✦ ✦ ✦
“Delicious...”
“It truly is...”
《Nothing beats meat, all right...》
《It’s sooo yummy...》
Fel, Gon, Dora-chan, and Sui almost seemed moved as they munched their way through the pork bowls I’d served them for breakfast. I bit into a rolled omelet from my own entirely different, much lighter meal (which also included miso soup with wakame seaweed and tofu, a rice ball stuffed with simmered bonito and seaweed, and lightly pickled cucumbers, by the way) as I watched them. It was kind of shocking how differently they were behaving, compared to their usual routine.
“What’s the deal, guys?” I asked.
The gluttonous quartet turned to glare at me in unison.
“That should be abundantly clear. It was your act of cruelty last night that brought this about.”
“I appreciate that a punishment is a punishment, my liege, but last night crossed a line.”
《Ugggh. I think I’m gonna have nightmares about that stuff for days!》
《It wasn’t yummy at all...》
Looks like last night’s sandwich bread dinner really had an impact. “‘Act of cruelty’? Of course it wasn’t nice—it was a punishment! And besides, why’re you giving me this after you all came to apologize first thing this morning?”
They really had, surprisingly enough. The moment I had woken up, all four of my familiars had apologized for what they’d done the day before. They had also sworn to never drive a species to extinction again, and to do their best to not go overboard in general in the future. Fel and Gon had even promised to act their ages and consider the circumstances before springing into action. That, naturally, was the only reason I’d served them the usual for breakfast.
“I wasn’t expecting it to work quite this well. I’ll have to keep that technique in my back pocket for the next time they fly off the handle,” I muttered to myself. My familiars all twitched.
“D-Do not. I have no desire to ever have such a meal again.”
“I could happily go the rest of my life without repeating the experience of eating that food as well. It was entirely flavorless! Well, no, it had a certain sweetness when chewed thoroughly, but nothing else to recommend it at all.”
《It was like the more I chewed, the drier my mouth got! That was torture.》
《Sui never wants to eat it again!》
Fel’s fur was standing on end, Gon had a vacant look in his eyes, Dora-chan’s expression had gone completely blank, and even Sui somehow looked like it was about to break down in tears.
“Was it really that bad?” I asked. “Even worse than a veggie-heavy meal?”
“That would have been preferable, if only just. Much as I loathe the flavor of vegetables, they do have flavor.”
“Agreed. It would still be your cooking, my liege. Yesterday’s dinner, on the other hand...”
《I mean, sure, I like meat best, but it’s not like I won’t eat vegetables from time to time.》
《The veggie meals you make are super yummy, Master.》
I’d learned a valuable lesson: In spite of their carnivorism, the gluttonous quartet would still take vegetables over nothing but plain bread.
Those four seem downright traumatized. Seriously, though? Is a single all-bread meal really this powerful?
Anyway, my familiars ended up eating about twice as much that morning as they usually would, and making enough extra pork bowls to keep up turned into quite the trial. They were the same quick, simple dish as ever, but my familiars all seemed to savor every bite like it was the most delicious thing they’d ever tasted, and I couldn’t stop myself from quietly chuckling at their behavior.