LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 142
Hoo-uh… Ugh!
Whiik, Thud!
“…When did I order this?”
Muttering as she peeked into the box, Da-eun busily moved around. Just before coming home, she had been all hyped up, talking about how she should throw a welcome party. But as soon as she arrived home, the first item on her agenda was cleaning up the mess.
Party…
Are we really going to party here?
…
In this pigsty?
…I’ll clean it up.
It’s not like I expect something as extravagant as a party hosted by the nobles. But having a party in a pigsty is a bit much, don’t you think?
I was going to serve an incredibly delicious meat dish…
…We can eat after cleaning, right?
There was a moment of crisis, but I managed to resist the temptation. Without intense mental training, I wouldn’t have been able to pull this off.
“Want some help?”
“No! It’s not that tough that I have to beg for help from someone sick! And this is my karma, so I must accept it graciously…”
“…Um. Do as you please.”
Thump.
Wiiiing.
Something brushed against my dangling foot. The robot vacuum cleaner, moving busily around the room, changed direction and headed elsewhere. The spot it had just vacated sparkled.
It automatically removes dust and even mops!
“Pretty convenient, right?”
“Yeah, right?”
“Yep. But it makes Da-eun seem even more impressive since she’s made such a mess while having one of those.”
“Ugh… I’ve told you a million times! It’s because I thought Kana was dead, and I was sad! How could you not understand how heartbroken I was… I hate Kana!”
“…Wha—”
“…I was really hurt, you know.”
Anyway, thanks to Da-eun’s diligent movements, her house quickly returned to its original state. She organized the mountain of boxes and took out the trash.
When the shiny marble floor and spacious room revealed their true forms, a loud sound rang out, signaling the end of cleaning.
Grrrrowl!
“…Ah!”
Da-eun quickly hugged her belly.
“…I haven’t eaten well for a few days.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
I genuinely had no thoughts on it. Why would I scold her for feeling hungry?
“Good job. Let’s eat quickly.”
“…Sniff.”
With tears in her eyes, Da-eun tilted her head.
“Wait, I have to order food anyway. I almost became emotional!”
“So you’re not going to eat?”
“I’m going to eat….”
Da-eun picked up the neglected phone in the corner and tapped it.
“Kana probably doesn’t know what food there is, so I’ll pick something delicious for you.”
“Chicken.”
“Huh?”
“Chicken, I want to eat it.”
“Um….”
“Is that not okay?”
“No, it’s fine but… how did you know? Did I ever tell you?”
“…Edel told me. She said there was such food.”
Edel. Let me borrow your name for a bit. Usually, Da-eun is the type who talks about everything, so even if she said something like ‘there’s such food’, I’d believe it. Still, it’s easier to use Edel’s name.
“Oh, Edel… Lady.”
As expected, Da-eun immediately agreed. Once she realized the woman who brought her here was a goddess, she was suddenly all respectful, as if asking when she had so boldly chimed in.
“Well, let’s order chicken for now, and another….”
“Another what?”
“There should be a lot of food for the party!”
That’s true, but…
“What if we have leftovers?”
“Then we can eat them tomorrow.”
Then Da-eun, with a somewhat smug expression, raised her hand.
“Ah, this is called a refrigerator. It’s used to keep ingredients and food fresh and unspoiled.”
“Oh, please.”
“I bet Kana couldn’t do this, right?”
“Yeah, sure, you’re so great.”
“Hehe, are you pouting?”
While joking and fooling around, time quickly flew by, and Da-eun’s ordered food started to arrive one by one.
What did she order, so much?
I rummaged through the food that arrived in order.
“A cake?”
“You can’t have a party without a cake.”
“…You’re telling me I can eat this and then have cake too?”
“There’s always room for dessert, you know? Besides, this one was ordered from a really famous place, so you’ll be surprised by how good it is! Do you want to take a bite?”
“No thanks. I’m not interested.”
I had eaten plenty of cake even when I was in Silia. To think I would waste my appetite on cake when in front of me is the kind of food that made me dream of capturing a Cockatrice to cook!
“Here~ How about it? Doesn’t it look delicious?”
…
“Puhuh… You say you’re not interested, but your body is being honest!”
The sweet scent tickled my nose. Before I knew it, my head turned toward the cake.
“…I was just looking because of the smell.”
Ignoring Da-eun, who was waving the cake in front of me, I tore open the wrapping, and a burst of trapped fragrance erupted.
And within that, I saw the shiny batter-clad chicken.
Gulp—
If I grabbed that chicken leg and took a big bite, the crunchy batter and explosive juiciness would welcome me, along with the moist meat inside. I could only imagine how sweet the spices in the batter would be.
I couldn’t resist the temptation this time. Just as I reached out to take it in my hand…
The chicken vanished before my eyes.
“Ah.”
“No way. We have to set it up and eat together.”
…
…Even if you look at me cutely, it’s still a no!
The devil placed the chicken it snatched from my hands on the table, ignoring my dejected gesture. After putting down the rest of the food on the table, she finally picked me up and hugged me.
“Okay. Now, let’s eat.”
“…Eating is one thing…”
I tilted my head back, only to have Da-eun’s face fill my view.
“Why am I carrying you?”
“Ugh, hehehe! Don’t move like that, it tickles…!”
“Then just put me down!”
How could one complain about feeling ticklish when they were the ones who sat me on their lap and moved around?
Looking up at Da-eun, who was sparkling and giggling above me, she carefully gathered my hair which was tickling her.
“I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I want to be like this.”
“Just this once. Can’t we do this just one more time…?”
“…Do whatever you want.”
With a voice swaying like a candle in the wind.
With a voice that seemed like it would go out any moment, I unconsciously muttered my permission.
“Really?! No takebacks!”
“It’s not hard for me or anything.”
Even if she whines later about cramping in her legs, I won’t care.
Leaving behind the excited Da-eun, I reached out and finally held the dream food in my hands. As I felt the crispy batter scream beneath my fingertips, I closed my eyes and took a bite.
Crunch!
“…!”
…This was it. This was the taste I wanted.
Of course, the Cockatrice meat was delicious, but this is what I had been craving. A mouthwatering flavor that felt incredibly unhealthy.
“…Kana, are you crying?”
“…I’m not crying.”
I was touched, but not to that extent!
I snapped back and finished the chicken leg I was holding.
So good…
“Want another leg?”
Pause.
“…Is it okay?”
“I can give you as many as you want! Here.”
Da-eun directly pulled out a chicken leg and handed it to me. Suddenly, it felt like a halo was shining behind her.
“…Thank you.”
Maybe Da-eun might actually be a kinder person than I thought.
“The flavor that captivates people from beyond the seas to another world… how terrifying a taste is this….”
At that moment, Da-eun’s nonsense didn’t sound annoying.
Watching me happily eat, Da-eun joined in.
Chicken, other foods, all were consumed.
Even though Da-eun dove in vigorously without care about gaining weight, there was no way to avoid leftovers since we ordered so much.
If we tried to eat everything, our bellies would burst!
As the speed of my hands slowed significantly and I started munching on the desserts instead of the mains, Da-eun called out to me.
“Kana.”
“Yeah?”
Da-eun started to talk to me.
“What will you do now?”
“Um.”
Having filled up and stopped eating, I leaned against Da-eun, absentmindedly brushing over my waist, only to realize…
‘Ah, it’s gone.’
Feeling a sense of emptiness, I instead tapped my lips.
“First, I need to fully recover my health.”
“After recovery?”
“Then… I need to go kill the dimensional beings.”
Originally, that was included in my reason for crossing over to this world.
The world of Silia had already been defeated by dimensional beings once.
Moreover, since it had become a subordinate dimension of Earth, it had a low dimensional status, making it difficult to effectively counter invading dimensional beings.
If we used power 10, we’d only be able to inflict damage equivalent to 8 or 9.
In contrast, Earth’s status is higher than that of dimensional beings, so if we used power 10, we could inflict damage greater than that.
If I roughly describe the positions, Earth is at the top, down below are the dimensional beings, and slightly below them is the world of Silia.
It sounds a bit complicated, but to put it simply, killing dimensional beings from Earth is more efficient than fighting them in Silia.
…
As I gave a somber answer, Da-eun was silent for a while.
I wondered what she was thinking so deeply about. She paused her fork mid-bite into the cake and finally spoke.
“Honestly, I still can’t fully grasp it.”
“What can’t you grasp?”
“That the CEO of Demoninus is a goddess, that the world is in danger… and that Kana is here in my arms.”
“That’s understandable.”
I could fully comprehend Da-eun’s confusion.
When I asked whether an ordinary person could easily accept the things Da-eun had heard, I thought probably not.
It’s not like Da-eun was sacrificing her own chicken leg for me.
“Maybe nothing will happen.”
Since I tied the dimensional beings to the Silia world, and by eliminating some of the magic in Raxia, Edel has somewhat recovered her strength, so there might not be any incidents for a while.
At least Earth might be fine until Da-eun grows old and dies.
Of course, this wasn’t certain, and I couldn’t make guarantees.
“And I will make sure nothing happens.”
Even after getting involved and learning the underlying stories, those things were originally something Da-eun had no reason to know.
So, it’s not something she has to take responsibility for.
“I will definitely make it so.”
I don’t want to have my grasp on something taken away from me again.
Muttering to myself as a promise.
…
I felt a light pressure on my head.
Having been silently listening to me, Da-eun started to stroke my head.
“I thought this was my turn to protect you….”
“…Protect me? You, Da-eun?”
“You don’t have to be strong with your fists to be able to protect someone. And in a capitalist society, money is power!”
“Wow.”
Those were words that sounded like an example of an adult weary of reality.
Murmuring under my breath, I leaned a little more weight onto Da-eun who was holding me.
“…You don’t need to worry. Just like you’ve been doing, enjoy Silia. It’ll help too.”
“But I haven’t logged in for days…?”
“…I get the gist of it.”
As I shook my head at the dampened atmosphere, suddenly I felt something strange on my head.
With a hint of apprehension, I reached up to touch my head.
Slip.
Unlike the usual softness, I felt a slight stickiness accompanying the smoothness.
“Da-eun. You didn’t, like, forget to wash your hands or something, right?”
“…Huh.”
Da-eun panicked, hurriedly hiding her hands as she broke out into a cold sweat.
Her answer was more than enough.
That night, a scream echoed through an office building in Seoul.