29. A Warm-Up, or an Hors d’Oeuvre

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/31/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

Saiji Kataoka was bored.
He had been summoned to another world as a human with powerful magic, and in exchange for serving the kingdom he was permitted every imaginable luxury. He had always chased girls, and so—

“In that case, I wanna try having one of those harems.”

—he had said as much to the king, half in jest.
To his astonishment, several women of extraordinary beauty were provided the very next day, and they devoted themselves entirely to him.
But even beautiful companions grew tiresome once the novelty wore off.
He had tried including women who were not to his taste as well, but even that failed to relieve his boredom.
Surrounded on his bed by women left slack and vacant, Saiji stared into space and sighed.

“… Wish something exciting would happen.”

His boredom had only deepened because the person he found most stimulating had disappeared.
Her name was Miyako Mikage.
She was Saiji’s homeroom teacher—and, in his mind, merely a convenient instrument for satisfying his desires.
She had suited him well, and she had been a favorite toy, but a few days ago she had vanished from the castle without warning.
Even before that, despite being their homeroom teacher, she had refused to see any of her students at all.

“Maybe I oughta ask that old man to go bring her back.”

The “old man” was the king.
To Saiji, even the king was nothing more than a fat brute in human form.
Of course, the king and the summoned humans were using one another. Saiji suspected the king mocked them in turn as pigs drowning in their own appetites.
All the more reason to exploit him for everything he was worth—that was Saiji’s view.

“Well, I guess these’ll do to kill the boredom till then.”

Saiji picked up a pill from the shelf beside the bed, pulled a woman close, and forced it into her mouth.
Her eyes gradually went blank. Sweat broke out across her body, and she began to convulse.
Saiji grinned at the sight and shoved her roughly onto the bed.

 

◇◇◇

 

In the end, Saiji did not need to take action. Several days later, Miyako unexpectedly returned to the castle with Leia.
It was obvious why she had disappeared: she had grown sick of her students.
Saiji had assumed that meant she would never return, but—
The moment he saw Miyako strolling back into the castle as if nothing were amiss, he approached her with a leering grin.

“Hey, Teach. Finally came back, huh? Miss us after all?”

This woman can’t defy us anyway.
Saiji had been certain of that, but Miyako responded with open resistance.
As though even his touch disgusted her, she caught him by the wrist and smiled.
They exchanged no words, yet the force behind her expression was more than enough to make the student who had underestimated her flinch.

“… What the hell was that?”

The words slipped out before he knew it.
A moment later, his friends Taka Kagan and Oya Chizaki approached.
They had apparently watched the exchange from a distance. Taka clapped Saiji on the shoulder and teased him with a breezy, “Tough luck.”

“She’s found herself a man.”

Taka made the declaration out of nowhere.
Saiji frowned at him.

“What makes you think that, Taka?”
“Only love changes a woman that much. Bet she found herself one hell of a guy in town.”
“He must be a better catch than Saiji.”

Oya muttered the dry remark.
Saiji grumbled at them for saying whatever they pleased.

“Hah. A better catch than me?”

However fine that man’s character might be, Saiji believed the fear and conditioned responses he had beaten into Miyako could never be erased.
After subjecting her to so much, he refused to believe that finding a man could restore her to her former self.
Saiji had absolute confidence in what he had done.
Needless to say, he vastly overestimated himself.
The world was wide.
He had no idea that this world contained vampires—beings whose powers lay beyond human understanding.
Unfortunately, he was also reasonably capable.
No one around him challenged his inflated opinion of himself; instead, they treated it as though it were justified.
And so he reached a conclusion.
If Miyako had found a man, so much the better. He would break that newfound defiance.
Never realizing that he was the one about to be played with.

 

◇◇◇

 

Saiji intended to force his way into Miyako’s room that very evening.
He imagined that if he displayed his power and forced her down, her resistance would break at once.
To him, it was that simple.

The thought of that night apparently thrilled him, for Saiji was in an unusually good mood that day.
At dinnertime, he made his way with an almost jaunty stride toward the soldiers’ dining hall, then stopped before the signboard outside.
That evening’s menu was written there.

“Seafood today, huh… Well, meat every day gets old too.”
“Oh, eating in the dining hall again today, Saiji?”

A flashily dressed girl called to him from behind as he studied the sign.
She was Sakuna Akizora.
Like Saiji, she had been summoned to this world. She was both his classmate and his former girlfriend.
There was no awkwardness between them, however.
Each had been only one among the many people the other had dated. Both accepted that, and now they associated simply as friends.

“Royal food doesn’t suit me. The atmosphere’s too damn stiff, too.”
“But Taka and Oya eat in the banquet hall, don’t they?”
“I was with them yesterday. Guess they felt like splurging today. Where’s Toka, anyway?”

Toka Sato.
Plain where Sakuna was flashy, she was nevertheless Sakuna’s closest confidante.
The two had always stayed together since arriving in this world, and mealtimes should have been no exception.

“Oh, she’s… Sorry, I’m starving. Can we talk while we eat?”
“Fine by me.”

They entered the dining hall, collected trays of food from the counter, and sat facing each other at a nearby table.
The main dish that day was fried fish covered in a sweet-and-sour sauce.
The distinctive spices gave it a flavor peculiar to this other world, and their intensity was a little much for two people accustomed to Japanese food.
Thin bread made from potatoes, the local staple, helped soften the effect.
Eaten together, the bread subdued the spices and produced a pleasantly balanced flavor.
Meals served to the royal family tended to be either excessively refined or even more strongly flavored, which made them rather difficult to eat.

“Anyway, about Toka. She went to see Ms. Mikage.”
“Miyako’s? Why?”
“Dunno. Said Ms. Mikage called for her. Ms. Mikage seemed different somehow, didn’t she? Wonder what happened.”
“Taka says she found a man.”
“A man, huh? I guess knowing someone’s there to protect you can make you feel stronger. Still, this seems like something else.”

Sakuna spoke while taking small bites of her meal.
The force Saiji had felt from Miyako had certainly been too great to explain merely by saying that she had found a man.
It made more sense to assume that Miyako herself had undergone some kind of change, rather than that her circumstances alone had changed.

“… Hm.”
“What is it, Sakuna?”

Sakuna had been staring straight ahead as she ate. Now she suddenly began looking around.

“Doesn’t the dining hall feel different?”
“Nothing’s changed.”
“You sure? It feels more comfortable than usual. Quieter, maybe.”

The difference was subtle enough that he noticed it only after she pointed it out, but once he paid attention, it was undeniable.
Even Saiji felt that the dining hall was quieter than usual.
Ordinarily it would be packed with soldiers, alcohol would flow, and coarse laughter would echo through the room.
He could still hear some of that today, but the volume was subdued.

“… Yeah, but I got no idea why.”
“Well, if I’m imagining it, that’s fine.”

No, she probably was not imagining it.
Something had changed.
But thinking would get him nowhere. Deciding that some days were simply like this, Saiji abandoned the question and concentrated on his food.
Toka never joined them that evening. Sakuna later told Saiji that she had not returned from Miyako’s room until after midnight.
Naturally, Saiji could not go to Miyako’s room under those circumstances.
That night too, the hours passed in boredom.

 

◇◇◇

 

Perhaps the previous evening’s meal had been especially good, because Taka and Oya did not come to the dining hall the next night either.
Whether that was the reason or there was no particular reason at all, Saiji was in a foul mood as he glared at the signboard outside.

“‘Jeff’s Meatballs’? What the hell is that?”

He had been in this world for some time now, but he had never heard of such an ingredient.
Still, if they were meatballs, they presumably came from some sort of animal, and Saiji had hardly memorized the name of every creature in this world.
Concluding that such a creature must exist, he stepped into the dining hall.
Today—it was even quieter than yesterday.
Or did it only seem that way because he was consciously listening for it?
When he glanced toward the back of the hall, he saw the same beautiful, pale-skinned women sitting there as the day before.
No, not quite the same—their number had increased by one.
He was about to wander over and call out to them when—

“Ignoring me so you can hit on other people. You’ve got some nerve, same as ever.”

Sakuna spoke irritably from right beside him.

“Oh. You were here?”
“I was, and I’ve been staring at you this whole time.”
“Then say something. I can’t tell from a look. It’s not like we’re dating.”
“You never noticed even when we were dating.”

Saiji expertly ignored the complaint born of Sakuna’s firsthand experience.
He collected his meal from the counter and sat across from her.
There was salad, soup, the dish called Jeff’s Meatballs, and potato bread as the staple.

“Those are pretty good.”
“What’s a Jeff?”
“Who knows? Some kind of meat, I guess.”

He casually raised one to his mouth, and the flavor of meat seasoned with herbs spread across his tongue all at once.
It was certainly good. Still, the fact that it had been ground into balls and seasoned with herbs suggested that the meat itself had a strong, distinctive flavor.

“By the way, where’s Toka? Don’t tell me she went to Miyako’s place again.”
“That’s exactly what happened. Seriously, what are they talking about? She wouldn’t tell me anything last night, and she’s acting weird.”
“… Is she all right?”
“Wow. Saiji worrying about someone? That’s rare.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You could at least show me a little sympathy after I had to sit through the way Toka was staring at me.”
“What kind of stare?”
“I don’t know… clingy, I guess. Uncomfortably intent.”

Saiji paused with a spoonful of meatball halfway to his mouth.

“Was she into that kind of thing this whole time?”
“I was trying not to think about it, so don’t just say it outright!”

Sakuna glared at Saiji.
He remained perfectly calm. After knowing each other this long, both of them were used to exchanges like this.

“But seriously, what did Ms. Mikage put into her head?”
“Go ask her yourself.”
“No way. I’m scared to go alone. If you came with me, Saiji…”
“Ask Taka to go with you.”
“Useless jerk.”

After Sakuna’s insult, the conversation came to an end.
Saiji ate in silence. Once he had finished, he returned his dishes without another word and started to leave the dining hall.
Just before he did, he overheard a soldier at the counter speaking with an unusually beautiful woman who worked in the kitchen.

“… Yes. Then tomorrow, we’ll use Mr. Dilson.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll tell him myself.”
“Please tell him to come early, as we will need time to drain the blood and make the other preparations.”
“Of course. I’ll make certain of it.”

They must have been discussing the next day’s menu.
The subject had nothing to do with Saiji, so he immediately lost interest and returned to his room.