Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
A few minutes have passed since Scáthach left to call James for dinner. In that time, Tatsuo, Alfonzo, and the other ladies in the kitchen brought the beef casserole, the plates, and the cutlery into the dining room and set the table. Meanwhile, the other people in the apartment also made their way to the dining room and took their seats.
Even so, after another five minutes, neither James nor Scáthach had taken their seats. In fact, they were not even in the dining room yet.
"Ten bucks says James is getting his ass kicked right now." Alfonzo said with a smile, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.
"No bet." Tatsuo replied. "I've seen how serious he is about gaming when I was in his world. And the only thing that could make him stop when he gets started is if he gets an idea for a manga or if Master Scáthach calls him for training."
"That sounds about right." Venelana replied with a smile. "That or a mission of some kind. But he can usually delegate those to his peerages. They're all quite strong, after all."
Reaching that point, Venelana turned towards Tatsuo with her eyes sparkling.
"Speaking of Peerages---" Venelana began to say.
"Nope." Tatsuo replied, not even letting Venelana finish. "I haven't even thought about it. I will not become anyone's subordinate. And even if you probably won't treat me that way, I've heard of the Gremory's reputation, after all. I have no intention of becoming your personal pianist, either."
"Aww come on..." Venelana cried with a vicious pout on her face.
"Instead, why don't you become mine?" Tatsuo fired back. "With my talent in singing and crafting, I have no doubt that I'm gonna be rich... Like super rich. So, why don't you stay in my world and manage any business ventures I start in the future. As a bonus, you'll be around whenever I play the piano, too."
In response, Venelana only blinked in surprise. She then turned to look at Grayfia, who as a guest, was actually sitting at the table instead of just serving as a maid.
"Hey, Grayfia… Is he trying to pick me up?" Venelana asked, confusion evident in her tone.
However, Venelana was not the only one caught off guard by Tatsuo's question. Instead, nearly everyone sitting at the table was dumbfounded. And naturally, the one who reacted the most strongly was Mai. However, before she could jump out of her seat and start throwing a tantrum, Sumire appeared behind her and grabbed the back of her neck, just like Grayfia had done earlier, putting an end to her assistant's tirade before it could even begin.
"Why didn't I think to handle her like this sooner?" Sumire muttered while looking down at Mai, who looked as if she had lost all her energy.
"Doesn't it bother you to see him like that, Violet-San?" Sakura asked, barely concealed anger hiding behind her confused expression.
"Oh, not really." Violet replied casually. "Because he did not mean it romantically. Rather, it was just his dragon side talking. He only wants her because he values her ability... probably."
"Probably?" Sakura asked.
"Well, it could be because she's beautiful and he wants to have her because of that, too." Violet replied, speaking in the same casual tone. "Lust is part of a dragon's nature, too, after all."
"I see." Sakura replied while shooting a quick glare at Venelana.
"Then again, he might just want Grayfia-San." Violet added with a shrug. "But since Grayfia-San is a member of Venelana-San's peerage, he would need to have Venelana-San to get Grayfia-San."
This time, Sakura shot a glare in Grayfia's direction. However, unlike Venelana, Grayfia turned to look at her when she felt the glare, causing Sakura to lower her head.
"Hey! Come on, Master!" James' voice could be heard from the hallway leading to the dining room. "I was so close! I would have definitely beat that Nagoriyuki next time!"
"Do you think everyone is please about waiting to eat because of your foolish video game addiction?" Scáthach asked, her voice carrying into the dining room only a moment later.
With the sounds of James' and Scáthach's voices, the conversations around the dining room table came to an end as everyone looked towards the room's entrance. Only a moment later, they saw Scáthach dragging James behind her by his collar. Meanwhile, James continued to complain about how he only needed one more chance to beat the game he was playing.
"*Sigh* That brings back memories." Elicia said in a wistful tone.
"I see." Zelretch said while shaking his head. "It seems you had to put in quite the effort to stop Alfonzo when his hobbies kept him from doing what was necessary, as well."
"What are you talking about, old man?" Alfonzo asked, sounding utterly offended. "I always kept track of time, no matter what had my attention. It was actually the other way around. I would have to pull Lici away from making clothes or whatever else held her attention to make sure that she ate or went to sleep."
"Huh?" The sound of confusion chorused around the room when everyone heard Alfonzo's declaration.
"Yeah..." Elicia said with a smile. "Fonzie always made sure that I was taken care of when I got hyper fixated on something. Sometimes, he would even have to spank me to punish me... Hehehe..."
Elicia's somewhat lewd giggle made everyone aware that not all of the times Alfonzo had to pull her away from her pursuits were because she lost track of her surroundings. Though, everyone was polite enough to not talk about it any further.
Well, almost everyone...
"A spanking? That sounds wonderful. *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*" Tio said before her breathing got heavy. "But a spanking is a bit too light. I think I'd rather if Tatsuo-Sama punished me with a vicious beating. Something that would make my entire body ache to the point that moving was difficult. *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*"
Deciding that it would be better for their mental health to simply ignore the pervert in the room, everyone turned away from Tio. Meanwhile, Scáthach dragged James to a seat and forced him to sit down before taking her own seat. At the same time, Tatsuo, James, Alfonzo, and Elicia all exchanged glances, once again vowing in silence that they would never let Tio, Ayame, Darkness, Karen, and Virgo meet.
Not long after that, everyone was served a plate of the casserole. Then, after a quick, "Itadakimasu," they all started to eat.
"Mmm~~~~~!"
"Ahn~~~~~!"
"Oh, my Goodness~~~~~!"
Before long, the sound of moaning echoed through the room, with Mai, Venelana, Aletia, and Shea having the most prevalent reactions to Tatsuo's cooking. Though, they were not the only ones with strong reactions to Tatsuo's cooking, as nearly everyone reddened or moaned to some degree.
The only exceptions were Tatsuo, the one who cooked the food, Alfonzo, who was carefully tasting the dish with his eyes closed, and Grayfia.
While Tatsuo's and Alfonzo's reactions were expected, Grayfia's non-reaction was a bit surprising to Tatsuo. To be honest, he was looking forward to seeing Grayfia's permanently stoic expression change.
But when Tatsuo looked closely, he was able to see that Grayfia was not as unaffected as she appeared.
For example, at the moment, Grayfia's eyes were closed tightly. On top of that, her lips were twitching fiercely, as if she were doing all she could to remain silent. Add to that the fact that she was shivering quite hard, as well. Plus, from the way her body was swaying, Tatsuo had a sneaking suspicion that she was rubbing her thighs together under the table. Though, there was no proof for that conjecture.
After seeing that, Tatsuo found himself feeling quite good about himself. But he knew there was an even bigger challenge to deal with sitting at the same table. And with that thought, he turned to look at Alfonzo, who had just swallowed his food and put his fork down.
The atmosphere surrounding Alfonzo caused everyone else to quiet down and stop eating to look at him. And when they realized he was looking at Tatsuo, they all swiveled their heads towards Tatsuo, as well.
"So, what do you think, Fonzie?" Elicia asked with anticipation in her eyes.
Elicia was not the only one looking forward to what Alfonzo would say, as most of the people sitting at the table leaned forward slightly, as if there was a chance they would miss what he was about to say.
"To be honest, I can't find any flaws." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone. "The meat, sauce, seasonings, vegetables and noodles all complement each other perfectly. The only thing I could complain about is that the flavor of all the meat is not uniform. But I'm sure that has to do with the magic circle used to marinate the newly bought beef. All in all, it's about ninety-eight percent of what I'm capable of."
Those who had eaten Alfonzo's cooking in the past, namely Tatsuo, Violet, James, Elicia, Aletia, Shea, Tio, and Scáthach, nodded their heads in agreement. As for those who never had the privilege of eating Alfonzo's cooking, they widened their eyes in astonishment.
"Wait! Are you saying that you can cook better than this?" Lilith asked skeptically. "That's rather hard to believe."
"Indeed." Venelana added. "That's not to say that I don't believe you. Especially after seeing James' reaction to your assessment. But still, it's rather hard to take in."
Instead of replying immediately to the disbelieving statements, Alfonzo once again turned to look at Tatsuo, who looked rather proud of himself at the moment.
"Wel, Tatsuo, how do you think this compares to those two restaurants you mentioned to James and me earlier?" Alfonzo asked, trying to make a point.
"To be honest, I'd say it's about ninety-five percent as good as the food from Nekoya." Tatsuo replied after thinking for a moment. "As for Yukihira's... Maybe seventy-five percent at most. And that's considering that Jōichirō definitely was not going all out when he cooked the few times that I visited."
"Huh?" Shea intoned as she tilted her head in confusion.
"I feel the same way." Kasumi said with a twitching smile.
"Are there really chefs that good in the world?" Ayane asked, sounding even more skeptical than Lilith did earlier.
"*Sigh* What Tatsu-Chan said was true." Sumire said while shaking her head.
"I can concur." Tio added. "I've eaten at Nekoya with Sumire-Sama, Tatsuo-Sama, and Mai-San not too long ago. And although I do not want to, I have to say that Tatsuo-Sama still does not measure up to the Master of Nekoya. Not yet, at least."
"As for Yukihira Jōichirō, he is unequivocally the best chef in the world." Sumire said in a solemn tone. "In fact, even if Tatsu-Chan were to copy every technique that Jōichirō knows, he would still be no match. And that's because Jōichirō has something that goes far beyond technique. But because I'm not a chef, I can't explain what that something is."
"Well, I don't need to know." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "It's not like I wanna be a chef, anyway. I just enjoy cooking for the people I like. Honestly, if I didn't like all of you at least a little bit, I probably couldn't even be bothered to cook at all."
"I kinda feel the same way." Alfonzo added. "I learned how to cook because there was no one to cook for Lici and I after we left the orphanage. After that, I cooked because it made money. But I don't cook because I actually love cooking. So, I don't really need to know what that special something is, either."
While some of those present were shocked, there were naturally those who felt that Tatsuo's and Alfonzo's reactions were as expected. Yet, before anyone could react to the two declarations, all the members of the [Dimensional Chat] froze momentarily. And the reason for that was simple...
{[Notifications]
[Missions]
-A [Mission] is available for the members of the [Dimensional Chat]}
Seeing that notification appear in their minds, Tatsuo, Violet, James, Alfonzo, Elicia, Aletia, Sakura, and Zelretch all exchanged glances. Akatsuki reacted the same way back in her world, as well.
"You gotta be kidding." Tatsuo muttered. "It hasn't even been a week. And there's already another [Mission]."
"There's nothing we can do about it." Zelretch said nonchalantly. "Instead, we should just check to see the details of the [Mission] and decide who is best suited to go."
"Zelly's right." Elicia said energetically. "Besides I won't complain about getting another free trip to another world."
"At least let those of us who have never been on a [Mission] get a chance." Alfonzo grumbled.
"Why don't you say that to Tatsuo?" Elicia countered. "There have only been three [Missions], and he's been on all of them."
"Well, that's because he's got one of the more versatile skill sets, isn't it?" Violet pointed out. "Also, because he was the only member of the [Chat] when the first one came up. Plus, as a fifteen year old, he's best suited for [Missions] that involve school life."
"Can't really argue with that." James said with a shrug. "Honestly, if I have to go back to school again, I'd rather not take the [Mission]."
"You think I wanna keep going to school, either?" Tatsuo asked indignantly.
Meanwhile, all those who were not members of the [Dimensional Chat] remained silent, just watching the conversation with lingering interest.
"I think we should just check the [Mission]." Sakura said. "Like Zelretch-San said, we can decide who is best suited for the [Mission] after seeing the details."
"We need to talk to Akatsuki-Chan about it, too." Violet added.
Agreeing with Violet and Sakura, everyone, more accustomed to using their mobile devices to navigate the [Dimensional Chat App], pulled them out and began to read the [Mission] details as they chatted with Akatsuki to decide who would take on this [Mission].
*Bang!*
Yet, before they could read past the first line of the [Mission] details, the sound of someone pounding a fist on the table made them all raise their heads. And when they saw what caused the sound, they all shivered in unison.
Because what they saw was Sumire, smiling sweetly. Yet, that smile did not make any of them feel a warm, fluffy feeling. Instead, it brought dread that made all of them, even Zelretch, the oldest among the [Dimensional Chat] members, straighten their backs subconsciously.
"I can tell that you all just received something important." Sumire said, her voice just as sweet as her smile. "But we're in the middle of dinner. And using your phones while eating is terribly rude, don't you think?"
"Yes, Ma'am." x 8
With that, all the mobile devices were put away and the dinner continued as if nothing happened. Though, it was obvious to see that the members of the [Dimensional Chat] were eating a little faster than usual, just so they would be able to check the [Mission] without getting that look from Sumire.