Punishment

When the "Territory Battle" was over, Haru, Tabane, and Fuuko went back quickly and came back to the real world.

From Fuuko's mouth, they knew that they could change their territory to their liking which made it quite interesting, but they decided to do it later when Sumire and Charlotte had returned. They ended their battle in 15 minutes which was very fast, but Sumire and Charlotte hadn't come out which meant that their battle hadn't ended and they were in the middle of a very hard battle.

"Their battle is quite long." Tabane frowned and felt a bit worried.

"They should be fighting against Scarlet Rain," Haru said.

"The Red King? Really?" Fuuko was surprised and asked, "Are they alright?" She knew that they had fought against the Red King, but she only knew that the four of them fought together which meant that it would be hard for Charlotte and Sumire to fight against the Red King. To win? She felt that it was quite impossible for them to win since Level 9 was different from Level 8. There was a huge difference between the two levels.

"They should be."

Haru had confidence in both Charlotte and Sumire and felt that they should be able to make a lot of trouble for the Red King. If there was a chance, it was also possible for them to win against the Red King.

"They should be able to win, the Red King isn't that strong after all," Tabane said. She knew the power of the Red King and felt that the Red King was quite weak. If Charlotte and Sumire faced the Green King, then it would be very hard, but it would be different if they faced a Red King.

"Well, whether they can win or not, we need to wait for them to come out."

Haru stood up and thought about preparing dinner for all of them. He was sure that everyone was quite hungry after the battle.

"What are you doing?"

Fuuko looked at Haru curiously.

"Cooking dinner, is there something that you want to eat?"

At first, Fuuko didn't expect that Haru was a very good cook which meant that this guy could become a perfect husband. She pondered for a while and asked, "Can you cook using squid ink?"

"Squid ink?" Tabane was startled looking at Fuuko. "Why do you want to eat such a thing?!" She couldn't comprehend the mind of this girl, but she didn't hate it, rather she was also curious. If someone heard what she was thinking that everyone who knew her would complain that she was also pretty much weird and no one understood her mind since Tabane was very unpredictable.

"Because I heard that it was good," Fuuko said. She had heard that it was pretty good. She had never tried it and her parents wouldn't allow her to eat such things. She also didn't think that Kuroyukihime would eat such a thing. She also wouldn't eat such a thing either, but she felt that it would be different in Haru's hands since Haru's cooking skill had broken the limit of humanity.

The moment Fuuko tried Haru's food, she felt as if she had entered heaven and it was as if her soul was pulled, but she didn't stop eating since it tasted very good. She had never eaten such a thing before which made her want to try something delicious with weird ingredients. She looked at Haru and wondered whether he could do something about it.

"Squid ink, huh? I guess I can make one."

"Eh?!" 2x

Tabane and Fuuko were surprised when they heard it.

"Really?"

"What are you going to make?"

"It's squid ink noodles," Haru said.

"Squid ink noodles?"

"Well, just wait, I'll cook it in a cinch."

---

Without wasting his time, Haru quickly cooked squid ink pasta. He made his noodles from scratch since it was quite easy.

The process was so smooth and it was as if they saw an opera which made both Tabane and Fuuko dumbfounded. They might have watched him cooking before, but they had to admit that he was very handsome when he was serious.

Leaving the pasta, Haru made a broth of squid ink. The process was quite tedious, especially when it took quite some time to make it, but when it was almost finished, both Sumire and Charlotte seemed to return to reality

"Sumire! Charlotte!"

Tabane jumped into them and hugged them. She looked at their expressions and realized that there was something weird about both of them. She was smart and quickly asked, "Did you lose?"

"..."

Sumire and Charlotte sighed and nodded.

"Yes..." 2x

They had lost which was quite regretful. They thought that they would be able to win, but it seemed that they had underestimated their opponent. They thought that they could clear one of their quests, but it seemed that they couldn't do it.

"It's normal for you to lose to the Red King. She has a lot of years of experience and it'll be quite abnormal for her to lose," Fuuko said, but she had to admit that the talent of the four of them were scary, especially Haru since he was able to defeat the Blood Chain with his original ability. Pondering for a while, she was wondering whether they would be able to clear the Imperial Palace.

'No, no!'

Fuuko hurriedly shook her head since she had a bad memory of that place and she didn't want them to challenge that place, even though she had a feeling that the four of them would challenge that special dungeon.

"It means that you need Tabane-chan beside you!"

Tabane hit her chest and said, "Let's have revenge against that small red later!"

Sumire and Charlotte nodded and they quickly recovered. They weren't children and their minds were mature. Even though they had lost, it didn't mean that they couldn't win against the Red King later.

"Well, since you've lost, I'll give you a punishment."

Suddenly they heard Haru's voice from the kitchen.

Sumire and Charlotte were startled when they heard it.

"Huh? Punishment?!" 2x

Neither of them expected such a thing, but they didn't reject it since they had lost.

"Yeah, eat this."

Haru brought a large bowl which was filled with black liquid.

"......"

The four girls seemed to be dumbfounded when they saw the thing inside this bowl.

Pitch black.

The liquid in this large bowl was pitch black.

"You're too cruel!"

"How can you force us to drink sewer water!"

Charlotte and Sumire couldn't help but protest since this thing was unexpected. The color of the liquid was so black that it made them think that it was sewer water.

"It's not sewer water and it won't be a punishment if I let you eat something good, right?" Haru said with a smile.

This smile made both Charlotte and Sumire shudder since it showed how sadistic this guy was, but at the same time, it made them blush slightly. If only their punishment wasn't to eat this thing then....

"...."

Tabane and Fuuko, who knew that this big bowl of black liquid was squid ink noodles, were speechless since the appearance of this food was very evil!

Usually Haru's presentation on his food was pretty good, but this time, they could see nothing besides black liquid inside the bowl which made them unsure what to do.

Tabane and Fuuko looked at each other and nodded.

"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" 2x

Tabane and Fuuko smiled and kept urging both Sumire and Charlotte.

"Ugh..."

Sumire and Charlotte didn't really want to eat it, but Haru who was beside them had prepared a bowl and chopstick for both of them which made them know that they couldn't run away from this punishment.