Chapter 72 - Roasted Duck Feast

Zachary had awoken from being knocked out unconscious by Kai from earlier.

"Shoot, for how long was I out for?"

He asked himself.

His eyes darted around the room, making sense of where he was.

Zach has in his room.

Grimoire still in his hands.

He jolted himself up from bed, but slowly groaned from his injuries.

"Ugh. That Kai Xin guy really did a number on me. I can barely feel my face."

Zach said as he caressed his left cheek which the S Rank Fire Slayer from the Inferno Garden punched from earlier.

A knock from his door was heard.

"Hey, Zach. Are you up?"

It was Suna's voice.

"Yeah, I am up. Did you end up in your room as well?"

"Uh-huh. Yin and Kai carried us to our respective rooms. It is almost 10 in the evening, the supper is almost cooked, I think. Come down and eat!"

She exclaimed.

"Alright, I will be down in just a bit."

"…"

"Wait, what?! Kai Xin is still here?!"

"Yep."

Suna replied.

Zachary opened the door and ran downstairs.

His heart raced with the thought of their attacker still being here.

"What is he up to? Has he taken them hostage? Was he waiting for me to wake up? Where the hell is that klutz, Yin? Is Suna in on this as well?!"

Panic was rushing through Zach's mind.

As he stepped his foot on the first flight of steps from below, he immediately went straight to the living room.

There they were, Yin, Suna, Oliver, and Kai.

Sat on a table, together.

Zachary readied his grimoire and opened it, landing his fingers on the Whirling Fireball spell he desperately was trying to still practice for days now.

"Woah, woah, slow down there."

Kai attempted to calm Zach down.

So did Yin and Suna.

"It is fine, Zach, you can stand down now."

Suna said.

"Stand down?! After what this guy did to us earlier? And why are you three even siding with him?! Even Oliver! I will not condone this traitorous behavior at all!"

Just as he was about to expel the fireball from the palms of his hands, Kai Xin was now in the front of his field of view.

Kai's boots were smoking lightly.

His hands held Zach's grimoire in place.

"Let go!"

Zach shouted.

"You really have to hear my side of the story out, young Zachary. Seriously, man, can you calm down for a bit?"

Zachary lowered his guard and sighed.

He sat down at the table, walking past Kai Xin.

"Very well. Talk."

Zach said as he crossed his arms.

Kai pulled a chair and took a seat in front of Zach, who was still adamant about everything so far.

He explained everything to him, such as why he was there and why he had to fight them.

"Couldn't you have made something up and pretend that you actually fought us? Did you really need to go all out against a bunch of rookies like that?!"

Zachary raised his voice.

Yin and Suna nodded, supporting Kai's story. Suna at first was definitely on edge, but after hearing it straight from Kai himself, she eased up a bit. It helped that Yin also told her that he was not lying at all.

"So, that about explains my predicament…"

Kai scratched his head while laughing nervously.

"Hm. I still do not trust you."

"That's really rude of you, Zach!"

Kai responded.

"Oh, I almost forgot, the roasted duck is ready I believe."

Kai stood up from where he sat and went outside.

"Roasted duck?"

Zach turned to Yin and Suna.

The two hungry gluttons shook their heads up and down. Zachary could have sworn he saw them salivating just a minute ago.

Oliver was dozing off on Suna's lap.

"How come you came to your senses much faster than I did, Suna?"

Zachary asked her.

"Well, it is all thanks to this baby furball."

She said as she scratched Oliver's ears lightly.

"Hm. So he really is a healer, huh? That is pretty neat, to be honest." Zachary then raised his arms and pointed his finger at Yin, "You! You just stood there shaking earlier. You could not have helped us? Seriously. Also, you just used your powers that turns anything into dust as it crumbles. You used 'that' power against another human being!"

"Hey, lay off me! It just activated by itself involuntarily. I did not mean to do it. By the way, weren't you the first one who got knocked out during the fight? You are such a nitpicker, I swear!"

Yin said.

"Can you both be quiet? The roasted duck is almost here…"

"Hm. Is it?"

Zach has not seen it yet.

"It may be hidden from my eyes, but I can smell it. It is getting closer and closer…"

"Yikes."

Kai got back inside the hideout once more, carrying a roasted duck cooked with a bamboo pole, circling it around with coal until it turned golden brown.

"Behold, my very own roasted duck recipe!"

Kai proudly placed it on the table with a plate under it.

Yin's eyes were sparkling and widened.

"Woah, you really can cook, Kai."

Yin said.

"Of course. This is child's play for me!"

Kai responded while chuckling loudly.

Zach scoffed.

Perhaps he was threatened by another cook potentially curating food and making it better than he does.

"Alright, go dig in, everyone!"

Suna and Yin were basically clawing against each other at the table.

Plates clinked loudly as both of then went at it.

"Aren't you well behaved?"

Kai Xin made an observation targeted at Zach.

Zachary just ignored him.

He was still furious at his intrusion and audacity to initiate a fight against them from earlier.

Zachary took a plate and cut out a part of the duck with his table knife and fork.

Kai watched them eat in delight, while he took small bites himself.

Even Oliver was digging in, they gave him a small plate to eat on the table with.

The baby panda was reluctant at eating something he did not eat before at first, but after a few spoonsful, he was loving it.

"How is it, little one?"

Kai Xin asked the baby panda.

Oliver simply nodded in joy.

"That is good, eat well."

Zachary did not even turn to look at Kai, he was only focused on eating.

After half an hour of the Six Blades stuffing themselves with Kai Xin's special roasted duck recipe, they finally exhausted themselves after tearing it apart until only bones were seen.

Kai stood up.

"Well, it would seem as if I really do not need to ask you how it was anymore. Seeing as there is nothing left of it."

The S Rank Inferno Garden Slayer let out a victorious chuckle.

"That was amazing, Kai!"

Suna exclaimed.

"Yeah, I am so full I do not even know if I can still walk…"

Yin said after he gulped down a whole glass of water.

"Tell me, Kai, do you really think this makes up for your intrusion in our hideout?"

Zachary wrinkled his eyebrows.

Kai sighed.

"Here I thought we would be even after cooking for you guys…"

"You thought wrong, then."

Zach responded.

"Hey, cut him some slack, Zach, I am sure even you knew that if Kai did not hold back during our fight, we would have been seriously injured, right?"

Yin said as he stood up.

"Yeah, I do know that. Not once was he taking us seriously in that fight."

Zach said.

"Alright, young Zachary, what do you want me to do to make it up to you guys? By the way, you do know I can just not do it, right? I am just being a stand up guy here. I feel bad for fighting a bunch of rookies, but hey, that was my mission."

Kai was serious now.

"To make it up to us, you are going to have to train me!"

Zachary shouted at Kai.

"Nah. I am not good at teaching and training other Slayers, sorry Zach."

Kai smiled nervously.

"T-That does not matter! At least teach me how to use my grimoire effectively, you are the perfect person for this, you're a high ranking Fire Slayer. You are in the Inferno Garden for god's sake!"

Kai contemplated it.

He squinted his eyes as he thought long and hard about what his response would be.

"Hmm. I would not be able to train you efficiently given the time constraints. I have to be somewhere tomorrow evening. But, I am free tomorrow from morning till afternoon, let us squeeze in as much as we can in that timespan, are you good with that?"

Zach nodded.

"Then let us get started!" Kai exclaimed. "Your first task in this training regime is to…"

Zach waited while his impromptu teacher was stalling for what he was going to say next.

"To clean the table and wash the dishes!"

"Are you kidding me right now?!"

"Nope, you're the one who chose me as your teacher, right? You've got to listen to me, student."

Yin and Suna laughed at the events unfolding before them.