Volume 7 Chapter 14: I’ll Pat Your Head As Well

"Alright, we can take a break here." Keith decided it was time to rest. We came a long way. The group was at the end of the first floor. Their pace was incredible as they took out many monsters.

"There were so many of them. I wanted to fight them!" Herrick and Melor pouted.

That only caused Alfia to scoff, "We are not fighting that number. It's a waste of strength!" The bulls they faced before were nowhere near the end. What came at them was a horde! Keith made the call to run away from there. They could fight it, but it was so ill-advised: it would waste their strength!

"Hmpf." A pout started to form on Herrick and Melor's faces.

"I'm going to start preparing the bull." That pout Herrick and Melor had instantly changed!

"Ooooh! We want some steak!" "Yeah!"

"Alright, I will make steaks. Go and place some blood around us and defeat some monsters."

"They're too easy." Alfia and the rest shook their heads.

"Gabriel, Jack, can you two watch over them? Don't let them run around so much."

"Understood." The two followed after them. Keith cracked his neck back and forth. Despite not having the same expression as Herrick and Melor, Keith was eager to use the bull. He had prepared lunch for them, but his mind kept thinking about the meat.

The bull appeared before him, and he started to butcher the meat. It took some time, but a bunch of meat was before him. As he stared, Keith decided to use the rib-eye. I can use the macao beans as well.

Coffee-crusted steak. With the macao beans, he could make something like this. The rub was easy; add some pepper, salt, and other spices with the ground macao beans.

Once he finished rubbing it onto the steak. It was time to place it on the pan. A large sizzling sound came. Those macao beans really help with the aroma! There was a deep and rich aroma coming from the steak.

With one flip, he saw a deep, dark crust.

"What did you make, Keith? I could smell it far away!" Herrick and Melor quickly rushed back to the campsite. Gabriel and Sarah soon came after. Sarah huffed, "How could you guys smell it? We were so far away!"

"Steak. I will do other things, but you must wait a bit." Keith grinned.

"Understood!" Herrick and Melor sat down and watched the man work his magic!

It should be done. Keith grinned as he placed the steaks on the plate. Each one was filled with a giant piece of meat. It looked delicious.

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"We're digging in!" Herrick and the others didn't hesitate as they started to eat! There was a crisp sound resounding in the area.

"How could macao beans be like this?"

"I thought it would be bitter, but it tastes so nice!"

"Macao beans complement meat very well," Keith grinned as he ate. While they did the same,

"Leona, how are your arrows?" Sarah asked. Leona had been using regular arrows; it meant a finite amount of them.

"I have enough for now. But I have to be careful with how I use them. They get dull after a few shots." After every fight, she would reclaim her arrows. But they wouldn't be effective as time went on. She was going to need to watch over it.

"I will make a note of that." Keith nodded.

"Then I will work on them after Herrick and Melor's weapons." Arlo's job was to maintain their weapons.

"Mmhmm." Leona nodded.

"Alright, we're going to go to bed now," After having their meal, it was time for them to go to bed,

"How are we splitting this up?"

"I got this." Keith grinned.

Gabriel – Arlo - Sarah

Jack – Faelyn

Alfia – Keith

Scarlet – Herrick

Leona – Melor

"Can I switch?" Leona frowned as she stared at the pairs.

"If she's switching, I want to do it too!" Scarlet raised her hand. Keith shook his head,

"No switching. You get what you get."

"Aww, but I want to switch with Alfia."

"I would have said no. I'm not staying by that fool's side." Having Alfia and Herrick together was a death wish. The two would have definitely killed each other if they did.

"Alright, now go to bed." Keith clapped his hand. It was time to hit the bed.

...

"Keith, wake up. It's your turn." Jack nudged Keith's body, waking him up.

"Understood." A yawn came out as he headed out: Alfia was already there waiting for him.

"Ugh, my neck." "Can't get used to it?"

"Of course." Alfia nodded, "I will never get used to it." Sleeping in a sleeping bag doesn't help the body out.

"Can I ask you a question?" "Hmm?"

"Do you think Leona likes me?"

"What brought this about?!" Alfia blinked. This was a random question.

"Sometimes I see her glaring at me really hard." There were times when Leona's eyes turned dark. It was kinda weird. He didn't say anything about it since it would be awkward. And it didn't seem hostile; it was more wary.

"She did join the island not so long ago. It would need to take time." Alfia shrugged her shoulders.

"True."

"Now that you asked a random question, what about you and Scarlet?" Alfia got close to Keith,

"Hmm?"

"I mean you are pampering the girl!"

"I don't pamper the girl." "You do. You wake her up. You pat her on the head when she does something good. You are definitely pampering her compared to the rest."

"It's because she asked."

"Eh?"

"She told me to pat her head from time to time," Keith answered. That was something he didn't mind doing either.

“…” Alfia pouted, “…I want that.”

"Hmm? You want that?" It was low, but enough when the person was beside her!

"I didn't say anything."

"Pff." Keith chuckled. But that caused Alfia to frown, "Stop laughing." But the man did not; instead, he patted the girl's head, "You did well today. The only reason why I don't say it is because you've been doing good all the time."

"Eh?"

"With you, I don't need to worry about anything." Alfia was their magic carry. He did not need to watch her because of how sturdy she was.

"I'll praise you more from now on,"

"..." Alfia looked down.

"…Is someone embarrassed?" Keith chuckled.

"Hmpf."