After hearing Qingque's words, Bailu stroked her chin with a serious expression. "Dietary therapy, huh? That's actually not a bad method. Looks like Miss Qingque knows a thing or two about pharmacology."
"Huh? I was just saying random stuff."
No matter how you looked at it, mixing berries with rice sounded completely wrong.
'Who even eats like that?!'
Wasn't she afraid of overdoing it and causing problems from too much supplementation?
But why had Bailu suddenly brought up berries?
Looking at Levi's strong, energetic appearance, there was no way he looked like someone who needed tonics.
Noticing Qingque's gaze, Bailu smiled. "Just kidding. You looked pretty nervous, so I was trying to lighten the mood."
As she spoke, she patted both sides of Levi's waist with her small hands, her palms feeling the firm muscles beneath.
"A guy built like this would never need supplements."
After hearing Bailu say that, Levi inexplicably let out a sigh of relief.
Good thing there wasn't anything wrong with his body.
What Bailu had just said almost made him think Qingque was some succubus reincarnation.
Specifically here to drain his yang energy.
Soon after, Fu Xuan called Qingque over to help question the people present about what had happened.
Without Qingque's soft legs under his head anymore, all that remained beneath him was the hard, icy ground with not a trace of warmth.
Levi had no interest in resting on something like that.
So he straightened up and sat on the ground. At that moment, startled cries from the Cloud Knights rang out nearby. Turning his head, he saw that Lumine had used the opening to escape the scene.
Not long after Lumine disappeared, Levi received a notification that she had returned to her own world.
Meanwhile, Stelle remained frozen in an Orz position, facing Levi with lifeless, hollow eyes.
There were even faint tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes in the dusk light.
Seeing her expression, like she had lost something incredibly important, Levi stood up and pushed at both sides of his waist.
After a few cracking sounds, his whole body felt much better.
Facing the still-kneeling Stelle, a wild grin spread across his face as he walked over and patted her head.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's with that face? Weren't you acting all smug in the group chat earlier?"
All she'd done was leave him behind for a bit.
Wouldn't an apology, or coming back to pick him up afterward, have solved everything?
But no, she just had to keep running her mouth in the group chat.
"You're getting way too cocky lately!"
Seeing the footprint on Stelle's butt, Levi felt slightly regretful. Lumine had gotten to enjoy all the fun while he hadn't even gotten a single kick in.
Not dwelling on it too much, he turned and called Bailu over to examine Stelle's injuries.
"W-Wait wait wait! Why are you pulling down my pants?!"
Stelle's horrified scream came from inside the room, followed by Bailu's perfectly matter-of-fact voice.
"To check your injuries, obviously. Be good, let me take a look!"
Stelle immediately replied, "No!"
Some time later, after Stelle's humiliated wailing finally stopped, Bailu walked out of the room.
Seeing Levi leaning against the wall, she nodded at him.
"Just external injuries. Plus the wounds are on her butt, so I applied some special medicine. She'll recover quickly."
"Mm, thanks."
"No need to thank me. Just remember to send my consultation fee to my house."
Levi's unfocused gaze slowly settled onto Bailu. "Wasn't today supposed to be free treatment?"
Everyone else was free, but he got charged?
Discrimination?
Bailu adjusted the medical equipment on her body. "The first visit is free. This isn't your first one."
Not long ago, she had already examined his body once. Everything had been perfectly normal, except…
Aside from all his physical indicators being slightly abnormal, everything was completely normal.
"She's not your first time?"
"Wasn't it you who asked me to examine her?"
"..."
After Bailu left, Levi peeked through the crack in the door to check on Stelle's condition. Stelle noticed immediately and glared viciously at him.
"Hahahaha!"
Seeing the tear stains of humiliation on her face, Levi shamelessly burst out laughing.
[Kiana: Breaking news! Breaking news!]
[Levi: She cried.]
[Elysia: Huh?]
[Asta: Isn't this going a little too far?]
[Lumine: Too far my ass!]
[Lumine: If there hadn't been so many people surrounding us and making it hard to escape, I definitely would've given her a few unforgettable memories!]
[Levi: It might be a bit mean, but I still laughed.]
[Stelle: You bastard!]
Seeing Levi upload recordings of her screams and miserable cries into the group chat, Stelle admitted that this was the first time in her life she had wanted so badly to drag someone down with her.
Bang!
Glancing at the spear that had pierced through the wooden door, Levi shrugged and decided not to keep rubbing salt into Stelle's wounds for now.
"It's dinner time. What do you want to eat?"
It had already been close to sunset when they found Stelle, and now it was basically completely dark.
Only the faintest trace of light remained on the horizon.
But soon even that disappeared.
Stelle was still furious and ignored Levi completely.
After standing there waiting for a while and seeing no sign that she intended to answer, Levi decided that whatever he ate, he'd just bring her the same thing.
Once outside, Levi took the mushroom Lumine had given him as a quest reward out of his pocket.
Looking at the rich colors on the mushroom's surface, his eyes narrowed slightly.
He recalled the description of the mushroom.
"Edible…"
After thinking it over again and again, he slowly brought it to his mouth.
Crunch!
"..."
Levi's eyes widened.
'Crunchy and fragrant!'
'The texture, the flavor, it's absolutely unbeatable!'
"I knew it! I knew I tasted delicious!"
Levi froze.
He saw the mushroom crying. Two tiny arms had grown out from its body, wiping away the tears flowing down.
"I knew we weren't disgusting! Those people just have no taste!"
"Thank you, kind human! You helped me discover my own flavor!"
"Come on! Eat me! Eat every last bit of me!"
"I'm going to tell Mom and Dad that we're not gross trash nobody wants! We taste amazing!"
———
[Some Time Later]
"One VIP hospital bed!"
Stelle, who had been lying on her stomach in bed while scrolling through videos out of boredom, turned toward the door after hearing the shout. She saw Levi being wheeled in while foaming at the mouth.
Although she had no idea what had happened or why Levi had ended up like this, her first reaction was to take a picture and upload it to the group chat.
Then she tagged everyone.
[Stelle: @Everyone, come watch the drama!]
[Kiana: What happened to him?]
[Elysia: No clue, no idea, no understanding.]
[Asta: Probably food poisoning.]
[Lumine: ...]
Lumine had just learned from Paimon about the mysterious mushroom disappearance incident, and then immediately saw the message Stelle posted about Levi.
She honestly didn't know what expression to make anymore.
'How did he dare eat such obviously poisonous mushrooms?!'
[Stelle: Holy shit!]
Stelle couldn't stop herself from swearing in the group chat. Everyone immediately started asking what happened, wondering if Levi's vital signs had disappeared.
[Stelle: No… shouldn't you guys be worrying about me too?]
[Stelle: I'm lying face-down in bed completely unable to move, and there's a cannibal next to me constantly saying, "I smell so good, can you eat me?"]
[Stelle: Holy shit! He got out of bed! Ahhh…]
Stelle, lying on her stomach, suddenly felt something cold around her ankle. Along with the sticky sensation, she instantly exited the group chat.
Her attention snapped back to reality.
Lowering her head, she saw Levi's hollow-eyed expression as he repeatedly licked her like he was tasting some kind of delicious food.
She immediately shoved the sole of her other foot against his chin and pushed him away from herself.
Then she planted both hands down, lunged forward with force, and slammed the red emergency button beside the bed.
"..."