Chapter 70

Nere's hairstyle, clumsily arranged by Aldis, was a short cut that revealed her ears, just like the twins.

"It's a match, Nere!"

"Together, together!"

Seeing the cool female guardian with the same hairstyle as theirs, the twins were delighted and played around happily.

Her hair was a shade of blue close to white and a tint of gold. If the three of them, with similar color tones, stood side by side, they might be mistaken for sisters of different ages.

"Well, I'm not a professional, so please forgive me for the somewhat uneven result."

"No problem. It's a fine job, my lord."

Aldis's somewhat apologetic words were met with a cheerful response from Nere.

Usually, the servant did not show much emotion, but today she seemed to smile more than usual.

"Very well, it's about the right time. I shall start preparing the evening meal. My lord, you may rest comfortably."

Nere entered the house with a light step.

As she said, the sun was beginning to set when she looked up at the sky.

There was still some time before dusk, but it was just right to spend the time leisurely while waiting for the meal to be prepared.

In this house with young twins, there was no habit of staying up late.

After washing away the fatigue of the journey in the bath, Aldis waited for the evening meal on the living room sofa, with the twins clinging to her.

"It's ready."

At Nere's brief call, Aldis and the twins took their seats at the table where the food was laid out.

"Thanks to my lord for buying the seasonings, today's meal turned out to be quite satisfying."

If it were a house in the city, it would be easy to go shopping every day, but there were no grocery stores in the middle of the forest.

Moreover, Nere couldn't leave the twins behind and go to the capital.

Fortunately, it was possible to hunt animals for meat and gather some wild herbs in the forest.

Although the garden was not yet producing, it should eventually yield fresh vegetables.

However, wheat for bread had to be purchased in the city, and spices and seasonings were difficult to produce on their own.

Furthermore, although not essential, dried seafood and eggs could only be bought in the city.

"Eggs... Even if I buy them when I return from the capital, they won't last long. If we keep chickens in the yard, we can get a steady supply..."

Hearing Nere's talk about how eggs would enhance the meals, Aldis muttered.

"Are we going to keep chickens? How many?"

"Hianah, we, chickens, in the yard!"

"Riana, don't talk while eating. It's impolite. And Filia, chickens are counted as 'one bird, two birds,' not 'one chicken, two chickens.'"

"But aren't animals all counted as 'one animal, two animals'?"

Filia, with her light green eyes, asked Nere, apparently having always counted animals as 'one animal, two animals.'

"Birds are counted as 'one bird, two birds.' Remember that."

"Hmm, that's strange. We should just use one word."

Filia's response seemed to indicate that she didn't quite understand.

At that moment, Riana, who had finally swallowed the food in her mouth, joined in.

"Riana and the others will take care of the chickens!"

"Yes. You will help take care of the chickens. My lord, if there's an opportunity, could you bring back a few birds?"

"I don't mind, but... won't it attract carnivorous animals?"

Nere, who was confident, and the twins, who were excited about "chickens," persuaded Aldis, and she decided to buy chickens when she next went to the capital.

"Then I'll start building the chicken coop tomorrow. Don't worry, my lord. I'll build it strong enough to withstand monster attacks."

Faced with the unusually enthusiastic servant, Aldis responded with a wry smile.

"No, it doesn't have to be that strong..."

After a good night's rest, Aldis set off for the capital, Gran, accompanied by Nere and the twins to meet up with the members of "Morning Star of White Night."

Ted and the others were also heading to the city-state of Reiting for work, so they decided to travel together.

After passing through the gate early in the morning, Aldis walked straight to the "Rivulet Inn" where Ted and the others were staying.

In the early morning air, the main street of the capital was bustling with residents heading to the morning market and merchants pulling carts.

The gate, which separated the inside and outside of the capital, had just opened, but people's lives were already in motion.

Feeling the bustling atmosphere in the quiet air, Aldis passed through the entrance of the "Rivulet Inn," where he usually stayed.

The first floor of the inn, which served as a dining room, was bustling with mercenaries and merchants who had finished their preparations for departure. However, strangely, no one was eating breakfast.

"Welcome! Oh, it's Aldis!"

Seeing Aldis, the inn's signboard girl, Meryl, greeted him energetically.

"Thanks for bringing in customers yesterday!"

After parting ways with Aldis, Ted and the others apparently stayed at the "Rivulet Inn."

From the inn's perspective, it was as if Aldis had brought in new customers.

"I need to talk to them... Are they still sleeping?"

"No, they're sitting at that table over there."

Meryl pointed to a table in a corner of the dining room.

Aldis followed her gaze and saw the three of them sitting around a round table.

But why were all three of them face down on the table?

Despite his confusion, Aldis thanked Meryl and approached the table where the three were sitting.

"Hey, Ted. What's wrong? Did you drink too much?"

The first thing that came to mind was a hangover from drinking too much the previous night.

However, if that were the case, it wouldn't explain why Norris was also face down.

Unlike Ted, who drank without thinking, or Orphelia, who had a bad drinking habit, Norris was well aware of his alcohol tolerance.

Aldis had never seen Norris lose control from drinking, and it seemed unlikely that he would drink so heavily that it would affect the next day.

"A, ah... It's Aldis..."

Ted's face was pale as he got up.

"You look terrible, but it doesn't seem like a hangover, does it?"

"No, it's not the alcohol."

"Then what—"

"Bad."

"Huh?"

The unexpected response from Ted to Aldis's question was unexpected.

"Bad, as in something went wrong?"

"No, it's bad. The food is bad. Terribly bad. It's so bad it feels like harassment. What is this, even? Is this food?"

Ted's face was blue as he pointed to the breakfast on the table.

A loaf of bread with some unidentifiable substance mixed in, a salad with strange colors, and a white soup with an overly sour smell.

Looking at the lineup, Aldis finally understood the cause.

"Oh... I see..."

The menu looked normal at first glance, but upon closer inspection, there might have been something off.

It was unlikely that the members of "Morning Star of White Night" would have missed such a discrepancy.

However, they probably didn't expect the food from a paying inn to have such serious problems.

Perhaps because they trusted the inn Aldis had introduced, Ted and the others ate the "Rivulet Inn's" ultimate weapon without any caution.

"Ugh... The nausea hasn't gone away yet."

Ted pressed his hand to his mouth, trying to hold it back.

"Ahaha. As expected of Aldis's regular inn. It was intense..."

Norris, after a dry laugh, had a distant look in his eyes.

"Ugh... As expected of the capital. The badness was so strong. I should treat everyone to this next time..."

Orphelia, who could be considered a connoisseur of bad food, was impressed by the taste and mentioned a dangerous plan.

"Hey, Aldis! Isn't this terrible? Everyone is saying it's bad!"

Meryl, who had been listening to the conversation, protested.

"Terrible, that's our line. Charging for this is almost criminal."

Ted's voice was weak.

"Terrible! Even Aldis says it's good! Come on, Aldis!"

Although Aldis had never once said it was "good," it was true that there were only a handful of people in the capital who could eat Meryl's cooking without complaint.

To Meryl, that was enough to consider it "good."

"Ah, Aldis, you haven't had breakfast yet, right?"

"No, I already—"

"Wait here, I'll prepare it right away!"

Without waiting for Aldis's response, Meryl ran to the kitchen.

It seemed that eating Meryl's special breakfast was an unavoidable requirement.

With a light sigh, Aldis sat down at the same table as Ted and the others.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

When Aldis sat down, Ted and the others looked at him as if he were some strange creature.

"You... You're amazing. Volunteering to eat this... What kind of hero are you?"

"Aldis is amazing. I just gained a bit of respect for you."

"Aldis, your taste is also extraordinary. Impressive."

Although Aldis wasn't particularly happy about it, he silently accepted the strange praise from the three.

Soon, Meryl's special breakfast was laid out on the table, and Aldis began to eat quietly.

For the short time it took to finish the meal, Meryl beamed with joy, while Ted and the others looked at him with incomprehensible gazes.