Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 113: A Christmas Meal with a Taste of Surprise

Setsuna and I had some wonderful conversations about my family. I told her many things about my childhood and my past, and she listened so attentively that it felt natural to just keep talking.

So much so that we completely lost track of time, and before I knew it, it was already 3:30 in the afternoon!!! We spent over seven hours talking just about me! I don’t know how she didn’t get bored. A lot of it was just simple stories, but she’s such a good listener that I couldn’t stop telling her more.

Since it was already so late, I started taking the chicken out of the oven and setting the table so everything would be ready for dinner. Setsuna stayed in the living room watching TV while I carefully prepared our meal. It’s way too much food for just the two of us, so I also got some containers ready to donate the leftovers after we eat. I also decided to pack some snacks for Setsuna to take home and save a little for myself to eat over the next few days.

I spent the rest of the time reheating what needed to be reheated and waiting for the chicken in the oven to finish roasting, which took a few hours, so it’s already nighttime by the time I finish setting the table.

"Hmm, hmmm, hmm uhmmm," I start to hum as I move a tray of lasagna to the table. Setsuna looks over from the living room with a smile that is, at the very least, suspicious.

"What are you thinking about, Setsuna?" I ask while adjusting the silverware.

"Wife material," is all she says, turning her attention back to the television. My face turns completely red, and I drop a glass on the table; it rolls and nearly falls to the floor.

"T-That’s..." I decide not to say anything to avoid putting my foot in my mouth as I head back to the kitchen to get natural fruit juice and soda from the fridge. I even have a bottle of wine I bought, though I’m not good with alcohol, so it’s more for decoration. I’ll leave it for Setsuna if she wants to drink. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"S-Setsuna, are you allergic to anything I should know about?" I ask, placing a tray of hazelnut torte with cocoa, dark chocolate, and sprinkled with white chocolate.

"No, I’m not. And does that really matter? I don’t think magical girls have allergies... or do they? I’ve never seen one with normal physical medical problems, except for Ophelia, and her condition isn’t conventional either." Setsuna quickly makes me doubt myself.

’She’s right... do magical girls have allergies?’ I lose my focus, tripping over my own feet and almost dropping a wine glass. I’m a bit nervous, so I’m being all clumsy since I want this to be perfect.

"...Well, I’ll assume it’s fine, then. I’ll add lots of things to the table." I start bringing over many other main dishes and desserts, making the table look very lively.

’Thank goodness Setsuna is here...’ I would have cried if I saw this full table but had no one here with me. I really couldn’t stand just looking at this lavish spread with me as the only one eating. Even if Septarion were here, it still wouldn’t be special in the way I want. But thanks to Setsuna, I look at the laden table with joy and anxiety for her to try everything. I followed the recipes precisely, so it should be delicious; at the very least, it looks professional.

Ping

I hear the sound of the microwave and promptly take out a very nice-looking casserole of ground meat with a wonderful cheesy smell.

"Setsuna, the table is set, come and eat!" I call out while placing a plate for her and a plate for me. She turns off the TV and comes over with a warm smile, sitting in her spot.

"It looks wonderful. You’ve learned to cook well," she praises as she picks up a serving spoon, fork, and knife and skillfully starts to cut and take some of the food.

"Thank you! I really put in a lot of effort." I start serving myself as we both fill our plates simultaneously, and now comes the moment of truth.

’It’s the moment of truth!’ I first take a piece of the chicken with a fork and try it.

"Hmmm, it’s... crap... blehg." I savor the chicken, but the horrible taste immediately hits me. I almost spit the piece of chicken out without swallowing. The taste is horribly salty and spicy.

"I-I’m sorry, Setsuna... It seems... I messed it up," I apologize, feeling a bit sad. I ruined the main course.

"No problem. You probably should have marinated the chicken in one liter less of seasoning, and I think one less day of marinating would have improved it a lot, too," she says in a way that leaves me confused.

"Setsuna, do you know this recipe?" When I ask, she pauses for a moment.

"...No, I just deduced that was the case because the seasoning penetrated the chicken meat deeply and evenly..." She takes a piece of the lasagna and tries it. "...It’s... sweet." When she says that, I quickly take a piece of the lasagna and taste it. It’s sweet. It’s not bad, but it definitely doesn’t taste like lasagna.

"I-I mixed up the jars..." I say, looking down.

"W-Wait, don’t eat that..." I can’t stop Setsuna from trying the chocolate torte.

"...It’s... very salty." She makes an extremely funny face. It’s obvious it’s horrible. If I swapped salt for sugar, it means I put salt in the torte instead of sugar.

"H-Hahahahaha, I’m sorry, but the expression you made is funny." She doesn’t seem angry.

"...It’s... a surprise. I know well this probably isn’t the Christmas you wanted to have, but I like how it’s turning out. So, how about we make this Christmas an annual tradition? Let’s call it... the Christmas surprise dinner, where all the food will have a surprise taste. That way, next Christmas you can purposely make some foods with swapped ingredients... like this little cake here, let’s see what..." Setsuna shudders as the table shakes when she bumps her knees against it.

"..." Her face turns completely red as tears form in her eyes.

"...G-Ghost pepper!! I-I’m sorry!! I-I got the place wrong! I was only going to use a little bit, but it wasn’t for the cake, it was for the chili, to give it a kick that fades!" I say nervously as Setsuna quickly drinks an entire glass of milk and then four more.

"..." Setsuna looks at all the food as if it were an unknown enemy. I quickly realize that if I swapped so many things, then almost all the food has the wrong taste.

"...W-Well... it’s a real surprise, right?" I try a piece of the rice—the only normal thing because I didn’t use "salt" in it and didn’t season it beyond adding some chopped fruits and vegetables.

"Let’s... try everything, shall we?" she asks, and I agree.

"...Your turn. Try something. Let’s see the flavor." She starts a challenge, and I accept with a smile, picking up a piece of a pastry.

"And this pastry is filled with... KYaaa!! P-PEPPER!!" My tongue feels like it’s on fire as I cry. I grab a glass of milk and start drinking it quickly, the unexpected surprise making the spiciness even worse because I wasn’t prepared.

"Oh, you used pepper in the pastry’s meat filling? Then..." Setsuna says until she notices something and looks at a tray of sweet and sour meat.

"..." I also look at the same tray with dread. It’s one of the most seasoned dishes on the entire table, meaning it’s the food with the worst mix of flavors of them all.

"...You first!" We both say at the same time and immediately burst into laughter, each grabbing a piece to try at the same time.

"Well, it can’t be that bad." We both take a bite at the same time.

"..." Setsuna chews and swallows, but I just get up, go to the trash can in the kitchen, and spit it all out.

"...Horrible..." That’s the only word I can find to describe the taste. I won’t be able to donate this food to anyone, but at least I get to keep exploring these flavors with Setsuna.