Back at the cottage, I quietly waited for Fate-san to finish cooking as she was going to prepare lunch for us.
Fate-san didn't have any cooking experience, so I asked her if she knew any recipes or if she had a cookbook, but she only said "There's no way I would have one. Well, I'm sure I'll manage". She had erected a failure flag with her vigorous response.
Unnn, I'll just prepare myself for what's to come. The best part here is that Fate-san, who considers most things as troublesome, is willing to cook for me. The taste should just be secondary.
As I was thinking this, not long after, Fate-san came out of the kitchen with a plate in her hand.
[It's ready~~]
[Eh? Wasn't that too fast?]
[Ahh, I used some Time Manipulation. Here you go.]
As she said that, Fate-san placed in front of me... a beautifully cooked omelet... No, an omurice.
[T- This looks delicious.]
[I'm able to make something pretty great, don't you think? Ahh, I'll draw a heart with ketchup... There we go!]
[Well then, thank you for the food.]
Surprisingly, it didn't turn out as I had expected, the meal she finished cooking looked delicious. At the very least, it seemed to be beautifully made, with no burnt edges or anything like that.
After Fate-san made sure to put some ketchup on it, I took a bite...
[...It's delicious. The eggs are fluffy and the inside... tastes normal, or rather, it's quite tasty.]
[Even though I'm the one saying this, I feel like I did great. Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it.]
It's a lot better than I imagined it would be... or rather, I think this omurice is probably better than the ones I make. The taste of the chicken fried rice inside isn't bland, and the eggs are cooked perfectly. The seasoning was just right, not too light and not too thick.
[Fate-san, are you sure you really haven't cooked before? Eh? Even though this tastes so good...]
[Fufufu, Kai-chan. I'm a Supreme God... I can do something like this if I wanted, it's just that I don't want to.]
I see, it's basically because of her high specs huh. Even so, the food certainly is good, but the choice of dish was what surprised me.
No, it's true that omurice is a relatively easy dish to make, but I was surprised that Fate-san, who rarely ate in this world where rice is a minor food, chose omurice.
[I mean, you knew about omurice?]
[I remember hearing about it somewhere. Well, let's just put that aside! Kai-chan, since we're at it, I'll feed. Here, ahhhn.]
[Eh? Ah, yes... ahhhn.]
The expression on Fate-san's face as she fed me the omurice with a smile was somehow a little more excited and joyful than usual.
A few days before Kaito and Fate's trip, Fate went to visit Alice's miscellaneous goods store.
[Hey, Shall-tan... Can you teach me how to cook?]
[Eh? What's with you all of a sudden, saying things that aren't like you? You have a fever or something?]
[Well, I also felt like things were out of place when I said it... but anyway, I want you to teach me how to make a dish. Something that would make Kai-chan happy... but one that's also not too troublesome to make.]
[...The words you added last certainly are like you, Fate-san.]
The fact that Fate, a person who finds most things extremely troublesome, wanted to learn how to cook was a surprising statement even to her long-time close friend, Alice, making her look somewhat surprised.
However, there was no particular reason for her to refuse her request, so Alice ended up teaching Fate how to cook.
But even if that was so, Alice thought Fate would get bored and stop halfway through, but Fate was surprisingly serious about cooking.
Since Fate's specs were originally very high, once Alice taught her how to cook the dish that fit her request, she was able to do it immediately, and by the time Alice finished teaching her, Fate was already able to make a very high quality meal.
[...I think it's already enough if you can make it like this... But seriously, what's going on?]
[Well, it's not really that big of a deal~~ It's just, Kai-chan seems to have prepared a lot of things for our next trip, so you see, I want to do something for him too.]
[And so, you're going to cook for him huh...But Fate-san, if you just use your authority, you'd be able to cook without having to practice, right?]
Yes, Fate holds the authority that governs fate, and by using it, she can determine things like "the future where she successfully cooks the dish".
Hearing Alice's question, Fate responded to her with a wry smile.
[I can certainly do that. I can have the future settled to one where I'm able to make a delicious dish. However, that just means that I, who doesn't know how to cook anything at all, "ended up making a delicious dish by accident"... Thinking about it like that, I kinda dislike it... I don't mind being noncommittal when it comes to other things, but I kinda don't like being noncommittal when it comes to Kai-chan.]
[...I see.]
[Dear me, this really isn't like me. But well, I don't think doing my best for Kai-chan is troublesome... or something like that.]
As she said this with a smile, just like she said, Fate seemed to be enjoying the fact that she was practicing cooking for Kaito, and Alice, who knew Fate well, felt the change and smiled.