Chapter 228: I'll Leave It to You, Friend!
Faced with Ikki's shock, Luke felt somewhat helpless.
Before buying groceries, he had held out hope that some snacks would suffice.
But as he'd expected, they didn't satisfy his hunger at all...
When leaving the Dungeon/Danmachi world, Luke had mentally prepared himself, but actually facing this situation still made him sigh.
Blessed with Falna, his physical capabilities had been enhanced to a terrifying degree.
However, supporting such a powerful body required enormous energy.
Back in the Dungeon world, Luke was already known for his huge appetite - he could eat meal portions meant for three or four normal adventurers.
But the Dungeon world had special ingredients - the food served to adventurers in Orario was made with high-energy ingredients and came in substantial portions.
Now, in a normal world without special ingredients, satisfying his hunger had become quite a challenge.
Fortunately, the identity implanted by the Main God Space wasn't simple, giving Luke sufficient funds to buy what he needed.
If he had been penniless like when he first arrived in the Dungeon world, he might have really had to worry about meal costs.
Ikki watched as Luke kept pulling items from his pocket.
His reaction progressed from initial shock, to amazement mixed with resignation, to speechless, confusion, and finally to numbness before he couldn't help but interrupt:
"Th-that... Luke..."
"Please stop taking things out... I'm not even going to comment on whether we can eat it all... the problem now is if you keep pulling things out, we won't have space left to put them!"
'Did you empty out an entire supermarket?!?!'
Ikki didn't say that last part out loud, just silently staring at his 'roommate' like he was an alien.
Hearing the boy's words, Luke finally stopped his actions.
He surveyed the room's size, then helplessly agreed with Ikki's words.
"This room is really small..."
Luke immediately reversed his earlier satisfaction with the dormitory.
Under Ikki's resigned gaze, he muttered quietly while selecting a few ingredients to start preparing dinner.
They were both capable cooks.
Luke had been an adventurer in the Dungeon world for nine full years - if nothing else, just taking care of Ais had improved his life skills considerably.
As for Ikki, having lived alone since leaving his family years ago, his cooking skills were quite good.
With their joint efforts, they quickly produced a dinner worthy in appearance, aroma, and taste.
"Wow..."
Ikki felt moved looking at what could only be called a luxurious dinner.
Having grown up in hardship, it had been a long time since he'd eaten such a sumptuous meal.
Hagun Academy's cafeteria food wasn't bad at all - it could even be called quite excellent.
Due to the school's declining performance in recent years, they even had policies waiving students' room and board fees.
However, the cafeteria food was at most 'excellent' - it couldn't be called 'sumptuous'.
Though Ikki came from the 'Kurogane' family, a prestigious family in Japan, he had been ostracized due to his low Blazer abilities.
Finally, leaving his family meant losing his financial support, and the youth who had to support himself through part-time jobs certainly couldn't afford to be extravagant with food.
But Luke was different.
With the enormous funds his identity provided, he didn't need to worry about food and drink.
Even if he spent lavishly, he just needed to contact dealers who bought 'hard currency' before the funds ran out.
His Portable Pocket contained plenty of items valuable to ordinary people - taking out just a few could ensure a comfortable living environment.
He had specifically prepared this after experiencing being penniless while shopping in Orario.
So naturally, he chose the best ingredients possible - after all, better ingredients contained more energy, relatively reducing eating time.
The result was a table of extremely high-quality dishes, with ingredients worth more than Ikki's food expenses for over a month.
"Itadakimasu/Let's eat!"
This pre-meal phrase was a Japanese custom, announcing the start of the meal.
However, just as Ikki finished saying these words with clasped hands and prepared to start eating, his keen senses noticed Luke secretly hiding something behind his back.
Though curious, eating was more important right now, so Ikki didn't think too much about it.
The meal proceeded very quietly, with Luke and Ikki normally finishing their dinner.
The only thing that bothered Ikki was that whenever he looked away and back again, he'd catch Luke making small movements as if hiding something.
The moment he put down his utensils and contentedly said "I'm full," Luke spoke up.
"Um, Ikki..."
"We're roommates now, going to be living together for years, so we should be considered friends, right?"
"Eh? Ah! Of course we are!"
Hearing Luke's words, Ikki was stunned for a moment before responding very excitedly.
Though he didn't know why Luke suddenly brought this up, the statement about wanting to be friends deeply moved him.
His words even became somewhat incoherent.
"Of course I want to be friends with you! No, wait - I mean, I should be thanking you for willing to be my friend!"
Seeing Ikki's reaction, Luke nodded with satisfaction, then continued:
"Since we're already 'friends', then helping each other is only natural between 'friends'."
"The ingredients for this meal were indeed expensive, but you don't need to think about paying me back. Consider it my treat, after all, we're 'friends', right!"
Luke's words nearly brought tears to Ikki's eyes.
In that moment, he even felt that meeting Luke was heaven's compensation for his years of hardship.
As for how Luke seemed to deliberately emphasize the word 'friend' several times - that must have been his imagination.
Then, he heard Luke's next words.
"So, as a friend, could you help me with something?"
"Of course! Just say it, Luke, I'll definitely help if I can!"
Without hesitation! Ikki agreed almost instinctively.
Hearing this response, Luke immediately felt relieved.
While pushing out the many bags of ingredients hidden behind his back, he said to Ikki in a satisfied tone:
"That's wonderful, then I'll leave the cooking to you from now on."
"I'm glad I didn't waste my effort in not disturbing your meal."
Ikki froze in place, traces of what might be called 'being moved' still lingering on the youth's face.
He looked at the table full of empty dishes that had been cleared away, then at the bags that contained even more than what had been on the table.
Ikki swallowed hard and asked with difficulty:
"Wh-wh-what... you're still not full?!"
Luke gave Ikki a 'friendly' smile and pointed to the mountain of ingredients beside them.
"I'll leave it to you, my 'friend'~"
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