Dinner With New Faces

The poor chef was shocked as he quickly fixed the brisket before it became burnt. He had his eyes wide open as I placed the dishes. Raiyen followed behind to put the last few dishes and sat next to Mavislin and Tomoe.

"Lizzie! Come sit with me," invited Mavislin, patting on an empty seat between her and Duncan.

I nodded and quickly took my seat. As I looked in Duncan's direction, I saw four other children's heads pop out shyly to greet me up close. When I waved, all four heads retracted, which was puzzling since I didn't bare any fangs.

"Aww... It's alright, dears... You needn't be too scared of the new Swordsman Pillar. She won't bite," assured Mavislin, trying to coax the children to say hello to me.

"Hard for them to be not scared of the person who landed a strong attack against the Dementor Pillar. Out of the Five Kids, Duncan is the strongest one as he can beat the rest during battles. Be it one-v-one or team versus team," replied Bryan, drinking a familiar brown liquid.

I slowly walked over to Bryan and snatched the glass away from him. He tried to get it back, but I hid it behind my back. I then rushed towards the kitchen sink with Bryan chasing me. Clement was about to join the table when he saw the commotion and backed away.

"Oi! That's my drink! What's your problem?" asked the Slayer, annoyed that I had stolen the liquor.

"My problem is drinking alcohol in front of children! Take that drink somewhere else, or don't have dinner here!" I scolded, threatening to pour away the precious liquid.

Bryan clenched his fists and wanted to take the drink but eventually gave up and returned to his seat. I smirked and placed the glass onto the kitchen countertop before going back to eat the beautiful meal laid out in front of me.

The last to join us was Baldwin, who came looking like Death itself. Bro, what did you do before dinner? Slay a dragon of some sort? You look like hell, mate! As the Angry Man dragged himself to sit between the last kid and the Galaxian Mage. Clement sat beside the baby and Z.

"Well, we've got beef brisket tonight—a large pot of beef stew with potatoes and carrots. There's cauliflower couscous and grilled baby carrots with cheese. And a large salmon that Midori caught today within the local river."

"I have no clue why salmon would be around this part, but it seemed that we've got one. For baby Kai, it's mashed-up broccoli, carrots, and roasted chicken. Hopefully, the baby will eat more of it instead of the floor. So let's eat," explained Clement, grabbing a bowl to get the stew.

Everyone proceeded to have their dinner while Mavislin, Baldwin, and Z sat quietly, allowing all the rest to take their share first. Which I found sweet and exciting to allow the younger ones to eat first instead of the traditional 'let seniors eat first.'

I never liked that tradition since you can't stop a rampaging, hungry toddler from touching his food before grandma can even hold the spoon. This family's way of starting a meal reminded me of an animal called a Dhole. The pack would allow the youngest and weakest to eat first.

The Valkyrie then glanced at the kids and then back at me.

"Perhaps you kids want to introduce yourselves to the new member?" asked Mavislin, smiling sweetly.

The kids turned to me with their mouths full of food and swallowed simultaneously. The way the kids moved made me think that they were a single person split into five bodies. The first kid to introduce herself was sitting next to Duncan and had a set of fox ears and tail.

Her fur and hair were snow-white, just like Tomoe's. However, the child's eyes were emerald green, and she had the same complexion and height as Duncan.

"I'm Midori, Duncan's twin sister. I am training to be the Swordsman Pillar," greeted Midori, proud that she was related to the child of Darkness.

Ah, so I would be working closely with this kid in the future. Maybe it was better to bring her along instead of her twin. But then again, it might be a bad idea since I wouldn't know how much danger am I in during the Mission itself.

Next was a small and frail girl who looked like the youngest out of the Five. She bore a striking resemblance to Rina with her black hair with pink tips. However, her eyes were violet, which was a better purple fit than Duncan's hellborne eyes.

"I'm Nasima, and I am the Second Seat of the Spearman Pillar. I like candy..." murmured Nasima, waving shyly at me.