Chapter 1149

Although my hero stats had boosted my charm by several times, I would never call myself the most sociable person. If anything, as I grew stronger, my intimidation level seemed to grow at roughly the same level as my charm. A tall muscular man with the scent of blood and the knowledge to kill monsters on him would feel slightly frightening, so even if I had charm, I wouldn’t say it helped much these days. Maybe it helped followers be willing to listen to me, but I had long gotten over such worrying thoughts as that the women in my life only loved me because of some random status.

On the other hand, cooking was the one skill I had that seemed to bring people to me. I might be overusing it at this point, but I enjoyed seeing people enjoy the food I made. Maybe that was why I liked Eliana so much since she was a major foodie who would always make cute noises when she ate something particularly tasty.noVe-lb/In

The little girl was similar, it seemed. Well, she wasn’t as bad as Eliana, but she seemed to be excited by what I was cooking as well. She leaned near as her mother tried to stop her. She took a big sniff of the pot.

“Mmm! That smells good. The food we have at the mansion is rather plain. Once in a while, we have some berries which is a sweet dessert, but it’s usually just dried meat and porridge.”

“I’m the one who cooks it.” The old lady sighed helplessly.

“Fifi! Get back in your seat.”

“Your name is Fifi?” I asked, looking down at the girl.

“Only mom calls me that...” she blushed.

Was Elaya not her original name? I supposed that it made sense that Elaya was her stage or working name. After all, my real name was Deacon, but I used Deek in this world. That’s not saying that Elaya came from another world, but she may have changed her name when she became the Maid Hero, right?

I scooped out a bowl of food for each of the girls, and also one for myself. These were technically not real people. I didn’t know what they were. Were they just dungeon monsters given a different karmic purpose, like the skeletons from the Twilight Dungeon who acted like humans? Well, even if they were monsters, that didn’t mean they weren’t real. At least, that’s what I thought.

Fifi grew more animated after eating a bit, excitedly talking to me about food. She kept asking about various spices. Half of the stuff I used didn’t come from this world, so I was only able to help so far.

“It would be great if I could be a cook.” She sighed happily. “Then brother would...”

Her words stopped, and her expression darkened. She wanted to cook so that her brother would come back. I opened my mouth, and then I closed it. I just couldn’t bring myself to ask the questions I wanted to know.

The mother gasped, touching her neck. A trace of magic showed an outline around her neck. I hadn’t noticed it before, and I hadn’t even really been looking at it. It was only because I had grown able to see individual strands of mana that I was able to notice it. I immediately became aware of what it was. It was a slave seal. She wasn’t just a servant. The mother was a slave. Although her slave mark was hidden, I could see the restrictive mana directly now.

I checked Fifi out carefully, but I didn’t see a familiar line around her neck. So, the daughter wasn’t a slave. I supposed the brother couldn’t have left if he was a slave as well.

“The master and mistress are returning, we need to go.” The mother declared in panic.

“Um, perhaps I should...” I stood up, trying to ease her.

Maybe, if I talked to them, I could help.

“It’s best if you go.” The old woman suddenly started shoving me along.

“W-wait!” Fifi began to panic as she saw me being pushed away.

“H-hey...” I frowned at the old maid. “What’s the big idea?”

The mother had grabbed a bucket of water and tossed it on the fire, causing it to go out with a sizzle. She then grabbed her daughter’s hand, pulling her in the opposite direction that the old maid was pushing me. Fifi reached out for me, letting out a cry, but her mother kept pulling her away. I turned around, glaring at the old lady. I didn’t want to hurt her, but if she kept pushing me, I wouldn’t be polite.

“What’s the big idea?” I demanded.

“You have more to see.” She shoved me surprisingly hard, and I found myself stumbling back through the foliage into the forest.

This was an area that should have been a wall, but I went right through it. With a cry, I tried to step forward and slammed right into an impassable barrier of foliage. Just as I was about to hit it, I heard a scream behind me.

I spun around to see a small house. It was night now, and an ominous glow was coming from the crack in the door. I was already in the next part of the story. How long had it been this time?