Chapter 81: Enchanting Magic
“Hey, Sena, get up. It’s time to head out for our adventure.”
“Mmnn… nooo, I don’t wannaaa… I don’t wanna work anymore… Onii-chan, go do twice the work for meee… zzz…”
“Get up. Now.”
“Fugyyaa!?”
With a dull thump, I shove her right off the sofa. My little sister lets out a yelp like a cat whose tail has just been stepped on.
“Owww… that hurt…”
“You finally woke up… And seriously, why are you passed out like you were drinking all night? You didn’t even have a drop!”
Just watching other people drink and still ending up drunk—this isn’t “weak,” this is a medical mystery.
“I’m hungry…”
Her stomach growls loudly as Sena sluggishly rises from the floor, hair a mess, eyes half-open.
“Breakfast is ready. Go eat.”
“Okaaay… Oh, where’s Master?”
“She’s asleep. Over there.”
“Ngugogogogooo…”
Miranda-san lies sprawled on the sofa opposite the one Sena had claimed, snoring in a deep, thunderous rumble. Every now and then, she scratches her stomach with total shamelessness. At this point, she’s just… some guy.
“To sleep like that in someone else’s house… Master really is amazing.”
“Please don’t ever aspire to be like that, okay?”
While Sena eats breakfast, the smell must have reached Miranda-san. She jolts upright with a bizarre “N’ooooh,” and then declares:
“Food. For me.”
“Do you WANT me to throw you out?”
Free lodging, free food, free alcohol, and this level of entitlement… Anyone would feel a little murderous.
“O-okay… okay…”
My glare must have hit the mark because Miranda-san’s expression twitches, and she tries again.
“I am very hungry. May I please have breakfast.”
“Speaking politely doesn’t fix everything, you know?”
“Onii-chan, I’m hungry too☆”
“You’re not my sister when you talk like that.”
That forced cutesy act makes my skin crawl.
“Tch, fine, fine. I’ll pay you back then, alright?”
“Pay us back…?”
A bad feeling surges up in my gut. Knowing this woman, it absolutely won’t be something normal.
“Yeah. Hey, girl. Lemme see your sword.”
“This one?”
Sena hands her the blade she keeps at her hip.
“What the—!? What’s with this sword!? This is insanely pure mithril!”
“It was harvested from our garden.”
“… I take it back. Your place is actually cursed.”
Miranda-san sighs, but then mutters something unexpected.
“Still… with this, I can probably apply some serious enchantments.”
“Wait, you can do that?”
According to Sarassa-san, we were supposed to find a professional enchanter. But finding one hasn’t been easy. Enchanters are rare, and the moment they see this sword, they immediately say something like “that’s beyond my capabilities” and refuse.
“Heh. Who the hell do you think I am?”
“…Someone whose brain got ruined by alcohol?”
“You picking a fight!? I’ll have you know my weirdness is not because of alcohol! I was born weird!”
“That’s… the part you’re proud of?”
At least she’s self-aware.
“Anyway, jokes aside, my enchanting skills far surpass your run-of-the-mill specialist. And since you’ve been feeding me, I’ll enchant this for free. What’s with that look? You don’t trust me?”
“Correct.”
“You didn’t even hesitate…”
Honestly, has she done anything trustworthy so far?
“Onii-chan, it’s okay.”
“Sena?”
“Master will do a good job.”
“And what exactly are you basing that on?”
“Umm… a hunch?”
A hunch. Of course.
“It’s like… the sword is saying it’ll be fine?”
Now I’m worried about her mental state.
“Well… if you say so…”
“Decision made! Leave it to me, big boat and all!”
Miranda-san confidently places a hand along the blade’s edge.
“‘Magical Enchantment’—Attack Enhancement, Agility Enhancement, Evasion Enhancement, Critical Rate Boost, Auto-Recovery, Natural Healing, All-Resistance, Impact Reflection—”
With each murmured word, bursts of magical light leap from her fingertips and sink into the mithril blade. One after another, the lights flare and dissolve as if being devoured.
“Amazing…”
I have no clue what she’s doing, but I can at least tell it’s impressive. For all the chaos she brings, maybe she really is a masterful mage…
“…Wait, it can still take more? This sword’s ridiculous… What else was there… oh right, that one—”
Finally, the radiant glow fades. Miranda-san exhales deeply.
“Haa… haa… That should do it.”
The work must be taxing; sweat beads across her forehead, and her breathing is rough.
“Here.”
“Wah!”
She tosses the sword at Sena without warning. Sena scrambles and manages to catch it.
“Wow! Just holding it feels like my whole body’s overflowing with power!”
Rare for my lazy sister, she smiles like a kid with a brand-new toy.
“Told ya. A pure mithril sword was already valuable, but now it’s worth double—no, triple.”
“Alright, let’s sell it!”
“DON’T SELL IT, YOU IDIOT!”
“Ahaha, kidding!”
Her eyes, however, glinted gold for a moment…
“Hup!”
Feeling inspired, Sena swings the sword toward the first garden.
And then it happens.
ZBWAAAAN!!
The crops we were planning to harvest soon explode upward, blasting into the sky like startled birds.
“…Huh?”
“…What.”
And thus begins another very long morning.