"Aren't you going to eat?"
"…I will."
She glanced at Ais, who was leisurely devouring her food. She stared intently at me, yet I hadn't touched her food, the food she had learned to cook today. After all, today's archery practice had been more strenuous than ever, so she had eagerly awaited the evaluation. But Kopii continued to ignore her gaze, completely focused on his own thoughts.
"Ais, why are you learning to cook from him? I'm sure there's someone a hundred times better."
Why did she agree to let me train her? Cycling through these thoughts, he constantly repeated: anyone is better than him. And then he realized the truth: why me, specifically? Even if he was a good cook, there was definitely someone who cooked better, he was sure of it. Of course, he couldn't fairly assess his own level of cooking skill. After all, he simply copied, he had never engaged in it before, never spent time studying through sleepless nights, he couldn't understand it. All his talent for cooking had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He didn't even know who he had copied. But he knew one thing: that he cooked quite deliciously.
He thought for the first time that this wasn't actually his labor, not his efforts. He realized, perhaps for the first time, the potential of his ability: if he could accidentally copy someone's cooking skills, then what was stopping his skill from copying magic, their fighting styles? Things they had honed their whole lives, he could acquire in just a second.
Casting a glance at Ais, their eyes met. Her beautiful golden eyes were full of life. He had to wonder again: how could such a beautiful girl exist? Even gods could not compare to her. But he was currently thinking about something else.
What would happen if all her potential, her efforts, her endeavors to push her body to the limit every day, only living in the dungeon to become stronger… He didn't know why she was so driven to power, but he suspected it was somehow connected to Ariel. What would happen if she realized that my skill was capable of copying all her efforts, her time, her blood, sweat, and tears? Kopii didn't believe it was impossible, after all, he had something inside him that should never have been there, namely – this essence of a monster.
"Filthy animal!"
???
Stepping between him and Ais, Kopii saw incomprehension in her eyes. But before he could understand what was happening, she continued.
"Why are you staring at Ais?! You're imagining some kind of perversion again! You filthy animal! I won't allow it!"
"Who's asking you! You have no idea what my imagination is capable of! You pointy-eared wonder!"
Kopii's eyes filled with understanding: he had been staring at Ais so intently, and had been hesitating, so she must have misunderstood it.
"I never thought about that!"
"You can tell that to anyone! But you won't fool me! Pervert!"
"Can't I admire her beauty?!"
"Someone like you can't admire her beauty!"
"Who's going to stop me?"
"I AM!!!"
"If that's the case, let's ask her herself. Whether she is against it or not. What do you think, Ais?"
"Yes, Ais, what do you think?"
We both stared at Ais, awaiting a response.
"Well… I don't see anything wrong with it."
Lefiya's face fell in shock, while a triumphant smile appeared on my face.
"That's all that needed to be proven. I demand an apology."
"What?!"
"That's right, Kopii! Let her apologize with her own mouth. Hehehehe…"
"What did you expect?! I'm a pretty sensitive person, and hearing you calling me names every time, it strikes me deep in my heart. So I demand an apology!"
"You'll never get it! You filthy pervert! And it's no insult if it's the truth!"
"Your words are like a knife to the heart."
Clutching his heart with his hands, his face twisted in feigned pain.
"You're making fun of me!"
"Alright, you caught me. I give up."
We argued a bit and returned to the food, but even so, we were still shooting lightning bolts at each other.
"Well, alright, you did pretty well."
Turning his gaze to Ais, the corners of her lips rose at his praise. Feeling warmth deep in his soul from that reaction, he smiled as well.
"You're at it again, pervert."
Kopii's smile disappeared. And, turning his gaze back to Lefiya, if looks could kill, she would have definitely killed him. But even so, she fearlessly devoured everything that was on the table.
"You wanna start up again, you pointy-eared wonder?"
"Huh?! Who's the pointy-eared one here?!"
"Is there another elf here? So you're stupid too."
"You're being insolent, pervert!"
"Or maybe you're being insolent, pointy-ears!"
"If you call me that one more time… you'll regret it."
"Ha-ha, and what are you going to do to me?"
We bumped foreheads and stared into each other's eyes without blinking. No one wanted to back down.
"You wanna find out that badly?"
"Yes, P-O-I-N-T-Y-E-A-R-S."
"Don't you dare call me that."
"Ahah, pointy-ears, pointy-ears, pointy-ears. Ha-ha-ha. Come on, show it to me."
Her face flushed with anger, but even so, he didn't feel that so-called "magic." He remembered that feeling very well, that moment had been stamped in his head not forever, but definitely for a long time. He wanted to see it again, but she would probably refrain from using magic, and all because of Ais.
But how long will she last? - he thought. Thinking about the next words, he needed to say something that would make her completely lose control. But before either she or he could even open their mouths, Ais overtook them both.
"Thank you for the lesson and for the dinner. But it's time for us to go. Let's go, Lefiya."
"Ah… Yes, Ais."
"No need, Ais, I'll clean everything up."
Seeing how Ais wanted to get away from the table, he immediately stopped her.
"…Right."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Bye, Kopii."
"Bye, Ais… And bye to you too, Pointy-Ears."
"…Bye."
Saying it as if cutting it off, she quickly turned away. Before he could blink, she had already disappeared. Casting a glance at Ais, it seemed to him or not… Or it seemed that her face had become even more calm and empty. But he didn't pay it much attention, after all, maybe she was just in a bad mood today, it happens to everyone, he just smiled and waved goodbye. After that, she returned to her usual expression, and the corners of her lips also rose slightly, and she waved back and left.
After Lefiya and Ais left.
"Ais was right after all."
"About what?"
"Well, about how Lefiya is actually kind. After all, she can also be understood if you found out that your close friend was communicating with someone who had a bad reputation… But how did she find out about it? Was my disguise that bad?"
"Ahhahaha, your disguise… Hahaha, I can't, hahah."
"Shut up, it was perfect."
It really was pretty good, as he thought: he wore baggy clothes, wore a mask that completely covered his face, a different hairstyle. He even limped a little. He even wore tight clothes in some moments to make sure they couldn't guess it was him, after all, he didn't have an ounce of fat back then.
"Running skeleton," - that's who he compared himself to. So his disguise wasn't good, it was very good. Or maybe that was just his opinion.
"What, where is it? Did it fall?"
Cleaning the table, he couldn't find a spoon. Of course, he wasn't poor enough to count such insignificant things. But if he had put down three cups and three spoons, and when one of them disappeared, and he couldn't find it anywhere… Well, after looking absolutely all around the table, he just didn't find it and made the smartest decision.
"Oh well."
"Yeah-yeah, hurry up, what are you dawdling for, you can clean up later."
"I don't want it to stink when I come back."
"From what?"
"From everything? Will you shut up and give me spiritual peace."
"Dream on!"
"…"
"Ha-ha-ha, you're at it again. Do you think that if you ignore me, that will help you? If that's what you think, you're sorely mistaken!"
But no matter what Kane said, Kopii perfectly understood that he would soon calm down. But he didn't even have to wait long before Kane completely fell silent.
The next day.