"Gu-lu~~"
The sound of a stomach rumbling echoed across the dining table.
"Are we eating yet?"
The shorty white-haired old hag, who had been dragged over by Kiana to eat but had only seen the Skyfire Cuisine and dared not touch it, was slumped over the table, somewhat listless.
She had received a notification from HQ earlier that a Vice-Commander was being air-dropped.
So, without even eating, she went with Himeko and Miss Mei, who was an old acquaintance of the new commander, to pick him up.
The entire round trip, she hadn't eaten a single thing. She was about to starve to death.
"Let's just wait a little longer."
Miss Mei, feeling that they were indeed taking an unusually long time, furrowed her slender eyebrows slightly.
Bronya asking Zihan to go out with her was definitely not just to have him help prep.
That much was obvious.
Li Zihan was not good at cooking. If they were really in a hurry to make dinner, Bronya should have called for her and Auntie Himeko to go up and help.
Are they discussing Seele?
Miss Mei, who had noticed Bronya's face stiffen when she heard Seele constantly mentioning Li Zihan, pondered.
It seemed Bronya was very unhappy about Zihan and the little sister named Seele getting so close.
Will they fight?
Miss Mei suddenly became a little worried.
Although she felt that Bronya and Seele maintaining their relationship was a good thing for her, if a real dispute were to break out, it would be very bad.
Thinking of this, a hint of anxiety appeared in Miss Mei's clear eyes.
Because she had been isolated in the past, Miss Mei cared deeply about the people around her and didn't want any of them to get hurt.
While she was worrying, the sound of the kitchen door clicking open was heard.
Then, the young man with vibrant red eyes and the petite girl walked out, carrying platters of dishes that looked incredibly appetizing.
Zihan and Bronya hadn't had a conflict.
Miss Mei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wow, this looks like a super sumptuous feast."
Auntie Himeko, who had been acting in sync with Theresa the Silly and was almost silly from hunger herself, looked at the very Siberian-style dishes, swallowed, and let out a heartfelt sigh of admiration.
This was a fact.
Miss Banya, who held the male protagonist template, was proficient in almost all the skills of an urban novel's male lead, and those skills included cooking.
Caviar, mayonnaise chicken, cold sour fish, Russian salad, borscht, cream of pea soup, beef stroganoff in a pot...
In just a short amount of time, this shorty, who would be very close to an urban novel's male lead with a simple gender swap, had easily prepared many very Siberian-style dishes.
"It's just some home-style cooking."
The girl, who hadn't actually been cooking all that seriously, placed the considerable number of dishes on the table one by one with Li Zihan.
The young man, whose cooking skills were probably on the level of an English chef, then found an empty seat and sat down. Looking at the lavish meal, he sighed in his heart.
He had probably brought shame upon the Great Foodie Nation.
He, who possessed the soul of someone from the Foodie Nation, had not only failed to have a hacked-level talent in cooking and crush the chefs of France, Belgium, Spain, and Turkey, but had instead been reduced to prepping for others, working as a high-class vegetable chopper.
I'll find a chance to practice my cooking later.
The young man, whose culinary talent was actually quite pathetic, thought to himself.
Cooking should be similar to mixing potions.
During his time at the Clock Tower, his Potions class was always a perfect score. It shouldn't be hard for him to become a master chef... right?
While Li Zihan was lost in thought, Bronya didn't hesitate either. She sat down beside him and helped him arrange his tableware.
"Is it my imagination? It feels like Shorty and Ah Li's relationship has suddenly gotten a lot better."
The Paramecium, who vaguely remembered Bronya deliberately keeping her distance from Li Zihan, muttered.
Sitting beside her, Miss Mei's figure stiffened.
The girl named Seele also noticed this. Her eyes, which seemed to have a hint of red in them, held a playful look.
Then, she quickly lowered her head, resuming her well-behaved girl appearance.
"Yes, Zihan and Bronya's relationship is very good."
These words, coming from Miss Mei's mouth, carried a very complicated tone.
Sometimes, if certain things happen frequently enough, even if you deliberately try to ignore them, you'll still notice some things.
"In your eyes, was my relationship with Bronya very distant before?"
Hearing the words spoken in a very strange tone, the young man, whose observation skills were actually very sharp, chose to change the subject.
"Bronya is very capable. Being with her, no matter what we're dealing with, it's very easy."
"My relationship with her has never been bad."
A relationship not being bad and a relationship being close are two different things.
Murata Himeko, a woman with rich emotional experience (i.e., dating failures), looked at the newly appointed commander, the corner of her mouth twitching.
This guy is definitely a Sea King.
However, she didn't really want to get into that here.
This new Vice-Commander seemed to have come to the Far East with a very important mission.
He was going to establish an organization called Chaldeas here in the Far East Branch.
And this organization called Chaldeas could, through a technology called "spiritron transfer," send modern humans into the past to influence the course of history.
Shouldn't such an important organization be built in a special, absolutely secret area or at the super-secure headquarters?
Murata Himeko, completely unable to understand why the Overseer would establish such a super-important organization in a mere Far East Branch, furrowed her long eyebrows.
She couldn't quite figure it out.
"Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's eat."
The young man, feeling that continuing this discussion would be very bad for him, shrugged and said.
"Eating is the most important thing."
Miss Kiana, vaguely sensing that the atmosphere had become a little oppressive, immediately brandished her chopsticks, putting food into her own and Miss Mei's bowls.
"Mei, you should eat more."
"Mhm."
The girl, with a lot on her mind, nodded.
There were some things she wanted to ask Li Zihan, but now was clearly not a good time.
And so, dinner officially began.
Because Kiana and Theresa were both big eaters, the meal was quite a lively scene.
The two white-haired foodies ate their way from one side of the table to the other, licking the plates clean.
By the time the meal was over, the entire table was a mess.
Li Zihan stood up, preparing to go to the Schicksal library. He needed to contact a certain Green Hat Connector about funding for Chaldea.
Then, a fair, slender hand grabbed his arm as he was leaving.
"Zihan, can you come out with me for a bit?"
Miss Mei, who actually had many questions buried in her heart, said to the young man after she, Bronya, and Seele had finished clearing the table.