I didn't feel comfortable just watching Alice teach Anima how to cook
without doing anything, so I decided to help with lunch preparation.
Though I say that, looking at the ingredients they were preparing, it
looked like lunch would be barbecue, so it doesn't take that much effort
to prepare.
Alice set up the fire, Anima prepped the food, and I skewered the
ingredients that Anima had cut up in appropriate combinations.
[…Speaking of which, this is good meat, isn't it? I can tell just by looking
at it…]
[The meat is magnificent, but that also goes with vegetables, fish and
shellfish as well. I've never seen ingredients like this before. Have you
prepared all of this, Alice-dono?]
Alice said that she prepared the ingredients, but just as Anima said,
these are some of the most amazing ingredients I've ever seen. After all,
even when I'm not a connoisseur of this matter, I could tell at a glance
that these were high-quality products. Even though it might just be the
light of the sun, it even looked like it was faintly glittering before my
eyes.
I had believed I've eaten some pretty good and expensive food since I
came to this world, but I think these ingredients far surpass even those.
Where in the world did Alice get all these ingredients from? If it was
Shiro-san who prepared them, I would have only thought that "she
created something outrageous again", but judging from their previous
exchange, I don't think Shiro-san had anything to do with these
ingredients.
[As you both said, they definitely were top-quality ingredients. After all,
the person who made it was such a person after all.]
[…Such a person?]
[Ah~~ Well, it's not like I need to hide it, so I'll just say it… I actually got
these ingredients from Eden-san.]
[Eh? From Eden-san?]
[Yes, it seems like "she volunteered to prepare it for Kaito-san's sake".]
[…I- I see.]
Indeed, if Eden-san had prepared them, it would make sense why the
ingredients here were quite tremendous. But hmmm, something feels a
bit off… Or rather, I'm a little surprised that she gave them to Alice
instead of me.
Well, Eden-san has always said that she highly evaluates Alice, so
perhaps, aside from Shiro-san and I, Alice would be the easiest person
she could talk to if she wanted to entrust such a thing.
[When you say Eden-dono, she was the God of Master's world, wasn't
she? I've never spoken to her directly, so I could only imagine it… but
personally, I feel like she would be the kind of person who would rather
bring these ingredients and come to this place herself than entrust
them with others…]
I couldn't help but nod my head at Anima's words. Rather than saying I
have a similar image of her, I feel like Eden-san isn't the type of person
who would give me such a roundabout gift.
[Given her usual behavior, both of your misunderstandings regarding
Eden-san are quite understandable. However, in spite of her
appearance, she is actually a rather considerate person. Especially in
important times like when Kaito-san spends his time with his lovers,
she would almost never interfere.]
[…Now that you mention it, that really was the case.]
[It's just her outbursts that's a problem, but otherwise, she's pretty
decent… decent… isn't really something I can describe her huh.]
Thinking back when Alice mentioned it, Eden-san certainly never
showed up when it was inconvenient for me. Eden-san comes to see me
at around 6 times a week, but as far as I can remember, I've never had a
visit from her when the timing wasn't right.
She would usually show up when I'm bored or when I've finished what I
have to do.
If she wasn't going out of control, she would have a gentle personality,
and considering this, it feels like our impression of her may have been
slightly distorted. Well, the impact of her outbursts was just so strong
that it overshadowed the rest of her qualities…
[…Speaking of which, had Alice always been close to Eden-san?]
[Eh? Why?]
[No, I'm not saying that you had a stormy relationship with her, but I
had that Eden-san highly evaluates Alice, but you hated Eden-san, so it
was a little surprising that you naturally spoke for her sake.]
If I remember correctly, Alice mentioned how she hated Eden-san, and I
remember how slightly harsh she was towards her at my birthday
party.
But now, she was trying to clear up my and Anima's misunderstanding,
and even speaking up for her sake. I mean, it may just be my
imagination, but I felt that Alice's face when she was talking about
Eden-san earlier seemed to be unusually kind.
[Hmmm, well, in that incident in the God Realm back then… It may be
partly because I was closer to Kaito-san, but she also gave me some
advice to the extent that that incident didn't become a problem. I think
she's become a little more open-minded than she used to be.]
[I see… Come to think of it, I hadn't heard much about what happened
in the God Realm other the times I'm involved. After that, I immediately
went to the Festival of Heroes' main festival and went back to my
previous world…]
[Ah~~ Speaking of which, we've only talked about it in passing. Animasan is also here, so let's talk about it in detail.]
[…Ah, no, I haven't really done that much, so it would be great if you'd
exclude me from that…]
[Well then, let's start with Anima's cool story about how she defeated
the God of Commerce!]
[Alice-dono!?]