"Yeah, it’s pretty good," I agreed, continuing to remove my armor.
"So, Black Lazarus?"
Elsa took another huge bite, speaking through her mouthful in a way that completely contradicted her royal bearing.
"Yes, yes, the Demon King. Mmph—is there more of this divine creation?"
"Just what’s in the other boxes," I said, hiding a smile as I hung my chest plate on the armor stand I’d built in the corner of the kitchen. "You were saying about the Demon King?"
I remembered one from my previous life but never with a name that... unique?
Elsa swallowed her bite and reluctantly set the box down, though she kept glancing at it like it might grow legs and escape if she didn’t keep an eye on it.
"Black Lazarus is a powerful mage with aspirations to become the Demon King in control of my realm," she explained, switching to what I’d come to think of as her official princess business voice.
"According to prophecy, he seeks to use your world as a weapon against mine, and from there, conquer all kingdoms of Antheria."
She picked up the noodles again, taking another bite.
"What do you call this red sauce? It’s magnificent!"
"Tomato sauce," I answered, amused by how severely ramen had derailed her.
"So these monsters coming through the portals—"
"Are his scouts," Elsa confirmed, turning the box try to lick the sauce.
"Testing the boundaries between worlds, searching for weak points. The fact that they’ve found their way here suggests this location is important."
She held up the box with a disbelieving look on her face.
"Who created this masterpiece? They must be a culinary genius!"
"It’s just delivery," I said with a chuckle.
"Worst chain of the big three, too, but they’re all that deliver out here. So you’re saying my farm is going to be ground zero for some kind of interdimensional demon invasion?"
"Probably, yes," Elsa nodded, still fixated on the noodles.
"Though not for approximately twenty years, according to my chrono crystal."
She took another bite, closing her eyes in bliss.
"Are there other varieties of this ’noodles’?"
"Dozens I guess," I said, finally removing the last piece of my armor.
I was down to my sweat-dampened t-shirt and jeans, which felt like being naked after wearing a suit of metal.
Elsa paused mid-bite as her eyes took in my newly revealed physique.
For a moment, she seemed to forget about the noodles, which I took as quite the compliment given how she’d been worshipping it seconds earlier.
"I see the System has been quite beneficial to your physical development," she observed as her cheeks reddened slightly.
I felt my own face warming.
"Yeah, leveling up has its perks."
An awkward silence fell between us before Elsa cleared her throat and turned her attention to removing her own armor.
"Would you assist me? The back clasps are rather difficult to reach."
"Uh, sure," I said, moving behind her.
My large hands worked carefully to undo the complex fastenings of her armor.
As each piece came off, Elsa set it aside with considerably less care than I had shown my own gear.
Princess or not, she’d clearly never had to repair her own equipment.
Then again, I’d never repaired mine either.
When the last piece of armor was removed, she stood in what amounted to a backless form-fitting silk undergarment on top—something between a sports bra and a halter top—and what could only be described as brief silk shorts at the bottom.
The outfit revealed a lot more of her toned, pale body than I had been prepared to see.
"Much better," she sighed, stretching like a cat.
She caught me averting my eyes out of respect—and uncertainty—and smiled mischievously.
"Does my form discomfort you, Grey Coleman? I assure you, this is standard attire beneath feminine battle armor in my kingdom."
"Nope, all good," I managed, relaxing when it was clear she wouldn’t hold gawking a little against me.
"Are you, uh, still hungry? There’s more food in the fridge."
"Perhaps later," Elsa said, moving to sit at my small kitchen table.
She reached down to unbuckle her heavy combat boots, revealing delicate feet that seemed almost too small and cute to support even her tiny frame.
"For now, I’d like to learn more about you, Sir Grey. Particularly how you’ve managed to survive these rifts for so long."
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and joined her at the table.
"Like I said, they started small. Just one every few days at first. I’d go out, kill whatever came through, and go back to my uneventful life. But they’ve been getting more frequent and the things coming through have been getting tougher."
"The barriers between realms are weakening," Elsa said with a nod.
"It will continue to worsen as Black Lazarus’s power grows."
A blue icon began flashing in the corner of my vision—something that had started happening about a month ago whenever I was in a "safe zone" as the system called it.
I focused on the icon, and a larger interface appeared before me—visible only to my eyes, I’d discovered.
It showed my stats, inventory, and various other game-like elements that had become increasingly detailed as I leveled up.
[ USER: Grey Coleman
LEVEL: 15
CLASS: Undetermined
SKILLS: Weapon Proficiency: Swords III, Weapon Proficiency: Knives II, Battlefield Awareness II, Armor Proficiency: Plate II, Muscular Recovery Boost I, Basic Regeneration II, Infection Resistance I, Shield Proficiency I
QUESTS: Survive the Night (Ongoing); The Princess Comes (New) ]
"What are you looking at?" Elsa asked, noticing my distant gaze.
"My status screen," I replied.
"It’s like... a window that shows me information about myself and my abilities. Huh. There’s a quest about you in there now."
Her blue eyes went big.
"About me? Now that is quite interesting," Elsa said, leaning forward eagerly.
"May I ask what level you’ve achieved?"
"Just hit level fifteen tonight," I answered.
"Level fifteen!" Elsa exclaimed, looking genuinely impressed.