Chapter 4
The Elf’s Meal
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“What are you doing, Yuya?”
Chamomile peered over my shoulder.
Right now, I was working on my summer homework.
“School homework. Don’t bother me—go watch TV or something.”
As I cleared my assignments on the living room table, the doorbell rang.
“Someone’s here.”
“Wait here, okay? Don’t move from this spot.”
Well, it’s probably Ami.
She’s likely come by to check up on me.
When I opened the door, though, it was a delivery guy.
That was fast.
I signed for the package and brought it back to the living room.
“These must be the clothes I ordered. Hang on, I’ll open it.”
I used a cutter to slice open the cardboard box.
Inside were neatly packed clothes wrapped in plastic.
“Here, these are your clothes. You might not like them, but…”
“My clothes?”
Chamomile took one out and began examining it closely.
“The fabric is of fine quality… I can’t possibly just accept this. I’ll pay you—
I have gold coins, how much would that be?”
Gold coins?
I have no idea what those are worth.
“Nah, it’s fine. I bought these on my own anyway.
Pretty sure your gold coins are worth way more than this cheap stuff.”
These clothes were just inexpensive ones—probably made in China.
Maybe I should’ve gone to a department store instead.
“In my world, this material is quite common. Don’t worry about it, it’s not expensive.”
“I see… thank you.”
Chamomile’s cheeks flushed red, and her eyes seemed to glisten.
“Hey, don’t cry over something like this. It’s really not a big deal.”
“…Okay.”
She buried her face in her arm.
“Here, tissues. Wipe your tears.”
This was kind of throwing me off.
“Chamomile.”
“Hm?”
“Please, just call me Chamomile.”
“Ah… anyway, I need to finish this homework soon.”
Truth is, I was almost done.
I didn’t have much else to do by myself, so I kept busy with it.
If my hands were moving, I didn’t have to think too much.
With the TV playing softly in the background, I decided to finish up the rest quickly.
Chamomile had gone to her room, taking the clothes with her.
“What should we do about lunch…”
Breakfast had just been toast.
Normally, if I were alone, I might’ve skipped lunch,
but that wouldn’t do this time.
“What do elves eat, anyway? Guess I should ask her.”
“I can eat anything. I don’t have any particular dislikes.”
“…So there’s nothing you can’t eat?”
I was thinking she might avoid meat or something.
“I’m an elf, but basically the same as humans.
I eat meat, fish, vegetables—whatever you prepare is fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“For lunch, how about cup noodles?
I haven’t bought groceries yet, so there’s not much here.
We can go shopping later this afternoon.”
“Cup… noodles?”
Chamomile tilted her head curiously.
Everything in this world must be new to her.
I explained what cup noodles were and poured hot water into the cup.
“You can eat it in just three minutes? How strange.”
I wanted to give her something better, but there wasn’t much choice.
I’d make something decent for dinner once we bought groceries.
Since the house was near the station, finding food wasn’t a problem.
If you had money, you could eat out anywhere.
But eating out every day would empty my wallet fast,
so I’d learned to cook for myself.
You can find recipes online these days anyway.
“Should I leave her here while I shop… no, maybe I’ll take her with me.”
She’ll have to learn to live in this world too.
With her foreign-looking features, people might just assume she’s from overseas.
The only real issue was her long ears—she’d need to hide them.
“Hide my ears? You mean as long as they can’t be seen, right?”
Chamomile murmured something softly,
and suddenly her ears looked completely human.
“If someone touches them, they’ll notice, but visually this should be fine, right?”
Apparently, she’d used some sort of magic.
Magic sure is convenient.
