SWNOVELXO Chapter 28
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 28
A quiet kitchen.
While slicing a paprika with dazzling knife skills, I dropped the kitchen knife to the floor with a clanging sound.
A voice filled with irritation escaped my lips.
“Ah… Not again.”
I looked at my left hand, which had been holding the paprika.
A perfectly unscathed left hand.
Thankfully, the left hand holding the paprika was unharmed.
If it had been even slightly off, it could have been a serious injury, but I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of my left hand, with all five fingers intact.
After confirming the safety of my left hand,
I turned my gaze to my right hand.
A slightly trembling right hand.
“Haa.”
A sigh came out involuntarily.
This happens sometimes.
There are moments when my right hand disobeys me, though not often—just very occasionally.
My right hand doesn’t listen to me.
It’s not something like a Black Flame Dragon or another hidden persona. Starting from the fingertips, my entire right arm stiffens and refuses to move.
I looked at my trembling right hand. No matter how much strength I put into my fingers to make a fist, my right hand wouldn’t budge.
An empty laugh escaped me.
“Seriously, this isn’t easy.”
It’s an aftereffect from saving a young lady who had failed in dark magic, and it hasn’t healed easily.
Sometimes, waves of pain would come.
On really bad days, the pain felt as if my arm was about to be torn off. But it wasn’t something to worry about too much.
It didn’t happen often.
And it was good because it increased my Dark Magic Resistance.
[Dark Magic Resistance suppresses necrosis.]
I think of it as an investment for the future.
“Tsk…”
But.
Today, it hurts more than usual.
“Damn.”
I collapsed into a corner of the kitchen and sat down. Hugging my trembling right hand as I crouched, the pain subsided a little.
It hurt. How should I describe it?
A pain like bugs gnawing at my flesh?
That seems like the perfect description.
Clenching my teeth tightly.
Worried that any sound might escape, I held my breath and waited for the pain to pass.
Even though I’d endured this pain dozens of times, I never got used to it.
My body trembled uncontrollably.
My lips were parched.
“Hooah… Endure it… Endure it.”
I struggled to keep myself from shouting.
I didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry for the young lady upstairs.
It’s really nothing.
It hurts just a little.
It’s a pain I can endure. It’s fine.
***
The young lady’s room on the second floor, where I brought the meal I had prepared.
I gave an awkward smile as I looked at the completely burnt steak.
“Hahaha…”
“…What is this?”
The young lady asked me.
She seemed genuinely curious.
And understandably so, as the steak looked more like a piece of black charcoal than meat.
Having been stuck in the corner of the kitchen, I had completely forgotten about the meat on the fire. Unfortunately, there was no extra meat, so I brought this cautiously.
The young lady asked me again.
“Charcoal?”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. For a butler who usually served proper meals to bring something inedible—how absurd it must seem.
It was already 9 PM.
I felt sorry for giving such a rock-like meal to the young lady, who must have been starving, but with no extra meat, I couldn’t prepare another dish.
I spoke with an apologetic tone.
“This is tonight’s dinner.”
“Oh…?”
The young lady’s face filled with countless question marks.
“Dinner?”
Understanding the tragic situation, the young lady’s expression shifted to one of realization, as if an exclamation mark had appeared over her head.
“Ah, jerky?”
I shook my head.
“It’s steak made from beef short ribs.”
“Oh…”
The young lady brought her nose close to the plate. Sniffing it, she tilted her head in confusion.
“Hmm.”
She stroked her chin once.
After thinking seriously for a moment,
-Poke.
She poked it with her finger and licked it.
-Scrape.
She scraped off a small piece and tasted it.
The young lady nodded.
It seemed she had reached a conclusion.
With a more serious expression than ever, the young lady spoke to me again.
“…Dinner?”
I nodded.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
-Softly.
The young lady gazed at the plate again.
She seemed to be checking if there was any edible part.
The young lady said,
“If I eat this, I’ll die.”
“You won’t. We even shared Poisonous Mushroom Soup once, and you’re perfectly fine.”
“That was pretty.”
“This is pretty too, if you look closely.”
I said, looking at the steak, which was blacker than charcoal. Still, if I worked hard with the knife, I might find some edible parts.
Besides, the paprika and broccoli weren’t burnt. If there was nothing else to eat, she could at least eat those.
The young lady repeated,
“If I eat this, I’ll die.”
“You won’t.”
“I will.”
“Then there’s no helping it.”
At my sigh, the young lady widened her eyes.
As a human, I sometimes make mistakes in cooking, and whenever that happens, I usually get the Young Lady her favorite cake or pack food from the marketplace.
The Young Lady, knowing this, looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.
“Chocolate Cake?”
“Oh, come on, really?”
“Then what?”
Responding to the Young Lady’s intense anticipation, I stabbed a fresh piece of paprika with a fork.
-Squish.
In that instant, the Young Lady’s expression twisted.
“Why paprika?”
“Because it’s fresh and delicious.”
“That?”
“Yes.”
The Young Lady thought she would have preferred eating charcoal-burnt meat instead.
“Ah. Open up.”
Whoosh. The Young Lady turned her head away fiercely.
“I don’t want it.”
Raising the fork, I launched “Whoosh~ Airplane Unit 1” with the sound of an airplane taking off. Its destination: the Young Lady’s mouth.
“I don’t want it.”
This time, the Young Lady firmly shut her mouth and refused to eat, glaring at me with coy eyes. I felt an urge to flick her forehead.
Kids usually eat when you tell them an airplane is coming. It seems that in this world, without airplanes, such tricks don’t work.
I picked up the fork again.
Then I thought, maybe mentioning something from this world would work differently.
Understanding the shared context, I launched Unit 2.
“Whoosh~ Dragon Unit 2 is flying!”
Thud. With a small gesture, the Young Lady shot down Dragon Unit 2. In an instant, she became a Dragon Slayer.
The Young Lady smiled proudly.
“I caught the evil dragon.”
“Oh…!”
I looked at Dragon Unit 2, which had crashed helplessly to the ground. The paprika, which had perished gloriously without reaching its destination, seemed pitiful.
Looking at the crash-landed paprika, the Young Lady spoke.
“I’m a Dragon Slayer.”
‘Heh.’ The Young Lady sneered, seeing through my petty trick. Was she saying such tricks wouldn’t work anymore?
I pulled out a new fork.
I’d prepared dozens of forks for situations like this.
“Picky eating is bad.”
“It’s fine. That was an evil paprika dragon.”
“Paprika is not an evil dragon. In fact, it’s a kind dragon that protects your health.”
“No, it’s evil.”
The Young Lady furrowed her brows.
“It doesn’t taste good.”
The Young Lady despised paprika.
She said she hated its distinct raw taste, though I couldn’t understand why.
Crunchy and delicious, if you ask me…
Actually, I hate it too.
I launched Unit 3 into the Young Lady’s mouth for leftover disposal purposes.
“Ah. Open up.”
“No.”
“I refuse as well.”
I shoved it into the Young Lady’s mouth.
“Ugh.”
“You can’t spit it out.”
“Why not?”
“Because paprika is healthy.”
“But my heart isn’t healthy.”
“Paprika will take care of that for you.”
The Young Lady, trying not to chew and attempting to spit it out, had her jaw gently held by me, forcing her to chew.
Though the Young Lady’s cat punch came flying at me, it didn’t hurt, so it was fine.
Gulp. After swallowing the paprika, the Young Lady picked up a fork.
I thought she picked it up to throw it, but contrary to my expectations, she was making skewers with the paprika and broccoli on her plate.
Poke. Poke. Poke.
Does it suit her taste more than expected?
Just as I thought her palate had matured with Unit 3.
“Ah.”
The Young Lady held out the fork toward me.
“Ricardo, you eat this.”
“I appreciate the offer, but isn’t this a bit much?”
The Young Lady spoke to me with cold eyes.
“You need to be healthy.”
“I am healthy, though.”
“Be even healthier.”
“But giving me only paprika is abuse. I should report this to the Butler Human Rights Committee.”
The Young Lady widened her eyes and asked.
“Is there such a thing?”
“No, there isn’t.”
The Young Lady threw the fork.
After finishing our little skirmish, we ended the meal with me giving the Young Lady chocolate cake.
***
The Young Lady yawned and lay down lazily. I sat by her bedside, stroking her hair.
“Young Lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Did you know I’ll be on vacation starting tomorrow?”
The Young Lady nodded her head.
It seemed she was aware of my vacation.
I mentioned it because I thought she might have forgotten, but I was grateful she remembered.
This time, I’d have to bring back lots of expensive items from the dungeon. The mix of worry and anticipation made my heart restless.
The Young Lady spoke to me.
“Make sure to come back safely.”
“Yes.”
“I told you, right? Be wary of bad people and don’t follow anyone who offers you delicious food.”
“I know that well.”
The Young Lady seemed worried about me.
She seemed concerned about whether I could navigate this harsh world alone.
It seemed we were both worried about each other.
“And you know.”
The Young Lady held my hand.
With a somewhat sorrowful gaze, she looked at my hand. She stroked the back of it and bit her lower lip.
The Young Lady remained silent for a moment.
“Um…”
After hesitating, the Young Lady spoke.
“When you come back from vacation, I have something I want to ask you.”
“Is it something you want to ask me?”
“Yes.”
The Young Lady clenched her fist tightly.
It seemed like she was planning to ask something difficult. Was she going to ask if I had a girlfriend? If that’s the case, she could ask me right now.
After all, I’ve been single since birth in both my previous life and current life.
I said to the Young Lady,
“You can ask me now, can’t you?”
The Young Lady shook her head.
“Not yet. I’m not ready.”
“Not ready?”
The Young Lady stared into the empty space and said,
“Yes. I’m still not ready.”
***
Time passed quickly.
I bid farewell to the Young Lady who remained at the estate and generously gave the Honorable Maid a bonus, asking her to take good care of things.
The most important thing I emphasized was,
One chocolate per day.
I didn’t forget to say that anything more than that was not allowed.
After exchanging goodbyes with the Honorable Maid, I departed immediately. Now, I’ve arrived at the peak of the Hamel Mountain Range.
The summit offered a wide, open view.
The refreshing air cleared my chest, and the cold breeze tousled my hair, making me feel like I was truly on vacation.
I should wrap this up quickly and head back.
Just as I thought that and was about to find the dungeon entrance,
“Well, look who it is.”
A familiar voice called out.