The Former Child Prodigy Drinks A Suspicious Soup

After meeting up with Glantz and the others, I headed deeper into the great forest.

On the way, Glantz spoke to me.

“I’ve heard the rumors about the Hand of God.”

“No, it’s really not that impressive.”

“There’s no need to be modest. You’ve been gathering medicinal herbs of that high a quality, so I know there’s something unusual about you. What in the world are you doing that’s so special?”

“Uh…”

I searched for the right words. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide anything, but I genuinely could not find an answer. I really was not doing anything special at all, but…

“Are you using some kind of special magic?”

Glantz said it in a probing tone.

Special magic—even when he prompted me like that, nothing came to mind. Using magic to gather nutrients from the soil before harvesting, and coating the surface so they would not leak out, was just normal practice.

“No, I really am not doing anything special.”

I meant to answer with complete sincerity, but Glantz must not have been satisfied. He stared at my face for a moment, then snorted.

“So that’s your answer. Well, I suppose you can’t so easily tell an outsider.”

…No, that was not it either.

It seemed Glantz had become a little irritated. Hmm… did I mess that up? Building relationships was also one of the essential skills of a working adult. Since he was the client, that went double. I had wanted to build a good relationship with him, but to think I would fumble it right out of the gate.

This whole working-adult thing was difficult…

In that awkward atmosphere, we continued onward, aiming for the depths of the great forest.

No monsters appeared. That was because I had secretly cast monster-repelling magic. Since slaying monsters was also part of the job, this was a strategy to reduce the workload in advance.

Thanks to that, our progress was extremely smooth.

Along the way, Glantz stopped every so often and investigated the medicinal herbs growing around the area.

That was how the first day came to an end.

“Well then, we’re still only halfway through the whole journey. Let’s rest here for today. Ilvis, could you prepare the camp?”

“Understood.”

Odd jobs were part of my work too. I set up tents for everyone from the item box.

“Good, I’ll make soup for dinner. I’m going to gather some wild herbs for the ingredients.”

With that, Glantz disappeared deeper into the forest. The two warrior-like men who seemed to be his subordinates stayed behind and slacked off while chatting. I continued setting up camp without minding them. It was not especially irritating. They were the employer’s subordinates, so they ranked above me.

By the time I finished setting up camp, Glantz had returned. In his hands were the wild herbs he had gathered.

“Now then, I’m going to cook!”

Glantz lit a fire and skillfully began preparing the meal.

Before long, the food was ready.

The sweet aroma of soup drifted through the darkened forest—lit by magical light.

“I apologize for serving you the cooking of a middle-aged man.”

Glantz ladled the soup into the tableware he had brought.

I accepted the dish.

“Ilvis, thank you for working so hard from the very first day. Don’t hold back—eat.”

“Thank you very much. It looks delicious!”

I put the dish to my lips. The warm liquid passed down my throat and into my stomach. To be honest, I was quite hungry, so I was grateful. Unable to restrain myself, I gulped the soup down in one go.

“Phew…!”

It tasted deeply satisfying.

Glantz watched me with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, Ilvis? How does it taste?”

“It’s really delicious!”

That was not flattery. Glantz’s cooking was exceptional.

“Shouldn’t you eat too, Glantz-san? It’ll get cold, you know?”

“…Eh, no… I, well…”

Muttering under his breath, Glantz fidgeted with his dish in both hands, his expression still unclear.

…? What was wrong? Even though he made it himself, did he not want to eat it?

“Ilvis, um… is there anything bothering you?”

Anything bothering me?

I had no idea what he meant by that question. Was he lacking confidence in the food he had made?

“No, nothing is bothering me. It tasted wonderful. Please try it too, Glantz-san.”

“Ah, ah…”

Glantz looked not just gloomy—his face had gone pale. The two guards were also watching Glantz with worried expressions.

After a while of silence, Glantz suddenly said, as if struck by an idea,

“That’s it! How about another bowl!?”

“Ah! If I may have one!”

I was still quite hungry. Was it really okay to ask for seconds—as a working adult? I had been worrying about that a little, so I appreciated Glantz’s offer.

Smiling, I held out my dish to Glantz.

With slightly stiff movements, Glantz poured soup into the dish and handed it back to me.

“Go on, eat up, Ilvis!”

“Yes! Thank you very much! I’ll eat with the spirit of ‘If you eat poison, eat the plate too!’” (Meaning: if you’re going to do something, go all the way.)

When I said that, for some reason Glantz’s whole body jolted.

…What was that about? Well, I decided not to worry about it.

I gulped the soup down.

“Pwah, delicious!”

Glantz stared at me as I did. His eyes were clearly darting about.

“Uh, well, really… the taste is fine, right?”

Why was he so worried? Was he really that uneasy about the flavor?

I had to help him gain some confidence.

“It really tastes wonderful, with absolutely no problem at all. Please eat yours soon, Glantz-san. Then you’ll understand.”

“Ah, ah…”

Still wearing an indecisive expression, Glantz kept staring at the soup in his dish.

Both his shoulders were trembling faintly.

…I had to help remove even a little of his anxiety. With a broad smile on my face, I said this.

“Come on, bottoms up. Drink it all in one go!”