a frypan in his hand and made an omelette. He placed the completed omelette
onto the chicken rice and made a cut down the middle, adding a little tomato
sauce on top for the finishing touch. With that, the thick and fluffy omurice
was complete.
With some ingredients left over, he decided to make one omurice, and
completed it just as the last two groups wrapped up their cooking. One of the
groups was Latifa's, who came running over.
"Onii-chan, let's eat together!"
"Sara and the others are eating with that other group, right? I'll be fine,
so you should go eat with them," Rio replied with a troubled expression
toward Latifa's carefree smile. The other group was made up of girls that Rio
had never interacted with before, so he thought it was best to avoid getting
involved as an outsider.
"Eeeh... What are you gonna do, Onii-chan?"
"I'll just eat by myself."
"No, I wanna be with Onii-chan!" Latifa threw a tantrum.
A werecat girl whose name he didn't know called out to him from the
side. "That's right. Let's eat together, Rio... Please?"
"Umm, are you sure?"
"Of course! You've been living in this village for almost half a year now,
but you only ever mingle with Lady Sara's group. I've always wanted to talk
to you. Right, everyone?" the werecat said, looking behind her. A group of
girls had suddenly formed behind her, nodding along enthusiastically.
Everyone looked to be in their mid-teens; probably older than Rio.
"I understand. I'd be happy to, then." Unable to reject their offer, Rio
accepted the offer to eat with Sara's group and the older girls. They all
moved to the dining room, lining their completed dishes along a free table.
All the dishes passed in terms of appearance. An appetizing smell wafted
through the air, but the girls' gazes weren't looking at their own dishes, but
rather focused on the omurice Rio had made.
"Hey, Rio. What kind of dish is this? We didn't practice making this
one," the werecat girl asked curiously. "It's omurice!" Latifa answered on
Rio's behalf. Omurice was her favorite.
"Huh, is this one of the recipes from Strahl too, then?"
"Yes, though its name varies by area," Rio lied, glancing at Latifa. "In
Latifa's case, she calls it omurice. I made extra, so feel free to help yourself."
Latifa made a sound of vague acknowledgment before giving an
awkward smile. Rio heaved a small sigh and pulled his eyes away from her.
"Yay. Thank you, Rio!" The werecat girl suddenly clung to Rio's arm.
Everyone present looked on with widened eyes.
"A-Anya, why don't we start eating now? It'll get cold," Sara said in a
bit of a panic. The werecat girl was apparently named Anya.
"Yup, wouldn't want all this cooking to go to waste. Let's eat." Anya
happily let go of Rio's arm with a nod. She took the lead and started to hand
out the plates of food. Rio had a strained smile on his face. He had the
impression that she was a whimsical and uninhibited kind of person.
"I'll serve your share, Onii-chan!" Latifa reached out for Rio's share
before he could move.
"Having such a devoted and cute little sister must be great, Rio." Anya
said with a grin.
"Yes, it really is. She's much too cute for me," Rio agreed unabashedly.
"Ehehe, the only boy who calls me cute is you, Onii-chan." Latifa
responded bashfully.
Eventually, the food was split between everyone, and they finally started
eating.
"Fuwawah! This omurice is so delicious!" Vera took a bite of Rio's
omurice and expressed a somewhat over-exaggerated opinion.
"I know, right? I told you Onii-chan's cooking was delicious!" Latifa
said.
"Yup! Not a surprise, considering it's from Rio!"
"Thanks, you two." Rio expressed his gratitude to Latifa and Vera for
complimenting his cooking skills.
"Yup, yup. Rio really is exactly as Lady Sara and the others described,"
Anya said, nodding earnestly.
"In what way is that, may I ask? I'm a little curious," Rio asked.
"Oh, well... You're polite, you're kind, you're cool, you're strong, you're
so smart you learned our language right away, and you're really good at spirit
arts. It was all praise, really!" Anya answered clearly.
"A-Anya!"
Sara, Orphia, and Alma all blushed in embarrassment; Sara, in particular,
had been rendered speechless. Having their image of Rio exposed like this must have made them feel shy.
"Ahaha. I'm happy to hear that, even if it's just flattery." Rio interpreted
Anya's words as flattery and brushed it off.
"No Rio, it's not just flattery." Anya seemed just a little exasperated.
The lively atmosphere continued after that, allowing Rio to deepen his
relationship with the girls through idle chatter.