Chapter 7&8

Chapter 7: Late Night Snack

Yatogami Tohka never expected to be caught sneaking food.

She wasn't pretending to sneak; she didn't even realize she had a tail following her. She was simply hungry.

Spirits have varying physiques, and when she played the role of Tokisaki Kurumi, she barely ate at all, but now that she was Yatogami Tohka, her appetite had increased drastically.

Not only did her appetite grow, but her digestion speed also accelerated. Although she had eaten ten times the portion of a normal person during dinner, she still didn't feel full.

It wasn't even midnight, and her stomach was already growling.

Originally, she planned to sneak into the kitchen and have a small snack, but she never expected to be caught.

"No matter how hungry you are, you can't eat raw ingredients," Nephren said, placing the half tomato she was holding on the cutting board. "Let me cook for you."

"Really?" Yatogami Tohka asked with excitement. "You'll cook for me?"

"Usually, the managers cook, either Nygglatho or Willem. I rarely cook," Nephren clarified. "I can't promise it will taste as good as theirs, but it's better than eating raw ingredients."

"It's fine, as long as you make it, I'll be happy!"

"Alright, you said it." Nephren turned on the kitchen lights and put on an apron.

Recalling Nygglatho's cooking steps, Nephren started by lighting the stove and bringing some water to a boil. She grabbed a large handful of noodles, hesitated, then added even more.

Next, she pulled out some tomatoes, eggs, butter, and cheese, and followed Nygglatho's method of chopping them up and mixing them into a sauce.

After about half an hour of working in the kitchen, Nephren finally presented a huge plate of noodles.

It looked like spaghetti, but in this world, there was no Italy, so they just called it noodles.

To be honest, the presentation wasn't great.

The noodles were overcooked and limp, with no texture, and the sauce was more like thin water than a rich, thick one.

"I guess this is a failure," Nephren said emotionlessly after tasting the noodles. "It's normal to fail on the first try. I'll cook it again."

"Grumble—!" Yatogami Tohka's stomach growled loudly.

Watching expectantly, Nephren still didn't throw out the failed noodles.

"It's not that I won't let you eat it, it's just really bad," Nephren explained. "But if you insist on trying, I won't stop you."

"Oh, yes! Great!" Yatogami Tohka eagerly took the plate of noodles.

Without hesitation, she twirled some noodles with her fork and put them in her mouth.

"Hmm?"

After chewing a few bites, it wasn't as bad as she expected.

While it wasn't nearly as good as something made by a professional chef, the bland noodles, combined with her hunger, actually tasted okay.

Was it because her taste buds had changed?

Anyway, it tasted pretty good.

Without any psychological pressure, Yatogami Tohka dug into the plate of noodles, eating with impressive speed.

Nephren was a bit startled by her enthusiasm.

"You don't have to eat so fast," Nephren said, "I know it's bad. You don't have to force yourself for my sake."

"I'm not forcing myself," Yatogami Tohka mumbled between bites. "I really think it's delicious!"

Delicious?

Nephren froze for a moment.

She had tasted the noodles herself, and both the noodles and the sauce were far from acceptable. Even she didn't want to eat them.

By any standard, it was a failure. It didn't even come close to being delicious.

But Yatogami Tohka, eating with such enjoyment, didn't seem to be faking it. She wasn't acting for Nephren's benefit.

A feeling Nephren had never experienced before filled her. It was the joy of seeing her effort appreciated.

So this was how Nygglatho must have felt when she cooked for them, always smiling while watching others eat.

"Just how bad were the things you used to eat?" Nephren asked, amazed.

"I don't know," Yatogami Tohka replied. "I've lost all my memories, after all."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot you're at the final stage of personality collapse," Nephren remarked with a strange look in her eyes. "Since you've lost all your memories, what do you feel now?"

"Well... not much, really," Yatogami Tohka thought for a moment before responding. "Maybe I was scared before, but now, I don't remember anything except my name, so whether I'm scared or not doesn't matter. Right now, I just want to eat enough every day."

"That's... a pretty simple way of thinking."

"Do you ever have personality collapse?"

"Luckily, not yet," Nephren said. "Maybe it's because I'm weak, but I haven't had my past life memories awaken."

Personality collapse was what outsiders called this condition.

Among the golden spirits, they referred to it as "past life erosion."

At some point, possibly triggered by a sudden surge of magical power or simply by the passage of time, golden spirits would see scenes they had never witnessed before and hear voices that didn't belong to them.

These sights and sounds felt so real, as if they had actually happened, as if they were memories of their past life.

As the memories of their past life accumulated, they would cause personality collapse. Eventually, the golden spirit would lose all their memories, unable to distinguish between the past and present.

This was the second fate for their kind, after dying in battle.

Ironically, the more a golden spirit didn't care about their life, the more magic they could use.

Nephren, who was considered weak among the golden spirits, feared for her life more than the other two in the Fourth Fairy Warehouse. She often found herself imagining her future, wondering whether she would die in battle or lose everything and have her personality crumble into nothing.

Neither of those outcomes was something she wanted.

"Well, worrying about the future doesn't help much, right?" Yatogami Tohka said, "It's inevitable, so it's better to focus on enjoying the present."

"That's surprising," Nephren said, glancing at her in surprise. "Where did you hear such wise words?"

"Can't it just be something I thought of myself?"

Yatogami Tohka wiped her mouth and handed Nephren her empty bowl.

"I'm just worried about whether I'll get enough to eat, so please, make me another bowl!"

Chapter 8: A New Home

Half an hour later.

After swallowing the last sip of soup, Yatogami Tohka licked the remnants from her lips.

She placed the bowl and fork down, then clasped her hands together and said with lingering satisfaction, "Thank you for the meal!"

"You're welcome," Nephren replied, relieved that the big eater had finally had enough. She had been chopping vegetables for what felt like an eternity, her hands almost cramping from the effort.

This was her first time cooking, and it had taken almost an hour. The concentration required made her feel more exhausted than her usual training sessions. But despite the fatigue, it was worth it.

With someone like Yatogami Tohka, who devoured everything she was given, Nephren could boldly experiment and improve her cooking.

After preparing six bowls of noodles, her skill had gone from barely edible to a level that could pass for ordinary. A faint sense of pride bloomed within her.

"Thank you for cooking for me. You're a good person," Yatogami Tohka said seriously. "Can you tell me your name?"

"After I cooked for you this long, you don't even know my name?" Nephren said flatly. "Didn't everyone introduce themselves at the welcome party?"

"Sorry, there were so many people here that I didn't remember anyone's name."

Yatogami Tohka shrank a little in embarrassment. "But I'll remember it this time! I promise!"

"My full name is Nephren Ruq Insania."

"..."

Yatogami Tohka fell silent for a moment before cautiously asking, "Can you say it again?"

"Just call me Nephren," she said.

"Okay! Got it!" Yatogami Tohka nodded enthusiastically.

As they were talking, soft footsteps approached the kitchen. The two women exchanged a glance, unsure whether to hide or confront the situation head-on.

Before they could decide, the kitchen door opened.

"...?" X4

Inside the kitchen stood Yatogami Tohka and Nephren, while outside stood the Fourth Fairy Warehouse manager, Willem, and one of the adult golden fairies, Chtholly.

Neither group had expected to see the other at this time, and the atmosphere became awkwardly silent.

Eventually, Willem broke the silence, ending the strange pause.

"Well, this is a coincidence. What are you two doing here so late?" Willem asked casually.

"I didn't have enough for dinner, so I came to the kitchen to find something to eat," Yatogami Tohka replied.

"I saw her sneaking into the kitchen. When I followed her, she was eating raw ingredients. I couldn't watch, so I cooked something for her," Nephren explained.

"By the way, Nephren can cook for others too?" Chtholly asked, glancing at the kitchen counter where the pots and cutting board were a little messy. "Normally, aren't you the one being fed? When did you learn to cook?"

"I've seen Nygglatho cook noodles before, so I just tried it out tonight," Nephren replied. "Although the first few tries were failures, I didn't waste them. Tohka ate everything."

"Everything?" Chtholly asked, surprised, looking at Yatogami Tohka. "How many bowls did you eat?"

"Six bowls, I think," Yatogami Tohka answered. "If I eat too much, I won't feel comfortable sleeping, so I just filled my stomach a little."

"Six bowls... Just filling your stomach?" Chtholly was speechless.

As a golden fairy, she had never seen another of her kind eat so much.

She couldn't help but glance at Yatogami Tohka's stomach.

If Chtholly ate that much, her stomach would surely bulge. But this newcomer's stomach was still flat, just as she claimed, as if she had only "filled" her stomach.

This made Chtholly wonder if her stomach was entirely made of one giant stomach.