[V4C26] Meanwhile, the Boys’ Party
Translated by Jodas 4: Flying Through the SkyAt the same time as the six Apprentice girls were holding their party, drinking fiercely bitter tea and eating snacks straight out of the bag, the six Apprentice boys were all gathered in Rose and Oliver’s room. They were having a boys’ party.
The two adults’ room was neatly kept clean, and was filled with the fragrance of fresh herbs. The scent of the dried herbs hanging from the walls.
Oliver meticulously kept the room clean on a daily basis, and the herbal decorations were something Rose made.
“I borrowed the kitchen to make this.”
Oliver said as he set one plate of hors d’oeuvres after another on the table.
“The pickled cabbages were graciously provided by the folks at the dining hall. For the main dish, we have oven-baked chicken. This here is herbal butter and honey-glazed nuts. I recommend eating each of these on top of our fresh bread.”
In addition to the light fare, there were also baked sweets that had been taken out of the paper bag and beautifully presented on a proper plate.
At this point, Rose accompanied the plates with teacups.
“This is my signature herbal tea! It’s an unusual blend, but I think it’s pretty tasty!”
While it was concerning to hear that Rose, who usually didn’t put much care into his actions or words, had come up with an unusual blend, an appealing lemony scent emerged from the teacups.
Julius, sitting in a folding chair laughed “Ku, ku” as he took one of the cups.
“Kuku, then allow me to try.”
“I’ll try one too… Wow, this meat is super soft! I’ve never had something like this before…”
Finn took a big bite and stuffed his cheeks with bread and meat. Oliver nodded at him with his usual confident face.
“Yes, it’s important to marinate it beforehand with honey and spices, and to keep the heat low to prevent the meat from charring. Meat with less fat on it makes for a healthier dish as well. Make sure to chew well while eating it.”
“Yeah, and this butter with leaves in it is tasty too! So…”
Finn looked at the two boys sitting on the lower bunk with their knees held against their chests, and spoke hesitantly.
“Won’t you eat it too… Wren and Gerald?”
Wren buried his face in his knees and moped. Gerald did the same.
At the meeting with all the Apprentices the night before, Wren had brought up Sophie’s curses. Gerald also joined in, insisting she should use that ability to help them in the fight.
However, as a result, Sophie was forced to talk about her family’s circumstances.
Ultimately, one could say Wren and Gerald made Sophie cry.
“I’m the worst kind of person.”
Speaking with a voice that sounded like he was being strangled was Gerald.
With his long bangs, it was hard to read his expression, but it was clear he was crestfallen.
“Even though Sophie didn’t want to join in the Magic Battle, I counted her as a battle asset. I’m the worst… I made someone do something I myself wouldn’t want to do.”
Beside him, Wren lifted his face up a little.
His golden hair, which was usually tied up in a high ponytail, was now allowed to fall loosely. Since he hadn’t properly combed it this morning, it spread out in all directions.
“You know, when I was nominated to be the Assistant Representative, someone told me that my tendency to talk to people without fear was a strength… and I got ahead of myself…”
As the two of them brought the mood in the room down, Finn nervously fidgeted.
Julius sipped on his herbal tea while cackling as he usually did. Oliver as well maintained the confident face he always had.
“First, regain your body’s energy, then worry about sorting out your mind. Eat well, and sleep well. You should bathe often as well. However, make sure you are out of the bath at least an hour before you go to bed.”
To the advice given by Oliver, a man who takes great care in every aspect of his life, Wren could only laugh weakly. “Haha…”
When he was sad because he hurt someone else, whether or not you call it a form of self-harm, the idea of taking care of his own body didn’t feel right to him.
When he buried his head back in his knees, Rose spoke up.
“Actually, I think it’s good that we got that discussion out of the way this early.”
“…What do you mean?”
Wren asked in a low, whispering voice, and Rose gave him a relaxed response.
“About Sophie’s family. The more you get to know someone, the harder it is to speak up about your complicated family circumstances.”
Rose set some food and snacks on a small plate.
Wren wondered who it was that was thoughtful enough to bring small plates for them to eat off of, but of course it was Oliver who prepared them.
“Wren, Gerald, it’s not like either of you suddenly started to dislike Sophie, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Uh-huh…”
“Then, all you have to do is approach her with an attitude that says ‘I don’t mind if your family is like that!’ Then, apologize like ‘Sorry for asking prying questions like that!’ And you’ll be good!”
Rose said “Here,” and passed the small plate filled with food over to Wren and Gerald.
“Is it really… that simple?”
Wren mumbled as he took the plate, and Rose just smiled cheerfully under his fuzzy beard.
“If the simple way doesn’t work, then all you need to do is try a harder way. But you’ve gotta start with the simple things first.”
(Start with the simple things first… huh.)
That was right, he just needed to grow up.
There were only so many things that he could do at the moment. In that case, his only option was to do those things that he could do one-by-one.
—It was true for his apology to Sophie
—It was true for his approach towards Tia
Wren set the plate of hors d’oeuvres to his side and sipped on a cup of herbal tea.
He’d anticipated it tasting like grass, but the refreshing fragrance drifted down his throat and up out of his nose.
“Wait, this is great! …I always thought herbal tea was just supposed to taste like grass.”
While Wren raised a shout of amazement, “Wow,” Gerald beside him made his own sound of amazement. That was the sound he made when he was blindsided by how good something tasted.
“I’ve never had herbal tea this good before… It doesn’t taste like grass at all… It’s amazing. And it smells so good…”
“Thanks, guys! Actually, I put some other things aside from herbs in there as well. Like dried apples and citrus and whatnot.”
How could these two useless adults be living such healthy lifestyles?
Or perhaps that was precisely the secret to these two’s lackadaisical attitudes.
Once he’d eaten about half the food on his plate, Rose brought out his box of cards.
“Let’s play cards! Have you guys played before?”
As Rose spoke, he looked at Julius, Gerald, and Finn.
“Kuku, how nostalgic… Yes, I can. I’ve learned how to before.”
“It’s my first time. This is the table of winning hands and point values? …There’s a lot of hands here, huh.”
Gerald took a look at the scoring chart and lifted up his bangs a little bit. They really did make it hard for him to see.
You should just cut them already, Wren thought to himself, but Oliver was much more blunt about it.
“Gerald. That’s bad for your eyes. I’ll let you borrow my favorite hair gel.”
“That’s a great idea, Gerald! Why don’t you do your hair in spikes like Oliver?”
Wren said with a teasing smirk, as Gerald puffed his cheeks and turned away from him.
“…I’m fine with the way it is. Stop pestering me.”
Gerald set his hair back down on his face, and offered the scoring chart to Finn.
“Would you like to read it too, Finn?”
“I don’t really get what’s going on, so I’ll just watch everyone doing it first. It’ll help me learn the numbers… I think?”
Finn pulled out, so Rose dealt cards for five players.
“Then, let’s try it out! The best way to learn is by playing! Come here, Finn. I’ll show you my hand and explain what’s going on.”
“O- Okay.”
Finn plopped down on Rose’s lap.
“You look like a father and son.”
Wren heard Oliver whispering that and couldn’t help himself from laughing. It wasn’t just Wren: both Julius and Gerald’s shoulders were shaking as well.
Finn looked up at Rose with a confused face.
“Rose and I don’t look anything alike, right?”
“We don’t look alike at all, right?”
Both of them gave the same response, and Wren only laughed even harder.
(It’s strange, huh?)
Not long ago, he’d thought he would never be able to get along with Julius. And just this morning he’d been depressed over his failures the previous day, so he’d thought he didn’t want to do anything today.
(Although I haven’t actually become friends with Julius yet or anything, and I haven’t even apologized to Sophie yet…)
But he got the feeling that he’d be able to try his best tomorrow.
(Rose and Oliver really are mature adults.)