I wasn't mentally prepared yet

A serene kitchen.

As I was cutting the bell peppers with elaborate hand skills, I dropped the kitchen knife onto the floor with a clattering sound.

An irritable tone leaked out of my mouth.

"Ah… it's happening again."

I looked at my left hand that had been holding the bell pepper.

A small, unblemished, perfectly intact left hand.

Thankfully, the left hand that grasped the bell pepper was unharmed.

I breathed a sigh of relief seeing all five fingers still firmly attached to the unharmed hand, realizing it could have been a severe injury if it had gone even slightly awry.

After confirming the safety of my left hand,

I looked at the problematic right hand.

A right hand that was trembling ever so slightly.

"Haah."

A sigh came out naturally.

Sometimes this happens.

Times when my right hand unexpectedly won't listen to me. It isn't often, just on very rare occasions.

My right hand isn't obeying me.

It's not because of a Black Dragon, nor is there another self hidden within. It started from the fingertips, my entire right arm had become stiff and would not move.

I watched my right hand shake violently. No matter how much force I applied to clench the fingers into a fist, it wouldn't even flinch.

I let out a bitter laugh.

"Really, this isn't easy."

This was an aftereffect from a failed attempt to rescue the lady from black magic, and it didn't seem to be getting any better.

At times, pain would come rushing in.

Although on really bad days I felt pain as if my arm was about to be torn off, I wasn't overly concerned.

It wasn't happening frequently.

Besides, increasing my resistance to dark magic was beneficial.

['Dark Magic Resistance' suppresses 'Necrosis'.]

I thought of it as an investment for the future.

"Fuuuu-"

But then,

particularly today, it was excruciatingly painful.

"Damn."

I collapsed into a corner of the kitchen and sat down, clutching my trembling right hand to my chest. As I crouched, the pain was somewhat lessened.

It was painful. How could I put it into words?

Like insects boring into my flesh?

That seemed to be the exact description.

Clenching my teeth tightly, I held my breath so as not to let any sound escape, waiting for the pain to pass.

It was pain I had endured countless times, but I never seemed to get used to it.

My body shook uncontrollably.

My lips were parched.

"Huuah… Just hold on… Endure it."

I made every effort to keep from screaming out loud.

I didn't want to cause unnecessary worry for the lady upstairs.

It really wasn't a big deal.

It was a bit painful, certainly,

But it was a pain I could definitely endure. I was fine.

***

In the room of the lady upstairs, where I had gone up after preparing the meal,

I showed an awkward smile at the sight of the charred steak.

"Hahaha…"

"…What is this?"

The lady asked me.

She seemed genuinely curious.

Understandably, since the steak had forgotten its function as meat and had turned into what looked like blackened charcoal or wood.

Trapped in a corner of the kitchen, I'd forgotten about the meat I'd left on the stove and thus it had turned completely black. Regrettably, there was no spare meat, so I had brought this up with caution.

The lady asked me again,

"Charcoal?"

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. It must have seemed inconceivable that the butler, who usually prepared the meals perfectly, had brought something completely inedible.

It was already 9 o'clock in the evening.

I felt sorry for presenting such a rock-like object to the extremely hungry lady, but I couldn't make a new one since there was no spare meat.

With a tone filled with regret, I said,

"This is tonight's dinner."

"Oh…?"

The lady's head filled with numerous question marks.

"Dinner?"

Realizing the tragic situation, she exclaimed with exclamation marks in her head.

"Ah, is it beef jerky?"

I shook my head.

"It's a steak made from beef ribs."

"Oh…"

The lady brought her nose close to the plate, sniffed around, and tilted her head curiously.

"Hmm…"

She stroked her chin,

Seriously thought for a moment,

-Poke.

She licked it after dabbing with her finger.

-Scrape.

She tried a small scrape and savored it in her mouth.

The lady nodded.

It seemed she had come to a conclusion.

With a more serious expression than ever before, the lady asked me again.

"…Dinner?"

I nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes."

-Closely.

The lady looked back at the plate,

Examining if there was any part that could possibly be edible.

She said,

"Eating this will kill you."

"No, it won't. We once peacefully shared poisonous mushroom soup, and we're alive and well, aren't we?"

"That was beautiful, though."

"If you look closely, this can be pretty too."

I said while looking at the meat that was charred blacker than charcoal. Still, perhaps one could find something edible with some diligent excavation using a knife.

Moreover, the bell peppers and broccoli weren't burnt. If there was nothing else to eat, at least these would suffice.

The lady insisted again,

"Eating this will kill you."

"No, you won't die."

"You will."

"Well, then there is nothing that can be done."

The lady's eyes widened at the sight of my sigh.

As a human, I too make mistakes in cooking, and at such times, I would usually bring her favorite cake or some takeout food from a fancy street.

Knowing that, the lady looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.

"Chocolate cake?"

"You think so?"

"Then what?"

In response to the lady's intense expectation, I poked at a fresh bell pepper with a fork.

-Psst.

Suddenly, the lady's expression contorted.

"Why give me bell peppers?"

"They're fresh and delicious."

"That's what?"

"Yes."

The lady thought that it might have been better to just eat the charred, blackened meat instead.

"Ah, go ahead."

Swish. The lady turned her head away abruptly.

"I don't want to."

With a fork, I launched the 'Fwooosh~ Airplane taking off' sound, and the Bell Pepper One took off. Its destination was the lady's mouth.

"I don't want to."

This time, the lady closed her mouth tight, refusing to eat. I wanted to flick her forehead as she stared at me with innocent eyes. It usually works with kids to pretend it's an airplane flying, but it seems it doesn't work in this world where airplanes don't exist.

I took the fork again.

Maybe it'll be different if I mention something that does exist in this world.

I figured out a new approach and dispatched Aircraft Two.

"Fwooosh~ The dragon is flying!"

-Thud.

With a slight gesture, the lady shot down Dragon Two. In an instant, she had become a dragon slayer.

The lady wore a triumphant smile.

"I've caught an evil dragon."

"Oh…!"

I looked at Dragon Two, fallen powerlessly to the ground. It was a pity for the bell pepper, which didn't even reach its destination but instead met a heroic demise.

The lady looked at the bell pepper that had crash-landed and said:

"I'm a dragonslayer."

'Snicker', with a scoff, the lady showed she had seen through my trick. Does this mean these tricks won't work on her anymore…?

I took out a new fork.

Good thing I'd prepared dozens of forks in case something like this happened.

"Picky eating is bad for you."

"That's fine. That was an evil bell pepper dragon."

"Bell peppers aren't evil dragons. They are rather benevolent dragons that protect the lady's health."

"No, they're evil."

The lady furrowed her brow.

"They taste bad."

The lady hated bell peppers.

She complained about their distinctive off-putting taste, though I couldn't understand why.

Crunchy and delicious, nothing more…

In fact, I disliked them as well.

I dispatched Aircraft Three with the intention of dealing with leftovers for the lady.

"Open wide."

"I refuse."

"I refuse as well."

I forced it into the lady's mouth.

"Ugh."

"You can't spit it out."

"Why not?"

"Because bell peppers are healthy."

"But I feel sick at heart."

"That's something bell peppers will take care of."

The lady tried to spit out the bell pepper without chewing. I grabbed her chin and helped her chew.

I did receive a 'meow punch' from the lady, but it didn't hurt, so it was fine.

Gulp. Having swallowed the bell pepper, the lady finally picked up the fork.

I mistakenly thought she picked it up to throw it, but contrary to my expectations, she was now creating skewers with the remaining bell peppers and broccoli on the plate.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

Maybe it suited her taste better than I thought?

Just when I figured Aircraft Three had matured her palate,

"Ah."

The lady extended her fork to me.

"Ricardo, you eat this too."

"Thank you for the offer, but this isn't really right for me, is it?"

The lady spoke to me with cold eyes.

"You need to be healthy."

"I am healthy, actually."

"Be more healthy."

"To only give me bell peppers seems like abuse. I might need to report this to the Butler's Human Rights Committee."

The lady's eyes widened with surprise.

"Does that exist?"

"No, it doesn't."

The lady had thrown the fork.

After a small skirmish, we finished our meal by giving the lady a chocolate cake.

***

The lady was lying down in a drowsy stupor, yawning. I sat by her bedside and stroked her hair gently.

"Lady."

"Hmm?"

"Do you know I'll be on leave from tomorrow?"

The lady nodded.

It seems she was aware of my upcoming holiday. I thought she might have forgotten, so I reminded her, grateful when she remembered.

I need to bring home many valuable things from the dungeon this time. A mixture of worry and anticipation unsettled my heart.

The lady then said to me,

"You have to come back safely."

"Yes."

"Did I tell you? Be careful of bad people and don't follow anyone who promises you delicious food."

"I'm well aware."

It seems that the lady was worried about me.

Worried whether I could survive on my own in this harsh world.

It appears our concerns for each other were mutual.

"Remember this."

The lady held my hand.

She gazed at my hand with a somewhat pained expression, stroking the back of my hand and biting her lower lip.

For a moment, the lady was silent.

"Guhh…"

Stumbling over her words, the lady then spoke.

"When you come back from your leave, I have something I want to ask."

"Something you want to ask?"

"Yes."

The lady clenched her fist.

It must be something difficult for her to ask. Maybe she's planning to ask if I ever had a girlfriend. If that's the case, she could ask right now.

Because I've been single in my past and current life.

I said to the lady,

"Why don't you just ask me now?"

The lady shook her head.

"Not yet. I'm not mentally prepared."

"Mentally prepared?"

"Yes. I'm not ready yet."

***

Time passed quickly.

After saying goodbye to the lady who stayed at the mansion, I made sure to give a generous bonus to the maid and requested her to take good care especially.

The most important thing I mentioned was:

Only one piece of chocolate per day.

Not more than that, I made sure not to forget that rule.

After exchanging goodbyes with the maid, I immediately set off, and now I have arrived at the peak of the Hamel mountain range.

The vast scenery opened up at the summit.

The refreshing air cleared my chest, and the cold breeze fluttered my hair, making me feel truly like I was on holiday.

I need to wrap this up quickly and return.

That's what I was thinking just as I was about to enter the dungeon.

"Who do we have here?"

A familiar voice reached my ears.