It happens so sudden.

“Aaaa!!”

“Run away!”

“Run!”

“Escape!!”

In a peaceful village, people were running as though they’re escaping from a great danger.

On her way home after training, a blonde girl watching people action in confusion.

Among the running people, she caught a familiar boy running pass her.

Misha’s hand instinctively grabbed him, intending ask him the situation because the sudden terrible feeling she got.

“Gyaa!”

Seeing how panicked and frightened he is, making her terrible premonition growing stronger.

“What the hell going on, Richard!?”

“Oh, it’s you Misha!”

When the boy, Richard, saw his captor, he was brightened, as though salvation had come down to him.

“Misha, please stop those madmen!”

“Huh, what do you—Wait. please, don’t tell me is it ‘that’ again!?”

Even though her first confusion, Misha gradually realizing the situation.

She knew.

She had long familiar with this routine.

Why Richard looks so frightened.

Why people escaping.

What terrible feeling she had now.

She’d predict the tragic future that’ll fall on her!

“Are they making a new dish again!?”

“That’s right! And it’s a giant failure!”

Misha paled as she heard that.

A failure new dish.

It an ordinary word and ordinary occurrence with nothing special.

However, in this village, ‘failure new dishes’ were more frightening than any monster or misfortune she ever faced since the calamity.

If she’d haves to describe the taste of failed dishes in a sentence, it would like this:

‘You can’t die no matter how much you want to die’

“Wait, what you mean by ‘giant’?”

She was confused and frightened by new word attached to failure dish.

“Go see yourself. See ya!”

Not waiting her reply, Richard storming his escape.

“A giant failure new dish…”

*Gulp*

Misha looking toward direction opposed Richard escape. She really never wants go there, but she must.

With trembling all over her body, her feet firmly going to that place.

It’s actually same on her way home.

Just two neighbors away.

“Ugh!”

As her step going closer, her nose was pricked by weird acrid stinks and her vision slowly blurred by faint purple smoke.

Looking around, she’d found some fainted people on road.

Some people that still have faint conscious looking at her as though they seeing an angle of salvation.

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

“…”

Misha looking up to sky.

There’s a complicated feeling floating in her heart knowing the culprits behind this tragedy.

With heavy steps, she gradually approaching a certain house.

As she opens the door, a disgusting purple smoke and horrible stink burst out.

Reflexive, Misha covered her nose.

*Thud*

*Thud*

Fainted birds were falling near her feet as they passing the purple smoke.

“…”

Misha might also faint if wasn’t for the fact she haves long accustomed with the stink.

“Ugrh!”

*Blegh*

……or not.

The stink was more horrible than previous.

“This…”

Cold sweet pouring down.

Her small body can’t help but trembling heavily.

Peeking inside the house, she’d see a pair of shadows, small and big, were playing around a boiling pot filled mysterious black substance.

Just the sight of mysterious black substance ringed warning bell in her head. She didn’t know what that thing is, but she sure it surely not for human consumption.

She called them.

“Arc, Uncle Rift, what the hell are you two making this time!?”

“Uh, Misha? Wait a minute, we almost done.”

“Oh, it’s you little girl. Seems your bride come to see you, Lad.”

“Who is my bride?”

The two of them paid her little attention as they continuing their strange experiment.

Misha strode nearing.

“No-No-No! Please don’t finish that thing!”

“Uh, why?”

Arc tilted.

“Why!? Can’t you smell how horrendous stink is it!?”

“Yeah, it’s a smell weirdly a little, I admit.”

“A little!? How could this little? What the hell you put in there?”

“Ho~”

Uncle Rift interjecting.

“Hey, little girl, heard this! What we’re making right now is new invention that would make revolution in food world. We’re making a never seen dish. Everyone will tremble and salivating upon see this dish and will doing anything just to take a bite! Not only that, we’ll introducing many kind ingredients you never thought could be eaten. See like this. Have you ever thought that nora bat wing, brown cicada carapace, werewolf body fluid, great boar milk, cockatrice blood, sandworm larvae boiled together and mixed with some–”

“Basically, we put wholesome particular ingredients we could thought for this dish.”

Arc cut in.

“What in the calamity you put in!!?”

Misha was very confused.

What just in abyss they put in?

Are they really speaking in same language?

Why can’t she understand anything they said?

For some reason, her body and vision can’t stop trembling.

Rather than can’t understand, it’s more like she refuses to understand their word.

Misha glanced at black substance. It might her imagination, for a moment she spotted something was squirming and screaming in there.

*AAaaaa!*

“…”

She definitely won’t eat that.

“Oh, lad, the food was ready.”

“Okay!”

“!!!”

Misha dumbfounded.

Arc turn off the stove, and brought the pot on the table.

He scooping some black substance, serving it on three small bowls.

Before she could react, Misha already holding a small bowl of black substance given by the boy.

“Eh? Me too?”

“Since you were here, of course.”

“I’m not hungry right now. This is your dish Arc. Why can’t you try it alone?”

“Dish was better when served together.”

Twitch appears on her lips.

“Hey, don’t speak when eating. Just take a sip, little girl, and you’ll find how delicious this is.”

“You say that but you haven’t taken a sip either and I could see how wet you from your sweating!”

“Hahaha, what are you talking about, Lass? I just take some preparation before I try this mysterious thing since it looked little dangerous!”

“So you realize this isn’t food to consumed, right!?”

Uncle Rift ignore her comment and took a mouthful of black substance.

Arc and Misha watching him intently.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence.

After took the mysterious substance into his mouth, Rift stop moving entirely. He stands steady like a tree.

“Master Rift, what’s matter?”

Arc poking his side.

Then, the Aged Man’s body shuddered heavily and fell with loud ‘thud’ on floor.

“…”

“…”

“Are you really going to eat that?”

Arc staring at sky, or rather the ceiling.

With great resolution and sorrow in his gazes, he declared:

“Of course! It’s our rule to never waste food!”

“Please stop being idiot Arc!!”

He lifts the bowl to his mouth, took a mouthful of the substance and shallow it in haste.

“!!!”

*Thud*

Receiving same fate as Uncle Rift, Arc soundlessly fell on the floor with heavy ‘Thud’.

Misha can only watch the tragedy happen in daze.

Her little mouth hanging open, no sure what should she do.

After a while, tears begun to leak out.

Again!!

Misha screamed inwardly.

That’s right.

This situation haves been repeating many times already!

Now, she really regretting letting Arc come here.

For how this happen was because Arc desire to learn to cook.

Uncle Rift happen the best cook in the village. He also took fancy on Arc and decided to take him as apprentice.

The girls also were happy for him that time.

They even made small celebration party.

That time, they didn’t know Uncle Rift’s terrible habit as a cook. They didn’t know his love in creating and experimenting with new dishes. How it often resulting with weird and terrible failure, creating many disgusting foods!!

Now she understood why the villagers given them pitying gazes at that time.

Worst of all this is, Arc picked his master bad habit!

He sometimes creating disgusting foods that wasn’t for human consumption.

The pair master and apprentice like to try their own new weird dish and serve it to the others, creating scene of littered half-dead body whenever they creating failed dish.

Worse…

Arc often dragged her with him. And always, she couldn’t reject him.

Watching her fallen family with resentment, she took a mouthful bowl of black substance.

When the substance falls into her stomach, acrid stink burst out her mouth, piercing out her nostril, overwhelming her sense of smell. Her body paralyzed as horrendous taste assault her taste bud. Her eyes full of tears from burn sense.

Isn’t this worse than last time!?

She thought as her conscious begun to dimmed.

Before she fainted, she saw two familiar little girls approaching her.

“Young Lady!!”

“Sister!”

Sorry for dragging you both into this.

Her last thought before fainted.

Afterward, the number of half-dead bodies increased by two.