We met again for lunch. There were no surprises, so I was once again faced with a disgusting dish made from greenvegs. The situation was worsened by a lingering sense of tension that hadn’t left me since I overheard him.
What happened after I went to the cabin? Nothing bad happened, right? Maybe he was angry because of my behavior or was he just in a bad mood? I hope everything is fine and there aren’t any new problems.
Despite the flood of thoughts, I didn’t dare to speak first. I was afraid I might provoke Neight's anger. After all, I knew so little about him. What if he had been skillfully holding back his emotions all this time, and they were about to burst out, catching me in the crossfire?
However, when I looked at Neight, sitting across from me, I saw the usual scene. He was calmly eating his food as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that since I had entered the kitchen and he had wished me a good appetite, he hadn't uttered another word.
He's certainly strange.
“Evie,” Neight finally said in an even voice, finishing his portion, “we need to discuss our plans for the rest of the half of the day.”
“Alright, let’s discuss,” I answered cautiously, trying to recall what we had talked about in the morning.
If I’m not mistaken, after lunch, I am supposed to prepare the harvested crops for winter, and Neight will go explore the area. I think that’s right.
In the end, Neight confirmed my thoughts.
“When you finish eating, I’ll show you how to make preserves. After that, you can continue at your own pace while I go further to scout the area.”
So, he does plan to teach me some things... But what’s the fundamental difference between cooking a meal and preserving food?
My frustration knew no bounds. It seemed like Neight just wanted to dump the most tedious and dirty work on me while taking all the interesting tasks for himself. There was another thing that worried me: whether Neight could handle the workload he was taking on. I still remembered how he was gasping for breath on the way back during our last outing. I hoped he wouldn’t get lost if he went out now. I didn’t want to be left alone…
“Alright, I understand your plan,” I began, though even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. “Dividing tasks does sound like a sensible idea... But... maybe we could reconsider the plan for today, and you could help me with the preserves? And move the scouting to tomorrow.”
“No,” he cut me off, “my proposed plan will be more efficient.”
“But I might not be able to process all the crops today.”
“That’s okay. The greenvegs can be stored for a few days without processing, which is why I said you could work at a comfortable pace,” he replied calmly.
“But what if I do something wrong? Wouldn’t it be better if you at least supervised the process on the first day?” I tried to counter.
I have to make him stay. If some wild animal attacks him or something else happens, I won’t survive. If only he had the chance to teach me more so I could be more self-sufficient... Right now, my life depends entirely on him.
While all these thoughts raced through my mind, Neight looked at me serenely.
"Don't worry. The process is quite simple, so you'll manage."
"But will you?" I blurted out, unable to hold back.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"What do you mean?"
He looked at me in confusion. For a moment, there was even a hint of bewilderment in his bright amber eyes, but then his gaze became steady and calm again.
"What does this have to do with me?" he asked, smiling slightly. To me, it seemed like a condescending smile.
He clearly thinks he's above me. Annoying.
"If you want my opinion, I think you shouldn't go scouting today. I'm afraid you might not have the strength, and so..."
"You're wrong," he interrupted me. His voice was firm and confident. "I've got everything under control."
"I disagree. When we were coming back, you were clearly exhausted and barely standing! Or are you going to deny that?"
Neight's smile vanished instantly. He crossed his arms and looked at me disapprovingly, sending shivers down my spine. The whole situation reminded me of our conversation yesterday, and I felt uneasy. It seemed I had lost my temper and acted recklessly again.
I shouldn't have so openly pointed out his mistake, I scolded myself, lowering my gaze to my plate and gripping the spoon tightly in my hand out of tension, waiting for his reaction.
When the silence was broken by a sigh, I flinched involuntarily.
"I admit, that was my mistake," he said reluctantly. "But the problem was just a miscalculation of the load's weight, which caused rapid fatigue. I'll keep that in mind in the future."
Unexpected. I thought he would get angry and deny everything.
I looked at Neight again. His expression had softened, but he still seemed slightly pensive, as if he was analyzing his actions. I felt a sense of relief.
"However," he continued in a more confident voice, "I'm fine now, so I don't see any reason to deviate from the plan."
Damn, he's still insisting. Looks like it's useless to persuade him... I give up... Let's do it your way.
"Alright, I understand. We'll follow your plan."
"Excellent," he smiled at me.
I was frustrated by my failure, but I didn't want to escalate the conflict. It was clear he wouldn't budge. Not wanting to dwell on it any longer and forcing down the last bit of greenveg mush, I finished my meal.
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Neight led me to the last, previously locked room on the floor, which turned out to be a storage compartment. Nearly all around the perimeter were built-in cabinets, presumably for storage, and on the left side of the entrance, there were three metal crates strapped to the wall. The nearest one was open, revealing the green fruits we had gathered before lunch.
"This is the storage. I've granted you access to it," Neight began to explain. "On the right are various tools and... well, that's not important right now."
Why didn't he finish? Now I'm curious about what's there!
"What we're interested in is on the left," he pointed, "In these cabinets, all the provisions are stored."
Neight approached a control panel on the wall, which I hadn't noticed before, and called me over. The screen displayed a schematic of the storage area in a "П" shape, with each cabinet marked with a letter.
"Remember, the ready-made preserves are stored in cabinet 'C,' drawer number '3'. The cabinets are opened through this panel and lock automatically when closed. Try opening it now. Tap on the screen where the correct cabinet is."
For a moment, I was stunned. The actions seemed simple enough, but I felt the pressure of Neight watching me, and I was afraid of making a foolish mistake. I carefully tapped where the square marked with a "C" was and saw the screen display a more detailed schematic of the selected cabinet with numbered drawers. Without looking at Neight to avoid showing my nervousness, I selected the square with number "3" and heard the sound of a drawer sliding open to my right.
Great, I didn't mess up, I exhaled in relief.
"See, it's simple," Neight said with satisfaction and walked over to the open drawer. I followed him.
Inside, the drawer was divided into many small square compartments, each tightly packed with objects. It took me a moment to realize they were tubes. Neight pulled one out. It seemed larger than a toothpaste tube, about twice the size, if not more.
"We need to make pureed preserves and place them in these containers. I'll show you what to do. Take one. They're all empty here."
I took a tube from the drawer. Its light weight immediately indicated it was indeed empty. I wanted to toss it in the air to see how quickly it would fall back into my hand in the low gravity conditions.
Neight looked at me approvingly and closed the drawer. The click indicated it had locked. Then Neight went to the open crate and took out one round green fruit.
"One container holds exactly one processed greenveg. Take one too, and let's head to the kitchen."
"Alright," I obeyed, grabbing the nearest fruit, and then we left the storage and returned to the kitchen.