Leave a comment

——Olivia’s Perspective

The spider guides us to a large space in the cave, where a small warrior is fighting against a lot of spiders. I had met that warrior once, before we left Bamel. She’s Natalia’s friend, Mir I think. As a dwarf, she’s shorter than me, but I heard she’s already an adult.

At first I thought she was under attack, but I felt no enmity. Natalia isn’t doing anything to help her either, so I guess it’s fine?

Eventually Mir is restrained by Steel Spider Silk and the fight ends.

“That was close, Mir.”
“Natalia, you came back?”
“Yes, just earlier.”
“Oh Natalia and Olivia, you look good~”

To be honest, I’ve never been the best around Aria. I feel like she doesn’t like me much either.

Aria used to like my father, and she was my father’s Servant and went on adventures with him since before he met my mother. Or at least that’s what he told me years ago. Aria always looks at me the same way she looked at my mother. Aria probably feels like my mother snatched my father away from her, so I guess she doesn’t like me too much either, as their daughter.

I smile awkwardly as I hide behind Natalia.

“You look just the same too, Aria. I wasn’t expecting to see you here too though, Mir. I thought you were bad around bugs, what changed?”
“See, little Mir here came asking for some of my Steel Spider Silk.”
“Your silk?”
“I know how resilient it is, and its excellence as a magic conductor, so I wanted to sell it as my store’s specialty.”
“But giving it up for free would be boring, so I told her I’ll give her some as a reward if she manages to defeat my children.”

My mother told me about Aria before. Purple Steel Spiders are a rare evolved species, and after evolving further they become Arachnes like Aria, and are strong enough to be assigned rank A. Aria’s silk is comparable to mithril as a material.

If Mir sells that, her store will definitely become popular. Though I don’t really know much about that, Amy would know better.

Mir and Natalia sound like they know each other well though. I had heard that Mir made Natalia’s armor, I guess they really are friends too though. This is the first time I see the friendship they formed while I was away.

“Oh, I’m truly sorry to impose on you like this, but do you mind if I take it right away?”
“Of course not, it’s all raw though.”
“As long as my children can eat it’s alright. And knowing you I’m sure you’re carrying cooking utensils and other food too, right? Why don’t we all eat together?”
“Well, I did bring stuff like that. But it’ll have to be something rather simple, is that alright?”

Before I noticed, somehow Natalia started cooking for all of us.

“I’ll cut everything here, so could you make a simple stove with stones and light it?”

I quickly build up a stone stove the way I was taught at school, and Aria lights it with magic. I was taught most insect monsters are afraid of fire, but I guess Aria doesn’t have an issue using fire magic.

“Hm? Is something wrong?”
“…Oh, no, it’s nothing.”

I was staring a bit too much, so it probably looked weird. Looking at Natalia is more fun than looking at Aria too anyway.

It’s like watching a far more mysterious magic than a spider’s fire magic. Seeing chunks of meat cut into nice pieces and cooked perfectly, while the scent opened my appetite was really magical.

“There’s Clamp Boar roasted with fragrant herbs, grilled with breadcrumbs, and roasted with garlic. There’s also two choices of sauces, so feel free to choose whichever you like best.”

Meat cooked three ways, and two sauces. That was such a good meal that it felt more in line with a restaurant than inside a cave.

“No, it’s just…this feels a bit excessive for what I asked…”

Mir and I nod hearing Aria say that.

No one expected her to prepare such a luxurious meal inside a cave.

I’ve been living with Natalia for half a year already, but this is the first time I watched her cook. Usually we’re in the dorm, and Natalia does all the housework while I’m not watching. She also makes breakfast before I wake up on the weekends, and she always tells me to focus on studying or resting when making lunch or dinner.

So I never had a chance to watch her cooking before.

Now that I think about it, I’m really being spoiled by Natalia.

“Oh well… Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“Sorry mom, I won’t be having dinner tonight.”

Mir mutters in a low voice, what does she mean?

“So Olivia, how’s school going?”

We start eating the meat, which tastes just as good as it looks, and Aria talks to me all of a sudden.

“Huh? Oh…studying is hard, but I’m managing somehow with the help of my friends.”
“I see, it’s good that you’re making friends too. Shuma was never good at studying either, so Ophelia and I always had to cover up for him.”

Aria talks normally, but I still don’t feel too comfortable, so I just stuff my mouth trying to avoid conversation.

Natalia’s food is delicious. It’s cooked perfectly, and it pairs well with the sauce, everything matches perfectly.

The dorm mother takes breaks during weekends, so Natalia often cooked for everyone instead. There’s many other commoners in the second girls’ dorm where I live, but there are a few low ranking noble daughters too. Natalia often asks them and their servants for their opinion and for advice, so her food keeps improving all the time.

“I’m going mining for a bit. I’ll clean up the cookware later, so just leave it as is.”
“Huh, Natalia? I’m going with you then!”

As soon as we finish eating, Natalia stands up and says that, so I respond almost by reflex.

“Ah, me too!”

I quickly put my plate and fork away and stand up, Mir follows too.

“Okay, this child will show you the way then. That’s a Copper Spider, a rare species of evolved Steel Spider. Their abilities and magic are superior to Steel Spiders, so I’m sure this child will help with a lot more than just telling you where to go.”

If it’s a rare species, will it eventually become like Aria in the future too?

“Nice to meet you then, Copper Spider.”

And so the Copper Spider took us deeper into the cave, where we had never entered before.