“Oh my god how in the name of all that’s holy did they manage to make something this good with just what they have here!?” exclaimed Alissa in wide-eyed surprise. She had been laboring under the age-old stereotype that food in the medieval ages – which Ephemera was a decent analogue for – was on the poor end, and her experiences so far matched that expectation.

The food while she was at the Royal Palace looked pretty, well decorated and all that, but were mostly on the bland side when it came to flavor, all things considered. It was only recently that she learned how that was mostly due to the preference of the northern nobles and the Kingdom’s so-called “high society” who believed that excessive flavors would ruin the essence of a meal.

It was so bad to the point that Alissa found herself favoring the meals she had while on dungeon delves, as the simpler rations, which were mostly composed of preserved items, had far more flavor in general, as the typical methods of preservation would impart flavor to them. Of course, the Royal Palace’s chefs prided themselves in only using the freshest ingredients instead, so none of those were to be found there, most of the time.

Which was fine with fruits and vegetables, but when it came to meat and fish and the like, the way the food was prepared in the north of the Kingdom resulted in mostly bland things. The sort of things that brought “health food” from her previous world to mind, even, to the point that she questioned if one of the previous heroes had been a health food fanatic and imparted those beliefs on the locals.

She did find the food in Clearridge far more palatable and tasty, but the meat Esperanza offered her was on a whole different level altogether. It was so good that for a moment she forgot all about the situation she was in, the gods and whatnot, or even possibilities of going home, and just focused on enjoying the bit of pure ecstasy in her mouth.

It was not like the cooks even used much in terms of spices. At most she tasted some salt on the meat, while the rest of the flavor was present thanks to the skill of the cook responsible. The roasted suckling pig had crisp skin that shattered under her bite, juicy meat that parted under even the slightest pressure, and sweet, rich fat layers that literally melted in her mouth to make what was probably the best bite of pork Alissa ever had in her life.

There were no complicated spices, not even complicated techniques. Just perfectly cooked meat by a chef who knew how to handle a fire for the perfect doneness, with a hint of smoke imparted from the open flames that permeated the meat and added an aftertaste to it. Alissa thought that there was a bit of a smoky aftertaste that reminded her of apples and oranges at the same time, so it was probably wood from a local fruit tree that imparted the flavor.

“Just because they don’t have pressure cookers or ovens or a hundred variety of spices in their kitchen cabinet doesn’t mean the people here doesn’t know how to eat well, Allie,” said Esperanza with a smirk on her face as she chewed on one of the sausages she took from Alissa’s plate. “Oh, this tastes a lot like chorizo, pretty nice to have something like this over here.”

“Hey, waiter!” yelled Esperanza over the din of the eatery after she temporarily turned her skill off. She also waved her hand to get the nearest waiter’s attention, who soon came to their table with a smile on his face. “Can you get us another half- no wait, might as well make that a whole roasted suckling pig. Another platter of these sausages and two more pitchers of ale as well. Here’s the money, keep the change,” she said while casually flicking a couple of silver coins to the smiling waiter’s hand.

“Right away, ma’am! We’ll get you one that’s fresh off the grill!” replied the waiter enthusiastically as he ran off to the kitchen.

“Isn’t that a bit too much?” asked Alissa with some amusement in her voice once the waiter left earshot.

“Eh, I’m a pretty big eater now, pretty sure I can chow down on a whole adult pig, much less a suckling one, so no need to worry about being wasteful,” replied Esperanza with a shrug of her shoulders as she filled her flagon with more ale and drank it while chewing on another sausage. “Also, I figured that you could make use of the relaxation. No offense, Allie, but you look like someone has run you through the wringer lately, and I don’t think that’s all from just what I told you yesterday.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It still shows, huh?” replied Alissa with a sigh. “I guess you’re right. It’s not like having gone through that battle would be something I could just sleep and pretend to forget,” she confessed. “It was a horrible thing, Zaza, all the killing day and night, almost without rest, and even those times when you get to rest haunted by the possibility that things might go south while you sleep… I’d have probably gone mad if not for one of my skills helping me deal with that.”

“Well, the bloody pendejos fucking kidnapped some high schoolers, put some swords in their hands, and then made you all go fight their war for them. Is it really surprising that you all end up stressed and traumatized by all the shit you had to go through!?” replied Esperanza rather bitingly. “Honestly, that part alone would have made whoever did the summoning a cabrón in my books, but those stories Ethan likes so much rarely ever bother to address that part, didn’t they?”

“They never ask for our permission, or care about what we think on the matter, don't they? Oldies, I can kinda let off a bit since they had nothing to do with the summoning and whatnot, and only really took advantage of something that already happened, but the ones who initiated the summoning? Those people have far less excuse for what they did to us,” she continued. “Part of the reason why I feel little qualm in wrecking their little game while I’m at it, to be honest.”

“And have you- oh, the waiter’s here,” said Alissa as she noticed the waiter approach from the corner of her eye. The waiter in question somehow held the platter with a whole roasted suckling pig on his right hand, while balancing another smaller platter of sausages on his left arm, and holding two pitchers of ale with his hand at the same time. He cheerfully placed them all on the table and bit them a good eating before he left cheerfully.

Esperanza covered the whole table with her [Veil of Entropy] once more the moment the waiter left, and gestured to Alissa to have some of the food with one hand.

“As I was saying, while I understand completely that you would prefer to keep things a secret and not divulge the details of what you’ve done so far, have you done anything to directly progress that mission you have been given?” Alissa asked once more once their privacy was secured. She then tore off one of the suckling pig’s legs and took a hearty bite before she gave a sigh of appreciation. “By god, that’s some good stuff.”

“Understandable question. I will honestly say that I’ve made some strikes, but so far those have only been against the demons, as I happened to fall in their territory after that incident at the temple back then,” said Esperanza. “I will say that I wouldn’t exclude the human side from my target list in the future, however, and I believe you might understand why yourself if you think about it.”

“No need to think about it, I do get what you mean. If you really do intend to go against the very gods that currently rule this world, that’s pretty much the same as making this whole world your enemy,” replied Alissa with a nod. “All I can really do is to ask that you follow your conscience and try to target those who truly deserve it, rather than those who were just misled or doing their jobs.”

“Yeah, that’s something I can do for the time being, at least, though if I can’t find another way in the end, and this world truly comes to an end because of me, then I’ll have to apologize that I can’t do better,” said Esperanza frankly. “Honestly, I still have no real idea on how we’d have to deal with the gods to begin with. That level of power just seems hilariously outlandish to contemplate, though since those gods rose to power by growing stronger… it might well be that we could do the same as well…”

“You mean… the fifth tier?” queried Alissa, though from her voice it was pretty obvious that she was less asking and more confirming a guess she already had. “It did always find it suspicious that the strongest people amongst both the humans and the demons here were only in their fourth tier, and that everytime some fifth tiers came to be, it was usually heroes who were about to ‘return’ or people who vanished without a trace soon after.”

“If you didn’t pay attention to it, it might just look like a coincidence, doesn’t it?” noted Esperanza with a mocking smirk. “But take a closer look and a sniff and you’ll easily notice that the whole thing smells fishier than a rotten fish.”

“Yeah. It stinks too much like people in power pruning those that grow powerful enough to threaten them before they could truly reach the point where they were an actual threat,” said Alissa with a nod. “With the locals, it’s also partially because their classes tend to be of lower quality, and lower quality classes have a harder time leveling up. I can’t help but feel that this is intentional as well.”

“It likely is. Definitely explains why there’s not more fifth tiers amongst the natives I’ve encountered so far, unless you count mindless monsters. I’ve seen some that might be fifth tier from afar, but didn’t take any chances so I didn’t [Identify] them,” said Esperanza with a shake of her head. “If you can answer, how strong is the strongest person you have seen in the human kingdom so far?”

“That would be Sir Inolet, the veteran knight they had as a teacher for me and Ethan early on, and these days accompany us as a guard and chaperone of sorts,” Alissa said honestly. “He’s in the middle levels of his fourth tier, but has very high class quality, probably just a notch lower than the classes we get, and by his admission, he’s one of the five most powerful people in this kingdom. That’s despite his handicaps.”

“Handicaps?” Esperanza asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sir Inolet’s missing an eye and half a lower leg from injuries he took during the previous war, around some fifty years ago. If not for those and his advancing age, I think he might be a contender for the most powerful fighter in the kingdom,” clarified Alissa. “I hope you don’t take it against me if I don’t feel comfortable with telling you what I know of his skills.”

“Nah, that’s understandable, especially if the old man’s been good to you, and from the way you speak fondly of him, I wager that’s the case,” replied Esperanza with a shake of her head. “Just knowing the general level range of the strongest is good enough. It would help me better understand what I might be dealing with should I begin to deal with this kingdom in the future.”

“But let’s save the depressing talk for a bit later, shall we. We should eat first before the food gets cold.”