It didn't take too long for the other girls to come closer and get their cooked fish as well.

After looking at the first girl who was enjoying her first meal after a while, they couldn't resist anymore but want to have a taste of the fish as well.

[ Sho good!! ]

[ [ hmh mh ] ]

It didn't take long for all of the girls to gather around Hatsuko, and start eating their cooked fish.

Chloe still confused about what was going on, got up on her feet and walked towards Hatsuko.

She unconsciously woke Shiro up as well from the comfortable bed she had found.

Her stomach was grumbling a lot even after her sleep.

[ Hatsuko, this is... ] ( Chloe )

She didn't know what to say or what to do. She stared at all of the girls who were eating.

Confused? Happy? Surprised?

Those mixed feelings were what she was experiencing at that moment.

.

.

* * * *

In front of me were all of the little girls who were eating the cooked fish which I was preparing some moments ago.

I kept repeating to myself why I was doing this for them.

They have nothing on them so I can't ask for anything in return. Even if I used them as bait for monsters, it would take me a lot more time.

Why would I do this for them?

I could see as their happy faces were chewing the fish. Some of them were enjoying the taste and some were eating so fast that they would burn their mouths from the fish.

This isn't like me at all...

Before sunrise, I started cutting trees from another territory and brought them here, after cutting them in smaller wooden logs.

I filled a small part of the cave's entrance with wooden logs, ready to be used for fire camps.

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Afterwards, I caught a lot of fish on this river's stream using a network created by my skill "Materialization".

I don't have any skills in cooking so the way I cooked the fish was really simple. I gathered wooden sticks from the branches and used them as a way to hold the fish close to the fire.

And after some minutes I could smell if the fish was cooked or not. I wasn't sure if the fish was fully ready to be eaten or not.

All of the girls were gathering around me with their hungry expressions. I could hear their stomachs grumbling from here.

How long have they stayed without eating something?

All of their clothes were ripped and stained by something just like Chloe. I could even smell their sweat which was bothering me ever since they started coming closer to me.

I already noticed that they were a bit afraid of me but after showing the cooked fish, they just forgot about their fear.

Or that's what I thought...

[ Hatsuko this is... ] ( Chloe )

It seems like Chloe woke up as well.

Her hair was even messier than before.

If a girl like her would walk around wearing those kinds of clothes, smelling bad, and her hair like that. She would have been considered a homeless hobo with nowhere to go but to look around in the trash bins.

I stared back at her while I was giving another round of cooked fish to the girls.

[ Eh, we can have more? ]

[ Mister! Me too! ]

[ Me too! ]

[ I wash m,more pleashe! ]

( Author's note: "I want more please" just in case you don't understand XD )

A child their age would barely eat a whole fish, but looking at them asking for a second serving was surprising.

Chloe was standing still looking at me.

I wasn't sure what was going on with her. Isn't she going to eat as well just like the girls here?

[ Chloe, Chloe! Come here! This mister is giving us fish!! ]

One of the girls who had finished eating her fish walked towards Chloe and started pulling her skirt lightly.

[ Was it good?... ] ( Chloe )

She asked the girl.

[ It's really yummy!! You should try it as well! ]

Her little enthusiastic voice responded to Chloe.

Chloe came closer to me and looked down.

[ I don't know how to say this... ] ( Chloe )

She clenched her own skirt.

[ Thank you... Thank you so much Hatsuko!!

This may mean nothing to you! But to me and these girls mean a lot to me! I can't thank you enough!! ] ( Chloe )

Not caring at all, I extended my hand towards her face with wooden stick fish which I was cooking some moments ago.

[ Heh?! ] ( Chloe )

She raised her face in surprise and looked at me with a confused face.

[ Is this for me? ] ( Chloe )

She asked me while pointing her finger to herself.

[ Isn't that obvious? ] ( Hatsuko )

I harshly responded to her.

I don't really care if she refuses to eat this. I'm not going to beg her to eat something I cooked.

If she refuses, I'll just throw it away or give it to one of those kids here.

But without realizing it, I noticed her hand slowly grabbing the wooden stick.

With a dull expression on her face, she took the first bite and after a second of chewing, she suddenly stopped.

Did she dislike the taste?

[ This is... so tasty... ] ( Chloe)

Tears started falling as she said in a calm voice.

[ It's tasty!! ] ( Chloe )

She took another bite.

[ So tasty! ] ( Chloe )

She continuously kept eating faster until the skeleton of the fish was what was left.

I handed her another fish.

This time she took it without hesitation and ate it in no time.

This kept going until she finished eating 4 whole fishes with no problem.

This was the first time I have seen a girl eat this much.