Three days on the road, two days at the casino, and another three days return trip. Eight days in total, and I was on the second day.

Like always, I was in charge of cooking. I wanted to eat stew every day but I had to be conscious of our client—a noble that was, absolutely and very surprisingly, not fat. He looked more like an overworked man who just wanted to get away from everything.

In fact, that was the very reason why he wanted to go to the casino. It was supposedly a great stress reliever.

His name was Tyker Rindell, by the way.

“Ah, how exquisite, the food is.” Tyker nodded.

I could feel my nose growing pointier with each compliment.

Smith laughed and gulped down his stew. “Kha! I could never get enough of it!”

“I-It’s good,” Jeanne said with a red face.

And for the treehugger….

“Hmph, even the trash the Dark Elves eat is better than this.”

…Said her as she asked for another bowl.

All in all, the journey had been very uneventful. Maybe some Gawblins here and there tried to stop our carriage but Smith dealt with them so quickly that I only knew of it when Jeanne told me.

That was, until tonight.

The bushes behind me rustled. Just as I was about to stab the bushes since I didn’t have the energy to deal with bullshit, the person hiding in it revealed herself.

She was, um, tall. If I stood straight up, I would only reach her neck. Her hair was long and blonde, and her eyes were blue. At least she looked clean and pretty enough to not be a bandit.

I placed my hand on my waist but I soon realized that I left Aerin in my tent. With my hand now clutching Nira, I asked warily.

“What do you want?”

“Please….” The stranger could muster no more than a whimper. “Food…. Please…. I’m starving….!”

“Ten Silvers or g—”

I didn’t even need to say anything else. She threw me a fricking Gold and dived for the boiling bowl of stew that I had just poured for myself.

Everyone else watched her devour the stew like her life depended on it while I pocketed my Gold away with a smug smile.

Thank you, random loaded woman from the bushes.

But just as she devoured half of the bowl, the woman suddenly stopped and looked around.

“W-Who made this stew?”

“That would be her.” Smith pointed at me.

This prompted the woman to stare at me as if she wanted to drill a hole with her gaze alone.

“Why does this taste so…. Familiar?”

Only then did I realize the woman’s teary eyes. Well, shit. I had encountered this before. Now, the best course of action was to….

“People always say that. My meals apparently remind people of their mom’s food.”

She furrowed her brows, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

What do you want me to say then!? I had never met her before, and here she was, demanding answers from me.

Fuck it. I’m too tired for this.

“It’s my Skill, okay? Any food I make will remind the consumer of the best food they’ve ever eaten.”

“O-Oh.” She looked down at the stew; clearly dejected. She then cleared her throat and bowed to me. “Sorry for being rude, Ms….”

“Esther.”

“What a beautiful name….” She smiled. “I’m Eclair, by the way.”

Hmph, she managed to restore my mood for just a bit, as evident by my tails swishing behind me. I coughed and crossed my legs on the log I was sitting on. “Well, Eclair, what are you doing… here, in the middle of nowhere?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I’m finding my way back home.”

A bit too vague for my liking, but she didn’t seem to be lying.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m…. not sure.” Eclair scratched her head as she narrowed her eyes in thought. “I think I was going to a pretty big casino.”

I immediately glanced at smith. No! No! Don’t you fucking dare!

Smith realized what my gaze meant. He looked at Jeanne, who glanced at me apologetically before giving Smith silent confirmation.

Of course, the treehugger went against me just to spite me.

“Ms. Eclair.” Smith cleared his throat to get her attention. “It just so happens that we’re headed the same way. Would you like to accompany us?”

“R-Really? Can I?”

I didn’t like this. Not one bit. “Shouldn’t we ask for our client’s opinion first, Schimitel?”

Before Smith could answer, Tyker brushed my “concerns” with a laugh. “Like they say, “The more, the merrier.” I wouldn’t mind having you tag along.”

—

Huuuh, the journey wasn’t as unbearable as I thought it would be. The role of getting Eclair accustomed to our travels was of course delegated to me. But the girl was strangely proficient enough in traveling that I didn’t need to do much.

Sorry, Aerin.

{I-It’s okay, master}

I admit, I’d forgotten about Aerin, so I left her back in the tent. Only when our group split up for our “free day” in the city surrounding the Casino did I remember about her.

By the way,

“Why are you following me?”

To my question, Eclair tilted her head innocently. “Huh? I am?”

Seriously, I couldn’t tell whether or not this girl was pretending to be clueless. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.

Come, Aerin.

My sword appeared in my hand yet again. Her red blade reflected the sun light into my eyes, making me mutter a curse under my breath. Regardless, it was reassuring to have her on my waist again.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“What?”

Eclair was staring at my waist intensely. I could see her body trembling as her eyes went blank.

“Hello?” I waved my hand over her face.

But she abruptly grabbed it and yanked me closer to her. With my face only inches away from her, I could feel her hot breath.

“Where….”

I gulped. Something about her new demeanor scared me to an irrational degree.

“Where did you get the sword?”

“I-It’s my Gift!”

“Bullshit.”

After muttering that word coldly, she kicked me away.

I slid on the floor for a few feet before finally coming to a stop. Immediately, I took Aerin in my hand and readied my stance.

The crowded street was quick in dispersing. It seemed that they were used to evade getting caught up in street brawls.

Well, judging by the Red Lightning that was swirling around Eclair, this wasn’t going to be just another street brawl.

Theodore’s Lightning…. How?

No, let’s think about it. Maybe the Lightning isn’t unique to Theodore? Maybe it’s just the color of Lightning that reached the peak of Magic.

Or maybe she’s the other person who received Theodore’s Lightning for free….

Regardless, Eclair looked like she fully wanted to fight me. No amount of talking would change that.

But I had to try.

“L-Let’s talk for a—”

“Lighting Spear.”

A coiled spear of Lightning manifested right before Eclair. It briefly flashed red before hurling toward me like an Enhanced Arrow of the Elves.

I quickly rolled to the side to avoid it. As soon as I did so, I heard a loud explosion from behind me. I took my eyes briefly away from Eclair and glanced behind me, only to see a big hole and the surrounding ground charred black.

If that had hit me….

When I turned back, Eclair was already in front of me. She kicked me again but I blocked the strike with Aerin this time.

“What? Still here?” She glared at me hatefully for some reason. “That thing. Hand it over, His Gift. For His memory.”

Shit, Aerin, are you sure you’re not fucking entangled with a Vampire Lord or something? Why does this bitch want you?

{N-No, master. I don’t know who she is!}

“Lightning Spear.”

Shit! I had no time to think about it anymore. The destructive Spear of Lighting was already hurling at me.

But then, a memory came. An old one; one that I had almost forgotten.

I…. I countered Ihwa’s Lightning once.

Back then, Ihwa was relatively weak compared to this bitch, so I had no doubt I could do it here.

So, I jumped up and catched the Lightning Spear with Aerin’s blade. It stung a little, but as long as I didn’t touch the ground, I would be fine.

[Star Steps]

A platform of Aura manifested beneath my feet. It was just big enough for me to kick off of, so no one but me could see it. Clearly, me suddenly changing direction mid-air and lunging toward her surprised Eclair greatly. She exposed her lack of close-combat experience by reflexively crossing her arms to block.

Big mistake.

Aura flared in my hand as I let the Lightning flow outward. A trail of Red Electricity buzzed through the air and ran through Eclair’s body.

“Get a taste of your own medicine, crazy bitch!”

Despite spasming, the bitch was still standing. Of course, why wouldn’t she be resistant to her own element?

{You can win if you use me, you know?}

No, Nira. She’s clearly a Mage. She would know what you are as soon as she sees you absorb her Spells.

And then there would be the whole mess with explaining a murder to the city guards if I killed her in broad daylight like this.

So, after a moment’s consideration, I decided to run away.

This city’s big anyways. Let’s hope I never meet this crazy bitch again.