The living room was filled with the aroma of fish bone soup, attracting two members of the Aqua Deer Squad who were slacking off: Gosen, who had spent all his salary on a date and was now freeloading on the squad's work meals, and Jackey, who was passing through the living room, about to cook according to a recipe.
Gosen sniffed the air, and unconsciously walked from his room downstairs to the living room.
"It smells so good!"
"What did you cook?"
"Fish bone soup. If you want some, there's still some in the pot."
As soon as Bai En finished speaking, Gosen eagerly walked into the small kitchen, picked up a bowl, and served himself a portion. The fresh and sweet soup entered his mouth, and he finally felt alive again.
For the past few days, he had been continuously eating the food Jackey cooked. Although that guy had improved a lot, his dishes were either bland or too heavily seasoned, leaving him feeling muddled every day.
"Thanks, I'm much better now~"
"What, aren't you eating?" Gosen asked, looking at Bai En, who hadn't touched his food.
Bai En pointed to the small figure standing on the dining table. Only then did Gosen notice there was a person on the table. The Sky Elf, flapping her transparent wings, was looking at Gosen, her ruby-like eyes particularly striking.
"This..."
Gosen's mind didn't flash with questions like what she was, or where she came from, but rather... Her eyes are so beautiful. If I brought her on a date, she would definitely attract many young girls, right?
Maybe I could even hook up with a few noble ladies?
Lost in thought, Jackey, who was passing through the living room on his way to make dinner, walked over. Following Gosen's strange, unmoving gaze, he also looked at the table and saw the Sky Elf.
"Damn it!"
A cry of surprise came from Jackey's mouth, "Who brought my daughter here!"
Gosen: "???"
Bai En: "???"
...The two sat by the dining table for a while, listening to Bai En introduce the Sky Elf's identity. After hearing it, Gosen was silent, lost in thought, while Jackey eagerly volunteered to name the Sky Elf, intending to solve this problem for Bai En.
"How about 'Big Yellow'? What do you think?"
As soon as Jackey's first name came out, Bai En knew his standard. He shook his head repeatedly in refusal.
"Then 'Little Flower'?"
"..."
A string of names for village cats and dogs made Bai En wish he could leave immediately. Seeing the Sky Elf contentedly sitting outside the dinner plate, rubbing her belly, he began to ponder an excuse to slip away.
"None of them work? That's quite difficult, then?" Jackey rubbed his chin, thinking hard.
Suddenly, Gosen stood up abruptly, bowed to Bai En in a perfect manner, "Please, I beg you, lend me the Sky Elf for two days. With her, I'm sure I'll conquer the dating scene!"
"Huh?"
Before Bai En could speak, Jackey had already stopped him: "You want her to help you pick up women? Are you kidding? She's just a child! I will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen!"
"Why? This concerns my lifelong happiness!"
"..."
While the two were chattering and arguing, Bai En gave the Sky Elf a look, and the two silently retreated from the battlefield, walking towards the outside of the Aqua Deer Squad's base.
Walking under the shade of large trees, the Sky Elf sat on Bai En's shoulder, "I originally thought Uncle Jackey was good at naming, but now it seems I was wrong."
"I'd better give you a name myself."
The golden sunlight shone obliquely as the two walked towards the back of the Aqua Deer Squad's base.
"Your eyes are very beautiful, like they contain a red sea. So, how about I call you Xiao Tong from now on?"
"Abba Abba~"
The Sky Elf flew around Bai En, seemingly very pleased with the name.
"You're asking what we're going to do?"
"After eating, we always need some activity. How about I teach you a sword style today?"
Behind the Aqua Deer Squad's base, golden light fragments scattered across the sky-blue lake. One large and one small figure practiced swordsmanship by the lake.
Strangely, Bai En discovered that Xiao Tong could freely use his kitchen utensils. Each utensil that came into her hands would become tiny, but its power seemed to be even greater than when he used it himself.
"Xiao Tong's learning ability is very strong. It seems that after adapting with me for a while, she'll be a copy of me. A two-on-one cooperative battle? Interesting..."
"Once the tactical cooperation is good, then we'll practice the assimilation technique..."
The sun gradually set, and the moon rose. Golden fireflies drifted through the forest. Realizing that it was getting late, Bai En took the somewhat tired Xiao Tong back to the base.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
In the following days, time seemed to be fast-forwarded, passing quickly.
There weren't many recent missions, nor were there any long-distance missions like those assigned by the Wizard King before. The days were somewhat leisurely. During the day, Bai En continued working at Moli Restaurant as usual; every little bit helps, and the difference accumulates little by little.
After finishing work in the afternoon, he would train with Xiao Tong. Due to their shared intentions, their cooperation became better and better, but for some reason, after several attempts at assimilation, none had succeeded.
Bai En was not in a hurry. After all, there was still plenty of time, and the Royal Knights Squad selection and the Elf Reincarnation incident were still some time away.
Captain Rill, who was helping out at Moli Restaurant, was still assisting. For some reason, after returning from the Magic Palace with Fragil, Bai En noticed that Rill had changed, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different.
Rill told Bai En that during his time painting in the Common Realm, he learned about something called a flipbook. If he drew several consecutive, coherent pictures at once and then incorporated them into magic, it should be super powerful. He had been researching this recently.
It's worth mentioning.
After Asta completed his mission to the Witch's Forest, Mars and Fana reunited. For this, Mars even specially sent a letter of thanks, which contained words of gratitude and also stated that he was trying to reform the Diamond Kingdom, and had now united several of the Eight Shining Generals who shared his aspirations.
To Bai En's surprise, Mars also marked the location of the forging materials for Bai En's last kitchen utensil, 'Shattered Dream,' in the letter — it was in the Heart Kingdom territory.
Although he couldn't go to the Heart Kingdom for a while, knowing the address made everything much easier.
The Star Festival was drawing closer, and people in the Common Realm and Royal Realm began decorating streets and houses, preparing for the festival.
It was also two days before the Star Festival began.
Bai En woke up from bed in the morning feeling incredibly dizzy. He was wondering why this was happening since he hadn't caught a cold or stayed up late, when he looked at himself in the glass after washing up.
"This... my eyes are?!"
They were a pair of beautiful eyes, as azure as the expansive sky...