“Is everyone ready?”
Mrs. Nashi lifted the kitchen curtain, and the scene before her nearly caused the gentle lady to faint on the spot.
Aside from Leticia, none of the others in the kitchen had even put their aprons on properly.
There was even one who had just climbed in through the window.
“Lord Demon King, that's not how you wear that.”
“Lady Elf, this is an apron, not an evening gown.”
“And why did Lady Samuel climb in through the window?!”
Mrs. Nashi watched as the Demon King poked her head through what was supposed to be an armhole, while the other elf lady had wrapped the apron around herself like a skirt. Why would she think it's a skirt? And Lady Samuel, that is not armor!
“Whew... There, now it's on right.”
After a frantic scramble, everyone finally had their aprons on properly.
“Pfft~”
In the awkward silence, a tiny giggle suddenly rang out.
But the people in the kitchen didn't exactly have poor hearing.
Everyone's eyes instantly locked onto Leticia's shoulder.
“Da~na~suo~”
“Uh, hehe, Mama.”
Hearing Mrs. Nashi's deceptively gentle tone, Leticia fished out Danasuo, who was trying to hide in her pocket.
Holding Danasuo by the scruff of her clothes with one hand, Leticia supported her with the other and offered her straight to Mrs. Nashi.
“Sia, didn't you agree to this?!”
Seeing Leticia sell her out like this, Danasuo thrashed wildly in her grip.
“Miss Sia wouldn't help with this kind of thing unless Danasuo asked her to, you know.”
Seeing Danasuo delivered right to her, Mrs. Nashi snatched her up in one swift motion.
“W-Wait, Mama! Miss Saintess is still waiting at a time like this!”
Danasuo desperately tried to appeal to her mother's good nature.
“I'll deal with you tonight.”
The instant Mrs. Nashi let go, Danasuo vanished, reappearing inside Leticia's pocket the very next moment.
“Curse you, Sia! Teacher Danasuo is very angry right now!”
Leticia only felt her shoulder being repeatedly drummed on.
“Well then, let's start preparing the ingredients first.”
What followed was a series of loud, chaotic noises coming from the kitchen.
Bang!
“Hey, soulmate, they aren't practicing some mysterious explosive magic in there, are they?”
“Maybe... they really are just making cookies?”
But the continuous sounds of explosions made even Lin Ling wonder if they were using cookie-baking as a cover to conduct explosive magic experiments.
Right on cue, another explosion echoed from the kitchen. At the same time, a blackened hand—belonging to who knew whom—poked out from behind the kitchen curtain before instantly snapping back inside.
Sparks of golden lightning even shot out of the kitchen.
The two waiting outside exchanged a look, swallowing hard in unison.
“S-Soulmate... do you think they're planning to straight-up murder the two of us today?”
“Ha... haha... P-Probably not?”
Lin Ling's tone was filled with extreme uncertainty.
With each successive explosion, their anticipation for today's treats plummeted straight to rock bottom.
Knock, knock—
Just then, a knock came from the front door like a beacon of salvation. To their ears, the crisp sound was absolute music.
“Soulmate, leave this opportunity to open the door to me.”
“We're not soulmates right now, Kainster. We are rivals!”
Lin Ling shouted as she dashed toward the door.
“Damn it, you're cheating!”
Seeing that Lin Ling had already gained a head start, Kainster immediately gave chase.
Though the front door was barely any distance from the kitchen, the two ran as if some great, unspeakable horror were hot on their heels.
Outside, Baroque, who was holding Dashi, waited for a moment, but still, no one opened the door.
“Is Mrs. Nashi busy?”
“She shouldn't be. Mama said she was going to teach some aunties how to bake cookies today since the weather cleared up.”
Baroque could also hear the series of explosive sounds echoing from inside the house.
“Say, kid, does your mom usually use explosive magic when she bakes cookies?”
“As if that's even possible!”
Seeing that Baroque was actually seriously considering the possibility of baking cookies with explosive magic, Dashi squirmed wildly in his grip.
“In that case, excuse me.”
With that, Baroque gave the doorknob a hard twist, completely shattering the locked mechanism with sheer brute force.
“...”
The moment he stepped inside, he saw two people sprawled out on the floor right by the entrance.
Lin Ling was still tightly grabbing Kainster's ankle, while Kainster's hand was frozen in a reaching gesture toward the door.
“Miss Saintess... will never let you open this door...”
“Soulmate, why did you stop talking?”
Lin Ling looked up, only to see Baroque standing before her with a grim expression.
He had even let go of Dashi, who dropped to the floor with a thud.
“Ouch! Uncle Baroque, could you be a little gentler next time?”
But the moment Dashi stood up, he noticed the silent, awkward standoff between the three of them.
“...”
“Um... I-I'll go pour some water for everyone.”
Although it was obvious Miss Saintess and the prince had been inside the house the whole time, this was clearly not a place he wanted to linger.
Dashi immediately chose to make a run for it.
Watching Dashi flee all the way into the kitchen, the two on the floor collapsed back down, utterly drained of energy.
Seeing this, Baroque simply scooped up one in each arm and carried them back to the living room.
“Soulmate, do you think Dashi—the kid who just went into the kitchen—will make it out alive?”
“Ha... haha...”
The two stared at the kitchen. It had gone quiet for a brief moment after Dashi entered, only for the explosive sounds to resume. All they could manage were forced, hollow smiles.
Meanwhile, inside the kitchen—
“Mama?”
Dashi stared at Mrs. Nashi, whose face was completely covered in soot. He barely even recognized her at first.
In fact, every single person in the kitchen had a face blackened by soot.
“What is it, Dashi?”
“The cookies will take a little longer. Probably...?”
Mrs. Nashi turned around to find her child standing behind her.
“It's nothing. Please carry on, everyone. I just came in to pour some water.”
Filling four cups, Dashi immediately fled that terrifying place.
He was definitely going to have nightmares tonight.
Several pitch-black faces, with hands continuously conjuring terrifying, high-heat magic.
Just as Dashi stepped out of the kitchen, a sudden wave of heat blasted from behind him, followed by a warm, tingling sensation on his tail.
...
“Here is some water for everyone.”
Dashi placed the cups in front of everyone one by one. As for a serving tray, Dashi was far too terrified to step foot back into the kitchen to look for one.
“Um, Dashi, are you cosplaying CharmOnder?”
“What's that?”
“A PokeOmon, a kind of pocket monster with a fiery tail.”
Although Dashi didn't quite understand what Miss Saintess meant by 'CharmOnder' or 'PokeOmon,' he certainly understood the part about a fiery tail.
He spun around to look at his tail. Sure enough, a deep purple flame was crackling on the tip.
“Hot! Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!”
Only then did Dashi finally realize what that mild burning sensation on his tail actually was.
Rate on N.U.
