"Come to think of it, Erina, you said you'd teach me how to cook—but I'm already cooking right now."
Pushing aside all other distracting thoughts, Leo smiled and teased Erina, who was sitting inside an iron barrel kept warm by a small fire. Erina froze for a moment, then immediately understood what he meant.
"You idiot!"
Her face flushing bright red, Erina splashed some water at Leo, then quickly covered her chest again in embarrassment.
Even though Leo had already done all sorts of things to her here, the girl was still shy. After all, they'd only known each other for a few days, yet things had already gone this far.
That her bashfulness hadn't disappeared was perfectly normal.
"How dare you say something like that in front of a chef! That's too much!"
Nakiri Erina puffed out her cheeks and glared at Leo. Her adorable expression made Leo laugh.
But once the topic came up, Leo couldn't help thinking of something else.
That was the fact that in Erina's world, there was a girl who was always talking about A5 meat, a girl called Meat Enchantress—exactly his type, with wheat-colored skin, blonde hair, and a busty figure.
Most importantly, that girl dressed incredibly lightly—so lightly it was almost frightening.
Basically, it was no different from wearing a swimsuit out in public. Compared to walking around in just underwear, there was barely twenty centimeters more fabric.
Honestly, although she talked nonstop about premium meat, anyone hearing her say that would only think one thing—that she herself looked like a piece of top-grade meat.
That said, Erina was no less impressive.
"But purely in terms of looks and figure, if Erina were graded, she'd definitely be A5 too, right?"
Another splash of water immediately flew at him.
"I told you not to say things like that in front of a chef!"
Erina glared at Leo angrily. Talking about A5 meat—didn't he know she'd just ended up inexplicably together with this useless middle-aged man because of meat?
It wasn't necessarily bad, but still… no dates, no wedding ceremony—it felt like something was missing.
And most importantly—
Leo wasn't gentle at all!
Feeling the soreness between her legs, Erina snorted angrily, completely forgetting who it was that had refused to let Leo go in the first place.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Alright, time to change the water."
Leo quickly raised his hands in surrender and pointed to the nearby barrel of clean hot water he'd prepared specifically for her. It was just right to use now.
"Hmph. I'll let you off for now."
Snorting softly, Erina accepted Leo's help and moved into the other iron barrel, quickly washing herself.
By the time she finished bathing and rinsed off, the clothes Leo had prepared were ready as well. Only then did Leo finally get the chance to wash himself.
As he stripped, clearly having recovered some energy, Erina snorted and carefully walked around him, avoiding his front—afraid he might suddenly lose control and make her bath pointless.
Still, she couldn't help sneaking a glance. After all, it was that thing that had given her pleasure she'd never felt before.
"It looks so ugly and weird… but earlier it really did…"
Thinking that, Erina glanced at her lower abdomen. It was a little swollen and red, but otherwise no different from before, which made her marvel at how amazing her body was.
Leo, on the other hand, didn't think much at all. He was genuinely exhausted, so he climbed straight into the barrel and enjoyed the hot water.
"Ah… this is great. Hot water."
The moment his body touched the warm water, Leo let out a satisfied groan.
Erina, who was putting on her shirt, flushed bright red. She hurriedly covered herself with her clothes and sat down nearby, tidying Leo's clothes.
Leo's underwear hadn't been damaged, so he'd only boiled two or three shirts for disinfection. He'd already washed everything else himself.
So Erina simply folded his spare clothes and sat there, keeping watch.
Men bathed quickly. Before long, Leo was done, which made Erina visibly dissatisfied.
"Can you even get clean like that?"
She poked his lower back and muttered. In her view, Leo's bathing was far too careless. Leo could only helplessly point at the sky.
"No choice. We need to get back soon."
The sun was already close to setting.
"Hmph. Blame me then. If you wash like that again next time, don't even think about entering my room!"
With her arms crossed, Erina turned and walked away, leaving Leo staring at her back.
"Figures. Once a girl becomes a woman, she really does get strange."
Her earlier shyness was still there, but Erina now clearly carried the air of a mistress of the house.
How should he put it?
She really had that "lady of the house" vibe.
If not for the fact that her face was so red she couldn't even look Leo in the eye, it would've been very convincing.
They quickly returned to the RV and started preparing lunch. Because Erina didn't dare cook herself anymore, this meal was made by Leo.
Though she guided him the entire time, after the food was finished, Erina only took one bite before letting out a helpless sigh.
"You completely wasted this meat."
She looked at Leo speechlessly.
"The heat was wrong, your stir-frying strength was wrong, and you didn't compensate for the seasoning's flaws at all. You just dumped everything in. You didn't make the flavors blend during cooking. Still… it's barely edible. But remember—if this were our world, I'd never eat something like this! Hmph!"
After saying that, she picked up another piece of meat and ate it with a snort.
Leo scratched his head awkwardly. He'd tasted Erina's cooking before—setting aside the strange effects, the flavor itself was something he simply couldn't compare to.
Still, watching her eat bite after bite made him smile.
What Leo didn't know was that Erina herself was deeply surprised.
"Why doesn't this taste bad…? There are so many flaws…"
She chewed the meat in her mouth. Leo had completely failed to bring out its potential—he'd practically ruined it. Yet while she could still detect the flaws, the strongest sensation she felt was the small amount of deliciousness within it.
That trace of flavor dominated her taste buds first. Only after subconsciously activating her God Tongue did she fully perceive the unpleasant parts.
The discovery astonished her, yet also brought a strange sense of relief.
She didn't understand why this change had happened, but she knew it was absolutely a good thing.
If it were her former self, she would've cried hysterically from joy. It would've meant she'd never starve, that her mother could be saved, that she could finally enjoy food.
But now, looking at Leo's awkward smile and the stubborn pride he tried to hide, the food itself felt far less important.
Just watching Leo like this made her feel like she could eat her fill.
"What a strange feeling… is this what being husband and wife is like?"
She didn't know why, but she knew she should keep this secret.
If Leo found out, his tail would definitely stick straight up.
Though… another tail was already sticking up pretty high.
After Erina finished eating, Leo thought about it too—but unlike her, he simply assumed the meat itself was just that good.
Even he could tell—the flavor was incredible.
It was less meat and more the very concept of meat itself.
"No wonder this is a game world."
Thinking that, Leo began to look forward to what came next.
After eating, despite Erina's look of disdain, Leo slept together with her in her room.
When he woke up the next morning, Leo saw Erina with her head buried against his chest. He couldn't help touching her shoulder, waking her up. Flushing red, Erina quickly moved her hand away from a certain place.
"Morning."
Leo smiled as he greeted her.
"Good morn—mmph…"
Her greeting was cut off instantly, followed by muffled sounds.
Later, while Leo was grilling meat outside, Erina—having washed herself with the hot water from yesterday—stormed out and smacked Leo in the back with his jacket.
"You bastard! Do you know what time it is?! Hurry up and finish cooking! We need to make up for lost progress today!"
She was furious. Leo chuckled as he put on his jacket. After eating, the two of them headed toward the mine again.
Just like yesterday, they split up and started digging, converting the mined iron ore into robotic turret ammunition in their inventory.
Because of certain reasons, their efficiency was noticeably slower. A few scattered zombies appeared during mining, but fortunately there were no strange white-clothed ones, so dealing with them wasn't difficult.
They ate lunch inside the expanded mine tunnel. Because of that, they dug up even more resources—nitrate powder and coal, and Leo even found some tin ore. These classic game-style mineral veins saved him a lot of time.
Still, the most valuable item remained the robotic turret ammunition made from scrap iron.
By the time they finished work, Leo had reached level fifteen. Yet the system showed no changes, and he felt strong soreness in his lower back and numbness in his arms.
Erina wasn't much better. She stretched her arms and waist, clearly not used to the life of a miner.
Leo felt that both of them would probably need to rest at home tomorrow.
However, when they reached the trader, Leo encountered something awkward.
After selling three thousand rounds of robotic turret ammunition, the trader refused to buy any more from him. But when Erina sold hers instead, the trader accepted them without issue, leaving Leo completely confused.
"Can one person only sell three thousand?"