Knock
Knock
"Darkness!!!"
"Dust!!!"
"Kazuma!!!"
"Aqua!!!"
Inox's shouts calling out for his teammates rang out, drawing the attention of the people inside. The blond was the first to react, running to open the front door.
"What the hell, Inox?!" he asked upon opening the door and seeing Inox smiling while holding several bags. His gaze inevitably drifted to some people in a corner—a group of adventurers looking in their direction.
"Shit, hahaha, good to see you bro. Those bastards, I beat the crap out of them and took on five of them at once. I could've won, but like ten of their bitches came out, so I had to make a tactical retreat." The prince smiled before stepping inside. "Close the door," he said before walking further into the house.
"Tactical retreat, huh?" Dust looked at the people who were still staring. From what he could see, there were no more than four of them, and one was bleeding from the nose. He shook his head before closing the door.
"Anyway, they're just rookie adventurers," Dust concluded with a single glance. In the kingdom, as the genius dragon knight Rein Shaker, beating up a squad of rookie adventurers was child's play for him.
Kilos of meat were placed on the kitchen table. Darkness was in charge of chopping some vegetables, Dust was frying potatoes, Kazuma was peeling fruit, while Inox and Aqua handled the meat.
"Something I've always wanted to ask: where do you get the seeds for those magical plants?" Darkness raised an eyebrow; her motor skills weren't the best, so she was chopping the vegetables slowly.
"It's true, I've never asked you about that." Dust perked up his ears as he spoke, shooting a glance at his friend.
Kazuma and Aqua, on the other hand, just watched. "Actually, it's thanks to my divine farmer power," he said, without going into too much detail.
The others were about to ask something else, but simply shook their heads; everyone had their secrets.
Inox lowered his head, calmly observing the water goddess who was quietly trying to cut some meat. However, her hands couldn't even make a clean cut; her movements were clumsy and imprecise.
She frowned as she tried. "Don't force the knife, slide it smoothly," Inox said, drawing the girl's attention. Her bright, watery eyes looked up at him.
"She really listened to my conversation with Kazuma..." he thought to himself, letting out a sigh. "Like this: grip the handle with your right hand, and gently slide the blade in a straight motion using minimal force." He gave a demonstration with a piece of meat.
Aqua looked at him, followed his movements, tried, and failed. She used too much force, and her knife just mashed the meat, leaving it in shredded chunks.
She tried again, this time with too little force, and her knife barely grazed the surface of the meat without actually cutting anything. She opened her mouth and slammed the knife's handle against the table. "Why is this so hard? It's just cutting a stupid piece of meat... I," she lowered her head.
Inox swallowed hard. He felt his hands trembling, his body a bit unsteady, his mind overwhelmed. He looked at the girl. "Why don't I just grab her hand and show her how to move the knife?" he wondered.
He tried to move his right hand to guide Aqua's. With a needle-like pain piercing his heart, he forced his hand, but it wouldn't obey. He pursed his lips. He could feel the eyes of Dust, Darkness, and Kazuma right behind him, and he stared at the goddess's head for a moment as he struggled.
"I'm sorry... I'm just stressed. Can I go back to my room?" Aqua asked, still looking down. Inox opened and closed his mouth a few times; he wanted to speak, to tell her it didn't matter, that she just had to try a little harder.
However, his mouth just opened and closed like a fish out of water, and his hand wouldn't budge. "It was so much easier to reach out and pet her head, or to steal a bite of her tomato back then," he recalled, remembering the time he patted her head and when he took a bite out of Aqua's grade-1 tomato.
"Go get some rest, Aqua. Wash your hands and we'll call you when the food is ready," Darkness stepped forward, whispering gently and giving the girl a hug before going back to what she was doing.
She nodded before retreating under the gaze of Inox and the others.
The prince let out a heavy sigh, turned around, and saw Kazuma busy with his own task. He clicked his tongue, forcing a smile before going back to prepping the meat.
The meal was finally complete: a banquet of toad meat, french fries, an abundance of sautéed vegetables, fruit juice, and whole fruits, all spread across the table on large, shiny plates that gave off an aromatic steam.
Aqua came back when the food was ready. There was a faint smile on her face, and she ate in silence.
"Are you okay?" Darkness asked halfway through dinner. She gently touched Aqua's hair while looking at her. The goddess nodded, chewing slowly instead of stuffing her mouth with food. "If you need anything, just talk to me." The paladin's voice was soft and gentle.
Inox watched this with a small, genuine smile. He ate a piece of the delicious meat while whispering to himself, "She has a friend, she's fine, this is good," unconsciously tightening his grip on his spoon.
Dinner ended with everyone calm and quiet, except for the occasional jokes from Dust or Darkness.
The next morning.
"We are great, we are adventurers. But we aren't great because we are adventurers, rather, because we are comrades, because we share our lives. Even if we don't share blood ties, we can be considered siblings." Aqua was reading a book that Darkness had brought her that morning in the kitchen, while her right hand tapped the table beneath her like a drum.
She blinked for a moment before closing the book and looking out the window at Inox's large farmland. She observed the scene more calmly. She had paid little attention to it yesterday, but now that she looked closer, those plants were glowing with a distinct green hue.
She tilted her head, narrowed her eyes, and stepped out of the house for a walk. The morning sun was still rising, painting the world yellow.
The neatly arranged sprouts emitted their own green light, barely visible due to the sun. Each one had a shape slightly different from the next, yet they were the exact same size—not a millimeter more, not a millimeter less.
Looking at the two mathematically ordered rows, Aqua let out a soft giggle. Then she looked toward the center of the garden. There stood a larger sprout—a small, bright green plant, its moisture-laden leaves swaying in the wind.
"What?!" Aqua stopped in her tracks, her mouth falling open as she muttered, focusing her gaze on the sprout in the center. She held out her hand, feeling the cold, but no morning breeze. "There's no wind to move those leaves..." she murmured, but then something else caught her attention.