Chapter 26

How cute…… I want to spoil her…… but……

Yes, let’s stop there. I don’t want to be hated.

But, I want to talk. I mean, Iva can’t speak in sentences, right? She won’t speak to me unless I speak to her.
Anything is fine. Let’s continue talking.

Umm, she has taught me about the names of ingredients…… right, let’s ask about animals next.

「Iva, what kind of animals inhabit this area?」

「Animals? Magic beasts?」

「I don’t mind both. Which creatures can be eaten?」

As expected, it starts with food.

「Horn Rabbit, Horn Bull, Colomb, Cocco」

Wait, wait, wait. There’s so many I have troubles remembering.

「Cocco? What creature is that?」

Somehow sounds a chicken-like?

「This big. Tawny feathers. Bird」

Iva shows the size using her fingers. She’s making a gap between her fingers of about 40cm. Are? Was that the meat I have used in the dango broth?

「Nee, is that the meat I have used for yesterday’s dinner?」

「Un」

「How do you hunt them?」

「Forest, bush, stay」

「In the bushes? Under? Do they fly?」

「Only a bit fly. Around the trees at most. Fast」

「Fuun. What about their nests? Have you seen them?」

「Nest? No see」

Is that so? How regrettable. Eggs…… maa, it would be nice to get my hands on them sometime.

「I see…… then, what kind of creature is Horn Rabbit?」

「Easy to eat. Not hard」

「…… Iva…… how does it look?」

Un. It’s good as an ingredient. But, I won’t know what kind of animal it is like that……

「This big. Tawny. Long ears. Horn. Horn, magic stone」

Larger than the one before, I see. Tawny again? Are all creatures of this world tawny? Which reminds me, the horses are tawny as well. Ara, ears? Is that perhaps a rabbit? Then, I can understand why it’s easy to eat.

「Then, Horn Bull is?」

「Larger than a horse. Tawny. Powerful. A lot of meat. Tasty」

Un. It’s meat.

「Are they on the grasslands? Tell me if you see them next time, okay?」

「Un. Hunt」

Animals are only seen as meat to Iva, aren’t they?

「Then, what is this plant called?」

I point at the false mugwort.

「Erubu?」

「So it’s called Erubu. I thought to make tea out of this, but…… do you think it’s all right?」

「Erubu is medicine」

「Ara, it’s medicine? How do you use it?」

「Make a potion」

「What is a potion?」

Words I don’t know keep on appearing. Will I be able to remember them, I wonder? I will probably forget them, won’t I?

「Drink medicine」

「Ah, you make it into an oral medicine, don’t you? So, how do you do that?」

「Dunno. Guild, bring」

She doesn’t know, huh. But, Elm has also told me that it doesn’t have a poison, un, it can be made into tea.

「Then, what is this flower called?」

I ask about the chamomile.

「……? Dunno」

「Try smelling it. It smells really nice」

It looks like chamomile and smells like apples.

「Pomu? Eh?」

「Fufu. Right? The fragrance resembles that of Pomu, right? Let’s try making tea out of this as well」

「Ko, Koyu, sama, tea love?」

Ara, she asked for the first time. She finally said my name. Fufu. What a happy occasion.

「Yes. I love tea. I mean, your heart calms down when you take a short rest, right?」

「Rest?」

「Drinking tea is called taking a short rest. Fufu」

「Ufufu? Laughing since while ago?」

「Yes. I’m happy because Iva showed interest in me」

「Happy?」

「Very happy」

Puzzled Iva is adorable as well.