◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (8)
The Light Spirit, realizing she had been deceived, pouted for a few minutes.
"That was really dangerous!"
When she was sealed, her voice had been lifeless, but after forming a contract with KiJun, she had completely transford into a different person.
Even with that change, KiJun felt it was worth it to have ford a contract with her.
"It was dangerous. I just accepted the risk because I wanted to grow."
― Humans really do strange things. Risking your life to avoid dying? What nonsense.
KiJun inwardly agreed with her statent, patting her head gently. The Light Spirit, who had been tapping his head, finally seed to calm down and flew into his embrace.
"But it doesn't matter. I won't let you die as long as you're under contract with !"
"I feel safer now. Thank you."
At first, she had been about the size of a human, but now she was small enough to sit in the palm of KiJun's hand. This was because KiJun's power wasn't enough to maintain her full form.
"Are you worried?"
― No, it's okay. If you stay with , the power within the contractor will grow steadily! I know it!
"Sure, I'll rely on you from now on. By the way... what's your na?"
― Do you want to give one?
When KiJun glanced at the Demon Lord as if to say he didn't care, she shrugged, indicating that she didn't have a problem with it.
Eventually, KiJun turned his gaze back to the spirit and thought for a mont. A na suddenly popped into his mind, and he spoke it aloud.
"Let's go with Lucy."
― Lucy.
The spirit looked surprised for a mont but then nodded in satisfaction.
― Perfect...
"Perfect?"
― Nothing, I really like it. From now on, call Lucy!
KiJun was greatly relieved by her reaction.
Maybe her original na was Lucy?
If that were the case, was it just a coincidence that he had thought of this na? There were so many questions he wanted to ask: Why did she go berserk? How did she end up sealed? Was she really okay now?
But now that he had made a contract with her, he felt that probing too deeply into her privacy would be impolite.
If he wanted to know, he could take his ti, increase his spirit power, and get to know her better through interactions.
"Demon Lord, can you see Lucy now?"
"No, I can only hear her voice faintly. There's a golden light on your palm right now."
The Demon Lord said, squinting his eyes.
"As your spirit power increases, this problem will be resolved. Spirits use the power of their own existence, natural energy, the contractor's spirit power, and mana power. But right now, you barely have any spirit power or mana power, you know? It's impressive that I can hear the spirit's voice at all."
"Can you just praise once without any complaints?"
"Fine, hurry up and train, you clumsy one."
With newfound determination, the hero decided to accept reality.
But before that, there was sothing he needed to prepare: today's tuition fee... lunch. Tan-tan noodles.
While tan-tan noodles made with at broth were delicious, when he didn't want to spend too much ti, the Chinese-style ones with a peanut-based sauce were the best.
First, he heated the peanuts and various nuts in oil. He added garlic, green onions, and other spices, then stir-fried them together. After that, he added finely chopped at and seasoned it. The sll of the at, sizzling in the oil, spread throughout the area, making the Demon Lord wrinkle his nose.
"Hero, I think the food is ready!"
"It's not done yet, just wait."
"No, I really think it's done!"
"You have to wait."
Every ti he needed noodles, he made a large batch in advance and stored them in his inventory, so when he cooked, he just needed to prepare the sauce and toppings.
He poured the sauce over the boiled noodles and mixed them together with the at. Then he placed everything in a bowl.
"Ah... it slls delicious!"
― Spicy, but so rich and chewy!
It seed like his cooking received praise not only from the Demon Lord but also from Lucy.
They say a al shared is a al enjoyed. With the dishes ready, the hero felt the ti was right to have a serious talk.
"Alright, let's eat. If you find it delicious, I have sothing to discuss with you."
"Mm?"
While he boiled the noodles, the Demon Lord had been stealing bites of the at, so now she tried to cover his mouth guiltily.
He had prepared extra at since he knew she would probably eat so. After a few monts of silence, Lucy spoke again.
—It's delicious...!
With both hands, Lucy grabbed a strand of noodles and slurped it up, repeatedly exclaiming how delicious it was. Watching Lucy enjoying the al, KiJun felt a sense of satisfaction. Just then, a ssage popped up in KiJun's field of vision.
—You are breaking the boundaries between various races. Cooking skill has increased by 3 levels and reached level 93!
Recently, due to the familiarity with the existence of the Demon Lord, the growth of the Cooking skill, had been a bit slow. But now it skyrocketed to level 93 thanks to Lucy's intrusion.
Had any hero ever taken their Cooking skill to the uncommon grade? Or was there even an uncommon grade for Cooking in the first place?
"It seems like not many people have reached my level because they were busy fighting," KiJun thought. In this world, where you would die if you didn't fight fiercely every day, people who delved deeply into cooking were not initially called as heroes.
Among the 8 billion people on Earth, only the most chosen heroes beca the million heroes among them. However, the greatest driving force that sustained his current life was this Cooking skill. It was quite ironic.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
With sauce sared on the corner of her mouth, the Demon Lord spoke, pointing to KiJun's mouth and then handing him a tissue.
"Our ingredients are running low. I've looked around this area thoroughly, but apart from a few types of spices, herbs, and limited kinds of at, there's nothing else available. I can sustain myself for a few months with the reserves in my inventory, but after that, it's worriso. Is there any solution?" KiJun explained.
"There is," the Demon Lord replied.
Despite considering it a significant issue, the response ca out imdiately. The Demon Lord wiped the sauce off his mouth elegantly and said, "Summon Fairies."
"I don't like that idea, seriously..."
KiJun's expression soured in real-ti, and for so reason, Lucy's expression also beca fiercely wrinkled.
"Fairies? There are trashy beings among humans who refer to small spirits as fairies, and I don't like that expression!"
"If you want, you can call them beautiful butterflies, Lucy."
"Oh my..."
Lucy happily responded to KiJun's lip service, while the Demon Lord frowned as if he had seen sothing he couldn't stand.
"Don't date spirits, hero."
"Can’t you see we’re sparring?"
In response to the hero's retort, the Demon Lord relentlessly attacked him during the subsequent afternoon sparring session. Lucy, the light spirit, tried her best to protect him by bestowing a light shield or covering his shield with light. However, the more she struggled, the more the Demon Lord's power intensified, striking KiJun relentlessly.
Eventually, after just two hours, KiJun's mana and stamina were completely drained, and he collapsed on the ground. Lucy, who had protected him, sobbed and shouted, "You evil demon! Soday, I'll defeat you and rescue my contractor!"
"Hahaha, give it a try if you can," the Demon Lord chuckled, thoroughly satisfied with his role as the final boss after a long ti.
"Alright, I've found the fastest fairy courier in the world—"
Just then, at that confusing mont, the fairy from the tutorial arrived.
"Why... What is this situation? Did you decide to kill this bug? No, the spirit? Why is there a spirit in the tutorial? That ans there's a contractor... ugh, uh?!"
"Oh, uh? Well, listen. This is training. Um, this spirit is..."
"Things change so quickly," the fairy muttered, eyeing the nacing look in Lucy's eyes.
"Oh no, are you by any chance in love with my contractor?" Lucy asked, trying to tease her.
"Hah."
With a slight laugh, the fairy quickly redirected her sharp gaze back to its original position.
"Just relax. I wasn't talking about you. Your contractor does have so charm... No, never mind. Anyway, don't forget our promise," the fairy said, desperately averting her eyes.
"Yeah, of course," KiJun replied.
The fairy, irritated, glanced sharply at him before leaving. KiJun decided that once he got up, he would lie down again imdiately. Certainly, he had made up his mind.
* * *
On the third evening of the second chapter, the party was in a forest clearing about 20 kiloters north from the starting point of the tutorial mission.
Eating a porridge made by tearing jerky and bread into it, YeMin frowned and complained, "It's tasteless... KiJun oppa used the sa ingredients and made it much tastier..."
Sitting next to her and slowly savoring the porridge in her bowl, JiHye sighed and said, "If only we were in the training camp, we could have had decent als for at least four weeks. But no, we had to rush out without even training our basic stats properly."
"Are you stupid? Right now, even KiJun oppa must be feeling lonely. We need to join him as soon as possible!" YeMin retorted.
"Don’t call stupid. Also, how can you be so sure that he's feeling lonely?"
"Just relax. I admit that KiJun oppa has a good personality, but he's not handso. You don't have to worry about him being popular with girls."
"Hah."
Slightly tilting her head, JiHye responded, "Stop it. I find it terrifying when you glare at like that."
"Just trust . Oppa doesn't have that kind of charm... I think."
Satisfied with her unnecessary worries, YeMin turned her gaze back to her porridge. JiHye, who was with her through thick and thin, thought about her past comrades and felt a pang of nostalgia. She realized that she too had camaraderie, albeit in her own way, and sighed, amused by the unexpected sentintality.
"Just relax. I can guarantee you. Oppa's true charm is... Well, you'll realize it if you stay with him a bit longer. No?" JiHye said.
"That's right. Let's just finish eating and go. The two of us together should be able to tackle the ruins. If only there were gods, it would have been nice," YeMin replied.
The two quickly cleaned up their spot and started their nightti march.
Among the heroes facing the 2nd tutorial, they moved faster and more daringly than anyone else.
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