ch261-ch280 · 265-ch265

Chapter 265: Turning Over a New Leaf

"Yo, Kasumi-san, good work out there. We're barging in, yeah."

"Anego-san, you were already here? Have we kept you waiting?"

Friday. Finished with the after-school leveling, we've come back from the warehouse to Mia-san's shop.

Today was the day Anego-san reports on the situation at headquarters, so we wrapped up early—but Anego-san had arrived well ahead of the appointed time.

"Good evening~"

We offer our greetings too.

......Huh? Something smells delicious?

That's odd. Soushi is right here......

"Everyone, welcome back! Dinner's ready!"

Oh—Shiraishi-san has apparently already made dinner.

We told my mother we'd be late tonight, since there's a strategy meeting afterward, and Aikawa says she has a consultation.

We've been eating at home constantly lately, so an occasional change is nice, right?

"That's unusual. Did something happen?"

Shiraishi-san cooking of her own accord is rare, so I ask Kasumi-san in a small voice.

"No, this is simply how Shiraishi-san has been lately. She has turned over a new leaf and set her sights on 【Saint】."

Ah......

The 【Wicked Woman】 shock really did a number on her.

"That's right! From now on I shall live by purity and integrity, devoted to everyone's sake! Now, everyone, inside and take a seat. It's a little early, but let's have dinner!"

That was supposed to be a whisper, but she apparently heard my and Kasumi-san's conversation.

Her stats have shot up quite a bit since becoming 【Healing King】.

Shiraishi-san's presence color was a blinking white light, and that light feels somehow stronger now too.

Whether the job change changed her presence color, or her change of heart changed it—the mystery remains.

"I'll pass—there's still shop work. You two go on ahead. I'll do the time cards when we close up, so eat with everyone."

We did clock out a little early today because of Anego-san's visit, after all.

Sorry about that, Mia-san.

"Oh, then I'll mind the shop......"

"Nooo. We'll eat fast and take over, okay? C'mon, Miki, let's go. If she says no, Soushi will have to make something instead. That's what we're consulting him about tonight, right?"

"Don't worry about us, just eat up~"

The delinquent girl pushes the back of the deep-red-presence girl, who was trying to decline......

Once everyone but Mia-san is seated, the dinner begins.

This shop is quite spacious—besides the shopfront and the workshop, the first floor even has a sort of meeting space in front of the little kitchen.

This is where we take our meals, exclusively.

Today's menu appears to be hamburg steak.

With Shiraishi-san holding the 【Chef】 job, there's no way it'd be a dud.

"Us getting treated to a meal too—thanks for the grub. Digging in....... Hmm? This is GOOD! Shiraishi-san, gorgeous AND a great cook? And you're a 【Healer】, right? Man, you're absolutely getting 【Saint】! What level are you now?"

"Secret~. Isn't mysterious more 【Saint】-like?"

Then I'll have a bite too.

Sweet!

This hamburg steak is SWEET!

No wait—is it the sauce that's sweet?

Not sugar sweetness. A different sweetness.

This is......

"Honey...... is it?"

"My, good nose. I put dungeon-produced honey in the sauce as a secret ingredient. Well? Which is tastier, mine or Kasumi-san's hamburg steak?"

"K-Kasumi-san's."

Kasumi-san's hamburg steak wins on overall points. By a hair.

"THAT is what I mean! Shiraishi-san!"

"Oh dear, so it was. Ohohoho. My apologies, Kasumi-san."

THIS is a 【Wicked Woman】.

Even the dungeon says so.

"Honey? Haruki, how'd you figure that out? I got nothin'."

"Now that you mention it, I maybe sense a hint of it?"

So Soushi can't tell, but Aikawa can, huh.

"Might be a stat difference. Try buffing?"

I remember seeing a video about that.

"I'm out of MP, man. Aikawa, do the dance."

"Maaan, we're EATING? Not here—it kicks up dust, so do it in the shop."

We leveled until Soushi's MP ran dry, so naturally there's none left.

The two get up and move over to the shop side.

"Oh my, Miki-chan. You're not eating, are you? Don't you like hamburg steak?"

"Ah...... I-I'll dig in."

She hasn't touched it.

The deep-red-presence girl, Nishino-san, hesitantly brings the hamburg steak to her mouth.

"Miki......"

The delinquent girl, Higashi, watches her anxiously.

"Ith sho good...... Hina, it's good. Really, really good! This too, this too!"

Nishino-san's chopsticks won't stop.

She seems to have lost even more weight—I wonder, was she not eating because she was on a diet?

Force-feeding her—truly a 【Wicked Woman】!

Ah, wait, she's not a 【Wicked Woman】 yet, right?

"Thank goodness. Miki, isn't that great? Itsh twoo—itsh sho gooood..."

Huh?

Are those two crying?

It was THAT good?

"Eh? What's gotten into you two?"

"Thorry...... sniff, sniff. Okay. Um, lately everything I eat started tasting bad...... I could barely eat anything at all anymore."

Nishino-san starts explaining her circumstances, bit by bit, to a flustered Shiraishi-san.

"Eh? That's terrible. Since when?"

"Since just before summer break. Bit by bit, I stopped being able to eat...... But the food Soushi-kun makes was the only thing that still tasted good to me. So I've managed to live more or less as usual."

That means one meal a day, doesn't it......

She's only been eating the staff meal after her part-time shift—so THAT's why she keeps slimming down?

No wait, what do you mean it tastes bad?

Did Soushi's cooking get so good that nothing else is edible anymore?

That'd be Soushi's fault, wouldn't it......

"If Miki can eat it, you're a 【Chef】 too, right, Shiraishi-san? What a relief~. I was planning to ask Soushi tonight, but could you hear me out too, Shiraishi-san?"

The delinquent girl adds to Nishino-san's words.

I see—so they've worked out that they can eat food made by someone with the skill......

This is shaping up into Soushi being made to take responsibility.

But hold on, something's odd.

Aikawa, who also eats Soushi's cooking every day...... well, three meals a day of his home cooking, so no problem there?

But the delinquent girl eats it too, and probably Mia-san as well, right?

Both of them seem fine.

And going by the delinquent girl's account, it's only Nishino-san......

"Oopsie. Found out, did you? Yes, believe it or not, this lady is a 【Chef】. Ehehen! Well then, now that that's settled, eat up, don't hold back. There's seconds, you know?"

"Ooh, Shiraishi-san's a 【Chef】, huh~. That explains how good this hamburg steak is. Huh? But Soushi's supposed to be 【Staff User】 and 【Water Mage】, ain't he?"

"Huh?"

Anego-san spots the contradiction in the build, and the two part-time girls startle at it.

"Now that you mention it, the orc grill Soushi made was weirdly good too...... It's not in his build, which means...... a special skill?"

Guh. Sharp.

'How many times do I gotta tell ya, quit doing that pose!'

'Eeeek, sorryyy. Ahaha.'

'So sorryyy. Run for it—ahahaha.'

And with that, Soushi and Aikawa come back in.

"Ahaha, huh?...... What's up?"

Every gaze in the room converges on Soushi.