“How is it? Not bad for my cooking, right?”
At first, Su Yao felt a little unsure of herself, but after tasting the food she had just served, her confidence steadily grew.
Setting aside the ingredients, the flavor was far better than the crabs from her original world. King crab probably tasted about like this, she supposed—though she had never actually tried it.
“Mmm, this is really delicious. Thank you, Miss Su Yao.”
“Delicious, Master.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“Today’s meal is just as good as what we’ve had before. Miss Su Yao, your culinary skills are truly extraordinary.”
“This is excellent. Did you make this? What ingredients did you use? It’s a flavor I’ve never experienced before.”
Su Yao’s cooking received unanimous praise from everyone. It was truly a cause for celebration.
As for that chestnut-haired maid over there, for the sake of your physical and mental health, it’s better not to ask too many questions.
“Latina, do you still remember what happened earlier?”
Ignoring Clorel’s question, Su Yao firmly changed the subject. She wanted to first understand why the pink-haired lolita had suddenly ‘blown up.’
“Um, I was bitten by a giant spider in the Dungeon. Then it wrapped me up in its silk, and after that, I don’t really remember what happened.”
The blonde girl’s cheeks twitched slightly—was this a case of her getting what she deserved?
It was hard to say whether the Mother Spider was just too strong or if Latina was too inexperienced. Generally, adventurers who see spider webs and eggs can easily guess what kind of enemies they will face, and no rookie adventurer would enter a Dungeon alone.
Exactly, no matter how you looked at it, it was definitely the fault of this “clumsy yet reckless” lolita.
“Then I’ll say it for you: you ended up burning to death over half the monsters in my Dungeon, and you kept chasing me with ridiculous Fireballs. I nearly got roasted by you, dear Latina.”
“Huh? How could that happen?”
“I’m also curious how you managed to do that, Latina. Do you have any clue yourself?”
“Now that you mention it, when I was eight years old, I caused a bit of trouble. I think I once turned a nearby farmland into a sea of flames.”
So that’s how it was. Looks like she wasn’t the first victim.
And as expected, Latina had no awareness after turning into that state. This classic otherworldly “loss of control over powers” trope was as troublesome to handle as cases of “killing in dreams.”
Compensation was definitely necessary, but first, let’s ask what she thought.
“Latina, how do you think you should compensate for killing the monsters in my Dungeon and attacking me with spells?”
“Eh! Uh… do I have to compensate for killing the monsters too?”
Ah Zhe, having been a Dungeon Core for so long, it seemed her thought process was shifting toward the monsters’ perspective.
Latina’s question was perfectly reasonable, and Su Yao was left speechless.
Although these monsters were summoned to buy time with their lives against adventurers, having such a huge number wiped out all at once was painful to witness.
It was like a normal dungeon game suddenly encountering a cheating player, and it was only natural for the game operators to punish such players.
But how could Su Yao make people from this other world understand that?
After some thought, she gave up. To her, Dungeon management was just a game, but for adventurers, facing monsters could very well mean losing their lives.
After all, this was an unreasonable magical world. She had no right to ask Latina to restrain her powers.
That said, she still felt somewhat unwilling.
“But by your logic, I’m also a monster in this Dungeon. If you killed me, would you owe me compensation?”
“Um… well, Miss Su Yao, I think you’re different. You should be more like an elf—unlike those monsters who are driven purely by instinct and cannot communicate.”
Alright then, the attempt to confuse the issue failed. How could she talk so well? Fine, since her words were so sweet, the matter of monster compensation was forgiven.
“That makes sense, but what about you attacking me with spells?”
“Um…”
The pink-haired lolita, stumped, put down her knife and fork. A veil of mist seemed to cover her pale purple eyes.
On the other side of the table, Sofia looked hesitant to speak, and Clorel was also torn about whether she should plead on Latina’s behalf. At this moment, the only ones calm and composed were the Dorodori sisters.
Su Yao gave them a look to calm down, then said, “Three hundred Gold Coins. If you can’t pay, you can become a Debt Slave. How about that?”
A classic negotiation tactic: first offer an unacceptably harsh condition, then state the real goal afterward.
Latina looked at her with tear-filled eyes—wow, that was a hard blow. She couldn’t help but feel she might have overstepped.
“Alright, since you’re acquaintances with Sofia and Clorel, let’s make a deal.”
……
Su Yao’s new proposal was easily accepted by Latina.
The lighthearted and pleasant atmosphere returned to the dining table, though the twin sisters still harbored some vague distrust toward the pink-haired girl.
But this didn’t last long. Latina, who had traveled extensively, curiously asked Sofia why she was here.
“Latina, the Glenweir Royal Family has already been defeated. This land has now been occupied by the Vichy Kingdom.”
The chestnut-haired maid revealed her identity, and the pink-haired girl sitting across from her unsurprisingly froze in shock.
After a long pause, she was the first to speak.
“What about my Master? Where is Lord Royal now?”
Clorel hesitated for a long time, then finally decided to tell her the truth.
“Ah.”
Su Yao sighed as the topic veered into uncontrollable territory. She didn’t know if she should speak up.
Clorel’s hard-won desire for revenge unsurprisingly flared up once more.
Of course, Su Yao never thought to stop their revenge. If anything, she had been fulfilling the original contract from the beginning—to help Clorel grow stronger.
But in her heart, Su Yao sincerely hoped Clorel could forget these troubles, though that was probably just wishful thinking.
No matter how powerful she became, the blonde girl’s core was still that of an ordinary person.
Clorel, on the other hand, was a princess of a fallen kingdom. No matter how warm and happy their daily lives were, it could never fill the vast gulf between their identities and missions.
They had met because of Clorel’s revenge, and they would part ways for the same reason.
Fully aware of this, they all tacitly agreed to maintain the status quo.
“Latina, the deal from before is canceled. I have a new proposal for you to consider. Of course, it’s fine if you don’t agree.”