As soon as Leo said that, the already awkward atmosphere in the camp instantly froze over.
“Ah… well, the night is really beautiful tonight…”
Balke nearly sprayed out the mouthful of cheap ale he had just swallowed.
He coughed twice and stared at Leo as if he were an idiot.
Ranger Misi silently turned his head, covered his face with his hand, and his shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.
Shield Warrior Brenda scratched his bald head with a simple look and sincerely glanced up at the sky.
Right then, a chilling night wind blew through.
The moon, which had been hazy and barely showing a sliver of its outline, was completely blocked by an extremely thick dark cloud.
The entire Mist Forest plunged into a darkness so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, leaving only the campfire flickering weakly.
“Pfft—”
Se Se Lin couldn’t hold it in and let out an extremely piercing snort.
“Young Master, look—it’s pitch black. Where did you see that the night is beautiful?”
“Young Master, your ability to lie through your teeth is even more astonishing than your Water Bullet spell.”
From the branches, Ailiya’s cool, clear voice drifted out of the darkness, carrying a steady, rational judgment.
“If those eyes of yours haven’t been completely blinded in the previous battle, you should be able to clearly see that the night sky right now only has heavy clouds.”
“I strongly suggest that after returning to the estate, you read fewer cheap travelogues written by third-rate bards. Not only will those things corrupt your common sense, they’ll also make you say shockingly stupid things in the most inappropriate situations.”
“I…”
Leo’s face instantly turned bright red, glowing in the firelight like a ripe tomato.
He had only been trying to ease the awkwardness of being “rejected” by casually blurting out a classic line—who knew the stupid weather would be so uncooperative!
“I… I was just expressing a mood! Don’t you understand mystery! That’s the heart’s eye that sees through the clouds to the essence!”
Leo stubbornly argued back, trying to salvage his Young Master dignity that was shattered all over the ground.
“Oh? Mystery?”
Ailiya lightly jumped down from the tree trunk, landing without a sound.
She slowly walked to the campfire, the flickering flames casting her delicate jawline in an even colder light, like a spirit untouched by worldly affairs.
She looked down at Leo sitting on the ground, her ice-blue eyes carrying an undisguised mockery and sarcasm.
“Then, may I ask this Young Master who appreciates mystery—what profound secret have you discerned from this darkness? Have you sensed the stench of goblins?”
“Cough, cough, cough!!”
Balke and the others beside him were barely holding back their laughter, each of them trembling all over, shoulders jerking, afraid to let out a sound and break this strange “master-servant exchange.”
“Young Master Leo, you should keep that flirting technique for when you return to the royal capital and use it to fool those naive young noble ladies.”
Balke laughed heartily as he delivered the finishing blow.
Se Se Lin also joined in the teasing:
“Young Master, actually you don’t need to beat around the bush like this. As long as you use your Young Master authority and order that Miss Maid to show off her skills for us, since she’s a servant, how could she not obey?”
“Shut up!”
Leo glared fiercely at Se Se Lin.
Him, order Ailiya around? What a joke!
It was already a good thing that woman didn’t smack him with a mop! His butt was still aching from where she had whipped him!
“Alright, alright, let’s stop giving the young master a hard time.”
Balke waved his hand, looked at the bowl of meat and vegetable soup with gray-brown suspicious foam rolling in it—unpalatable—and sighed.
“Looks like we’re destined to gnaw on hard biscuits tonight. Everyone just make do with what we have. Eat quickly and rest; we still have to travel tomorrow.”
Though unwilling, the group could only accept the reality and began silently chewing on the hard dry rations, drinking the bowl of gamey soup.
The camp fell silent again, with only the crackling of the campfire and the teeth-grinding sound of chewing hard objects.
On the branches.
Ailiya leaned against the rough trunk, her legs dangling, swinging casually.
Her ice-blue eyes quietly watched below, looking at the boy who was dejected from not getting good food, like a big golden retriever drenched in rain, and the adventurers who were grimacing as if eating poison.
‘Truly a group of barbarians with no quality of life whatsoever.’
Ailiya evaluated coldly in her heart. She moved her mind slightly and summoned the translucent system panel that only she could see.
Her gaze skipped over the maxed-out [Basic Combat] and [Chores], and landed on the sub-job column.
[Chef LV.3 (250/300)]
Only fifty more experience points, and the Chef sub-job would level up to LV.4.
Although the Chef sub-job provided extremely weak direct stat bonuses in combat, high-level Chef skills could greatly enhance the recovery effect of food, and even attach some weak all-attribute buffs—an invisible support asset not to be ignored for high-intensity adventures later.
‘Might as well, I’m free anyway. I’ll treat it as grinding experience.’
Ailiya silently and extremely rationally convinced herself.
It was absolutely not because she pitied this group of people who could only drink slop, and absolutely not because of Leo’s pitiful stupid expression. Purely for these fifty experience points.
Having made up her mind. Whoosh— A slender black-and-white figure leaped down from the canopy, so light that it made no sound, and landed steadily by the campfire.
“Woah!”
Leo, who was chewing on a hard piece of bread and complaining indistinctly, was startled by Ailiya’s sudden jump, and the bread in his hand almost fell into the fire.
Balke and the others saw Ailiya suddenly come down, and they immediately sat up straight.
Ailiya ignored them and walked straight to the campfire. She looked down at the small iron pot that was rolling with gray-brown suspicious foam, emitting a strange fishy smell.
“Pour it out.”
Ailiya spat out two words with an expressionless face.
“Huh?”
Misi, who was in charge of the soup, froze, still holding a branch used for stirring.
“But… we haven’t eaten yet.”
“Things like these, which would make even goblins shake their heads, are generally not called food in civilized human society.”
Ailiya commented mercilessly, leaving Misi speechless.
He looked to his boss for help.
Balke quickly made wild gestures, signaling him to do as she said.
After Misi reluctantly poured that pot of dark cuisine into a distant pit, Ailiya skillfully rolled up the sleeves of her maid outfit, revealing a section of fair, slender wrist.
She cleaned the small iron pot with [Cleanse Spell] and placed it back on the campfire.
“Young Master.”
Ailiya’s voice was still cool and clear, but seemed to lack a bit of its previous harshness.
“Given that your ‘night is beautiful’ line just now was so intellectually degrading, it seriously affected my mood as an observer to rest.”
“To prevent your brain from completely drying up due to long-term lack of nutrition, turning you into a complete burden in the upcoming journey…”
“I have decided to reluctantly take over tonight’s logistics support work.”
“Really?! That’s great!”
Leo jumped up excitedly, even forgetting the pain on his butt.
This reversal from hell to heaven made him overjoyed.
“Praise the Miss Maid!”
Se Se Lin was so excited he almost cried, directly throwing the piece of bread that hurt his teeth into the fire.
“Miss Ailiya, need any help? I’m strong.”
Brenda rubbed his hands with a simple look and hurriedly stepped forward.
“No need.”
A flash of professional chef’s focus crossed Ailiya’s eyes as she spoke briskly.
“You only need to search nearby for some fresh ingredients, and don’t disturb me.”
Hearing this, Balke and the others immediately scattered and began frantically searching for ingredients in the pitch-black forest.
“Hehehe…”
Leo sat by the campfire, chin resting on his hands, watching Ailiya’s busy profile in the firelight, secretly rejoicing in his heart.
‘What “preventing brain from drying up”… Could it be that she’s actually soft-hearted despite her tough words?’