“How?” Zach could not believe it. It was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. Now he felt guilty. He had deemed them dead without even confirming their dead bodies, but could he really be blamed? Even he was at one point on the brink of dying, and if he subjectively compared him and those two, he was clearly stronger than them by a mile. But them being alive was evident enough that he was wrong.

“Thank the heaven, we thought you were goners,” Calrin said. Smiling from ear to ear.

“Praying for our death? Isn’t that a bit harsh? I expected more from you, Calrin,” Dayana said. Her appearance was disheveled, unlike the grace she once had before. A single night was all it took, and they wondered what happened to them.

“Apologies milady, that… that… that’s not my intention,” Calrin stuttered a bit.

Dayana smiled. “Fret not, Calrin. I’m just jesting,” she said. “So what’s going on with that?” her glance went to the unbelievable spectacle. It wasn’t every day she could see the Lord of Shieldford kneeling to a young Gardwin, and to make the scene even weirder was the sight of Zach pointing his sword at one of the household members of his own house.

“It’s how you see it,” Mathias chimed in. “The century-old feud of Gardwin and Shieldford.”

Unlike what he expected, Mathias did not get an expected response. Rather than words, Dayana gave a glare, and from feeling alone, he felt that was the strongest he had ever received from her.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mathias thought. Slightly bewildered by that glare. Well, it was common for her to glare at him, but this was sort of different, and he wondered what it was.

“Enough disgracing my house, boy,” Orland said. Glaring at Zach from below. “You averting your eyes from the enemy is enough to show that you see little of us Shieldford. Be done with it, and take my head.” Orland was resolute. There was no sign of him taking back his words after declaring as such.

“No!” Jeyne opposed. She knelt beside her father and grabbed the blade of Zach’s sword right by her bare hands. The sharp edge cut through her soft skin, and blood was shed.

“Jeyne!” Orland frowned. But before he could say a word, Jeyne’s voice conquered all.

“I beg of you Sir Reacher, no… Lord Gardwin, please show mercy on my father’s life,” Jeyne said, clasping her fingers tight. “If you desire his life, then take mine instead.” Tears fell upon her cheeks as Jeyne would not let her father perish. Not on her watch.

“No!” Orland roared. Glaring even fiercer at the one that held his life and his daughter. “You dare touch even a strand of her hair, and I swear I’ll curse you even after death.”

Zach sighed. Things were getting out of hand, and this father-and-daughter duo was making a scene out of nothing. To begin with, he had no intention of killing anyone, but another matter bothered him. Since his blade had already cut Jeyne’s skin, not because of him of course, so was he already cursed by the still-alive Orland?

“What are you doing, Zachary?” Cyrus asked. It seemed it was Zach’s family's turn to question his action. “This is—”

“Shut it. I’m done with all this stupid nonsense,” Zach said. “While we’re here, we’re following the strongest has the sole word. Since I’m the strongest, both of you, and the rest of these people are going to listen to me.” His eyes roamed at those who were spectating. Delivering his intent through his gaze alone and it was enough for them to understand.

“First, I’m not going to kill anyone,” Zach said. Taking off his blade from Ryden’s neck, and signaled to Jeyne to let go. “Second, I’m putting both of you in charge. Handle whatever matter of this fort, from defense to provision.”

“Had you not dishonored me enough, Gardwin?” Orland said. “You put me down, and now you’re forcing me to work together with your own kin? If this isn’t a blatant show of disrespect I don’t—”

“We agree, Lord Gardwin,” Jeyne cut her father off. She knew too well about that prideful father of hers, and she doubted even a year was enough to convince her father to work along with a Gardwin.

“No we do not,” Orland argued. “We are the Shieldford, we—”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Enough, father,” Jeyne said. “Put aside our house’s pride and think of mother, your sons, and your daughters. Are you that stubborn to not even care about allowing your own wife to be a widow?”

Finally, Jeyne silenced her father for good. For now at least.

“On behalf of my father, allow me to work alongside Lord Cyrus,” Jeyne said.

“Good, and you, brother?” Zach turned to Cyrus.

“Do I have a choice?” Cyrus asked.

“No you don’t,” Zach replied.

“So be it then,” Cyrus said.

“My lord…” Ryden tried to say something, but Cyrus halted him.

“Very well then,” Zach said. “Play nice, and try not to kill each other. Just remember the night waits for us at the end of the day.”

Zach left them and met with the two which gave him a shock this morning. “I’m glad both of you are alive,” Zach said. Patting Teena on the shoulder and giving a nod to Dayana.

“Well someone has grown freakishly stronger,” Dayana said. “Never thought I would see the hero Orland kneeling to someone younger than me.”

“So you’re fine. That’s good news. What about you, Teena? Are you hurt?” Zach asked. Glancing at Teena up and down as her state was no different from Dayana’s disheveled appearance. Whatever they went through last night, they definitely had a hard time.

“I… I am fine, my lord,” Teena said. Awkwardly smiling.

“So? What happened? How did you two fare through the night?” Zach popped the question.

Dayana took the lead before Teena could open her mouth. “Did your brother say anything?”

“The mountain folks,” Zach said.

Dayana nodded. She narrated how they were chased by the cannibals, and by chance, the giant horn-ants saved them from being meat on a plate. But that wasn’t enough to convince Zach. He experienced what it felt like fighting in the forest during the night, and it wasn’t pleasant. She continued narrating how they fought and ran from the ants. Recounting how they encountered death many times, before finding a hiding spot in a cave. For some reason, the ants ignored them after hiding in the cave, and they stayed there until daylight broke.

Dayana and Teena excused themselves. Retreating under the roof of the fort with the reason of catching up some sleep.

“A fun story. For a story of course,” Mathias said. Taking a stand right beside Zach. “She’s hiding something isn’t she.”

“She probably is,” Zach said.

“You don’t want to know?” Mathias questioned.

“It’s none of my business as long as it won’t bother me or affect my life,” Zach said.

Zach left Mathias to his own. While the blondie stared at the back of Dayana, mildly curious over that glare she gave him before. He had a gut feeling about this, and something was probably wrong.

The hero of last night got out of the fort. Dragging an intact dead horn-ant through the forest floor, distancing himself from the fort. Calrin wanted to tag along, but Zach denied the generous offer. After all that had happened, he wanted nothing more than to spend some time alone while figuring out how to clean the dried blood on his body.

If his memories were not playing tricks on him, then he swore there was a small pond around here somewhere. By a stroke of luck, he stumbled upon it. A pond clear and pristine. Rather than going straight for the water, he built a fire and prepped some skewers made from the flesh of the giant horn-ant. He made enough to make sure he had a chance to gain bonus status points.

Zach shed whatever cloth he had on and lifted it at his eye level. Tilting his head, he could barely call it a cloth anymore. But lucky for him, at least his silk boxer was still intact. Zach jumped into the pond and cleaned himself up. Soon he appeared normal like before, and not like a deranged psychopath. The water turned calm and the reflection on the surface showed his face.

“I’m back,” Zach said. His face was no longer that of a wrinkly old man as his youthfulness returned. A new day had started, and for him, it began quite splendidly. He continued his lonesome itinerary, tending the fire as he barbecued one skewer at a time, testing the best timing of cooking the insect meat. Not going to lie, he was still repulsed at the act of eating an insect. But he didn’t have much of a choice, considering he yearned for those bonus points more than anything else.

At the same time, he practiced the cooking cantrip. Using it according to its intended purpose. Mana flowed smoothly unlike when he used it during combat. He was still cautious though, as based on the book, the cantrip was depicted while cooking in a pot and not as skewers. But hey, life was all about testing new things, and Zach had to give it a shot.

Again, his attempts were failures as the meat was rendered charcoal-black. But Zach was persistent. Unlike battling with the full force of his physique, Zach was happy enough to just sit and practice the cooking cantrip. So the less energy he used, the happier he felt. After a few more failures, then it came. The black charcoal that always greeted him was no longer there, replaced by the shining luster of white meat on a skewer. Even the bit of chitin hanging on the meat turned reddish as if it was a crab’s shell. Not to mention, the smell of it enticed his appetite as the gurgling returned. Zach swallowed a mouthful and took a bite.

A single chew and his eyes went wide. ‘Fuck, this is good,’ he thought. The meat was soft as it melt like butter. Its taste was like a mix between a crab and a prawn. He finished it within seconds, attesting to how delicious it was. Then the notification appeared.

[You have eaten Tusk Ant(Lv.3). Dominion of Satiety activated.]

[You have gained +1 Strength.]

But it did not end there.

[You have discovered the art of cooking.]

[Arcane Cooking(Lv.1)(Tier: Rare): Cooking with mana. An act of infusing mana into the cooking ingredients. Fleshing out the taste and quality of the ingredients. Effect provided by cooked dishes may or may not be permanent.]

Zach smiled.

“Jackpot.”