—o—
Stigmata Space, Yae Village.
To lure out Higokumaru, Chiaki and the others had prepared several hundred pounds of fried tofu.
However, fried tofu alone wasn’t enough.
At the end of the day, it was just an ingredient; it had to be combined with other things to create a delicious dish.
Chiaki grinned.
“In other words, we need to create a fried tofu dish so unbelievably delicious that Higokumaru can smell it from miles away!”
“A cooking competition?
I want to join!” Artoria declared, full of anticipation.
“Perfect.
I brought pots, pans, and a gas stove,” Raiden Mei said, showing off her arsenal.
“It’s rare to get a chance to cook freely.
Watch me show you what I can do.” Talulah stepped forward confidently.
“In the snowfields, I used leftovers and confiscated canned goods to make several hearty meals for everyone in the Reunion Movement.
Alina, FrostNova, Patriot, and the Shieldguard squad members were moved to tears by my cooking, devouring everything in sight.”
“That sounds great.”
With the group’s expectations high, the dragon girl named Talulah planned to make a Borscht with fried tofu.
Everyone was looking forward to the Reunion leader’s culinary skills, right up until she decided to forego the gas stove and instead put on a show of igniting a fire with her Originium Arts to roast fish and mushrooms.
The heat, however, was clearly not right.
Kiana’s eyelid twitched.
If Higokumaru ate this, forget about making her feel loved, she’d probably turn evil on the spot and vow to destroy humanity just to erase this abominable creation from the world.
“Our mission is to win over Higokumaru, not assassinate her!” Kiana protested on Higokumaru’s behalf, interrupting Talulah’s cooking.
“It seems to me you’re the one who doesn’t know how to cook!”
Having her cooking stopped mid-process and her food accused of being an assassination poison, Talulah was furious.
“Talulah, there’s no shame in admitting your own mistakes and shortcomings.
But being stubborn is your fault.”
“Hah, I was cooking for people in the snowfields before you were even born.”
“Don’t underestimate me!
I’ve been cooking for myself since I was a little kid.
As for you, are you sure everyone wasn’t just too scared to complain because of your position as leader?”
“Very well.
I’m starting to get angry.
You, a rookie chef, dare to question my cooking skills.
It’s time I showed you the true power of a red dragon.”
Talulah’s face twitched uncontrollably.
Her cooking was unanimously approved by the Reunion Movement!
It was one thing for Kiana not to understand, but to mock her like this was absolutely detestable!
Kiana was equally unyielding.
“I’ll stake the honor of the Kaslana family in the culinary world!
I will utterly crush you!”
What are you two, six of one and half a dozen of the other, getting so fired up about?
And you, Kiana, what honor does the Kaslana family even have in the culinary world?
Are you sure it’s not a disgrace to the culinary world?
Chiaki complained silently.
He had no doubt that the food made by either of them would be inedible.
But if he said that out loud, they would probably team up against him.
The best choice was to just watch the show.
With that in mind, he stood behind Talulah.
“I’m on Team Talulah.”
“Hey!
Chiaki, aren’t we best friends?!
Why are you supporting Talulah!!
Have you really betrayed me?!?” Kiana was enraged.
“Calm down, my dear Kiana.
People need a little distance between them sometimes.
That being the case, why can’t that ‘sometimes’ be today?” Chiaki smiled, deciding to enjoy the show from the best seat in the house.
Talulah gloated, “Kiana, I don’t recall you two being best friends.
Don’t forget, I was the first one in the group to interact with Chiaki.”
“Then I’ll be on Team Kiana,” Seele said after a moment’s thought, standing behind Kiana.
“Hey!
Seele, you!” Talulah was in disbelief.
As fellow members of the “Snowfield Beggar Duo,” Seele had actually betrayed her!
“Well, how should I put this…
even though I’ve never had your cooking, I think I have a good idea of what it tastes like, so I don’t really want to support you,” Seele said, knowing full well what food cooked by someone who had survived in the snowfields tasted like.
“So childish.” Sakiko shook her head.
These people were actually fighting over something like this and splitting into teams.
They clearly had too much time on their hands.
“I actually find it quite interesting.
You carry too heavy a burden, Sakiko.
Just relax a little.” Raiden Mei stood behind Kiana.
“How condescending of you.” Toyokawa Sakiko chose to side with Talulah.
Though she called it childish, she was actually having quite a bit of fun.
The remaining members, Utena and Artoria, naturally picked opposite sides, bringing the team rosters to an even 4v4.
Kiana put on a cool expression, her face grim.
“We’re evenly matched.”
Talulah’s fighting spirit was soaring.
“In that case, we can only settle this with our cooking!”
—o—
Thirty minutes later, looking at the army stew and a pile of unidentifiable black sludge on the table, everyone smiled with a sense of relief.
A military survivalist feast versus Kaslana cuisine.
Truly a battle of equals.
How could something like this possibly attract Higokumaru?
—o—
From the Tenshukaku, Higokumaru, who had smelled the stench of ‘death’ from miles away, was seething with rage.
She could tell it was the smell of fried tofu, but…
that smell couldn’t be called food at all!
Initially, she had planned to observe this strange group of people who had suddenly barged into her space, or perhaps send Yae Sakura to deal with them and let her fall into depravity by killing them.
Who would have thought they would actually start cooking fried tofu?
This made her decide to observe a little longer.
If it was delicious, killing them later wouldn’t be a problem.
But she never imagined…
You motherfuckers!
You’re wasting fried tofu!
I’m going to kill you!
Humiliated and enraged, Higokumaru now had only one thought in her mind—kill, kill, kill!
Kill every last one of these bastards who were wasting fried tofu!
A giant fox wreathed in ghostly flames descended from the sky, smashing the group’s culinary creations with a single swipe of its paw and letting out a furious roar.
“Can you even fucking cook?!
If you can’t, then don’t waste food!
Bastards!!!” the giant fox bellowed, its malice overflowing.
“My…
my masterpiece that I worked so hard on…
You!
Do you have any idea how much time and effort I spent on this pot for you?!” Talulah lost her usual composure and flew into a sudden rage.
“You naturally evil little Erosion brat!
What have you done to the honor of the Kaslana culinary world!” Kiana was so angry she went full Herrscher on the spot.
In that moment, the two of them formed an unspoken alliance.
They decided they had to thrash this fox and teach her what it meant to respect the fruits of others’ labor.
Meanwhile, Chiaki and the others silently gave Higokumaru a thumbs-up from behind.
The naturally kind Herrscher of Erosion, you did well.
If it weren’t for you, we might have been the ones tasting that stuff.
The thought that Rin would go to such lengths for them moved Chiaki deeply.
He immediately tried to stop Kiana and Talulah.
“Ladies, please go easy on her.
Our goal is to win her over, not obliterate her on the spot.”
“Don’t worry, we know our limits.”
—o—
Two hours passed.
A thoroughly beaten Higokumaru woke up to find herself trussed up and tied to the ground.
Kiana and Talulah, the ones who had just beaten her, were now holding what was probably poison meant to assassinate her, their faces filled with gentle smiles as they loomed over her.
“Rin, you’re awake.
Here, it’s time to eat.”
“Stay away from me!!!”
Higokumaru let out a desperate, bloodcurdling scream.