The aroma came in layer upon layer, boring straight up into everyone's noses.
The girls carried plates back and forth, and in no time the grand dishes were all neatly arranged on the round obsidian table.
The originally spacious tabletop was now crammed so full there wasn't a single gap left.
The braised pork ribs were draped in a glossy, oily caramel sheen, the sauce still faintly swirling around the rim of the plate.
Dead center, the great pot of scallop-and-mushroom soup bubbled and churned, snow-white steam surging straight upward.
In the porcelain dish beside it were piled fresh-from-the-oven honey rolls, their golden, crispy crusts glistening with light.
Color, aroma, and flavor all burst out at once.
Now that was the real deal!
One glance was enough to make anyone's mouth water.
Lili came scurrying out in a streak from beside the calf-high kitchen threshold.
In her hands she held tightly to a large transparent pitcher, brimming with freshly squeezed orange juice.
She hurried up to the table, but because she was so short, she could only strain up onto the tips of her toes.
With a tilt of her wrist—crisp and clean in her movements after all—she made her way around the table, filling each glass with juice one by one.
Hearing footsteps, Lili tilted her head and caught sight of Haimer walking over.
She immediately set the heavy juice pitcher down on the table, stretched out a short, tender little finger, and pointed at the seat at the very head of the long table—the seat of honor.
"Kami-sama, you sit here!"
Haimer nodded helplessly.
He walked over and settled into the cushioned seat of honor.
At that very same moment.
There came a "whoosh."
Hestia, like a blue whirlwind, skidded on her feet and pressed herself right up against Haimer's right side.
She yanked the wooden chair open and, with a "plop," plopped herself firmly down onto it.
She pressed both fair hands against the table's edge and thrust out her chest.
The very picture of "don't even think about stealing this spot from me."
As for that.
Right after.
A lazy voice drifted over from the left side of the long table.
"Haah—"
Amou Kirukiru opened her mouth, dragged out the tail of the sound, and let out an enormous yawn.
Wearing her soft-soled slippers, she swayed three times with every step as she made her way to Haimer's left hand side.
She hooked a finger over the back of a chair and unhurriedly pulled it out.
She sank down and settled in right beside Haimer.
Her pure black long hair spilled out like a waterfall, and a few strands slid out along her collar to drape directly over Haimer's arm, tickling him to no end.
As for the far end across the table.
This scene, falling into the eyes of everyone else, instantly took on a different flavor.
Onigawara Rin arched a brow, her mouth twisting to one side.
Kikakujou Mary stared at the hair Amou Kirukiru had draped over Haimer's arm, quietly grinding her back molars.
After all, everyone understood.
One was a genuine goddess, whose bond with Lord Haimer could be traced all the way back to the Heavens.
The other was Amou Kirukiru, the only one in this house to have claimed First Blood.
Both seats, left and right, were locked down tight.
Considering that, no matter what little schemes the others might have brewing in their hearts, right now there simply was no way to squeeze a foot in.
And so.
The remaining girls and those few Xenos exchanged glances with one another, then each pulled out a chair and took their seats one by one down both sides of the long table.
As for Hanasaka Warabi, after she had set down the last few pieces of tableware—
She trotted over with small, helpless steps to the little bear that had latched itself to the side of their god.
Bending down, she used both hands to strenuously hoist the snoring little black bear up by the armpits.
This little fellow was dead heavy.
Hanasaka Warabi carried it over to the foot of the table, found a thick soft cushion she'd specially lined earlier with a double layer of cotton, and ever so carefully set this round little ball of black fluff down onto it.
Yet who could have guessed—the moment the bear's back touched the cushion, it wouldn't even bother to open its eyes.
Its body gave a twist, and it simply rolled right over on the cushion.
It covered its own face with two chubby front paws and smoothly picked right back up on the sleep it hadn't gotten enough of.
"Snoooore—"
The snoring was steady and even.
Watching it, Hanasaka Warabi's eyelid twitched, and she couldn't be bothered to deal with it anymore.
Seeing this, Aruru's ears gave a shiver, and she too kicked off with her hind legs, hopping down from her chair and darting over to the cushion's side.
Her ruby-like eyes fixed on the little bear with utter contempt.
She simply couldn't wrap her head around it—with so many delicious things on the table sending their aromas wafting through the air, how could this guy still sleep like a rotten, fur-covered log?
Thinking this far, Aruru even tilted her head.
She stretched out a fluffy pink paw pad.
Then she took aim at the little bear's round, plump belly, rising and falling with each breath, and gave it a light poke.
The bear didn't wake.
The flesh caved in a patch, then bounced right back.
Aruru's eyes rolled, and she simply put more force into her paw.
"Poke!"
"Poke!"
"Poke!"
Three heavy jabs in a row right beside its belly button.
With that kind of force, any other creature would have woken long ago.
But the little bear remained utterly immovable, unshakeable as ever.
Disturbed in its sweet dream, it merely rolled over irritably and pointed its rump at Aruru. Its mouth smacked twice in its sleep, and then—of all things—it hugged one of its own paws and began gnawing on it with great relish, right there in its dream.
"Squeak..."
Seeing the little bear look about ready to sleep itself into oblivion.
Aruru had truly seen it all now, and rolled a great big eye-roll on the spot.
She tossed her head back, deciding she wanted nothing more to do with this shameful sleepyhead, then turned and hopped back to her own seat.
On one side of the table.
Rei and Fei sat together, clean plates set before them.
As for Rania, because she had an enormous spider abdomen growing from her lower half, she couldn't sit on a wooden chair. So she could only settle into the gap specially left open at the tail end of the long table, propping herself up at a slight angle to bring her human-shaped upper half as close to the tabletop as possible.
Though the posture looked a bit odd, no one cast Rania a strange look for it.
With that, everyone was assembled.
"Well then, let's dig in."
Haimer gestured with a smile. The feast was officially underway!
Aihara Enju's eyes had long been sparkling, her stomach growling with hunger.
The moment the word was given, she was the first to lean out and grab the long-handled solid wood ladle for serving soup!
She scooped a heaping ladleful of rib soup, scallops floating in it, into the little bowl of Kohina Hiruko, who sat beside her.
"Here! Little Hiruko, eat lots!"
Then Aihara Enju flipped her wrist and served herself a full bowl too.
Once she'd finished serving.
Aihara Enju impatiently lifted the bowl, blew on it twice, and slurped up a mouthful.
"Mmm—"
The hot soup slid into her mouth.
The ribs had been stewed until they fell apart, the meat fibers long since loosened from the crisp cartilage.
One bite from top to bottom and the meat, sliding right off the bone, burst its juices straight across the surface of her tongue.
Add to that the sweet, fresh brininess unique to scallops as seafood, all melded into the creamy white broth, carrying a touch of that fresh, tender mushroom fragrance.
This one mouthful went down.
The warm current slid down her throat all the way to the bottom of her stomach, and her whole body was warmed through in an instant!
"Wow! This soup is so good!"
Aihara Enju exclaimed, cupping the warm white porcelain bowl in both hands.
She was so small that, sitting in this big chair, her toes couldn't even reach the floor.
Her slender little legs, wrapped in white stockings, swung back and forth beneath the chair, and even the corners of her eyes crinkled up with laughter.
Sitting diagonally across from her, Lili likewise held her own little bowl in both hands.
Only, unlike Aihara Enju.
Lili sipped at the soup in tiny mouthfuls, her big chestnut eyes blinking, brimming with light inside.
She lowered her head in secret, gazing at the fattest, most tender rib in her bowl.
It was precisely the one Onigawara Rin had just fished up from the bottom of the big clay pot, deliberately picking it out with the soup ladle to place in her bowl.
Thinking of this, Lili sipped her soup and quietly turned her head aside.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Onigawara Rin, seated to her right.
And she saw that Onigawara Rin, at this moment, wasn't eating at all—her hands were still busy tending to something else. Gripping a small palette knife, she was intently spreading butter on half a piece of toast, layer upon layer, thick and generous.
Lili sniffed.
The fingers gripping her spoon tightened just a little.
This feeling of being cared for was simply too full.
It made Lili feel especially at ease.
And so, after carefully stealing yet another secret glance at Kami-sama.
Lili too stopped being bashful, lowered her head and opened her mouth. Not even willing to let a single drop of the marrow lingering in the bone cracks escape, she began savoring it in great big bites.
By contrast.
Nomura Satori, seated in one of the back rows, hadn't so much as touched the plate of meat at her side.
She'd been urging the others all along to hurry up and try the cake she'd just made.
"Pitter-patter~"
"Come on, hurry and try it."
"This is Little Satori's invincible new masterpiece, born of hours of grueling battle in the kitchen!"
Faced with this excessively enthusiastic recommendation.
As the victim who had once been thoroughly duped before—
Inaba Tsukuyo now didn't want to engage with even half a word, keeping her eyes shut and pretending she'd heard nothing at all, saying absolutely nothing.
As for Kikakujou Mary, seated in the third spot on the left, her mind gave a "buzz" and cut straight back to the scene she'd stumbled upon at the kitchen doorway half an hour earlier.
That glass sugar jar, bigger than a soup bowl.
That half a bag of white sugar poured into the batter.
Thinking of this, when Kikakujou Mary looked again at the cake Nomura Satori had made, the corner of her eye truly couldn't help twitching twice, and she couldn't hold back a jab.
"Satori."
"Let me ask you something."
"This so-called invincible confidence of yours."
"Could it be that it's just the more-than-quadruple amount of sugar you dumped into that batter?"
As for this jab of Kikakujou Mary's.
The other few girls who had suffered at Nomura Satori's hands felt especially in agreement, deep down.
And Nomura Satori? She didn't take it to heart in the slightest.
Never mind feeling any guilt about it.
"Not one bit wrong~"
"Desserts are supposed to be sweet!"
"A full four times the white sugar!!"
"Putting in lots of sugar just proves Little Satori uses solid, generous ingredients!"
"And besides, this is the exclusive secret recipe of Little Satori, the god of cooking~"
Nomura Satori slapped a hand against her chest, self-righteous and full of conviction.
Once this heretical nonsense was tossed out, everyone lost the will to argue.
And moreover.
After Nomura Satori finished speaking.
She paid absolutely no mind to anyone else's expression, narrowed her eyes in a smile, and with her right hand picked up the cake-cutting knife, chopping straight down from the top with a "swish."
The blade split open the soft, pure white cream and pressed down into the cake sponge beneath, dragging out in one go a thick glob of deep-red, sticky strawberry jam from the layer within.
Across the entire cut surface, the red and white sauces smeared together, nearly stringing into threads.
After Nomura Satori finished her cut, her eyes didn't stay idle either, rolling around the table in a circle.
Once she'd locked onto her target.
Nomura Satori put on a face full of fawning smiles.
With a flick of the blade, she precisely gouged out the largest triangular slice and set it on a white porcelain plate.
Then, cupping it in both hands and deliberately avoiding Mary and Tsukuyo beside her, who had already grown wary, she pushed the plate right in front of Hestia.
"Lady Hestia!"
"As a goddess, why don't you be the first to taste this dessert Little Satori made!"
"This one's even sweeter than an ordinary dessert~"
"This very first serving, poured full of Little Satori's blood and sweat, absolutely must be tasted by the honored goddess herself!"
The moment these words were spoken—Hestia had a sweet tooth to begin with.
At this instant, lowering her head to see the great big mound of snowy-white cream and the jam so red it looked translucent in the plate, her throat gave way completely.
With a full plate of it piled up before her, what self-restraint could possibly remain?
The mental preparation she'd made earlier from hearing Kikakujou Mary's "quadruple sugar" was, in this very moment, flung clear beyond the ninth heaven.
"Hmph hmph, I'll grant you've got an eye for it."
Hestia smugly pinched up a silver fork.
Then she plunged the fork straight into the center of the cake.
She rolled up a great big glob of cream and jam together and, unable to wait, stuffed it right into her mouth.
Her lips closed together, top and bottom.
First bite, her teeth cut through the soft cake body.
Second bite.
Hestia's eyes suddenly went wide, her pupils abruptly shrinking to pinpricks.
"Ngh!"
"Ngh!!!"
Too sweet!!!
Cloyingly, murderously sweet!!!
Dead—
The entire sweetness, mixed with the greasiness of the cream, instantly congealed into a lump plastered dead-fast against the walls of her throat, refusing to be dislodged no matter how she tried!
"Lady Hestia! Water! Drink water, quick!"
Seeing Hestia's face turn purple-blue from holding it in, Lili, seated on the other side, was so alarmed she hurriedly grabbed the juice cup at hand and thrust it forward.
Hearing this, Hestia was in no state to care about her image anymore.
Both hands flung the silver fork away in a fluster, and it clattered onto the plate with a "clang."
She snatched up that transparent glass cup, tilted her neck back, and gulped down three big mouthfuls in a row, glug glug glug.
The sweet-and-sour, slightly cool orange juice rushed down her throat.
Only then did she barely manage to forcibly flush that murderous lump of sugar down.
"Bang."
Hestia, panting heavily, slammed the empty cup down hard on the obsidian tabletop.
The corners of her eyes were already so pinched that tears had been squeezed out, hanging on her lashes and trembling.
"Satori!"
Once Hestia had caught her breath, she stretched out a trembling finger and pointed at that slice of cake on the plate.
"This is no cake at all!"
"This is plainly a plate of poison smeared with sweetness!"
"Are you trying to poison a god to death?!"
Faced with this tirade from Hestia.
Nomura Satori simply planted both hands on her slender waist and acted as though she'd heard nothing.
Not only was there no guilt on her face—instead it carried a whiff of defiance.
"Lady Hestia, now you've got it all wrong."
"Poison?"
"What poison is ever this tempting?"
Nomura Satori retorted with a straight, perfectly serious face.
And then.
Having said her piece.
Nomura Satori even went so far, right in front of everyone—
She picked up the blunt-edged little butter knife at hand.
With its tip she casually scraped up a thick swipe of cream from her own leftover scraps and stuffed it into her own mouth.
Her lips pressed together, top and bottom.
Her light green eyes immediately narrowed in satisfaction, her face full of enjoyment.
"Mmm~~ so delicious!"
"Isn't this precisely the ultimate secret art of desserts? As a dessert, if the last bite in your mouth can't leave you feeling sweetness so intense it numbs you right down to the root of your tongue, then what difference is there between eating it and eating a dried, shriveled salted fish?"
"..."
With this—
Watching Nomura Satori actually swallow it down without so much as a change of expression, not even furrowing her brow half an inch.
Hestia was thoroughly convinced too.
This girl's taste buds!
They really were something else entirely, worlds apart from an ordinary person's!
And so.
As the farce gradually settled down.
About another half an hour passed.
Everyone was full of food and drink.
The leftover scraps on the table and the mountainous heaps of messy cups and plates were quickly tidied up spotless by everyone's joint effort.
After all, having been through real combat cooperation in the Dungeon before.
Now even doing household chores together, the girls' hands and feet were extremely nimble.
One only had to watch Lili, Aihara Enju, and Kohina Hiruko wipe the broad obsidian table from end to end in a few quick strokes until it shone bright enough to serve as a mirror.
Right after, from the sink came the continuous, abundant sound of rushing water washing away.
Once the porcelain plates were washed clean, a wipe with a dry towel and they were neatly stacked into the natural-wood cupboard.
And thanks to the mansion's central-courtyard location, the hollowed-out design, and the good ventilation, the smell of cooking oil and smoke soon dispersed without a trace.
Everyone nestled together in twos and threes, rubbing their bellies and belching contentedly.
Amou Kirukiru too leaned back into a single-seat sofa, reached up to gather the pure black long hair draped over her shoulder, stretched her waist slightly, and fixed her black eyes dead-on upon Haimer across from her.
"God."
"I'm full."
"Isn't it about time we got down to business?"
"I can't wait any longer to see just how much my stats have gone up these past few days."
Amou Kirukiru's mouth tugged into a grin, baring a little fang, and she raised her right arm along with it, casually working her somewhat stiff, sore neck, which let out faint "crick-crack" sounds.
As for the moment Amou Kirukiru spoke these words.
Everyone else returned to the main topic as well.
"Kami-sama!"
"I want an update too!"
"After all, we all trained together!"
"I absolutely can't fall behind either!"
"Me too!"
____
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