Taichi stood in the kitchen, checking over his ingredients. Having nothing left to gather, he simply had to activate his skill. A large bowl of strawberries sat on the counter in front of him, together with carrots, flour, eggs, and one Moongrass.
“First, I need to see how many I can make with a single Moongrass,” he said.
“What exactly are you making?” Hymeria asked.
“You’ll have to wait and see. Okay, Prepare Snack!”
The prepared ingredients disappeared the moment Taichi activated his skill, and in exchange, a mountain of cookies appeared. Much to Taichi’s delight, they came packaged with five cookies per bag.
Prepare Snack was a Tamer skill the cat god had bestowed upon Taichi. When activated, provided all ingredients were already gathered, it allowed him to prepare snacks for monsters.
“Wow.”
“Oh my gosh!” squealed Hymeria. “That’s amazing! How many did you manage to make?”
“Let’s count and see.”
“Good idea!”
Taichi lined the bags up in a row and Hymeria counted them out for him. “One, two...” The numbers kept climbing and climbing until, at last, she finished. “Seventy.”
“Incredible. One batch is seventy bags worth.”
He had worried about the high price of the Moongrass, but considering the number of cookies the recipe produced, it was cost effective. He did the math in his head to calculate the price of all the ingredients per bag. Just estimating, but I’d say probably about forty to fifty Chel per bag. He was relieved. With this, he could sell treat bags for an affordable price without taking a loss.
“Hymeria, I’d like to see what the Berry Bunnies think of these treats,” he said, giving her a meaningful look.
Hymeria’s hand shot into the air. She bounced in place. “I volunteer! Let me do it!”
It was time for the monsters of the café to chow down.
The cookies Taichi made were adorably shaped like bunnies. From a human perspective, they were tiny and bite-sized.
Hymeria snatched up a bag and plucked one out, her face alight. Much to Taichi’s shock, she chucked it into her own mouth.
“Whoa, whoa! Why are you eating that?!”
“I can’t help it. It looks so good.”
“You have a point there.” He had intended to use them as monster treats, but they looked appetizing enough that he could probably sell them to his customers.
Hymeria chewed slowly, savoring the flavor. She nodded to herself, holding out an index finger as she declared, “Delicious!”
“Seriously?” Taichi had anticipated they might be a little bland, since they were supposed to be for monsters, but Hymeria’s reaction told him otherwise. He copied her and tossed one in his mouth. His whole expression melted into a look of joy as an aromatic sweetness spread through his mouth. Looks like it’s just as good for people. Aside from the Moongrass, the ingredients were all used in human food. Then again, Moongrass was used to craft potions, so it couldn’t be dangerous. Might be good to snack on when the munchies hit.
The Berry Bunnies hopped over, catching a whiff of the cookies’ aroma.
“Kree.”
“Kree?”
“Kree kree!”
“Uh-oh, looks like they’re all eager to taste-test the cookies too!” Hymeria giggled, reaching down to pat the bunnies on their heads. Their little eyes crinkled shut as they indulged in her affection.
Luke, who’d been lounging on his beloved beanbag chair, wandered over to join them. “Something smells appetizing! I assume you made enough for me as well, didn’t you?”
“Oh, uh...”
Crap! I didn’t make anything for Luke! While Taichi was inwardly panicking, Hymeria thrust out a cookie toward the wolf.
“These cookies are amazing. Wanna try?” She smiled disarmingly.
Luke snorted at her and edged closer toward Taichi. “I suppose I can lower myself to consuming one of your cookies. As a leader, it’s my duty to see what my subordinates are partaking in.”
Your “subordinates”? Really? Luke’s tail swished back and forth. He was being his usual arrogant self, which earned him a dry smile from Taichi. A new possibility popped into his head. Could Luke be shy? He had spent his whole life alone in the forest, so that would track. In that case, it was all the more important for Taichi to respect his boundaries and let him do what felt right for him.
“I’ll give Luke his portion. Hymeria, would you give some to the bunnies?”
“Sure thing!”
With that, he slipped a cookie from the bag he was holding and held it out to Luke’s mouth. “It has carrots, strawberries, and Moongrass in it.”
“Really?” Luke glanced up at him questioningly. “No meat at all?”
“It’d be pretty weird to stick meat in a cookie, Luke,” said Taichi.
The Fenrir seemed mildly displeased with this information, but he gently took the cookie into his mouth nonetheless. His ears stood up straight, his whole body trembling.
Oh! This means he likes it. Just as Taichi expected! Luke had eaten human food before and enjoyed it, and Taichi had already confirmed for himself how delicious these cookies were.
“Nom, nom... Hm, it’s not half bad!” Luke declared.
“Glad to hear it.”
Tail wagging, Luke added, “I could eat some more of those!” His dewy eyes stared up expectantly at Taichi, which made it impossible to refuse him.
“All right, but I don’t think it would be good for you to eat too many.”
“Nonsense. I can exercise them off. Do not forget I am a proud Fenrir. Never lump me in with the vulgar masses!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Taichi had promised to ride along while Luke exercised, and Luke insisted he knew what was best for himself. Taichi produced another cookie from the bag. Luke snapped it right out of his hand. “Whoa! Hey! You almost took a finger off!” Whew! It totally looked like he was gonna gobble me up along with the cookie!
While watching the two and their antics, Hymeria took out a cookie herself and beckoned the bunnies over. “Come, come, everyone.”
“Kree!”
“Kree kree.”
The bunnies eagerly obliged, crowding around her with their little mouths open.
“Aww, they’re too cute!” Hymeria clapped a hand over her mouth and trembled in place, as if she was barely holding it together. “I’m so lucky to be able to feed such adorable little bunnies.” She held out a hand with one cookie on her palm, and the bunnies leaped into action, snatching whatever piece off of it they could.
“Kree kree kree!”
“Kree!”
They had abandoned all pretense when confronted with the scarcity of food, showing a fierceness so uncharacteristic for them. This was a prime example of survival of the fittest.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” cried Hymeria, shocked and overwhelmed. The cookie she’d offered them was gone in the blink of an eye.
“Kree...”
“Kree kree...”
The bunnies were visibly disappointed. One cookie wasn’t nearly enough for ten of them. Those who hadn’t even been able to sample looked heartbroken and teary-eyed.
“Hold on—it’s okay!” Hymeria rushed to assure them. “I still have more!”
“Kree!”
They all perked up, cheerfully chirping at her.