As usual, steam rose from the open-air bath in the dim light of dawn. In the meantime, a Lizardman in charge of managing the water quality walked on the other side of the fence. There were no active volcanoes, so the water came from heated mineral springs. The Lizardman used a Magic Tool to regulate the water temperature to ensure the facilities, including the irrigation channel, were kept clean. He was a nocturnal creature and worked through the night without fatigue.
The Lizardman stopped in his tracks. He heard high-pitched laughter in the distance and looked up at the fence toward the source of the sound. Elves, humans, and even demonkin enjoyed the hot springs he had poured his heart and soul into maintaining. It was a strange feeling, but he couldn’t stop smiling.
He nodded with satisfaction and went back to work.
Suddenly he noticed a clamor from across the lake. He looked over to find some men being blown away and disappearing into the horizon. Supposedly, human men dreamed of peeping on bathing women, which he didn’t understand at all.
He muttered, complaining about how noisy the humans were so early in the morning, then walked away to do some sweeping.
§
“Hmm,” I said, furrowing my brows.
I frowned at the recipe for the “Healthy Breakfast Set” on the wall, but it wasn’t that I disliked cooking. In fact, I liked it. What I didn’t like was that I wasn’t even at my company, and I had to work.
Wridra had mentioned nothing about a salary, so it was possible that she intended for me to work for free. But I had planned on making breakfast anyway, and it would be cheaper for me to use the ingredients here. However, I had to buy seasonings from the grocery store because they weren’t available here, so it wasn’t as if I was paying nothing out of my pocket. If they scaled up their operations, it wouldn’t take long before I would be in the red.
I was stirring some eggs with chopsticks and considering such things when Eve poked her head into the kitchen.
“Hey-yo, you’re up early. Can I get a breakfast set too?” exclaimed Eve.
“Good morning, Eve. I had to get up early so I wouldn’t be late for the raid again today. More importantly, who was in charge of breakfast this morning?” I asked pointedly.
Eve put her hands together apologetically and pleaded, acknowledging that she had skipped out on her duty. The suntanned dark elf’s tied-up blonde hair wavered with the movement, obscuring part of her face. She wasn’t in her maid outfit today but was wearing what pretty much looked like underwear instead. Perhaps it was so she could wear her armor over it at any time.
I considered whether to point that out or scold her for not showing up to make breakfast, but I asked something else instead.
“What would you like for your side order, Miss Eve?”
“It’d be great if you had more of that apple juice you gave me before. That would really start my day off right,” she said.
It was going to be a busy day with the raid, and I needed Eve to put in a lot of work, so I decided to oblige her. I squeezed out the juices from an apple, and just as I was mixing it with some fresh water, someone appeared from the back. It was an old man in a yukata who sleepily picked up a newspaper from a shelf.
Wridra had made the newspapers as a hobby, and they featured general updates on the war. Some details were kept confidential to avoid suspicion, but it included plenty of helpful information, such as the state of Arilai and rumors among its citizens. Evidently, she only offered it to guests staying in one of the rooms.
Gaston sat at one of the side tables with a thud and touched Eve’s butt as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I heard a scream, but I was just a chef minding my business. After getting yelled at for a while, the old man yawned sleepily.
“I don’t give a damn about that ‘self-restraint’ stuff. That aside, I don’t think I can sleep without those tatami things from now on. My back hasn’t felt better. Hey, kid, give me one of those things to take home,” he said.
“Un-freaking-believable!” Eve fumed. “Not only has this asshole not apologized, but he has the audacity to ask for breakfast? I can’t with this guy!”
She insulted him and told him he didn’t deserve any food, but Gaston read his newspaper, seemingly undisturbed. I handed Eve her apple juice, which finally calmed her down.
As I flipped over a thick omelet in a pan, Gaston met my eyes with a sharp glare and said, “There’s tension in the air. My senses tell me Gedovar’s army will be here soon. Yet, Aja and Hakam want to split up our forces to continue the labyrinth raid. Now, of all times, when the enemy could be here any minute. Don’t you think something’s weird about this?”
“Well, the Gedovar army is after the monster-controlling device in the labyrinth, right? Some of us aren’t actually from Arilai, so I think splitting up is a good idea,” I said.
“None of it will matter if we all die. We should take down the enemy first, yet here we are. From where I sit, it seems like they’re just buying time until you lot finish the raid. That must be why Hakam has been so hush-hush about everything. It makes sense why they’ve been sending all the weak soldiers into battle as sacrificial pawns,” he continued.
So that was what was going on, I thought as I flipped over an egg. Then I fixed the presentation and placed it on a wooden plate with some bacon and stir-fried vegetables. It was nice how focusing on the cooking helped me avoid Gaston’s intense gaze.
The colorful meal of white rice with some scorched bits, miso soup, pickled vegetables, and thick omelets was mouthwatering. The bacon grease might be too heavy for the old man, so I added extra stir-fried vegetables.
Gaston’s eyes gravitated toward the plate. “Anyway, we can talk about this later. What was that thing again? That square, white thing. That was good. Make more of that stuff, yeah?”
“I liked it too,” Eve blurted out. “It tasted weird at first, but I crave it sometimes.”
They must have meant tofu. I had been giving them new ingredients from time to time so I could find out what suited their palates. Lately, more and more of them had begun to prefer light, healthy food for breakfast. Eating vegetables was quietly turning into a trend, which was good. The people here had a somewhat poor sense of taste, and I had been making dishes lighter in flavor over time to reset their palates. Chewy vegetables helped with that while allowing people to wake up in the morning. It was working because they were enjoying tofu despite it being pretty much flavorless.
“I dunno why, but my body has been feeling great lately. Maybe it’s a message that I’ll finally find a place to die here,” said Gaston.
“They say you get more energetic right before you die,” added Eve. “Are you gonna give me your inheritance when you die?”
“Hell no, not you. Maybe I’ll split it up among everyone else. Aah, I have so much money that it’ll be a pain to count it out. Maybe I’ll just give it back to Arilai,” he replied.
“What?! Hey, you at least owe me for touching my butt!”
It was hard to tell if they were messing around or if they hated each other. Either way, they seemed to like the same kinds of food, and my healthy meals were positively affecting them. Seeing how I controlled their well-being made my work feel worthwhile. I wanted them to understand that military rations were a thing of the past. The way I did stuff was probably why Wridra found me so convenient.
The dark elf and old man sang praises for the food as they drank the miso soup until Doula approached with her disheveled yukata and unkempt red hair. She fumbled around the shelf for a newspaper with a sullen expression, then her mood worsened when she found there were none left. I remembered that Wridra had gone out in the morning and told me she had only made a few of them because she was busy.
Doula looked around and noticed a newspaper at Gaston’s table. She let out a sigh and walked toward us.