Siloque checked the time. It was 4:00 PM—the Hour of Meeting Evil. The mist in the distant forest was thick, and the sky had taken on a strange, grayish-blue hue.
“Let’s take a rest, Hill. Inafa, could I trouble you to take us to our rooms?”
After eating breakfast this morning, Hill had helped him clean his ears. That was immediately followed by the battle where she faced enemies head-on while he used lightning to deflect and warp attacks. After that, everyone had participated in a massive cleanup of the castle. It wasn’t hard to guess that Hill was drained. Physically, she was fine, but she had reached her mental limit.
In contrast, Siloque felt like his most strenuous activity of the day had been making breakfast. During the battle, he had mostly stood beside Inafa, simply needing to be ready to trigger the traps he had set beforehand. He hadn’t even had to walk much.
Truth be told, since he spent every morning training his body with Bried as if his life depended on it, his physical stats weren’t bad. However, there really hadn’t been an opportunity for him to show off in this particular fight.
“Mm, little Hill did her best to protect me, so we can see the rest next time… Kaka. If you are interested, you can take a relaxing soak in the large bathhouse on the third floor before you rest. I shall go prepare dinner! You should look forward to it with gratitude!”
As expected of a vampire, Inafa was full of energy. Siloque looked up at the bluish, fantastical sky. Inafa’s high spirits likely had something to do with the fading light.
After temporarily settling Hill into a bedroom to rest, Siloque and Inafa went to the kitchen.
“Eh? Stupid human, you know how to cook?”
“Well… I know a little.”
“Kaka, I know how it is. Human warriors are surely only capable of mashing ingredients together and boiling them into a bland mush. There are novels and art books in the main hall. You should go kill time with those and wait for the delicious feast prepared by the Great Inafa.”
“You actually know how to cook?”
Inafa summoned a tall, thin, humanoid Blood Spirit. Its body was hairless, its head was round and shiny, and its entire form was a translucent, crystal-clear blood red. It seemed she intended to use this Blood Spirit as an assistant.
“Wait, Inafa. I’ve been meaning to ask… do you plan on permanently using ‘stupid human’ as my nickname?”
“What else? There is no need to use the name of a pervert like you.”
“Do you have any other nicknames as backups?”
Inafa fell into deep thought for a moment. “Pest, small fry, moron, idiot human, big pervert, Pink Fishy, lapdog…”
“Let’s stick with ‘stupid human.'”
‘What the heck is a Pink Fishy? Whatever, let her call me what she wants.’
Inafa briskly tied an apron around her waist, but then she suddenly paused with a contemplative look.
“What’s wrong?” Siloque asked.
“No, it is just… when I cook, I do not usually wear this outfit. Well, this will have to do for now.”
Inafa pulled a hair tie from her skirt pocket and skillfully pulled her long blonde hair back into a ponytail.
‘Not bad. A loli with a ponytail.’
In Siloque’s eyes, Inafa’s charm rating seemed to increase by 32%.
“Idiot human.” She seemed to sense Siloque’s stray thoughts and made a sour face. She then began rummaging through the kitchen for ingredients.
“Let me see… Hmm… Flour, found it. Fruit preserved with magic… No, even with magical preservation, there is too little. Ugh… Did Tiana not restock? …
Cough cough ! The oven is filled with ash. I cannot make cookies like this!”
The Guild Master, Inafa, was currently hunched over, tinkering with the fireplace oven. Beside her, the Blood Spirit was washing utensils with great efficiency. It would put a plate inside its body and take it back out, making a dusty plate sparkle in just one minute.
Siloque decided then and there that if he ever opened a shop, he would definitely hire that Blood Spirit.
Inafa, who had boasted so boldly, had run into a problem—a shortage of ingredients.
It was understandable. Usually, Inafa could survive for a year in a dormant state just by drinking a bit of blood. If she entered deep hibernation without drinking blood, she could sleep for a 100 years without issue. While she could eat normal food, there was no need to stockpile it, and she didn’t usually eat much anyway.
“…Human. Laugh if you want to.”
“You’re giving up a bit too quickly.”
Inafa, her face covered in soot, leaned against the wall. Her black-smudged face and golden eyes made her look like a piece of gold encased in coal.
“It seems tonight we can only eat some smoked meat and black bread. Hmph. I wanted to serve a grand meal to save face, especially after you helped me drive off the enemies and clean the house.”
Inafa clenched her tiny fists in frustration, her ponytail swaying dejectedly.
Siloque imagined the two of them and the ghost sitting at a refined, elegant table, gnawing on bread hard enough to break their teeth… The mental image was a bit too much. They weren’t ascetic Puritans; there was no need to be that frugal.
Siloque sighed softly. He took a towel sacred tool with a self-cleaning effect from his Ring Chart and tossed it onto Inafa’s head.
“Ugh! Stupid human, what are you trying to do? An optical illusion? …”
“Wipe your face. It’s fine.”
“I will not eat that powder made from adventurers’ dried smoked cheese, nor can I use it to entertain guests. There is a lake in the back garden. Once I go catch a few fish—???”
Shiitake mushrooms, green onions, turkey, grapes, high-gluten flour, apples, sweet berry wine, soy sauce, honey, salad oil, potatoes, chikuwa, eggs, rice, seaweed, and many, many more.
As if performing a magic trick, Siloque continuously pulled fresh ingredients from his Ring Chart, nearly filling the entire kitchen counter.
Inafa and the Blood Spirit could do nothing but stand there in a daze.