-Hmm…this smell?

-I only now noticed how hungry I am.

-Ah! What a wonderful smell!

-FOOD!

Noticing the delicious smell, the girls quickly followed it as it came from downstairs in the kitchen, they had finished their bath and changed clothes into more casual homely attire they bought today.

After registering in the adventurer’s guild, they were all immediately treated to a meal and free drinks that they all partook in, unfortunately they didn’t stay too long to enjoy all of that as they couldn’t be wasting time with the upcoming monster horde coming their way which they needed to prepare for as much as they could.

Out of all of them Ogra was really the only one who shoveled food down her gullet like a sink hole, but even after she ate so much she was still hungry making everyone present wince as they had far too underestimate Ogra’s appetite when she had already eaten a lot of dried rations before which was usually enough to last a traveler for an entire day for how calorically dense it was.

The fact that she didn’t need to go to the restroom to relief herself also seemed eerie even though she put so much food into her stomach, everyone could only imagine what went on inside her stomach, earlier when they were coming back, Avian had bought lots of fresh produce and other things to cook, even then they had to keep an eye on Ogra so that she wouldn’t start eating the ingredient’s.

Only Avian knew how much money worth of food Ogra really ate, he felt with the way it was going if they didn’t start hunting quickly, Ogra would eat through his pocket which he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Walking downstairs, Ogra was the first to storm down, as soon as she reached the kitchen and smelled the delicious food enveloping the entire kitchen, Ogra looked as if she was about to charge in, but a quick Gabriella from behind stopped that as she grabbed Ogra from the scruff of her neck holding her in place.

Ogra tried her hardest to make Gabriella let go of her, but the two warriors were evenly matched as their strength was very close to one another, Ogra actually had the racial advantage plus her blessing, but Gabriella also had a very strength focused blessing and she had trained a lot more than Ogra barely able to match her in strength even though she was human.

Following these two Cornelia and Deborah came behind leisurely entering the kitchen as their faces were flushed while smelling the delicious smell, Cornelia already knew what this was, but this was Deborah’s first time smelling something so good and delicious, coming from a poor background, foods cooked with expensive spices were things too luxurious for her and out of reach, she honestly never much considered that important either as she was satisfied with food as long as it didn’t taste bad and filled her stomach, but smelling what was in the air Deborah wasn’t sure if she could continue thinking like this if she experienced this kind of food,

-Ogra, behave, the adventurer’s guild and everywhere else is different, but I am not giving you anything if you can’t behave inside my kitchen.

Hearing that cold and threatening voice, Ogra immediately cooled down as she stopped tussling with Gabriella when she heard Avian’s threatening words, not wanting to lose her share.

Gabriella was immediately surprised when she saw Ogra suddenly behaving like this, she still held onto Ogra still as she didn’t know if this was okay or not, but after seeing how tame she was, Gabriella decided to let go of Ogra as Ogra swiftly went to the dining table while waiting for the dinner to get ready even if she looked slightly impatient and frustrated.

Seeing this Gabriella really wanted to sigh as she found Ogra to be a bit troublesome even if simplistic, but as she did so she couldn’t help but momentarily turn her eyes towards the chef of this kitchen.

Standing within the kitchen area, which was not too far away from the dining table, Avian stood in front of a big boiling pot as many other cooking utensils nearby like pots and pans were cooking many different things one heat.

The smell of each individual pot and pan was what combined and gave forth to this delicious smell, Gabriella only ever recalled smelling something so delicious when she was present in one of the high-noble’s balls that had food strew on any table the eyes could reach.

Those kinds of dishes were all made by high ranking individuals who had the [Chef] blessing which is why the food was so delicious.

Knowing this and knowing that she still didn’t know what Avian’s blessing was, Gabriella started to think that maybe Avian’s blessing was the blessing of the [Chef].

Of course some things still didn’t make sense to her which is why she felt that this answer was wrong, in the end she could only ask him directly, but she felt hesitant after the first time when she was about to ask and they arrived on the market district, Gabriella felt as if Avian intentionally timed it so that he didn’t need to say anything about his blessing, out of everyone Gabriella knew that a person’s blessing was a sensitive topic, even Cornelia hadn’t said a word about her blessing showing that she wanted to keep it hidden for now, Gabriella didn’t want to make Avian her master upset if it was a sensitive topic to him, but at the same time she still wanted to know as his knight and someone who protected him with her life.

It was only unfortunate that Gabriella was completely misunderstanding everything as Avian wasn’t particularly hiding anything and would have easily answered if Gabriella asked, the timing in the market district was a complete coincidence and had no bearing to Avian’s thoughts, but really it didn’t matter.

-What are you coo…OW!?

Before Cornelia could even ask what Avian was cooking while smiling brightly, an iron ladle flew at her head as it directly hit her forehead causing some extreme pain on her part.

Getting hit by Avian wasn’t anything new to her at this point, but it still hurt and frustrated her, while most importantly she was confused as she looked at Avian who didn’t even turn his head when he threw that ladle at her.

-No one other than me is allowed in this kitchen, be quiet and get back to the table, kids who don’t earn their keep don’t get to ask what they want to eat, you eat what you get understood?

-urghhh…

Cornelia moaned with pain and disgruntlement, she still hadn’t completely let go of her childish pride like always even after getting hit so much, she still listened to Avian though, but as she looked around the kitchen area which was partially separated by a wall from the dining area, she noticed a child next to Avian who was hidden behind a table that Avian stood next to.

Cornelia didn’t notice her at first when she looked at Avian from across the room, but upon closer inspection she discovered her, watching the girl hugging Avian tight while he simply cooked without giving her much thought.

Actually while cooking he was feeding a few carrot scraps here and there while patting her head afterwards, the expression of this girl was really odd as she almost looked anxious and afraid 24/7, but the occasional pat from Avian revealed a very faint smile from her before returning to her original expression as she held Avian tight.

The rabbit girl noticed Cornelia too when she spoke and looked to be on guard holding onto Avian tighter and closer without saying anything.

Cornelia at first didn’t entirely recognized this girl since she was wearing different clothes that were similar to the ones they bought today, but her white blindfold which was obviously also changed from her previous dirty rag and the sole half damaged rabbit ear immediately awakened her memories as she instantly realized that this was the sleeping rabbit girl Avian had been carrying the entire day.

Normally a person would react in all sort of different ways from seeing something like this, but Cornelia was really irritated from the earlier ladle to her head she also couldn’t help but feel strange when she saw how close the rabbit girl was to Avian and how he completely didn’t mind and even spoiled her a little bit.

This feeling was similar to the one she felt when she first saw how gentle Avian was to the rabbit girl when she was scared, coupled with her irritation she couldn’t help but frown and momentarily shout as she pointed at Avian with a bit of anger.

-If you are the only one who is allowed in this kitchen, how come she is allowed to be here?! Isn’t this unfair! Discrimination I saw! I demand equality!

Hearing this, the rabbit girl started become more anxious as she didn’t know anyone other than Avian and felt scared from Cornelia suddenly shouting, Avian too stopped cooking for a moment as he unexpectedly turned his head towards Cornelia with a rigid neck turn.

When he did that, Cornelia suddenly felt a chill up her back as her face momentarily paled realizing that she may have messed up with her emotions getting the better of her, thinking that another ladle was about to fly at her, Cornelia simply braced herself as she knew that instead of avoiding it and getting punished even more heavily she should just take the hit.

But surprisingly not matter how long she waited bracing herself with her eyes closed, nothing ever came, when she opened her eyes she saw Avian returning back to his pot, stirring with one hand while patting the scared rabbit girl with the other.

-You’re right, I forgot, but she is a bit special, so I’d like it if you didn’t shout and took care of this girl if you could, I would appreciate that.

-Ehh?

Cornelia was slightly gob smacked, not sure how to responded to this one as this was the first time Avian was so sincere to her, or at least what she perceived as sincerity, she also felt a slightly pang in her chest when she considered that he was being sincere because of the little girl beside him, again that strange uncomfortable feeling made itself known, but Cornelia didn’t really know what to say as he couldn’t help but blush for a second before swiftly turning around.

-I get it! (Jezz, the one time you are honest and this is what you say.)

Cornelia mumbled even more irritated, walking back towards the dining area, but stopping for a second as she turned back to the kitchen area entrance.

-Before I leave, I see that you are making a steak over there could you keep it medi…Ow!

Again she didn’t get to finish before a second iron ladle hit her face and she fell out of the kitchen area finally giving Avian his peace back as Cornelia didn’t dare to come back again and request something.

While all this was happening, Ogra, Gabriella and Deborah watched in silent amazement, actually Ogra wasn’t paying attention as she instead painfully tried to endure until the dinner was ready, while Gabriella and Deborah were really the only ones who were watching with great interest, both of them couldn’t help but momentarily imagine an exchange between a mother and a unruly son, this was the first time they saw Avian being so violent to Cornelia as well, but for some reason both of them felt this was actually quite natural, while at the same time feeling confused as Cornelia really acted differently when she was with Avian and when she was with them.

For one reason or another both Gabriella and Deborah felt distant from Avian after seeing this, but they knew it was just because they were new and didn’t spend much time with each other that this was the case, they both simply told themselves to relax as everything would be fine as time went on.

Meanwhile Ogra…

-So…Hungry~

Yeah…she was a lost cause…

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