Magical★Explorer Chapter 24 - Sweet Spot

Sweet Spot

Today my body feels kinda heavy. It wasn’t just my imagination because even Mizumori-sempai is also looking concerningly at me, so I think that there must be something wrong with me.

“What’s wrong. Somehow your look kinda sick, you know?”

I give a vague smile to the worried-looking sempai.

“Sempai, are you good at cooking?”

I already know the answer but I still asked. She is a good cook. It just that she can’t cook anything but j.a.panese food, she has that kind of setting. However, through other heroine’s event, she can learn to make a wide variety of dishes.

“….Are you the type that answers the question with another question? I don’t know what you are thinking.”

“Sempai, what do you think about the food that can glow like fluorescent paint?”

Sempai is tilting her head.

“Is that really a food?”

If you ask me whether that is food, then I don’t think so. I could believe it if I was told that it is an attraction at a theme park or a firework.

But I can say one thing for sure…

“That was a mind-breaking weapon.”

Ludi finally resurrected after a day. Apparently, you can reset the effect by sleeping it out. She appeared this morning with a red face while saying thank you for yesterday and asked me to not tell anyone about it. Of course, I wasn’t planning to in the first place. She is a comrade who has survived the same battlefield after all.

“………I don’t really understand but how about we leave it at this for today?”

I consider it a little. Certainly, if I was struck by the waterfall now I would end up being swept away. Let’s not do that today.

“That’s right… I think I will only run today. I am really sorry, even though sempai coming all the way here.”

After I apologized to her and heading toward my usual running course, my shoulder was grabbed.

“Takioto-kun. That’s not it, I meant for you to stop your training for today.”

“Eh, stop training? Won’t you feel sleepless, muscle cramp or having a hallucination if you do that?”

“Are you having withdrawal symptoms if you don’t train !?”

That certainly did sound like withdrawal symptoms.

“I somehow feel anxious when I do not move my body………”

“Anxiety, huh…… I certainly have one before an important match but I feel like it is a bit too extreme in your case.”

Sempai removed her hand from my shoulder and beckons me to follow her.

The place sempai brings me to is a shopping street a little distance away from the academy. She seems to have acquaintances around here so she was giving them a greeting while we are making our way through the street.

“Takioto-kun, do you like sweets?”

I nodded to sempai who is walking next to me.

“I see. Then I think you will like it.”

Having said that, I somehow got some expectations of our destination now. When I was raising my expectation, sempai suddenly stopped her feet.

“Sempai, what’s wr…………..that look suspicious…”

A woman is wearing a hat like she was trying to hide her blond hair. She also wearing a deep green sungla.s.ses with a mask covering her mouth. She is not as tall as senpai but I think she is considerably tall for a woman. Judging from her smooth legs and a small face, she could probably pa.s.s as a model.

“You also think so?”

“She is too suspicious. Should we call out to her?”

Sempai starts walking toward her. I quickly follow after and stand in front of senpai then gather my magic power into my stole, readying it so that it can transform at any time.

“Excuse me, is something the matter?”

Senpai asked.

The woman turned to face us. The moment she looked at me she jumped in surprise.

“N, Nothing !”

Somehow, I feel like I heard that voice somewhere before. It’s recently I heard that voice too. When I take a closer look…………

“………..Don’t tell me.”

When I was trying to call her name, she turned her back and started running away. But since I was prepared I immediately captured her with Third Hand.

She struggling inside the stole. Doing so, her sungla.s.ses slipped away and I saw the fac I already expected.

“………..What are you doing? Ludi.”

The suspicious person that is currently wrapped inside my stole is her Highness Ludivine Marie=Ange De La Trefle.

__________

“Please take your time.”

Saying so, the waiter went away. In front of Mizumori-sempai’s seat is a Matcha Tiramisu. Ludi who is sitting next to her also ordered a Matcha Parfait. The Matcha ice cream has a lot of strawberries and fresh cream gathered in the cone. It looks amazingly delicious.

Aaa, I want to eat it all.

It might be a good idea to order something else other than my matcha fondue.

“I didn’t think that it would be Trefle-sama.”

Sempai whispered.

Ludi quickly swallows the thing inside her mouth and shakes her head.

“You are Takioto’s master, right? You can call me Ludi. I am not fond of stiff manner.”

Haa, I let out a small sigh. Sempai was just feeling obliged to do so. Well, I was like that at first too.

“Anyway, what are you doing out here all–……………………!”

I was about to ask her but my foot got stepped on. It seems like she doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Th, that’s right. I wanted to ask you about Tsukuyomi Magic Academy. If it’s fine with you, could you tell me about it?”

Ludi tries to forcibly change the subject. Sempai answers her while being puzzled by Ludi’s sheer pushiness. From her answer, I was able to get some useful information for myself as well.

“Hee, so it has to be a while after entering the school that we can get permission to enter a dungeon?”

“Safety first, or so the teachers told me. Additionally, for the first time you enter the dungeon, you are obliged to enter with an uppercla.s.sman.”

I see. Ludi and I nodded along with her answer. It seems like the setting is still the same as the game.

Then, a.s.suming that the first set of party members is the same as the game, I will be with the protagonist. Other members will change depending on the protagonist’s choice. Depending on the method, other than me there would be a beastman, there is also a pattern that has Ludi and sempai as party members. I can’t really talk casually with a person I met for the first time, so I want to at least be together with Ludi or sempai.

“Then, can sempai enters the dungeon with me? It would be rea.s.suring to have you with me.”

When I asked her, she answered with a small laugh.

“If it was the same as last year then that would be unlikely since it was randomly selected. I will try asking the teacher I know but don’t get your hopes too high, alright?”

I intended that as a joke but it would be okay to at least ask. Thinking about it now, if I ask Marino-san wouldn’t I be able to choose my partner?

No, without doing that I already know all the possible options. Wouldn’t it be fine if I guide the protagonist’s action?

“Thank you very much,”

Senpai smiled as I said that.

“I want to ask one more thing. I heard that there are many dungeons around here, but is it okay to enter any dungeon I like?”

“That’s not the case. If you are doing well then you can eventually visit them all but only two dungeons can be entered from the beginning. Even those two dungeons will be available a while after you entered the academy……… it is still the matter of the future.”

Hou, I nodded. It is still the same as the game. However, I am a little worried about the total number of dungeons. There were only twenty in the initial version but, there will be six more from the first limited edition bonus, five more from the store special bonus, eight from DLC that came with ill.u.s.tration book, nine from another DLC coming with the fan book and twelve more from the Majiero collection that can be bought from Winter Comiket(TLN:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comiket)………around sixty dungeons in total.

Well, they did well releasing all those dungeons. Especially the five from the store bonus, to get it you must buy one copy from each store five times, it was super troublesome. I still have a bitter memory when I have to buy it together with my friends since I want sempai hug pillow.

I reached for my Matcha Chocolate Fondue. When I look to the side I saw Ludi who was about to put strawberry and matcha into her mouth.

“What?”

“No, I thought that it looks delicious…”

Saying so I opened my mouth while thinking that the icecream will enter my mouth. Of course, such a miracle didn’t happen.

“Haa? Why should I?…….. Don’t tell me you like parfait?”

“I like all kinds of sweets. I’m really weak to the matcha inside too.”

Of course, I also like that parfait. It’s like experiencing the condition where [another heroine’s face float up in my mind in the middle of capturing another heroine], I called it [Why did I capture her first disease]. Kagikko (Key-child) (TLN: Loyal fan of softhouse KEY, example: Kanon, Air, Clannad) might become another disease name too. (TLN: I don’t really get the reference on this part)

“Hou, what a coincidence. I have a weakness for matcha too. I already ate some of it but would you like some?”

Sempai rotates her cup and pushes it over to me. I see, I planned to use a new spoon but if I eat the untouched part it won’t become an indirect kiss. Huh? That’s a shame.

“Thank you very much.”

Saying my thanks, I pushed my Matcha Chocolate Fondue over to sempai. Sempai seems to understand what I was thinking and reached out for the Choco Fondue.

I picked up my spoon and dig into the Matcha Tiramisu.

“Ahhhhh, It’s so deliciousssss.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. The Fondue was good but Tiramisu is good too. Rather, the Tiramisu is even more delicious. I will order a tiramisu next time I come here.

“……Seeing you eating it so happy makes me want to eat it too…You sure enjoying yourself huh.”

Ludi said while offers her parfait to senpai.

The three of us shared our sweets after that.