CH 528.2

Any requests?

Mariel-chan let out a miserable sigh.

Mariel-chan, who calls herself a mayo-lover, was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms from life without mayonnaise. Just how much does she like it…

“Alright, let’s do it! We have a big stock of potatoes and Cockatrice. I will make two kinds of seasonings for the karaage… ah, Mariel-san, you will do your best to make Ruby’s salad, right?”

“Hiehh!? A, am I the one who has to make it, after all?”

“Of course. Mariel-san, you also have to work to welcome Ruby.”

“Y, yeah…”

“And Ruby is?”

Sei, who listened to our conversation, inquired.

“Ah, it’s the name of Mariel-san’s contracted beast. They have decided on it just earlier.”

I replied as I took out two of my usual aprons and handed one to Mariel-chan.

“Oh, that Carbuncle’s?”

“Heeh, so you decided on Ruby as the name. Well, the red jewel on its head is magnificent. I’m sure that fella is quite capable, since even that thing turned red.”

“U, umm. You can tell Carbuncle’s ability from the color of the jewel on their forehead?”

Mariel-chan responded to Byakko-sama’s mutter.

“Yeah. The color of Carbuncle’s jewel is the sign of their ability. The deeper and darker the color, the stronger the individual.”

“Is that so…”

“The appearance of the Carbuncle is often deceiving, but their specialty is leading their allies and even the most stubborn enemies alike by the nose. Be careful not to let them him you for his own gain.”

Byakko-sama patted Mariel-chan on the head, and she exploded with redness.

“Y, yeshh!”

“Ma, Mariel-san. Let’s go do the work in the kitchen, okay?”

“Y, yewsss…”

I lead Mariel-chan, who was staggering around, to the kitchen. I wonder if she’s okay, since she’s mumbling stuff like, “The destructive power of a hunk’s head pats is too strong…” next to me.

“Mariel-san! Do your best.”

I put a piece of lettuce in Mariel-chan’s hand, and she started shaking. Her eyes are unfocused!?

“Co, cooking… dark magic… yeah…”

Mariel-chan, get a grip!

“Mariel-san, that is a material. You were going to make a skirt with many frills with it, remember?”

I shook her around, and Mariel-chan, startled awake, stared at the lettuce in her hands.

“The theme is a green fairy… alright. Cristea-san, can you share a bit of the potato salad you make with me? Meanwhile, I will examine the materials I could use!”

“Y, yeah, got it!”

I made the potato salad with the help of Kurogane, gave it to Mashiro to cool it down and handed it to Mariel-chan.

“Thank you very much… here I go!”

Mariel-chan’s eyes seemed to sparkle, or was it my imagination… it wasn’t?

She used a spoon, a knife, and a spatula alternatively while molding the potato salad like a torso. She used the lettuce to decorate it like a layered dress, and wrapped thinly sliced carrots above it like a rose corset.

She then stuck thinly sliced cucumbers onto the back of the torso to make it look like a fairy’s wings…

“… And done!”

While I was frying the Cockatrice, she finished the fairy-dress salad.

“W, wonderful…! Mariel-san, you can do it when you try!”

I exclaimed, and Mariel-chan turned to me with a serious face.

“No, this is not cooking, but modeling. If I had a sculpting knife, I could have made the bare body more figure-like, but this is my limit for now…!”

Eh, why do you look so frustrated, Mariel-chan…?