888. Twice Is A Pattern

888. Twice Is A Pattern

Frost visited the town’s mass kitchen to see what Ber and Ignis were up to.

There were times when Ignis would come and help Ber out since she could coordinate up to tens of limbs at once.

Pale, sterile tiles and the scent of delicious roast meat greeted Frost when she passed through a pair of sliding doors. Inside was a 500 meters square kitchen manned by dozens of Healers, several Moons, Ber and an Ignis who supervised Stella, Aster and Ilya. Aprons and cute chef hats were worn by most Healers, who were convinced that the hat granted them cooking buffs.

They were in the middle of a lull in service. Half of the brigade worked on storing trays of food into the shared Relay Site whilst the other cooked the meals for the brigade. They stopped their work for a brief moment. Silence instantly filled the room as they turned towards Frost, bowed, then resumed working.

I’ll never get used to this kind of treatment.

Cer snooped around, trying her hand on various cooking techniques such as whisking, cutting, frying, stirring, etc; and eventually settled down on rolling out dough.

“Froooooost~” Ber exclaimed, towing around a giant pot of stew. “You came just in time! We’ll be eating together in about half an hour. Hey, I know you don’t have anything to do till Enoch arrives, so why not lend a hand~”

The bubbly Ber melted Frost’s heart. Her hair was tied into a beautiful bun and was held in place with an obsidian chopstick. She twirled from counter to counter, moving pots of stew and pans like a dance.

“I can lend my tastebuds~” Jury went straight into action, moving from station to station as the kitchen’s call-in taste-tester.

“I shall do the same. I doubt Jury’s tastebuds are as analytical as mine.” Nav reached into her own personal Dimensional Storage and nibbled on a cupcake. “Would it be fine for me to lend a hand?”

“You’ve already bitten the cupcake. And besides, is there a point in asking me?” Ber laughed. “You could always ask me telepathically.”

“Like Frost – I prefer if we speak face to face.”

“Cute as always~ South Section! Take care of Nav for us!”

“”””Yes chef!””” A group of Healers replied in a harmonic choir.

“Cute…?” Nav tilted her head before she was kidnapped by the Healers. “Ahem. Very well. I shall analyze the food.  Of course, it will be just in case someone tries to poison you.”

“I’m immune to poison already.” Frost blankly blinked.

“That’s what you think. Your guard has been lowered. Now would be the precise moment to attack. Be wary of suspicious Healers that try to feed you –”

“Miss Nav! Librarian Nav! Would you like a double choco chip cookie?”

A group of Healers beamed up at her, each holding a giant, chewing cookie in their hands. Nav instantly opened her mouth mid-sentence, allowing the Healers to feed her like how servants would feed grapes to an ancient Greek king.

“Owkway? Trwuwly, ywour’re swo nawieve. (Okay? Truly, you’re so naive).”

“Haaaah. Have fun.” Frost laughed.

“If you like these then we can send them to the Library in bulk~ But Miss Anna said she prefers it if we send biscuits –”

“Anna is objectively wrong. She prefers the bland type of biscuits too. How uncouth.” Nav’s brows furrowed.

The kitchen functioned on an organized-chaos basis. At first glance it looked like there was an invisible fire and everyone was rushing around looking for a fire extinguisher. But upon closer inspection, they worked like a well-oiled machine.

The kitchen was split into six sections. North, East, South, West and the Center where Ber and those with the highest level in the Cook Profession joined her to work on the most complicated dishes. Slightly south of the Center was a long, steel table dedicated to the pass, where a sous chef would make the final check at their own discretion.

Ber threw a heated towel over her shoulder and raised her tail. At once, a Healer with a high level in [Cleanse] cleaned her. Then she moved in to hug Frost.

“Recharge complete! Isn’t that what Jury says whenever she hugs you? Hah. Ignis! C’mere! Frost is here!”

“Mn. I know. That’s why I’m standing right here.” Ignis stood right behind Ber, waiting for her turn to hug Frost. “My turn. Mmm… *Purr* Always so cozy~”

She purred in Frost’s embrace and wore a blissful expression.

“You doing ok, Ignis? Nothing bothering you?”

“Nothing. Only successes. Did you see the documentation I sent to you?”

“About the eye?”

“Mn.”

A letter was sent to the Floor of the Head. Contained within the letter was 12,000-word thesis written in ink regarding the human eye. Detailed diagrams, cross-sections, and first-hand data that could not have possibly belonged to an 8-year-old child like Ignis. Even if one used Earth’s time scale, she’d only be 11 years old.

And yet, that thesis that came to Frost was written by none other than Ignis. Given the complexity of the human eye and Ignis’ wish to give Stella vision, she wanted Frost’s approval before she could even consider an eye transplant.

“It’s remarkable. I didn’t believe you wrote it at first. But I remembered how hard you’ve been working. At this point, I’m not even sure if I’m even qualified to approve it.”

“I still want your approval.” Ignis insisted.

“Then you know my answer. Does Stella know?”

“Mn. She knows. So far, I’ve created a tactile three-dimensional system to help her navigate her surroundings.”

Stella wore a thin, crimson glove. Within was a system of roughly a hundred pin that pressed against the palm of her hand. A series of tiny eyes observed the world from the exterior of her glove. What they saw was translated into a tactile expression of the world around her, like how braille was used on Earth to convey language to those who suffered from blindness.

It was ingenious.

The largest hurdle of giving Stella vision was transmitting vision to Stella’s brain. The easiest method right now was to translate it to one of her other working senses. If the pins were pressed against her fingertips, then Stella would be warned of a wall or object in front of her. If it wiggled, then it meant that what was in front of her was either dangerous or hot.

“Informed consent is the first thing I do. That’s why Aquatids are hated. Slimy squids touch wherever they want without telling you.” Ignis’ ears drooped at the thought. “People who go under my scalpel know everything I’m going to do. It makes them trust me.”

“And trust Healers as whole. Good work, Ignis. I’m so proud of you.” Frost fluffed the girl’s ears, making her melt with delight.

“I do it because I like it.” Her harmonic voice came out, captivating those who happened to hear her.

The Tactile Locator – as Ignis called Stella’s glove – was one of the few biological inventions of hers that served a practical purpose. The Reactive Shield was used here in the kitchen by the Healers. If oil splashed on a Healer, then the Reactive Shield – which was in the form of a necklace – would erect a membrane barrier to protect its user.

One of the larger ones Ignis was working on was a biological pacemaker. That way, those affected with heart rhythm abnormalities could be corrected. If she scaled it up, then she could create living defibrillators, effectively cutting out the need for electric-based magic.

If Ignis continues to pursue her creations, then I can see her reaching the heights of an Atelier. But she wouldn’t use Nex to power her ‘technology’. It’d be based on biological processes. Just food. A lot of food.

An Atelier without Nex would be groundbreaking, but it was a mere delusion of Frost’s.

Ignis’ wish came first no matter what.

Frost conversed with Ber and Ignis for a short while. As it turned out, Ber had maxed out her cooking Skill and received a Mastery called [Master Cook]. It granted a 200% satiation bonus, 100% nutrition bonus, and a 5% HP regeneration buff for 24 hours to those who consumed her cooking.

Additionally, those who trained under her gained a 50% increase in experience towards cooking-related Skills. Afterwards, Ignis talked about Stella’s desire to attend the Academy of Magic.

There were multiple Academies across the Nex Megalopolis, but people usually thought of the Academy of Magic in H5. It was no place for a young girl like Stella, but with her ties to the Head, the chances of someone messing with her were incredibly low.

We don’t have schools in the Nexus, huh. I never thought about that. It might be a good idea to build one in the Common Hub for children of the Blessed. Or one in the Nex Megalopolis close to a Hyperlink Relay. Lots of decisions, and they all come down to me.

“This damned dough keeps stretching apart!” Cer’s voice brought Frost out from her train of thoughts.

Suddenly, a Sanguine Dove moved to Cer’s section. Her hair reached down to her hips, and two sections of her pale hair were dyed red. She was a new Sanguine Dove who had a similar body to Lumina; tall and curvaceous. Her name was Irae, who coincidentally was the same Healer that asked Res for Cer’s whereabouts.

She wore an annoyed attitude that criticized Cer for being incapable of stretching dough. But there was a sense of satisfaction in her gaze and soft grin, like she took pleasure in seeing Cer like this.

The reason?

“Let me show you how it’s done, Fang of the Head. Watch me closely.”

It was so that she could step in and teach Cer herself.

“Hey… Ber. Did that Healer ask about Cer too?” Frost whispered in Ber’s ear.

“That Healer? Irae? She’s not the one.”

“The one?”

“A White Dove came by the other day asking for Cer.”

“… Hold on. A normal Healer? What for?”

“Beats me. Why? Was there another Healer asking for Cer?”

“Sort of. Yeah. I dunno why… I guess the season of love isn’t over yet.”

“Cer’s become unexpectedly popular. Good for her~” Ber hummed.

Once was a coincidence. But twice was a pattern.

There were three Healers with their eyes on Cer, and the wolf who should have been the one to notice this was utterly oblivious to the fact.

Nav. Does Cer know?

“I think you’re overthinking it.”

Really? Me? I’m overthinking it?

Frost mentally said as she watched the Sanguine Dove feed Cer a strawberry, accidentally brushing her finger against Cer’s lips.

“What’s with you? Wanna get your finger bitten off?” Cer jokingly said, grinning at the woman.

Suddenly, the Sanguine Dove’s confident demeanor shattered, causing her to become an embarrassed mess.

“I – Um… Uh, didn’t see you –”

“Heh. You sure about that?” Cer folded her arms, gazing up into the woman’s eyes with a raised brow. “It’d be dangerous for a wolf like me to learn the taste of a Healer~ Take care. I’m done here. Cya later~”

“Cya Sis!” Ber waved.

She took her leave, still grinning over at Irae. It was only a joke, but Irae could barely stand. She leaned over the kitchen counter for dear life and clasped at her redden cheeks.

“A-Ah… Hah… E-Eat… I-I mean… What am I thinking!?” She slapped herself. “… B-Bye…”

No fucking way…

“I see it too. No fucking way indeed.”

Jury’s tail could be seen wagging excitedly in the background, perfectly encapsulating her inner glee. No one seemed to have witnessed what had just happened aside from themselves.

Healers rushed in to help the Sanguine Dove, believing she was exhausted by the workload.

But little did they know that this Sanguine Dove was mind-broken by Cer’s unintentional charm.

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