DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
"See, if you raise the temperature at the end, it will give the meat a different texture." Alfonzo said while searing a large cut of meat over a stove. "And although it doesn't really change the taste too much, texture is just as important when it comes to food."
Hearing that, Mia nodded her head in agreement. Then, she looked to the other side of the kitchen where the Dragonkin boy and her head chef, May, a young Cat-Person girl with short flaxen-colored hair styled in a bob with yellow eyes. And just like Alfonzo was doing, Tatsuo was teaching May a few tips to add to the meals they cooked for their customers.
'It looks like that kid is just as good in the kitchen.' Mia thought to herself while looking at Tatsuo and May. A moment later, the corners of her lips curled slightly as her thoughts continued. 'And it looks like May is really getting a lot out of this. Though, I think she's enjoying something else more than learning how to cook better.'
Mia's smile was from seeing the expression on May's face. Currently, the little cat girl was smiling as she hung onto Tatsuo's every word. On top of that, her ears were twitching, her tail was swaying rhythmically, and her face was covered with a dusting of red. {Pic}
*Sizzle!*
Turning back, Mia was just in time to see Alfonzo flip the slab of meat, causing it to sizzle in a mouthwatering way.
"He's popular everywhere he goes." Alfonzo said, having caught the same scene as Mia. "It's a good thing he's so picky. Otherwise, he'd turn into a terrible piece of scum with a face like that."
["I assume the irony of that statement has not been lost on you."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world.
'Nope, not at all.' Alfonzo replied internally.
"The way you say that…" Mia said as she turned to look Alfonzo in the eye. "… makes it sound like our May isn't good enough for that brat."
"*Sigh* Please don't twist my words into something they're not, Mama Mia." Alfonzo said as he returned his focus to the meat he was cooking. "You know exactly what I meant when I said that. I wasn't saying May wasn't good enough for him. Rather, it's that I'm happy he doesn't just get into every woman's bed that shows interest in him. I mean, he's already got three girlfriends in our Familia. And that will probably increase soon."
In response, Mia's eyes widened. Then, she opened her mouth to say something. However, the words never managed to leave her mouth. So, she just closed it before throwing a complicated look in Tatsuo's direction.
Because as previously mentioned, Mia could tell that May was developing a crush on the handsome Dragonkin standing next to her. And she had no idea how the cat girl would take it when she found out about Tatsuo's harem.
"Anyway, the meat's done." Alfonzo said, braking Mia out of her thoughts. "Here, give it a try."
Shaking her head, Mia forcefully pulled her attention back to the matter at hand. Then, she picked up a fork and knife, cut off a piece of the meat Alfonzo just finished cooking, and put it in her mouth. Then, after chewing a few times….
"Mmm~~~~~~~~~!" Mia moaned loudly as she was forced to support herself with her hands on the counter when her knees weakened spontaneously.
Meanwhile, when the people in the main hall heard Mia's moan, they all stopped working and turned to look towards the kitchen in unison. {Pic}
"Bum… Bum… Bum… Another one bites the dust." Elicia muttered as she went back to sketching a new design for the Hostess of Fertility uniforms.
"Was that… Mama Mia?" Ryuu, who was sitting with Elicia as she sketched, asked in a horrified tone while her face and ears had turned bright red.
"It was either Mia or may." Elicia said. "But it sounded too mature to be May. So, you're probably right."
"What could have caused her to make a sound like that?" Ryuu asked as she lowered her head and clenched her apron between her fingers.
"You'll find out soon enough." James said as he walked by while carrying a chair. "You all will. Hehhehheh."
Hearing the way James chuckled, Ryuu's fear grew even deeper. Meanwhile, Elicia could not help grinning mischievously when she saw the scared expression on the Elf's face.
At the same time, Chloe, Anya, and Lunoire were huddled together with intensely curious expressions on their faces.
"Hey, wanna go see what's going on in there?" Chloe asked in a whisper.
"But what will Mama Mia do if we get caught?" Lunoire asked with a whisper of her own.
"We just have to make sure she doesn't catch us, Nya." Anya replied excitedly while doing her best to keep her voice down. "I've never heard Mama Mia make a sound like that, and now I gotta know what caused it."
Glancing at Anya from the corner of her eyes, Lunoire could see that the brown-haired cat girl was practically bouncing in anticipation. And judging from the expression on her face, no matter what anyone said, she would be sneaking to see what was going on in the kitchen.
Then, Lunoire turned to look at Chloe. And although she was not as visibly excited, she had known her long enough to understand that she was just as excited by the way her ears and tail were twitching. And like Anya, there was no way that Chloe could be stopped from going to take a look inside the kitchen.
And to be honest, Lunoire was just as curious as the other two. But there was a huge issue that made making a decision extremely difficult.
If Lunoire accompanied the two mischievous cat girls, there was a chance they might get caught. And if they did, Mama Mia's punishment would probably be on a legendary level. But if she did not go and those two did not get caught, then she would miss the show. And she was not sure if she would be okay with that.
"Come on, let's go." Chloe said as she lowered her center of gravity and started sneaking towards the kitchen door. Naturally, it did not take any convincing for Anya to follow her. And that left Lunoire standing there with an indecisive expression on her face.
After another short struggle, Lunoire finally decided to follow them. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, she reacted just a moment too late.
"Get back to work!" Mia's voice thundered out of the kitchen.
*Bang!* *Bang!*
Following Mia's shout, a pair of rolling pins came flying out of the kitchen, striking the two Cat-Person maids in the head, right between their cat ears.
"Ow!" x 2
While rubbing their heads, Anya and Chloe bolted away from the door and got back to work, working more diligently than they had ever worked before. And why did their work efficiency rise so sharply? It was because of all the punishments they could receive from Mia, a rolling pin to the head was one of the lighter ones, and they had no intention of pushing for more.
Meanwhile, Lunoire, having seen the entire scene from close by, sighed in relief while wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.
"You lucked out, huh?" Akatsuki said as she walked past with a bucket of water.
"Yeah." Lunoire replied.
A moment later, Lunoire's head snapped in Akatsuki's direction. She, just like Anya and Chloe, thought she was being sneaky. Yet, someone had seen everything from what she could tell.
"Are we so bad at sneaking around that even a Level 1 could notice us?" Lunoire asked in a tone that suggested that she was questioning everything she knew. A moment later, however, her face lit up with realization as she snapped her head back towards the kitchen door. "Is that why no matter how hard we try, Mama Mia always knows when we're up to something or slacking off?"
"Well, she is the former captain of the Freya Familia." Sakura said as she walked by with a rag, having just finished cleaning a table. "And according to our goddess, she is Level 6. So, it's no wonder she could keep track of atrio of Level 4s."
At first, Lunoire nodded her head to Sakura's assessment. Then, she froze once again, realizing that someone else had noticed her when she was trying to be discreet. But when she heard Sakura point out not only hers, but Anya's and Chloe's Levels, a somewhat horrified expression appeared on her face as she snapped her head in Sakura's direction and stared at the lilac-haired girl's back.
Though, Lunoire was not particularly worried about her identity as a Level 4 getting out. Rather, she was afraid that Ryuu, a wanted criminal by the guild after she wiped out the hidden remnants of Evilus, the faction that plunged Orario into the Dark Ages, a few years ago, had been discovered.
Then, Lunoire turned to look at the table where Elicia and Ryuu were sitting and discussing the new Hostess of Fertility uniforms. However, when she saw the smile on Elicia's face, which lacked any hints of malice, she sighed in relief.
"Even if they do know about Ryuu, it looks like they harbor no ill will." Lunoire said in a relieved tone.
"Of course not." Momo said as she walked by with a broom and dust pan. "Eliminating evil is the just thing to do. However, she would have lost our respect if she simply let that evil fester."
This time, Lunoire jumped. For the third time, she had failed to notice an Adventurer a whole three Levels lower than her. And now, she was starting to think there was something special about these new Adventurers.
Meanwhile, Syr, who had been carrying out her job faithfully, was watching all the interactions between the staff of the Hostess of Fertility and the Aislynn Familia with keen interest. However, she, as Freya's alter-ego found herself getting rather frustrated by what she saw, or rather what she could not see.
'Why can't I see the exact shape of their souls?' Syr, or rather Freya, asked herself. 'I can see their colors. And they are brilliant. But their shapes are completely unreadable.'
Reaching that point, Syr turned to glance at Sakura.
'Like that one, her soul glows in a pure, dark color.' Syr continued. 'Yet, it's as if her entire soul is blanketed by shadows. And even when the shadows recede slightly, it seems as if her soul hides in an imaginary space.'
Then, Syr turned to glance at Akatsuki.
'And that one, her soul is a brilliant purple color.' Syr's thoughts continued again. 'But every time I try to look at the shape of her soul, it seemingly hides from my sight.'
Syr's gaze continued to shift between the eight members of the Aislynn Familia. And all of them had something that obscured her soul sight. Momo's soul looked as if it was pumping out all sorts of random objects that obscured her vision, Aletia's soul looked as if it was hidden behind a curtain of blood tinted with different elements, and Zelretch's soul was like looking into a kaleidoscopic abyss that always seemed to point to something else when she focused on it. On top of that, the old man's soul looked way too old for any human.
But the other three in the dining hall were the ones that surprised Freya the most.
Violet's soul was covered in what seemed to be divine light. Yet, it did not feel like the divinity of any god she knew. Not only that, but there was a strong, sturdy shield placed in front of the girl's soul. And when she stared at that shield for too long, Freya felt as if she might turn to stone.
Next, there was Elicia. Her soul was even stranger than Violet's. Instead of a normal soul, it felt as if she was looking into a clothing shop… No, a tailor shop would be more accurate, as there were dozens, if not hundreds, of outfits, both finished and unfinished displayed on mannequins.
And lastly, James' soul was the most terrifying. There were only two things she could see when she looked at it. The first was a brilliantly blazing inferno with flames so hot that she felt her soul was being scorched just by looking. And the second was a pair of terrifying green eyes that stared at her every time she tried to take a look.
'Just what kind of mortals did Aislynn find?' Syr/Freya asked with envy. 'Even worse, why was it her who found them? Souls that brilliant should have been mine.'
"*Sigh~~~~~~~~*" Syr exhaled a long sigh as she continued cleaning her assigned area.
"Are you feeling alright?" Aletia asked while walking by with a stool so she could clean a slightly higher place on a wall.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine." Syr replied, her envious expression disappearing quickly to be replaced by a bright, friendly smile.
Hearing that, Aletia only nodded in response while continuing towards her destination. Meanwhile, Syr/Freya looked at her with a covetous expression.
'So not fair!' Syr/Freya shouted internally while pouting like a child who was denied a treat. 'But at least I'll be able to meet them as my real self sooner or later. Ottar should have delivered my letter to the Dragon's Nest before my shift ends tonight. Then, once I receive a reply, I'll make time to see them. *Sigh* I wonder if they'll be like all the other mortal children when they see the real me.'
Like that, time continued to pass. And before long, Mia stepped out of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.
"Alright, you all can take a break." Mia said loudly. "Breakfast is ready. And though it hurts my pride to admit it, today's breakfast will be better than anything either May or I can make."
Hearing Mia openly admit that she and May had been outdone in the kitchen caused Anya, Chloe, Lunoire, Ryuu, and Syr to look at her with surprise. Meanwhile, the members of the Aislynn Familia all wore knowing smiles, looking forward to seeing Tatsuo's and Alfonzo's body counts rise throughout the meal. {Pic}