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Just as I think it’s almost time for lunch, the carriage stops.

“Say, Natalia…”
“Yes, should I prepare lunch now?”
“No, it’s just…”

Olivia’s voice as she talks to me sounds oddly hesitant. I wouldn’t say she’s been hungry for so long that she’s in a bad mood now, but something else must’ve happened.

“Is something wrong, Young Lady?”

I open the window and see a dense and dark forest, with eerie chirps and roars in the distance that I’ve never heard before.

“Where are we?”

I’m the one who wants to know that!

Our route was supposed to just follow the main road the entire time, but there’s not even pavement under the carriage, and there’s no other travelers or horses anywhere in sight, even though when we departed we’d constantly pass by them.

I get off the carriage and walk over to the front where Olivia is sitting, where I take the map and look at it.

“Hmm, ahh, you probably made a bad turn around here.”

Since Seperion put so much effort into building their roads, their maps are also very detailed and widely available, rather than kept secret.

“Aww…I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright. Seeing the time, let’s just have lunch here, and then we can turn back.”

We pull the carriage to the side and then begin preparing lunch. That much is alright, but…

‘I guess I can make lunch?’

As much as I hoped and prayed otherwise, Olivia was serious about that.

“Umm, Young Lady…”
“Just sit there, Natalia!”
“But…”
“I’ve actually gotten better since then! And Ryuka also taught me how to control my mana better, so I can actually do it this time!”

I get denied immediately.

All I’m allowed to do is to light a fire, create a kitchen counter with earth magic, take out ingredients and cookware from my magic storage, and set up the folding table and chairs we have in the carriage. After that all I can do is watch as Olivia cooks.

“Just watch us do it!”
“Yes, I know, but don’t go swinging sharp blades and fire so carelessly now.”
“Don’t worry don’t worry! I got this!”

Somehow Olivia’s brimming confidence only makes me more worried. I wonder what Clarissa and Akane are going to do too.

“First off, I’ll cut the ingredients!”

Olivia places some chicken meat, though obviously it’s a fantasy chicken, on top of a cutting board and then aligns a knife on top.

Good, she’s firmly holding the meat with her left hand, and her right…she just lifted the knife like that? She raises the knife so high its tip is pointing at the sun, gleaming ominously.

“Young Lady, watch-”
“Hahh!”

Clink!

The knife’s edge strikes down and stops on Olivia’s left hand.

“Oops, my aim was bad. But I’m okay, see? Just using a bit of physical strengthening is enough to stop that.”

Okay, that was actually cool.

I can’t use strengthening magic so I don’t know if ‘a bit’ is really enough like she claims, but seeing a knife do nothing to her still looks so weird. Is she even human anymore?

But more importantly…

“You don’t need to raise the knife so high for it to cut, please do it in a more normal way.”
“Okayyy.”

She might not get hurt, but seeing her do that more times won’t be good for my heart. I don’t have a heart, but still, my mental health can’t take it. At least she’s cutting like a regular person now, so that’s a relief.

“!”

Meanwhile Akane is using her metallic silk to cut the ingredients. She’s actually good at it too. Maybe I’ll ask her to help me sometime.

“Gnarr gnarr…”

And Clarissa is deboning meat with her teeth and claws…I really don’t know what to say. At this point she might as well just eat it like that.

“Then we put the cut ingredients on skewers, and the rest goes into the pot with some seasoning.”
　
I guess we’ll be having skewers and soup then. She places the pot on the fire and arranges the skewers around it. Her precarious way of cutting produced rather uneven pieces, but as long as she watches the fire they should all cook through and produce something edible.

“Now we have to make sure to stir the soup so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.”

Olivia speaks with a really proud voice for a beginner, and the other two nod attentively. At least they look like they’re having fun.

“And a secret to make even tastier food is to pour your love into it with each swirl. Become tastier~ Become tastier~ Become tastier~”

She stares intently at the pot as she mumbles that, making it look like she’s cursing the soup, making it scarier.

“Then we flip over the skewers, Become tastier~ Become tastier~ And now we give it a taste.”

Tasting what you’re cooking is important. You wouldn’t want to serve something you don’t like the taste of after all. I was really worried at first, but if she’s actually tasting the food then at least the end product should be edible enough.

I’m so glad, so so glad…

“It’s not bad, but it tastes a bit too normal. I really want a more shocking and unique flavor…”

Hm, hmmm? What did she say? Why does that sound so dangerous? A beginner should never do anything like that!

“Ah, I know! Maybe it’ll get better if I add some of the strawberry jam we bought in the capital!”

What?!

“Let’s add some strawberry jam!”

Glob glob glob

The soup that was largely transparent turns red in an instant and a saccharine smell spreads everywhere. Seeing that, Clarissa and Akane quickly lose their earlier enthusiasm and take a step back.

“With some heart! And love! All mixed up! Become! Tastier!”

As Olivia continues stirring the pot, the contents start to change colors, going from red to yellow, and an acrid scent starts to waft out of it. By now Clarissa and Akane don’t want to be anywhere near that, so they walk back in shock to hide behind me.

Poof!

There’s a small explosion in the pot and a small mushroom cloud emerges.

“Alright, all done!”
Did she just call that done?!

“Here, my special strawberry soup and chicken skewers!”
The food she places on the table doesn’t look anything like the way she called it.

“There’s still a lot so feel free to ask for seconds!”
Olivia says that, but just looking at the pot entirely erases my appetite.

Clarissa and Akane look at me worried, though it almost feels like they’re asking me to eat first. Don’t look at me please.

…I guess I have no choice, I’ll just have to take a deep breath…and start with the skewers since at least they look normal. And don’t call me a wuss.

“Ah, I forgot to add the sauce I made.”

Just when I was about to grab one of the skewers, she takes out a goopy blue liquid she made who knows when and pours it all over the skewers. She’s heartless.

Ophelia…if I see you, please knock me back again. Though I’m praying it doesn’t come to that.

Almost driven mad with despair, I take a bite from the chicken covered in bright blue goo.

“?!”
Wait, this tastes like basil sauce!
Huh, then what about the soup?

“?! ?!”
It tastes like orange?!
What happened to the strawberry jam?!

“So? Is it good?”
“…Yes…it’s good…”

It’s not just mere flattery, but this is actually tasty. I have no idea how those ingredients and cooking methods made this, but the flavor is good. The skewers are also cooked properly, and the basil (?) sauce also pairs nicely with it.

The strawberry (?) soup also has a nice citrusy flavor that accentuates the meat, which is a surprisingly good combination.

What’s happening here? This is not only edible but, dare I say, quite tasty. But I don’t understand how this was the product of those ingredients. Maybe some sort of alchemic reaction happened in the pot?

“I still can’t stop all of my mana from leaking out, but I’ve worked hard to know how to put it to good use at least!”

So it actually was alchemy. But at least she managed to put something she did unintentionally into something that aids her cooking. This is definitely a major step forward from that murderous stew Ryuka described as being equal to the venom of a large serpent that lasts for a thousand years.

But as someone who cooks regularly…a part of me still doesn’t want to accept this. My feelings about it aside, Olivia still sits down and starts to eat happily too.

“Mhm, it came out well. I only succeed one out of three times after all.”

Wait, what did she just say? I’ll really have to watch myself so I don’t do anything crazy that makes her want to cook again¹.

1. Robinxen: Does this mean no more cooking chapters?! HURRAY!