Chapter 26

Adam called out to her.

“Shuri, this morning’s breakfast is pan con tomate and meatballs.”

“Popcorn? Meatballs?”

Shuri dashed into the kitchen. Massive meatballs generously drenched in tomato sauce welcomed her.

Shuri was deeply moved by the sight of meatballs as large as fists.

“Wow, I’ve never seen them this big. You made them yourself, right?”

Rubbing garlic and tomatoes vigorously against a piece of toasted bread, Adam spoke.

“There was some ground meat in the freezer, so I used that. Shuri, eat this first.”

Adam held out the bread rubbed thoroughly with tomatoes.

“It’s bread? Where’s the popcorn?”

“It is pan con tomate! It is a Spanish dish.”

“Aha. I thought you said popcorn.”

Shuri grinned as she accepted the bread, but she thought to herself.

‘I got excited for nothing thinking it was popcorn. Besides, Spanish people are strange. They rub tomatoes on bread instead of jam or butter?’

However, the moment she took a bite of the bread, she could see Europe. Shuri was deeply moved.

“It’s delicious…! So refreshing. The garlic aroma is subtle and nice too.”

“I am glad it is to your liking.”

With his chin resting on both hands, Adam watched with gratification as she diligently ate the single small piece of bread.

Having polished off the piece of bread in a flash, Shuri looked up at him and spoke.

“I want to eat one more! I’ll eat it with the meatballs.”

“Additional orders are always welcome.”

While Adam went to toast more bread, Shuri skewered a meatball with her fork and ate it up deliciously. The meatballs were tender and filled with cheese inside. This was explicitly to her taste.

Returning with the toasted bread, Adam rubbed garlic and tomatoes on the bread in front of her and spoke.

“I kept the bread on the smaller side. Since Shuri’s stomach is quite tiny, after all.”

“Yeah, thanks. The meatballs are delicious too! Are you sure this was really made with frozen meat? I think it tastes better than what you get at restaurants.”

“That is a relief. Shuri, you do not particularly care for black pepper either, do you? Instead of adding much black pepper, I tried to bring out the flavor by adding other spices bit by bit.”

Adam spoke with a smile.

“Cooking is quite fun. The reaction is instantaneous, after all. Above all, being able to see Shuri’s face as she eats deliciously is the ultimate reward.”

Shuri looked up at Adam with slightly moist eyes. It was because an absurd thought had suddenly crossed her mind.

‘I wish you could eat this together with me too.’

She imagined an Adam with a mouth. It wasn’t very difficult. She had seen it when she wore the VR gear and was trapped in that strange room.

Of course, even if a robot had a mouth, it would be difficult to actually consume food, but she thought it would be quite fine for him to have a mouth. She thought it would be nice to watch him move his lips to speak. If he smiled at her, even more so…

‘…Is it because I’ve been practicing getting used to mouths?’

To Shuri, who was staring at his face with a blank expression, Adam spoke in a soft voice.

“Shuri.”

“Yeah?”

“If you do not eat quickly, the cheese will harden.”

“Ah, right!”

Startled, Shuri snapped her gaze down to the plate of meatballs.

‘What was that?’

She diligently finished off the food to shake off the strange thoughts. Even though it was morning, she completely cleared the plate of meatballs, accompanied by the additionally ordered piece of bread.

“Phew, I’m full.”

“Your intake was a bit larger than usual, wasn’t it? However, Shuri needs to increase her intake a bit more. Focusing primarily on vegetables and protein.”

Rising from his seat, Adam spoke.

“I shall bring you some ginger ale to help with digestion.”

He naturally picked up Shuri’s finished plate and rose from his seat. He then placed the plate in the sink and went to fetch the ginger ale.

Crouching before the refrigerator, Shuri looked at Adam’s broad back as he searched for the ginger ale and thought.

‘Adam is so sweet. I love it.’

As she stared at Adam’s back with her large eyes, Shuri’s gaze suddenly landed on the tablet propped up beside her. Her own face, showing a wrinkled chin, was faintly reflected on the black, sleek panel.

“Gack.”

With a short shriek, Shuri punched the tablet. A mailbox instantly materialized, which was soon plastered with flashing advertisement banners. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Advertisements are a hundred times better than looking at my wrinkled chin.’

She liked advertisements. Because they, too, were simple and direct. Most advertisements possessed nothing but a lovely intention to fiercely grab one’s attention and guide them toward consumption.

‘Then I suppose I should follow along!’

A proud, capitalistic smile emerged on the corners of Shuri’s lips. That was right.

Currently, there was a one-million-dollar down payment in her account!

‘Since there’s an artificial intelligence who loves cooking at home, I should buy other ingredients besides tomatoes. Let’s buy meat, meat!’

Smiling brightly, she touched the online flyer sent by a hypermarket in Revnax.

As expected, the advertisement was filled with an infinite spirit of hospitality toward consumers. Is your pocket light? We will give you a discount! Is it a hassle to come buy items? We will deliver them to you!

Completely forgetting the squishy, moist emotions from a moment ago, Shuri, who had hopped aboard the surging dopamine, babbled happily.

“Before I forget, I should order some snacks to take to Soul Garden. While I’m at it, I’ll buy some for myself too.”

Returning before she knew it, Adam set the ginger ale bottle down in front of her and spoke amiably.

“Shuri, if you wish, I can place the order for you based on your past order history.”

At Adam’s kind suggestion, Shuri’s two eyes instantly welled up like a squirrel that had its plump acorns plundered.

“Huh? What do you mean by that? Do you have any idea how fun ordering snacks is… why should I leave that to an artificial intelligence?”

“Pardon?”

“Whoa! Adam, look at this. Milco released a new cookie. I have to add it to the cart!”

“Shuri…”

“First, I should add the daily necessities, right? Jelly, ice cream, chocolate, popcorn, nachos, potato chips… Wow, what is this? Cactus-flavored potato chips? Who made this thinking people would eat it? Having said that, let’s add it to the cart!”

“Shuri…!”

Adam slapped his large hand over the tablet screen, covering it. He then spoke in a grave voice.

“This is something I have wished to say for a while. Shuri… needs to cut down on snacks.”

Shuri took on a face identical to someone who had just been told they needed to go bungee jumping right this instant.

“Ah…?”

“You eat snacks instead of meals every day, after all. I noticed the pantry is heavily piled with unopened cookies and potato chips.”

Shuri flinched. The darkness of the pantry was her greatest weakness.

Avoiding Adam’s sharp gaze (?), she mumbled.

“…I’ll eat them all later.”

“Do not say such frightening things. If you eat all of that, a problem will definitely arise in Shuri’s tiny pancreas.”

“……!”

At the mention of the pancreas, Shuri caught her breath. The small pancreas of East Asians was her second weakness.

Without even touching the screen, Adam closed the window displaying the online flyer and spoke.

“Stop looking at the flyer. I shall order the items. Just what is necessary for our house and what is to be sent to Soul Garden will suffice, correct?”

Deprived of her right to shop, Shuri flared up.

“Ah, what does Adam even know about snacks!”

The artificial intelligence that knew everything arrogantly cocked his head. Adam’s pitch-black panel flashed.

[-_-+]

Left speechless, Shuri clasped her hands together and spoke earnestly.

“Th-Then… can’t we just buy the newly released one? The cactus-flavored potato chips are a limited edition…”

“You cannot. The snacks purchased in that manner are creating a black hole in that pantry, after all.”

“A black hole?”

“Once they go in, they do not come out, do they?”

Forgetting that she had been moved just a moment ago, Shuri felt her stomach bubbling up.

‘Adam is so insolent. A nagging, perverted robot. I want to teach him a lesson!’

Right then, a good idea struck her.

With her two eyes sparkling brightly, Shuri spoke.

“Then, Adam. How about making a bet with me?”