A Delicious Meal

“Mom! It looks really delicious!!”

Just as a gloomy atmosphere had settled between us, a child’s bright voice rang out, blowing the dark mood away.

“Oh my, that’s wonderful. Then shall we eat?”

Rosalie smiled gently at the children’s excitement and stood up from her chair.

“You two wait here. I’ll prepare the meal.”

“Ah, we’ll help too.”

“No, it’s alright. You gave us so many ingredients, so I should at least repay you a little.”

When she said that, we could only nod, so we told her “Thank you” and sat back down in our chairs. After waiting a short while, Rosalie soon returned from the kitchen carrying a large plate.

A wonderful aroma drifted from the plate, and my stomach growled before I realized it.

“Here you go. Eat as much as you like.”

On the large plate was meat and vegetables we had given them, grilled with several herbs.

“Look, look! This one is soup!”

The next thing brought out was soup filled with simmered vegetables. Since it was red in color, it might have spices in it.

“We originally grew herbs and spices in the garden, so we still have plenty of those. There are many things we lack, but I think this turned out to be the best meal I can make right now. Please eat plenty.”

Ivan handed us spoons while saying that with a big smile, so we accepted the meal without hesitation.

When I took a bite of the stir-fry first, the flavor was light, perhaps because there wasn’t much oil, but the herbs matched it perfectly and made it delicious. It was a seasoning not often found in the Albanell Kingdom.

“It’s really delicious!”

“I haven’t eaten meat this big in a long time!”

The children happily stuffed their mouths full.

“If you cram it in like that it’s dangerous. There’s plenty, so eat calmly.”

“Okaay!”

“Still, it really lacks oil… and now I want bread.”

“Hehe, you’re so greedy.”

At Ivan’s muttered words, the children also began loudly asking for bread. So bread was eaten in this country too.

“Is it impossible to obtain grain?”

At Rebecca’s question, Ivan nodded slightly with a sad look.

“Grain is basically impossible to obtain. Wheat in particular is something the people above prefer to eat, so even more so. We could still get rice and beans for a while, but those are gone now too.”

“I see…”

There were some bread and rice dishes in the Divine Domain, but it would look unnatural if we suddenly took them out and gave them here. And once they tasted them, they would probably want grain even more than before.

We really had to solve the root problem of this country.

“Ah, this soup is delicious.”

“Right? Since we had plenty of meat, I could draw out a lot of flavor.”

“I want more of this soup!”

“Today you can even have seconds.”

After that, we spent a brief but pleasant time enjoying the delicious meal. When we finished eating, everyone helped clean up together, and although it was still a little early, we decided to go to bed.

Starting tomorrow would likely be busy, so we needed to properly rest and recover our strength.

“It hasn’t been used for a while, so I’m sorry if the bedding is dusty. I did clean it earlier, though.”

“Thank you very much. Just being able to borrow a bed is already a great help, so please don’t worry. And it’s very clean.”

In fact, the room was well maintained. Even if the bedding hadn’t been aired out, they must have cleaned the room frequently.

“Well then Luca, see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

After parting with Rebecca in front of the room, I prepared for bed and sat down on it right away. Before lying down, I called out to Lady Seremees.

“Lady Seremees, are you watching the lower world?”

“Yes, I have been watching the whole time. The Empire truly is in a terrible state.”

“Yes… honestly, I was surprised. We really have to do something about this.”

“I’m sorry for asking you to handle something so difficult. I will support you as much as I can.”

“Thank you very much. By the way, have you still not found the one responsible for creating this situation?”

“That’s… difficult. The people at the top of the Empire are simply doing whatever they want, and they rarely even hold meetings about the future. If such a meeting happens and I learn anything, I will tell you immediately.”

They didn’t even hold meetings? What were the people at the top trying to do? The fact that they could behave however they wanted in this situation was unbelievable… if they felt no pain in their hearts at all, it was hard to believe they were even human.

“Understood. Starting tomorrow, I plan to walk around the city and hunt monsters for the people living here.”

“I understand. I’m counting on you.”

After finishing my conversation with Lady Seremees, I lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.