◇

"■▼▲▲　▲■▲▲　▲▲ s.h.i.+eld"

A transparent shape that looks like a s.h.i.+eld appear in front of me who"s holding a short cane. The size is large enough to cover my whole body.

"Here I go~ Psycho Ball."

The invisible magic ball fired by Arisa got repelled by the s.h.i.+eld and disappeared.
Oh, a new indicator has appeared below my HP bar, [s.h.i.+eld HP], it says. The HP is 100, and it has decreased by one from Arisa"s attack earlier. I wait for a while, but it"s not restoring back.

"Is it alright for the next one?"
"Come at me."
"Here I go Tsubaki-kun! This is, my Overdrive shoot!"

Arisa fires Shock Wave while parodying something. The s.h.i.+eld shooks from that attack, but it"s repelled just like with the psycho ball earlier.
This time the s.h.i.+eld"s HP decreases by 3 points. So it doesn"t decrease by fixed value, but depends on the spell huh?

"Then, next, please use Magic Arrow, Nana."
"Yes, master."

A magic circle appears before Nana"s forehead and the magic arrow is shot from there.
The magic arrow disappears accompanied with sounds like metal clas.h.i.+ng. The s.h.i.+eld"s HP only decreases by 1.

"Next, Mia, please."
"Nn.　■■■　■■　■■■■ Water Shoot"

Mia creates Water Shoot from the water inside the jug beside her, and then fires it to me. At the moment of impact, the s.h.i.+eld shooks a bit. The magic is dissolved and the water splashes under. The s.h.i.+eld"s HP only decreases by 1 point.

"Mia, do you have any area attack?"
"I do."
"Then, please do that from the front."
"It"s dangerous."
"Do you have attack that would be safe for everyone but me?"
"I do."
"Then please do that one."
"...Satou?"
"I"ll avoid it before it hit me."
"Nn.　■■■　■■■　■■■■■■ Acid Mist"

White mist hits the s.h.i.+eld. The mist is prevented by the s.h.i.+eld, but the gra.s.ses around me are dying. The s.h.i.+eld"s HP decreases by 3 points.

So direct attack magic is 1 point, while area attack magic is 3 points huh. Isn"t this s.h.i.+eld too strong?

"Tama, please throw some stones. Aim at the area around my stomach."
"Aye!"

Swoosh, the stone tears through the air, and just like all the magic before, it"s prevented. The stone bounces back unlike the magic. Tama is getting better at stone throwing, Her throw has gotten quite faster. The s.h.i.+eld"s HP only decreases by 1 point.

"Alright, next, Pochi. Shoot with a crossbow, since it"s dangerous, shoot from around there okay."
"Understood, nodesu~."

The short arrow that Pochi shoots has different aim, she accurately shoots at my left foot that my finger has pointed out. Of course, the arrow bounces back before it hit me. The s.h.i.+eld"s HP decreases by 1 point, just like with Tama"s stone-throwing.

Now then, next is Liza, but honestly, I"m afraid with the serious Liza who will be using [That Spear]. I cancel the s.h.i.+eld, and put it up once again. I understand that it"s actually not necessary, but it"s a problem with feeling.

"Liza, after you fill the spear full with magic power, please do heavy blow and thrusting with all your might."
"I understand, master. Please be prepared!"

No no, that line is scary.
Bang, the sound of Liza"s rus.h.i.+ng, she thrusts out the magic spear.
The magic spear pushes the s.h.i.+eld, but just as it"s about to hit me, it gets knocked back. At the same time, something invisible is pus.h.i.+ng my body. I see, it seems the s.h.i.+eld is suitable to hold back ma.s.s attacks huh.

The red ripple that appears between the spear and the s.h.i.+eld disappears.
As soon as the ripple disappear, Liza pulls her spear. Let me make this clear, even if Liza spear pierced through the s.h.i.+eld, it would slip through my armpit.

The s.h.i.+eld HP decreases only by 3 points. Even though it was flashy, it"s the same as area attack huh.

"Liza, next, try to attack me thrice."
"Yes."

Each attack decreases the s.h.i.+eld"s HP by 1.
The next experiment will be the last.

"Lulu, please throw a pebble."
"Y, yes, I"ll do my best."

However, contrary to Lulu"s spirit, the stone flies toward the day after tomorrow. Right, she isn"t used to hitting people, unexpectedly it won"t fly straight.

"Lulu."
"I, I"m sorry master. Eii. Eii."

Probably thinking that she"d get scolded, Lulu desperately tries to throw stones many times over with upset face. Aah, that"s a waste for her beautiful face.

"Lulu, calm down."
"Y, yes."

Maybe thinking that she"s disapproved, Lulu falls dejected. Her troubled face is cute too.

"Lulu, take a pebble under your feet."
"Yes, I got it."
"Then, walk three step forward from there."
"Yes.... Umm, isn"t this too close?"

Lulu is approximately 1 meter away from the s.h.i.+eld.

"It"s fine, throw the stone like you"re discarding it using both your hands."
"Yes--Ah, I hit it."
"Yep, you did well. You"re great."

Make things easier by removing the impossible condition. 4 more stones. .h.i.t the s.h.i.+eld, but its HP isn"t decreasing. So it really invalidates damage up to certain extent.

◇

Unfortunately, it"s not like I"ve became able to chant.
As for the chant earlier, even though I read the words properly, the rhythm was all over the place.

I activated Musical Performance skill and tried to chant in high spirit, but it was no good. "Uu~n, it"s better than before, but it"s wrong. Be like Nadami-chan, a good musician who doesn"t need to read the sheet.", so said Arisa. It"s really frustating.

The trick for solving the puzzle is the [s.h.i.+eld] scroll that I got from the magic shop.
After we left the town, when I used it during our first rest, [s.h.i.+eld] was added on the Magic column in the Menu. At that time, I also got unlabeled [Magic Art] skill, but I wonder if [Magic Art: Foreign World] is a special case?
The magic that I used earlier was selected from the Menu. The chanting was a camouflage, that said, I also slightly wanted to pretend myself being able to chant magic.

Of course, Arisa found out that I wasn"t able to chant properly, but since she knew about Menu, it probably was no problem.

Mia seemed unconcerned about it, so there was no problem.

However, the inspection continues.
Next is Nana"s turn. Her MP has only decreased by 20% so she should be fine. I"ll refill it when this is over.

"Nana, please put up s.h.i.+eld."
"Yes, master."

In front of Nana, a magic-made s.h.i.+eld appears. It looks just like the one I"ve created.

"Then Arisa, shoot a Psycho Ball at an angle where it wouldn"t hit Nana at the s.h.i.+eld."
"Okay."

The Psycho Ball is repelled by the s.h.i.+eld and disappears, just like it was with me.
However, the s.h.i.+eld"s HP has decreased by half. Although I don"t know the exact value, the s.h.i.+eld"s HP amount and hardness are probably different. It probably because of differences in level or skill level.

◇

"Alright, the experiment is over~ let"s eat!"

Since the experiment took quite a bit of time, I also partic.i.p.ated in the cooking along with Liza and Lulu to help. Moreover, I"m in charge of the main dish, steaks made of wolf meat.
I prepare the wolf meat in turns for the shares of several people excluding Mia and Nana. With Liza"s advice, I cut a line on the tendon with a knife and mix salt and pepper in it.
Then, I put oil in the frying pan, stir it, and put sliced garlic inside the oil to let it fry as small dishes. While listening to the sound of oil, I quickly roast the meat. Besides Arisa and Lulu"s shares, the meat are to be rare. It seems Arisa and Lulu prefer medium.

For mia"s plate, I cut three different kind of fruits and dress it with honey and green sugar.
For Nana"s water, I put several drops of fruits juice from Mia"s fruits. I want to have a meal together with Nana quickly.

We begin eating with, "Itadakimasu", like always, but it feels more intense than usual. How do I say it, Single-minded, perfectly ill.u.s.trates their eating.

"Another please!"

Arisa sticks out her steak plate while saying so. Pochi who has finished eating licks the plate, and looks dumbfounded for a while, then she presents her plate, "A, a, another please! nano desu!", she urgently says so.

"Another please!"
"Another please desu!"
"Umm, I also want another serving please."

Slightly late after Pochi, Tama and Liza also present their plates, and ask for another serving. Seemingly following them, Lulu also reservedly ask for another serving.

Well, the meat is still plentiful, but if you eat too much it"ll be hard to move you know?

But, it"s not over yet.

"Another please."
"Master, another please."

Over there are the figures of Mia and Nana who hold out the empty fruit plate and gla.s.s.
I don"t have the courage to refuse anymore, and give another serving for everyone.
When I handed it over, I didn"t forget to warn that this is the last one.

When they"ve finished eating, they look supremely blissful, but please stop looking at the plate so eagerly.
It"ll be okay if it was Pochi and Tama, but everyone has the same manner, I almost want to ask if they"re making jokes.

Afterwards, I was demanded to cook in every meal, but I asked them to only let me do it for lunch.
Since you"ll get fat if you eat too much at night.

>t.i.tle [Magician of Dining Table] Acquired.