* * *
“Take your time. I’ll eat it all.”
“I think I wanna cook for the rest of my life.”
Maybe I should quit being an adventurer?
When war breaks out, what people need isn’t adventurers—it’s cooks who can feed the hungry.
“…For life?”
The hero’s voice wavered slightly, which was unlike him.
I’d been riding my excitement, but suddenly, I snapped back to reality.
“You mean you’ll cook for me for the rest of your life?”
Th-that’s not exactly what I meant. Why does he sound so eager?
Yeah, I guess it’d be weird to expect him to eat just bacon for the rest of his life.
I’d need to learn more cooking techniques before I could even joke about something like that.
“I just got excited because you actually ate it! Don’t take it too seriously.”
I waved my hands dismissively.
“I’m not saying I’ll keep making food just for you. I was just thinking that maybe when we’re no longer traveling together, I could cook for people who can’t afford food.”
“…”
But suddenly, the hero’s relatively mild expression turned ice-cold.
Did I… say something wrong?
A moment later, he sighed.
“Forget it.”
Forget it?
He said that, but it didn’t feel like anything was actually resolved.
His voice sounded completely defeated.
What do you mean “forget it”? You were obviously upset just now!
Why are you suddenly dropping it?
Now I won’t even know why you were mad!
“What’s ‘forgotten’?”
I insisted on asking.
“You’re too stupid to understand, even if I told you.”
Argh!
He’s not wrong, but hearing it straight from the hero still stung.
He’s really mad, huh?
“If I’m stupid, then you should explain it to me! If you don’t, I’ll just keep making the same mistakes!”
“You proud of that?”
He shot back sharply.
Yeah, he was definitely upset.
And of course, he wasn’t going to tell me why.
That meant I had to figure it out myself.
I replayed our conversation.
I said I’d cook for the rest of my life.
The hero seemed a bit startled and repeated my words.
I thought he meant, ‘Are you seriously going to feed me this kind of sloppy cooking forever?’
So I quickly reassured him that wasn’t the case.
…Was I wrong?
I mean, I am an idiot, so maybe I completely misread the situation.
Did I say something stupid and offend him?
But I say dumb things all the time!
Why would he react like this now?
Then what was I supposed to say?
That the hero actually wanted to eat my cooking every day?
That can’t be right.
With all the failed dishes I’ve made so far, there’s no way.
Even I wouldn’t want that!
Ugh, I don’t know.
This is so hard!
“Okay, fine, I might not be the smartest, but our brilliant Lord Batista should have some mercy, don’t you think?”
Realizing my limited intelligence wouldn’t help me here, I resorted to my ultimate weapon: cuteness.
“I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m sorry. You’re so generous and kind, so just this once, let it slide, okay? You know I really like you.”
I figured the hero liked my face well enough, so I went for a charming approach.
I let my voice trail off in a sweet, coaxing tone, giving him a pleading look.
Just in case, I even threw in a wink.
“Are you mad because I’m too dumb to travel with you? You’re really not going to forgive me?”
“I’m holding back right now, so shut up.”
Yessir…
Cuteness strategy: complete failure.
And it’s not like he’d explain even if I asked, so now I had no idea how to make it up to him.
Another dead end.
To be honest, this kind of thing had happened several times since we first met.
The hero would get mad for some unknown reason, and I’d have no clue why—but I’d apologize anyway.
At least now, he responded more than he used to.
When we first met, he’d just ignore me.
So, in a way, we were closer than before.
But I still had no idea what went on in his head.
And he never really explained.
Thinking about it, the hero was way worse than me when it came to communication.
He barely spoke, and even when he was mad, he never explained why.
It was only recently that I even learned about his past.
That he was an orphan.
That he grew up in a temple.
But those were just facts—he never said what it was like or what happened there.
The hero simply never talked about himself.
He never told me what he was feeling.
I could only analyze his expressions, his actions, and try to guess what was going on in his head.
Not that I minded… but it was frustrating.
If he just told me, I could remember.
I could learn from my mistakes.
But trying to figure him out through vague guesses was exhausting.
‘And yet, he’s the one who got mad at me for not telling him about the time loop.’
The more I thought about it, the more unfair it felt.
‘He’s way worse!’
He never explains why he’s mad, he never talks about himself, and when I beg him to just say something, he just brushes me off!
I know I shouldn’t say this, but… I can’t help feeling disappointed.
Maybe it’s just human nature.
That quiet ache I’d pushed to the back of my heart slowly grew.
It was obvious now.
The hero doesn’t like me as much as I like him.
You really have no intention of strengthening our relationship by doing something you dislike.
So this precarious relationship, one that could break at any moment, is enough for you?
Really, what an obvious thing.
Someone like me could never be worth that much to a Hero.
I have no idea what he’s thinking.
‘Who am I to feel hurt by a Hero…?’
Here I am, arrogantly placing the burden of saving the world on one person.
Ugh, forget it.
The Hero already has enough on his plate.
I shouldn’t be making things harder for him.
Still, it’s not like he abandoned me—he’s still sitting there, eating his meal.
He’s keeping his promise to stay with me.
Thinking about it, that’s more than enough effort on his part.
Realizing that made me feel a little better.
Instead of dwelling on why I was upset, I turned back to frying the bacon.
If I wanted to fill the Hero’s stomach, I had a lot more cooking to do.
Ah, seriously.
I keep getting ahead of myself, wanting to stay by his side, feeling hurt.
Instead of being grateful that he’s being friendly with me, I keep thinking such ridiculous thoughts.
Maybe I’ve let my guard down after more than a month since my return.
I need to pull myself together.
I can’t forget what I’m supposed to do.
As I cooked the bacon, I thought:
I need to complete my mission before this growing desire to be close to the Hero gets any stronger.
‘So… I have no choice but to bring it up now, don’t I?’
He won’t like it, that’s for sure.
But I have to talk about my former master.
The remaining five months were never exactly a generous amount of time, but now I have even more reason to move quickly.
For now, I’ll just test the waters.
“You can eat more bacon, right? You’re not getting sick of it?”
“I’m fine.”
He answered bluntly.
Replies like this always come so easily to him.
But… does he feel a little better now that he’s eating?
Then I should fry up some more.
This time, I cooked the bacon even crispier than before, transfered it onto a plate, and placed it on the table.
Even though I had clearly annoyed him earlier, the Hero’s expression didn’t seem bad at all.
Even when I used bringing him food as an excuse to sit a little closer, he didn’t seem to mind.
“What is it?”
He had just speared a whole fried egg with his fork when he asked.
Was he wondering why I wasn’t cooking and was loitering around instead?
I was only here for a moment!
* * *
