Itogami Island, a cafeteria in the faculty area where Natsuki's villa was located.
"So, aren't you my subordinate? Why aren't you cooking for me and instead brought me here for a buffet?"
The petite girl with long black hair and snow-white skin, wearing an ornate doll-like dress and exuding an inexplicable air of authority—Minamiya Natsuki, who was buying tickets at the counter—rolled her eyes at Aslan.
"If you want to eat, I can cook."
"Forget it. I'm worried Natsuki-chan is a kitchen slayer."
Aslan waved his hand dismissively, then calmly cut the steak in front of him. He took a piece of the sliced steak and fed it to Aurora.
Aurora chewed the steak, her eyes widening as she exclaimed, "Aslan, Aslan, what kind of meat is this? It's so delicious!"
"Just ordinary beef. Seems like it tastes pretty good." Aslan took a piece for himself and ate happily.
"Kitchen slayer?" Natsuki blinked in confusion, glaring at him fiercely. "Tonight, I'll show you whether I'm a kitchen slayer or not!"
But Natsuki wasn't too confident in her own words. Honestly, she hadn't had much cooking experience since childhood. The little she had came from home economics classes, long forgotten. Since graduating college and becoming an Attack Mage and teacher at Saikai Academy, she always ate at this cafeteria.
This cafeteria wasn't cheap. The head chefs were all Michelin-starred. Otherwise, she wouldn't keep eating here. As for cooking herself? As a busy adult, who had time to waste on cooking?
Buying ingredients, washing them, cooking, and washing dishes afterward were all too troublesome. Natsuki could brew black tea, but cooking? Not so much.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Aslan casually wiped sauce from Aurora's face with a tissue and said with a smile.
"By the way, Aurora, anything else you want to eat?"
Aurora touched her cheek, looking around the cafeteria curiously as if seeking inspiration from others.
"Aslan, Aslan, I want that! The colorful one—it looks so delicious!"
Suddenly, Aurora tugged at Aslan's hand, excitedly pointing at a black-haired girl holding several ice cream cones, each with five or six scoops, and said.
"Ice cream?" Aslan nodded, then glanced at Natsuki, who was eating spaghetti.
Natsuki couldn't help but grumble. "Tch, so troublesome."
She wiped her mouth, hopped off her chair, walked to the ice cream machine, and got three ice creams. However, she didn't take as many scoops as the girl, just two regular scoops each. Deep down, she couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed at that girl.
Wasn't she worried about getting a stomachache eating that much?
Natsuki placed the ice cream in front of Aurora. The little vampire was instantly captivated by it.
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On the other side, the girl who had taken two large ice cream servings returned to her seat and fiercely bit into the steak in front of her.
"My dad too! Why did he make me do something like this!"
The girl cursed while chewing the steak, as if it weren't steak but the flesh and blood of someone she despised.
Soon, with her big bites, the steak was gone, but she seemed unsatisfied. She shouted to the waiter nearby.
"Bring five more steaks!"
Her voice was a bit loud, instantly drawing Aurora and Aslan's attention. Seeing the empty plates beside her, Aurora couldn't help tugging at Aslan's jacket and exclaiming.
"Aslan, that girl's amazing! She's one, two, three… seven times better than you!"
Aslan gently patted Aurora's head and said with a smile.
"Aurora, don't just judge by appearances. If I really ate, this cafeteria's owner would cry."
Did she know what a "king's appetite" was?
But honestly, the girl intrigued Aslan. Even Natsuki couldn't help glancing at her.
Feeling several pairs of eyes on her, the girl realized something was off. Turning, she saw Aurora's excitement and Aslan's curiosity.
Being stared at like that, her face flushed, and she said irritably.
"What are you looking at? Can't you see I'm in a bad mood?"
Bad mood? Aslan tilted his head, eyeing the empty plates on her table and the waiter bringing more steaks. He understood instantly. So this was the appetite of someone in a bad mood? Impressive. With a bit of training, she might inherit the king's appetite.
As if sensing Aslan's thoughts, the girl's face grew redder, reaching a level of embarrassment.
"What's wrong with eating a bit more when I'm in a bad mood?"
But as she said it, she lost confidence. The steak portions here were huge, enough to fill a grown man.
Two portions? Even a man doing heavy labor couldn't finish that. Normally, only demons like Beastmen could eat this much.
Where was this "a bit more"? And having her appetite exposed in front of others, she was embarrassed. She was a girl with pride, after all.
Aslan just smiled and didn't speak. At this moment, he even felt a bit of admiration for the girl.
"Blonde hair, plus this extraordinary appetite. You're truly worthy of inheriting the king's appetite!"
The king's appetite was a legacy of the King of Knights' family. Whether Arthur Proto, Artoria, or Mordred, their appetites weren't small.
"Inheriting the king's appetite? Does my family have some hidden lineage?" The girl muttered in confusion. But before she finished, she looked at Natsuki in surprise.
"Natsuki-chan?"
"How many times have I told you not to add '-chan' to your teacher's name!"
Natsuki reacted reflexively, then raised her eyebrow slightly, looking at the girl with long hair tied in a ponytail, wearing round glasses but still captivating.
"Oh? Aiba from middle school, you're eating here too." If she hadn't taught Asagi's class a few times, Natsuki wouldn't have recognized her.
Asagi was also a bit surprised to see Natsuki. "I didn't expect Natsuki-chan to eat here. But then, only Natsuki-chan would wear a Gothic dress and not fear the heat."
"Enough chatter. Be careful, or I'll assign you extra homework next time I teach." Natsuki glared at her irritably.
But she also asked curiously.
"But Aiba, what's wrong? Why do you look unwell? You're even overeating here. Be careful of a stomachache."
Natsuki asked with some concern, especially after seeing Asagi take those huge ice cream servings. She knew Asagi was an ordinary person. A stomachache would be trouble.
Asagi lowered her head awkwardly, her voice like a mosquito's buzz. "Actually, this isn't even half my usual portion…"
"Ahem, what?" Natsuki stared wide-eyed, incredulous.
Even a regular Beastman wouldn't have such an appetite, right? Unless it was a Beastman using Divine Bestialization, which consumed massive energy and vitality.
Asagi grew even more embarrassed. The blush on her cheeks was uncontrollable. She lowered her head silently and ate her ice cream.
Natsuki realized she'd misspoken and quickly changed the topic.
"But Aiba, what happened to put you in such a bad mood?"
"Don't worry, your teacher will help you."
But Natsuki was also a bit puzzled. As Aiba Sensai's daughter, shouldn't Asagi be well-protected? Unless her mother was gravely ill, nothing bad should happen to her. If it was a family issue, Natsuki's help would be limited.
Asagi sighed, looked at Natsuki, and reluctantly handed over her phone. On the screen was a message from her father that morning, saying he wanted her to dress up and meet an important person. The words were full of implications of selling his daughter and telling her to obey. If not for the video call to confirm, she'd suspect it was a prank.
That's why she was so upset now. She and her father hadn't spoken in ages, but who'd have thought his first message would be like this? Telling his daughter to entertain an important person?
Where did he get the nerve?
Was this how a father acted?
"…"
Aslan and Natsuki exchanged slightly awkward glances. They seemed to guess who the "important person" Asagi meant was. It was likely Aslan himself.
Earlier, Aslan had used the Blacklight Virus to control Itogami Island's executives. Coincidentally, Aiba Sensai, the current mayor, was among them.
As for magic, spells, or Gifts to control people, Aslan hadn't studied them. So, his method was infecting them with the Blacklight Virus first.
It was like creating zombie puppets, but the downside was that infected beings retained past memories but were fundamentally no longer the same individuals. Especially since Aslan made them loyal and obedient to him.
But because their life form was entirely different, even with inherited memories, they couldn't act exactly as they did before infection. Hence, this situation arose.
Natsuki also felt a bit awkward. She despised those executives—always stalling, obstructing, and annoying her. Seeing them controlled by Aslan was satisfying.
But who'd have thought one of them was her student's parent? Sensai had given her many conveniences and asked her to look after his daughter. Otherwise, Natsuki wouldn't remember Asagi, whom she'd only taught a few times.
It seemed she'd accidentally harmed an ally.
Thinking this, Natsuki hurriedly tugged at Aslan's jacket, pulling him aside, and asked with concern.
"By the way, can they be saved?"
Natsuki didn't care about those old executives, but Sensai's situation seemed similar to hers. After all, the Aiba family had long fallen. Sensai becoming mayor showed his ability.
Besides, the real controllers of Itogami Island were the Itogami family, not Sensai. Otherwise, in the meeting, others wouldn't have used Asagi as a tool to approach the Fourth Primogenitor.
Cain's Miko—Aiba Asagi. Those old executives knew this well. Otherwise, Sensai couldn't have become mayor.
But even so, in front of other executives, Sensai had no real power to refuse. He was one of the few in a similar position to her: high status, considerable power, but restricted everywhere.
At the time, who cared if it was a mistake?
Out of ten people in that meeting, killing all might include a mistake, but killing nine would surely miss one. As the Prison Barrier's manager, no one knew these dirty dealings better than Natsuki. Even she couldn't claim to be entirely clean.
"Of course they can be saved." Aslan said confidently, arms crossed.
The Blacklight Virus was under his control—how could there be accidents?
Not to mention, Sensai and the others were directly infected, and to preserve their memories, Aslan deliberately avoided their brains.
"Natsuki-chan, you need to have some faith in my technology."
"Good then." Natsuki sighed in relief, then glared at him fiercely.
As expected, she had to keep a close eye on him. His abilities were too dangerous. Precisely, this man was a threat to the world just by standing there.
Natsuki then explained the reason and truth to Asagi. As a competent and responsible teacher, she couldn't lie to her student. This was her mistake, and hiding it wasn't her intention. Now, she had to make amends.
After hearing her explanation, Asagi couldn't help widening her eyes at Aslan and Natsuki.
"No way? So the person that foolish dad wanted me to entertain is you?"
As for her controlled father, Asagi wasn't too shocked. After all, his condition was too different from usual. She'd heard of things like controlling high officials for gain—common magical crimes. This time, the culprit was right in front of her, even involving the Witch of the Void, and her father was an accidental casualty.
Now that the other party was willing to release the control, that was enough.
As for the other executives?
Who cared about them?
Did they think she hadn't used her electronic tech to investigate their crimes? She knew exactly how her father's rivals were eliminated.