Ended With Hunger

Forget being sent to Jesus. That attack was sending the kid's soul straight to oblivion. When the castle vanished, I rushed over to see if Duncan was alive. And that was the biggest mistake I would ever make in my short time in this realm.

Not only did this kid survive the attack, and he still had the strength to summon up his scythe and slash my upper torso diagonally. Since the pain was nullified for me, I had no clue I was wounded until I saw crimson liquid splattering from my chest.

My healing was still at work, but the gash was more profound than a surface wound and nearly sliced my body into two pieces. I never thought that kid would be so vital to withstand a high-level attack without sustaining any scars. Duncan truly terrified me.

But, no... Wait, Duncan barely survived the attack! I was shocked to see the kid had broken his arm so he could make that final attack on me despite having to reopen his initial wound. Vania tried her best to heal my wound while Duncan sank to his knees.

"I never thought that two of you would go all out in a small fight like this. But it was required to see if Duncan could stand his ground during a solo battle with a real enemy. So what is a final judgment on the matter, Lady Elizabeth?" asked the Valkyrie as she flew over to us.

Mavislin wasted no time deploying a healing shield to help Duncan, and I patched up our damages. Vania sounded relieved that she wasn't being overworked again.

"My final judgment is that I will never be doing that ever again, and this kid will be going up against the final Duckling, Astria Faust of the Crystal Caves. Now then, I want food. Is dinner ready?" I asked while lying on the grass on my back.

Mavislin smiled while Duncan punched the air with his good arm.

"I'm starving too. Dinner should be ready now since I can smell Clement's beef stew from here. I wonder if there are potatoes. I love potatoes... Especially in stews," replied Duncan, taking deep breaths.

Smell... Oh, I had forgotten entirely about the aspects of the Five Children. Each of them represents the human's five senses. And Duncan's aspect was the keen sense of smell... No wonder he was on par with my attacks.

"Have you tried slices of potatoes before? I would hunt a pack of wolves for a pack of those snacks again..."

"What's that?"

"I'll teach Clement to make them and give you some to try as a reward for catching me off guard with a reckless attack like that. But during the Mission, please try to keep suicidal tendencies to a low count since we need you to fight the main enemy," I answered.

"Yay! More food..."

After a few moments had passed, our wounds had finally healed up, and I was beyond hungry. The three of us then went into the Old Chapel, where there seemed to be new faces at the table while missing the previous ones.

"Gillian is busy preparing a new toy of sorts up in the attic, and Ysabeau is having her food in her room since she claimed that the baby doesn't want to see my face. I don't know how that works, but I'm not going to piss off a pregnant Bahamut since I value my life points today," said Z.

I laughed at Z's explanation of the absence of the two Founders while Duncan ran past me to sit with his group of friends, the Five Orphans. Rina tried to fit Kai into the feeding chair and struggled to do it since the lump of fat was kicking for his dear life.

I tugged on his legs to allow them to go through the two holes and the kid's rump to be in the chair. Rina thanked me before sitting beside Bryan, who was seated beside Tomoe. I noticed that the whole table was a round table now instead of the rectangle from before.

Raiyen glitched around the room as he helped bring the dishes out from the kitchen. I opted to help out as well, much to Clement's surprise.

"No, no... I heard you've gone through quite a battle just now. I can't let you do such a task! You must be tired, so please take a seat first and allow us to serve you," said Clement as I attempted to take three dishes to the table.

"It's no big deal. I used to do this as a job before joining you lot. I daresay that I was quite good at it. Do focus on cooking that brisket, though. I think that side is almost done," I said, smiling at Clement.