Luminaria was also a wiseman, so just like all the other wisemen, she was extremely passionate about magic. She basically snatched the Crimson King's Sword from Mira's hands, carefully examined it with twinkling eyes, and then exclaimed 「This is indeed it!」 with satisfaction.
「By the way, what happened with the World Tree shavings I gave you? Did you turn them to ash? If you did then this is everything you requested, yes? Hurry and give me what you promised.」
While Luminaria verified it was the item she requested, it was Mira's turn to make demands. She had fulfilled her end of the deal, so the Encyclopedia of Skills was essentially hers already.
「Yeah, I did. It really felt like such a waste the entire time though. Still, I got the ashes.」
Luminaria held her hand out to stop Mira from getting too close, then took out the Encyclopedia of Skills, 「here, this is what you wanted」 she added.
「Just make sure you take good care of it.」
With that fore-warning, Luminaria finally handed it to Mira.
The Encyclopedia of Skills included abilities that could easily be used for evil purposes, so it was not available publicly. Anyone who wanted it needed to be approved by the author as well. That made it a rare item even amongst player-made items.
Three decades of developments were condensed in it. Mira promised to take good care of it as she smiled brightly, taking the book from Luminaria.
「You're finally mine…」
Mira tightly embraced the book, looking up as her eyes seemed to tear up, then she looked at the cover again, and slowly opened it. But before she could read anything, there was yet another knock on the door.
「Oh… who could it be this time?」
Mira watched as Mariana went to open the door like before, and she tightly hugged the book again.
Luminaria said that, but her voice sounded completely disinterested as she went to a corner of the room, where she laid out a piece of paper with a magic circle drawn on it, and lined the Crimson King's Sword and World Tree Ashes on top of it.
Meanwhile Luna was rolled up on a couch, glaring at the Encyclopedia of Skills with great hostility. Creos tried to not pay his surroundings much attention, simply counting the plates on the table.
「I heard Mira was back so I came to visit, it seems I wasn't the first though.」
The visitor was the vice elder of the Tower of Necromancy, Amaratte. She wore what could only be described as a goth-loli dress, and she looked at everyone in the room before speaking.
「Yes, we're about to have dinner together. Would you like to join us?」
「Hotpot at this time of the year? That sounds interesting, I'll gladly accompany you then.」
She looked at the items on the table, and smiled a bit more. Lastly, her eyes focused on Mira.
「But more importantly, tell me Mira, are those brand-new clothes?」
Amaratte quickly trotted to Mira, observing and touching her clothes from very close, almost pushing her back.
「Such wondrous embroidery. And the laces are tasteful. Oh, even the inside is crafted so exquisitely…」
Amaratte clung tightly to Mira's body, carefully examining every angle of her outfit. Then she went to look inside the collar of the outfit, muttering 「There was a lot of thought put into the contrast with the hidden parts too,」 sounding impressed with it.
Apparently Lily and the maids' work was considered perfect even when inspected by a clothing enthusiast.
Amaratte's interest was on Mira's clothes alone, and she behaved differently to Fricca, so Mira found it harder to resist, instead letting Amaratte do as she pleased while Mira attempted to read the Encyclopedia of Skills again.
Deep in her mind, Mira also felt like being touched by a goth-loli was not the worst thing either. Then out of nowhere, flames lit up behind Mira.
「Oh, I assume it went well then?」
Feeling the heat behind her, Mira turned around and looked at Luminaria, who had created that fire.
「Yes, it worked perfectly.」
Luminaria answered with a wide smile.
「Sadly I can't show you the end result here. The entire place would be reduced to ashes.」 She added with pride.
Luminaria had burned the paper with the magic circle acting as catalyst on it with the initial magic skill Flame. That was usually the first skill any magician learned, and Luminaria could use it instantly. Still, the reaction had been rather powerful.
「Ohoh, you sound rather confident. I've also obtained some rather incredible new summons though. My enemies will already be buried by the time they notice my power.」
Spurred on by Luminaria's boasting, Mira also tried to gloat about her own skills. It was hard to take her seriously considering Amaratte was shuffling under her skirt, however.
Mira and Luminaria smiled creepily as they stared at each other. Creos was starting to get nervous feeling the pressure surrounding them. Litaria pretended not to care, focusing solely on the food, while Amaratte let go of Mira and went to inspect the coat left aside on the couch. Meanwhile Luna ran and jumped onto Mira's lap.
Mariana carried a large pot with great effort to the table. The scent of seafood instantly filled the room, and everyone relaxed.
「I'll bring the rest of the ingredients shortly, so please take a seat everyone.」
Mariana placed the pot on the all-purpose cooking plate, and said that as she returned to the kitchen.
「This seems to be cooking wonderfully too. I guess seafood hotpot works after all.」
「I know, right? I know you'll just stuff yourself with meat if left alone, so I had to make sure you get enough variety.」
「What are you saying? I always eat well-balanced food.」
「I wonder about that.」
Mira and Luminaria had sat down as told by Mariana, and they watched the boiling pots while conversing with each other.
The pressure between them had vanished without a trace. Creos heaved a sigh of relief, and peacefully sat down as well. Such battles of pride were common between the two.
The remaining ingredients were quickly brought to the table, and with everyone gathered they shared a summer hotpot dinner.
Sharing such a bombastic dinner with everyone was enough to make Mira forget even about the Encyclopedia of Skills, and everyone began eating.