"We can take our time." ~Yoshelle,

Chronoadept

The next morning, Shallies sent her students to procure more basic magical ingredients. Ones acquired from plant pods and peaceful treants. She didn't give them time to prepare, so that there would be no temptation to break away from her instructions and find some random strong monster to fight.

"Stachie's watching, so don't even think about it," she had warned them, before sending them on their way.

That took Grace, Ren, and Tayin out of the equation. Not that she was worried that they would slip up, but she simply didn't want to give Yoshelle and her group any unnecessary information. They didn't even know she was a Guiding Star, nor the rest of her fabricated backstory.

Even Chippy was out. She didn't want to have to explain why a phoenix was bonded to a Single Base Class Adventurer, and how it was already halfway towards maturity.

The next thing she did was to prepare breakfast for the seraphim. Taking advantage of their situation, they all naturally decided to wake up later than most people. Still in the morning, but a few hours later than everyone else.

Shallies didn't mind. After all, she was asking them to stay out of their normal duties in Avel Paradise in order to deal with Thrush'ven Alir. Even with still a few weeks until the Rift's currently-determined opening, she didn't want to risk sending them back. If things accidentally escalated, then she wouldn't have to resort to using Realm Gate to call them back. Not that she couldn't, but removing it out of things to consider, especially since there would be a lot of people involved in the future, was their best option.

By this point, the three seraphim had settled on what they would want for breakfast on a regular basis. Phey'lan would always choose the Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich combo, while Valor'el and Arun'dul both opted for Bacon and Egg Fried Rice for their usual. She had convinced them to take her lattes for drinks. This way, she could get some practice in.

After preparing meals for the three, Shallies' next objective was to pre-prepare ingredients. She made it a point to prepare for all her menu items, at least one step of each.

Chopping, marinating, skewing… She would've added deboning if she had included a fish on the menu. Either way, she made sure not to over-prepare anything, and risk wasting ingredients.

As soon as the seraphim woke up, the four of them took their breakfast. It began with a quiet start, with sluggish greetings and deep yawns going all around. Not until they had their first sip of lattes did the conversations begin.

"We've been thinking," Phey'lan started. "We can probably help you gather some ingredients, Shallies. The magical ones, of course, but if you need some hard-to-get ones, I can probably get them."

"Like what?"

The female seraph shrugged. "Dragon meat?"

Naturally, the suggestion got stares.

"We have regulations on dragon hunting, remember?" Shallies said, not outright calling out the ridiculousness of the suggestion. "Zerax'malathum wouldn't hesitate to declare war against Avel Paradise, even if they know I'm backing you. I'll be forced to stay neutral. And you know I don't like getting forced to do things."

"There are still rogue dragons out there," Phey'lan reasoned. "Zerax'malathum has their own wanted list. We can just hunt those."

"I think Lady Shallies is telling you that she doesn't want dragon meat on her menu, Phey," Valor'el said, trying to put a stop to the suggestion without outright stomping over it.

"Well, I still want to help out," Phey'lan insisted. "Doesn't matter if I end up just harvesting marlics or whatever."

"Well, I was thinking of stocking up on sugar slimes," Shallies said, immediately lifting the female seraph's mood. "As far as reports go, there aren't any slimes here in Cinterbrim Province."

"Yes, yes! That's it!" Phey'lan nodded aggressively, tapping the table triumphantly. "There are slime dungeons just outside of Stoneglow City. We can definitely get you some!"

"We?" Valor'el and Arun'dul asked at the same time.

"Of course, you dummies! You're not freeloading in Shallies' tavern! If we work only around Stoneglow, even if something bad happens, we can quickly come back without relying on Realm Gate."

"I suppose, we're free," Valor'el commented, shrugging and returning to his meal.

"I feel like I'll be doing all the work, though," Arun'dul added. "If we're just dealing with slimes, I'll be more than enough."

"We'll all work together!" Phey'lan said. "Promise!"

"I don't know…" The young seraph shrugged and also returned to his breakfast.

"What do you say, Shallies?"

Just like the other two, the Godkiller shrugged as well. "Just don't make any trouble."

"Great! We're leaving today!"

With one brimming with renewed vigor, and the other two being pulled by that enthusiasm, the seraphim group quickly packed and left.

"They didn't even say when they're coming back…" Shallies murmured to herself while cleaning the dishes.

And just like that, Shallies was alone.

Only for a few minutes. Apple came floating down the stairs. She made gestures, mimicking wings with her tiny arms.

"They went out to gather some sugar slimes," Shallies replied. "I should ask them if they could get salt slimes and pepper slimes too."

Apple shook her head, indicating she was misunderstood. To add to the wing gesture, she also lowered herself to look even smaller.

"Oh, Chippy?"

Apple nodded.

"He's with Grace. I sent them out to gather some more marlics and ponions, and whatever else they can get easily."

With no one to play with, Apple ended up taking a tea bath instead. As it was the norm, she also started playing some tunes from her music player. The track was one of the new ones she had acquired from her most recent visit to Cinterbrim Town. Just a soft tune of piano and other string instruments, making a relaxing harmony.

The calming tunes brought Shallies into the groove. From her Ingredients Container, she retrieved a part of the six-horned noldzwjak's shoulder, and then sectioned a nice slab out of it, before returning the rest into her Class Inventory. Today, she wanted to experiment with it.

With a typical Godkiller-style utilization of her Scan, Shallies determined that parts of the noldzwjak could serve for a variety of Food Buffs. The shoulders in particular, had a double effect. It added a significant +60 to the Strength Attribute, while having an innate Beginner Proficiency Mana Multiplier.

With her Scan, Shallies discovered that the noldzwjak shoulder also brought with it a negative effect. A small -10 to Constitution in the overall recipe. Small to her, but for someone like Grace, that would be equivalent to ten levels.

"Why does it say, 'to overall recipe'?" Shallies asked, knowing Stachie would be there to reply.

[When you use it as an ingredient to a recipe, if there are any magical ingredients that add Constitution, they'll be reduced by that amount in the final result.]

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Oh, so if I don't use Constitution ingredients, there's no negatives?"

[Correct.]

"It doesn't affect the other Food Buffs?"

[Correct. Even if the other Food Buff has Constitution in it, they'll be untouched.]

"Neat."

With that in mind, Shallies considered what to do with the slab of noldzwjak shoulder. It sliced up like pork. Shallies observed the greasy sheen of fat and brilliant glow of muscle meat. They would look nice in cubes, small bite-sized portions. Easily enough, she decided to cook it using the Vinegar-Braised Pork recipe.

"Well… Let's marinate it first," Shallies murmured. "What else should I do?"

Just then, Apple came into the freezer room, showing a System Console Message.

Yoshelle was quite particular about her hair, making sure each wave of her black strands were in their right positions and accentuated by glitters of blue and pink shining mana motes.

These motes were her effort to try and mimic Godkiller Bernadette. Unlike the Godkiller's natural pink and blue strands underneath her overall white, Yoshelle had to make do with artificial motes she had made herself.

After making sure they were all proper, she topped her head with her hat, Sunbreaker of Quick Casting of Twin Casting +9. Her favorite hat.

Of course, these were all done around Quicktime, a Chronoadept Skill that, despite its name, created a zone where time was separated and slowed down. Inside, depending on Yoshelle's Skill Proficiency, she could stretch a real-time second up to an entire minute.

Right then, she was only expanding it by two seconds to one, allowing her to spend two hours on her hair while only actually spending one real hour. This way, it wouldn't be as taxing on her mana, while people who might see her—not that there were anyone else in her private room—wouldn't be too shocked at how quickly she was moving.

With hair done, slick and sparkling, she made her way down towards the Adventurer Guild Hall's main hall. As she did so, her thoughts lingered on their current objective. Shallies.

She does have white hair… Couldn't see much from behind. Yoshelle had used all manner of restraint to not steer the conversation to Shallies' hair when they had first met. It would've been awkward, rude, and creepy. She shook her head.

No, that can't be her. What would she be doing in a place like this?

"Good morning, Yoshelle!" Laika greeted her with a jolly tune. This lively dog-ferim was always the first to wake up and the first to get ready even among the rest of their guildmates. "You look gorgeous as always!"

"Thank you, Laika. So are you." Yoshelle noticed the little brown braids playfully flowing from the dog-ferim's ears. One side was neatly tied together by a pink ribbon, while the other had the magical pin with the Bluepearl Diamond of Rushing Torrents +8 encrusted in it. "I like what you did with your accessory."

"It's neat, right?"

"Yeah. Where's Krevan?"

At that, Laika's face turned to one of disappointment. She sighed and pointed to where the reception tables were.

Yoshelle turned and immediately understood.

Krevan was there, his beard well trimmed and neatly combed, leaning on the table specifically made for shorter species, and wearing the most dumb smile one could possibly wear.

On the other side of the reception table was Quest Handler Rio. She was wearing a smile, trained and professional, while she talked with Krevan. Her auburn hair was neatly tied up, with a frilly headdress to match her maid outfit. She was obviously doing her best not to cringe at the dwarf's words.

"I better go save her," Yoshelle said with a sigh.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop him," Laika followed up.

"Ah, don't worry about it."

Yoshelle started marching over to the dwarf. Even with her loud footsteps, Krevan seemed completely focused on wooing Rio.

"And if I ever find the most beautiful flower in The Great Wilds, it would be the easiest decision for me to let it adorn your pretty face, dear Rio." Krevan made a genuine bow, one that made Yoshelle feel like vomiting.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare take it, Mister Krevan. I would hate for you to go through all the effort." Rio, despite the dwarf's aggressive nature, seemed to have a good handle on the conversation.

"Sounds to me like you're used to this sort of thing," Yoshelle commented. More towards the Quest Handler, rather than her teammate. "Had a number of adventurers fall for you, I assume?"

"Once or twice," Rio replied, turning a little red. "How can I help you today, Miss Yoshelle?"

"Nothing much. I'm just here to retrieve my party member so we can begin with our meeting."

"Took your time," said Krevan. "I almost thought you slept in."

"That doesn't mean you can spend your free time occupying Miss Rio here and distracting her from her duties."

"Eh, it's fine, right?" Krevan said, turning to Rio, but he didn't wait for a reply. "I'm free, she's free, we're all free. If she didn't want to talk, she would've said so."

"I'm afraid I've been indulging in a bit of verbal exercise myself, Miss Yoshelle," Rio admitted. "It's quite an interesting challenge turning down every single one of Mister Krevan's advances."

"Oh, so you liked it!" said the dwarf cheerfully.

"Ah, but you're mistaken, Mister Krevan," Rio said almost too quickly. "I was only interested in how much I can last against your words without cringing or feeling embarrassed. A practice in self-control, so to speak. I'm quite impressed with myself this time around. But if I may give you some advice for your future endeavors, I'd suggest taking it easy with promises and maybe show some genuine interest about who they are first."

Yoshelle couldn't stop breaking into a laugh, as she watched the poor dwarf slowly break into… Amazement?

"Will you please exchange contacts with me?" Krevan said, doing his best to sound straightforward, without any hint of his playboy antics. "I won't bother you during work hours, I won't barrage you with messages. You don't even have to reply, if you're busy."

"Seriously?" Yoshelle tried to call him out, attempting to use her rank to get him to stop. But as she turned to apologize to Rio, she found the Quest Handler smiling with intent.

"Here you go, Mister Krevan," she said, opening a small interface of her System Console.

"Seriously?" Yoshelle repeated.

"Yes!" And Krevan rejoiced.

"Why?" she asked the Quest Handler.

"Hmm… Well, first of all, if I don't give my contact, Mister Krevan here might send unnecessary messages to our Guild Hall's main contact. It is a public piece of information, after all."

"So this is a private contact!?" Krevan asked, triumph in his voice.

"Of course. Another reason is, if Mister Krevan here would like to be strung around, I don't mind pulling it for him."

"Oh…" Yoshelle nodded slowly. "Ooohh… I see."

"Now if you'll excuse me, dear guests, I'll have to perform my other duties." Rio stood up and gave a dignified bow. "But should you have any inquiries regarding anything else other than my personal life, I'm still here to assist you."

"Yeah, actually," Yoshelle began. She started lightly pushing Krevan to return to Laika, so that she could talk to Rio properly. The dwarf refused, jumping around like a kid who had been presented with a candy. She sighed, returning her attention back to the Quest Handler fully. "Now that you mention it, can I ask for information regarding Shallies?"

"Personal information is prohibited, unless you can provide me proper authorization," Rio started, but she opened her System Console nonetheless. "I do have some publicly available information."

"Those would suffice."

After a few taps of her System Console, the Quest Handler turned it towards Yoshelle. "Here you go."

[Name: Shallies Mythernal] [Species: Human] [Divine Line: Unbonded] [Class: Guiding Star (Hero 66), Chef (Profession 15)] [Quests Given: 1]

"What was the quest?" Yoshelle inquired.

"Gathering 10 different ingredients from monsters Level 20 and above," Rio replied.

"Do you mind if I take a copy of this?"

"Not at all."

"Thank you."

"You're most welcome!"

After copying Shallies' profile, Yoshelle returned to Laika, pulling Krevan by his collar.

"That took a while," commented the dog-ferim. "What did you talk about?"

"Just took some information regarding Shallies," Yoshelle replied.

"And Miss Rio's contact information," Krevan added.

Laika giggled at that. "Congratulations."

Yoshelle took a few seconds to share Shallies' information. With a sigh, she also presented her initial speculation. That Shallies might be Godkiller Bernadette in disguise. Of course, she avoided using the Godkiller's name, but she was able to provide them enough context clues that they quickly understood anyway. And of course, that earned stares from them too, like she had gone crazy.

Krevan might be confident with his veil, but she was cautious enough not to rely on it.

"Why would she be here?" asked the dwarf, hissing. He understood that Yoshelle was being cautious, and decided to follow suit. Especially since they were talking about a topic that might potentially offend Godkiller Bernadette.

"There's nothing to do here," Laika reasoned, teaming up with the dwarf.

"It's just a hunch," Yoshelle said. "We all know she has white hair."

"And?" Krevan questioned, his tone filled with sarcasm. He was still hissing, despite the other two not really doing it. "There're a lot of girls with beautiful, gorgeous white hair!"

"And we know she has blue and pink highlights," Laika added.

"Underneath," Yoshelle pointed out. "It's hard to see when Sha—"

It clicked.

"Does it matter if we call her by her made up name?" she asked instead.

The two responded with shrugs.

Yoshelle raced through her memories, trying to recall if she had said anything offensive towards Shallies. From their first meeting, to her being mentioned by Mayor Schooner, to gathering information about her.

Oh, no…

Right away, Yoshelle deleted the copy of Shallies' profile. She waited, with her tensed form seemingly an alien reaction to the other two.

"It's not her," Laika said, the context clicking in place for her a second later. She also waited for a few breaths, until she was sure that no god would be smiting them. "See? If it was actually Shallies, then we would have been punished already."

"Why would I punish you?" someone else said.

Yoshelle turned towards the voice, towards the entrance of the Guild Hall, to see Shallies standing there with a small Food Container in her hands. Laika jumped out of her seat. Krevan hid under the table. And she kicked his face when he tried to grab her thigh.

"Punish?" Laika repeated, her hands in front of her shaking. "Nobody said punish! I mean uh… famished! I meant famished! Yes! We would've been hungry if we didn't see your tavern yesterday. Umm… A little surprising to see you here."

"Oh, I was just delivering some food for Rio and Robert," Shallies said, quickly moving on. "They sent me a message this morning. If you're looking to eat in my tavern again, I'll be back as soon as I do a bit of shopping."

The group made a sigh of relief. Laika laughed at herself. She was sweating a lot.

"See?" said the dog-ferim. "Totally fine."

"Alright, fine," Yoshelle began, taking a big sigh. "We should just talk to her now, then."

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