“Who are you?” The mother who had previously been consoling her daughter had finally noticed me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the little girl spoke up first. “He’s a friend of mine! He’s staying over to eat!”

“Aya, this is…” The mother shook her head.

“He’s a guest! We welcome guests!” The girl glared at her mother defiantly.

She looked up at me, a slightly helpless expression on her face. “I’m sorry, but the master and mistress are out today. It is normally our policy to offer food and shelter to travelers, but…”

As she spoke, the girl’s expression started to lose all hope, as if after her brother left her, this was the last piece of happiness she could cling to. The old maid was merely watching me as if seeing what I would do.

Feeling just a bit like I couldn’t leave things alone, I sighed and pulled a backpack out of my Inventory. To those watching, it was just like it appeared from behind me. They blinked like they hadn’t noticed I had been wearing a backpack before, but they’d assume they must have missed it rather than that I had some kind of spell. Only Heroes and Blue Mages had such an ability, and those were rare.

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As I reached into the backpack, I pulled out some food. Even though I could toss just about anything into my Inventory, I liked to keep things in backpacks when I brought them out. There might be situations where handing someone a weeks-worth of food would be useful.

Plus, the Inventory wasn’t indexed like in a video game. It was hard to describe, but peering into it was like looking down into a storage shed. Unless I knew what I was looking for, it all sort of just looked like a pile of mess. That made it difficult to cook when I didn’t know what ingredients I had.

Cooking was what I had in mind as I gave the group a friendly smile. “How about I provide for you?”

Without entering their house, I found a spot that appeared to be where they set fires outdoors, as well as a stack of wood nearby. I tossed a few logs in the pit, and then waved my hand, causing the logs to ignite. My Fire Control was at a stage now that I could just ignite things. There was a time when the best I could hope for was a spark unless a fire already existed. This was the essence of becoming a mage.

As the fire started, the girl’s eyes opened wide in excitement, while the mother still watched from a distance hesitantly. It took to the point I had food cooking above it and smells carried out that they started to relax. The old woman snorted and walked over first.

“I suppose I am a little hungry.” She mumbled to herself as she sat down in a chair set up around the fire.

“I’m hungry!” The girl broke away from her mother’s grip and also ran over.

The mother had reached out her hand, but looking uncertain for a few more seconds, she finally sighed and joined the rest around the fire as I cooked a meal for them.