Chapter 214: Rival Candidate
Thanks to Yato, Isabella, and Rose helping out, all the work was finished by early afternoon.
Rose’s concentration was on a completely different level, which made the work go extremely smoothly.
“Thank you all for your help. The work is finished, so you’re free until dinner—do whatever you like until then.”
“Yay! Free time! Can we go to the entertainment room?”
“Of course. And this will be your first time there, right, Isabella? Rose too, of course.”
“I’d heard about the entertainment room from Yato, but this is my first time actually entering it… They have entertainment from another world, right?”
“Yes! Not only is the cooking amazing in this other world, but the entertainment is really incredible too!”
Yato jumped around with arms and legs spread, praising Japanese entertainment enthusiastically.
I was a little worried about whether Isabella would be impressed, but I was confident that Rose would like it.
Since I’d heard she liked books, there was a high chance she could become completely absorbed in manga, just like Velvet had.
Considering her skill with cutouts, she might even try drawing manga herself. If that happened, she could become good friends with Velvet too.
“I think she’ll like it. We also have books from the other world.”
“Books from another world…? That’s a little intriguing… maybe.”
Rose had shown interest, so I decided to guide Isabella and Rose to the entertainment room immediately.
“Wow, so this is the entertainment room. There aren’t many things here, are there?”
“It’s still incomplete. More things will be added in the future.”
Compared to the size of the room, there weren’t nearly enough items. However, there were quite a few manga, as well as video games and board games. There was enough entertainment to stay here and play for about a week.
“…These are books from another world? Amazing! The illustrations are beautiful!”
It seemed that book lovers shared the same points of surprise—just like Velvet.
I, having grown up surrounded by manga from a young age, couldn’t really relate to that excitement.
Watching Velvet and Rose’s reactions made me realize once again that manga isn’t a given for everyone. When I was in elementary school, it was the golden age of Weekly Jump. In many ways, I had been truly fortunate.
“By the way, not only the covers but all pages are fully illustrated. It’s a different kind of enjoyment from normal books.”
“Everything is illustrated? …Can I read them?”
“Of course. They are fantasy stories, so they may not suit your tastes, but please give them a try.”
If Velvet were here, I could lend some shoujo manga, but for now, there was only shounen manga.
“…Thank you. I like fantasy, so that’s fine.”
Rose took Hunter × Hunter from the shelf and sat down on the sofa in the back.
The moment she started reading, she was beaming with a radiant smile—it was extremely cute.
“Rose is smiling.”
“I’ve never seen her smile like that before. Rose usually hides her emotions, but she’s so focused that she doesn’t even notice anyone around her.”
“Or perhaps she doesn’t even realize she’s smiling.”
Even though I was speaking right in front of her, it seemed she didn’t even hear us. Her concentration during the cutout work and farming was the same—she could completely block out her surroundings.
They say quality is more important than quantity in training, and Rose’s focus was truly remarkable.
I didn’t know if this concentration was unique to High Elves, but I could understand why Isabella completely respected and approved of her.
“Do you read manga too, Isabella?”
“I’m not very fond of reading. If there’s other entertainment, I’d prefer that.”
“Then come play games with me! I’ve got experience, so you probably won’t win!”
“By games, do you mean board games?”
“We do have board games, but video games are more common here. I’ll get them ready, so please wait a moment.”
I took out the Switch and began preparing Super Smash Bros.
Yato waited excitedly, while Isabella watched with interest.
“What is that weird-looking machine? I’ve traveled many worlds, but this tiny farm is the strangest of all!”
“I’ve been saying it all along! Sato is amazing!”
“Preparation is complete. I’ll first teach Isabella the controls, so Yato, please wait a bit.”
“You don’t need to! Losing is how you get stronger, right?”
“But if she doesn’t understand anything, it won’t even be a game.”
So, I briefly taught Isabella the controls. She was hesitant at first, but soon she was able to move the character.
Whether she could actually fight well was another matter, but as Yato said, the fastest way to learn was by playing.
I would have preferred she practice against NPCs first, but Yato’s patience had limits, so the Super Smash Bros match between Isabella and Yato began.