Allrounders!! - Chapter 12: What's with this Brat? (I Got Scolded) - Part 2

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How upsetting!

"It's obvious at a glance that I'm a girl!? Or do you see anything on me that would point to me being male!?!"

I had only checked myself out through my reflection on water, but I'm a pretty beautiful girl! Fair-skinned, and although I possess startling strength like those people from the veggie planet, I'm quite slender!

"You were Indra herself!?"

"Of course, or what did you think!?"

Did he talk to me on the basis of it being a false name!?

"Your a noble, so what's with that hair of yours!? Even among commoners you ain't gonna find any women with such short hair!!" He thundered, just to look taken aback in the next moment, "...No way, you tellin' me someone cut it off like that?"

"Well, the one who cut my hair was the family head's daughter, so you're not wrong about that."

"That means..."

"At first she cut it while looking somewhat absentminded, but these days she has fun doing it. Well, it just confirms my suspicion that she's fast at adapting to new situations. Quite the flexible one, or maybe I should call her forgetful?"

"You had her cut it for you!?"

Don't raise your voice over each and every little thing, for heaven's sake!

"Anyway, imitate me. ...You'll understand once you've washed your head, but long hair is a pain to keep clean. There's not a single benefit in having long hair when training either, or to be more precise, the only two options for getting my hair cut were me doing it myself or having her do it for me, so it's also true that having short hair is still better than long hair that got messily cut with a child's skill." I explained while rubbing myself with the body towel after smearing the soap on my body.

"...For fuckin's sake, you really got no common sense at all... Wait, somehow something's foamin' on you?"

"Want me to explain the underlying principle in detail? I don't know whether you'll be able to understand half of it though, okay?"

"Give it a rest. ...Are you a sorceress or somethin'?"

Sorceress somehow sounds pretty cool!

"No, it's just my common knowledge."

When I shook my head, he stared at me, an eyebrow lifted.

"But your usin' high-level magic like it's nothin'? Without chantin', and on top of that, I've never heard of any spell that allows you to produce hot water."

...

"So this was magic after all!?"

"That's where we gotta start from!?"

He shouted again.

The smelly guy washed himself, and using the occasion, I washed myself as well, even though I didn't stink. When I dried us with hot air, it triggered him to run his flap again. 

Dude, you're so damn noisy.

After the drying was done, he looked like he had just enjoyed a nice hot bath, saying, "Ah, this was really refreshin'."

"That's great to hear. For both of us."

Muttering that earned me a glare. But, why!

"Oi brat...err, missy, just what the hell is this thing?" He pointed at the soap.

"It's something called "soap" or "'soap.'" In this world you call it 【Detergent】, I think."

"How did you get your hands on it?"

"I made it."

He glared at me once again. But, why!

"How?"

"The base materials are water, salt, and oil, but it's the result of running many, many tests, okay? It's nothing you can make on the fly. It was super difficult, as a matter of fact."

The reason is electrolysis. That one was really tough, and ultra dangerous!

"...You really not a  sorceress? How old are you actually? You not goin' to come around the corner with a punchline like bein' 700 years old or some shit like that, right?"

"I'm 700 minus 693 years old. I don't know what kind of a person a sorceress would be. Rather, I'd prefer if you were to call me a prodigy."

The man shrugged his shoulders as if having given up.

"Ms. Prodigy, I'm lookin' forward to your cooking."

"Got it, so please teach me."

"What would I be able to teach a prodigy?"

"Common sense. ...I've been using magic arts, haven't I?"

He rolled his eyes at me.

"What did you think you were usin'?"

"I was troubled because I didn't know. Describing it properly it'd be like 『I gave it a go and somehow succeeded. Tehe ☆』."

He burst into guffawing.

"So, is it normal to be able to use magic?"

"Those with talent can use it. But what your usin' is anythin' but normal. Your not chantin' any spells, are you?"

"I don't. It's not like anyone taught me how, and it wasn't written in the books either."

"You read books, huh?"

I nodded, "Those only covered the general concept. But I managed somehow."

"That's weird as fuck. Rather, how did you do it in the first place?"

"Can you use magic arts? Then again I wouldn't be able to tell even if you told me you can't."

The man held up a hand, and then, after quickly babbling some incomprehensible words, fire flew out of his hand.

"Oohh! A classic has appeared!"

"Don't you know your stuff then?"

He retorted like that, but I wouldn't ask if I knew, hmph!

"No, I don't. However, I imagined using magic might be just like that with the tiny amount of knowledge I possess. The words you said just now were a chant?"

"Aye. ...Still, you ain't even surprised about me bein' able to pump out such powerful spell without a wand, eh?"

"You held back quite a bit, didn't you? I mean if things went badly a powerful fire spell would turn into a wildfire, wouldn't it?"

"...Just gimme a break already. Your a natural at tickin' me off."

Eeeeehh, why!?

When I pouted my lips, the man ruffled my hair with a smile.

"...True, lookin' closely, you're a woman, and you seem to be of noble origin. The gloss and whiteness of your hair as well as the smoothness of your skin resemble those of a young noble lady."

"Nah, anyone can look like that if they wash themselves with detergent."

When I coolly replied to his comment, it earned myself another glare. Moreover, he pulled on my cheeks. Why!

"Unless your a noble, keepin' yourself clean everyday is a pipe dream."

"Eeeeeehh!?"

No way! Filthy! Dirty!

"Don't look at me as if I'm trash! That's why nobles are such pain to deal with!"

Bah... Am I going to act like him once I become a commoner? No, let's not imitate that part. Definitely not.

While talking about these things, we headed over to the cooking spot.

"Hoh! I see, I see. Quite proper, this place."

"...If you say so."

I think it's terribly simple, though. Then again, my common sense doesn't work here. This is a crucial piece of information.

After warning him to behave, I prepared the meal with the ingredients I received at the kitchen. Since I had an inkling that he'd be a glutton, I decided to make a somewhat bigger portion this time. Since the cook was also a big eater, she ate up almost everything I created at first.

I'm a woman who's capable of learning.

"Come to think of it, you ain't usin' magic tools despite all that weird knowledge of yours, Ms. Prodigy?"

I whirled around.

"S-Sup?" He faltered even though I had just turned around.

"Do you know how to make magic tools?"

"Look, there ain't no way I would. Told ya I'm an adventurer, didn't I?"

Hmm, I see. No luck, huh?

For me as someone who's interested in all kinds of things, I'd love to make my own magic tools. ...Anyway, I kinda feel like this guy is gradually treating me worse and worse.

"Let alone having touched a magic tool, I haven't even seen one so far, so it's the very definition of an unknown for me. I'm praying that I'll be able to take a look at one at least once before I die."

"Your exaggeratin'. Just how old are you anyway? Also, clocks are magic tools."

"No exaggeration. I might die tomorrow, and I know about clocks being magic tools. But, I don't have one. I'm not allowed to have it. I just know about it."

The man fell silent.

"You sayin' Her Noble Ladyship doesn't have any clocks?"

"It's not wrong to call me a noble, or at least something like that. But in the end I'm seen as a freeloader, and thus don't get anything. Manners were the only thing  driven into me, physically, until I turned five, so I'm perfect at those if I feel like it."

I don't really feel like taking lessons while being abused, and me having frantically learned out of a desire to get praised is part of my dark past. I'm going to dump my nobility anyway, and right now it's pretty much as if I've already discarded it, so it's no problem even if I don't do any of it either.

"...... Here."

I caught the object tossed my way by reflex.

"...This is..."

"Gimme the thing I used for washin' myself earlier in exchange for this."

I got a watch in exchange for soap. From a straw to a millionaire!