I Wanted a Cute Girl to Cast Healing Magic on Me, So I Kept Protecting My Allies—and Ended Up with an Overprotective Party - 41

Chapter 41: Even Though All I Did Was Wake Up

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After two days of being jostled in a carriage from the royal capital, we finally arrived in the town of Galiano by nightfall. From there, we returned to our party’s base for the first time in a while.

Though it was only two stories tall, each room was spacious. The first floor had a living room and kitchen, while the second floor had four private rooms. To someone like me, who had lived in Japan, it felt like a full-on mansion.

“It really feels so relaxing to be back home after so long!”

“Yeah. A fancy inn is nice and all, but nothing beats your own place.”

“The trip to the royal capital was so much fun!”

“It was my first time going on a long journey with a four-person party, so I really enjoyed it too.”

It looked like everyone, including me, had fun on this trip. I usually preferred being alone, but that didn’t mean I hate interacting with others. That was why  I was genuinely glad these three were my party members.

“Okay, everyone. I know we just got back, but we still need to take care of some chores. Miya, sorry to ask when you’re tired, but could you handle dinner? We’ll take care of getting the bath ready and the other stuff.”

“Leave it to me! I actually enjoy cooking.”

Miya was the only one in the party who could cook. Of course, I couldn’t, but surprisingly enough, neither could Karinka-san nor Emil. We all sat down at the four-person table in the living room to eat the meal Miya had prepared. We hadn’t discussed seating, but somehow we naturally fell into place: Emil to my right, Miya across from me, and Karinka-san next to Miya.

Tonight’s main dish was teriyaki chicken, with salad and bread on the side. Everyone in the party loved meat. As for the dishes, I always imagined them as Japanese-style food. Technically speaking, they were different, but not by much.

“Ahhh… What a wonderful smell…! Food at inns is nice, but I really do love Miya’s cooking the most!”

“Come on, Karinka-san, you’re praising me too much~!”

Karinka-san had a strong obsession with food. One of the main reasons we added Miya to the party was because she could cook.

“And now, good news for you, Karinka-san! There’s soup tonight too!”

“Ahh, soup…! That one you made before, right? That was super delicious too!”

If I remember right, it was consommé soup. I thought it was great too. Maybe it was the power of good food, but I slept really well that night. Although I did oversleep the next morning.

“Here you go, this one is yours, Emil!”

“Wow, it looks so yummy! Thank you~”

“And this is yours, Rikuto.”

“Thanks. I really like this soup.”

“Right? So make sure to drink every last drop this time too, okay?”

“I may not look like it, but I always finish whatever’s put in front of me.”

“As expected of Rikuto~!”

“What’s with the sudden praise? You’re in a good mood today, huh?”

“Ehh, am I?”

Well, whatever. Miya had always been the cheerful type after all.

Then dinner began. I reached for the teriyaki chicken first—but Emil, who had no sense of personal space, was pressed right up against me, making it incredibly hard to move my right hand with the chopsticks. I figured saying something to Emil would only get lost in translation, so I just kept eating while fending off her left hand in a low-key skirmish.

The crispy skin had a satisfying texture to it. The sweet and savory sauce coated the chicken perfectly, and every bite seemed to release more flavor. Then, I refreshed my palate with some salad before going back to the chicken. What a blissful loop…!

Then there was the consommé soup. The rich, slightly bold flavor was amazing—but I couldn’t quite relax. Miya was staring at me intensely.

“Miya, it’s kinda hard to focus on the taste with you staring at me like that.”

“Well, you see, I poured my love into that, so I’ve got to see you drink it all!”

“I can’t believe you can say something that embarrassing so casually.”

“Well, Rikuto, you’ve already seen me at my most embarrassing state, so at this point I’m kind of past caring~”

She was probably referring to her expression when Emil cast healing magic on her. That blissed-out look wasn’t something you see on a girl every day. And for some reason she told me, “You’d better remember this!” Not that I could ever forget it to be honest.

I took a sip of the soup under Miya’s passionate gaze. The flavor was slightly spicy, yet smooth and delicious—so much so that I ended up finishing it in one go. Miya, watching me with what looked like a smug grin, seemed genuinely pleased.

Yeah, she probably got happy because I looked like I was enjoying it.

After everyone finished eating, we chatted for a bit, then each of us returned to our rooms. I lay in bed and decided to review the effects of my skill, Damage Adjustment, before falling asleep.

The basic effect let me freely control how much damage I took. However, it didn’t work on status effects. But after getting hit by an attack that caused a status effect, the skill evolved to nullify it from then on.

Right now, the ones I could nullify were “blowback/stagger” and “sleep.” That last one was more dangerous than I’d expected, so it was a real lifesaver that Damage Adjustment could protect me from it.

For sleep, though, it only worked against forcibly induced sleep—naturally falling asleep didn’t count. Understandable, really.

Normally, I set Damage Adjustment to 『Unharmed』,even when I sleep. It was highly unlikely that there’d be any danger inside our own house, but there was always the possibility of outside threats so I set it to 『Unharmed』 just to be safe.

And with that, I drifted off into a peaceful, happy sleep.

The next morning.

I woke up feeling incredibly refreshed, right on schedule. Heading to the kitchen to grab a drink of water, I found Miya already there. She was probably getting breakfast ready. I was genuinely grateful for that.

“Miya, morning.”

When I called out, Miya—who was cooking something in a frying pan—looked at me, then immediately looked back down at the pan. Then she looked at me again.

It was a double take.

“Rikuto!? What? No way! Why are you awake!? …Ahh, hot!”

“Sorry, I probably startled you. But aren’t you overreacting? Why am I awake? This is pretty normal for me. Anyway, here, cool your hand.”

I quickly turned off the stove, took her hand, and guided it under running water.

“Th-thanks…”

“I mean, I always wake up pretty early, don’t I?”

“Y-yeah, that’s true…”

“You don’t need to cook today. Just take it easy. One day off won’t hurt.”

The three of us couldn’t cook, but we could always eat out or buy something.

“Thanks… I think I’ll take you up on that. I need to sort out my thoughts anyway…”

Saying that, Miya looked deep in thought as she walked toward her room. Just like usual, I had no idea what Miya was thinking.

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【Shortly after, in Miya’s room, on her bed】Miya’s POV

Why!? Why!? That amount should have been enough! It worked perfectly last time!

Right. The last time I slipped him a sleeping drug, it worked like a charm. Rikuto overslept exactly as planned.

Did I mess up the dosage? No way… I was being very careful…

The only thing I could think of was that maybe Rikuto leveled up and gained some resistance to sleep? Thinking back, didn’t he look totally unfazed by that dragon’s sleep breath? Just what was happening here…?

What should I do? Should I try upping the dose? Or maybe go with a different status effect…?

I still wanted to keep it subtle and healthy-looking. It was not like I wanted to hurt Rikuto or anything.

Maybe next time I should just check it myself to see if the drug is working as intended…

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