The young girl turned her head from side to side, searching for something. Seeing her behavior, Buhe asked,
"Young lady, what are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for the people selling food. You're hungry, right? But I can't find them anywhere. Where did they go?"
The girl was the kind of master who genuinely cared about her subordinates. That was simply her nature—she always paid attention to the people around her.
And Buhe was deeply moved by her concern for him...
...fake, Buhe was thought.
(Young lady must be hungry herself. She's probably too embarrassed to admit it, so she's using me as an excuse.)
Buhe thought that way because he'd been raised from childhood to always prioritize his master above all else. As a result, he never considered the possibility that the girl was worrying about him. Rather, the thought never even crossed his mind. He simply assumed she was hungry.
Buhe was fiercely loyal to the girl, so after interpreting her words as a subtle hint, he immediately made his own decision.
"Young lady, I'll go buy something right away."
The moment he finished speaking, he hurried off, leaving behind a confused girl who hadn't even had time to stop him. However, the girl knew nothing about the rigid mindset instilled into retainers like him, so she simply assumed Buhe was starving.
(Buhe must really be hungry. But he already found the vendor? His eyesight is amazing.)
Since Buhe had gone to buy food, the girl stopped searching for the vendors she'd been unable to find earlier and simply stood there waiting for him to return.
A moment later, a woman wearing a green Boron shirt with white stripes appeared in front of the girl. The Bolon shirt was basically a polo shirt, designed by Viscount Bolon of Aimebisalon.
Karen didn't remember the name polo shirt, because he forgot.
Hanging from the front of the woman's body was a rectangular box filled with various packaged foods. She was exactly the vendor the girl had been searching for this whole time.
And immediately, the girl started grumbling internally.
(When I'm looking for her, she's nowhere to be found. But the second I stop looking, she appears instantly. How annoying. Is she an eraser or something?)
The poor vendor was unfairly criticized in the girl's mind, but it didn't stop there.
A male spectator seated fourth from the right called the vendor over. In order not to block the view of the audience behind him, the vendor bent over to hand him the food and collect the payment.
(Are you trying to seduce someone?! Button your shirt already!)
The girl's real frustration came from the fact that the vendor had left the top two buttons of her polo shirt undone. Her full chest and deep cleavage were completely visible. Aside from the men sitting directly in front of her, even nearby male spectators had their attention stolen away.
At the same time, one spectator's wife noticed what was happening and immediately grabbed her husband's head, shoving it into her own chest.
Enviable... though unfortunately hers was several sizes smaller.
Meanwhile, the vendor remained completely oblivious to all the staring. After collecting the money, she bent over again and continued walking through the stands, waiting for the next customer.
At that moment, the vendor's eyes met the girl's.
The vendor didn't notice the girl's judgmental gaze at all. Assuming the girl wanted to buy something, she walked over cheerfully.
"Little girl, would you like some food?"
The sudden conversation startled the girl. Only then did she realize she'd been staring at the woman the entire time—and had even gotten caught doing it. Her face instantly turned red with embarrassment.
(How humiliating! Why was I staring so intensely?! If I don't buy something now, I'll feel terrible. I should buy one... no, two.)
Even though she wasn't hungry, the girl decided to buy food anyway to make up for staring so much.
She tried moving her gaze from the vendor's face down toward the food selection, but her eyes were intercepted halfway by the woman's chest. In the end, she ordered while staring directly at it.
"...I'll take two hot dogs."
In truth, she'd already bought and eaten a hot dog earlier while watching the competition. She had intended to choose something else, but she simply couldn't move her eyes away. Since she couldn't look away, she couldn't properly choose.
So she ended up buying hot dogs again.
"Alright. That'll be 20 copper coins."
Still unable to take her eyes off the woman's chest, the girl searched her pocket by feel alone, pulled out two big copper coins, and handed them over before accepting the two hot dogs.
"Thank you for your purchase."
After taking the money, the vendor walked away.
Yet the girl's eyes continued following the woman's chest as she left, and only then did she finally understand why she'd been staring so much in the first place.
"...Damn it. I miss Mom."
The symbol of motherhood had reminded the girl of her own mother. Her nose stung, and tears began forming in her eyes.
But the girl was strong.
Suppressing her sadness, she quickly wiped away the tears with her sleeve.
Not long afterward, Buhe returned. Seeing the two hot dogs in the girl's hands, he spoke regretfully.
"Young lady, my deepest apologies... I was too late..."
Buhe assumed the girl had become so hungry from waiting for him that she'd eventually gone to buy food herself. To him, this was a complete failure on his part as a retainer.
"You were a little late. Here."
The girl also felt Buhe had taken quite a while, though in reality only a few minutes had passed. She held out the two hot dogs to him, but Buhe only stared blankly.
"Young lady... what is this?"
"It's a hot dog."
"I know it's a hot dog, but I don't understand why you're giving it to me."
"Aren't you hungry?"
"...Weren't you the hungry one?"
"I already ate earlier. ...Ah, but you've already bought food. Then I'll just keep these for snacks tomorrow."
The girl suddenly remembered that Buhe had already gone to buy food for himself. With a flat voice devoid of purpose, she opened a storage hole and tossed the hot dogs inside.
But Buhe was still worried she was forcing herself, though he didn't know why.
Then he noticed her eyes looked slightly red.
Immediately, he dropped to one knee in panic.
"Young lady, what happened to your eyes?! Were you crying?! Which bastard has a death wish and dared to bully you?!"
Buhe had discovered she'd been crying.
But the girl didn't want to reveal the real reason, since it would only cause a misunderstanding. So she gave the excuse she always used.
"...I-I'm fine. It was just sand."
The excuse itself was reasonable enough, but her unnatural reaction made it hard for Buhe to believe.
"Really?! It wasn't that man who came to see you?!"
"What man? Hero Karen? I didn't even see him. What would he even do to me?"
The girl didn't understand why Buhe suddenly brought up Karen, nor why Karen would come looking for her in the first place.
Buhe then began warning her about how dangerous Karen was.
"That man is extremely dangerous to you. He's a liar who deceives people without blinking."
"Maybe. But that doesn't mean he's the kind of liar who does bad things."
The girl didn't take Buhe's words very seriously, though she also didn't outright deny the possibility that Karen was a liar. Despite her young age, she wasn't foolish enough to be unable to judge people properly.
But Buhe remained deeply wary of Karen and continued trying to persuade her.
"See? You've already been deceived. The moment you trust him, you've fallen for it."
"That's a huge stretch. Did he actually trick you?"
The girl's tone gradually became irritated. She no longer wanted to continue this conversation.
"...No."
"Then stop talking about it if you weren't deceived."
"...Understood. But Young lady, are you really not hungry?"
"I'm not. If anything, you're the hungry one. You haven't eaten for hours."
"I could go five days without food and still protect you properly."
"Wow. So impressive."
The girl replied to Buhe's absurdly confident statement in a completely flat and emotionless tone. She genuinely had no idea how his thoughts had jumped to that conclusion.
"This is my specialty."
"..."
The girl was completely speechless toward Buhe now.
Letting out a sigh, she turned to look at the clock. It was already 4:48 PM.
"Buhe, it'll be five soon. You should head back down."
"You already said we can't win first place. What meaning is there in going back down? I'd rather stay by your side and protect you."
Buhe trusted the girl's judgment completely. Since she believed Rose Water couldn't beat bubble milk tea, he believed it too. To him, going back down would only mean watching Karen claim victory.
But the girl didn't think that way.
She wanted her judgment to be wrong. If Buhe's Rose Water could somehow defeat bubble milk tea, then they could still obtain the wish opportunity and the prize.
Still, the outcome wasn't guaranteed.
And the girl knew that, to Buhe, one direct order outweighed a thousand explanations.
So she simply commanded him,
"Go."
"Yes."
The instant he received the order, Buhe stood up immediately and left.
The girl remained alone at the highest level of the arena, silently looking down toward the judges' table below.
After Karen left, the judges' table was once again piled high with luxurious dishes and delicacies.
The girl couldn't help wondering just how enormous the appetites of these judges really were.
(At this rate, they're all going to end up with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar sooner or later.)
She genuinely worried about the health of the people in this country.
At that moment, the host announced loudly,
"Attention, everyone. Attention please. There are only ten minutes remaining before the competition ends. All contestants, please return to the competition arena and wait there. Thank you."
As soon as the host finished speaking, several people seated in the audience in front of the girl stood up and headed toward the spectator entrance. In other sections of the arena, more people rose from their seats as well.
All of them were contestants.
And just like that, the Food King Tournament was finally nearing its end.
In ten more minutes, the winner would be revealed.