“Oh?”
“These flowers are quite nice.”
Frieren gently touched the petals of one of the carnations.
She hadn’t seen this particular flower very often before.
Was it a flower from Yakumo’s homeland?
“Right?”
Yakumo looked slightly proud.
“They’re called carnations.”
“Where I come from, people sometimes give them to teachers as a way of expressing gratitude.”
“Oh~?”
“That sounds rather nice.”
Frieren withdrew her hand.
“Then we’ll leave them growing here.”
“And now…”
“I want lunch.”
With that, Frieren stopped looking at the stew she’d made earlier.
She collapsed across the table and returned to her usual limp posture.
“Yes, yes…”
Yakumo sighed.
“Did you make the stew on the table?”
“I’ll reheat it and fix the seasoning.”
“Do whatever you like~”
Frieren casually waved a hand.
“I’m not very good at seasoning food.”
“All right. Lunch should be ready in about an hour.”
“Have some fruit first.”
Yakumo pulled several raspberries from his inventory and placed them in front of Frieren.
Then he headed off to cook while opening the chat group at the same time.
[Yakumo: Sister Shu, I learned the flower-field spell. My attempt at creating a weed-removal spell failed, though.]
[Shu: You already learned it? What a pity. I have been attempting the magical training method you provided, but I have yet to succeed.]
[Yakumo: Sister Shu, you’re a fragment of the Sui Beast, right? Can giant beasts cultivate magic? Or maybe you could let some of the people in Dahuang City try it?]
[Shu: Hmm… that is worth considering. I will give it a try later. I brought some rice flowers from the greenhouse, along with flowers from several other crops. I will have to trouble you with them, Little Yakumo~]
[Yakumo: Leave it to me! I’ll test them later! By the way, Sister Shu, do Nian and Dusk ever come visit you?]
[Shu: Little Ink and the others? Ah… now that you mention it, I have not seen them in quite a long time. Does Little Yakumo need their help with something?]
[Yakumo: Huh? No. It’s just that Nian often says there’s a temperature of 1,400°C inside her body, so… I was curious whether that’s actually true.]
[Yakumo: Oh, Eriri. Haven’t seen you speak up in a while.]
[Eriri: S-Shut up! I’ve just been busy lately, that’s all! I simply didn’t have time to talk in the group!]
Eriri was extremely embarrassed.
She had secretly downloaded the magical training materials Yakumo uploaded to the group.
Recently, she’d been trying to learn magic herself.
Unfortunately, time flowed much more slowly in her world than it did for the other members.
Her progress was extremely poor.
A week might have passed for the others.
Perhaps even a month.
Eriri was undeniably extremely talented at drawing.
But when it came to learning magic…
She apparently wasn’t quite such a genius.
[Shu: Nian’s body temperature? Each of us siblings possesses a particular authority. I do not know whether that is related… Wait. Would Nian really casually tell people something like that?!]
[Yakumo: Uh… maybe it was one of her Trust voice lines? Don’t ask. Just blame game mechanics.]
Realizing he’d apparently asked something rather private, Yakumo immediately retreated into his shell and stopped responding.
[Furina: Yakumo! Yakumo! I managed to get a Glaze Lily from Liyue!]
[Furina: Where did you go?]
[Eriri: Probably hiding because he feels guilty. Furina, have you learned magic yet?]
[Furina: Hmph! Naturally. I am the great Lady Furina de Fontaine! Of course I can handle a little magic!]
[Furina: But Yakumo told me not to casually use this power in Teyvat, especially since I’m the Hydro Archon…]
Even though Furina didn’t possess the Gnosis and was merely the publicly recognized Hydro Archon, the name Furina was currently synonymous with the Hydro Archon throughout Fontaine.
Using magic inside her own bedroom was one thing.
Displaying an unknown form of power in public would be much harder to explain.
[Furina: If there were some kind of water-control spell, I might be able to disguise it. It’s not like I have that Gnosis thing on me anyway.]
[Furina: Once I can manipulate water, I could even pretend the field of flowers grew because I nourished it with water.]
[Furina: But Yakumo, is it really true that the Heavenly Principles are asleep?]
[Yakumo: At least before the “story” I know begins, the Heavenly Principles really are already dormant. The current Dendro Archon said so herself, so it should be reliable.]
[Yakumo: As long as you don’t cross whatever warning threshold the Heavenly Principles have, you should probably be fine.]
[Yakumo: As for water-control magic, Fufu, I’ll look around for you. Frieren might have something like that.]
[Furina: H-Huh? N-No, you don’t have to! That would be way too much trouble for you.]
Furina already felt rather guilty about constantly accepting Yakumo’s kindness.
Thinking about it carefully, all she had really sent him were a few cakes and some tasty desserts.
[Yakumo: Besides, if I eventually unlock world travel and visit your worlds, I’ll be relying on you to take care of me, won’t I?]
[Yakumo: Consider this a long-term investment.]
[Furina: Of course! As long as the name Furina still represents the Hydro Archon in Fontaine, you will absolutely receive the finest treatment Fontaine can offer!]
[Yakumo: What if you’ve stepped down by then?]
[Furina: Huh? Then… then…]
[Furina: I’ll ask the next Hydro Archon to take care of you…]
Her confidence was obviously lacking.
Just from the text, Yakumo could already imagine Furina’s conflicted and slightly helpless expression.
[Yakumo: Once you’ve stepped down, I’ll take you around to mooch meals off the other gods.]
[Furina: Huh?]
Yakumo offered no further explanation.
He closed the chat and returned his attention to cooking.
He had already stayed with Frieren for quite some time.
By next year, that Hero should probably arrive with his party.
If Yakumo could reach Level 70 and successfully complete his third Job Advancement by then, that would be ideal.
After third job, every class gained much broader options in both power and utility.
There would be far more things he could do.
Priest skills in particular would be extremely useful.
Dispel.
Mystic Door.
And by then, his crafting skill would probably have reached its next stage as well, allowing him to make plenty of equipment.
At the moment, he was still wearing the Level 30 mage robe rewarded by the system.
Of course, he’d covered it with a cosmetic skin so that his clothing looked more appropriate for this era.
“Frieren, lunch is ready.”
Yakumo carried the finished meal to the table.
Since Frieren had already eaten bread, he decided to make this meal more Western-style.
He reheated the stew, adjusted the seasoning, and added several more ingredients.
Then he tore the bread into pieces and placed them in the stew.
The dry, nearly flavorless bread rapidly absorbed the broth.
Its hard texture gradually softened.
“Mmm.”
“As expected, it tastes much richer like this.”
Frieren happily ate.
“If I have food like this, I feel like I could stay shut in here for another ten years.”