The taste of cheese katsu, which I hadn’t had in a long time, was truly excellent.
It was so delicious that I completely forgot the small question of why I ended up eating this in the first place.
Most foods typically don’t pique Luke’s interest too much after he has tasted them once, but cheese katsu was different.
Perhaps because there hadn’t been any similar food around in the past, cheese katsu felt remarkably new to Luke.
For Luke, this dish was truly a continuous source of new ideas and joy.
If one disregarded the proper balance of nutrition, he could easily eat it for a lifetime.
Well, in reality, his body wouldn’t be troubled by nutritional imbalances. But if he just ate it because it was delicious, he would soon tire of it. That would mean losing yet another pleasure in life, so a proper distribution was indeed necessary.
– Click.
“Haah.”
As Luke returned to the car, filled with satisfaction and fullness, he sighed while tidying his skirt, leaving Liv by his side.
Dayton watched Luke’s expression for a moment before whispering softly to Yerna just before getting into the car.
“What did I tell you? The best way to cheer up kids is with something delicious.”
“Yeah, that’s really true. It’s amazing.”
It’s true that eating something tasty makes even adults feel good, and it’s not much different for kids.
Even for Luke, who often acted older than his age.
Although Luke wasn’t particularly angry or sulking, Dayton and Yerna, who could only judge based on appearances and couldn’t know the true feelings of others, could only think, “Luke’s mood improved thanks to the delicious food.”
After all, it seemed his expression changed so much from when he went out to when he came back.
Seeing Luke’s expression brighten up so much, Yerna asked as she got into the driver’s seat.
“How was it? Was it that delicious?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Luke nodded and replied.
“Of course! It was so good that I wanted to learn how to make it. By the way, Dayton, can you make cheese katsu too?”
In response to Luke’s question, Dayton replied quite readily.
“Of course, I can. It’s not that difficult to make.”
In fact, while it could be a hassle when scrutinizing the details, most cooking wasn’t that hard.
At the end of the day, cooking simply involved having the right ingredients and frying, baking, or boiling them.
With katsu, you just take the meat, coat it, and fry it.
For cheese katsu, you simply needed to put cheese in the middle.
The problem lay in the care and minor details.
Food often has a big difference in taste due to very small variations, and that difference makes the distinction between food sold for money and the food made haphazardly at home.
Hearing Dayton’s response, Luke nodded and spoke up.
“Really? Then I want to try what you make later.”
“Hmm… it’s not that special though.”
In truth, Dayton didn’t think he cooked better than a professional chef.
After all, his occupation was not that of a chef but a Forest Keeper.
Cooking was more of a hobby, something he learned out of necessity while living.
Certainly, it couldn’t compare to the level of chefs who trained professionally.
Still, Dayton nodded readily.
When a child puts it like that, there’s no way to refuse.
“I’ll make it for you at home later.”
At that, Luke beamed a noticeably brighter smile.
“Wow, is that really true? That’s a promise, right?”
In fact, in Luke’s heart, he believed Dayton’s cooking skills were comparable to those of a decent chef.
In this world, dishes made with great care often become infused with magic.
That means that a carefully prepared meal is worth more to Luke.
“Haah, I’m already looking forward to it!”
Luke’s voice was filled with excitement.
His smile was so bright that it seemed like flower petals were scattering around his face.
“……”
Liv avoided Luke’s gaze, hiding her slightly perplexed feelings.
Seeing him act like that, he really looked just like a girl his age.
It made her feel like laughing, although she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
In the end, Liv shook her head, thinking.
‘Maybe in some way, he resembles Renie a little.’
——
At that time, Diana and Pyris were watching “Spirit Girl Meruru” on TV, focusing all the attention they could muster on the screen.
Today was a special day with a continuous airing of Meruru.
And for the two kids who loved Meruru, it was a pajama party.
Both would be watching Meruru together until nighttime, then fall asleep.
So the two kids were wearing their pajamas—Diana was wearing her pink onesie with a large picture of Spirit Girl Meruru on the chest, as usual, while Pyris donned the animal pajamas that Luke could no longer wear.
It was an outfit altered by Liv to fit Pyris, who did not have animal ears or a tail.
And Pyris really liked that pajama.
Especially when she put up the hood, it created pointed animal ears above her head like her sister’s.
Thanks to that, Liv was able to get considerably closer to Pyris, which is a different story.
Anyway, the two kids were seated so close to the TV that it seemed like they might get sucked into it, their eyes glued to the screen.
Pyris was so focused that she leaned forward with her mouth wide open, while Diana sat cross-legged right in front of the TV, hands pressed together.
The sight was reminiscent of a sorceress losing her soul.
If Luke or Dayton had seen this scene, they definitely would have scolded the two of them, saying something along the lines of, “Sit on the sofa so you don’t ruin your eyesight.”
But right now, they were well aware that there was no one to admonish them.
Thus, they had settled so close to the TV.
“…….”
“…….”
The kids were immersed in the TV without making a sound.
It was truly a curious phenomenon for Luke.
To think ‘that’ Pyris could concentrate on something in such a composed manner.
What would it be like if that concentration could always be directed as she wished?
It was a topic worth deep thought at least once.
But Luke couldn’t uncover what was so interesting about Meruru that captivated the kids entirely.
In reality, each episode was always a repeating cycle.
A villain appears, something goes wrong, and the hero defeats them—it’s a formulaic yet repetitive story that becomes dull over time.
It wouldn’t be so bad if it happened once or twice, but the similar developments continued on repetitively.
Thus, Luke found that after just a few minutes, he could predict the conclusion to the story and lost interest in Meruru.
But kids are said to never easily tire of watching the same scenes, right?
Even for episodes they had already seen, Diana and Pyris watched with great interest as if it were an entirely new story.
Luke ended up formulating a hypothesis: ‘Could this possibly be a kind of hypnosis?’
Of course, it wasn’t a hypothesis of any significant academic value.
At that moment, the hero Meruru shouted at the villain on the TV.
– It takes courage to speak the truth, you coward!
– Wh-What!?
That was Meruru’s final shout towards the “Distorted Mask,” which used magic to make others act hypocritically, causing them to fight each other and throw society into chaos.
– Take this, you villain! Spirit Magical— Love and Peace!
Finally, as Meruru shouted the technique’s name and reached out her palm toward the Distorted Mask, it was engulfed by the heart-shaped beam that erupted from Meruru’s hand and let out a screech.
– Kyaah—!! How could I—!! Disappear like this—!
The kids seemed to be taken aback, holding their breaths in awe at the shocking scene they had just witnessed.
“……!”
“……!”
A moment later, on reflecting a normalized society following the villain’s disappearance, Meruru left behind the lesson that “It’s also important to be able to share what you hide,” and yet another episode came to a close.
As the ending song played, Diana smiled in admiration.
“That was really cool!”
“Yeah!”
The message of “It takes courage to speak the truth” resonated deeply within the kids.
Because, while they might not have fully understood the meaning of that line with their heads, they knew it in their hearts as they watched Meruru.
In truth, Meruru was going through a lot of inner turmoil keeping the fact that she was a Spirit Girl hidden from everyone.
Fighting against villains alone was rewarding but also very lonely for her.
During that time, when her friends got worried and asked her what was wrong, Meruru finally revealed her secret to her friends.
She was, in fact, a Spirit Girl.
Her friends, shocked to learn Meruru’s secret, responded with surprise yet also encouraged and cheered her on.
The kids really enjoyed that scene too.
Many were disgruntled at the idea that they had to keep the fact that they were a Spirit Girl hidden from their friends.
Later on, those friends joined Meruru, and in the movie version, they would eventually combine their powers through love and friendship, but the kids who hadn’t yet seen the movie were not privy to that information.
When the airing of Meruru ended, Diana picked up the remote and shut off the TV.
“Phew, that was really fun, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But I’m a bit hungry. I wonder when brother will come.”
“Yeah, I’m hungry.”
Pyris clutched her stomach.
In fact, Pyris was always in a state of hunger.
“Hmm…”
Seeing Pyris’s glum expression, Diana hesitated for a while.
The truth was, she knew exactly where the snacks her brother had hidden were.
They were high up on a tall shelf, so even if she used a chair to climb, she couldn’t reach them on her own, but if she was with Pyris, it would definitely be within reach.
And if they were caught sneaking a snack, it wouldn’t matter as much since it would be okay getting in trouble together with Pyris.
After pondering like that, Diana casually asked Pyris.
“…Pyris, should we… sneak a snack from brother?”
“Snacks? I want to eat!”
“Great! Then lift me up there!”
“Okay!”
Pyris, who was relatively physically stronger than Diana, hoisted her up, allowing Diana to smoothly grab the snacks.
“I got it!”
“Wow! Snacks!”
Thus, Diana and Pyris, having retrieved the snacks from the high shelf, clinked cups with beverages as they shared them.
The chocolate chip cookies Diana took out looked incredibly delicious.
Though they would likely get in trouble for snacking before dinner, such concerns were irrelevant at that moment.
“Thanks for the meal!”
Pyris exclaimed the customary phrase she had learned from Luke, picking up a cookie.
For Pyris, this was a little act of rebellion.
“Something delicious without sister knowing!”
However, her anticipation for that tiny rebellion ultimately ended in pain.
“Ouch!”
Her teeth hurt too much as she bit into the cookie.
