Let’s Unravel the Tangled Thread

Canned soup boiled with just a few vegetables.

Hard biscuits difficult to chew.

A little salt and sugar for caloric supplement.

Some seasonings and sauces added just to give a bit of flavor.

Viewed separately, it was a composition that was scary to even eat, but if transformed into a new dish through my hands, it was a different story.

At least when it came to applying and cooking combat rations, I prided myself on having skills superior to any chef in the Empire’s restaurants.

I always created the highest grade of dishes.

When consuming the combat rations I made myself, the satiety level, one of the game’s functions, recovered to the limit set by the system, meaning I had theoretically created a perfect result.

‘I wonder if that applies in reality too.’

Of course, actual practice could be different.

What does it matter if I recall those brilliant memories of the past a hundred times? It’s just experience in a virtual world, it only has meaning if I can demonstrate those skills now.

With the intention of properly verifying my skills by approaching the cooking process seriously, I poured water into the cast iron pan.

Hiss─!

I didn’t care at all about how the team members looked at me, focusing only on the ingredients in front of me.

I poured the soup with well-cooked vegetable chunks and heated it until steam rose, then finely chopped the biscuits and added them,

“Ye-Yena. Where did you learn this?”

“I just cooked a lot in the past.”

I answered Erika’s question while perfectly performing a series of processes.

One might say why put so much effort into just making one dish, but I pursued perfection.

I couldn’t tolerate mistakes or failures.

‘I think this should be about right.’

As the bread melted appropriately into the soup, and the water I poured evaporated, creating a scene reminiscent of risotto,

Sss─

I immediately sprinkled the salt and sugar I had set aside to adjust the seasoning, and poured in the sauce to add umami to the previously bland soup.

“W-Wow… it looks delicious.”

“Hmm.”

When the colorless soup finally took on a hue worthy of being called a dish, and gained a savory smell due to the seasonings, exclamations burst out from around.

While Erika wiped her drool and her eyes sparkled, Rina, who had arrived at some unknown point, holding her own shabby combat rations,

“When did you learn such things?”

“My father was an officer, so I picked it up here and there.”

“I-I see.”

She licked her lips and glanced sidelong at the food in my hands.

Since some point, except for Wolf who had left saying, “I won’t watch a commoner’s cooking process,” all team members had been watching the current cooking process.

‘Is he trying to maintain his pride?’

I sneered, glancing at the empty space where Wolf should have been, between Erika and Rina who were craning their necks like baby birds.

He probably couldn’t bring himself to ask me to cook for him, and would rather escape this pervasive soup aroma. Contrasting with his own situation of eating tasteless biscuits.

I welcomed it.

Isn’t it that I don’t have to see Wolf’s face? Given that we’re not on good terms right now, avoiding each other might be a good way to prevent conflicts.

‘I just hope he doesn’t cause trouble…’

Surely he won’t cause problems in this brief moment he’s left the clearing. I wasn’t too worried since we had sprayed giant monster blood around to drive away most monsters.

It means safety was secured.

The possibility of something more powerful than a giant monster appearing was extremely low. As long as Wolf doesn’t get lost in the forest, there shouldn’t be any troublesome incidents.

“Slurp, when will it be done?”

“Just need to add this.”

Click, grind─!

I finally opened one of the cans on the ground, adding the minced meat stored inside to finish the cooking.

“Here.”

“Fi-Finally!”

And I served it to Erika, who was holding a fork and knife in both hands, smiling brightly and dancing with her shoulders.

Steaming hot, with an appetizing visual that didn’t match the rigid name of combat rations…

“How is it?”

My special dish.

“It’s so delicious!”

“Really?”

“Not having eaten since morning, it feels good to be full! I didn’t know you could make something so amazing and great from those crude ingredients…”

Fortunately, the taste seemed not bad.

“You mean it’s okay?”

“Y-Yeah!”

Erika devoured the soup hastily as if drinking water, starting with the first bite she carefully swallowed.

“It’s s-sweet…!”

Rather, I was perplexed by her excessive reaction.

‘Is it that tasty?’

Her shivering body looked as if she was about to shed tears of emotion.

Carrying curiosity on my back, I immediately picked up a spoon and reached for the special soup in the cast iron pan.

“Hmm.”

After tasting it, I twitched my eyelids.

‘…It’s edible.’

Perhaps because it was the first meal of the day, it was truly sweet.

The seasoning was perfect, neither too salty nor too sweet, with a subtle taste of meat juice and the nuttiness of flour, no less than the food I had consumed in my previous life.

No, is it even better?

Compared to the convenience foods I had eaten constantly at some point because it was bothersome, this is quite good? It seems rich in nutrients and beneficial for health too.

“Not bad.”

The final review of the soup.

Slurp─!

I kept moving my spoon with a satisfied smile.

After settling down on the ground, I unbuttoned my coat and shirt to make my upper body comfortable and focused on the meal.

Erika, filling her stomach with soup smeared around her mouth.

Me, slowly putting food in my mouth without losing dignity.

“……”

Rina, showing no sign of bringing the biscuit and bland soup in her hands to her mouth, watched the whole scene in silence.

“Gulp.”

Occasionally wiping away the saliva that ran down her mouth.

“Rina.”

“A-Actually, I was about to stop looking and eat…”

“Give me that in your hand, I’ll make it for you.”

“Wh-What?”

And I didn’t just pass by Rina in her pitiful situation.

“U-Um. You don’t have to do that.”

“Really?”

“……”

In case she might not have understood, I reached out my hand again, explaining once more to Rina who was just blinking her eyes.

“If you’re going to just sprinkle salt on that hard bread and eat it, and drink that cold, tasteless soup as is, don’t give it to me.”

“I could also light a fire like you…”

“Are you good at cooking?”

“……”

“I’ll cook it exactly the same as what Erika is eating here without any conditions, so give me those ingredients in front of you.”

‘It’s about time to clear up misunderstandings with Rina.’

We weren’t in such a cold relationship as with Wolf, who could be called an enemy, and there was no reason to maintain such a long-standing hostile relationship with Rina.

The fact that she had been acting favorably recently also contributed to this resolve.

It was time to restore the relationship that had been spread out for reasons such as cultivating an acquaintance with her, or simply for fun.

It seemed that I had become sufficiently close to Rina, whether in a bad sense or a good sense, and I needed to build ‘intimacy’ with Rina for the plans I would carry out in the future.

‘I’ve also gotten everything I could get.’

It’s been a long time since I’ve fully milked the benefits that could be gained from her treating me strangely.

One of the prime examples was Helena.

Because Rina misunderstood me as a person with a creepy background, I could easily threaten Helena.

Thanks to that, I was able to learn very useful information such as Wolf’s personal details, the fact that he was plotting a conspiracy, and knowledge about myself that I didn’t know.

‘It went really smoothly.’

If even one of Helena or Rina had seen me as an ordinary commoner, it would have been an impossible deal. I stared at Rina while laughing loudly inside.

“What will you do?”

“…Why are you suddenly being considerate?”

“Because we’re teammates.”

“Te-Teammates?”

“Whatever happened on the day of the entrance ceremony, it’s a fact that we’re in the same team, right? We have to spend the next semester together, and I think it’s better than continuing to be awkward.”

But now the deal with Helena is over,

And I need Rina’s cooperation going forward.

“That’s also why I don’t provoke conflicts even when Wolf picks a fight first, and why I accept and follow you as the team leader without saying much.”

“Uh…”

“Moreover, isn’t it easier to steady your body at night if you fill your stomach well? I think if you eat those things without cooking them, your stomach will hurt a lot in the early morning.”

I persuaded Rina while expounding an untimely long speech.

Unlike the past full of mischief, when I spoke with a serious and cold gaze, she didn’t easily refuse either.

“Ugh.”

And so,

“Munch, munch. Delicious.”

How long had it been since silence enveloped the clearing, with only the sound of Erika’s chewing as she focused all her energy on eating?

“Phew, alright. But to be true teammates who trust each other without hiding anything, we need to clear up what’s built up between us… Can you answer a few questions later?”

Rina finally handed over the ingredients with a gaze tinged with complexity.

Thud─!

Of course, I received those items without hesitation.

“Let’s do that.”

With a brighter and more girlish eye-smile than ever, unsuited to the cool and cold night sky.