Chapter 103

As usual, Aisia, who was acting like a cold and difficult-to-approach noble elf, spoke to Kurt with a haughty expression.

“Not bad. Give me more.”

“Sure. Here you go.”

Kurt, now familiar with the routine, took the plate Aisia handed him and filled it with salad before handing it back.

It hadn’t been long since Kurt and his group arrived at the Village of the World Tree, but this scene had already become a familiar sight.

Aisia, holding the plate with dignity, hummed a tune in her heart as she moved her fork again.

‘Lately, the food has been delicious. Every day is truly enjoyable. Even though I have no particular talent for cooking, learning to cook for the sake of eating like this wouldn’t be bad… Huh!?’

As she was sinking into the peaceful atmosphere, Aisia suddenly realized she had grown completely accustomed to Kurt and his group staying here, and she felt a sense of shock.

‘No way! I definitely built a solid wall around my heart, but somehow I almost opened up to them! This is dangerous…! I almost let my guard down!’

Munch munch.

Even while in shock, Aisia kept moving her fork and thought.

‘It’s fine since I haven’t completely let my guard down and opened my heart yet, but if this continues, there’s a chance my wariness toward them might weaken! I need to come up with a countermeasure.’

Munch munch.

Gulp.

As she moved her fork nonstop while pondering, Aisia soon reached a conclusion and said to Kurt.

“Hmm. Give me one more bowl.”

Taking the salad Kurt handed her, now familiar with the routine, Aisia generously poured dressing over it and took a bite of the sliced Fruit of the World Tree and tomato, saying.

“Come to think of it, since we’re Mari’s guests, it’s a bit awkward to stay only in my house. Let’s have dinner with the village seniors this afternoon.”

“Seniors?”

“I’ll introduce you to the forest keeper seniors. It’s been quite some time since you’ve stayed at my house, so it’s only natural to introduce you to the villagers, right?”

“Hmm. I thought you didn’t like us much.”

“Hahaha. Not at all. It’s just that with such excellent cooking skills, I’d like to share this food with more people. I hope you can get along well with the forest keeper seniors.”

This was an unexpected proposal that Kurt hadn’t anticipated at all.

Introducing them to others meant acknowledging them as formal guests, after all.

Moreover, if they were to establish a good relationship with the other elves, it would become even harder to oppose Mari’s adventures.

Aisia’s statement implied that she was willing to take that risk and introduce them to her colleagues.

‘I’ve been steadily feeding Aisia delicious food to reduce her hostility, but I never imagined she’d introduce us to the villagers.’

It’s going too smoothly.

So smoothly that it feels like there’s some ulterior motive.

“By the way, my seniors are even more skilled as forest keepers than I am, so unlike me, they might not easily acknowledge your abilities.”

Aisia’s following words precisely hit the mark of Kurt’s expectations.

‘Mom. That’s too obvious.’

‘Since she can’t find fault herself, she’s calling other elves to do it for her.’

‘In the end, it’s a request for backup.’

‘In the end, she’s just trying to dump the work on her seniors.’

Kurt and his group, including Mari, instantly saw through Aisia’s transparent scheme, but whether she ignored their gaze or genuinely didn’t notice, she continued eating her salad with a triumphant expression.

Munch munch.

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.

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Somehow, I thought it was strange that she wanted to introduce us to others.

I thought she was opening up to me as she ate the food I made every day, but in the end, since she couldn’t find any disqualifying reasons herself, she decided to get backup from others.

But even so, I wasn’t too worried.

After all, I was already working on a secret weapon.

Time passed, and by evening, her house was bustling with the elves Aisia had called.

Among the elves entering one by one, Mari soon spotted a familiar face and cheerfully approached to greet them.

“Ah! Uncle Russet!”

“Mari! I haven’t seen you in months. Did you run away from home?”

“Yes! I ran away!”

“…I see. Mari, you’re always so cheerful.”

“Thank you!”

While some elves warmly greeted Mari, others openly regarded us outsiders with wariness, and some didn’t even show interest in us, instead looking for something else.

“Fufufu. The elves invited tonight are all colleagues who work as forest keepers in this village. Unlike me, who has less than 200 years of experience, most of them are veterans with over 300 years of experience. I wonder if you’ll still be so confident facing them?”

“I wasn’t particularly confident though…”

But Aisia didn’t listen to the end of my words and simply turned away.

“Thank you for accepting my invitation tonight. The reason I invited you seniors is to introduce you to the friends my daughter Marisia made outside!”

“Marisia’s friends?”

“Looking at them, they seem to be those outsiders over there.”

“A Lizardman, a human, and a dwarf. Quite a unique group of races.”

“Yes! And actually, I’d like to ask you seniors to test whether these friends are truly trustworthy to take care of Mari!”

I could feel the invited elves scrutinizing us, and once they had sufficiently sized us up, Aisia confidently declared.

However, the forest keepers who received Aisia’s request looked rather indifferent.

“No. That’s difficult.”

“Right. I heard they hunted a Sky Swimming Python in half a day. I didn’t even know that monster could be hunted.”

“Besides, that Lizardman over there is a Transcendent. How are we supposed to evaluate him?”

As the invited elves voiced their negative opinions, Aisia’s confident smile began to crack like a mask.

Especially when the last elf finished speaking, Aisia couldn’t hide her surprise and started exclaiming in shock.

“Wait…! What!? A Transcendent!?”

“Captain. What do you mean?”

“Hey. Don’t joke around. Captain, are you senile at over 700 years old?”

Not only Aisia but the other elves also looked at me with renewed disbelief, and the dinner table fell into mild chaos.

“Mr. Kurt! Are you a Transcendent!?”

“Is that true!?”

“What! I’ve never heard of that!”

….Why are you all so surprised?

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.

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“I knew Mr. Kurt was strong, but I never imagined he was a Transcendent.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“You never said anything!”

“Besides, there are only three Masters in the Yurdina Kingdom. Is Kurt the fourth…?”

As time passed and the chaotic situation calmed down, Aisia, who had instead of finding disqualifying reasons ended up boosting our reputation, continued the conversation in a deflated voice.

“…So, the reason for this gathering is that one of Mari’s friends has exceptional cooking skills, and I wanted to showcase that talent to everyone.”

“Oh? Good at cooking?”

“Now that I think about it, dwarves are quite skilled with their hands.”

“With their expertise in metalwork, carving, and architecture, it’s not surprising if they’re good at cooking too.”

“No. The one who cooks isn’t the dwarf, but the Lizardman.”

At Aisia’s words, the captain elf who had first identified me as a Transcendent jumped up from his seat and shouted.

“Entrusting cooking to a Lizardman!? Are you out of your mind!?”

“Don’t worry too much. His cooking skills are truly amazing.”

“Aisia. I knew you couldn’t cook, but is your sense of taste that bad too? Lizardman cooking is just bloody meat and bitter grass barely cleaned and thrown into a bowl!”

Here we go again.

Now too familiar with this pattern, I was about to open my mouth to persuade the captain elf.

“Captain! That’s going too far!”

“…Aisia?”

The captain elf, called by Aisia, looked at her with a puzzled expression.

But even under his gaze, she didn’t hide her anger and continued speaking.

“His cooking skills are truly exceptional! I’ve been served three meals a day by him for the past few days!”

“That’s right! And I can vouch for Mr. Kurt’s cooking skills!”

“Indeed. Mr. Kurt is actually my cooking teacher.”

“Not only that, but even the dwarves want to learn cooking from him!”

Not only Aisia but my companions also defended me, and the captain elf, having nothing more to say, soon turned to me and apologized.

“…Ahem. My apologies. I made a hasty judgment based on your race.”

“No, in my homeland, Lizardmen really do eat like that, so it’s understandable.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

With that, the captain elf returned to his seat, and the other elves also stopped voicing their complaints.

Thanks to my companions’ support, the situation was resolved surprisingly smoothly.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No. I just didn’t expect you to get angry for me.”

But the most surprising thing was that Aisia was the first to get angry on my behalf.

When I looked at her, she turned her head away as if embarrassed and said.

“Don’t get the wrong idea! I just corrected it because it’s embarrassing for the host if a guest invited to my house is unfairly evaluated!”

“Sure. Whatever you say.”

“It’s not whatever! Ugh! Enough of this, go to the kitchen and cook already!”

At my words, Aisia, seemingly quite embarrassed, started pushing me toward the kitchen with both hands, and so I entered the kitchen, half willingly, half forced.