I Seem to Have Found Something

I seemed to have found something.

At the unfamiliar sound, I stepped outside—and for some reason, a ball of fluff had appeared right in front of my door.

I never saw this while I was cleaning. How strange.

Curious, I reached out and touched it. It was surprisingly soft.

Fluffy. Fluffy.

Warm in a peculiar way, with a texture that made me want to ruffle it—a sensation I hadn't felt in ages.

It was rather like stroking a puppy.

"Ohh."

I'd been at it only a moment when I suddenly remembered why I'd come outside in the first place.

Someone had said they were hungry, hadn't they…?

"Heh…"

But did that really matter right now?

At this rate, I felt I could keep petting it all day.

Stroke, stroke.

The texture was oddly addictive.

Running my hand with the grain, I found a mischievous urge rising in me. The moment I reversed my palm and deliberately ruffled against the grain—

"Wawoof!"

It suddenly sprang up—and it had a human shape.

The distinctive features were the ears and the tail, and of those, the tail was especially full and lush.

Ah. So what I'd been petting this whole time was the tail.

As that thought settled, the figure itself looked strangely familiar.

"Oh my. Aren't you Luca?"

"Carmilla, Luca hungry. Want food!"

The culprit was the beastman I'd met before—Luca.

A few days ago, I'd run into him on the road while searching for rock salt. He'd accepted the agreed labor fee and the trial-batch of grilled pork belly I'd cooked, left thoroughly satisfied, and gone on his way.

To cross paths with him again like this… was this what people called fate?

Hmm. Still… I still don't quite know how one is supposed to treat a beastman…

Should I regard him as a puppy, or as a person?

Come to think of it, I'd often seen beastmen while playing Chronicles of Rodoros as well. Of course, never among the protagonist's party—only as NPCs or enemies.

They usually appeared as slaves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or gladiators, pitiful souls one and all…

Perhaps that was why Luca looked just as scruffy now as he had then.

"Well. You've come to the right place, at least."

Even so, turning away a hungry child ran against my philosophy.

No matter how dirty or wretched they might be—once they came seeking me, they were a guest.

I opened the door without hesitation and gestured for him to come inside. He looked rather startled.

"Uh… Luca really can go in?"

"Yes. It's nearly suppertime, so I shall treat you to soup and bread."

I ushered the beastman inside and began to prepare a meal.

Well. I ought to make up for petting him without asking.

I'd done a light bit of shopping earlier in the day, so I took ingredients from the basket.

Bread, butter, milk, an assortment of vegetables, and bacon.

Originally bought for my own dinner, but sharing would do just fine.

"Please sit comfortably and wait a moment."

Fortunately a usable pot remained, enough for something simple. I set the pot I'd scrubbed clean while cleaning that day over the heat and began chopping the ingredients.

Chop, chop—

Once the pot had warmed, I dropped in a few pats of butter and let them melt thoroughly, then added several slices of bread and toasted them until the surfaces crisped.

A shame I haven't any flour to make a proper roux… but this should still taste more than fine.

I still hadn't properly stocked the kitchen, so the ingredients were rather poor—but this particular guest didn't seem the type to mind.

"Good smell!"

The scent of butter beginning to drift from the kitchen drew a thoroughly positive reaction.

Faced with that unvarnished approval, a smile rose on my face of its own accord.

"Hehe. Luca. What have you been doing with yourself until now?"

"Mm. Played hide-and-seek."

Hide-and-seek, was it.

Had he been playing with friends?

"I have just opened a restaurant, you see. To meet you again like this because of it—surely this is what they call fate."

"Fate…? Luca came find Carmilla. Familiar smell."

And then, suddenly, a question struck me.

What was a child like him doing wandering the streets at such a dark hour?

The likeliest guess was that he'd gotten lost. Judging by his rather grimy state of hygiene, he didn't seem to come from a well-off home…

It was also entirely possible no one was looking after him at all.

Well. I can ask properly later.

Just then, the toasted side of the bread turned a fine brown. I set the finished pieces aside and began sautéing the vegetables and bacon in the remaining butter.

Sizzle—

Bite-sized vegetables fried in butter and bacon fat, singing a lovely little song. Since there was butter involved, I couldn't use high heat; I only cooked until the onions softened, then poured in the milk and raised the flame to bring it to a proper boil.

Hisssss—

At once, the milk heated so rapidly that the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot melted free in an instant.

Deglazing.

A technique that dissolved the flavor of the stuck fond and extracted it, deepening the savor.

Pepper would have been nicer, but that's a genuine trade good—quite expensive, you know…

After that, I stirred often so nothing would scorch, and seasoned with a moderate sprinkle of the rock salt I'd gathered before.

Bubble, bubble—

Once the long, gentle simmer had softened the solids in the soup, I ladled a portion onto one of the few plates I'd bought that afternoon and set the well-toasted bread beside it.

"Mm. Not bad at all."

The warmth rising from the hot soup and its fine aroma made for a spread that drew a smile all by itself.

"Here you are, Luca. Cream soup and bread."

The moment I set the spoon and soup on the table, Luca began sniffing enthusiastically.

"Whoa… looks tasty."

And the instant his hand reached not for the spoon but for the plate itself—

"A moment. You will eat properly, with utensils."

I firmly stopped him and placed the spoon in his hand.

"Like this… yes, hold it like so."

I even shaped his fingers myself, but the complicated grip seemed to annoy him; he simply reversed the spoon into a reverse grip and began shoveling soup into his mouth.

My efforts were half wasted, and I felt a little deflated—but at least he was using a utensil. That counted for something.

"Mm! Super super tasty!"

After a single taste, Luca's whole face melted into a smile, and he began wolfing down the soup in a frantic rush.

In that same moment, something appeared before my eyes.

What… is this?

The status window ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd confirmed the existence of once before had appeared again.

I'd known back then that there was a hidden trait, but so this was it…

But how on earth was the trait named Lord of Gastronomy?

I stared at the trait with that question in mind, and the status window shifted.

Reading it properly, I found it an absurd trait.

If I fed someone well… I grew stronger in equal measure?

I had no idea how a trait like this had come to exist.

If I had to guess, it was because I'd devoted nearly my entire previous life to the vocation of cooking.

Come to think of it, there was a notice that Luca's stats had risen…

At a glance, this trait could look like sticking a straw in someone by feeding them and then parasitizing off them. If that had been the structure, it would have been exploitation bordering on black magic—but the fact that it granted stats to the contractor made for a considerable difference.

And this was an outrageous buff.

I don't have an appraisal eye for stats, so it doesn't tell me exactly how much they rose…

In Chronicles of Rodoros, the stat ceiling for each parameter was fifty.

Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck.

Occasionally there were monsters who broke each stat's limit and exceeded fifty… but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point was that the minimum increase was fixed.

No matter how "slight" a stat increase, it couldn't be less than one.

An ordinary human's five stats added up to around twenty-five. If every stat rose by one, that became a total of thirty.

It might not sound like much—but in percentage terms, they had suddenly grown twenty percent stronger.

By that measure, this skill could safely be classified as an extremely powerful buff.

This trait has plenty of unanswered questions… but it is exceedingly useful.

Not that every mystery had been solved.

The conditions for the trait to activate were a puzzle from the start. For one thing, nothing at all had happened when I cooked for Ian yesterday.

And yet it had activated when I fed Luca today—which meant, however vaguely, that there had to be some difference between the two situations.

Aside from that, this business of "special dishes" still catches my eye…

I had no idea what that meant.

Was I supposed to figure it out by feeding people myself?

With no real clues, I decided to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set it aside for now.

Well. Worrying won't produce answers anyway.

I sank so deep into thought that it was quite a while before I noticed the gaze fixed on me.

"Carmilla. Give Luca one more bowl."

At those pitiful eyes, I couldn't help but laugh.

A single bowl of soup clearly wasn't enough for this one.

Growing children, I supposed.

"Yes. As much as you like."

That was when it happened.

Bang bang bang—

The moment I turned toward the kitchen to ladle out another bowl for Luca, a rough pounding came at the door.

When I opened it, the figure standing there was a man of distinctly suspicious air.

"Pardon the late intrusion."

This did not give me a good feeling.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen a beastman around here, would you?"