"When it comes to rice, it’s me."

  Tise said with a serious look after placing the water down.

  What was this girl saying out of the blue?

  Seeing my look of confusion, Ugeuge-san shook its head.

  "Ugeuge-san is right. I’ll explain step by step."

  "Please."

  "I like oden."

  "I know that."

  "Oden has the ingredient called mochi fortune bag."

  "I have heard of it but I have never tried it."

  "It is a common oden ingredient in the southern sea. Well, in other words, as an oden lover, I am familiar with mochi fortune bag too."

  "Yup yup."

  "And mochi is made from rice so you can call me Rice Master Tise."

  "O-ohh."

  Tise was somewhat excited today.

  "You won’t finish this amount of rice in one cooking. Since the rice will swell after cooking. Let’s use the remaining portion to make into mochi and bring it to Oparara."

  "Ah, Tise …… I’m not very familiar but I recall that mochi can’t be made with ordinary rice."

  " …… Yup."

  Tise stared at me.

  "Dismissed."

  "Eh~"

  Tise said that with a serious look so I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Ugeuge-san’s body was shaking and it seemed to be laughing as well.

  "I’m kidding."

  Tise said with her usual expression and washed her hands before standing beside me.

  "So what are you making?"

  "The Oyakodon that I was taught in the past."

  "Challenging with a rare dish in this situation, Red-san is attacking huh."

  "If the taste doesn’t suit them then I’ll grill some meat."

  As Tise said, no matter how interesting the ingredients I received, it’s reckless for a person like me, who wasn’t a chef, to challenge dishes that I never made before.

  That’s why I made sure to prepare backup measures.

  "As expected of Red-san. Then, without beating around the bush, I want to try that dish called, Oyakodon? Is there anything I can help with?"

  "You want to help? You can just wait in the living room though?"

  "This time, I leveled up during battle so I increased my Cooking skill by just 1."

  "I see but thinking about the difference in level, I’m surprised your level even went up."

  "My level was just about to go up. But there aren’t any strong foes with strong divine protections such as Clockworks or Asura Demons in Zoltan’s ancient Elf ruins so I can’t level up well."

  Tise’s level was lower than Ruti or Danan but was higher than Lit, a leading high level in this world.

  I’m afraid she wouldn’t level up anymore for her time in Zoltan.

  "Was it okay to use that valuable point in getting the Cooking skill?"

  "Red-san’s cooking is extremely tasty. I want to be able to cook delicious dishes just like Red-san."

  Ugeuge-san raised its arms like ’Ei ei oo~!’.

  "Ugeuge-san raised its Cooking skill too."

  "Eh, serious?"

  I asked in shock.

  I looked at Ugeuge-san and it waved its right front leg in affirmation.

  The common skill ’Cooking’ could be taken by anyone.

  It was possible even for the 『Warrior』 divine protection that Ugeuge-san had.

  Nevertheless, no matter how smart it was as a spider, I never expected it to raise its Cooking skill.

  It’s probably the world’s first spider to possess the Cooking skill in history?

  "One day I plan to write a book about cooking for spiders with Ugeuge-san."

  "A book."

  "Yes. Many divine protections have spiders as their sidekick."

  "Certainly there are 『Assassin』, 『Bug User』, 『Poison Beast tamer』 …… there are food books for dogs and cats and chimeras so I guess it’s fine to have one for spiders too."

  "Right?"

  Tise stood next to me.

  "Now, what should I do?"

  "Let’s see, then help me prepare the ingredients. During that time I will cook the rice."

  We split the tasks and started cooking.

  "Please cut the cockatrice thigh meat into bite-size."

  "Leave it to me, I excel in cutting."

  Tise said confidently.

  She was praising herself but her kitchen knife handling skill was certainly better than me.

  The two of us silently gathered the ingredients for a moment.

  "I did not imagine a life like this."

  "Hn."

  Tise muttered without averting her eyes from her hands.

  "I have good compatibility with the 『Assassin』 divine protection. I have the talent to be an assassin. I am proud of that."

  "Yeah, just like you said. I have never seen an Assassin as strong as Tise."

  "And I am now …… cooking for another country’s royalty."

  "There are assassins that disguise themselves as cooks but I guess there has never been an assassin that actually cooked."

  Court cooks would have Cooking skill levels that are greater than ordinary people. The probability that their divine protection would be 『Cook』 to match their profession would be high as well.

  Even a master of disguise can’t imitate divine protection.

  "Life is unpredictable."

  Tise lined up the sliced meat while smiling.

  "It’s enjoyable. Yup, life is enjoyable."

  "Yup, I think so too."

  We smiled and concentrated on cooking.

  ☆☆

  The world was full of battles.

  While we were eating around a table, the fugitive mercenaries were trying to plunder villages outside Zoltan while the patrolling guards were fighting them.

  One of the galleon ships that the mercenaries used to flee to the sea was attacked by a Kraken and all the mercenaries onboard were eaten.

  And in the far west battlefield, the Avalonian army, the Kiramine Kingdom’s High-Elf army and the coalition army of cathedral knights from the Holy Church were about to settle the fierce battle that has gone on for three days and three nights against the Water Heavenly King of the Demon Lord Army, Altora.

  Those were world events that couldn’t be known in the living room of this small shop.

  I might hear about a battle happening somewhere in the world later, but not today.

  I …… was glad that I wasn’t an Asura Demon.

  I didn’t know what method they used but the Asura Demons found us in Zoltan.

  If they always have to see the battles that are always going on in this world full of battles, isn’t that something extremely harsh on the mind?

  """Thank you for the food."""

  Lit and Tise and I said at the same time.

  "I thank God Demis for providing the food today."

  "Thank you for the food."

  Ririnrara muttered a quick prayer while Prince Sarius mimicked our gestures.

  "I have eaten rice before but this is a strange dish."

  "It’s called an Oyakodon. I believe I have reproduced most of the flavor I experienced when I ate it in the past …… well, the meat back then was chicken and not cockatrice."

  "I see, a dish made with egg and chicken meat so it’s an Oyakodon?"

  Prince Sarius nodded to himself.

  "But this uses cockatrice meat? Then it isn’t parent and child."

  Ririnrara complained as a joke.

  "The first cockatrice was born from a chicken. So it is still parent and child."

  Lit refuted.

  "That’s right. According to the Anthology of Monsters by Dwarf Biologist Doctor Zikan, ’Take note, cockatrice are born from eggs laid by a rooster, in other words, cockerels. That rooster is seven years old so the egg was incubated by toads for 9 years. Therefore, roosters and toads should be separated.’ or so it goes."

  Tise added on.

  Prince Sarius tilted his head.

  "It sounds impossible from the point stating that the rooster lays the egg. On top of that, a toad incubates it for 9 years. Doesn’t that mean it is impossible?"

  I nodded with a smile to Prince Sarius’ words.

  "That might be true. But even now by applying special magic to chickens, it will give birth to a cockatrice. The meat is easier to obtain compared to other monsters and some farm it …… but the cockatrice farming business is a dangerous job that sees many deaths in a year."

  Cockatrice can’t be domesticated.

  Cockatrice does not recognize their owners as people who bring them feed but seem to at least recognize them as beings that carry feed.

  As they are monsters with greater intelligence compared to animals, they might understand the ill intent of the farmers that wish to eat their meat at some point in time.

  "In other words, in this situation, the egg is the parent and the meat is the child."

  Ririnrara looked at the Oyakodon with interest and scooped up the egg and meat together before taking a bite.

  "It’s delicious."

  I’m glad it fit the taste of a High-Elf that lived many years.

  "It tastes a little different from the Oyakodon I ate in the past but yeah it’s great."

  "You’ve eaten it before?"

  "60 years ago. I forgot the taste of it but tasting it again jogged my memory."

  "I don’t know about the memory of High-Elves but humans unexpectedly recall the past whenever there’s a trigger."

  "60 years may be long for humans …… in that case, I will remember this day’s flavor even after you guys are no longer alive."

  Ririnrara stopped eating.

  "Red, Lit, Tise."

  "What is it?"

  Ririnrara lowered her head deeply while seated.

  Her bundled silver hair shook.

  "You guys really took good care of me. I will never forget this favor and I will thank you again once the succession to the throne is settled."

  I see …… so she came to say that.

  She was so dutiful despite being a pirate.

  "Even if you wish to thank us, the distance between Veronia and Zoltan is too far. With the battle against the Demon Lord Army raging on, you won’t be able to leave given your role as Admiral."

  "It is the style of the Fairy Pirates to return the favors they received."

  "Then you can do so after the war ends. Once Prince Sarius takes the throne, Veronia will join the Avalonia allied forces as well?"

  "Of course we plan to abolish the non-aggression treaty with the Demon Lord Army. If we make it clear that we are trying to win the throne for that sake, we will receive support from the Kingdom of Avalonia as well. The loan we receive will be paid for by our joining of the allied forces. There is no better deal than that."

  Prince Sarius nodded to Ririnrara’s words too.

  "This conclusion is thanks to Red-kun and party. Your fight was a great aid to humankind. Although I believe your merits are worthy of receiving rewards."

  "We only wanted to protect the small place that we live in. We do not need to trouble you to travel across the continent to reward us."

  "But ……"

  "Furthermore, I already have everything that I want."

  I looked to my side.

  Lit was eating the Oyakodon I made with a blessed expression.

  She naturally stopped when they were thanking us but once the conversation resumed, she started eating once more without concern.

  "After all, it would be a waste if it becomes cold."

  Lit noticed my gaze and said with a grin.

  Perhaps she didn’t show any restraint in front of Prince Sarius because she was a princess.

  "Right. If you want to thank me, first concentrate on the cooking I made for you."

  "I see, this certainly is disrespectful. I’ll end this topic here. I would not be able to return to Veronia if I missed the moment when this dish is the most delicious."

  So we, for the time being, focused on savoring the rare dish in front of us.