc.

 If they were wearing something that fancy, it would be easy to find them. At any rate, you should only check out the people wearing the uniform.

 By the way, my sister's robe seems to be blue.

''Then it's better to stay on Main Street where it's easy to find.

What do you say, little Ra. Do you want to wait here and wait for your sister?

No! The lady is lost and I'm going to find her!

 Oh, I know, right? I was waiting for you here, and it looks like Ra-chan got lost.

"I see.

So why don't we look for it together?

 Ra-chan looks up at me and asks me to do something. The way she casually grabs the hem of my dress is adorable. I'm not sure if she's anxious or not, but her big eyes are glazed over in her mind.

 Is that going to be the case after all?

Then let's find it!

 I stood up cheerfully and smiled at him.

'Yeah!'

Yes, sir!

 Thus we walked down Main Street to find Ra's sister.





 × X X X



 I should have walked out to find my sister........

'Next! I want to eat that!

'Good! A stew with all the right ingredients. After that, let's have the meat over there! It smells like grilled meat and plenty of spices used!

 I follow, with Ra-chan pulling me along.

 We still wander down the main southern street, where we first met, lined with stalls.

 There are more and more people lining up at the stalls, probably because of the hungry time of day.

 Huh? It's funny. We're supposed to be looking for this sissy or something, but why are we standing in line for a stall?

It smells so good!

Right!

 They smile at each other in a friendly manner. It's okay for Meena to be the big sister now.

 Can't we just agree on a solution? I've been to the capital and I've only seen the stalls.

Are we done yet?

Too late.

 At first they seemed to be having a good conversation, but they were getting annoyed that the line wasn't going anywhere. You can't understand how frustrating and irritating it can be when you're hungry and various savory smells are in the air.

'Looks like they ran out of ingredients and are making them again.

Um, I'm bored out of my mind.

'Hmmm, when you say that I'll show you a little magic trick then.

 It's a magic trick I sometimes do at Celia's cafeteria, and I think it's a good way to pass the time, even standing up.

"What is it?

What is it?

 Not only Rah, but Meena is also biting into it.

 The man behind her was also bored, and looked curious and peeked in.

'Meena, you have one cookie, right? Can I borrow it?

 When I said that, Meena, obviously alarmed, but her curiosity got the better of her and she timidly pulled a cookie out of her pocket.

Well, here's a cookie.

 I have them both check the back of the cookie to make sure there is nothing wrong with it.

'Then I'll put the cookie between your hands and put the lid on. Now the cookie is in this hand, isn't it?

 Rah and Meena, and even the man behind me nodded with a huff and a puff.

'Well then, if you wave your hand three times while this is going on, the cookies will disappear.

'What! It's a lie!

You're not going to disappear, Master Alfried!

 When I say this, Ra-chan looks frowning, and Meena looks like she's about to scream and grab my chest.

 The guy behind her is snorting.

 You're pissing me off a little bit. Just wait and see. I'll show you how to take that a**h*le look and turn it into an expression of surprise and admiration.

"Oh, well, okay, then, shall we go? One.........two.......three......!

 And he opens his hand that I put together.

'What! Where's the cookie?

Hey, Cookie? Where is it? Don't tell me you really erased it?

 They touch my hand and arm with a flop.

 But Cookie will not be found.

 Because the cookie was transferred into the pocket of the man behind me with transference magic.

 I speak to the man who opens his mouth to reveal a question mark, and I speak to him with a relaxed expression on my face.

'You there, man. Check your right pocket.

Oh, yeah.

 The man, who probably didn't expect to talk to you, fumbles through his pockets while replying in bewilderment.

''Whoa! Why is there a cookie in my pocket?

'What! Could it be that the cookies from earlier went to that place!

Why my cookies!

 The three of them don't seem to be able to catch up with what's going on, and they're arguing about it.

 At our noise, the people around us are also looking at us for what the hell is going on.

'Oh, you can eat those cookies,'

Are you sure?

Hey, Master Alfried!

You'll be fine. I'll double or triple it in a minute.

 When I quieten her down two or three times, Meena calms down to listen to me for once.

'They're just the right amount of sweet cookies. Delicious.

 The guy behind us takes a bite of a cookie.

'Well, next time I'll take the cookie out of my pocket.

Well, if it's in your pocket, it'll show up.

Yeah, that's right.

'Didn't you see that? I mean, the cookies really are gone, okay? It's worth a look.'

 Before I know it, the gallery seems to be growing and the voices are suspicious.

 I answer the voice by sticking my hands in my pants pockets and flipping my pockets over to prove that there's nothing in them.

 Then I put the pocket back on and raise my voice.

'So now I'm going to pull the cookie out of this pocket, okay? Look, look!

 I put my hand in my pocket and stick my hand in my pocket, and one cookie appears, then another.

''What's going on?!''

 The people around me buzzed with surprise at this.

''Eeeeeeeeee! Do you have an endless supply of cookies sprouting from Master Alfried's pockets?

'Al, wow! But why?

 Ra Ra raises a pure question and everyone thinks about it.

 In the meantime, I turn my pockets over to prove that there's nothing there again.

''........I don't get it.''

There's no way I'm going to fit that many cookies in my pocket.

"How did you get it out of your empty pocket?

What are you, the apprentice of a famous magician?

 People craned their necks even more at the sight of it and roared.

'I don't know! Tell me how you did it!

 Unable to endure it, Ra-chan shouted, but this is the only thing I cannot teach him.

 There is silent pressure from the gallery as well, but what's no good is no good.

 But I'm just using spatial magic to transfer, store, and take out.

'Everyone! There's a new stew ready!

 Then the voice of the stall owner making the stew, which was playing just fine.

'Come on, the stew is ready, it's all done. Let's have some stew.

'Ah! Al, you fooled me!

'Yes, Master Alfried!

I'm not trying to be evasive. That's what makes it fun. Come on, you two, I'll give you some cookies.

"Wow!

 They're both a bit thin.



'Hey, do that again! I want this guy to see it too!

Again, please!

"I will see it through next time.


 As I stood in line with a blank look on my face, a voice asked me to do it again.

 I thought that if I was doing magic here, people would come and find me, and maybe Rah's sister would find me.

 I agreed to do it.

'Okay. But for now, I need to have a stew, and then I'll come back. You can join us if you want.

 As I said this, the men around me joined the line.

 Thanks to this, the owner of the restaurant is beaming and tells me I don't have to pay for the stew.

 Then I taste the stew and perform the same kind of magic in front of everyone.

 It's obvious that it would be crazy to do something too big, so he only uses small items like the spoon and copper coins he used in the stew.

 Since it's such a small object, he thinks there must be a way to do it, but there was no way anyone could figure out the seeds.

 People are calling out to me, and in the blink of an eye there is a huge crowd of people, and just as I planned, Ra-chan's sister emerges from the carriage.

'Ra-chan!'

'Ah! Hey, girl!

Where the hell have you been, staring at a show like this? I've been looking for you.

 Ho, you're a beautiful woman, just like Ra said. I think she's especially beautiful with her hair that reaches her waist.

'Come on, let's go home, Ra-chan.

'Yes! Bye, Al~

Do you know that girl?

Yeah, Al is, hey, he's a big girl!

'What? What does that mean?

That's what I'm talking about!

 Rah and her sister held hands and went home, talking to each other about such things.

 As for Meena and I, we are surrounded by so many people that we don't seem to be able to go home for a while.

 ........I want to go home soon.