Chapter 33: Let’s Visit ‘The Lake’ And Meet ‘Fairy’

After eating breakfast and taking a good nap, I go to the lake beyond the mountain with the young lady.

“Wow..!”

“How is it? It’s really pretty, right?”

“Yes! It’s so pretty!!!”

I looked around to see what was nearby, and there was a wonderful lake.

I was thinking of coming here in autumn or winter, but I’m here now.

“There are so many sparkles too!”

“Mana?”

“Yes! There are so many on the lake!”

…I didn’t think there would be a lot of mana.

Of course, the scenery was nice, so I thought, “Wow, I want to build a villa here and live here.”

As expected, I seem to be making new discoveries when I come with the young lady.

“Today, we’re going to play around here and spend the day. How about it?”

“I love it..!”

“Now, now, shall we go boating first?”

“Boating?”

“Wait a minute?”

Heave-ho..!

I take out a rowboat from my bag.

“Ma, magic!”

“Yes, I prepared it for today~ Let’s go to the center of the lake with this and have fun!”

“Wow… to the center of the lake?!”

“This lake is wider than you think, so it’ll be really fun if we go to the middle of the lake, right?”

“It, it won’t be dangerous, will it?”

“Of course not. Trust me. Young Lady, now. Are you ready to eat lunch in the middle of the lake?”

“Yes!”

I get on the rowboat first.

The moderate rocking feeling is nice.

“Now, don’t be afraid, Young Lady. We know how to swim, right.”

“Mm-hmm… that’s right! Catch me!!”

“Young Lady?!”

Plop! I catch the young lady who jumps and flies.

“Kya hahaha! I knew Mana would catch me!”

“Ah, Young Lady..! That was dangerous!”

“It’s not dangerous! What’s dangerous when Mana is watching me!”

…Thank you for trusting me so much.

I carefully sit the young lady down and grab the oars, slowly going to the center of the lake.

“Wow…! It feels strange..!”

“How is it?”

“It’s so fun..!”

Of course, there’s also the fun of rowing a rowboat like this.

Slowly rowing, we arrive at the center of the lake.

All around is beautiful water reflecting the sunlight and sky.

“Wow… there are clouds in the water too, Mana…”

“That’s right. It’s very pretty.”

“Do you want to see it together, Mana? There are so many manas floating around, it’s so pretty!”

“Ah, then thank you.”

The young lady concentrates for a moment and uses mana.

“…Okay. Show me!”

– Flash!

The young lady’s magic is all good.. but every time she uses magic, there’s an effect like a flash going off, so it’s too bright for my eyes…

“How is it? Can you see the mana now?”
“Where…”

When I open my eyes, mana of various sizes are floating around, bouncing off each other.

…Wow.

“It’s so pretty, right!”

“…That’s right. Mana is also reflected in the lake.”

“Yes! I wanted Mana to see the sparkles together too!”

“…Every time I see mana, I think it’s really pretty.”

“Right! It’s so pretty!”

I stare blankly at the mana for a moment.

I’m a little envious that mages live in this kind of world for the rest of their lives.

Of course, I’m fully satisfied with my current life.

“Then shall we have lunch now?”

“Yes! What’s for lunch today?”

“Lunch is ta-da~~”

I take out the largest lunch box I prepared from the morning.

“It’s a wonderful 4-tiered lunch box, you know?”

“Gasp…! Amazing…”

“The 1st tier has rice balls like this. They have different fillings, so try various ones?”

A wonderful thermal lunch box consisting of completely different things from the 1st to the 4th tier.

The 1st tier is rice balls.

The 2nd tier is fried food and meat.

The 3rd tier is well-cooked seafood and vegetables.

The 4th tier is fruits and desserts.

“Wow… it’s amazing…”

“It’s wonderful, right? It’s a lunch box that’s not lacking to eat in the middle of the lake.”

“Yes! It’s so cool!”

I put the small rice balls made to fit the young lady’s mouth size on her hand.

“It’s warm!”

“Now, try it before it gets cold, okay?”

“Yes!”

Haam…

The young lady takes a big bite of the rice ball and chews it, “Munch munch”.

“What does it taste like?”

“This is… salmon flavor!”

“That’s correct~”

“Munch munch munch… what flavors are the others??”

“There’s fun in finding that out too. How about this one?”

“Okay! Haam… what’s this? It’s so delicious!”

“That’s, where, egg salad!”

“It’s soft and savory~! It’s delicious!”

Our young lady eats so well~

Seeing the happy young lady makes me feel happy too.

I hand the young lady a delicious chicken leg after she eats a few rice balls.

“Munch munch… it’s delicious…”

“You can eat as much as you want, you know?”

“Mana, you eat too!”

“Yes~”

Haa… it’s relaxing and nice.

“Try this clam meat too.”

“Nom… it’s chewy…”

If I put one or two bites in the young lady’s mouth, she accepts them very well.

…This is the joy of raising a young lady.

Grow up well, Young Lady!

“But you know, Mana.”

“Yes, Young Lady?”

“What are they?”

“They?”

The young lady, holding a croquette in one hand, points somewhere.

Following the end of the young lady’s hand…

“…That’s.”

It looks like a small human, but it has wings on its back?

Hmm…

“That.. I think it’s a race called fairies, Young Lady.”

“Fairies?”

“Yes, they’re also called fairies, but they don’t usually show themselves in front of humans. It’s amazing.”

A few fairies are looking at us from afar.

I thought this place was somehow very mysterious and had a lot of mana… it seems like various races live here.

Nom…

“They’re also called small elves, but the difference from elves is that they don’t just eat vegetables. But they’re not strong enough to live as predators.”

“I see… then can they eat what we eat?”

“Hmm.. theoretically, I think so? Why? Do you want to share?”

“Yes! Mana is good at cooking, so I want to show off!”

Aha… that’s your purpose.

Hmm.. but they still don’t come close.

Are they wary?

“Munch munch… you can eat too!”

When the young lady shouts, shaking the food, one of the fairies slowly flies closer.

“…Human?”

“Hello. Fairy. Would you like to eat this? The young lady has allowed it.”

“…The little human is the young lady…”

The fairy flies around us a few times.

It’s really doll-like and pretty up close.

Is it about 15cm tall?

“Hmm… can I eat too?”

“Yes! Eat!”

“…Then I’ll have this.”

The fairy carefully perches on the rowboat and points to a rice ball.

“I’ve never seen this before, so I’m curious what it is. And the others too.”

“The others can eat too! Mana made it!”

“Mana? Mana?? How can mana make this?”

“…Hello. I’m Mana. My name is Mana.”

“…You’re Mana?”

“Yes, I’m Mana.”

“…You’re both strange kids. Can we eat too?”

“Of course. The young lady has allowed it, so you can eat as much as you want.”

“Hmm… wait!”

She disappears for a moment, and then the fairies who were talking together earlier suddenly appear on the boat!

“Can we really eat??”

“Of course. Is it okay, Young Lady?”

“Yes! There’s too much for me to eat alone!”

…Our young lady, how did she grow up to be so kind?

I, Mana, am moved to tears. Sniffle.

“Then we’ll eat well!”

“I’ll try that strange thing!”

“What’s that?”

“Ah, that’s called a cream puff. It’s very sweet, you know?”

“Mana, me too!”

“Young Lady too, ah~”

Somehow, we ended up eating with several people, but wouldn’t this also be good for the young lady’s education?

Besides, humans can’t usually see fairies, so this is also a good experience and opportunity.

I never thought I’d see a race that’s pure and childlike, but also good at pranks, here… It’s amazing.

The fairies are small, so they cut the rice balls into small pieces and eat them, and they share other snacks well.

“Munch munch… It’s been a long time since humans came to this lake. But human food is still delicious.”

“I like this sweet thing! It’s so delicious!”

It makes me feel a little proud to see them liking the food I made so much.

“Right? Our Mana is very good at making delicious food!”

…The young lady also seems very proud to brag about me.

“Nom…”

A greedy fairy puts a whole piece of fried chicken in its mouth and swallows it!

“Cough cough…”

“Oh dear… Hurry up and drink some tea.”

“Thank you… I think it was too big.”

..It’s more amazing that you put something bigger than your face in your mouth in one bite.

Anyway, she takes a sip of the plum tea I gave her and shouts, “Kya ha!”

“This is also very sweet and delicious!”

“Do you like it? It’s a drink made by pickling a fruit called plum in sugar and then mixing it with water.”

“Wow… I like it next to human wine!”

“You like it that much~”

“Giggle!”

Anyway.. we had a delicious lunch with the fairies who were sudden guests.

“Haa… haa… I’ll stay on the boat for a while… I’m too full to fly..”

“Rest comfortably.”

“Hmm! You were a kind human after all. I can tell just by looking, you know?”

“Pfft… is that so?”

“Yes, humans with white hair and red eyes like that child are kind!”

Hmm?

“Have you… seen a person like that before?”

“Mmm… I saw one. It’s been a long time since I saw them. When was the last time I saw them?”

“Um… how do humans count time?”

“I don’t know! I saw them a long time ago! There was a girl with white hair and red eyes even before you lived in that mansion!”

“But it’s a different person, right? She’s very young now!”

Before we lived in the mansion?

“You know we live in that mansion?”

“Yes! We live in this mountain! We fly around here and there!”

“We were always there when you went flower viewing!”

“So we talked to you today~ You always eat delicious food~”

“Aha…”

It seems like they’re the elders of the mountain that we don’t know about.

“But we usually live here~ It’s a secret from other people, okay? Mana too, and the young lady!”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Me too, secret!”

After lunch, we relax and lie down on the rowboat for a while…

The fairies wake up one by one and stretch.

“I can fly now~”

“I ate lunch well!”

“Can we visit again next time?”

“Hmm… Young Lady?”

“Come visit anytime!”

“Thank you~~~”

“I’ll bring a gift next time! Ahem!”

“There are other kids who want to see you besides us, but they’re nice kids, so don’t be surprised!”

“Bye~~~~~”

Just as they appeared in an instant, the fairies disappear!

The rowboat becomes very quiet when the chattering people leave.

“Hehe… it was fun…”

“That’s right. It was a fun experience.”

“I’ll rest a little longer now!”

“Okay. After that, would you like to feed the fish?”

“Feed? Do fish have food?”

“Of course.”

“Then I want to try feeding the fish!”

“Yes, yes~”

I hug the young lady and close my eyes for a moment.

“Our young lady, you’re good at talking to other people now, aren’t you?”

“Mmm… they’re small, so it’s okay!”

“Is that so. Hmm hmm! I’m happy that the young lady has grown another step!”

“Hehe…”

Well, then shall we sleep a little longer and continue playing?

The leaf-peeping isn’t over yet, you know?