ch141-ch160 · 159-ch159

Chapter 159: The Magic Parfait

"Here you are—one chocolate parfait."

Kasumi-san finished more than half of hers, so counting that, this is cup number four, you know?

Soushi is spoiling Shiraishi-san way too much.

"Chocolate this time! Now you're getting it, Sou-chan."

"Now then—about this level-raising method of yours?"

Leaving Shiraishi-san to her parfaits, Kasumi-san moves the talk along.

"Hmmm, that's a secret. For now, just assume that eating the parfaits is what raises your level."

"Mmm-mmm-mmm? Was there not a ban on surprises?"

I could tell Kasumi-san, but Shiraishi-san is better left out of it for now.

It's nothing mysterious—just power leveling.

While Shiraishi-san enjoys her parfait up on the warehouse's second floor, we kill monsters on the floor directly beneath her.

She probably isn't fond of gore, so golems will be our pick.

Twist off a golem's arms and legs and it can't do a thing—perfectly safe.

Then toss them through the 'Gate,' and even Floor 1 becomes easy power leveling.

If Mia-san crushed the magic stones on the warehouse's first floor, her level would climb too.

That said, Shiraishi-san might have reservations about the golem-killing itself.

If she hates the idea, do we do it anyway, or keep it secret and carry on? That's something I want to hash out with Kasumi-san on tonight's call.

So for now, we let her believe that eating parfait is what raises your level...

Nobody falls for a ridiculous story like that, right?

"Incredible! If a magic parfait like that exists, I simply must try it!"

She fell for it.

To be fair, the chocolate parfait she's eating right now IS skill-made, so in a sense it really is a 'magic parfait'...

"Please eat more slowly. The 'magic parfait' doesn't take effect unless you savor it—consider this practice, and try taking your time with that chocolate one."

It's already half gone!

Leveling takes time.

If she polishes off a large parfait in under five minutes, how many parfaits would an hour or two of leveling burn through?

"I have to do something that delicate? There's even etiquette to eating it—how very 'magic parfait' of it."

It's not that hard...

Still, she really does fold instantly.

Shiraishi-san is a master at tricking people, but utterly hopeless at being tricked.

"While you eat... no, how about sharing your impressions after every single bite? The parfait's points to improve, the heights it should aspire to. Even what kind you'd like to eat next—conversation is your strong suit, is it not?"

A lifeline from Kasumi-san.

If Soushi's cooking chops improve, the 【Cooking】 skill's effect might sharpen too.

And Shiraishi-san does seem well-versed in parfaits, so no harm there.

"If that's all, I can manage... Mmm. Delicious. But you can't call this a chocolate parfait. It's merely a parfait with chocolate and cookies in it. The strawberry one earlier had the same problem—the ice cream needs chocolate or strawberry IN it. But it's delicious... my hand, my hand simply won't stop..."

Whether that's the 【Cooking】 skill at work or her natural state, eating slowly is clearly a struggle for her...

Her spoon is trembling like someone going through alcohol withdrawal at this point?

So not an alco-holic—a parfa-holic. A parfait fiend?

"Soushi—any seconds left in the kitchen?"

"We're out. Even our own shares are gone."

"Aww, maaan—"

You've had FOUR already!

The only thing we've ever tasted from the 【Cooking】 skill is tea...

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'I see. So that's the plan...'

Home at last, and mid-call with Kasumi-san for the night.

"Right. We'd be bringing golems down to Floor 1, but with the arms and legs removed they can't do anything, so safety-wise I think we're fine. The real question is whether we tell Shiraishi-san or not."

Whether it's truly safe, we won't know until we head back up to Floor 31 and test it for real.

But with 【Gate】 currently committed to Soushi's training, the 'eat-parfait-and-level-up operation'... no, the 'Magic Parfait Operation' stays shelved for a while.

'We should tell her the truth. Honestly, if the parfait bait didn't work, I was ready to give up... Tell her everything, and if she dislikes it, then so be it. Shiraishi-san staying exactly as Shiraishi-san is best. She is already an amazing person, more than enough—and she is always the one saving us...'

True enough.

Thanks to Shiraishi-san, a guy who nosebleeds every other day has never once been hospitalized.

And in that 【Berserker】 incident—if Shiraishi-san hadn't been there, Umemoto might have died on that floor...

Even this, being with Kasumi-san now, only happened because Shiraishi-san pushed us together, I'm sure.

No thanks could ever cover it.

Honestly, she's earned a lifetime supply of Soushi's parfaits.

And that's exactly why I figured gifting her a high-rank job would make the perfect repayment, and drew up all these schemes...

But if she hates the idea, obviously we won't do it.

"Understood. We tell her honestly, and if that fails, we'll have Soushi repay the debt in her stead."

Whether feeding a parfait addict more parfait counts as a good deed, I couldn't say...

'Fufu. Then we had best pour our efforts into supporting Natsukawa-san. A special skill grows the more it is used, after all. And I believe his surface cooking improving would bring synergy as well—so I shall teach Natsukawa-san to cook.'

What I wouldn't give.

Soushi's surface cooking, to put it charitably, is not good.

Watching him grill meat and assemble parfaits settled that.

But I will crush that plan with every fiber of my being.

Forget that—tutor ME, please!

"Skills grow when you level up too, right? If we shoot Soushi's level up all at once with that method, the 【Cooking】 skill might grow—or even 'evolve.'"

Apparently special skills carry something called 'evolution,' apart from ordinary 'growth.'

Kasumi-san's special skill 【Equipment Weight Reduction】 grew with use—the weight she could carry kept rising—but then one day, the kinds of things it worked on expanded.

Until then it supposedly never activated when lifting people, but these days she feels no weight at all carrying a person, and it even kicks in a little when she lifts living monsters.

My 【Gate】 went from two Gates to three as well.

We both 'evolved' after passing Level 30 and claiming our high-rank jobs, so the same could happen to Soushi.

Let's settle our debt to Shiraishi-san by way of evolving Soushi's special skill...