In Titanora, one of the towns near a broken kingdom, the atmosphere seemed calmer than usual, with slight murmurs and sounds.
“Hey, is that a demon?” a man walking through the alley murmured as he looked at the boy with red-colored skin and two small black horns on his head, moving through the path towards a certain direction.
“Yes, he seems like one,” the man walking beside him whispered, glancing at the boy who passed beside them.
‘Should I kill these trash?’ Belial’s white-stricken pupil inside black eyes gazed at those men, a maniacal smile visible on his face while observing those two Dariants.
‘I will kill theb later.’ Ignoring them for now, Belial turned to move towards the direction leading to a house visible at the end of the alley.
.
.
.
.
Inside the house at the end of the alley:
SWISH
Suddenly, with a sharp orange glow, two individuals materialized: a man with black, fluttering hair and amber eyes sharper than the orange aura surrounding him looked down at the woman in his arms.
“Shall we begin your test?” Ryuk smiled at Esme while also, anticipating the reaction from the individual whose presence the system had detected, though his current amusement lay elsewhere.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Esme averted her gaze before gently pushing herself out of his embrace, feigning ignorance of Ryuk’s words.
“Oh? Weren’t you the one who wanted to become a guardian?” Ryuk teased, amused by her blatant change in demeanor the moment they left that place.
“I was just kidding.” Esme distanced herself from him and headed towards the kitchen to get something to eat, aware that the sun would soon set after they had spent the whole day outside.
‘…..’ Ryuk seeing her moving inside the kitchen which was available just in open beside the hall where he was standing before moving towards the sofa, can’t help but think confused about her such not understandable behaviour.
But not paying attention to anyone of these things, Ryuk paid his attention towards his mind.
‘Where is she right now?’, Ryuk inquired with the system, taking a seat on the sofa with hands folded, while not paying attention to Esme who was busy preparing something.
[Host, the target is at 87,765 Km away from this location]
‘And what was that artifact?’, Though Ryuk was aware of the presence of Diana keeping an eye on him, he was not able to see her or feel her presence, meaning without System, he had not felt her.
[Host, the Artifact is called Astral Oculus, the Celestial Grade one with the ability to spectate others with real-time holographic projection image]
‘Hm, do you think there could be chances of Esme to detect Diana?’, Of course, Ryuk was not sure since even he wouldn’t have felt the presence of someone looking at him without System’s help, let alone with his powers, making him though doubt the chances but still…
[ Not only detection, She even tried to scratch like a kitten protecting her woolen ball ^_^ ]
‘…I see,’ Ryuk glanced at the kitchen, observing Esme busy with preparations, while contemplating asking her about this.
She could indeed hide or not reveal it to him, but if she did hide it, that would be a signal to him.
It was a test.
He had hidden many things from her himself, but he would reveal everything when he felt much closer to her than he ever had with anyone else.
Until then, he needed to nurture their relationship with small details like this.
“Hey Esme, do you want to say something to me?” he called out, hoping to hear her reveal something but not expecting much since it was her choice whether to share or not.
This might seem like a small point, but he would never think of her in the wrong way, as someone who could hide things from him.
Love is about mutual trust, understanding, and support, which might falter at times but the end result would always be the same.
“…No,” Esme replied, placing some sliced vegetables into boiling water, lost in thought. She shook her head.
“I see,” Ryuk’s gaze remained forward, not expecting her to reveal anything so soon. After all, it wasn’t a significant matter.
“It was just some random bug eyeing my things, forgetting about its boundaries,” Esme’s demeanor instantly changed as her eyes lifted to the man seated in the hall, her gaze meeting his amber ones.
“Was that bug big?” Ryuk couldn’t help but smile, feeling a slight satisfaction after hearing her response.
“Yes, about 1 or 2 inches longer than me, but height doesn’t matter,” Esme replied, looking blankly at her prepared food as she lifted the plates to serve, seemingly oblivious to the young man’s gaze.
‘System, did you detect something?’ Ryuk inquired again.
[No Host, there isn’t any mana or energy movement, but there is something unusual about her eyes.]
‘Yes, that’s what I’m thinking too. There’s something off about those golden eyes,’ Ryuk agreed with the system, though his tone and the system’s response differed—one informative, the other complementary.
[….]
“Here, take it.” Esme arrived at the table, placing down the boiled vegetables and a piece of burnt bread.
Ryuk first looked at the food on the table, then at Esme, who appeared more confident than him in the kitchen, nodding as their eyes met.
“What is this?” Ryuk asked, puzzled by her attempt at cooking when she couldn’t even manage it.
During his time here, he had always been the one to cook for her.
Of course, he enjoyed cooking, but today it seemed Esme had taken the liberty to prepare something herself.
“This is bread and vegetable soup. Try it, it’s tasty,” Esme sat down, reaching for the bread and taking a bite.
Swish
As the piece of bread approached her parted lips, it transformed into the exact dish Ryuk had cooked before.
“Hmm, it’s delicious,” Esme nodded, feeling satisfied with the taste, which was an exact replica of his own.
“Wait, don’t tell me—you always eat this and use your ability to transform it into something delicious?” Ryuk could clearly see how this woman had managed to survive here with her level of cooking skills, viewing it as a bright side of her ability.
Perhaps her method enhanced the overall quality of her ability by replicating exact tastes, aromas, and flavors.
But the question remained: Really?
Swish
“Yes, isn’t it the most practical way to eat?” Esme nodded as the burnt bread and boiled vegetables transformed into appetizing dishes emitting delicious aromas and vibrant spices.
‘….’ Watching her, Ryuk also reached out, breaking off a small piece and placing it in his mouth.
GULP
‘Damn it.’
[Pffft]
‘Shut up,’ Ryuk glanced at Esme before examining his hand, realizing that from now on, he needed to cook instead of relying on Esme’s prepared meals.
Why?
Because of his ability.
Yes, his passive ability, which made him immune to outside interference, had just nullified Esme’s illusion.
The end result?
He had just eaten burnt bread dipped in a soup of boiled vegetables.
This made him understand that there was indeed a dark side to his ability.
While his active ability was under his control, the passive one wasn’t.
Although it was beneficial for protecting him from poison, seeing Esme’s culinary skills made him realize it was a convenient method for enjoying delicious food without the hard work of cooking.
“How was it? Did you like it?” Esme peeked at Ryuk while he ate, trying to gauge his reaction from his blank expression.
“Yes, it was very tasty,” Ryuk replied directly before standing abruptly, sensing someone’s presence.
tap tap
He moved swiftly towards the door and opened it.
“Aahhh—THUD!”
Two kids fell to the floor, losing their balance when the support they were leaning on suddenly disappeared, causing them to collide with each other.
BAM!
“I told you, Sam, you shouldn’t eavesdrop on other people’s private conversations,” Mae scolded Sam, whose body already bore wounds and scratches from a recent struggle, which occurred while he was being forced to come here.
“….Sorry,” Sam muttered with his head pressed against the ground, closing his eyes in exhaustion.
“What were you two doing here, Mae?” Ryuk directed his question to Mae, the apparent leader, rather than the boy who was avoiding eye contact.
“…He wanted to come with both of you, if you were leaving this place,” Mae nudged Sam with her elbow, glancing at Esme, who watched with amusement.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Ryuk couldn’t understand how these twins thought they could be left alone with such abilities. “Follow me.”
Both twins followed behind him, moving towards the table where food was placed before taking a seat.
“Take some and tell me how it tastes,” Esme offered two plates to them.
“Wow, it looks good,” Mae took a bite and recognized the taste, having also sampled Ryuk’s cooking over these past few months and aware of Esme’s hands in cooking it.
“I will take a bite too,” Sam lifted a piece to his mouth.
tap
“How did you get injured?” Ryuk placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder, inquiring with a small smile on his face.
“None of your business—COUGH!” Suddenly, the bite Sam had taken turned into a different taste, bland and distasteful like burned bread and vegetables.
“Blerg—khuck!” Before he could vomit, Mae covered his mouth, not letting a single piece come out of his now reddened face, eyes glaring at his own traitorous sister.
“Don’t spoil my mood, eat it up; I know how it tastes,” Mae nodded while eating her share of food, her other hand covering his face, eyes fixed on the food, not paying attention to his suffocating expression.
She didn’t care that it was indeed an illusion of food prepared by Esme; taste mattered.
Yes, Mae knew that it wasn’t real food due to her trial of once stealing and selling it in the market, but it turned into trash in front of customers, making her realize the value of these things.
BAM!
Suddenly, the doors burst open, with a silhouette projecting onto the walls of the room, accompanied by a voice.
“Kekeke, Baster and Bistress, your servant is here!”
