The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

We arrived in the town of Lask as the sky was beginning to be dyed with the colors of sunset.

According to Roze, the distance from Muuteran to Lask is about three days by carriage.

It's a natural distance considering it's to a town in the neighboring domain, even if it's the closest one, but because we moved by repeated teleportation, I don't have much sense of the actual distance.

It's my first journey. I think travel is one of the thrills of another world... but no, I'll refrain from complaining for the sake of my senior disciple.

Lask was about half the size of Muuteran.

It seems to be a town without any particular features except for a huge river flowing on the west side.

Apparently, it has a role in connecting the neighboring Duke Teruzu' domain and Duke Muuteru's domain, so there are many traveling merchants, and the street stalls in the center of town are its pride.

Despite being a small town, it properly has outer walls and gatekeepers.

I showed my adventurer card, and Roze, surprisingly, showed a merchant guild registration card for identification. Isn't it too suspicious for a girl with no luggage to claim to be a merchant?

The gate guard is responding while yawning, so it seems he doesn't care.

After paying the entrance fee and entering, a slightly heated air caressed our skin.

Meat skewers, corn, fried bread, baked sweets... various food stalls lined both sides of the road. The variety of goods here is no different from the Muuteru domain.

Having skipped lunch, I was almost drooling.

"This way," Roze said.

She grabbed my neck firmly and pulled me into a side street.

"Ah, the food... the skewers..."

"What kind of voice are you making for just half a day of patience?"

Can't be helped, I'm a growing child after all.

Well, I know that no matter how much I protest, my wishes won't reach Roze. Even though it should only be the first day we've met, I was somehow certain of that.

She dragged me along until we could no longer hear the bustle of the town, then stopped.

"It's here," she said.

It was a stone house in a residential area.

It looks no different from the surrounding houses, so it seems like the kind of place you might miss on a second visit if you've only been there once.

"Is this your house, Master?"

"What are you talking about? I'm just renting it."

Of course, that's right.

The idea of the legendary Mystic Queen living in such a small house doesn't even work as a joke.

Roze put her hand on the door without any hesitation, and the sound of the lock automatically opening was heard, then she went inside.

The interior was as ordinary as the exterior.

There was a kitchen and living room right away, with two more rooms in the back. The toilet and washbasin were near the entrance, structured like a small apartment for a few people.

I had never seen the inside of someone else's house before, so maybe this kind of layout is standard in this world.

Thinking this while looking around the room, Roze opened the door on the right side of the back rooms without even knocking.

"I'm back, Elenora," she said.

I peeked into the room from behind Roze.

There was only a bed placed in the room. On that bed, she was lying down.

It was a sheep.

A small-bodied girl with sheep horns sat up.

Curled horns were perched on fluffy, curly white-beige hair.

A round face with pink cheeks. Her sleepy face looking up at us was as perfect as a doll's, wearing a loose shirt.

Her arms were thin, with fluffy sheep's wool like scrunchies at her wrists.

Her legs were plump and sensual at the thighs, with similar sheep's wool at the ankles. A white ball-like tail peeked out from her shorts.

I understood without explanation.

This beastkin child is a sheep-kin.

The sheep-kin girl called Elenora raised her drowsy eyelids to look at Roze and said:

"Mm... welcome back."

"I'm late. Are you hungry?"

"Mm. Hungry."

The young girl nodded.

Is this halting way of speaking the girl's default, or is it a characteristic of her race? The lack of emotional fluctuation is also good for character establishment, but more than that, more than anything...

"Sheep are not bad either...!"

In games, when you think of beastkin, you often see dogs or cats, but sheep are fluffy and nice too, aren't they?

Good job, god of this world.

"Mm... who?"

"This kid with the creepy expression is called Ruruk. He's your junior disciple, a 9-year-old human."

Who has a creepy face?

Well, maybe I was drooling a little.

"I'm Ruruk. I'll be in your care from now on, pleased to meet you."

"...Elenora."

She at least properly greeted me with her name.

She seems younger and unfriendly, but it looks like we'll be able to communicate properly. For someone like me who's been shy and socially awkward since my previous life, I was anxious about conversing with an unfamiliar girl, but it seems okay for now.

Guuuuuuu

As I relaxed a bit, my stomach growled.

Kuuu~

Elenora's stomach growled in response.

"Mm... Roze, food."

"I brought some. Here."

Roze took out a burlap sack from her item box.

She threw the sack onto the living room table, and Elenora came tottering over. She climbed onto a chair and started rummaging through the sack.

Roze herself sat down in a chair, took out a book from her item box, and started reading.

...Huh? They're just left to their own devices?

I was certain she wouldn't take care of me, this person of unknown age, but I didn't expect her to not even take care of the young girl.

Elenora is also rummaging through the ingredients without caring.

Come to think of it, when we got food from the merchant, she said she wanted something that could be eaten as is. Does she not have cooking skills after living for thousands of years? Or is she promoting independent living...?

Either way, the only things in the bag that don't need cooking are probably the rumored disgusting portable rations or hard black bread.

"Can't be helped."

I rolled up my sleeves and stood in the kitchen. Rustle rustle, rummage rummage.

There's a knife. There are pots and pans too. I'll need some help with the water tap and stove since they're probably magic devices, but for seasonings, we have salt, sugar, and pepper that we got from the merchant, and there's a bottle of dark liquid. I'm sure this is that sweet and spicy sauce that's a specialty of Mataisa. It's delicious when you grill meat with it. Also, there's garlic and ginger among the vegetables.

Alright, this should be fine.

"Elenora, can you hold off on eating for a little bit?"

"Mm...? Can cook?"

"Well, yes."

I haven't done it here, so there's a 4-year blank, though.

"Mm. Ruruk amazing."

"I'm just an amateur, so please don't expect too much. Elenora, do you prefer meat or vegetables?"

"Meat."

The young girl answered without hesitation. I wonder if beastkin don't care about being carnivores or herbivores. Well, being humanoid, they're probably omnivores.

I'll make a meat-centered menu as requested.

But it doesn't seem like she can't eat vegetables, so I'll use both. She probably needs various nutrients after not eating for three days.

For now, I'll slice the meat a bit thin. The meat in this world generally has a unique gamey smell. It can be eaten like game meat, and everyone doesn't mind it much because that's how it is, but of course, it's more delicious without the smell. I'm fully prepared with the method to remove the smell that I learned from the head chef.

I soak the meat in finely chopped ginger and sauce.

While it's marinating and removing the smell, I'll cut the vegetables. The cabbage we got is fresh, so I'll shred it for now.

There aren't many types of seasonings, so let's go in a direction that brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients.

I put plenty of water in a pot and place it on the stove.

"Elenora, can you light the fire for me?"

"Mm, understood."

Elenora pointed at the stove next to me.

"Mm."

I thought I heard a small "chit" sound, and the stove lit up.

...Huh, what was that just now?

She didn't chant anything or directly touch a switch, right? Why did the stove turn on? What kind of magic did she use??

As I was confused, Roze, who was supposed to be absorbed in her book, chuckled and said:

"The mechanism of magic devices is to activate magic by passing mana through the activation formula. What Elenora did was not to release mana as magic, but to release it as pure mana without passing through the magic formula. If you properly control the output and direction, you can even activate distant magic formulas like just now."

W-What did you say!?

Releasing pure mana itself. Activating magic devices remotely... depending on how you think about it, it's incredibly convenient. Magic users are formidable.

"It sounds simple in words, but in reality, it's a feat that only a handful of high-ranking magic users can do. Don't misunderstand that anyone can do it."

"...Yes, Master."

Come to think of it, she did say that Elenora was a genius in magic.

Young girls are formidable.

"Food, not yet?"

The genius in question was perched on a chair, resting her face on the backrest and looking at me with narrowed eyes.

She seems to be quite hungry.

"Please be patient for a little longer."

Now, while the water is boiling, on to the next step.

I peel the vegetables and soak them in water. I crush the pepper and mix it with salt, then place the fat trimmed from the meat on the heated frying pan. When it sizzles, I start grilling the marinated meat.

While grilling the meat, the water in the pot starts boiling, so I throw in the vegetables.

Now it's just a matter of flipping the meat and taking out the vegetables as they cook.

After cutting the vegetables and plating them with the meat, alright, it's done.

"Sorry for the wait, Elenora. Here's ginger-grilled meat and boiled vegetables."

"Mm. Waited."

I plate it and place it on the table.

Of course, I made a portion for myself too.

"Let's eat."

"Mm, eat."

First, the boiled vegetables.

I just lightly sprinkled salt and pepper on the vegetables. They were fresh, so I wanted to bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients.

When you bite into them, the sweetness and flavor spread gradually, and they're very delicious. Grilling is good too, but I might like boiling the best.

Next is the ginger-grilled meat.

There was still a slight unique smell, but rather than being bothersome, it blended well with the ginger to create a good flavor. It became a wonderful taste mixed with the sweet and spicy sauce. The shredded cabbage covered in sauce is also delicious. It would be perfect if we had rice, but I won't ask for such luxury.

"Mmfu~"

Elenora's cheeks were stuffed full, and her mouth was relaxed. Her eyes are still narrowed, but it seems she's enjoying the meal, which is good.

"By the way, Master, aren't you going to eat?"

"I don't need to. It's not necessary for me."

I thought she wasn't eating because she wasn't interested, but it turns out she doesn't need to.

Being immortal isn't just for show; she doesn't even need to eat meals.

It feels a bit lonely, but Roze has her own circumstances.

With our master reading her book to the side, we two disciples ate our fill.