Chapter 43: Before Hibernation

After overcoming the crisis, my diet life has begun.

The first day’s menu was a triple-stack of hotcakes drenched in honey and butter for breakfast, a hearty hamburger steak for lunch, and a platter of cream croquettes for dinner. The moment I heard the menu, I was convinced.

—This cow woman is completely out to kill me.

---

Kicking at the pool’s surface with my legs, I let out a deep, uncontrollable sigh. Right now, I’m in Fere’s room doing a little swimming after finishing breakfast.

It’s not a large pool by any means, but it’s enough to swim in, so it’s better than nothing.

At some point, Master had bought me a competitive swimsuit, and I’m currently wearing it.

If I go in naked, the sea devil who owns this pool will start staring at my lower half, drooling and panting. I’m pretty sure she used to be a bit more restrained until recently, but where did this girl go wrong?

Even with the swimsuit on, I’ve decided to ignore Fere’s suspicious gaze. I’m smart like that.

There’s no point worrying about it, so I temporarily abandon my countermeasures against Yuria, take a breather, and dive underwater. Fere swims up beside me.

Naturally, Fere’s maneuverability is overwhelmingly superior underwater. She’s started circling around me like a shark that’s found prey, swimming at considerable speed as I leisurely paddle. Is this carnivorous fish planning to churn me into butter or something?

“But why the sudden urge to swim?”

For the record, I only told her I wanted to borrow the pool. Still, she’s got this weird intuition, so rather than letting her dig something up on me, I might as well confess upfront.

“Just… dieting a little.”

“Ehh, but I think you’d taste better with a nice layer of fat on you.”

Is that appetite or lust? Which is it? Her gaze keeps darting between my chest and hips, so I pick up my swimming pace to escape.

But the dolphin wannabe just snuggles up next to me like it’s nothing. Fine, time for some self-defense.

“‘O flowing water, bend to my will!’”

With a shortened chant, I fired off one of Master’s original spells right into Fere’s face. To put it simply, it’s a water gun spell. It’s a cursed creation born out of a pervy desire to see us in white swimsuits get drenched and all see-through during island life.

I’m not good with offensive magic, but I can use this one just fine.

“Bwah!?”

Fere took the water shot straight to the face and stalled for a moment, giving me the chance to widen the distance.

“Ugh—! You’re gonna pay for that!”

With her yell, four fist-sized orbs of water formed around her. Wait, instant cast without a chant? Is this some kind of innate magic or something? Isn’t that way too unfair!?

“‘O sturdy water, shield me!’”

I thrust my hands into the water and chanted, forming a thin barrier of water that caught the incoming water spheres. I may suck at offense, but I have plenty of magic power. Defense is my specialty! I managed to block three shots, but the fourth blasted right through.

How much power is she pumping into these things!?

“Bwough…!? Gah, cough, hack—what the heck…?”

The water sphere hit me square in the face with far more force than I expected and burst. It hurt like hell with water shooting up my nose…

“Take this, payback time!”

“Wait, what!? That’s not payback, that’s overkill!”

The dolphin wannabe’s barrage didn’t stop. Every time she flapped her wings, countless water spheres of the same size as before materialized and came flying at me.

Yeah, no way I can handle that. I dove underwater instinctively, and looking up, I could see the water’s surface exploding with splashes.

Wondering what Fere was up to, I peeked forward—only to see her diving toward me at terrifying speed. Don’t tell me the barrage was a trap to force me underwater!?

I twisted my body, but underwater, I was at a clear disadvantage. She easily grabbed my waist. And would you stop rubbing your cheek against my stomach with that blissful expression? Are you mocking me?

I slipped my hand under her armpit, pried her off by force, created some distance, and escaped back to the surface.

“Pwah…! ‘O flowing water, bend to my will!’”

I conjured the biggest and strongest blast of water I could manage before Fere’s head popped out of the water. Once her head’s out, it’s over for this dolphin wannabe…! A few seconds later, the prey’s head surfaced.

“Hmm? Sora’s running awa—kyaa!?”

“Oi, Fere, Sora’s coming thi—”

Startled by the massive water sphere, Fere quickly dove back underwater. The blast, now without a target, soared through the open door and crashed straight into Master, who had just poked their head in.

“…Looks like Master came too.”

…T-this was completely out of my control, you know? There’s no way I could have aimed that on purpose, so I’m totally not at fault here.

I quickly looked away from Master, who was silently slicking their wet hair back, and searched for my accomplice (Fere), but that traitor had already escaped to the far end of the pool through the water, probably trying to avoid getting caught up in this mess.

“Um, this, uh… it’s… it’s F-Fere’s fault for dodging!”

Fere, still underwater, shot me a look that clearly screamed “I didn’t do anything wrong!” but I ignored her. Leaving me behind to take the fall is unforgivable.

Still, Master was walking toward me with a smile… a smile that practically radiated murderous intent. The moment I turned to run, I felt a strange floating sensation… and before I knew it, I was being cradled in Master’s arms like a princess.

I had no idea what just happened.

“Huh? What the—!?”

How did this happen? I was just in the pool a second ago and now I’m in Master’s arms. Was it hypnosis? Super speed!?

“It’s a target-specific teleportation spell. I’ve been practicing it in secret.”

“O-oh… I see…”

Since when does just practicing make it possible to pull this off?

“Well, it’s not the real deal—just something I managed to replicate using a different spell formula.”

“R-right…”

Master set me down on the floor, grabbed my wrist tightly with one hand, and draped a bathrobe over me, pulling it out of nowhere… then casually started drying themselves off.

I thought maybe they weren’t that mad since their anger seemed to vanish pretty quickly, but the iron grip on my wrist said otherwise.

“Fere, I’m gonna borrow Sora for a bit, cool?”

“Okay—just make sure to lend her back later!”

Master called out to the dolphin wannabe, who had been peeking out to test the waters, and she nodded, seemingly reassured.

…Am I really just some object to be borrowed back and forth? Once Master had removed most of the water from us, they conjured a warm breeze to completely dry both me and themselves—and even the floor.

Then, Master scooped me up again, bathrobe and all.

“Um, Master, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose…”

“I know. I just started craving gyudon out of nowhere, so I came to get you.”

…Wait, what did you just say!? Up until now, you always ignored me and ate plain rice with that freeloader, but you’re actually prioritizing me today!?

“Thank you, Master! I love you so much!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Since I don’t know how to properly cook rice in a clay pot by myself, this really makes me happy. As we got closer to the dining room, I could smell the fragrant aroma of soy sauce and miso soup wafting through the air. Ufufufu.

“I’m so excited—rice really is life for Japanese people!”

“Yeah, it really is.”

Master seemed genuinely happy too, like all that earlier anger had just disappeared. But that’s fine—today’s all about rice. Glorious, fluffy white rice! It’s been so long!

---

“I… I can’t eat another bite…”

Master’s homemade gyudon turned out wonderfully. The miso soup with leafy greens was delicious too. Thanks to that, I ended up eating two full bowls, even though they were small-sized.

Right after finishing my meal and changing clothes, I was brought to Master’s room.

Lying down on the bed, letting the fullness take over, I rubbed my belly contentedly. Then, Master—who was sitting behind me—reached out and started rubbing my belly too, almost like hugging me from behind.

“Well, as expected, this is how it turned out.”

…Huh? What are you talking about…!? W-wait, I realized it too late—lured by the siren call of white rice, I’d completely stuffed myself.

“T-this is fine! I-I’ll start being careful tomorrow, I’ll turn things around starting tomorrow!”

Master said nothing, silently stripping off my clothes while gently rubbing my belly.

“Looks like you need some exercise.”

“Nope! No, I don’t! I’ll endure, I swear!!”

Besides, the kind of “exercise” Master’s thinking about doesn’t help with dieting! Sure, it wears me out, but it doesn’t actually burn fat!! So please reconsider, take your hands off my underwear, I can still make it right, there’s still time to fix this—gyahhhh!?

---

◇◆ADVENTURE RESULT◆◇

【EXP】
BATTLE TOTAL 10
MAX Combo 10
◆【Sora Lv.87】+10
◆【Lulu Lv.36】
◆【Yuria Lv.34】
◇―
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Sora Lv.87 [873] → Lv.88 [883] <<Level Up!!
Lulu Lv.36 [361]
Yuria Lv.34 [347]

【RECORD】
[MAX COMBO] >> 34
[MAX BATTLE] >> 34

【PARTY-1 (Main)】
[Shuuya][Lv95] HP 2100/2100 MP 3460/3460 [Normal]
[Sora][Lv88] HP 34/63 MP 1253/1253 [Fatigued]
[Lulu][Lv36] HP 835/835 MP 40/40 [Normal]
[Yuria][Lv34] HP 1840/1840 MP 89/89 [Normal]

【PARTY-2 (Sub)】
[Fere][Lv30] HP 282/282 MP 1030/1030 [Normal]

【PARTY-3 (Sub)】
[Makoto][Lv66] HP 3450/3450 MP 150/150 [Normal]
[Chris][Lv13] HP 200/200 MP 20/20 [Normal]
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Milady really does this every time, huh…”

“This… this is the fault of rice… it’s just the instinct of being Japanese…”