Magic Kitchen
"Menu open... huh?"
Morning at home. I pulled out DORECA to check the menu, wondering what to make today—then I was stunned.
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Akito
Type: Fronds Card
Mana: 186,006
Item Creation Count: 1,060
Servants: 2
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My mana’s gone way up.
Last night before bed, it was just over a hundred thousand. Now it’s jumped by eighty thousand.
That’s not normal. That’s past simple memory slip.
Still, the cause is pretty limited. So I asked the two people who could possibly be responsible.
"Risha, Mira. Anything good happen?"
"Good thing?"
"Um...?"
They both paused. Mira spoke first.
"Master has been made!"
——Mana charged by 100.
She clasped her hands, beaming.
The slight mana boost, despite doing nothing, felt suspiciously like the truth.
"Risha? What about you?"
"Um... I... oh."
She started to speak, then flushed red and clamped her mouth shut.
“Something wrong?”
“N-no, nothing at all!”
Blushing harder, she waved her hands frantically.
Stared straight at her. She looked away.
Not unpleasant. Just embarrassed.
Makes no sense—but I get it.
Something happy happened to Risha while I was asleep last night.
And Risha’s been glancing at me. So maybe it’s about me.
...Did she think my sleeping face was cute or something?
☆
“Ah, Akito, good morning.”
Outside the house, Madway was waiting, waving.
“Morning. You’re in a rush.”
Behind Madway, a group of men gathered, busily preparing something.
“We’re heading out to hunt.”
“Hunt? Don’t we have food?”
I glanced toward the warehouse.
Inside, there were nearly a thousand Pshiny, made all at once yesterday.
There are twenty-seven residents now. Even counting three meals a day, that’s at least twelve days’ worth.
“That’s incredibly generous.”
Madway bowed his head.
“Pshiny… right? One of those fills your stomach, and with so many around, we don’t have to worry about food. Everyone’s grateful.”
Then why… I thought.
“Still… this is hard to say, but those things are terrible.”
“No, not just terrible. They’re *unbearably* bad.”
I said it. Madway, looking apologetic, burst out laughing.
“Yeah, unbearable. You *can* fill your belly with them, but that awful taste… well, so we figured we’d still like to eat something actually edible. That’s why we decided on hunting after all.”
“Ah.”
So there’s a basic safety net, but we’re aiming higher.
“Men will go hunting. The women will search for edible plants. That’s how we’ve split the work.”
I sent Madway and the others off. Two slaves remained behind in the town.
"Master, what shall we make today?"
Risha asked.
I thought.
There’s plenty I’d like to do.
Build more houses.
Create a wall-like structure using the line Mira pulled.
Go search for Schreivju and bring more settlers.
The list goes on.
But I put all of that off.
"Let’s make a kitchen."
"A kitchen?"
Risha tilted her head.
"Yeah. More precisely, a shared cooking hall. People go hunting for food, right? So we need a place to cook it."
"I see."
"Can you really make something like that?"
Mira asked.
"Menu open."
I pulled out DORECA to check the creation list.
Nothing like that showed up.
But— I drew a different magic circle on the ground.
"Risha, Mira..."
“Yes!”
The two of them grinned and dashed into the warehouse.
When they returned, Risha wore a puzzled expression.
“Master… is this material… a wooden house?”
Of course—Risha, who’d helped create things countless times, could already tell just by looking at the materials.
“Yeah.”
“Are we making a kitchen?”
“No, just—”
“Huh?”
Risha and Mira set the materials into the magic circle and built a wooden house.
“Hmph… the spot’s off.”
Lifting the house with a flick, they set it down somewhere else.
Adjusting placement at the magic circle stage was a pain.
Then again, if I’d made it, I could’ve lifted it easily—no matter the size.
To anyone else, it’d weigh like stone. But me? I can pick it up regardless of weight.
Funny thing—this ability might come in handy for something else… I should try it sometime.
Adjust the placement and step inside the house.
One after another, draw magic circles.
Pull out everything needed in the kitchen—tables, shelves, that sort of thing—using magic circles.
Then the hearth—
"...?"
"Master?"
Mira tilts her head, looking up at me.
"Let's go with this instead."
I find something, and instead of the hearth, I pull that out.
☆
The arrow of the magic circle points to it—deep in the mountains, far from town.
It was coming out of a hole.
Lava melting and burning the ground around the opening.
Once it had all poured out, it shifted, writhed.
The lava monster, its body glowing with the light of raw material.
"Ah. This one."
Alone here, I draw my Eternal Slave from my waist.
Even from this distance, the heat reaches me—my skin prickles, burns.
I swing the sword and charge in.
"Hard! But—"
It wasn’t unbreakable. I drove the sword down harder, and split the lava monster clean in two.
“Guess that’s what happens.”
The two halves snapped back together.
Felt like a slime, honestly. I’d kind of expected that.
“…2000, maybe.”
A bit of a waste, but stingy now just means you’ll pay more later. Better to overpay and finish it in one hit.
I poured magic into the Eternal Slave.
Two thousand. Imagined it as a single, explosive release.
The blade flared white, swelling like a pulse.
Then—down, in one stroke.
The slave’s sword and the mass of magic struck like a hammer, erasing the lava creature entirely.
All that remained was a red glow. A red light, like a soul.
☆
The red light—the soul of Lava—brought back to town, carried into the kitchen.
“Master!”
“Welcome home!”
Welcomeed by two slaves.
The magic circle was finished—only one remained.
"Good work."
I ruffled both of their heads, then moved toward the circle.
Placing Lava’s soul inside, the circle transformed into something solid.
On the table, two holes were carved. A knob stood before each hole.
"Master, what’s this?"
"Kind of like a stove. Probably like this…"
I twisted the knob. Instantly, fire burst forth.
I twisted the other knob—fire came out from there too.
"Amazing! How’d you light it like that?"
Mira stared, stunned.
"That’s just how it works."
I turned the knob again—flame vanished, dimmed, roared back to life.
Exactly like a gas stove.
"I’ve never seen anything like it!"
"Yeah! Normally you’d have to build a fire in a hearth—pain in the ass."
Risha and Mira chimed in.
I turned off the flames, adjusted the table, shelves, and stove’s position—making it properly a kitchen.
"Alright, done."
I looked at the kitchen and felt a little surge of accomplishment.
Unlike before, I’d built it piece by piece, then assembled it—so it was the most satisfying thing I’d done yet.
Incidentally, the kitchen—especially the magic stove—was a huge hit with the townsfolk.
They even gave me a roasted rabbit as thanks.
Their gratitude didn’t boost my magic, but it didn’t feel bad either.