“This seems more like one of the royal family’s bedrooms than a guest room,” I muttered. Werner had brought us to a huge room prepared solely for me. I t was on the top floor of the castle and had a terrace with an amazing view. I got the impression that the room that had been prepared for Raphtalia and the others was something like a waiting room intended for servants— allowing them to quickly come running when a member of the royal family called. There was nothing but a bed in the room, like it was just meant for naps or something. There were supposedly other rooms available, but they were all located further away. “Yeah . . . It does seem that way,” Raphtalia replied in a whisper. She was carefully checking the interior of the room. “Surely this room can sleep several people,” I said. “I’m afraid we cannot allow that. I hope your companions understand,” Werner replied. He had adopted an attitude of humility that made it difficult for anyone to argue. “We do understand, but . . .” Raphtalia mumbled. “As long as we can stay in the adjacent room, it’s no problem at all!” Atla exclaimed. “Atla!” I snapped. “The bed looks so sooooft! Huh? I can’t lie on it?” Filo asked. She’d tried to get on the bed, but some lady that looked like a maid had stopped her. The atmosphere in the room grew really tense. It seemed like Siltvelt was going to be a real headache, after all. “Now then, allow me to take the rest of you to your room. Please follow me,” Werner said. I tried to go with them but was stopped by one of the maids. “Please stay here and rest, Shield Hero. You will have an audience with the leadership shortly. After that we will have the evening party, followed by your bath, and then it will be bedtime,” the maid said. “Okay, and when do I get some discretionary time?” I asked. “You are always free to act at your own discretion,” the maid replied. “In that case, the audience can wait. I need to talk with my companions,” I said.
“I’m afraid that would be problematic. Your patience is appreciated,” the maid replied. What the hell was free about that?! I started to get upset and Raphtalia got a frantic look on her face. “Please be patient, Mr. Naofumi. Getting angry right now will solve nothing,” she said. “No, if they’ve upset Mr. Naofumi, then we should punish them!” Atla shouted. Her overly extreme response helped my anger subside a bit. What was with that little tyrant, anyway? I was fully aware that I acted like a dictator, but at least I wasn’t a tyrant . . . yet. I needed to calm down. It was true that compromising a bit now would be best if I wanted negotiations to go smoothly later. “Fine. It’s just for today, after all. But . . .” I said before turning to Raph-chan and beckoning her over. “Rafu?” Raph-chan came over to me and I picked her up in my arms. “I demand that you allow Raph-chan to stay with me. She’s my beloved pet,” I announced. “U-understood,” the maid said. The Siltvelt maids glanced at each other and seemed to think it would be okay if it was a pet. I reluctantly trudged over to the bed and waved goodbye to Raphtalia and the others. “Raafuuu!” “You know what to do if anything happens, Raph-chan,” Raphtalia said. “Rafu! Rafu, rafu!” Raph-chan stood up on her hind legs and slapped her hand against her chest, as if to say, “Leave it to me!” Aww, she was so cute. But just like Raph-chan was linked to me, she also had some kind of magical connection with Raphtalia that would allow her to send a distress signal. She could probably act as an alarm if anything happened. “Okay then . . .” said Raphtalia. “I’ll wait in the adjacent room,” Atla proclaimed. “I understand how you feel, but they’re going to show us to the guest rooms first,” Raphtalia replied. “Come on, Atla! Let’s go! Our kind don’t belong with this guy. He’s on a completely different level,” Fohl snorted.
“But, Mr. Naofumi!” Atla called out. Fohl was clearly doing his best to be sarcastic. He grabbed Atla and dragged her away. That little bastard. I’d started to feel bad for Fohl, but that attitude was crossing a line. “Alright, little Naofumi, I’ll drop in to say hi later, okay?” Sadeena said. “Sure,” I replied. I still felt a bit uneasy about it all, but I went ahead and saw Raphtalia and the others off. “Rafuuu!” I was standing on the terrace and enjoying watching Raph-chan explore the room. I looked out over the castle town below. The sun had begun its decline toward the horizon, but it wasn’t quite to the point of what I would’ve called setting yet. I’d noticed on our way in that the Siltvelt townscape was a lot wilder than what I was used to seeing in Melromarc, but it was even more apparent when looking at things from up above. There was a lot of variation in demi-human builds too. Some were huge, and others were tiny. It made for an interesting sight from afar. And with a mixture of demi-humans and therianthropes, there was tons of diversity among the residents. There were probably quite a few races in all. That went for the buildings too. Some had really primitive designs, while others were more ordinary wooden buildings. There were elements of Chinese style too. Siltvelt was a real hodgepodge of peoples and cultures when compared to Melromarc. “Rafu?” “Hm? What is it, Raph-chan?” I asked. Raph-chan had her eyes fixed on a shield that hung decoratively above the fireplace. I’d figured it was some kind of ceremonial prop. It had a really extravagant design, but it also looked a bit beat up in several spots. It was hard to describe. The covering had clearly been made using a number of different tanned hides. I wondered if I should try using my weapon copy on it. I took it off the wall and held it in my hand.
Weapon copy system activated.
Shield of the Beast King conditions unlocked. Shield of the Beast King 0/80 C <abilities locked> equip bonus: therianthrope abilities up (large), demi-human abilities up (large), skill “Beast Transformation Assist” “Territorial Reform”
special equip effect: power of devotion Whoa! So it wasn’t just decoration! King of the beasts, huh? Did that mean the Shield Hero was the king of the beasts? Images of filolials, dragons, and Raph-chan appeared in the back of my mind. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that. “Rafu?” I must have made a strange face, because Raph-chan looked up at me with an expression of concern. I smiled to let her know there was nothing to worry about and then checked the shield description one more time. “Beast Transformation Assist?” I tried testing the skill, but it just gave me a message saying it couldn’t be used. Maybe certain conditions had to be met first or something. I had a good idea of what the “ability up” bonuses were. I tried checking the stats. That was strange. The values seemed unstable. They kept changing every time I looked at them. I couldn’t tell if they were high or low. What a strange shield. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea to go ahead and unlock the abilities. This country worshipped the Shield Hero, so the weapon shop was probably full of shields I’d never seen too. There was a possibility I could increase my stats or pick up some new abilities, so I figured maybe I should drop in for a peek later. “I wonder what ‘Territorial Reform’ is.” I tried testing that one too, but a map just popped up on my screen and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. My territory in Melromarc seemed to be highlighted on the map, but it told me I was out of range when I tried to choose it. I guess I would try again later after I returned to the village. “I wonder if I’m allowed to take a look around the castle.” I knew I was a guest and was supposed to make myself at home, but maybe there were things they didn’t want anyone to see. There were places like that in the Melromarc castle, after all. Even I had enough sense to not go rummaging around in someone else’s castle.
But in RPGs, there was always stuff like treasure in castles, so I couldn’t help but wonder if I might find some here too. Even if I couldn’t keep the stuff, it’d be nice if I came across a shield. All I had to do was copy it and I might end up a bit stronger. When I really thought about it, there might be other countries that would present Ren or Itsuki with similar opportunities. If we had some time to spare later, maybe I would have them go look for countries that worshipped only the sword or only the bow and have them sneak in. It wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one that got a chance like this. “The Siltvelt leadership has gathered and is ready to receive you, Shield Hero,” a maid called out. “Alright, I’m coming,” I replied. I guess it was time for me to get to work. “Rafu!” I hugged Raph-chan in my arms and followed the maid down the hallway. I was brought to what looked like a roundtable conference room. It was far bigger than any of the conference rooms I’d seen in Melromarc. That was the first thought that crossed my mind, but when I saw the members of the leadership, I understood why. The demi-humans weren’t that bad. They were still big, but nothing crazy. Some of the therianthropes were just massive, though. When I really thought about it, I guess Sadeena was pretty big too when she was in her therianthrope form. “The Shield Hero has arrived!” Everyone stood up, and as soon as I entered the room they all bowed and began praying to me. Ugh . . . Talk about awkward. “Rafu!” I’d unconsciously tightened my hold on Raph-chan a bit too much. “We are truly delighted that you have finally returned home to Siltvelt,” said one of the members who seemed to be the chairman for today. “‘Returned home’? I don’t live here, you know,” I replied. “Of course not. But the Shield Hero is Siltvelt’s hero. Even if you were summoned by another country, your time abroad is but a temporary expedition,” the chairman explained.
Ah, so basically, the Shield Hero belonged in Siltvelt to begin with. So in their eyes I had just been out visiting another country. I would’ve been lying if I said I wasn’t already fed up. It sure was nice being able to leave all the politics and annoying formalities like this to the queen and Melty back in Melromarc! “Now then, let us begin with a round of self-introductions. Would that please the Shield Hero?” the chairman asked. “Can we get on with the discussion if I say no?” I replied. The chairman seemed to be at a loss for words. “M-my sincere apologies! Please don’t be angry!” he pleaded. Oh hell, was he really going to act like a single remark of mine was going to spell the end of his life? I let out a long, heavy sigh. “I’m not angry. Just hurry up and continue,” I said. “As you wish!” he shouted. He bowed to me again. All of this was way too formal. I was getting fed up already. I wanted to hurry up and talk with Raphtalia and the others. Well, I wanted to escape from this place, anyway. “Allow me . . .” They began introducing themselves, one by one. I counted ten of them in all. I’d really expected there to be more of them. Maybe these were just the high-ranking representatives. They were all demi-humans and therianthropes, so there was a lion and all kinds of other beasts. One of the therianthropes looked like a mammoth. The guy was absolutely massive, so it only made sense they’d need the room to be big too. Whenever I stared at any of them, they would get an embarrassed look on their faces and avert their eyes. I think they might have been misunderstanding. “So what now? I mean, it’s nice to have an audience and all, but are we going to discuss something? I came to this country for a reason, so should I just go ahead and explain what that reason is?” I asked. “No, we will discuss that at a later time. First, we would like to hear an account of your activities in Melromarc from your own mouth, Shield Hero,” the chairman replied. Who cared about that? Hearsay was more than enough! Well, that was how I felt, but I guess hearing it directly from me might’ve had some kind of special meaning for them. Something like that.
“After that, we would like to give you a demonstration of the strength of our soldiers and then better acquaint you with our country’s past, present, and future,” the chairman continued.
“Oh, come on! Waste someone else’s time with that stuff,” I said. “But, Shield Hero, you must be prepared for the coming waves. It would be problematic if we did not familiarize you with such matters,” the chairman replied. “Oh . . .” Normally I would have been in charge of this whole region. Thanks to the queen pulling some strings, I’d gotten away with only having to deal with my little territory in Melromarc. And the waves had only stopped temporarily because of the Spirit Tortoise incident. But still, didn’t Siltvelt already have another hero? Didn’t they have their own seven star hero? “By the way, where is the other hero that oversees this country?” I asked. They all quickly looked away when I asked. Why would they look away? They knew I’d asked for the seven star heroes to come to Melromarc, right? Not to mention, I’d made the request by way of the queen and had her explicitly communicate the fact that there was a group of people out there who was trying to kill heroes. “The thing is, the seven star hero that protects Siltvelt is quite devoted to his training. His appearances tend to be limited to times when his assistance is required,” the chairman replied. “So what you mean is his whereabouts are unknown?” I asked. “He usually comes when he is summoned. However, following the recent Spirit Tortoise incident, he departed on a journey to train and become stronger,” the chairman said. If the heroes would just get together to share and implement all of the power-up methods, they would become a lot stronger almost instantly. What a headache. Then again, if any of the seven star heroes were good-for-nothings like some of the heroes in Kizuna’s world, telling them about the power-up methods would be suicide. I’d have to determine whether or not we could trust them first. We already had hero-killing assassins on our hands, after all. “Whatever. I want you to search every nook and cranny. Find him and bring him back here. Even if we’re only considering what lies ahead, his presence is needed,” I said. “As you wish!” the chairman replied.
Sheesh . . . “I want him to come see me before the Phoenix shows up,” I added. I had a feeling there were a million other things that needed to be addressed, but I decided to go ahead and move on. “You all know why I came to Siltvelt, right?” I asked. “Umm . . .” “We are currently in the process of verifying that information.” “Siltvelt shall spare no effort in celebrating the glorious return of the Shield Hero!” They all responded at once with completely different answers. And what the hell was with that last one?! Was that guy listening to what I’d asked at all? A loud clap thundered out. The therianthrope resembling a lion had clapped his hands to draw the attention of the others. “Everyone! The Shield Hero’s word is law! As citizens of Siltvelt, we must prioritize his wishes above all else, must we not?” the lion roared. They all thundered out in agreement. Nice! This lion guy really seemed to understand how things should be. “The Shield Hero wishes to leave our country at once and act on behalf of the world! This is a sign of his intention as a hero to make the world a better place! As such, it is Siltvelt’s duty to eliminate war from this world, is it not?!” he continued. “Umm, what is that supposed to mean?” I interjected. He was completely twisting my words! “Who said — ” “To do that, we must expand our military operations! We shall acquire new strength with the assistance of the Shield Hero and form an army that is invincible! This is the task at hand, is it not?! Just like the residents of the Shield Hero’s territory have been doing!” the lion roared on, completely drowning out my attempt to object. Everyone applauded in agreement. “Hey! Stop ignoring me!” I shouted. “Rafu?” Raph-chan covered her ears in an attempt to drown out the cacophony of clapping and shouting. “Shield Hero! We, the people of Siltvelt, look forward to having your blessing bestowed upon us!” the lion roared.
Was he telling me to make them my slaves? It was either that or he wanted me to form a party and use it to organize and lead an army. “Now then, we must reconvene in a fresh meeting to refine the details of the Shield Hero’s plan. Come, we must move on to the next meeting quickly!” the lion continued.
“Huh? Who said —” Before I could finish speaking, the lion asked an assistant to rush me out of the room. Shit! These bastards had zero intention of listening to anything I said! Dammit! There was no way I was leaving! “Of course! We cannot expect the Shield Hero to leave! We should be the ones to move elsewhere to continue this discussion! We respectfully take our leave,” the lion said. When they realized I wasn’t going to let them push me out, everyone stood up from the roundtable and began to leave the room. They almost looked like they were fleeing for their lives. “Hey!” I shouted. “We shall meet again soon!” The door slammed shut, and it was just me and the maid who had brought me. Shit. I guess they were going to be surprisingly brazen about their attempts to control me. I wondered if I should just keep my mouth shut and flee the country. But if I did that, there was no way they would help us get to Q’ten Lo. I’d expected there to be demi-humans or therianthropes that resembled the four holy beasts in a meeting of the top brass, but I hadn’t seen anyone like that. It was like they were all doing their best to make sure I didn’t get to say I just wanted to get my business taken care of and leave Siltvelt as soon as possible. So they started talking over me and then just ran off somewhere. It didn’t get any more annoying than this. I wondered if I should just completely ignore all of this and force my demands on them. Then again, I’m sure they would choose to interpret the whole thing in a way that would only cause diplomatic issues for Melromarc. Fine. Then I’d just force my demands on them in a way that didn’t draw attention. I was lost in thought when I realized that it was already getting dark outside. I remembered they had mentioned there would be a party that evening to celebrate my “return.” I wondered if I would be able to talk with Raphtalia and the others there. “What are Raphtalia and the others up to, anyway?” I asked Raph-chan.
“Rafu?” She began gesturing with her hands in an attempt to answer my question. “Umm . . . Small room? Training? No? Discussion? Me? Book?” I guessed at the answer. I couldn’t help but smile at the way Raph-chan was pointing at different things around the room and posing in certain ways. “So if I put all that together, they’re in a room somewhere talking about episodes involving me. Is that about right?” I asked. “Rafu!” Raph-chan nodded excitedly. I got it. So they hadn’t been brought to this area of the castle. “Rafuuu!” “Hm? Does that mean they finished talking?” I asked. “Rafuu!” After that, Raph-chan began pretending like she was eating a meal. Ah, that must have meant they had gone to the hall where the party was being held. “Shield Hero, preparations for the evening’s party have been completed. Your presence is requested,” the maid said. “Alright.” “Before you attend, we shall dress you in the appropriate attire. Please forgive our boldness.” Several maids suddenly surrounded me and began grasping at me in an attempt to change my clothes for me. “I can change my clothes by myself! I’m a hero, not a noble! At least let me change my own clothes!” I shouted. “A-as you wish! Please forgive us!” I sighed. “It’s not like I’m mad at you or dislike you,” I said. Sheesh . . . It was just one headache after another here. I wondered if Motoyasu or the other heroes had experienced this kind of thing in Melromarc. Maybe I would ask Ren and Itsuki about it later. At the very least, the queen wasn’t so uptight about that kind of stuff. Or rather, she treated me well while avoiding things that annoyed me. Anyway, what was up with these clothes they’d prepared for me? Was this supposed to be a punk rock fashion choice or something? The shirt collar was lined with fur. I felt like a wannabe punk rock vocalist. Even worse, the headdress was made out of some carnivorous animal. Did I seriously have to wear this outfit?
“. . .” They were probably going to gripe if I didn’t put it on. But there was just no way I could accept fashion sense like this. “Rafu?” “Alright, I’ll just use you in place of the headdress, Raph-chan,” I said. “Rafu . . .” The thought of being used as a fashion accessory seemed to embarrass Raph-chan, but I went ahead and put her on my head after I finished changing and then headed out of the room. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Shield Hero has arrived!” Trumpets erupted into fanfare, accompanied by an instrumental performance that sounded like the roar of a beast. I was taken to a stage at the front of the hall. It was ridiculous how many attendees had shown up! And since this was a country of demi-humans and therianthropes, they were all different sizes. There was a massive therianthrope way off in the distance, but I could still hear his shouting and applause clearly. “Rafuuu!” “Sorry, Raph-chan,” I apologized. Raph-chan seemed a bit bothered by all of the loud noise. “Let us offer a prayer to the Shield Hero,” said the emcee. And then almost everyone in the hall put their hands together and began praying. Oh, come on! I mean, even back in Melromarc I’d been called the saint of the bird god, but no one had ever taken it this far! “And that concludes our audience with the Shield Hero. Please, enjoy the food!” the emcee announced. Umm, was it just me or had they not even tried to give me a chance to speak? Surely they had originally planned to have me say a word or two. I guess it would have been troublesome for them if I had started talking about wanting to go to Q’ten Lo at an event like this. But I wasn’t going to let them have their way. I figured something like this might happen, so I already had a plan. I switched to my Voice Ganger Shield and spoke into the megaphone. “Ahem! Test! Test! So yeah, apparently you don’t want me to speak, but after everything I had to overcome to succeed in Melromarc, do you really think stopping me is going to be that easy?”
Oh? I caught sight of Raphtalia and the others. Atla was clasping her hands together and had a smitten look on her face, but I decided to just ignore her. “Let me start by saying that I understand what it is you’re trying to do. But right now I need to prioritize acting on behalf of the whole world. I want you to know it’s not because I haven’t considered the people of Siltvelt,” I continued. After all, focusing solely on one’s own demands wouldn’t be a negotiation at all. Refusing to accept the other party’s demands to some extent wasn’t going to open any doors. I understood that fact. “But I have no intention of telling anyone to go to war with Melromarc. Otherwise, why even talk about peace? Does the Seaetto territory and its friendly ties with the demi-humans mean nothing? I want you to think about that,” I said. I could hear the faint sound of applause. I glanced over at Werner to warn him. But next time something like this happened, he was going to get a lot more than a warning. “Now then, I don’t want to be a party pooper. How about I provide a bit of entertainment for all of you too? It is a party, after all!” I beckoned to Filo. She pointed at herself quizzically and I nodded. No, not you, Atla! I motioned for Fohl and Raphtalia to restrain Atla. Filo skipped over to the stage cheerfully. “Whaaat?” she asked. “I want you to sing a song. Your job as a companion of the Shield Hero is to liven up this party,” I told her. Filo was standing with me on the stage. She turned around to look at the audience and began trembling. That reaction . . . Had she still not gotten over being put on display in Kizuna’s world? She had no problem singing at the taverns, so why couldn’t she do it here? Or was it because of Motoyasu? “Don’t worry, Motoyasu isn’t going to show up. And if anything happens, I promise I’ll protect you,” I told her. “Buuut you didn’t protect me from the spear guuuuy,” she complained. “That’s because you acted on your own that time,” I replied. I was ordering her to sing this time, so I’d take responsibility if something happened. “Okaaay, then I’ll do my beeessst,” Filo said.
“Sing something that will get stuck in their heads,” I said. “Okaaay!” Filo started to sing into the megaphone on my shield. Her singing was always a real crowd-pleaser, even at the taverns. Would the people of Siltvelt be able to retain their ability to think rationally after hearing Filo’s bewitching song? I’d have her sing something addictive and then crush their strong-arm tactics and force them to agree to have a trading ship sent to Q’ten Lo. Of course, there was always the possibility that the song could be too effective. If things went downhill, I’d give Raphtalia and the others a signal before barging into the crowd and taking advantage of the confusion to escape. Filo was singing her heart out. When she really got into it, she always entered a kind of trance-like state. It was obvious that she was incredibly focused. Her voice rang out through the hall. The people in the audience who had the best hearing began to stagger over and gather in front of the stage, mesmerized by the song. That meant things were going well, right? She must have been singing a brainwashing song. It probably applied some kind of seduction-type status effect or something. I could just imagine Motoyasu showing up out of nowhere. The thought of it scared me. Filo finally finished singing her song. Several people in the audience started clapping, and before long the roar of cheers filled the hall. “And there you have it. A little something to liven this party up, courtesy of the Shield Hero. Now enjoy yourselves, unless you try anything sneaky. Then don’t expect to enjoy yourselves. Alright, later,” I said. I told Filo to go back to the others. As she made her way back, the audience crowded around her. I could hear them all showering her in praise. “Our sincere gratitude to the Shield Hero for his gracious words!” the emcee shouted. “Rafuuu!” Raph-chan squeaked, almost as if she were greeting the crowd. The Siltvelt leadership must have thought they would piss me off if they tried to get in the way, because they backed off. I got down off the stage and headed toward Raphtalia and the others. People crowded around, trying to get a better look at me, but they were held back by a rope that blocked them from actually getting in my way. Good, that was how it should’ve been. I finally came to where Raphtalia and the others were standing.
“How’s it going? Have they caused you any trouble?” I asked. “Nothing so far. But it’s scary not knowing what they may try next,” Raphtalia replied. “Raph-chan told me they were asking about your adventures with me,” I said. “Yes. They made me explain how we met and recount everything we’ve been through so far. They did pretty much the same thing with everyone else too,” she replied. “I see.” “Sadeena and Atla apparently made it sound like they had physical relations with you and ended up getting treated really suspiciously.” What the hell were those two trying to do? Atla, especially — she still looked like a little girl, for goodness sake! Then again, there were people in this country who were convinced I had a thing for little girls, apparently. “Do you think they’ll let us return to the village after this?” I asked. “Do you want to go back?” Raphtalia replied. Honestly, I wanted to leave immediately. How the hell was I supposed to relax in a situation like this? “Well, all we’re going to do after this is sleep anyway. We need to ask them to arrange for the ship to Q’ten Lo tomorrow for sure, so I guess it doesn’t hurt to stay the night here. Just don’t let your guard down even for a second,” I said. “Understood.” Now then . . . I wondered what was next as I turned around and looked behind me. The Siltvelt leadership was watching me like I was a dangerous animal that required extreme caution. I could tell they were worried about me saying something that might cause them trouble. If that were the case, they should have just given in to my demands and sent me away already. I was eating food off of the buffet while thinking about their stupidity. They had prepared a special meal just for me, but I just ignored that. “So this is Siltvelt food, huh?” I muttered. A lot of the flavors lacked refinement. You might even say there was something foul about the taste, but you could also argue that it was a chance to enjoy some unusual food. “Hmm . . . I’d have to adjust the seasoning if I were going to serve this to the villagers. Coming up with a recipe shouldn’t be too difficult, though,” I said.
I analyzed each dish as I ate the food. I figured the villagers would make a fuss about wanting to try the food when I told them about it. It’d be best to go ahead and think about how to recreate it to some extent. “You really think so? This is some really strange fare,” Raphtalia said. There was something shaped like a little pouch that seemed like a fruit. I slit it open to analyze it. Maybe it was just me, but something about it seemed really raunchy. “Making something that looks similar shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The ingredients themselves seem to be contributing to the flavoring a lot, though,” I replied. There weren’t many dishes that had really been given a distinct added flavor. But the natural flavors of the ingredients themselves, on the other hand, were pretty peculiar. I could make something similar but still different for the villagers. “They have something that resembles ratatouille too,” I said. “What is that?” Raphtalia asked. “It’s a dish from back in my world. It’s more of a country home cooking dish where I come from. But it’s common in prisons and stuff, since it’s cheap to make. The dish has some pretty tasteless nicknames like ‘stinky slop,’” I explained. I could imagine Keel looking disgusted right about now, if she’d been listening. She’d gotten really picky about smells ever since she started transforming into a dog. Honestly, someone who was used to Melromarc’s food probably would think it stunk and might not be able to eat it. “And that’s something you eat?” Raphtalia asked. “That it is. If you use quality ingredients, it can actually be pretty good. There’s another similar dish known as caponata too.” “I noticed this a long time ago, but you sure seem to know a lot about cooking, Mr. Naofumi.” “You think so?” “Remember that time when the village children made something and they were so proud of it? You took just one bite and then made several adjustments that really improved it.” “Oh yeah. And then the slave that had been in charge of cooking got all depressed.” I’d just made a couple of tiny adjustments that I figured would make the dish taste better. But doing so apparently hurt the pride of the slave who’d been in charge of cooking. Even I realized maybe I’d gone too far. I felt bad about it, so I hadn’t meddled with the slaves’ cooking since. They deserved to do things their way, if they were going to do the cooking. But honestly, that kid glared at me like I’d killed her parents every time I cooked now.
“I should probably avoid doing any of the cooking, but they keep making requests. That kid who was handling the cooking that time will probably hate me until she dies,” I said. “Hate you?” Raphtalia asked. “Well, yeah. Haven’t you noticed she glares at me nonstop every time I’m cooking?” “That’s just her way of making sure she doesn’t miss anything you’re doing!” “Ah, I see. So she just wants to see me make a mistake.” “That’s not it. She’s doing her best to learn from you so that she can improve.” “Then she doesn’t hate me?” “On the contrary, she has the utmost respect for you!” Raphtalia seemed completely sure of herself. It did feel nice to hear that, but I couldn’t really trust Raphtalia to be objective. “Impressive as always, Mr. Naofumi! Why waste time capturing the hearts of the slaves when you can control them by capturing their stomachs instead?!” Atla exclaimed. She sure knew how to make things sound bad. I’d heard people saying similar things in the village and the neighboring town. There seemed to be rumors that I made the slaves do whatever I wanted by feeding them food that was addictive. “I know you like to cook too, Raphtalia. You should cook more often,” I said. “Umm, Mr. Naofumi . . . Would you really want to cook for someone who is a far better cook than yourself?” she replied. Huh? Was that supposed to mean that she had reservations about me eating her cooking because I was a good cook? “That’s nothing you should worry about. Have I ever criticized someone else’s cooking like I was a food snob?” I asked. “I guess you don’t really criticize others when it comes to food,” Raphtalia replied. “I notice you made sure to specify food there . . .”
I suddenly recalled picking apart the way a crooked merchant was doing business on the Cal Mira islands once. “Whatever. I’ll make sure to check out some of the dishes that Siltvelt is famous for later. Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it from Keel,” I said. “Hm?” Filo muttered. She started stuffing her face with food. It wasn’t going to last long now that she’d gotten going. The night wore on and the banquet ultimately ended without incident.
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