Chapter 703: The Sword Princess Also Wants to Become Best Friends

Judging whether a dish is a delicacy actually comes down to three aspects: color, aroma, and taste.

Xier's bento achieved both color and aroma, but the taste was, however, indescribable.

And this has something to do with Freya's cooking philosophy.

This beautiful Goddess believes that seasonings are like a person's emotions; they should not be fixed, but should change with the cook's mood.

Passionate and high-spirited emotions? Then add more chili peppers to express the cook's mood. Heavy and somewhat melancholic emotions? Then add more salt made from seawater.

Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty — in this willful-to-the-extreme seasoning process, a special Skill was created that could turn good ingredients into Dark Cuisine.

Generally speaking, the more carefully Freya cooks, the more unpalatable the result tends to be; but if she cooks absentmindedly, somewhat perfunctorily, the taste might actually turn out Not Bad.

Without a doubt, Broly's lunch bento was one she had prepared carefully, so everyone tasting this dish together, after eating the first mouthful, wore the expression of someone who had bitten their own tongue.

"This, is it sweet?"

The cloyingly sweet taste of the tamagoyaki made the elf girl, who did not hate sweets, wear a look of doubting her life.

"So salty."

And the pastry that looked like a sweet was salty enough to make the Sword Princess girl's eyebrows knit together, only feeling her tongue tighten somewhat.

Even Ryu was made to produce a flood of saliva by the sourness of the grilled cake in her mouth, her whole body trembling from the sourness.

The three people subconsciously spat the food in their mouths out.

In contrast, Broly chewed the red meat steak and swallowed it directly.

"Mr. Broly, is there no problem with your bento?"

Lefiya looked at the meat steak in his bento box, which smelled somewhat spicy, and couldn't help but ask.

"Although it's a bit spicy, I can accept it."

The pervert-level spiciness made Broly miss Randolph's Magic Continent Cuisine.

"Just a bit spicy?"

Ryu looked at the bright red meat steak, asked if she could try a piece, and upon receiving a definite answer, used a fork to spear a piece and put it in her mouth.

"Pfft..."

And the next second the meat steak entered her mouth, the elf lady sprayed it out.

"Ah, water, water..."

She panted, until Broly Summoned a ball of clear water for her to drink, only then recovering.

But the elf lady's small mouth had already become somewhat red and swollen; spicy is actually a kind of pain sensation.

【No wonder Xier said this morning that if I can't eat it I don't have to force myself, this is really hard to eat?!】

Ryu made a bitter face.

"Ah, is it really that terrible?"

Liliruca and Bell were somewhat doubtful, only because their bentos were normal.

The two people couldn't quite understand the situation before them, where the three people seemed to have been bitten on the tongue by the food they put in their mouths.

"Worse than you imagine."

Even if Xier is her good friend, Ryu could not lie to her taste buds and say it was delicious at this moment.

"Then let us also have a taste."

Bell and Liliruca were somewhat curious, and also picked up food from the other bento boxes to taste.

Then, the two people exhibited reactions similar to the other three.

"Ah, how could Xier Jiejie's cooking possibly be this hard to eat?"

"Is this really made by Xier Jiejie?"

Bell and Liliruca asked simultaneously; they felt their taste buds had been attacked, finding it very hard to link these Dark Cuisine dishes with the delicious normal cooking in their own hands.

"Mr. Broly, this might be a Prank Cuisine Xier made for you, and she said if you find these dishes hard to eat, you don't have to force yourself to eat them down."

Ryu told the Saiyan boy, who was currently tasting the cooking from the other bento boxes with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, what Xier had told her to say when bringing the bento this morning.

"Not all of them are bad, these dishes are normal."

Broly tasted the cooking from every bento box, and quickly picked out the bento boxes with normal, delicious taste.

Outside the Courtyard, seeing the bento boxes separated, Haize and Helen felt somewhat helpless; they knew things would turn out this way — Freya-sama's willful seasoning, not being treated as poisoning counts as good.

The only fortunate thing is that it seems this Healer doesn't need to step in; the separated bento boxes, those hard-to-eat dishes, will definitely be discarded.

But this is also true: aside from those of us in the Freya Familia who know this is food made by the Goddess herself, who would stuff overly hard-to-eat food into their own mouths and swallow it down?

However, understanding this, Haize still felt a bit displeased; those guys refusing Freya-sama's cooking, why should they get Freya-sama's special treatment, getting up early to prepare a bento for him? The correct thing to do should be knowing it's hard to eat, yet forcing oneself to eat it down...?!

Haize suddenly paused her thoughts, because she discovered the separated bento boxes had not been discarded; on the contrary, the Saiyan boy mixed the food from some bento boxes together and started wolfing it down.

"Is he eating Freya-sama's cooking?"

Haize rubbed her eyes, asking Helen beside her somewhat uncertainly.

"Should be. Look, the others picked up the other bentos to eat, and didn't show pained expressions."

Although the bento boxes had no labels, observing the others' expressions while eating, one could still tell whether they were eating her cooking or Freya-sama's cooking.

"Hmm, counts as having some backbone..."

Haize muttered a sentence.

People who dare eat that much of Freya-sama's cooking are all worthy of recognition.

Helen: "..."

Being able to use the word 'backbone' to describe eating a certain cuisine, this evaluation is really a bit Subtle.

However, without a doubt, as a Goddess Attendant, she also now holds respect for that Saiyan boy in the Courtyard, feeling he has not betrayed the Goddess's favor, even if he himself might not know this yet.

"Mr. Broly, don't you find it hard to eat?"

Watching the boy eat the mixed cuisine (huhu), Liu couldn't help but ask.

"It's indeed not very tasty, but as for the taste, I can still accept it."

Ever since eating the cuisine of the Six-Faced World Magic Continent, Broly's tolerance for seasoning in some dishes has become very high.

Some of the dishes Xier made today were just a bit sour, a bit sweet, a bit salty, a bit spicy, a bit bitter — not flavors that are too hard to accept.

"Mixed together, the various flavors balanced out a bit; actually it's not bad. Miss Liu, would you like a taste?"

"Uh, no thanks."

Liu looked at the mixed cuisine (huhu) being offered before her, swallowed her saliva, and hurriedly shook her head in refusal.

"Is that so? Then I'll eat it alone. You all eat the other normal ones."

Broly didn't mind either, while the few people around who had tasted the abnormal cuisine looked at him with gazes like they were looking at a god whose sense of taste had failed.

"Is it because this is cuisine Xier made that you chose to eat it all?"

Liu ate two mouthfuls of the normal delicious bento, then couldn't help but ask.

"That counts as one reason, but another reason is that I'm used to not wasting food."

Broly speared a piece of spicy meat steak, put it in his mouth, and chewed.

"Of course, if possible, I still prefer to eat normal food. For example, this spicy meat steak is not bad; after eating it, my mouth has a warm feeling."

Among the abnormal cuisine, Broly favors the spicy meat steak more.

"I'll pass that on to Xier for you."

Liu felt the burning sensation in her mouth rise again; after asking the boy for a ball of clear water and drinking it down, she said.

Lunch proceeded very quickly. When the bento boxes were all emptied and they were preparing to start afternoon training, the Takemikazuchi Familia Trio arrived on this side, pressing/leaning with dazed expressions from having their heads filled with knowledge.

"Good afternoon, three of you. Judging by your looks, this morning's harvest should be good; you learned quite a bit of Dungeon knowledge, right?"

Broly greeted the three.

"Mhm, we did learn. Miss Eina, she's truly a harsh teacher~"

Yamato Mikoto and the other two replied in unison, simultaneously hugging their heads with looks of lingering fear.

"Good that you learned. Then, come relax your spirits and start physical training."

Broly had also attended the Half-Elf Miss's Dungeon lecture class, so knowing what the three needed most right now, he said.

"Before that, Mr. Broly, is your Familia residence being watched by someone?"

Yamato Mikoto pointed at the two people outside the iron railings and asked. They had discovered the two staring at the courtyard when they came over.

"Eh, when I came over this morning, it seemed I saw them too."

Bell turned his head to look where Yamato Mikoto pointed and also said.

"Miss Haize, we seem to have been discovered."

"Discovered is discovered. Anyway we weren't hiding. Later just pretend to be passersby intending to join the Hestia Familia."

"What if they agree?"

"Then find an excuse to refuse."

The two people outside the Hestia Familia Headquarters exchanged words in small voices; when Broly walked over and approached this side, they shut their mouths.

"You two, do you have some business?"

Broly had actually noticed the two as well, only normally some nearby residents would watch their daily training from outside the railings, so he didn't pay much attention to these two's situation.

"It's like this. We are Adventurers currently seeking a Familia to join."

Haize answered with a sweet younger-sister voice/tone.

"So, you've come to join our Hestia Familia?"

Broly was stunned for a moment, subconsciously asking.

"Originally it was like that."

Haize nodded.

"Originally?"

"Yes, but now seeing your training situation, we feel it probably can't be done, so..."

Haize's words weren't finished before being taken over by Haize.

"Very sorry. If we disturbed you, we'll leave now."

Haize and Haize were both very polite, bowing to Broly before leaving this place. And this politeness wasn't entirely feigned; for the taste warrior who dared eat the large-portion dark cuisine the Goddess carefully made, they held respect in their hearts.

Courtesy offends no one. Though Broly felt a bit weird, he didn't stop the polite duo from leaving. Only when he returned did he ask the Elf Miss one sentence: "Miss Liu, does Miss Xier have sisters?"

"Uh, I haven't heard Xier say she has sisters. What's up?"

Liu asked curiously.

"No, I just felt that among those two outside just now, one's breath/qi is somewhat similar to Miss Xier's."

Broly usually doesn't remember strangers' breath/qi, but if it's an acquaintance or even a capture target, that's another matter.

Now, having become familiar with Miss Xier, he has already memorized the Quest Board girl's breath/qi. And that gray-haired girl outside just now gave him a vague deja vu, as if he seemed to have met her before, but thinking carefully, he was sure he had never met her.

Therefore, he had this question.

"Can you tell me what kind of person she is?"

Liu curiously inquired. Her understanding of her good friend Xier counts as a lot, but also not a lot, because sometimes her good friend also takes long leave.

What she knows a lot of is the other party in the Tavern; what she doesn't know much of is the girl's private circumstances.

Although her relationship with Xier is very good, Liu also won't privately investigate her good friend's privacy.

Just like Xier never asks about her past, why she lay covered in blood in a deserted alley.

"That is a woman with long grey hair and a half-covered-eyes hairstyle; she looks to be about the same age as Miss Liu, only her eyes are like those of a dead fish — not much life in them — and her temperament is cold and aloof, somewhat like Miss Liu's previous self, giving people a 'strangers keep out' feeling."

Liu: "..."

Does this count as being dissed to my face?

"'Strangers keep out' and being cold and aloof are just because we're not familiar; for familiar friends, I'm not like this at all."

Liu thought for a bit, and still explained her coldness somewhat.

"I can feel it; Miss Liu, your current attitude is much warmer than before."

Broly nodded, indicating agreement with the elf lady's words.

"Ah, was the old me that cold? I feel I'm only a little better than before; there's no need to describe it as 'warm' at all?!"

Liu said with some dissatisfaction.

"Then do I count as Miss Liu's friend now?"

Broly asked the elf lady with some curiosity.

"Uh, should count..."

Liu averted her gaze, answering this question somewhat awkwardly.

Although in her heart she had already acknowledged the Saiyan boy who ate the entire bento that Xier made extremely unpalatable, and was also grateful for his guidance on her swordsmanship, admitting they had a good relationship still made her feel reluctant.

To put it briefly, this is a slightly tsundere female elf, and this personality is actually not uncommon among the elf race.

"This really is good news; then, my friend, may I shake your hand?"

Broly extended his palm to the elf lady.

"Uh, does this have some special meaning?"

Liu looked at him with some confusion.

"When I was a child, someone taught me that a handshake represents being able to become best friends afterwards."

Broly explained a sentence, and the elf lady listening to his explanation felt a bit speechless.

"Mr. Broly, your behavior and your appearance really are consistent inside and out!"

Liu said with a sigh.

"You want to say I'm a bit childish?"

【That is somewhat the meaning...】

"I just want to remind you of one thing: we're not best friends, at most ordinary friends."

Liu gave an irrelevant answer.

"I know, but that's only the current relationship; I believe that in the future, we might perhaps establish a more intimate private relationship — though I don't know if Miss Liu acknowledges this point?"

Broly inquired.

【Best friend's potential future husband; a private relationship would indeed be more intimate.】

Liu thought, yet did not refuse the hand extended before her.

"Alright, those words of yours, I acknowledge."

Liu extended her hand, and shook the small hand before her.

And this one shake let the elf lady feel a difference.

Different from the bold hands-on approach when the other party guided her swordsmanship and adjusted her movements.

The boy's way of shaking hands with her at this moment was instead extremely gentlemanly and polite.

He held the front of her hand, shook up and down twice, and let go after two or three seconds.

No lingering or hand-rubbing taking-advantage small actions appeared; he strictly followed the handshake etiquette standard.

When time gets busy, it passes very fast; just a blink, and an entire afternoon quietly disappeared in training.

"Tomorrow, we're preparing to rest for a day, so everyone doesn't need to come over."

Broly notified them of this matter.

The reason is none other than the Soma Familia's Divine Wine Banquet starting; tomorrow daytime is for Lili to conserve her energy.

Although conserving energy doesn't have much to do with him, there's a saying: 'A roommate's page-turning keeps me awake all night'; if we rest, we all rest together, mainly to not affect the Pallum girl's mindset.

Regarding this, the three from Takemikazuchi Familia who came to freeload guidance naturally had no objections; just listen to the arrangement.

The Sword Princess girl's face, however, showed some disappointment unique to a 'volume king', as if saying there's no guidance class again.

The elf girl's joy on her face couldn't be concealed; of course, Lefiya didn't think Broly's training was hard, just that tomorrow she might get the chance to have Ais-sama guide her swordsmanship, and rejoiced secretly in her heart.

【Alone time with Ais-sama (practicing sword), how wonderful~】

Just as Lefiya fell into imagination about tomorrow's date (training) with the Sword Princess, Ais instead actively walked up to Broly, and extended her own hand toward the Saiyan boy.

"What's wrong, Ais-sama?"

Broly looked at the Sword Princess girl extending her hand with some confusion, and asked.

"I saw it; you're going to become best friends with Miss Liu.

Mhm, I also want to become best friends with you."

The naturally airheaded girl suddenly said this; the distances of relationships, Ais still understands them; she doesn't want to fall behind the elf lady, mainly worried that after the other party becomes best friends with the boy, she might obtain even better swordsmanship guidance from him.

Simple thinking lets the girl always reach answers straight to the core; Ais's strong-willed personality makes her subconsciously turn her heart's answer into action, performing corresponding competitive behavior.

Broly was instead stunned for a moment by her sudden behavior.

"Not allowed?"

Not getting the desired answer from the boy immediately, Ais tilted her head and showed a slightly lost little expression, like a puppy realizing it's been abandoned, looking over expectantly.

"No, of course it's allowed."

And reacting, Broly hurriedly denied that, stepped forward, and firmly grasped the slender palm the girl extended.

Liu watched from the side, suddenly discovering that the boy's handshake manner had changed again.

For her, it was that kind of courteous handshake, but for Sword Princess it was a vigorous, enthusiastic grip.

(Chapter End)