Darla's eyes stirred when she sensed movement from the side of the bed. Her eyelids were heavy, her body was sore all over, especially her upper arm. She didn't even have the strength to move her legs. That lasted for a moment before her eyes shot open as the realization dawned upon her, recalling last night's event.
Red finally made his move on her. She expected him to move on her much earlier, but he did not. She thought he was not interested in her, but in her food. However, she opened the gate as she made the first move.
Darla herself didn't know what she was doing when she kissed him; she just did it as it felt right. That was what led to the rough night, but it was pleasant. If she had to describe it in two words. It would be a "pleasant surprise". A little bit too rough, but much better than her experience with the old goblin who always forces his way on her. More importantly, bigger and more durable.
It was just that Red was too rough, using her strength more than he needed. But then she realized that might be his first experience. She didn't feel as repulsive as before; in fact, she enjoyed it. Maybe a little bit gentler preferred, and that was something she could communicate to him. He understood her words and gestures.
'I accepted him…'
That gave her a bitter, yet uncomfortable emotion. It seemed she had accepted that she would spend the rest of her life in this village. No one would try to look for and save a village girl like her, after all. Meanwhile, Red was quite different from the other goblins, smarter and understanding. He was more humane than the others, and maybe that was why.
It was not uncommon for a human to marry beastmen or other races in a certain kingdom, but it was rare for a goblin; maybe no one would marry a goblin. It was not like she had any other choices, after all.
Then she sensed movement and looked in that direction. Red was standing at the door, looking at her with regret and guilt. She was able to read Red's emotion through his expression and gaze, and she could see it.
"Rest… others cook… you… rest…"
Clumsy, just like a child who has just learned to speak, but she could understand it. His action was totally different from the other goblins, caring for her. She knew Red was a variant of a goblin; his size and skin color didn't really match up. He was smarter, willing to learn human language. That helped her cope with her loneliness as she had someone to talk to.
Alas, she was just a village girl who traveled from city to city to open her food stall. She was not a mercenary or adventurer to know what kind of variant a goblin with red skin was. There was a resemblance to a goblin in him, but everything was not goblin-like.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
She knew Red didn't understand the whole sentence, but he understood the last word. Despite her assurance, it didn't get rid of the concerned look on his face.
"I hunt kobolds. Not go home… sun… down…"
Darla nodded, "I will be fine… be careful…"
Botched and broken, but she understood everything. Red will go out to hunt kobolds again. It seemed the village had a kobold problem after the wolves' attack. Then he told her that she would return in the evening.
She stayed on the straw bed a little longer; her arms were sore, and her leg had no strength. It took a while for her to get back on her feet. She dressed up and left for the main kitchen. It was still early for lunch, so she headed to the farm.
The smaller and weaker goblins were helping him to tend the farm, which she built during her spare time. She had nothing to do, so she made the farm. It was a small patch, but it had been expanded ever since Red took a new position in the village.
Everyone seemed to hate Red before the wolves' attack, but that changed. People listened to him as he assigned more goblins under her. The work was more manageable, no longer straining her to cook for hundreds of goblins, though the goblins were less than a hundred now after the attack. A lot died during the attack.
Despite her limping, she did his routine. Guiding the goblin, taking the matter into his hand, the green creatures were about to make a mess. It made sense considering their situation. They were just under attack, and now a kobold was sighting near the village.
Even with the help of the other goblins, the work was still exhausting. Not all goblins cooperated or listened to her. They would ignore her when fatigue caught them.
Thankfully, Red had been sneaking some cores for her, some red and blues. That helped her raise her levels, though lately Red didn't give her one. She had more strength and stamina, more manageable than before.
As she prepared the usual gruel for the goblins, she was thinking about what she should make for Red. Her eyes brightened when he thought of something. During the Chief's last trip, they brought flour and spices back. She used the salt to cure the wolf meat, and she could use the flour for bread.
The oven was not perfect, and they didn't have an egg, but she knew a replacement for the egg. They didn't have the oven, but she could make fried bread instead.
She quickly left the main kitchen for the food storage, gathering the ingredients to make the bread. She prepared the dough for the bread and left it to rest for the day.
That was her day, after preparing the dinner for the village, she quickly returned to prepare. Red returned later, but that worked well since she only started to fry the bread when he returned. She wanted to serve the bread hot. Of course, she also prepared a small pot of gruel, a different type of gruel.
Red's gruel was thicker, with more meat and vegetables, and the right amount of seasoning. As usual, he was always excited when it came to food. That made her, as the cook, happy to see him enjoying her cooking. Seeing someone enjoying her food was gratifying, and he was starting to appreciate the food more than before.
After he finished the pot, she brought the sandwich. His sandwich was wide and tall, thick cured wolf meat clamped by the fried bread. There was a block of cheese in the food storage, and she added it to the sandwich with fresh veggies from her farm. She made the sauce with the spicy herbs from her farm. The spicy flavor seemed to grow on him, and she was glad he liked it.
Red inspected the new food, taking off the top part of the bread. He frowned when he saw the veggies and was confused by the cheese. He looked up at her, confused.
Darla had her own sandwich, and she taught him how to eat it. Of course, her portion was much smaller. Red followed her, eating the sandwich, and he made various kinds of expressions in his first bite. She found it amusing, and he took the second bite and third until he finished everything.
He looked at the ceiling, contemplating, seemingly trying to discern the taste of the new food. Trying to process the new taste in his tongue.
"Weird… but like…"
Red stood up and placed two mighty cores on the table, "For you… I wash…"
Darla's eyes shone as she finally got more cores after a while. He once gave her the blue cores, but she asked him to give her the red core instead. Working in the kitchen required a lot more physical stats than magical stats. The blue core was useless to her now.
She quickly absorbed the cores and checked her status. Thanks to Red's assistance, she managed to reach level 5. She was level four before getting kidnapped. One level might not be much, but considering her circumstances. One level was a big level up.
Name: Darla Hanyele
Class: Cook
Level: 5
Health: 256 Stamina: 109 Mana: 41
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 25.6 Endurance: 25.7 Vitality: 25.2 Dexterity: 25.1 Perception: 6
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 4.3 Wisdom: 4.1 Arcane Perception: 2.3 Mind: 2.7
Skill:
Tier 1: Taste Bud - Level 9, Control Heat - Level 4, Knife Mastery - Level 3, Appraisal - Level 2
Tier 3: Ingredient Appraisal - Level 6
The core increased her Strength and Endurance a little bit, but she was satisfied watching her progress. She was a little bit worried about her perception, though.
Perception was a unique attribute to her class, something he got after getting her class. She opened the attribute with 4 Perception, and her two level-ups increased it by two. She learned from the other cooks that Perception was a requirement for leveling up someone with her class.
There should not be an issue for her to reach level 6 as she met the requirement, but she needed to increase his perception to seven if she wanted to reach level 7. Hopefully, her perception would go up in her next level-up, too, or else it would be trouble.