The sun shone brightly.
The breeze was refreshing.
It was already late April. The biting chill of early spring had mostly faded, making it perfect weather for an outing.
Sora and Mahiru walked together and soon arrived at the fresh food supermarket.
"Sora-kun, please get a shopping cart," Mahiru said softly. "I'll be in charge of buying the ingredients."
"Understood."
Sora grabbed a shopping cart and followed behind Angel-sama, acting as her tool man.
"I already asked Elf-san what she wanted to eat this morning..." Mahiru picked up two potatoes and placed them in the cart, turning her head to look. "Is Yanami-san coming over for lunch today? If she is, we'll need to prepare more ingredients."
When they ate together yesterday, the gluttonous girl's astonishing appetite had left a super deep impression on Mahiru.
Sora took out his phone. "I'll send her a message to ask."
A moment later.
"Anna said she made plans to go shopping with her friends today, so she won't be coming over to eat."
"Understood..."
There wasn't much to say about the shopping process. Sora was entirely responsible for pushing the cart, while selecting the ingredients and paying at the checkout were all handled single-handedly by Angel-sama.
After finishing their shopping, the two carried their bags out of the supermarket.
"Sora-kun, I'll leave the rice to you."
Mahiru tilted up her pretty face, her voice gentle.
"Leave it to me." Sora's tone was relaxed. "Ten kilograms of rice isn't heavy at all."
The journey back was silent.
Only after returning home did Sora realize he had spoken too soon.
The rice was indeed easy to lift at first, but by the time he carried it all the way home, his forehead was sweating, and he was slightly out of breath. Twenty catties of rice wasn't really heavy, but carrying it for a long time took a super lot of effort.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sora-kun." Mahiru changed her shoes, entered the house, and quickly went to the kitchen to pour a glass of barley tea. "Drink some tea and rest a bit."
"Thanks."
Sora took the glass and drank half of it in one breath.
"Go to the bathroom to wash your hands and face." Mahiru spoke again. "When you return home from outside, you must pay extra attention to hygiene."
Wait a minute, this is something a mother tells her child, right?
Should I be calling you Mama Mahiru!
"...I'll go wash my hands."
Sora originally didn't want to move, but under Angel-sama's calm gaze, he obediently got up and headed to the bathroom.
After washing up, Sora walked out of the bathroom and saw Mahiru already wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen:
"Mahiru-san, shall I help?"
"No need." Mahiru was earnestly peeling potatoes. "Sora-kun, go ahead and work on your game. Leave the kitchen to me."
"Then call me if you need anything."
Sora went back to the sofa and sat down. He suddenly noticed that the glass he had just emptied was miraculously full of barley tea again.
Did Angel-sama pour another glass just now?
I didn't notice at all...
"Oh no." Sora suddenly felt a sense of crisis. "If this continues, I'm going to be raised into a useless person, aren't I?"
"..."
In the blink of an eye, it was 11:00 AM.
The doorbell rang.
"Sora-kun, go get the door." Mahiru's voice drifted from the kitchen. "It should be Elf-san."
"Going."
Unsurprisingly, a blonde girl in a gorgeous long dress stood outside the door.
"Servant, good morning." Elf put her hands on her hips, her voice crisp and full of energy. "Hurry up and welcome me with a grand ceremony."
Sora remained expressionless. "Are you an elf princess from another world?"
"Eh?" Elf blinked in confusion. "A grand what?"
"I'm sorry, but since you're not, there will be no welcoming ceremony."
Elf princesses bear the important mission of continuing their race and establishing diplomatic relations with the world. You're just a neighbor who comes over to mooch food every day. Who would welcome you!
"Servant's gaze is a bit weird..." Elf leaned her body forward, her tone suspicious. "Are you thinking about lewd things?"
Sora replied flatly, "Innocent until proven guilty."
"Hmph~"
Elf gave a light snort and tilted her small face up. She entered the house, changed into slippers, first went to the kitchen to say hello to Mahiru, then curiously walked up behind Sora and crossed her arms over her chest:
"Servant, I've finished writing the game script. Seeing how fast I am, hurry up and thank me properly."
"That is quite fast." Sora looked up, a bit surprised. "We'll save the thanks for later. Let me read the script first."
"Here, take it. Prepare to be amazed and full of adoration!"
Elf smugly handed over a stack of A4 paper, then smugly lifted her chin, waiting for praise.
Sora took the game script and began reading it earnestly.
A moment later.
"Well, how is it?" Seeing Sora close the script, Elf looked over expectantly. "The script is super brilliant, right?"
Sora shook his head. "It's too long."
"What do you mean? How can a ten-thousand-word backstory be considered long?"
"'Plant Girls vs. Monsters' is a tower defense game. It doesn't need to have the lore shattered and hidden within the game like the old thief Miyazaki does." Sora's voice was calm. "So a few sentences of backstory are enough."
"Ugh—"
Elf puffed her pink cheeks, showing that she was very unhappy.
"Of course, Elf's ideas are very good." Naturally, Sora didn't forget to praise her. "The setting of the Aeon of Abundance is very nice. The reason plants evolve into Plant Girls is actually due to the power of the Aeon. The battle scenes can be set as the Aeon of Abundance's back garden, and the Plant Girls are responsible for guarding it... We can adopt this."
"Hmph~" Elf snorted and turned her small face away. "It's too late to praise me now."
How is it too late? You're clearly secretly smiling, alright!
"Hey, hey, how about adding 2D anime-style Plant Girls?" Elf was full of enthusiasm. "Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered the true '2D' in history."
"What?"
"That Yamaguchi Tsutomu guy, an employee of the Mitsubishi Shipyard in the last century. He was originally on a business trip in Hiroshima and encountered the first atomic bomb explosion. He survived, and the next day he hopped on a train back to his hometown of Nagasaki. Who would have thought that a few days later, the second atomic bomb would explode in Nagasaki... He is the earliest 2D [two-time atom-bombed person]!"
That's so cold. Please don't share such unfunny trivia anymore!
As they were talking, Angel-sama, wearing an apron, emerged from the kitchen, her voice gentle:
"The food is ready. Everyone can wash their hands and eat."
Sora stood up and said:
"I'll go call Sagiri downstairs."
Unfortunately, his mission failed.
Sagiri didn't want to come down to eat today, and who knew what she was hiding in her room doing. Sora could only carry her portion upstairs.
After lunch, Mahiru and Elf successively took their leave.
Sora was typing code, thinking he could spend a quiet afternoon, when the vibration of his phone suddenly broke the afternoon peace.
Kuroneko: "Idiot Sora, I found another suitable destiny bounty poster. Let's go do the commission together, okay?"