Chapter 60 - Trying to win over her stomach

Over the past week, Joren had been trying to be nice to Tessa and get to know her better. While he thought she was extremely beautiful, he wasn't simping for her, instead, he wanted to use her as his backing. So over the past week, he's been trying to get on her good side, buttering her up, guarding her when they encountered mana beasts or wild animals, even striking up basic conversations, but she shot all of those down. 

Her pride as a Noble didn't allow her to stoop to the level of a commoner. She had no interest in getting to know him or his companions. Every time he spoke to her, she would glance at him disrespectfully before telling him to leave since he was 'dirtying' her with his commoner presence. 

Joren was so pissed that he wanted to pound her skull into the ground until it cracked open, but he calmed himself and chose a different method to get her to open up. Every time they ate, she would complain about the food. As she was used to eating luxuriously, she had no appetite for travel rations that were meant to last long and not be tasty. 

Still having lots of ingredients to make tasty meals, Joren decided that today was the day when he would prepare a meal that she would crave but deny her as not only was she rude, but their food was separate. If she asked for it, she would come off as greedy, entitled, or desperate since she wants nothing to do with commoners. 

'Let's see how long you can last when you see how good my food is, bitch.' Joren pulled out his cooking items and started preparing a meal that he enjoyed very much in his past life. 

"Oh Joren, you're going to cook today?" Lenny loved Joren's cooking and if he could, he would only eat what he made so when Joren decided to cook, he got very excited. Not just him, but all of them got excited about his food. 

"Seems like they are looking forward to what Joren is going to prepare. I wonder what it is." Sir Carter said while eating his bland soup. 

"What does a thirteen-year-old boy know about cooking? It's probably nothing special. They are just hiding the fact that he's a terrible cook and don't want to hurt his feelings." Tessa played with her food like always, taking small bites while gagging when she swallowed. 

"You never know, it could be good." Being optimistic, Sir Carter didn't push the idea out of his head. 'If he's a 2nd circle cultivator at the age of 13, being a cook shouldn't be off the table, right?' He thought to himself. 

Minutes passed by and the smell of Joren's food was caught on everyone's noses. The smell was amazing and they all turned to see what he was preparing. Glenn and the others didn't know what he was preparing as it was the first time he was making this dish. Tessa and her group all looked in the direction of the wonderful smell and their stomachs took over. 

"Man that smells good." A knight said. 

"Reminds me of my house when I would come home to my wife cooking." Another one replied back. 

"It does smell good. Sir Carter remarked." If you looked closely, you could see a bit of drool sliding down from his mouth. 

"J-Just because it smells good doesn't mean it tastes good." When Tessa spoke these words, her stomach growled loudly. Her cheeks turned bright red as she was embarrassed. 

"Haha, seems like your stomach disagrees." Sir Carter laughed

"S-Shut up! It doesn't smell that good!" She kept glancing back to whatever Joren was cooking and couldn't stop thinking about it. 

"Food's done!" Joren shouted. He took out six plates and filled them with his food. Fried rice with chopped vegetables that had scrambled eggs also chopped in small pieces with Stir-fried noodles and orange chicken, or at least what he was able to produce with the limited ingredients this world has, and it was all seasoned perfectly. 

Once everyone saw the food on the plates, they couldn't help but drool. The knights grumbled under their breath while Sir Carter's eyes were glued on the food. Tessa's stomach kept growling as the food's aroma hit differently when she saw what the meal looked like. 

Joren's companions couldn't help but anticipate their meal. He had cooked for them before and every time, they looked forward to eating it. But back then, he never cooked meals like this, only side dishes or something that was quick and easy like fried chicken so when they saw a full course meal being made by him, they couldn't contain themselves. 

"Hope you enjoy." Joren handed each of them their plate of food, took his own, and sat down on his wooden stool which he had purposely positioned closer to Tessa so she could see his food and him eating it. 

"Oh my God's! This is the best meal I've ever had!" Pantera's hands were shaking with pleasure as her tastebuds savored the flavor of her dinner. 

"The rice is amazing! I didn't know rice could be cooked this way! And the noodles! It's s good!" Lenny was stuffing his face with rice while slurping his noodles. 

"This chicken, it's salty but also sweet. It's good. I didn't know something like this could be so good. Even the vegetables are cooked really well! You are amazing Joren." Derry wasn't as crazy as Lenny or Pantera but even she was wowed by the food. 

"Best meal I've ever had." Arnold kept things simple but had a huge smile on his face. 

"Joren, could you tell me the recipe so I can have my wife cook it at home?! Ahem, it's not that I don't like my wife cooking, of course, it's just that I've never had this before and I'd like to try it again." Glenn was scarfing down his food as if someone was going to steal it. 

Joren ate his food normally. He did relish the flavor since he hadn't had something like this in this world and missed the taste, but he wasn't going crazy like the others. From time to time he would glance at Tessa and her people and noticed that they kept looking over in their direction probably hoping to get some of his food. 

'Heh, you want some? I think not! Let's see how long you can last watching us eat this good food, bitch.' After everyone finished eating, they packed up and went to sleep. 

Joren woke up earlier than normal and saw that Sir Carter had gone into the forest to probably hunt some animals so he could cook some meat for Tessa and the Knights. The knights were packing up their belongings, getting ready to travel once more and Tessa walked out of her tent looking groggy.

'Damn commoners with their good food. Why wouldn't they share some with me? I'm Tessa Von Solight of the Solight Marquis Noble family, anyone would be on their hands and knees to offer me what they have.' Her stomach growled and she clutched it, looking down tiredly. 'Fuck, I'm so hungry. Maybe I should ask that Joren kid for...no no no, you're a noble and he's a commoner, I won't beg a commoner for food.' 

"Young Lady, shall I dismantle your tent?" Joren walked over to Tessa while she was deep in her thoughts. She looked at him at eye level since they were around the same height. 

'He is handsome. No no no, get it together Tessa.' "Didn't I say not to come around me? I don't want the presence of a commoner spoiling my mood." She went back to her normal self after pulling herself together. 

"I understand. I apologize for bothering you, Young Lady." Joren bowed and walked away. 'Just wait, I'll break that shell yours soon. Once I do that, I'm putting my servant sigil on you, making you my bitch.' 

Two weeks passed by and nightfall descended as the moon kicked the sun from the sky. They had traveled to a nearby town to rest up for a bit and restock on supplies but that was only for a day or two since Tessa couldn't stay in one place for a long time. 

In the town, she had her fill of good food and looked visibly happy, but as soon as they hit the road again, she went back to being miserable. Joren had stocked up on supplies in the town to make plenty of meals. He stocked up more than what was necessary, but since time didn't pass in his storage ring, he didn't have to worry about food spoiling. 

Every night, he would cook a different meal and every one of them was a delicacy. His companions relished the amazing food while his clients looked on with jealous eyes. He could see Tessa losing her mind every time she smelled his food. 

Tonight wasn't any different. During the day, he would try and speak to her in good faith, sort of, and she would always brush him off. Sir Carter encouraged her to speak with him and told her three possibilities that could happen. First, they would gain access to his amazing food. Second, she would gain a potentially great ally. Third, she would have a friend to talk to. Of course, she declined stating that she wouldn't want to be friends with a commoner. 

Over the past two weeks, Joren made a lot of amazing cuisines but tonight, he decided to keep things simple, he was going to prepare fried chicken. Lenny was ecstatic as that was his favorite and the others were equally as happy even though they preferred the meals he cooked. 

When Joren finished, he handed them their food and ate his dinner. He could see how the others were looking at his group, hoping to get a piece of his amazing fried chicken. 

"Young Lady, if you talk to him, we could be eating like that and you wouldn't be as, forgive my words, miserable." Sir Carter spoke. 

"Do you want me to beg a commoner for food, Sir Carter?" Tessa, although hungry, was still a Noble and she didn't want to seek any aid from a commoner than she already was. Her Noble pride was being tested. 

"No Young Lady, forgive me." Sir Carter got up to pack all the cooking supplies. 

Joren also finished eating and he decided to practice his lightning control. He had started working on a new technique that would be very helpful to him in the long run and wanted to master it as soon as possible. As he approached the entrance to his tent, he looked to his left and saw Tessa looking at him. She narrowed her eyes, 'hmphed', then started walking to her tent. 

'Fucking weirdo.' Joren was about to step inside when he felt something trigger his senses. 'Hmm? Am I tripping?' He scanned the area but didn't find the thing that triggered his senses, but then he noticed Sir Carter also look around as if he sensed something as well. 

'Okay so I'm not tripping, something is definitely out there.' He took one step forward when he heard something whistling in the air. He turned to see an arrow flying towards Tessa's head. 

In one quick motion, he ran as fast as he could to intercept the arrow that was meant to kill Tessa. He arrived next to her in a split second, and grabbed her waist to pull her out of the way as the arrow arrived at the same time. 

"What are you-" Tessa was about to complain but her voice was cut off when she saw the arrow coming her way. 

Joren caught the arrow with his hand and flipped it with his fingers as his body spun in a circle. Once he was facing the direction where the arrow was fired, he threw it with full force amplifying it with his mana, and watched as it rocketed off at high speeds implanting itself in the head of the person who shot it. His body fell to the ground with a loud thud which caught everyone's attention.