That night, after parting ways with Harupon and the others, Diar and I had returned to our lodging. I had boldly declared that I would prove Musha’s correctness, but honestly, I wasn’t sure what to do.
“What’s wrong…?”
“Hey, big brother! I made it! Honey rice with crab scorpion! And here’s some melon juice-style cactus juice!”
“Hm?! Honey rice? That sounds like an unusual dish.”
Diar had prepared dinner for me. But honey rice? I trusted her cooking skills, but I had no idea what to expect in terms of flavor.
“Remember at lunch? I was actually gathering information on various dishes at Donana’s place. Normally, I’d use boiled wheat flour, but I thought I could make it with rice. You like rice, right? You always make sure to stock up on rice while traveling!”
“Wow… what thoughtfulness. How lucky am I? But it wouldn’t be right to say anything without tasting it first. Here goes!!”
As Diar looked at me with a smile, I took my first bite with my chopsticks.
“—!? D-Delicious!? Huh? What is this flavor… I thought honey would mean sweet, but this is… what? It’s like a perfect harmony of dessert and a side dish… And the taste is so unexpectedly good… I thought it would have a honey-like sweetness, but it’s different. For some reason, it tastes like strawberries. Could it be that the sweetness of the honey cactus and the broth from the crab scorpion blend together like this? Huh!? That scorpion can be this sweet!? It has a strawberry-like flavor but somehow works as a side dish… My brain is glitching. Why is it so delicious!? Ugh, wow! It’s amazing, amazing! So good!”
In the end, I devoured Diar’s honey rice with crab scorpion at an incredible speed. I even asked for seconds twice—definitely overdid it…
“Hehe, I’m glad you enjoyed it!”
“Thank you for the meal! Wow, it was incredible. The melon soda-style juice was completely like melon juice, the best! Hmm, even though it’s a variation of Ednail’s regional cuisine, this is an original dish Diar created just for me. How amazing. Recently, her adaptability… she’s been using the ingredients we’ve encountered really well.”
“When I travel with you, I keep coming up with new flavors. I meet various tastes and various people, so with that stimulation, the flavor puzzle connects in an amazing way!”
Diar looked proud. She’s such a cute girl. When I praised her, saying how amazing she was, she blushed and became quiet. It didn’t seem like she disliked it, but what kind of reaction was that?
“Hey, big brother. You believed what Musha said right away. You were the same with what I said. You didn’t even ask about my past. Isn’t that strange?”
“Huh? Was that strange?”
“It is! Because a person you don’t know and have no memory of… a golem comes out from ancient ruins, claiming to be your little sister. To accept that and treat me as your sister, spending every day happily together… that’s just odd.”
“W-Was that not good…?”
“What? Diar, what’s wrong all of a sudden? I don’t get it. I don’t really understand how girls feel. I have no experience in romance, but Diar is my sister, so maybe that doesn’t matter.”
“It’s a really good thing. It’s so good that it feels like it’s all a lie. It’s like I’m still dreaming and imagining something convenient for myself. But… when you stroke my head, I realize it’s real. Your hand patting my head, your gentle expression—everything is what I know of you, and you are my big brother, just as you’ve always been.”
“Eh, wha—!? Are you crying? Diar, what’s going on? What am I supposed to do…?”
“I’m already… done.”
“Huh? What do you mean by ‘done’—”
“—Ahaha, by ‘done,’ I mean, you see, it’s too happy, so I might break. In traveling, we must never let our guard down, right? If I’m this happy, I might let my guard down and make a huge mistake! T-That would be bad, right? So that’s what I meant!”
“R-Right, that makes sense. Then let’s be careful not to let our guard down and keep a good balance of tension so we can do our best tomorrow!”
“Yeah! Then I’ll clean up the dishes—”
—Crash!
“Whoa, Diar!? Are you okay…?”
Diar tried to tidy up the dishes after finishing her meal and ended up dropping them. The dishes were wooden, so it seemed fine, but… Diar tripped and fell. I didn’t see any injuries, so she should be okay, I thought. But still…
“I-I’m fine. Maybe I’m just a little tired.”
“Huh? But you’re a golem, so I thought you couldn’t get tired…”
“Oh, that’s just how it is! Actually, I do get tired periodically! When I get tired, I take a short sleep to recharge my energy, and then I can recover right away!”
“Is that so? Wait, huh? If you sleep when you get tired… then does that mean you haven’t slept because you haven’t gotten tired until now?”
“Huh? Yeah, that’s right. I basically don’t sleep.”
“Then, could it be that the reason you’ve made such elaborate dishes in the morning is that you’ve really spent time making them without sleeping!?”
“Exactly! But while you’re asleep, I’m not just cooking. I’m also gathering information, maintaining travel tools, and watching your sleeping face! Ah! That last part is a lie! I’m not really watching you sleep, you know!”
There’s no way she hasn’t been watching my sleeping face… Still, I can’t shake the feeling that Diar is hiding something from me. She’s supposed to be a golem, but she’s really high-spec. She could easily fend off a 50-meter sand sea creature… Her strength, reflexes, and balance all exceed those of a human. Could she really trip and fall like that?
In the three months I’ve traveled with Diar, I’ve never seen her like this. It was as if she appeared to be… weakened. If that’s the case, is she hiding her discomfort from me so I wouldn’t worry?
I should ask her about it. But… Diar said she was happy that I accepted her without questioning the circumstances. Maybe it’s not my place to pry… But still… I can’t help but worry. Ah, for now, I’ll just keep an eye on her. If anything, else comes up, I’ll make sure to ask her properly this time.
