Chapter 60

From the kitchen, a rhythmic chopping sound echoed.

Yu was cooking, and Kuro was sitting on his knees with his head bowed beside him.

"How long are you going to stay like that? I told you I'm not angry."

"B-but..."

In this world, there was no custom of sitting on one's knees to apologize, but Kuro had been steadily accumulating knowledge about Japan while talking with Yu.

"It's in the way if you stay there... So, why are you sitting on your knees too?"

Next to Kuro, Marifa was also sitting on her knees. As a slave, she felt ashamed for waking up later than her master, Yu, and had unconsciously taken the same posture as Kuro. However, it wasn't that Marifa was waking up late; it was just that Yu was waking up too early, and Marifa wasn't at fault. Nevertheless...

Yu continued cooking with a puzzled look. When he started arranging the finished dishes, Marifa finally stopped sitting on her knees and began helping.

Today's breakfast consisted of French toast, corn soup, crispy bacon, salad, and a drink similar to orange juice.

Drawn by the smell, Nina and Rena also woke up, rubbing their eyes and taking their seats.

"Good morning~"

"......Hey"

Marifa looked at the two as if she wanted to say something, but due to her injury, she couldn't speak, so she eventually gave up and took her seat.

"I'm going to the Great Forest with Marifa today, so I'll prepare lunch in advance."

"I'm going too~"

"......I'll go."

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored."

Nina and Rena, who were bored, wanted to go shopping in town, but Yu had been giving them money as pocket money, which they rarely used. This was because Yu had been buying everything, from equipment to food and clothes, so they didn't have much they wanted. Additionally, Yu's attention to Marifa and Kuro was a reason. The two hadn't realized it, but they were feeling a small amount of jealousy.

When Yu and the others arrived at the Great Forest after breakfast, they first killed a goblin and revived it with necromancy, just like yesterday. Then, they had the revived goblin bring its companions, and Marifa practiced archery as she had the day before.

Nina was teaching Kuro 'Combat Techniques.' Since Kuro was an undead, strengthening his body was meaningless, so she was teaching him techniques. She had also switched his weapon from an iron sword to an earth battle axe. Rena, on the other hand, was practicing magic next to Yu, occasionally asking questions or sharing her thoughts. Though usually quiet, she became talkative when it came to magic, and Yu, surprised, answered her questions. Yu himself was practicing necromancy and alchemizing a large number of potions.

"Kuro, that's not it~ It's like this! You need to circulate your magic power~"

"Does this work, Lady Nina?"

"......I'm getting used to deploying multiple spells. Is there a trick to maintaining a barrier while deploying multiple spells?"

"I can't use barriers while using magic either. As a front-liner, I focus my magic power on 'Combat Techniques' rather than 'Barriers.' If you can deploy multiple spells, you should be able to use barriers while using magic. Just allocate one of the spells to the barrier."

"......Hmm, the shortcut is to increase the number of spells you can deploy."

Yu revived the 30th goblin with necromancy. Marifa, who had become more accustomed, was slaughtering 3-4 goblins one after another.

"Marifa."

When Yu called her, Marifa, who was breathing heavily, turned around and ran to Yu, kneeling.

"No, you don't have to do that. You've gotten back your sense of archery, haven't you? You're moving thoughtfully."

Though she was looking down, Marifa's ears were twitching, clearly showing she was happy.

"Try practicing magic without incantations. When you can do it, I'll heal the wound on your neck as I promised."

At the mention of healing the wound on her neck, Marifa looked up.

"Wow, you're full of enthusiasm. I'll keep my promise, so don't worry. Once you can use magic without incantations, the next step will be to combine it with archery."

Marifa didn't particularly want to learn incantation-free magic. Of course, it was an attractive skill, but there was something more important...

"I think it took Rena less than a month to learn incantation-free magic, so let's aim for a month."

"......Comparing me to a genius is unfair."

"!?!"

At Rena's words, Marifa glared down at her. Rena glared back, but being smaller, she was stretching to match Marifa's height. Upon closer inspection, her feet were trembling.

Yu sighed, finding the situation troublesome, and looked at Nina, who seemed to be doing well, practicing 'Combat Techniques' while giggling.

"Let's have lunch soon. We need to clean up first."

When Yu said this, Rena and Marifa stopped glaring at each other. The area around Yu was littered with the bodies of goblins, big boars, and horned rabbits. Yu moved the goblins' bodies far away with necromancy, and they skinned the big boars and horned rabbits, taking the sellable parts. Today's lunch was sandwiches, easy to eat outdoors.

The fillings were fresh vegetables, seasoned bacon, and eggs, and cute sounds were coming from Nina and Rena's stomachs.

Marifa laid out a carpet, and Kuro, who didn't need to eat, practiced using the earth battle axe while keeping watch.

"Ah~ This bacon is well-seasoned and goes well with the bread♪ It's delicious~"

Nina praised while biting into the sandwich. Rena, with her small mouth, was eating the vegetable sandwich like a small animal.

Marifa, while eating, diligently took care of Yu, refilling his glass with water whenever it was empty.

"Marifa, you don't have to do that. This is also a break, so you'll just tire yourself out."

When Yu said this, Marifa shook her head, indicating it was fine.

Yu had told her several times, but since her attitude didn't change, he didn't push the issue.

As they ate, black wolves gathered around. Their target was the bodies of the monsters Yu and the others had killed. The wolves seemed to understand the difference in strength and were eating the goblins' bodies while watching Yu and the others from a distance.

After lunch, they resumed their afternoon practice, but Marifa couldn't master incantation-free magic that day.

"I'm going to the town to shop, so you can go home first."

"Okay~"

"......Understood. I'll wait for dinner quietly."

Kuro tried to follow, but Yu stopped him.

"Kuro, you can't enter the town without a collar. I'll get one while shopping, so give up for today. Marifa, you forgot to buy clothes, so come with me."

"Y-Yes, sir..."

While Kuro hung his head, Marifa's expression was joyful.

When they arrived at Mago's shop, Yu left Marifa outside and delivered the potions to Mago. He then went to a hardware store to buy tools and to a grocery store on the main street to buy ingredients for dinner.

When Marifa tried to carry the groceries, Yu refused, saying he had an item pouch, causing her to look flustered.

"Alright, just the clothes left."

When they arrived at the clothing store, Yu took out five gold coins from his item pouch and gave them to Marifa.

"Don't forget to buy undergarments and cloths for your face and body."

"Wh-What!?"

Marifa panicked, and for good reason. In a rural village, one gold coin could last a month. Even in the expensive city of Kama, two gold coins would be enough to live on.

"What's wrong? This store is recommended by Collette, so it should have a good selection. Besides, five gold coins should be more than enough."

Though it was taken in a different way, Yu entered the store and started talking to the clerk, so Marifa followed.

"Let's choose clothes that fit this girl."

"Yes, and also undergarments and cloths."

"Leave it to me! Since it's a recommendation from Collette, I'll go all out. Plus, it's a beautiful dark elf girl, so it's motivating!"

The female clerk looked Marifa up and down and led her to the back. Yu decided to wait outside, but Marifa didn't come out for three hours.

Name: Marifa Naguts

Race: Dark Elf

Job: None

Level: 7

HP: 47

MP: 52

Strength: 9

Agility: 20

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 17

Magic: 36

Luck: 3

Passive Skills:

- Archery LV1

- Magic Eye LV1

Active Skills:

- Bow Techniques LV1

- Spirit Magic LV1

Unique Skills:

- None

Name: Kuro

Race: Black Goblin (Undead)

Rank: 4

Level: 31

HP: 1342

MP: 378

Strength: 478

Agility: 298

Vitality: ∞

Intelligence: 32

Magic: 193

Luck: 1

Passive Skills:

- Swordsmanship LV3

- Strength Boost LV2

- Intimidation LV1

- Dark Resistance LV1

Active Skills:

- Sword Techniques LV2

- Combat Techniques LV2

Unique Skills:

- None

Equipment:

- Weapon: Earth Battle Axe (Rank 4): Earth Attribute, Weight Manipulation

- Armor: Steel Helm (Rank 6): None

- Black Obsidian Armor (Rank 5): HP Boost, MP Boost, Strength Boost

- Steel Gauntlets (Rank 6): None

- Iron Shield (Rank 6): None

- Ogre Boots (Rank 6): Magic Resistance Boost, Poison Resistance Boost, Paralysis Resistance Boost

- Accessories: None