Magical★Explorer

Takioto Kousuke 3

Ludi’s POV

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“Aah, so delicious.”

Said Marino-san after she drank Kousuke’s coffee. Since the Majin incident, she has been quite busy and when she finally has time to have dinner with us after a long time, Kousuke just brewed them some coffee and left for his training.

“Truly delicious.”

Said Hatsumi-san after she drank her coffee with a mountain of sugars.

“Kuh”

Claris is bitterly drinking her tea. Yes, not just coffee, even his tea is delicious. When I asked him how he could brew such delicious coffee and tea he said “Oh, I thought it might be a good idea to quit school and open my own cafe.” or so he said. Leaving the place I want to retort aside, it looks like he is trying to evade the subject. He said that part about quitting is a joke but I wonder about the real reason. Is it because of his love for his deceased parents? Then it can’t be helped that he find it difficult to say.

If it’s Kousuke, he might be afraid that the talk would turn the mood heavy and change the subject out of his consideration.

“I thought about having a word with him if he is playing around too much but it seems like he calculates his attendance and properly attended the classes he’s not good at too…”

As Marino-san said, Kousuke has been attending the classes that he is poor at. If he is a delinquent like the rumor said then he wouldn’t attend such classes.

“Rather, his growth is quite remarkable.”

Hatsumi-san indifferently speaks. Claris also let out a dry laugh, since she has been losing a lot recently she is probably the one who felt his growth the most.

“His growth is so fast to the extent that I thought he tried some dangerous drugs.”

“I want one too.”

I understand Hatsumi-san’s feeling but such a drug doesn’t exist in reality, right?

“As expected, He was doing something while skipping all those classes, huh?”

Marino-san nodded in agreement with Claris’s words.

“Yes, he did. He even leaves behind an academy record. And that record…. it’s quite abnormal too.”

“Umm….abnormal?”

Marino-san nodded to my words.

“Yeah, it’s weird. It shows that Kou-chan has been repeatedly challenging the beginner dungeon…. That I can understand. Tsukuyomi Dungeon is still not open for the first year students after all.”

Tsukuyomi dungeon is a dungeon that incomparably much more difficult than the beginner dungeon. For this reason, only those who beat the beginner dungeon and received a certain amount of dungeon education are allowed to enter. The mandatory education is scheduled to end around the beginning of the next month but since you still have to take the test, you can only enter that dungeon after the test is over.

Marino-san follows up and said “Since it is a personal record, this is actually classified information.” as a preface.

“You see, Kou-chan has been diving into the dungeon multiple times a day you know? Normally it would be enough to enter once a day right? Leaving the lunch break aside, he only has two hours to work with. That in itself is quite unusual already but what’s even more unusual is that he completely captured the dungeon within that time frame too.”

“Haa..”

Marino-san sighed.

“He completely captured it multiple times a day? Excuse me Marino-sama, if memory serves me right I remember that the beginner dungeon consisted of ten floors?”

Claris who never challenged the beginner dungeon asked.

“Yes, that’s right. Ten floors… I haven’t checked with the other record but there’s no mistake that his record is the fastest recorded captured time in the academy.”

“Just what exactly Takioto-sama has been doing in that dungeon?”

Claris’s question is the one that is on everyone’s mind.

“If we know that then it would help us understand Kou-chan’s rapid growth rate right? He has been running, swinging sword, and doing continuous enchantment (Third and Fourth Hands) even so, that still hardly explains how he could grow so fast. Well, I understand that the things I listed are already odd enough on its own though….”

Marino-san said so while smiling bitterly.

Even the Witch of Tsukuyomi, Marino-san can’t maintain that kind of enchant magic. It is only due to his rare magic constitution that made it possible for him.

Seriously, what’s up with the Hanamura house.

Even for the Hanamuras, the lineage that produced magicians that leave their name in history, this generation might be their most blessed one. In this generation alone, they have Marino-san, Hatsumi-san who ruled over space-time magic and Kousuke.

Before Marino-san’s appearance, some people said that the Hanamuras has changed from the family of magicians to those of merchants.

There’s no one saying that anymore.

“The strongest point of Kousuke…….. Might be his farsightedness.”

Certainly, Kousuke gave off the feeling as if he lived a lot longer than he looked. He might have looked like a fool to the students at the academy but inside he is a firm person. He always switches which side he would show according to the situation.

He has something like a core that the other students don’t have. The sorrowful expression that he sometimes shows and the mysterious words that he sometimes speaks made his impression like he has cheated his age.

However, given the thing he has been through, it may have been unavoidable.

“…To me, it looks like he is rushing.”

Marino-san muttered so. Everyone in the room went silent. Surely, it looked like that if we think about it. Normally, a person wouldn’t madly train himself like that.

“I’m sorry, it’s not my place to say this.”

Marino-san said so while looking at me. So it was like that…

But I don’t want her to tell me either. I want to see with my own eyes and get to know him by myself then, if possible, help him.

“Somehow, I’m jealous of Kou-chan…”

Marino-san looked at us and muttered.

“I will ask him why he keeps diving into the dungeon. Since it’s him he might just be enjoying his growth and dive in for fun after all.”

When I said so, Marino-san bitterly smiles and nod.

“Anything goes if it comes to Kou-chan, right?”

We agreed on that.

*PAN*

Marino-san claps her hands.

“Anyway, Kou-chan has been trying his best to improve himself. Let’s give him something as a reward for his hard work. The thing at the academy might make him depressed after all.”

She said so and wink.

The first one to nod along with her is Hasumi-san. However, since the LLL has been bothering him, the one who has to make up for him the most might be me. I wanted to say that it’s not my fault though.

“What should I do for him?”

I tried asking.

“Right, for example [praising him], [give him a massage], [give him something he likes], [sleeping together], [pat his head], [sleeping together], [picking his ear], [sleeping together], or [sleeping together] How about it?”

Why is she recommending sleeping together so much? Did she try to lighten the mood with a joke? Speaking of which, that guy is a pervert though.

“That sounds fun”

I answered with a bitter smile

Realistically speaking, a massage might be good. He just went out for his katana practice too, it might be a good opportunity.

I have to ask Claris to teach me first. Thinking so I sip the royal milk tea he brewed for me.

Then I turn my gaze toward Claris and I have to frown.

She is a maid in name only, her main job is to act as a knight on my protective detail. However, as a maid stationed at the Hanamura house, serving tea is still her job.

She is originally a lady from a good family so knowledge about tea was already drilled into her, the tea she brews is also delicious.

However, his tea is more fragrant than that of Claris. The balance of milk, sugar, and honey is also exquisite. It felt like it was brewed exclusively for me. Claris’ tea was also brewed differently than mine so I think that he also brewed it to suit her taste too.

“Kuh”

Was it delicious? I understand that you are bitter about it but you don’t have to drink it so vexingly.

Come to think of it, after Hatsumi-san left the room, Marino-san said something like “With this the future of the Hanamura house is safe”. I wonder what she is talking about.

———–

Author Note: Since they know what happened to the Takioto family, a lot of misunderstandings stemmed from it. Next up will be the result of such misunderstandings.