Chapter 353

While absentmindedly preparing dinner, the quantity of food grew far beyond what I had imagined.

Looking at the amount of chicken porridge, which seemed enough for at least 10 servings, I felt dizzy, wondering how we would handle all of it.

'Though Ethan eats slightly more than me, he’s not really a big eater either…'

Even if the two of us ate as much as we could, we’d probably only manage to clear about a quarter of the deep pot.

The disaster likely began with the decision to use a 1:1 ratio of rice to water.

'Come to think of it, the ratio was 1:1, not a recipe for two servings.'

Considering the amount of broth that comes from one chicken, we ended up with enough for at least six meals, and adding all that rice just doubled the volume.

If I’d only considered feeding Ethan and myself, I should’ve used half the broth to make a slightly runny risotto, and saved the rest of the broth to drink lightly in the morning before we set off.

…Instead of making a whole pot of porridge with the carb ratio maxed out like this.

“Well, for now, let’s just eat as much as we can tonight and have the rest for breakfast before we leave. If we cover it properly overnight, it shouldn’t spoil in just one night.”

“…Understood, Young Master Ethan.”

“And if there’s still too much left… as much as it’s a waste, we’ll have no choice but to throw it out.”

“……”

It had been a while since I last failed at cooking while camping, so I had built up some confidence.

Fortunately, the dish itself wasn’t a failure. The rice, soaked in rich chicken broth, spread smoothly in my mouth, reminding me of the chicken porridge I had in my previous life.

The only issue was that I’d made too much. At least the dinner itself wasn’t ruined, which was a small comfort.

“I understand. Well, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

-Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop.

Just as I was about to give up and prepare dinner as Ethan suggested, I suddenly heard the sound of a carriage approaching from a distance.

I wondered if it might be others looking to camp nearby like us. When I looked over, I saw two familiar-looking carriages approaching, and people with familiar faces, including the drivers, were dismounting one after the other.

“It’s lucky we made it to the grassland in time to set up the tent.”

“We could’ve arrived two hours earlier if one of the drivers hadn’t insisted on taking a shortcut through the forest.”

“It was a shortcut. The carriage was just too big to pass through.”

“No one calls a path that’s impassable by carriage a shortcut, Silena.”

“Shut up. You didn’t even drive. Stop telling me what to do when you just hitched a ride.”

“This carriage belongs to the royal family! And you’re the one who insisted on driving it with the hero!”

“P-please don’t fight, Princess Seraphine… S-Silena…”

The hero’s party was just as lively as ever.

At first glance, the sight of the three main heroines bickering might seem like a problem, but in fact, it was proof that the hero was managing their affection levels incredibly well.

If he were to show any clear favor to one of them, it wouldn’t just be verbal quarreling—they’d get into a serious, brutal catfight.

As it was now, they were all aware that they had feelings for the hero, and while each wanted to monopolize his love, they didn’t want to sacrifice their friendship with the others.

If the situation stayed like this, it could very well lead to a harem ending.

‘…Although, if he wasn’t aiming for a harem ending, there wouldn’t be any need to manage their affection levels like this.’

Listening to the ambiguous behavior of the hero’s party with one ear while continuing to eat with Ethan, I soon overheard a conversation that piqued both our interests.

“…I’m starving.”

“Thanks to someone, dinner’s delayed, but there’s nothing we can do. We should set up the tent before dark, so I guess we’ll have to skip dinner.”

“…What? That’s ridiculous…”

“Miss Agnes, if you’re really hungry, would you like some raw carrots? I carry them for when I get hungry during sword practice…”

“I’d rather starve than eat that kind of thing.”

“……”

“……”

Ethan and I exchanged silent glances.

…A perfect excuse had just presented itself to deal with all this excess chicken porridge.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“…I’m not sure if it’s alright for us to intrude on your dinner like this. I feel like we’re disturbing your meal, Young Master Ethan, Lady Lilith.”

“No, there’s plenty of food, so please help yourselves, Princess Seraphine.”

“Indeed. Lilith made so much dinner that it’s been a bit troublesome. If we have more people to eat, it’s actually a relief for us.”

Given that Ethan and I had made far too much food to handle, the appearance of the hero’s party was an incredibly welcome surprise.

And with eight members in the hero’s group, it was the perfect opportunity to finish off the ten servings of food we had ended up with.

“This, did Lilith make it?”

“Yes, Miss Agnes.”

“…It’s a taste I’ve never experienced before, but it’s edible enough.”

“Thank you, Miss Agnes.”

Well, in this world, chicken broth dishes would likely be something like chicken stew or chicken risotto, so it was probably their first time trying a proper Korean-style chicken porridge.

And considering that Agnes was someone who hardly ever gave compliments, this result was actually pretty good.

Even though the dish had a generous amount of garlic, which was characteristic of Korean food, everyone was eating it quite well. In fact, later on, there wasn’t enough left, and Silena and Agnes even began to compete for what remained.

“For an elf, you’re eating too much meat, don’t you think? You should stop taking so much.”

“Only the old elders in the elven forest are vegetarians. And since I’m still in my growth phase by elven standards, I need to eat a lot. Unlike you, who’s fully grown already.”

“…No matter how much you elves grow, your chest will always stay as flat as a board.”

“Your chest is smaller, human.”

“No, yours is smaller.”

“I’m still growing, but you’ve already stopped.”

“Being born an elf means you won’t grow any more. This has already been proven in multiple studies on racial characteristics…”

“Is it really necessary to discuss chest sizes at the dinner table? After all, 80% of human physical development is determined by genetics, so it’s a pointless conversation…”

“Shut up, you big-breasted human.”

“Well, it’s not so bad, I suppose.”

“….”

“….”

When small, yapping dogs get too noisy, sometimes the best way to quiet them is to bring a tiger into the room.

Since the two who were last and second-last in terms of chest size at Lumina Academy were involved, the moment I stepped into the conversation, they quickly shut their mouths and focused on eating. It was the spearman Thomas who took the initiative to change the embarrassing subject of conversation for the men.

“Ahem. Well, now that we’ve eaten so much, I feel terribly guilty for accepting such hospitality from Lady Lilith and Young Master Ethan. Is there any way we can repay you?”

“Yes, we do feel bad just receiving a meal like this. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way!”

“Well…? As I said earlier, there really was just too much food left over, so we shared it. It wasn’t done with the expectation of anything in return, so you don’t need to worry about it, Thomas.”

“Well, if you wouldn’t mind, as repayment, I could offer Lady Lilith a sparring session…”

“That’s just something you want to do, isn’t it, Natalie? …You can ignore what Natalie just said, Lady Lilith.”

“I’ll just accept the thought, Miss Natalie.”

“…Yes.”

…She must be quite irritated from losing to me twice already.@@novelbin@@

If this were a sparring match within the academy, where there are some safety measures in place, I might have accepted. But out here, having a match with Natalie could lead to a real disaster, so I politely declined.

Incidentally, Natalie’s growth rate was slightly slower compared to the original story. My sudden leap to the entry level of Sword Expert was part of what caused the gap, but that wasn’t the only reason.

In my case, the experience farming I did in the Witch’s Forest, the pendant I received from Lara, and the week-long survival training in Natural Studies all contributed to me leveling up at an intensity that the original Lilith couldn’t have imagined. By comparison, Natalie…

‘Natalie’s best opportunities for leveling up were during the Lilith Rescue Mission in Part 2 or the Secret of August’s Mansion event in Part 3…’

Both of those events featured enemies who used swords as mid-bosses or final bosses, making them ideal battles to use Natalie as the main tank. …The problem was that neither of those events existed in this world.

With Ethan’s redemption and Lige’s survival…

Just as there are benefits, there are also drawbacks. In a world where Ethan and Karaham hadn’t fallen into darkness, Natalie had missed out on her major growth events, which delayed her entry into Sword Expert and Sword Master.

‘If only I could find a way to help Natalie grow significantly on her own.’

I wonder if that fool Yongjaekis even knows about Natalie’s current growth status.

All I could do was slowly get lost in more useless thoughts as the day wore on.