Chapter 66: Disposition
Edited by: Deathbricks, Arthur300000, Bunny, and ArchmageNaoki
"Fail the bill! Fail the bill!" The antique TV in the living room showed the scene of a protest. It cut in contrast with the atmosphere of us preparing a full-blown party to welcome Cocoa.
With all the props and music, it already felt like my welcoming party when I transported to this world and arrived here for the first time. What was left to prepare was only food and snacks which we were having a blast making in the kitchen a moment ago. It would be better if we had more guests, but it was a weekday and too short of a notice, so my dad decided that it would be rude to invite our neighbors. I also invited Ms. Nyatalee who dropped us off at my house, but she said that she still had something to prepare for tomorrow.
"Kuro, please help me taste this!" Pristia called from the kitchen. She, Cocoa, and I were having fun helping my mom prepare meals and sweets in the kitchen. However, because I put too much Magicka into the hand mixer it went out of control and splattered white, sticky fluid all over my body. It’s just eggs white though.
"Wait a moment, I want to see the news." I shouted back at her. After I finished cleaning myself and came out of the restroom, I noticed that the news seemed to be relevant to me.
"A draft of the new policy to combat the decline of the human population has come out. Because it's more stringent to women than the last one it caused the scene you see today." The reporter gestured at the sea of people, mostly women showing protest signs.
"If the government wants children, they can go fuck themselves!" The leader of the protesters yelled through loudspeakers while making a rude gesture. It came with a lot of cheer from her followers.
"In addition to the ban on contraceptives in the last law, the one being introduced now is bringing in a new tax system which increases taxes for unmarried women above the age of twenty by 30 percent, plus another 10 percent for women above the age of 25 without a child." The reporter continued. What the heck, I only have five years to get married? No no, it's just money. I will pay. Or maybe I might join the protest. The scene turned into an interview of a white-haired middle aged man.
"There are also some pro aspects of this law, no taxes for children under the age of eighteen and several tax-relief programs for families." According to running text at the bottom of the screen, he was the minister of finance. So, I didn't have to pay tax now? Yippee! It's a good bill after all. What about five years from now on? I will let future me handle that. It's still a long time away after all.
I happily skipped back to the kitchen, but before that I made a round trip to the backyard to see the progress of the installation of the forge that I bought from Bubba industry. It was surprisingly easy to ask them for permission. My brother and dad even volunteered to install it for me.
I was going to ask them if they needed any help but after seeing a heartwarming scene of a father and his son working together, I knew that it wasn’t my place to interrupt. I snuck back into the kitchen, hoping with all my heart that one day I wouldn't turn into a second Sophia...
"- Monsters' head was popped one after another under the hail of her bullets. The soldier who saw that said she shot from over 2 kilometers away." I heard Cocoa retell what happened while I was stranded in the Beastkin land. I will discretely tell her not to worry my mom later.
"Kuro say ahh~" Pristia put a teaspoon of panna cotta mixture in my mouth. It's very delicious. She grinned at my melted expression and poured the mixture into the mold.
"It passed the Kuro test." She boasted victoriously.
"Not fair! Kuro try mine too." My mom fed me with a spoonful of stew made from my favorite bear monster meat. She even blew on it a few times to cool it down. It tasted heavenly. Ahh, my mom’s cooking is the best.
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There was no need to say anything, I told her everything through my facial expression as well. However, it somehow ignited Cocoa's competitive nature.
"It's cookie batter, you know?" I tried to confirm her intention as she pointed a spoonful of cookie batter at me.
"You are good at tasting, so you can try it even if it hasn’t been baked yet, right?" Cocoa made an unreasonable request. Even though I could identify the effect of various ingredients after I ate them thanks to my Skyrim’s skills, toxic ingredients were still unpleasant and painful. Seeing me shake my head vigorously, Cocoa made a sad face.
"It's ok, I will taste it for you." What! Mom! Don't! I quickly pull the spoon into my mouth and taste it myself. Even though it had a very starch taste I could sense that it would turn out well. Cocoa is good at cooking, it seems.
"How is it?" She asked nervously.
"It’s really good." I answered honestly, and that made her smile beautifully. This smile came from her first tail, I think.
As everyone was busy with their work I turned my attention to the mess that I made earlier and began to clean up. I wanted to enjoy cooking with everyone for once, and I even asked Skynet to search for a good and easy recipe for me. She suggested that I make meringue cookies which is technically egg white and sugar beat up until it became fluffy. In the end, I just smeared them all over the place.
[I'm sorry, mistress. I underestimated your cooking skills too much.] Isn't it overestimate? I felt I was insulted somehow...
.
.
.
The party was a big success, everyone was happy and everything was delicious. What shocked me most was Cocoa’s cookies. She replicate the ones I ate on the private jet accurately. Her cooking talent is formidable.
As a side note, my second cooking attempt ending up as Mr. Bobo’s, our flying house pig, dinner. He looked a bit discontent with it, but when I looked at him threateningly, he wolfed it down without further complaints. It’s a bit charred and bland, but it’s not that bad, I think. After all, it was a pudding made from the egg yolks left over from my first failed attempt.
After the party was over, my brother and dad showed me my fully assembled forge. Dad told me that I should try to make something to ensure that it works properly.
"You can ask for a replacement if it's within seven days." My dad said.
"Alright, I'll craft something." Agreeing with them, I took out a hammer, an iron ingot, and some other tools. Since this was my first attempt at this forge I chose to use cheap iron ingots.
"Use some gloves, Kuro. Also, here, put these goggles on to protect your beautiful eyes." My dad gave me his goggles. I know he means well, but all this gear would make me uncomfortable.
"Thanks dad, but don't you need to go to work?" I asked, usually he would come back home around midnight.
"I resigned from most of my part-time jobs." He smiled. It seems I have to wear them, but I'm happy that he’s now able to spend a lot more time with the family. There are still some jobs during the weekend that he still has to do because his workplace has yet to find a substitute for him though.
I turned my focus back to the forge and decided to start with something quick and simple. A dagger. But this time, I want to make a hole in its handle. This way, I can insert an enchantment module inside. Surprisingly it turned out to be more difficult than I thought.
To create a hole, that means the weight of handle would be lessened. And because of that its balance was ruined. I made several adjustments. With a lot of frustrating grunts and curses inside my mind. Nevertheless, it came out nicely. Let's hope that it won't end up as a cursed item because I cursed too much while making it.
My dad was diligently watching over me while my sister quietly recorded the process. Cocoa and Skynet both came up with various suggestions from time to time which was very helpful. Even though the former was dragged off to the bathroom by my mom in the middle of it. "Young girls need to sleep early." My mom said, and she told my sister to not let me stay up too late. My mom is so strict. My brother? As soon as he saw the forge was working fine he disappeared into the house.
As I finished the process I tapped the dagger to check its condition and its balance. I'm happy with the crystal clear ring it made. Even military grade devices didn't make this kind of sound. No wonder, I cannot make them as sharp as I want.
I attempted a few practice swings and stabs. The balance seemed perfect, it was like an extension of my arm. All in all, I was satisfied with my quick work, I even compensated a bit for the weight of the module by adding some pieces of metal in the hollow cavity.
Looking at the time it's already half an hour until midnight. I think I will make its sheath another day. As I finished tidying things up, my dad stretched and said goodnight.
"Good night, dad." I said back to him and walked into the house. I won't sleep just yet though. I want to test out the enchanting system I just bought. However, my sister stopped me before I could climb up the stairs.
"Let's take a bath first, Kuro. You have soot all over your face." She said while carrying me to the bathroom. Hah, even though we are not related by blood, my family is the best after all.