Volume 3 - CH 14.1

「Today was seriously bad. I felt despair when Lilia and the others fell.」

「Right...There were no strong enemies other than the golem at the end of the fall and the one that Master had defeated, but I was extremely anxious just because my usual friends were not with me」

「The formation was completely different. ...... I thought how reassuring it was to have Mars-san and Nemu-chan in front of me.」

Everyone slumped down in the living room of Mars' treasury and gave their impressions of the day.

The shock was great, as they had all spent the day together without ever leaving each other until now.

「You girls should go ahead and take a bath first. Take your time. Meanwhile, I'm going to prepare dinner.」

「Do you need any help?」

「No, I'm fine. Lilia seems to be the most tired. You must be exhausted, aren't you?」

「Yes. ...... I'm not really suited to be the head of a group.」

Lilia, with her hand on her forehead and nodding, seemed to be suffering not only from physical exhaustion but also from mental fatigue.

Rarely does anyone have the ability to lead a group.

The difficulty level is even higher in a life-threatening situation.

Lucille was lying on the floor, equally exhausted.

She must have been acting with a different mindset than last night. Simple exhaustion.

「Did you make up?」

「Yes,...... maybe. I think she's forgiven me...... and I have to apologize to you, too. I hurt someone important enough to risk his life to come to our rescue.」

「If Lilia forgives you, I won't be mad at you either. ――So, take a bath and get some rest. Are you a little uncomfortable with all of you going in together?」

「No, it's okay. I have nothing to hide now.」

――Because she has exposed her innermost thoughts.......I guess that's what she means.

I think exposing her body is another matter, but they are of the same sex and she doesn't care.

「And....thank you」

「Hmm? Earlier? Don't worry about it.」

「Yeah .....You were cool. I'm still so excited. ......――Y-You're really strong, aren't you?」

For Mars, saving his friends is not such a special act that he goes out of his way to appeal to them.

So he thought the cause of Lucille's blushing was a remnant of the exuberance of battle, and he didn't realize it had another meaning.

「Because Nemu has worked so hard today, so Nemu wants a feast-nya?」

「Of course. I'll make a mountain of everyone's favorite food. What do you like, Lucille-chan?」

Nemu, flicking her ears from side to side, came up to Mars with an upward glance.

Mars recognizes Nemu's hard work, so he's going to make a feast for her.

「I'm ......」

Mars and the others don't know what Lucille's favorite food is.

They had little to talk about last night either because they had barely had a meal since Lucille found out Lilia was an elf.

「――I really wanted to try that pie Lilia made. It looked so crispy and delicious. ......」

Lucille blushed again, her brown skin flushed, her mouth covered with the back of her hand, and she was embarrassed.

Hazuki and the others grinned, but Lilia hid her embarrassment as well as Lucille.

「Lucille is so dere-dere once she gets dere-dere, isn't she!? I wonder if the royal family is all tsundere!?」

「D-Don't make fun of me, ......」

「I-It can't be helped.! It will take some work, but I'll make it for you!」

「I'll get the pie crust ready.」

Lilia, who is speaking in an abusive tone, folds her arms, and makes a blatant attempt to hide her embarrassment by avoiding eye contact, is adorable, Mars thinks.

――I'm so glad they're all alive.

And once again, I have to brace myself.

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Leaving Lilia and the others to finish the meal, Mars also took a bath.

After washing his body, he quickly soaked himself in the bathtub.

His muscles are at their peak of fatigue, and his whole body is hot, so he couldn't stay in the bath for long.

「Everyone is waiting, let's get up quickly......Both my arms and legs are heavy!」

The sensation of being pulled into the water with a zap is stronger than usual.

The damage from the over-exertion and 【Body strengthening】 had come.

Although not broken, he could feel the tearing of the muscles.

When he returned to the living room with his hair wet, he found the four of them struggling to continue cooking.

Lilia was in charge, keeping Hazuki and the others in line as they moved about as they pleased.

The women were wearing aprons, their hair pulled back in a bun, and triangular hoods.

「Hazuki! It's overcooked! It will turn into charcoal, you know!? And no snacking!」

「Lucille! Have you never cooked before!? Rock salt is to be shaved! You can't put it in the whole thing!」

「Nemu! ――Eh, how can you cream a cake so well!?」

Lilia was giving instructions to Hazuki and Lucille, who cannot cook, while making a homemade pie, but was astonished only by the after-dinner dessert, a whole cake made by Nemu.

The sponge part was prepared by Mars, and only the final decoration was left to Nemu.

The large cake was filled with cream like a work of art without any irregularities.

It was a level that surpassed the ready-made cakes of his previous life.

「Nemu tried it, and it worked-nya」

「Are you a genius!? Eh, is it so easy to do it by just trying-nya!? ――I was caught at the end of a sentence again!」

Then Lilia notices Mars returning.

The bullish instructions she had given earlier had gone silent.

「I was shown you my shameful side ......」

「No, no, no, it's fine. It's interesting. I just wish you'd try saying 'nya' again. I mean, seriously, you're amazing, Nemu-chan. ...... You have unexpected talent in many places. You're all so talented.」

「Is it amazing-nya?」

「I think I'll leave it to Nemu-chan to finish the sweets from now on. You're totally better than me. For real. You're talented in the art field. ......」

「Then pet Nemu's head-nya! Pet her head where her ears are-nya!」

Mars stroked Nemu's head as she pushed her head up and watched everyone else cook.

Nemu purrr and her face relaxed as if she was very comfortable.

「The surface is black, but why isn't the inside burned. ......! It's a bloody murder case!?」

「The firepower is too high. ...... What a waste」

Cutting a chunk of meat, Hazuki is shocked at the bright red cross-section.

Lilia can only hold her head. It's not roast beef. It's just raw.

「The soup is getting bumpy! It is going to explode if it keeps going like this!? Look, it's spilling!」

「It's probably just coming to a boil! Turn down the heat and let it stand for a while!」

Lucille is Lucille at her clumsy best.

She doesn't even understand the phenomenon of boiling very well.

Haaah.......With a huge sigh, Leia hides her face in her hands and crouched down.

It seems that leadership is not for me after all.

「Sounds like a lot of trouble ...... I guess I should help after all」

「Right-nyaa ......The fish is about to be cooked-nya! It smells so good-nyaa!」

「Nemu-chan is actually a good cook ......?」」

The fish being grilled was a large whole fish, but it looked just about cooked through.

Nemu seemed to have chosen the best time to cook the fish by smell and hearing alone.

The skill to know when the fish is at its best is the most important skill in cooking.

「I prefer to specialize in eating. ......Mars-san's cooking is the best!」

「I thought yesterday, too, that you are a good cook. Dwarf food is either salty or greasy, so these human meals are so fresh and delicious.」

「That's obvious. Master can do anything.」

「Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? There are many things I can't do normally.」

Cheeks puffed out, and everyone smacked their lips into their meals.

It's been an all-out day, so even if they try to hide it, everyone is hungry and gobbles it down.

「Hazuki-nyan's blackened raw meat tastes good when you're tired-nya. But now Nemu is going to grill it, okay-nya?

「For ruining the high-quality product........I'm sorry」

「I've peeled off the burnt bits and remade it, so I think it's ready to eat.」

「Cooking is so difficult. ......It was the first time I'd done that. And it made me realize that I'm not very good at detail work. I didn't realize it was so hard to make a flavor I knew.」

With a sullen look on her face, Lucille eats the pie Lilia made.

Instantly, she rolls her eyes.

「Delicious ......! I've never had anything like this even in the Royal Palace!」

「That's elven home cooking, you know?」

「Elven ......――yeah, it doesn't matter. Good food is good food. Good people are good people even if they are of different races. I don't judge people by their race anymore.」

Lucille smiled as if she had made up her mind and silently brought the food to her mouth.

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