Chapter Eight: An Alluring Pudding
It was the day after we searched the Demon Dragon’s castle.
“This is incredibly delicious!” A shout rang out from the kitchen in L’Arc’s castle.
“Who’s snacking down here?” I said, looking over. “Hold on! You’re that rotund noble!”
It was just before the start of our strategy meeting about how to handle the harpoon vassal weapon holder. I was working on some food to provide during the discussion, and for some reason the greedy noble who had caused such a fuss during the whole Seya Restaurant incident had found his way down to the kitchen and was stuffing his face.
“This is incredible! Such a rich flavor, but it doesn’t persist for too long, leaving a sublime aftertaste. It’s so addictive that every cell of my body wants more of it, hands, mouth, tongue. And yet it feels like all the impurities in my body are also being washed away! I can feel it! Just eating this will be enough to fend off all sickness, making me hardened and strong!” His rantings descended into a wild roar. He suddenly pumped what muscles he had. His clothing started shredding off, and then he started to strike body-building poses. This guy was a real freak.
“Where did you come from? Get out of here!” I’d been so absorbed in the cooking I hadn’t even seen him come in. This wasn’t a kid’s movie—I didn’t need rats in the kitchen.
“My apologies! As soon as we arrived at the castle, he just ran away from me,” Tsugumi said as she appeared, bowing her head low.
“I wondered what all the noise was . . . You always stir things up when you stand in the kitchen,” Yomogi said, also coming in. She was looking at the noble with a frown on her face—before she saw the samples I had laid out.
“This looks like the studio where Kyo used to do his research. That takes me back,” Yomogi said.
“Are you aware that I’m not keen on being compared to him?” I said. I certainly didn’t need anyone saying I was similar to that guy. Yomogi was still lost in her recollections, however. I guess it hadn’t been all bad for her. I was researching compounding and cooking, so I guess it would look pretty similar.
“Mirror guy! Hello!” It was the kid who had called me Tray Hero during the Seya Restaurant incident. His younger sister also offered a greeting from behind Tsugumi.
“Hey, Tray Kid. What are you doing here?” I had been planning on calling him Keel II, but after his tray reference, I had decided to just call him Tray Kid as punishment.
“When I told them we were taking part in King L’Arc’s strategy meeting, they said they wanted to see you, so we brought them here,” Tsugumi explained.
“Okay, whatever . . . just keep that noble under control. He’s running off with all my food,” I replied, pointing at the rotund figure who was still posing like crazy.
“Are you researching Seya’s food?” Tsugumi asked.
“I might look like it, but don’t lump me in with that creep. I guess this noble just reacts like that to everything,” I said. He was like some kind of comedian, always overreacting. He had grown horns too, thanks to my cooking. I hoped that was just a condition unique to him. It would be an even bigger pain if people started to expect magical results like that.
“It looks like your cooking is to blame,” Tsugumi said, not letting the topic drop. Did she think this noble and I were similar, then?
“If you want to find out . . . how about you try some and see?” I said.
“You dog!” Tsugumi narrowed her eyes ferociously, looking ready to strike. I didn’t care. Sensing tension in the air, Tray Kid and his sister both looked at Tsugumi with worry on their faces.
“No need to make those faces. It’s fine,” Tsugumi told them.
“Really?” Tray Kid asked.
“Really. We aren’t here to fight. Go ahead and ask what you want,” Tsugumi said. It sounded like the kid had something to ask me. Tsugumi gave him a push to stand in front of me.
“I wanted to watch you cook . . .” Tray Kid said. He had the same expression on his face as the villagers often did back in my village.
“Okay . . . whatever. I’ll show you later, but you have to keep that noble under control. If he complains, tell him I ordered you to do it,” I said.
“Okay!” Tray Kid replied happily. What an innocent little kid.
S’yne was there too, on standby, and stuffing herself alongside the noble. She might have been a bigger threat to my cooking than he was, honestly speaking. She quietly filled her face with all my samples.
“What’s going on in here?” L’Arc and the others arrived, probably attracted by all the noise. Along with Raphtalia and Kizuna, he should have been getting ready for the meeting. “I heard talking . . . What’s the deal?”
“Tsugumi has brought some guests to see us. The noble is among them. He is now pretending he’s a bodybuilder,” I said.
“Then he leaves me no choice,” L’Arc said, shaking his head. “Therese!”
“Very well. I shall punish him for eating the food samples of the Master Craftsman,” Therese said.
“No, that’s not what I want!” L’Arc responded. “Therese, are you trying to form a comedy duo with kiddo or something?” The two of them still had a lot to work out, clearly.
“What is all this? What’s going on?” Kizuna said as she arrived.
“I take my eyes off you for a moment . . .” And Raphtalia came in and chimed in too.
“Good timing, everyone. Let’s get the strategy meeting started,” L’Arc said. He convinced Therese to lift the noble into the air using magic and take him, Tray Kid, and the sister away into a different room. This allowed the strategy meeting to get underway pretty quickly. We all sat down, discussed events, and planned what to do next. Everything was pretty much ready for us to go on the offensive.
As there were a lot of people involved, representatives from each group would speak. For example, Kizuna and Glass would represent her faction, while L’Arc and Therese would speak for the rulers of each nation. Rishia and Ethnobalt would provide information on ancient texts and other such articles. I was hoping this approach would make things go more smoothly. Raphtalia and I would speak for the heroes from the other world. Itsuki was more like an aide to Rishia at this point and didn’t seem to have much to say.
Finally, there was the Demon Dragon representing monsters. I had put Filo with her to try and keep her in check—which sounded crazy, when I thought about it. The Four Heavenly Kings were part of the group now too, anyway.
“Let’s start the meeting,” L’Arc said. “What’s the first issue on the table?”
“The harpoon guy. What’s going on there?” I asked. There didn’t seem to be any point in wasting time, so I cut to the chase.
“The scouts sent to each nation have reported some suspicious activity,” Glass reported.
“Suspicious how?” I asked.
“He seems very active . . . although we don’t know if it means he is coming for us or not,” she stated.
“That’s pretty vague information,” I said.
“This is—nominally—a vassal weapon hero we’re talking about, so he is quite difficult to track. If our agents get too close, they risk being silenced before they can report anything to us at all. And he is erratic in his movements, making it hard to predict where he will appear next,” Glass continued. He was clearly on his guard, which would explain how slippery he was being. We were also talking about an enemy who might just pop out from this nation’s dragon hourglass at any moment and I wouldn’t be surprised. He was in league with S’yne’s sister’s forces and Bitch too. We could expect some kind of cunning strategy to play out.
“Tighten security. Prepare for all-out war too,” I said. These resurrected all thought like Takt, believing they had the strategy that could easily win any conflict. Kyo had been a little more reserved in his approach, perhaps. There was also the possibility that S’yne’s sister and Bitch had already laid a trap for the harpoon guy and, before we knew it, had taken the weapon from him. They continued to get up in our business, but we still hadn’t seen anything from the boss of S’yne’s sister’s forces. When S’yne’s sister showed up to poke the bear last time, she just seemed to have brought with her a random bunch of folks who had been around at the time.
“They are probably holed up somewhere, gradually gathering their forces,” I said. “Like Kyo did. We might face more frenzied attackers ready to die for the cause.” Yomogi made a face at that. I’d mixed a little sarcasm in too.
“They might attack in force if they determine they can defeat us,” Glass said. This whole thing was a race against time. Which side could become stronger faster and then launch a strike to defeat the other? That was the issue. It felt a bit like one of those simulation games set in feudal times.
This was also the field in which the Staff Hero, Trash, excelled the most. I wondered again if we should risk bringing him over.
“Based on our past actions, I think sending a small elite force into their nation is the best move again,” I said. We could send the Demon Dragon and Filo with a mirror into enemy territory and get in from there. Then we could rush their base and quickly get into the final attack with harpoon guy or Bitch or S’yne’s sister—or anyone who wants a piece of us.
“Right on! Sounds like a plan I can get behind!” L’Arc punched one fist into the palm of his other hand, already looking for a fight.
“We’ll have to locate their base first, of course,” Glass said.
“Right. That’s the way to get a quick solution,” I said. It sounded like they had at least one spy close to Bitch. I wondered if they might have any information for us. I just wanted to charge into wherever they were hiding and wipe the whole bunch of them out.
“Master Craftsman, can I say something?” Therese put up her hand to speak.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Are there any jewels among the Harpoon Hero’s forces? If so, I have a good idea about how to deal with them,” she said. Therese always came up with plans based firmly in logic, such as reviving the Demon Dragon. So it was definitely worth listening to what she had to say. I looked over at Kizuna and Glass.
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, it seems unlikely that they won’t include at least one spirit or jewel,” Glass said.
“Even if the hero doesn’t have one in their direct retinue, there is bound to be one among key national figures, which should still work,” Therese said. “If I can get close to them, I’m confident I can acquire information from them.” L’Arc was looking at her with a hurt look on his face. I didn’t like the way this was going. “By the way, Master Craftsman . . . I know you’ve been making an accessory for me, but has there been any development on that front?”
“Right. It’s finished, pretty much. If I give you that, can I have the Two Spirit Charm back?” I asked her. I took out the accessory that I’d prepared for her, having really tailored it specifically to her needs. Just seeing it made Therese cover her eyes as though dazzled. That wasn’t one of its effects, I was pretty sure.
Four Holy Beasts Guardian Seal: Starfire (four holy beasts blessing, all status increased (large), magic power increased (massive), sparkling power, spirit’s inquisition, soul reflect)
Quality: highest quality
It was packed with all sorts of materials I had ordered from L’Arc’s castle. I had created what looked like an amulet of some kind. Therese had given me her broken Orichal Starfire Bracelet, and in the central gem section I had inserted the Chikaheshi no Tama that we had found in the old man’s Holy Tool Grotto. I reworked it a little and surrounded it with smaller gemstones. Once it was completed, a fire had glimmered in the center of the crystal, and stars had started to float there. For the design itself, I’d tried to make it look as cool as possible, but it still felt a little bit childish to me.
“It’s blinding! Master Craftsman, please put it back in the bag,” Therese said. To her, the accessory seemed to be giving off an incredible light, almost making her suffer by emitting some kind of pressure.
“I can tell it is pretty incredible too,” Glass said, furrowing her brow at how dazzling it was to her.
“I guess it works on spirits too,” I said. That seemed possible from the materials I had used. The Chikaheshi no Tama probably had effects on spirits.
“Yes. I think that will be a powerful weapon even for a non-hero,” Glass said.
“I will meet your every expectation, Master Craftsman!” Therese added eagerly.
“Sure thing, whatever. I also put this little item together. Itsuki, you can use bells as a weapon, right?” I asked. I returned the Four Holy Beasts Guardian Seal: Starfire and brought out something else that I had cobbled together from junk obtained from the Demon Dragon’s hoard.
“That’s right,” Itsuki confirmed.
“It can be an accessory too. It’s only a prototype, but after you’ve copied it, Itsuki, let Therese use it,” I told them.
Demon Dragon’s Four Heavenly King’s Bell (Demon Dragon’s Four Heavenly Kings blessing, four elemental magic power-up (large), power of darkness and soul)
Quality: highest quality
The Demon Dragon had ordered the Four Heavenly Kings to give up all sorts of materials. These had included the horn of a former heavenly king and a crystallized cluster of magic. I’d turned them into a bell that looked like it would suit Itsuki and then decorated them in a manner I thought he would like. I didn’t make it all myself, of course; the craftsmen from the castle had helped me too. The actual bell part had been a real pain. I had been the one who performed the final assembly.
With a cry, Therese suddenly fell from her chair.
“Therese!? Are you okay?” L’Arc scrambled up to help her at once, but she was back on her feet in seconds, eyes wide and pupils seemingly dilated as she stared transfixed at the bell. It was pretty weird—scary, honestly.
“I’m fine, L’Arc,” Therese finally said. “This is incredible. It looks so evil and yet so divine . . . I fear it might lure me onto some dark path.” I wasn’t sure she was on the straight and narrow at the moment. It all sounded a little dangerous too. If we let her keep this, she really might turn to the dark side.
“You bet it would,” the Demon Dragon said, almost proudly—I certainly didn’t care for that attitude. “This is the Shield Hero’s work from materials that we provided him.” I could see how it might look that way to others, but personally, I felt I hadn’t quite achieved what I wanted with it. The accessory dealer would surely point out all sorts of problems with this if he saw it. The materials were good, which made it look good. That was all.
“The one who taught me accessory-crafting would find all sorts of problems with this piece, I assure you,” I told them all. This looked good just because I’d made it from materials from the Demon Dragon and her heavenly minions. Good materials, that was all. I’d been saved by those. Anyone with basic knowledge would be able to turn out something comparable. Imiya would have been able to get a few more imbued effects on there for sure.
“You say that, but it looks to be a pretty powerful weapon,” Itsuki said, having finished copying it. “There’s a limit to the compositions it can play, but simply as a weapon, it looks like it would perform better than the True Demon Dragon weapon.”
“I see. Sounds like it was worth making after all,” I said.
“It also has something called ‘successive magic’ as one of its unlocked abilities. I will have to verify it, but it might allow me to perform various types of magic at the same time, like the Demon Dragon does,” Itsuki continued. Maybe I’d done a pretty good job after all.
He later on performed those tests, and as he had suspected, it allowed for the use of magic in quick succession. It devoured magic, SP, and EP, however, and left the user standing there as they incanted. So it wasn’t easy to make use of. It also didn’t play well with cooperative magic or ritual magic.
“Master Craftsman . . . or should I just call you God?” Therese said.
“I’m definitely not a god,” I retorted. The one pulling the strings behind our enemies was the one who assumed the name of God. I certainly didn’t want to be treated like a god myself.
“I have a plan. Please lend me that accessory,” Therese continued.
“Of course, Therese. I made it for you originally,” I told her. Her eyes seemed to have adjusted a little at last, and she was able to accept the Four Holy Beasts Guardian Seal: Starfire and the Demon Dragon’s Four Heavenly King’s Bell while returning the Two Spirit Charm.
“Thank you so much,” she said. Therese put the two accessories on, and balls of floating magic started to appear in the air around her—like her magic was even more boosted beyond the Two Spirit Charm.
“Quite a display of power,” the Demon Dragon said. “You are still below me, perhaps, but you could easily reach the level of a hero.” Therese gave a confident giggle in reply.
“Watch out, Demon Dragon. It might only be a matter of time before I steal the throne of the one who commands magic,” she warned.
“Hah, dream on!” the Demon Dragon scoffed.
“This is all thanks to you, Master Craftsman. I will respond to your expectations, I promise,” Therese told me. She suddenly had a totally different personality, almost. I hadn’t expected her to change so much, and it almost prompted a name change . . .
“Motoyasu III,” I said.
“Mr. Naofumi? Seeing this new side of Therese made you think of the Spear Hero, didn’t it?” Raphtalia said. It was getting to be like she could read my mind.
“Hey. Kiddo! What does that mean? What are you thinking about Therese?” L’Arc demanded.
“Can’t you see it? Your girlfriend is undergoing a complete change in personality. If you don’t have her return to her old self quickly, we’ll end up with Motoyasu III on our hands,” I warned him.
“I don’t even know who this ‘Motoyasu’ is. The Spear Hero?” Kizuna asked, butting in.
“Boo!” Filo shouted. She knew who we were talking about.
“When I first met her, she seemed like such a normal, gentle girl . . . and look at her now,” Raphtalia said. I could only agree with her. Kizuna and the others seemed to have noticed the changes in Therese too. It was no exaggeration to call this a change on a Motoyasu level.
“If she starts to end everything with ‘I say!’ then take those accessories off her at once, or it will be too late,” I warned.
“Do they carry the risk of such a curse?” L’Arc asked.
“No . . . don’t worry about it,” I said. “Therese, tell us your plan.”
“You haven’t guessed it already?” she asked.
“Not without some more hints I haven’t!” I replied. She looked puzzled that any further explanation was required.
“Very well. If I walk through the capital of the enemy nation, in this current state, I should be able to easily obtain information from jewels. That is how appealing these accessories are,” she said.
“Oh, okay,” I said, maybe expecting more. She was going to use those accessories as jewel bait—a plan exploiting the specific tastes of a race.
“If the enemy does have any jewels among his forces . . . I’ll be able to turn them to our ends,” Therese said with absolute confidence. I hoped that would last.
“You can go do your own thing, Therese. We’ll run our own operation at the same time,” I said. “As you order, Master Craftsman,” Therese replied.
“Kiddo! You’re going to leave Therese like this? That’s too dangerous!” L’Arc exclaimed.
“If you have an issue with it, use the power of your love to return her to normal,” I told her.
“You twist the situation with clever words, but you’re the one who turned her into this!” L’Arc retorted. I didn’t care about any of that, and this was not my fault. If anything, L’Arc was just lacking in love.
“We just have to believe that L’Arc’s love can turn Therese back and continue with this fight in our own way,” I said.
“You sound like a bad voiceover added to the cliffhanger for a cancelled series!” Kizuna blurted out. She was clearly quite the otaku herself. “You’re the one at fault here, Naofumi!”
“Kizuna. We can’t spend all our time on this one issue. We’ll just have to support her and stop things from taking a wrong turn,” Glass said. Glass had her head on straight. “Can we please proceed to the next issue?” I wasn’t to blame for Therese. I reaffirmed that to myself. It was the lack of skill among the craftsmen of this world, and L’Arc himself, that was to blame.
“Moving on,” I said, following up with Glass. “We’ll have the Demon Dragon and Filo infiltrate them first. After they’ve gathered some local information, then we fight. That’s about it.”
“Boo!” Filo said, unhappy with her role—she’d been in a mood since becoming the heavenly king of the wind.
“Very well,” the Demon Dragon said more amicably. “If you so desire it, Shield Hero, so be it.” This was all new for Filo, after all. Still looking upset, she proceeded to produce her upgraded morning star—now a bolas—out from under her wing and swing it around. When she was in her monster form, she could use the bolas with her foot, charging in and hitting enemies as she went past, really making use of her natural mobility. I also wanted to equip her with some claws, if possible.
“We have no idea what kind of attacks they might try, so we need to enhance ourselves as much as possible while we can,” I told everyone. To be quite honest about it, our only plan of action was to try and discover the power-up methods we didn’t know yet, hoping that they could help us win. Being able to provide magical enhancement would be a big boon too . . . However, we were making progress on the issues that S’yne’s sister had warned us about. Now we could reflect nullification away. With the skill version, in particular, all it took was the right timing. The old lady and old man had researched the technique version and then taught it to us. That one worked about a third of the time, at the moment. All we could do was keep on practicing.
“Moving on. With my recent research, I have finally completed a dish that meets all of your demands—easy to obtain, easy to eat, and efficiently providing experience. I’m not talking about the ultimate in cuisine. I’m talking about efficiency here,” I revealed.
“I’m not sure I understand, but it sounds quite incredible,” Kizuna said. “Something also sounds a little . . . out of place about it though,” she added. I ignored her. The entire concept was that they didn’t have to eat too much.
I indicated for the food to be carried in from the kitchen. The noble had been snacking and posing after eating the richer prototype samples. The food coming in now was the finished dish, with a less aggressive flavor. At a glance, it looked like a chocolate cake. This came from my world—my original world, Earth—where it was called “blood pudding.” In the north of Europe, many people were puzzled by the taste even when they knew what it was made from. If I told these guys what it was, they wouldn’t eat it. If I even said the name, the holy weapon translator would do its work and they would run for the hills. So I had decided not to tell them. Let them eat it first and decide based on that.
It had been hard to get the pancake-like texture, that was for sure.
“Is it a chocolate cake? It looks very rich,” Kizuna said.
“Don’t ask questions. Just eat,” I told them. “If you want to put something on it, there’s some syrup there.” I placed down the blood pudding and sliced it up into pieces for everyone.
“You made this yourself, kiddo? Then it must taste great. Let’s just try it,” L’Arc said. He led the way and everyone started eating. Filo gave it a sniff and left it on her plate, looking at it with a furrow in her brow.
“Master . . .” she started. She was normally such a glutton; I was a little surprised at her hesitation . . . but it was definitely a love-it-or-leave-it kind of dish.
“Raph,” said Raph-chan.
“Pen,” said Chris. The two of them sniffed at the blood pudding on their own plates, then looked at me . . . Yeah, they had worked it out too. I’d expect no less from Raph-chan. They reacted the same as Filo . . . but were still eating it. That was the big difference.
“I see. This does look most efficient. Extremely logical, in fact. And you have made it quite flavorful too . . . well done.” Ethnobalt also seemed to have worked out what it was but accepted it and started eating anyway. Raphtalia watched everyone else and then timidly started to eat it herself.
“Mr. Naofumi, it’s safe to trust you, right?” she asked.
“Of course. Eat this and you’ll be ready for anything our enemies want to throw at us,” I said. It would be difficult to find anything better suited to bringing out the blessings of the cooking enhancement than this. S’yne was already on her second helping, I noticed.
“Little Naofumi. Could you make us something that goes a little better with a drink?” Sadeena asked.
“Yeah. How about some sausage?” Shildina asked. From their requests, it sounded like the killer whale sisters knew what was in it too! The pair of them had a good sense of taste.
“I made this myself from the same materials. What do you think?” Shildina showed me an ofuda. It seemed we had found good material.
“Hey, this is pretty good . . . Wow, hold on! I’m seeing an incredible increase in experience and abilities! And even an imbued effect?!” Kizuna exclaimed. A single slice of this was equal to an entire stacked plate of my other cooking in terms of abilities increases and bonuses. It wouldn’t give all that much experience, but it was surely better than feeling bloated from eating too much. “It tastes good, but not so good you want to stuff yourself with it. It really finds a common ground.”
“Indeed,” Glass agreed. “If we could manage to eat some of this with every meal, we should be able to cover any gaps in the other power-up methods,” Raphtalia said.
“This is amazing!” L’Arc said. “It’s a bit salty, but really great otherwise!”
“I can’t believe you made this,” Yomogi said. “Impressive.”
“I know. It’s like strength is welling up from inside me!” Tsugumi agreed, also surprised. “I think I could fight all night.” I was pleased that everyone seemed to be liking it, anyway.
“You really can do anything, can’t you, Naofumi?” Kizuna said.
“Kizuna, we need you to learn to do things like this and to make new things of your own too. Once your issues here are resolved, I’ll be going back to our world,” I told her. A holy weapon hero who left everything to me, and was unable to do anything herself, was just a fool. Take Itsuki—whenever we ate now, he always played an experience-boosting song that he had gone out of his way to find and learn. It was a different piece from the Glutton God Tango that promoted digestion.
“I know, I know,” she said lamely.
With that, my blood pudding was eaten up in the blink of an eye.
“If we can make this a regular dish, I think you’ll all be strong enough to face whatever we have coming,” I said. “Agreed?”
“Yeah. Why not? I think it gives better stat increases than some level-ups might,” Kizuna said.
“That said, I’m pretty sure we’ll hit some kind of limit somewhere,” I replied. After reaching a certain bonus multiplier, the incoming numbers dropped off. That was often a thing. I was pretty sure a wall like that was waiting for us somewhere up ahead.
“Now can you tell us . . . just what is this? It looks like a pancake, at a glance. Is it easy to make?” Kizuna asked. The Demon Dragon, unable to hold it in any longer, folded her arms and spread her wings to hover in triumph in the air. I didn’t need her rubbing it in and waved her down. Kizuna looked at the dragon’s smiling face, then looked back at me. “Did you make it from materials we found at the Demon Dragon’s castle? That would make them kind of rare, right?” Kizuna continued.
“They are rare, but we have easy access. Otherwise, it wouldn’t fit the requirements. We need enough to stuff every single person here, after all,” I said.
“. . . Hey, Naofumi. Can you just tell us what it’s made from?” Kizuna said.
“It looks like nothing more than a chocolate-colored pancake with a salty flavor,” Itsuki said, providing his own impressions.
“Indeed,” Rishia agreed, also sounding a little puzzled.
“But the flavor wasn’t chocolate,” Kizuna said. “Just where is this color coming from?” Everyone was starting to look worried, like I’d fed them something terrifying. It wasn’t as bad as all that.
“It’s just a highly efficient dish, that’s all. The detoxification process is a little annoying, but it’s clearly worth the trouble,” I said.
“Huh? Did you just say ‘detoxification?’” Raphtalia asked. They seemed to have realized that I wasn’t going to give a proper answer, and so almost everyone there looked over at Filo. The killer whale sisters were eating it while knowing what it was, so they had likely decided to keep their mouths closed. Filo was the outlier here because she hadn’t eaten anything yet.
I’d removed all the poison from it. But they were all looking at me as though something horrific was inside. I felt a bit conflicted about that. They had all said they liked it while they were eating it.
“Hold on, Naofumi . . .” Kizuna pointed down to the blood pudding, her face turning pale.
“Tell me, Kizuna . . . if there was a game in which you gathered ingredients to make food and enhance your allies, what kind of ingredients do you think would make the food with the best effects?” I asked her.
“uhHuh? I guess something you’d find in a hidden dungeon or maybe on the final stage . . .” Kizuna pondered. She suddenly looked again at the Demon Dragon, who still had a superior look on her face.
“Correct,” I said. “This is blood pudding. As you might guess from the name, I mixed in blood from the Demon Dragon with the ingredients.”
“Fehhhhhh!” said Rishia at once. I decided to give her that one. As soon as I revealed the truth, everyone who lacked general composure—everyone other than Raphtalia, Raph-chan, the killer whale sisters, Itsuki, and Ethnobalt—put their hands to their mouths and ran for the door.
“What’s your problem?” I shouted. “This is super-efficient food. Eat it all!”
“Kiddo, seriously?! There are some lines you shouldn’t cross!” L’Arc shouted back. I didn’t care. We had bigger fish to fry than eating a bit of blood pudding. I found out later that L’Arc tried to throw up but couldn’t—his body knew what was good for him.
“I am literally giving my body here,” the Demon Dragon said, very upset. “It must not go to waste! Unforgivable!” They had eaten it, after all. Going to try and throw it up was the problem.
“I don’t need forgiveness from you!” L’Arc shot back.
“After I went to all that trouble to make an easy-to-eat blood pudding! Maybe I’ll try a Bloody Mary next time. At least the killer whale sisters will drink it!” I said. A more direct delivery system might increase the effect too.
“That’s not the problem!” L’Arc shouted.
“Is this really the only way through the battles that lie ahead?” Raphtalia questioned.
“You aren’t convincing anyway, covering yourselves in weapons and armor I made!” the Demon Dragon raged.
“We did make some stuff after we defeated you, sure . . . but that feels a little different to me,” Kizuna said.
“It’s the same thing, surely. We draw blood from the Demon Dragon, who then recovers it by eating and using healing magic and medicine. Meanwhile, we use that blood, which is basically power extracted from the dragon, by mixing it in with our food and eating it. It boosts our own experience-gathering. That allows us to provide the Demon Dragon with even better food,” I explained. The ideal relationship, a real circle-of-life thing going on. If they didn’t want to rely on the Demon Dragon, we could raise a monster better suited to the task. It was just that the Demon Dragon’s blood had seemed the best suited to conversion into a foodstuff. I honestly couldn’t believe any other monster would be able to provide the same volume of material as the Demon Dragon either. Maybe they would accept Filo? She was the heavenly king of the wind now. I looked over at her . . . to see her shaking her head furiously.
“Boo! What are you going to cook me into?!” she asked.
“I bet Motoyasu would eat it, no matter what I make,” I said.
“What?!” Filo exclaimed. I could think of a few jokes to spin off from there, but I wasn’t normally one for crude humor.
“I think Kizuna and the others would accept some chicken broth. However, it will mean you need to take a long, hot bath, Filo,” I told her.
“Never!” she replied.
“Filo’s leftover bathwater? That’s pretty hardcore!” Kizuna said. Motoyasu would probably drink it until he drowned. Love could be a harsh mistress . . .
“That reminds me, in Siltvelt there was that dish made with milk from female therianthropes. Wasn’t there . . .” Raphtalia muttered, her eyes off in the distance. I’d heard about that one.
“This dish is top-shelf stuff,” I said. “If you’re not going to eat it, go ahead and get killed in battle and hold us all back!”
“That’s dirty, kiddo!” L’Arc retorted. I mean, some of them might not like the flavor, but this was by far the most efficient food I could make at the moment.
“Think of it as a nutritional supplement,” I said. Yomogi and Tsugumi had said something like that. They should think of it as something used by those cubicle warriors who needed a kick to make it through another hour of overtime.
“Dammit,” L’Arc cursed.
“We might even drain the dragon dry and get rid of her!” I said.
“Give it a try if you can!” the Demon Dragon crowed. At least she was playing along.
“It feels like we’ve reached our inevitable destination . . . How like you, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia said, seemingly giving up.
“Beggars can’t be choosers . . . We need to do whatever we can to overcome the trials ahead,” Glass said, reluctantly agreeing. The only ones who still had a problem were Kizuna and L’Arc.
Still, even though this involved a little force-feeding, the enhancement using the mirror vassal weapon was going well. The book enhancement was proceeding too. My worry was how much of a difference the holy weapon power-up methods that we still didn’t know about were going to make for our enemies. In terms of levels, we would just keep raising them—without knowing how far we should be taking it.
“Hmmm.” The Demon Dragon was frowning a little. Her ears pricked up.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I sense a strange presence closing in within my territory,” she replied. I wondered what that could mean—another visitor like Ren II, perhaps. In the same moment, a messenger appeared in the meeting room.
“Emergency report, King L’Arc! We’ve received word that hostile forces are marching toward our borders,” the man reported.
“Looks like they’ve seized the initiative,” I said.
“Bah! Very well! Let all our allies know! Prepare to march!” L’Arc shouted.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login