At lunch, Shichen finally got to sit down and eat with Frieren and Flamme again. The food was a little plain, but the company made up for it.
"Sorry, Shichen. I didn't have anything special to cook," Flamme said, sounding a bit guilty.
"Master, no need to be so formal with me. I'm not picky at all," Shichen replied with a grin.
"That's good to hear…"
"Frieren, you don't like Master's cooking?" he asked when he noticed her appetite was pretty much gone.
"It's not good. I've been eating this stuff for days," Frieren said flatly, pouting a little.
"Wait, so Master's been staying here that long?"
"Yeah, I've been learning your magic," Flamme said with a soft chuckle.
"So you've got it down now?"
"What, you doubting me? Though yeah, space magic's no joke," Flamme admitted with a sigh.
"Heh, Flamme took longer to learn it than I did," Frieren chimed in, smirking smugly.
"Oh wow, look who's cocky now." Shichen ruffled her hair.
"Mmph… I'm still eating," Frieren muttered and batted his hand away.
"Didn't you say it tastes bad?"
"Still better than going hungry…"
"Sigh… Shichen, you're cooking this afternoon," Flamme said, half-joking, half-serious.
"Alright, sounds good. You haven't had my cooking in a while anyway. Frieren, come hunting with me in a bit."
"Why do I have to?"
"Unless you don't want to eat," Shichen teased with a grin.
"Ugh, you're always picking on me…"
"You don't get a vote on this."
"Flamme, say something!"
"Nope. Not getting in the middle of this," Flamme said, smiling knowingly.
After lunch, Shichen didn't rush. He took time to check in with both Flamme and Frieren about their space magic training.
They'd both learned it: teleportation and spatial expansion. Not just the theory—they could use them with ease. Flamme had even gone to show off to Serie… only to find out Serie already had them mastered.
To avoid answering awkward questions from Flamme, Shichen decided it was time to take Frieren out for a walk—and some hunting.
"What's the point of walking around?" Frieren asked as they got into the forest.
"Master's definitely gonna ask how Serie learned space magic. What do I even say?"
"Tell her the truth?"
"Like it's that easy."
"Tch. So you've got the guts to do it but not to own up to it?"
"Oh? You sound pretty bold right now."
"Hey, what are you doing?" Frieren backed away with her hands behind her protectively.
"About to give you a lesson," Shichen said, stepping toward her.
Shichen lunged forward and grabbed her, pulling her into a hold.
"No—stop it!"
Frieren struggled, but her small frame didn't give her much strength. Shichen picked her up and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack.
"Seriously, what the hell are you doing?!" she protested, kicking her legs.
"This is what you get for being sassy," he said smugly.
He placed one hand on her lower back and smacked her rear lightly.
"Still pretty firm…"
Frieren was wearing a long white tunic. The fabric looked rough, but it felt surprisingly nice to the touch—her soft butt clearly noticeable.
"You said you wouldn't hit me!" Frieren puffed up her cheeks angrily.
"When did I say that?"
"Just earlier! You lied!"
"Well, maybe don't tease me next time."
"I was just being honest! You were looking for an excuse to spank me!"
"Heh, you figured me out," he said with a smirk, then spanked her again.
"Behave, and maybe I'll put you down."
"Then put me down already!"
"Nope. I like this setup."
"Then I'm not walking back with you!"
"Not your call. You're coming whether you like it or not."
"You're so unreasonable…"
"You make me this way," Shichen said, giving her another playful smack.
At that point, Frieren just slumped and gave up resisting, staying limp on his shoulder.
"What do you want for dinner?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said with a small grumble.
"That so? Sounds like someone's still feeling mouthy."
"Wait—!"
"Changed your mind?"
"…Yeah."
"So what do you want?"
"Anything but rabbit."
"Rabbit's great though. Didn't Master bring back chili? Spicy rabbit head's amazing."
"I'm not eating that."
"Fine, fine. How about flame-grilled steak?"
They wandered around the forest until sundown. Shichen only brought back one cow-like beast—not because that was all he found, but because he wanted Frieren to get out and see the world a bit.
She'd been cooped up for so long, she barely understood her own world, let alone the others. He planned to take her out more often from now on.
When they returned, Flamme wasn't home yet, but Shichen wasn't concerned.
He put Frieren down, and she immediately ran to her room without saying a word. After being carried like a kid and playfully spanked throughout the day, she was done. Even if it hadn't physically hurt, it definitely bruised her pride.
She didn't want to talk to him before dinner.
With his water magic, prepping and cleaning the meat was easy. Cooking with Holy Flame was even easier—it made meat taste amazing with almost no effort.
Of course, a whole cow was overkill for three people. Too bad he didn't have ice magic or spatial storage yet.
He remembered "her" saying he'd recover what was his in the next world. He couldn't wait to find out what that was—hopefully a magical artifact.
Weapons? He was fine. Est was plenty. What he really wanted was something with utility.
Even if he didn't get one automatically, he'd find a way—assuming the next world had it.
He hadn't learned all those skills in KonoSuba world for nothing. Sure, some were a little shady, but as long as he used them on bad guys, it was fine.
…
Just as the sun dipped low, Flamme returned—bringing someone with her.
"Oh? You're already cooking?" came a familiar smug voice.
Shichen turned and blinked. "Serie? What are you doing here?"
"What, I'm not allowed? And call me Grandmaster," she said coolly.
"Master, why'd you bring her?" Shichen asked, ignoring Serie completely.
"You're finally back, and I was around, so I thought we could all hang out. Besides, with space magic, it's easy now," Flamme explained.
"Makes sense."
"Tch. This is your dinner?" Serie scoffed.
"You don't have to eat it."
"So you only talk back to me?"
Shichen squinted at her.
"W-what are you looking at?" she stammered.
"Master?" Flamme turned to look.
"Nothing. You go ahead. I'll stay here for a bit."
"Alright…" Flamme gave the two a glance, then walked inside.
When she was gone, Shichen turned to Serie.
"Come here."
"What, just because you said so? Call me Grandmaster first."
"Hmm?"
"…Fine." Serie hesitated, then sat next to him with a grumble.
"Flamme might still be watching. Hands off," she added quickly.
"What do you think I'd even do?"
"You know."
"Heh. You coming to my room tonight?"
"W-why would I?!"
"Then don't."
There was a pause.
"…What if we get caught?" she whispered.
"I'll throw up a barrier."
"...Fine."
"That's more like it."
~~~
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