“I can’t believe Lucia became the ruler’s disciple,” my mom said and let out a sigh. My whole family was sitting around the dining room table. Of course, Two and I had our textbooks laid out in front of ourselves. However, the only things in front of my dad on the table were his feet. When I grow up and make a name for myself, I’m going to relax like him every day. I won’t have to worry about studying or prepping for tests; I’ll have all the time in the world for myself. My mom sighed again. “Without meat, the world feels like it’s missing something.”

My dad let out a sigh as well. “Should I make a trip to the ruler’s abode? If I find Lucia there, do you think she’ll give us something to eat?”

My mom rolled her eyes. “As if you could even get close to the ruler’s home,” she said before slapping the table with her front paw. Her eyes narrowed at me and Two. “What are the two of you doing? Focus on your work. If you want to eat meat in the future, you’ll need to graduate at the top of the class to get a high-paying career.”

…I’m already at the top of my class. “Yes, Mom.” But if I tell her that, she’ll point towards the future, where there’ll be a very low chance of me not being at the top, and lecture me as if I’m at the bottom of my class.

“I wonder what it’s like being the ruler’s disciple,” my dad said. “It’s probably more luxurious than living as an elder, right? She’s probably eating meat every day, and with access to the ruler’s home, there’s no doubt she’s living a pampered life. Just thinking about how soft the leaves she must be sleeping on is making me a little jealous.”

“She eats meat every day regardless of whether or not she’s the ruler’s disciple,” my mom said. “Should we pick up a few overtime hours to save for a trip to the lower realm she came from? We can stock up on meat down there and bring back enough to last us for several centuries.”

“Oh,” my dad said and sat up, taking his feet off the table. “That’s not a bad idea!” After a second, his body slumped down, his head landing near my pile of homework. “We can’t. The teleportation gate was damaged during an accident.”

“It won’t be damaged forever,” my mom said. “If we start saving now, by the time it’s repaired, we’ll have made enough to go on a trip. Who knows, if we’re lucky, we could tag along with Lucia when she goes back home.”

“You think Lucia’s going to go back home?” my dad asked, raising an eyebrow while lifting his chin. The movement caused the top sheet of my homework to slide off the stack. “She’s the ruler’s disciple now. It’d make a lot more sense for her family to come up here instead.”

Air shot out of my mom’s nose, and she slumped forward onto the table as well. “Why don’t we send a letter to Lucia? Since she’s the ruler’s disciple, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to get a meat-selling license. If she opened up a restaurant, she’d make even more than top-tier teachers.”

“I don’t think the ruler would let me open a restaurant,” someone said from right beside me. It was Senior Fluffytail. I’m not sure if I should greet her or let her know that teleporting into someone’s home is socially wrong and also illegal if there’s no notice.

“Lucia?” my mom and dad asked at the same time, sitting upright. My mom shoved my dad aside as she crawled over him to sit next to Senior Fluffytail. “What are you doing here? As the ruler’s disciple, shouldn’t you be busy? I can’t believe you have the time to come visit us.”

“Yeah,” Lucia said before opening her mouth wide. A small cooking pot flew out and enlarged as it traveled through the air to the table. “I’m very busy. The ruler always wants me to do something, and there’s never any time to relax, so I ran away.” A large chunk of raw flesh appeared in Lucia’s hand, and she unceremoniously stuffed it into the cooking pot before covering the pot with a lid. Despite there being no fire on the table, the pot glowed red, and from the smell coming out from underneath the lid, I could tell the meat was cooking.

“You ran away?” my dad asked. “How is that possible? Doesn’t she care about you at all? Don’t tell me she treats you like how we treat One and Two.”

…Thanks, Dad. Luckily, Two isn’t old enough to understand.

Senior Fluffytail scratched her head. “I’m not sure how I got away. All I did was teleport away, and it worked. Maybe the supervisors got tired of bullying me. Mm, that’s probably it. They needed a break from breaking my bones, so they let me go.”

“The supervisors do what?” my mom asked.

“They’re my sparring partners,” Senior Fluffytail said and sighed. She took the lid off the pot, and a cloud of fragrant smoke drifted up. “They call it sparring, but I can’t even resist! I’m more like a punching bag than a sparring partner.” Her eyes narrowed, and a dark expression appeared on her face. It looked like she wanted to tear someone apart with her bare hands. “It’s not fair.”

I wonder what the ruler is thinking. Senior Fluffytail isn’t undergoing normal training at all. Even though I’m not an immortal, I’m still certain this isn’t how they train their combat techniques. The ruler must have some other goal in mind. Perhaps Senior Fluffytail did something to upset the ruler, so she’s being punished? Maybe she’s trying to appease the supervisors since she did execute one of them recently. Then again, I don’t think she has to appease them if they know she can kill them by simply closing her hand. Hmm. It’s odd, but as Senior Fluffytail would say, it’s also not my problem.

“Here.”

Ooh, this smells good. Alright, if I figure out the ruler’s intentions, I’ll be sure to give Senior Fluffytail a heads-up.