If it’s a sad thought that can’t be changed no matter how much you think about it, it’s better not to think about it at all.
That said, I haven’t been feeling guilty about it for the past few years. I’ve just lived with the thought that it couldn’t be helped.
It’s not just about those kids; there’s also the Count Crowfield I killed and countless nameless people I faced on the battlefield. It’s the times we live in and the world we’re in. It was arrogant of me to think that I could live in a world like a game where people openly die and not kill anyone.
“Sylvia?”
I blinked at the sudden call.
Charlotte was looking at me with a slightly worried expression.
“Is something wrong? Did you not like the meal?”
“No, it’s fine.”
I answered immediately.
I just briefly recalled the conversation Alice and I had yesterday. It wasn’t that I forgot what to say because the food was bad.
On the contrary, the food was delicious.
Food at the academy or Imperial Palace is generally tasty. No matter how much it’s based on the internet’s ‘British food’ meme, nobles don’t just stuff their mouths with something that doesn’t even resemble food.
Like well-cooked steak, or a traditional English breakfast. Many kinds of desserts enjoyed at tea time.
And it’s not like you only eat authentic imperial cuisine just because you’re in the Empire. Just as people in Korea don’t eat only Korean food every day and enjoy various cuisines, it’s the same for the Empire. So, it wasn’t easy to complain about the food while attending the academy.
In that sense, I was curious why Charlotte often expressed dissatisfaction with academy food and how delicious the food in Velbur must be to warrant that—
…It was really good.
It wasn’t something that was decisively at the level of ‘Ah, this is so good I can’t eat anything else.’ But, somehow, the subtle details were different. The texture of the meat, the lingering aroma. The sweetness and richness of the sauce.
When you combine all those subtle details, it felt like eating completely different food, even though you were eating the same dish.
“It’s very delicious.”
“Is that so?”
Charlotte didn’t show much emotion in her voice, just like a courteous noble responding out of politeness, but her gaze briefly turned towards Alice.
Alice had a somewhat disgruntled expression.
…Why does she react like that to my evaluation? I’m not some great gourmet.
Well, maybe my usual poker face was finally showing some signs of life. Could it be that if I could smile even a little, people would think the food there was super delicious?
To be honest, the best way to break my poker face would be to put eel jelly in front of me, but I decided not to mention it.
It wasn’t just me, Alice, and Charlotte sitting at the table. Claire, Leo, Mia, Rena, and Sophia were also there. Jake and Roti had decided to have their meals separately. When Leo heard the only other male in the group was having a meal alone, his expression briefly crumbled, but what could he do? His friends were all women.
Claire was sparkling with excitement as she ate, while Rena calmly handled the knife and fork as usual. Sophia looked nearly the same as always, but she would occasionally glance at Leo’s face. Mia had her mouth full of food, chewing happily.
……Should I try eating like Mia? I seriously considered it. After all, I could just rewind time after eating.
But I gave up quickly.
Since it’s steak, it’s just food I usually eat anyway. If I rewind time while eating here, I might have to do that every time I eat the food Charlotte introduces in the future.
Especially since Charlotte looked like she had something quite solid prepared. If possible, I’d like to eat genuinely delicious food while rewinding time.
As I shifted my gaze between Charlotte, who was smiling confidently at Alice, and Alice, who looked a bit disgruntled at Charlotte, I focused on the plate in front of me.
*
“Hey, sis, sis, look at this!”
After finishing eating and stepping outside, Claire tapped my shoulder and said.
“Tada!”
Saying that, Claire pulled out a camera.
Of course, it looked significantly different from the digital cameras I was used to back in my world, exuding an antique atmosphere at first glance.
I meant it looked antique by my standards, but considering this era, it was cutting-edge technology. After all, it was small enough to carry around. It was said that the design was inspired by a super expensive camera called ‘La●Ka’ that still exists in modern times.
“I brought this because I said I was going on a trip abroad! What do you think?”
“I’ve heard they’re quite expensive.”
I generally wasn’t that interested in cameras, but I knew about this latest model and its price because I had thought about whether it could be useful for breaking into places.
Unlike digital cameras, this film camera had none of the easy post-processing functions to brighten photos taken in dark places, and you had to develop the film in a dark room with chemicals. It was cumbersome to ask someone else to do it since it’s secretive, and above all, all those carefully obtained photos would become irrelevant if I rewound time.
Moreover, it obviously had no autofocus or anti-shake functions.
Well, it would be nice to use for keeping memories, though.
“Hehe.”
Claire let out a laugh that seemed to mimic Charlotte for a moment, puffing her chest out confidently.
“I worked hard hunting, you know. I organized everything except for a few essential Marmaros for myself.”
Thinking about it, this was one difference from games.
In games, no matter how much you organized items and earned money, aside from recovery items like potions, armor, and weapons necessary for advancing the game, there weren’t many sellable event items, but in this world, if you had money, you could buy whatever you wanted.
And the party buying items weren’t players but people.
For a moment, Charlotte’s gaze shifted from the camera in Claire’s hand, clearly made in the Empire, to Alice.
Alice looked quite proud, smiling.
Charlotte’s expression briefly turned to one of frustration.
Why are you two competing over something that isn’t even yours? I thought they had matured a bit, but looking at them again, they still act like kids.
“So, can we take a picture together? Since we’re out like this, I want to make sure to keep some memories.”
With that statement, even the expressions of Alice and Charlotte, who had been secretly glaring at each other, wavered slightly.
Despite everything, everyone here were friends after all.
“That’s a great idea.”
And my words became the decisive blow for the mood, ultimately getting Charlotte and Alice to nod as well.
The camera obviously didn’t have a selfie function. Everything—distance, focus—had to be manually set. Plus, there was no one among the passersby who knew how to handle a camera.
Fortunately, it seemed Claire had anticipated the situation, as she pulled a camera tripod out of the large bag she had been carrying around since morning.
Considering it was an age where lightweight synthetic materials hadn’t been developed yet, it must have been a heavy metal lump, but Claire shrugged it off, saying, ‘It’s not much heavier than a sword.’
……Surely, all the kids here knew how to wield their weapons as combatants.
The place for taking the photo was a street where the distant Lutetia Palace was visible.
Standing in line with our backs to Lutetia Palace, we looked toward the camera Claire was fiddling with.
“Okay, I’m taking the picture!”
Claire called out like that and quickly pulled down some kind of lever on the front of the camera before dashing back in a way that resembled a performer.
Then she squeezed in between me and Alice, linking her arm with mine.
“Ah—”
Before Alice could complain, click, the camera shutter went off.
In the developed photo that night, only Claire was brightly smiling at the camera.
Everyone was looking at me and Claire with surprised expressions.
Well, at least everyone’s faces came out clearly, and it was a joyful shot, so it was a rather good photo.
If not for someone who accidentally came into the corner of the photo, that is.
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