Hikari held the cart containing the ingredients for her breakfast.
She poked her finger into the pile of beans. Her finger emerged from the pile.
She poked her finger in again. The beans made a nice sound when they rolled down the cart and hit the wooden wall.
She shook the cart. The beans rolled from one end to the other.
"Hikari… stop it." Ria glared at her with an annoyed look.
Hikari looked up and poured the cart of beans and poured it into her cauldron.
"Yes, my lady."
She grabbed another cart.
It was full of ivory berries.
They were as hard as the beans and made a similar sound as she rocked the cart back and forth.
"Hikari!"
"Yes, my lady"
She poured the berries into her cauldron.
They are so hard without boiling that Ria wouldn't even be able to bite into them.
For Hikari, she occasionally eats it like pop candy.
But once the inside pops, the bitter juices will escape and would ruin whatever initial kick she got from the crunchy feeling.
Ria sat down beside her.
She leans her head against Hikari's side, her ear touching the side of Hikari's skirt wrapped around her waist.
It was the clean set she wears inside her chambers.
Ria snuggles closer.
"It's going to be like this for a while. At least until we can re cultivate the lands up north. The Carla farm fields are fertile enough to grow anything better. But the farmers won't work there with all the ghouls roaming about."
"I can guard it."
"You can't guard the entire front all the time. Being a giant does come with its drawbacks. Your muscles would feel sore from your own weight after fighting or even just standing out in the field for too long. We'll never deploy you that way."
"I see."
"Hey, don't worry about the Carla problem. It's not the first time. A hive spawns from time to time below the Carla delve point after it had been abandoned. The corruption is hardly strong enough to pose an existential threat to the Moradale houses. Nowadays, it's just a matter of who pays and who keeps the spoils."
The lid on her cauldron rattled.
Hikari stuck her ladle in and raised it to her mouth.
She swallowed.
She paused to look at the ladle.
Ria had ordered a bigger one for her so that it would fill her mouth.
She stared down the empty ladle with her abyssal gaze.
Poke. Poke. Hikari could barely feel her lady's tiny finger poking away at the side of her massive abdominal muscles.
She turned her head.
Ria was holding her lunch box.
"Look Hikari. This is bean paste. It gives a pleasant mouth feel after it's ground into paste and steamed. I would be adding any sugar either since there won't be enough for you."
She took out her tea spoon and scoped up a spoonful.
Her face winced as she chewed.
As she tried to swallow, she choked.
Thud. Hikari's finger gently tapped her on the back.
"My lady?"
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Cough*."
Ria went for another spoonful.
The rattling of metal on the ground as Hikari slid her steel tankard in front of Ria.
"Have some water."
Ria gave her a look of astonishment before taking her tea cup and standing up.
The giantess's cup was almost up to her neck. It could easily fit her entire body inside.
Hikari tilts her cup slowly until the water reaches the ledge.
Her lady scoped up some water with her teacup.
She shoved another spoonful of the bland and chewy bean paste into her mouth and forced it down her throat with a gulp of water.
"Cough* Cough* I can do it. I can do it."
Hikari gave her an amused look before swallowing a spoonful herself.
The beans and ivory berries were if nothing else, at least filling.
Hikari finished. Ria still has a third to go and seemed to be struggling to take another bite.
"My lady…"
"It's ok. It's ok. I can take it. I can take it."
"Beans last for a while. You don't have to force it"
Ria heaved a sign of relief on hearing that.
She closed the lid on her lunchbox.
Hikari stood up and walked towards her exercise area.
Ria looks at her with curious eyes.
"My lady, I hear beans are good for building muscle."
Her lady blushes red as Hikari stretches her arms.
Her face gets redder as Hikari pulls her sword to herself.
"Watch!" A sharp word.
Ria flinched.
Hikari rested her sword on her shoulders.
It had the weight of at least a dozen suits of armour.
She bent her knees and leaned her upper body forward in a squat.
"Enjoy the show for now. I'll make you do it later."
Ria was sweating.
"Yes.. Hikari.."
. . .
Hikari inspected her armour.
The sheets of her wyvern skin armour looked so brand new that she thought it was a fake.
"Your armour just came back from the workshop. Every piece had been refurbished anew. There were some pieces that the workshop sent back as there were some embedded enchantments Ella did for you."
Wear and tear on a suit of armour is common.
Some of the runes etched into the wyvern skin had worn off and lost their effect.
Scratches and wear and tear had accumulated everywhere as she tanks small attacks head on, especially around her boot area.
It was
She assembled her armour with ease as the pieces had become more responsive to her telekinesis.
"It's nice. Are we at war again?"
"No. Fortunately, no. But I need you in your full armour today. We have some important guests arriving later so I had the workshop apply a layer of polish as well."
Ria walks around Hikari, checking her appearance from different angles.
She stands back in front of Hikari and blushes.
"My lady?"
"Oh it's nothing."
She stuttered as she took out a piece of cloth and a can of polish.
"I think your boots might need a little extra polish as they are more likely to get scratched."
She walked up to Hikari's boots, leaned forward slightly and began applying the polish on the tops of her boots.
Hikari smiles.
"So who are they?"
"Mmm? Oh right, ahem. The holy order of Silora. They sent a squad of templars led by an anointed one to subdue the hive below Carla. We're going to give them a knight's welcome. It's not easy to get your armour in such a presentable condition so we better get this out of the way before your next battle."
Ria dips the top of her cloth in more boot polish.
"Silora?"
"Yes, one of the most prominent religions across the lands. You see their churches in every city including the one just a skip away from the estate. They have enough followers for a nation and in fact they have a massive citadel that rivals the spire city."
Ria uses both hands to spread the polish evenly.
"Ah."
"People colloquially refer to them as wielders of light. But I did some research. What their mana form actually does is dispelling mana. The light is just a side effect which does have some tactical advantages."
Ria kneels and dips more polish.
"Hmm?"
"Our RazenHeir flames stick to our opponents and burn them slowly. That's how our house always fought for generations. There are records detailing our foes using enchanted armour from them to dispel our flames."
Ria wipes the curved surface.
"I see."
"Fun fact. They don't actually do any healing. Think about it. How does shining light on a broken arm do anything to mend the arm? They mostly just use medicine that's widely cultivated and available in the marketplace and sends their priests out to work in hospitals. Their dispel does cure mana based ailments so i'll give them that."
Ria dips more polish.
"He."
"The key is that their ability is really useful in shielding from environmental effects such as the red mist coming out of Port Carla. That's why they're hired for the job."
Using both hands, Ria scrubs the lower tip and the front of Hikari's outsole.
"But they rarely actually send an anointed one on such an assignment that is clearly below their pay grade. They usually only show up on the largest of raids. Be careful out there Hikari, they might know of some danger lurking out there that we are yet to be aware of."
Ria held out her eyes palm and channeled a weak flame, drying the layer of boot polish.
"They wouldn't tell us?"
"And let someone else potentially steal a relic? Perhaps a titan core? Nope, not a chance. A guild would rather risk failing a raid and all of the disaster that follows than let the information leak. It's just how it is."
"I see."
Ria closed the lid on her shoe polish and checked her work.
"Ah… I'm afraid it's time now. It takes the whole workshop to polish each piece of your armour. I could only do just a tiny portion of your boot. I'm just so small compared to you."
Hikari giggles.
She shuffles her other boot in front of her.
Ria's heart pounded.
"My lady."
"Umm! Yes… what is it?"
Hikari nudges her boot closer.
"There's … "
She leans forward and looms over Ria.
" … a bit of dust."
The giantess said in a low voice while pointing down at her boot tip.
"Mmm… ! "
Ria dropped to her knees.
She pulled her handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the tip.
"I'm sorry…"
She kissed the spot where she wiped.
"I'm so sorry…"
"Hehe…"
"I'm sorry… please forgive me… smooch*"
"Let's go."