Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM Chapter5 (section)

===Part 25===

For the time being, they took a break to eat some dinner.

The succubus and dryad showed Mikoto and Shokuhou to the castle garden where they got in line and received flat plates of soup.

Mikoto didn’t know what it was properly called, but it was a lot like a white stew full of meat and veggies and served over a mixture of barley and rice. Apparently the idea was to provide all the nutrients you needed on a single plate.

Bikini armor Mikoto sat on the ground and scooped some up in a spoon.

The mild seasoning gave it a childish flavor, but she guessed that was the result of going for something as many people as possible could eat. So the same reason convenience store curry isn’t very spicy.

Dancer Shokuhou sat on the edge of a fountain.

The Queen looked scornfully down on Mikoto for not hesitating to sit on the ground.

“The one nice thing about this world is not having to worry about food additives☆”

“Is that all you ever think about?”

But out here, they could see just how many different species were present. Right next to Mikoto, a giant blazing muspell was tilting her head at a palm-sized pixie.

“Is this food? Can I eat it?”

“No, you cannot!! I am a pixie! Please don’t eat me!!”

“I am a sandman! My mysterious sand will put you to sleep if you try to stay up too late!!”

“Yawwwn. I’m a nocturnal dark elf, so I only just woke up.”

“Not all of us dark elves are nocturnal. You just have a terrible sleep schedule!!”

The monsters all had different habits and customs. Some even preferred things to be cold, damp, and filthy, so trying to be nice could backfire.

A shadow was visible in one of the castle’s windows.

It belonged to the king.

The somewhat envious look in his eyes as he looked down at the courtyard wasn’t just Mikoto’s imagination or wishful thinking. She understood how he was feeling since she tended to stick to herself if she wasn’t careful. Whether you belonged there or not and even if you found them to be annoying, people tended to be envious of a crowd.

Mikoto understood this, but she wasn’t going to drag him here to join them.

Knowing that he felt that way was enough.

(It isn’t like the king had a real reason for what he did. He did say something about being afraid to defy those witches because of all the blood they would spill.)

And if he felt this way, he would find a chance to join a group of people eventually.

Just like Misaka Mikoto, the loner Ace of Tokiwadai, had found her own group through a series of coincidental encounters.

(The real problem is those witch sisters. I wonder what happened to them.)

With two of them, they could at least lick each other’s wounds.

But if they found that lifestyle lonely, Mikoto felt it wouldn’t be too long before they chose to break free of their self-imposed bonds.

“Okay, is anyone here too worked up to get to sleep? A new cooking team has taken over, so I can set aside my apron and give you sweet dreams with my succubus powers!”

“(Munch, munch, munch, munch♪)”

“Eek! Th-that damn baku! The eastern beast has eaten through the dream I was working on!”

All their differences made them a lot of fun to be around.

A lot more fun than the humans who had refused to accept these people and oppressed them instead.

“Hm? Wait, wh-where exactly is the line between these people and the fish and cows we eat?” asked Mikoto.

“Don’t think about it too much. Some of them are even plants, like the dryads and the mandrakes, so in this world not even being a vegetarian lets you avoid that question,” said Shokuhou.

“Vwee…” said a strange voice.

They looked over to see Patissiet holding a small bottle of colorful liquid while her head lolled unsteadily side to side.

Her shoulders shook as she hiccuped and her face was flushed. It wasn’t clear how many centuries old she actually was, but the image was a dangerous one.

Mikoto’s eyes widened.

“What’s going on here? Patissiet, you haven’t been drinking, have you!?”

“Haff I bweh hwuh?”

“I’m not sure this is just alcohol,” said Shokuhou. “It might be something a little more potent.”

“Let’s not jump to unseemly conclusions,” interrupted Elder Bakerian, sounding exasperated. “That is a berry jam. The berries themselves are harmless, but if you boil them and make a jam out of them, they have a unique intoxicating effect on elves. It affects some of us a lot more than others, though.”

“…” “…”

Come to think of it, hadn’t Patissiet picked some berries before and said they helped wake her up?

The berries may have been like catnip for elves.