“People in this village were replaced!? Are you serious!?”
“Shh! You’re being too loud! Speak quietly!”
Yuugo met up with Melt and Angel, hid Shiroi inside the bag they brought, and they managed to sneak him into his room.
They did not expect the fact that Yuugo’s room was far from the others to become useful like this, but thanked this stroke of luck.
However, they thought less about their luck, and more about how this mystery they could not figure out was scary.
While Shiroi and Phi took a bath, Yuugo and the others stayed in the living room, where Yuugo shared information.
“It’s hard to believe. Everyone in the village was replaced…”
“But something bad had to have happened to scare Shiroi like that. It must’ve felt really wrong for him, for a kid that age to choose to live in a forest rather than going back.”
“Yes… But from what we can tell, these people don’t really seem to be acting all that strangely… I guess it’s a little eerie…”
They talked about Shiroi’s experiences, the village full of mysteries, and its inhabitants.
They all thought the idea of the villagers being replaced was unbelievable, but Yuugo did not think Shiroi was lying.
And then Marcos, who seemed deep in thought with a puzzled expression, raised his head and spoke.
“Yuugo, do you remember when I came back to the room last night?”
“Hn? Ah. You were saying something about Melt?”
“I stopped halfway through when I was speaking, but… When I was on my way here, I saw Melt go into Egos’ room. And she was completely naked.”
“H-ha!? I-I-I went into that Egos or something’s room!? What are you talking about!? I would never!!”
“Calm down, we know that… Is that true Marcos? Did you really see Melt naked and going to…?”
“I doubted my eyes too, but that hair color stands out too much, it had to be Melt. She opened the door to Egos’ room before I looked, and then went inside. I thought she might be under the control of some magic or strange drug, so I came here in a hurry to tell everyone, but then…”
“Melt came out of the shower…”
Yuugo crossed his arms and groaned, having heard something else that sounded unbelievable.
If Marcos saw something like that, it explained his strange behavior, but it only deepened the mystery.
“Melt was in two places… There were two Melts that night? But why…?”
“But that does solve one mystery. That’s why Shian and Egos were acting all over-familiar with us.”
“Ah, yes! There was that Egos, and the other guy with me… That would explain why they started acting like they’re our boyfriends or something!”
“Yuugo, it’s starting to sound like you were right, and there really is something to this village. Something dreadful we cannot imagine.”
Villagers replaced by something. A lone boy who escaped this evil’s grasp. Two Melts sighted by Marcos the previous night.
They had not found the exact answer, but… There was definitely something strange happening in the village.
As they thought about pinning down the source of all this, and investigating what was going on, the other person who found Shiroi, Precia, showed up in the room with a pot in hand.
“Yuugo~! Sorry, I know it’s late~! Is Shiroi still up?”
“Shiroi? He’s taking a bath with Phi…”
Precia entered the room, and after locking the door, asked about the person whose presence was a secret.
Yuugo responded, and Precia smiled when she saw Phi and Shiroi get out of the bath.
“Oh, they just got out! Shiroi, have this if you’d like!”
“Eh…? This is…”
Precia opened the pot, and a warm and gentle smell hung in the room.
Shiroi looked inside, saw a soup with vegetables of various colors, and his stomach let out a cute growl.
“Oh my, so you really are hungry. I’m sure you couldn’t get a nice meal in the forest. Eat up and feel better!”
“T-thank you…!”
Shiroi was handed a deep plate, and started having the vegetable soup.
He was reluctant before the first spoonful, but the moment he put it in his mouth, he started devouring it.
“Fufufu…! I’m glad I went with a soup that’s easy on the stomach. You can have more, so take it easy.”
“Yes, yes…!! This soup is really tasty! Thank you so much…!!”
Precia’s soup gave warmth to Shiroi’s heart trembling with loneliness.
But it was not just tasty. As the boy focused completely on the warm soup filled with her kindness, happy tears welled up in his eyes.
He looked like he was enjoying it a lot, and very happy… And that made Precia smile as she watched Shiroi enjoy her cooking.
And she looked like a merciful goddess in Yuugo’s eyes, as he spoke to her.
“You really are nice, Precia. You were so considerate of Shiroi…”
“That’s not true, I’m just doing what I can. And I like watching people eat my cooking and looking happy. If eating tasty food can brighten the hearts of people full of dark feelings or sadness, isn’t that really incredible? The world is full of trouble, but… I want to someday make food that makes people all over it smile. That’s my dream.”
“Making people smile all over the world…! Nice! That’s a super awesome dream!!”
“…Yuugo, can you do something about that vocabulary of yours? You’re ruining Precia’s story about her wonderful dream.”
Precia laughed embarrassingly as she talked about her dream, and Yuugo intensely praised her with a shine in his eyes.
As Marcos said, his vocabulary carried some destructive power, but his praise about her large scale dream packed respect.
“Some say an angel descends during meals… For it’s a sacred time. And when people have good food together and create nice memories, the ones who cook are also really happy, right!?”
“Fufufu…! Thank you. It’s really embarrassing, but I’m glad you understand, Yuugo.”
“M-more soup please!”
“Oh dear! You’re already done? Okay, I’ll serve you some more~!”
Shiroi seemed to enjoy her cooking from the bottom of his heart, and Precia served him more with a happy smile.
There was the fact that Precia was simply good at cooking, but… That was not what really brought up the flavor of the vegetables.
Precia thought to cook a warm meal to make the boy who helplessly trembled in the forest feel better. She prepared something gentle so as not to make his stomach feel bad, and made sure to cook a lot so he could have his fill.
It was that tender and nonchalant consideration that took her cooking further up.
If Yuugo were to borrow the words of the man he quoted before… No matter how good flavoring and ingredients were, there was something that trumped it all, the love of the person cooking.
Yuugo felt how right those words were as he looked at Shiroi’s smile, and nodded deeply while moved by how wonderful Precia’s cooking was, to save the heart of the boy who got roped into that unusual situation.
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Was that man by any chance quoting his grandma??