「Hmm…」
….I am troubled.
I’m a boy with quite a few worries to begin with and today was no exception.
「I wonder about this… I mean, even if I was told it’s fine――」
「Alec」
「Hmm? It’s open」
「Hey」
That voice, Diana-chan.
As soon as I replied to the voice from outside, Diana-chan from Lukmine Village energetically walked into the room.
「Anyway, balance ball――what’s that?」
「Hm? Ah, this…」
Diana-chan glanced at the stick I was holding and asked about it.
…Wait, what about the balance ball?
As I was thinking that, Diana-chan noticed the balance ball rolling around in the room and started bouncing on it.
The balance ball is surprisingly popular.
Though honestly, it would be a problem if this became a trend…
「So, what’s that stick?」
「This? It’s candy」
「Oh. Who made it? Sage-san? Nana?」
Well, candy can be made with sugar and water, so either the Sage or Nana-san could make it.
But this candy wasn’t made by either of them.
This candy…
「I made it」
「Oh」
Diana-chan gave a half-hearted reply while continuing to bounce.
「…Isn’t your reaction a bit weak?」
「Even if you say that」
I wanted a bit more of a reaction.
…Well, it’s just something made from sugar and water, so I guess that’s fair.
「But it’s not just ordinary candy」
「Oh?」
「Actually, this is candy made with 『Varnish Coating』!」
「…Huh?」
Diana-chan blinked in confusion while still bouncing.
「I made it with 『Varnish Coating』」
「With 『Varnish Coating』?」
「With 『Varnish Coating』」
「…Is that even candy?」
「I wonder…?」
Even I’m not quite sure.
Rather than candy, it might just be varnish…
「You can’t eat that」
「Well, apparently you can eat it… though I’m not entirely sure about that either」
「I have no idea what you’re talking about」
「Hmm…」
How should I explain this…
I guess I’ll just go step by step.
「I use 『Varnish Coating』 a lot, right? Like the balance ball you’re sitting on」
「Yeah」
Diana-chan replied while balancing on the ball using only her hips.
…That move is actually pretty dangerous, so be careful, okay?
「Lately you’ve been using it in more advanced ways, like float rings and balance balls, but… I also use it normally」
「Normally?」
「I just spread it over the surface of finished wooden items to protect them. Varnish. Regular varnish」
「Regular varnish… oh, you mean like this?」
「Yeah, exactly」
Still bouncing on the balance ball, Diana-chan moved closer and pointed at the table in the room.
This table was also properly coated with varnish. Just ordinary varnish.
「The other day, while using regular varnish, I thought, ‘this kind of looks like candy’」
「Looks like candy…?」
「So then, I tried it. I cast 『Varnish Coating』 on a wooden stick while thinking ‘become candy, become candy’」
「You suddenly started doing something completely random…」
Well, yeah, that’s true. But 『Varnish Coating』 has fulfilled plenty of my ridiculous ideas before…
「So I coated it, and just to test it, I gave it a little lick, and it was sweet」
「Sweet…? It actually became sweet just from that…?」
「I was surprised too」
Even I thought this might be impossible, even for 『Varnish Coating』.
But if I believed it wouldn’t work, then it probably wouldn’t, so I pushed that thought aside and convinced myself it would definitely work before applying it…and somehow, it seems like it did.
「But… is it really safe to eat something like that?」
「That’s the issue. Apparently, it’s not poisonous, but…」
There’s a farmer who can check things like that, so I asked them, and they said it doesn’t seem to be toxic.
「But when they checked, they said, ‘This varnish doesn’t seem to be poisonous, but…’」
「Well yeah, varnish normally isn’t poisonous」
「Yeah…」
That just made me think it still might not be edible.
Varnish is still varnish. Even without poison, it’s not something you’re supposed to eat.
「In the end, I couldn’t tell if it was safe, so… I came up with an idea. Before I try eating it myself――」
「You made Sword Saint-san eat it?」
「…………」
What are you even saying, Diana-chan…?
How did you come to that conclusion?
「I wouldn’t do that… I’m not the kind of person who experiments on my own father…」
「Really? But you did that with the balance ball, didn’t you?」
「The balance ball? Ah, no… that’s a bit different, isn’t it?」
It’s true that I had Father help with the durability test for the balance ball, but isn’t that different?
Even if both are experiments, having him bounce on a balance ball and making him lick some unknown candy feel like completely different kinds of experiments…?
「That’s not what I mean… And it’s not Father either. The one who helped me was Ralina-papa-san… 」
「You made Ralina-papa eat it?」
「I said that’s not it…」
Diana-chan really treats Father and Ralina-papa pretty harshly.
If anything, she might be worse than me.
「I asked Ralina-papa to have this candy appraised」
「Appraised? By him?」
「Ralina-papa is a merchant, so he has a wide range of contacts. Apparently, he knows someone with the 『Appraisal』 skill」
「Ah, I see」
That’s how it is. So through him, I had someone with that skill appraise my candy… or varnish.
「So, what was the result?」
「According to the appraisal, it’s both varnish and candy」
That’s what they concluded.
「So which is it…?」
「It’s both varnish and candy」
「Which one is it?」
「I’m telling you, it’s both…」
If anything, I was surprised it even leaned toward being candy.
I thought it would just be labeled something like 『sweet varnish』.
「Anyway, according to the appraisal, it’s 『edible』」
「Huh. So you can eat it after all?」
「Seems like it. Pretty surprising, right?」
So once again, 『Varnish Coating』 managed to fulfill one of my ridiculous ideas.
Thinking about it again, it’s a pretty absurd request, telling varnish to become candy…
And yet it actually worked. Even for my own skill, that’s kind of strange…
「So how does it taste?」
「Hm? Well, I haven’t really eaten it properly yet…」
「Really? You’re not going to eat it?」
「Hmm. I made a new batch of this candy, but… I just can’t bring myself to try it」
After getting the appraisal result, I made another batch of candy using 『Varnish Coating』, Alec Candy.
But I still don’t have the courage to eat it.
I can’t shake the thought of 『but it’s still varnish, right…?』
Also, while the Alec Candy I made before apparently turned out properly, there’s no guarantee this new batch did the same.
Maybe it failed this time. I did focus and think 『become candy, become candy』 again, but… maybe it wasn’t enough, and it didn’t turn into candy properly…
That kind of doubt crossed my mind, and I just couldn’t bring myself to try it.
「Hmm. Give it to me」
「Hm?」
「That, give it to me」
「Eh…」
She’s going to eat it…?
I mean, it’s probably fine, but…
「But, you know, it’s candy I made with a skill. Doesn’t that bother you at all…?」
「Not really. It’s basically the same as 『Water Magic』, right?」
「Is it…?」
Come to think of it, Mother and Nana-san do use water from 『Water Magic』 in cooking.
Maybe it’s the same thing.
Though personally, I still feel a bit uneasy about that too…
「Come on, come on」
「Ah」
While I hesitated, Diana-chan snatched the Alec Candy from me.
「Hey, Diana-chan, 」
「Alright, here I go」
Saying that, Diana-chan opened her mouth wide and was about to bite into the Alec Candy――
「Wait!」
「No!」
I hurriedly grabbed the Alec Candy back from her.
「…What was that?」
「I just had a bad feeling if I didn’t stop you」
「About what…?」
What do you mean… it’s the shape, I guess.
I didn’t think much when making it, so I ended up using a slightly thick stick, and coated the tip with that varnish-or-candy.
Letting Diana-chan lick that… just didn’t feel right.
That’s not it. That’s not okay.
That kind of thing isn’t my style…
next chapter: 『Disaster Twister』
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