Chapter 21: A Little Busy

He sulked.

After what happened five days ago, Frei asked her to become his personal chef, emphasizing she must make sweets for two snack times every day. But his face when saying those words was like a little boy's pouting. She couldn't say to him that he was somewhat cute acting like that. She bit her lips to hide her satisfied smile.

"Take that!" She said after leaving his office.

It was his own fault for underestimating her. She didn't know the name of the foods here. But, back in the days, besides helping to cut the food cost, cooking her own foods made her able to try many recipes from the internet, so her food repertoire was large. As long as there were similar seasonings, flavors, textures, and tools, she could make any dish she wanted.

Rena was glad that her love for food saved her in the end.

Her schedule was full now. In the morning, she woke up and went to the kitchen right away. She also started giving some lessons to Jack after he said he would pay her. It ended good for her, with one little problem.

Jean persistently asked her about the food she made during their lesson with that nasty brown potion on the table next to him. She was sure he used that to threaten her. Truth to be told, the night before, she was secretly practicing magic from the book he gave. She used the wind and ice magic to hasten the process of making the fruit tart.

"I'll tell you how I made it if you stop giving me all those weird potions!"

He wasn't pleased but he agreed with her condition. Ironically, she didn't know that it's all thanks to those memory potions she gulped that she could easily memorize all the spells in The Basic Runes book. Her memory enhanced now.

Currently, Rena was in Jean's cabin for her magic study. Jean was sitting comfortably in the armchair, reading a book and eating Rena's potato chips while she was standing in the middle of the room. The plan for today was to check her progress in study.

"Can you cast Shield now?" Jean said.

"Yes, I've successfully learned how to keep up the barrier."

"Let me see it."

A ten centimeters rock suddenly appeared from his hand and he threw it at Rena.

She thrust her hand. "Shield!

And a protection barrier appeared. It was the most basic of barrier magic, deflecting physical attack. The rock hit the barrier and rebounded roughly.

"Good reflex there."

"Geez, you surprise me!" Rena shouted.

"That's the point."

Jean crushed the rock with his magic and it turned to sand.

"Ok, this time show me fire, using both of your hands. One is the size of your hand, and one is smaller."

She lifted both of her hands and said, "Fire."

Sparks appeared and then the fire flickered on her palms, one was as big as her hand and the one is the size of candle fire.

"Well done. You have good control of your magic now."

"Yes! Thank you." She nodded.

She lowered her arms and the fire disappear.

"Jean, I have a question." She said, looking at Jean.

His eyes were glued to the book even during the time she was casting a spell.

"Go ahead." He replied.

"My fire can't fly."

"Be more specific."

"You know I was hit by fire magic before. I just realized when casting Fire that I couldn't throw it, I tried throwing it but it was super slow and the fire quickly disappeared."

"So, you are saying you tried throwing fire on the ship?" He said it with a flat dry tone and an uninterested expression, but his words were still sharp enough to intimidate her.

"Eh, no no no! I tried throwing it in the sea! I swear!"

She broke into a sweat. Jean had promised not to force her drinking the weird potions anymore, but she still might get that for punishment. When he learned that Rena was secretly practicing magic after he told her not to do it without his presence, he was angry. He refused to teach her that day. She ended up drinking the brown color potion and got another nightmare. The next morning, she was afraid of going to the toilet.

"That's because basic runes are just to execute simple spells. You can cast Fire to burn woods or lit a candle, but in that form, it would be hard to use it in a fight. There are more specific spells for that. I'm sure you were talking about the fireball."

"Oh, I see. Fireball, huh."

"It was a simple fire type attack spell. I'll teach you once we arrive on Valia."

Rena smiled, despite his harsh remarks and rigid personality, he was a good teacher.

"Thank you!" She said.

She walked to the empty seat in the room and sat down.

"So Jean, what kind of country is Valia Kingdom?"

"It's a country where brawn rules over brains." Jean replied nonchalantly.

She imagined a lot of muscle heads there. "It sounds bad..."

"Not necessarily. The higher-ups are too stupid on scheming things, so if they have problems, things would easily be settled by swords."

"Then how did you settle a conflict? Jean can't use a sword, right?"

"They are not stupid enough to mess with me."

"Haha... Definitely." Rena had learned that the hard way.

"Serena." He suddenly called her.

He raised his face, his ruby eyes piercing at her.

"Do you want to be my assistant? I know it's still too early for you, but you can also learn a lot from it."

She furrowed her eyebrows, couldn't help but getting wary. After all, from her experience, she had been experimented by this guy.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I have several types of research and experiments, for example, creating a warp portal, I can use your abundant magic power here."

"Uhm, can't anybody else help you with it?"

"Creating a warp portal isn't easy, it needs a lot of energy to last long. I was trying to make a trans-continent one which could endure at least a century."

"In short, you want me as a battery?"

"Basically, yes."

Her left eyebrow twitched. Jean was honest for better or worse. But in the end, talking to him was easier because of his straightforward nature.

"What do I get if I help you?" She asked.

"You get access to my research."

"But I don't even know if it would be useful for me or not." She pursed her lips.

"It's an opportunity to gain deeper knowledge in magic." He frowned as if he couldn't understand what's more important than expanding your knowledge about magic.

"You need to learn people have different interest and motivation."

"What do you want then?" He asked.

"...How much is the salary?"

"Huh? Hmm, I could give you one gold coin per month. Is that enough?"

Rena didn't know whether that amount was high or not, she hadn't had a chance to learn the monetary value in this world. Jack gave her twenty silvers for her one week lesson, he took all his savings for that. She reminded herself to do a little research on the market once the ship arrived at Valia.

"You don't need to reply now, just think about it." He said.

She nodded. "Yes. I'll think about it."

"Ok, Serena, we're done here for today. Do you have any more questions?"

He closed the book he'd been reading and putting it on the table.

"No, not really. But can I borrow some more books?" She asked.

Jean only gave her The Basic Runes book and she'd done with that. She wanted to learn more.

"If you want more books, just borrow it from Frei. I didn't come here bringing my books, you know."

"Oh... Alright then. I'll ask him later." She replied, feeling a little disappointed.

"Then I'll go preparing dinner first."

She was officially Frei's personal chef now, but she also made dinner for Jean. Frei had given her his approval. In this way, she could thank Jean for teaching her.

Rena stood from her chair. Jean was also doing the same. Although it wasn't necessary for him to do this, he was always courteous. They walked to the exit and he opened the door for her.

Rena gave a little smile, "Thank you, Jean. See ya."

"Yeah, see you later." He replied with a nod.

Rena rushed to the kitchen, a blazing red sunset made a beautiful contrast with her long shadow that following her in the corridor.

In these past few days, she had been thinking how to fix Frei's bad eating habit. She talked to Sebastian about it. She wanted to introduce the food slow and using friendly approach, but all her idea have been tried by Sebastian. After discussing for an hour, she gave up and asked Sebastian if he had a better idea.

"There's one approach we haven't tried but it might work if it's Miss Serena. Nobody had ever done this because they didn't want to get fired." He said back then.

She was going to try it today.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she saw Mirra there. Mirra was sitting on the stool near the kitchen table, watching Jack preparing dinner.

"Hey, Mirra, Jack!" She greeted them.

"Yo, Serena!" Jack replied, his hands were busy slicing meat.

Since getting a lot of advices from Rena, his seasoning skill had improved a lot and he got many positive feedbacks from the crews. He was the sole chef in the ship, so he was happy when Rena joined him in the kitchen.

Hearing her voice, Mirra turned around and said, "Hey, purple sis, what's for dinner?"

Lately, she always came by when Rena was in the kitchen. And then with a cheeky smile, asking for a little share of the food she made. Thanks to that they quickly became friends now.

"It's Gullinbursti Stew." She said.

It was a monster that resembled a pig in this world.

Rena had learned there were two types of animals in this world. They were called monsters but the first category were just beasts and the second category was called magical beasts. It was the same with plants, there were normal plants and magical plants. Ingredients for cooking generally used the first category.

"Can I try it?" Mirra asked.

"Yes, sure. I have a lot today since it was a stew."

She opened the lid and a milky broth could be seen there. She let it simmer all day long, so the flavor would be there. It was normal for her to did all the prep every morning, so cooking won't take much time. She scooped it with a ladle, pour it in the bowl, garnished it with scallions... or whatever they named it here.

Rena gave the bowl to Mirra and add some side dishes for the stew.

"Ummm, yummy! Purple sis, your cooking is the best!"

"Hehe, thanks, Mirra. I'm glad you like it."

She quickly ate the dish like a starving kid. It was surprising that Mirra ate a lot, after this, she would rush to the canteen to get her dinner portion.

"I like this sausage. Can I have some more, pretty please??"

"Waaiitt! I haven't tried it! You will eat my portion, kiddo!" Jack shouted.

"You are big enough already, old man! You need to lessen your portion!" Mirra shouted back.

"Haha, don't worry, Jack. I told you I made a lot."

This was her happy evening, spending time with Mirra and Jack. She slowly getting used to living in this world.

Rena prepared the food she was going to bring for Frei. That guy wanted her to explain every dish she made, so instead Sebastian, she was the one who kept bringing his meals now. She would go to his office and then quickly return to the kitchen to eat together with Jack, right before the dinner rush.

After putting the dish and tableware on the cart, she said, "Okay, Jack. I'll come back again soon. See ya, Mirra."

Both of them replied at the same time, "Okay!"

Rena pushed the cart carefully and went to Frei's office, she inhaled deeply, preparing herself, before knocking the wooden door.

"Excuse me, this is Serena, I'm bringing food for dinner."

"Yes, come in." Frei's voice coming from inside the room.

She was about to open the door, but Sebastian had opened it for her.

"Thank you, Sebastian." She smiled, appreciating the help.

As usual, he had a serious experience. Giving a slight nod, he moved aside to let her entered the room. "You're welcome, Miss Serena."

Frei was sitting on his desk right now, writing something on the parchments. His golden hair reflecting the bright sunlight that came from the window. He stopped writing and put his pen down when Rena approached him.

"Uhm, I'm just going to put the food there if you were busy." She said, pointing at the small table near the window.

"Nah, it's okay. I need a break anyway."

Frei got up from his desk and approached her. His face looked tired, faint dark circles could be seen around his eyes.

"So what's for dinner this time?" Sitting on the chair there.

"I made a stew."

Sebastian took the bowl and put it in front of Frei.

"Oh? What kind of stew is this?" He asked, looking at his bowl.

"Gullinbursti stew." She made a salesman's smile after stealing a glance at Sebastian.

"I'm sure I have told you that I can't eat meat." His showed a displeased expression.

"That isn't meat I put it there. And you ate my shrimp before. Also, the side dishes were potato salad, pickled cucumber, and egg rolls. There are berries and blue apple slices too."

"So what is this?" He frowned, looking at the contents of the stew.

"It's a sausage. The filling was made from pasta and Gullinbursti's blood.

He flinched. "...I'm not eating this."

"Can you try it first?"

"No, I don't want it."

(Stubborn.)

He shoved the bowl to the side and ate the side dishes.

"Oh, I put soft mincemeat in the egg rolls and potato salad. Do you like it?" She said it casually like she forgot to mention it before, but this was intentional.

His eyes widened for a second as she continued speaking.

"The problem is not about the meat, right? You can eat it fine if you don't realize what it is. Sebastian said you could eat it fine when you were a kid."

He didn't reply. The room was silent for a while until he stood up.

"Well, I'm done here. You can take back the dish."

Frei quit the room, leaving Sebastian and Rena there.

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