Anortha felt bad for what she had done. Because Pochi was such an ideal companion, she forgot that she should have kept in mind her feelings and opinion. Pochi always went along with her every whim, so Anortha got used to that happening. So when Pochi actually got angry, it was the first time Anortha had seen that happen. And it was all her own fault.

During lunchtime, she thought back to when she went along with Pochi’s opinion rather than the other way around, and it was really hard to come up with any. Which made her realize that it wasn’t just this time that she was a bad friend, but rather she was never a good friend to Pochi, ever.

Anortha wanted to make up for her past behavior, but other than letting Pochi decide what to do more often, there really wasn’t much. She thought that maybe she could do something for the lupo, but then she realized that she had no idea about what Pochi even likes or wants. What kind of friend doesn’t even know that?

When Pochi went to sleep with nary a word, Anortha thought that she may have overdone the magic lesson. However, Anortha thought that the lesson was the basic of the basics and given how fast Pochi learned other stuff like language, she thought that Pochi could easily handle it. Not to mention that even at the current pace, Pochi would only be able to cast basic spells after a year or so.

Night had fallen, and Pochi still was sleeping peacefully. Anortha wanted to wake her up so she could make dinner in time, but then decided against it. Thinking about it, Pochi had always been telling Anortha to admit that she wasn’t the one cooking, and since the lupo doesn’t look like she is waking up anytime soon, Anortha thought it was a good time to confess. Any punishment her mom might dish out would serve as penance for her.

Her parents came home at the usual time, only to fine not the usual dinner set on the table, but a nervous Anortha waiting for them.

Wondering what happened, her father asked, “What happened? And why isn’t dinner out yet?”

Taking a deep breath, Anortha confessed, “Actually, I have something to tell you. I’ve been teaching Pochi magic yesterday, and may have over exhausted her in trying to teach her the basics.”

“Don’t see anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s a good thing for Pochi to learn magic, so we can have her clean our house too,” said her mother.

Anortha shook her head as she said, “That’s not the main part. So anyways, because of that, Pochi is still sleeping.” Anortha lowered her head and said softly, “And since, uh, Pochi had been doing pretty much all the cooking so far, without her, there is no dinner. So, um, sorry for lying all this time.”

Anortha continued to stare at the floor, waiting for the inevitable screaming to happen.

However, her mother said in her normal tone, “Oh, so is that the case? I guess we’ll just eat out today for dinner then. Go and get dressed.”

She finally looked up and asked in confusion, “Huh, that’s it?”

“Oh, so you want to be yelled at and punished?”

Anortha rapidly shook her head as she said, “No, no, no. I’m going to get dressed now,” and scampered off to her room.

They waited for her to go out of earshot, before her father said, “Hah, I told you she’d come clean before the year ended.”

“True, but that’s not out of guilt, but because the actual cook was out of commission, so it’s not like you are totally correct.”

“A bet is a bet. Now that bottle of wine is all mine.”

“But since you weren’t entirely correct, at least let me have a sip, alright?”

“Fine, fine.”

Anortha and her parents ended up dining in the best establishment for dinner. Well, it was also the worst establishment too as it was the only one in the rural outpost.

While waiting for the food to come, Anortha mustered up the courage to ask, “So how come you seem so… indifferent to my confession.”

“It’s quite simple. We already knew it was Pochi that was cooking since pretty much the beginning.”

“Eh? But how did you know? What gave it away?”

“I mean we know how reluctant you are in cooking, not to mention how terrible you are at it. Don’t you think we’d be even a little bit suspicious when you claim to make edible dishes all of a sudden? So one day, I snuck home early to find Pochi doing all the cooking. It is as simple as that.”

“Oh. Wait, but how come I never noticed?”

“Because I was using magic to conceal my presence, and you clearly weren’t using detection magic or anything?”

“Then why didn’t you tell me off in the beginning?”

“We were curious on how long you would lie to us. You confessed earlier than I expected, although your dad thought you would confess rather early.”

“Eh, mom, you don’t trust me?” Anortha pouted.

“If Pochi wasn’t asleep, would you have actually told us?”

Anortha decided to quickly change the topic, as she said, “So, uh, is it normal to sleep that long after magic training?”

Her father said, “Well, not much studies have been done on lesser, I mean, other beings that aren’t elves, but assuming that lupoy behave similarly to elves, then it wouldn’t be too surprising. Normally, even if you aren’t at full or near full mana capacity, you would be just fine, but for elves who had lived their entire lives with essentially full mana, like children who haven’t used magic, for example, their bodies are so used to being at full mana that anything that isn’t full would make them feel like they need to hit that maximum or all is not good. Since sleeping recovers mana faster, it isn’t surprising that they would sleep until they are back to normal.”

“Oh, okay. But in that case, wouldn’t it be better to teach magic to children at a young age so they get used to it?”

“There’s another issue with that though. Getting new mana has a preservation effect on the body though, so if the child uses magic all the time, they would naturally need to replenish that mana, and thus the end result is that they don’t grow up. There is an interesting theory of why only getting new mana has that effect, but I’m sure you’ll learn about it eventually. So that is why we wait for children to reach a certain age before teaching magic, otherwise they’d be stuck like that for a long time.”

“So what happens if an elf just doesn’t use any magic throughout their lives then?”

“That’s what a human is.”

“Huh? I thought humans were the ugly race with the rounded ears.”

“Well, the thing is, elves and humans are actually the same species. I mean this is why elves and humans can get married and have children and all that. It just doesn’t happen often because of what really divides us, which is cultural differences, and I guess geographic divide too. Humans don’t really care for magic as much as we do, and when they do, it usually is when they are almost adults, and even then, they don’t practice their daily mana circulation.”

“Hm? So if Pochi practiced magic at a young age like elves do, then she’d be like an elf?”

“Well, lupo are actually a completely different species, so no. Besides, you said she’s twenty something? It’s too late for her already, since the average lupo life span is close to seventy or so. But if you teach her the elven way of magic, I’m sure she’d age slower.”

“Looks like I can’t slack off on the lessons then. Oh, but she claimed that my lessons were too harsh.”

Her mother answered, “Are they? From what you told me earlier, that isn’t too much. Maybe I should personally teach Pochi what an actually strenuous magic lesson is like. It’s just that it’s her first time, so it feels difficult. She’ll get used to it.”

“If she gets stuck on something, sure. But don’t over-do it, okay?”

Their dinner arrived, interrupting the conversation. Anortha ate her meal with great gusto, and finished it in a flash.

She said, “That was delicious. Why can’t we eat out more often?”

Her father said, “Do you always have to ask this question every time? It’s because it is too expensive.”

“Then how do we get Pochi to cook food as good as this?”

“You don’t. I mean they are professional chefs who had been cooking for who knows how long. And because it isn’t easy to get to this level is the reason why they can charge so much and have no competition. Well, besides the fact that not many people would want to be here if they can help it.”

After paying for the overpriced meal, the three of them headed back home. Anortha quietly opened the door to her room to see the lupo still sleeping. Even when it was bedtime, she still was sleeping, so Anortha opted to write a small note to her on the chalkboard and joined her in dreamland.