Claraโs face twisted as she tried to maintain her smile.
Whether it was steak pasta, porridge, or sandwiches.
There was no doubt that eating any of these so-called โbreakfastsโ would result in death.
After all, to be strictly classified, these were respectively explosives, chemical products, and metalworks.
Are the Sigma Series brothers cooking with the intent to poison themselves? Are these things even edible? Did they taste it themselves before serving it?
[Obviously not. If they had, they wouldnโt have been able to serve it.]
โSigh, only Sistโฆ Pure White Storm is left.โ
Clara pressed her forehead and shook her head. The activities arranged by Okita Daruma were just too suffocating, making her feel exhausted so early in the morning.
Wait, Miss Daruma is just the manager.
All of this must be the work of that producer S, right?!
Clara kept muttering under her breath.
โAre all variety show recordings this thrilling? Can I even survive this week?โ
Okita Daruma comforted her softly.
โMiss Clara, donโt worry, eating it wonโt be life-threatening. At most, itโs just food poisoningโฆโ
โOh, then would you eat it?โ Clara asked.
โNo.โ
The manager answered quite crisply.
[Or perhaps, Sigma Hero just wants to send you to the infirmary and seize this variety showโs spotlight all for himself?]
Uh, could they really be that malicious?
[You never know. The competition among hero companies is extremely fierce. Frankly, every hero company wishes there were fewer competitors. Teaming up with us is just to ride your recent popularity. Once your buzz dies down, youโll have no value to them.]
Clara couldnโt find any reason to refute Nyxโs hypothesis and only mumbled softly.
โMm, no need to be so realisticโฆโ
At that moment, Pure White Storm, who was last to finish cooking, brought her deep pot straight to the table.
Even with the lid on, you could feel the heat. The temperature at this site was already high, and Claraโs forehead started to sweat a little.
โMay I ask what you made?โ
Clara asked like a professional judge, and Sista answered:
โI made Lucia Red Soup.โ
Shouldnโt it be Russian borscht instead?!
It sounded as if Lucia herself had been chopped up and tossed in the pot, though the real Lucia was spectating from the sidelines, so she clearly wasnโt in there.
Pure White Storm lifted the lid. Clara, being short, couldnโt see the contents inside, but a surprisingly pleasant sweet and sour aroma wafted out.
T
Unexpectedly, it actually smelled like real food?
โHmm, did you use tomatoes?โ
Pure White Storm nodded.
T
โThatโs a necessary ingredient for red soup.โ
1
Then she ladled a bowl out and placed it in front of Clara.
It was very red. Besides tomatoes, there was definitely ketchup added. The soup looked a bit murky, making it hard to see what was underneath. On the surface floated flecks of meat scum, a clear sign the meat hadnโt been properly treated before being tossed in.
Such rookie mistakes are understandable for a first-time cookโbesides, sheโs only a year old, so one must be tolerantโฆ
Still, this pot of soup was much more normal than the Sigma brothersโ breakfasts, and Clara felt a bit relieved.
As expected, when it comes to cooking, girls are just more attentive~
โDid you taste it yourself?โ Clara asked.
โI did.โ
Sista nodded.
Since the cook had tasted it herself, the risk seemed low. Clara picked up the spoon, deciding to give it a try. This red soup did seem to meet the standard of โedible, wonโt kill you.โ
โThen Iโll try it.โ
She scooped up a spoonful. In the spoon floated murky red matterโit could be tomato, congealed blood, or who knows what else.
Sista hadnโt controlled the heat well; the kitchenโs firepower was too strong, resulting in a less appealing soup color.
โWhat a waste of ingredients. They shouldnโt do this kind of activity.โ
Muttering, Clara summoned lunar pioneering courage and brought the spoon to her mouth.
To her surprise, the result wasnโt bad, and she gave an objective evaluation.
โItโs edible, just a bit astringent and overly sweet.โ
For Clara, it wasnโt unpalatable. There were far worse eateries in the Blue Court District.
The ingredients provided by the resort restaurant were top-tier, be it meat or seafood, each had its own flavor. Mixing these together in a big stew, whether it still counted as red soup or not, resulted in a rich layering of taste.
How did that saying go?
High-quality ingredients often require only the simplest cooking.
She even lowered her head and took two more sips.
โMm?!โ
But after drinking only the soup from the surface, Claraโs hand suddenly froze mid-spoon, as if someone had hit pause. Her expression stiffened.
โMiss Clara, whatโs wrong?โ
Okita Daruma immediately sensed the change in atmosphere. It was as if sheโd received a huge shock; even her breath trembled violently.
i โฆโฆ
Claraโs throat quivered. She pushed away the small bowl in front of her. Okita Daruma looked toward the bottom of the bowl to see what was revealed.
Beef, vegetables, fruit, andโฆ squid tentacles.
All pretty normal ingredients, so why was Clara reacting so strongly?
She looked truly unwell.
โSorry, I donโt feel well.โ
Pure White Storm didnโt understand why Clara felt so sick or what mistake she had made, but seeing Claraโs face turn a Smurf-like shade of blue, an unfamiliar uncomfortable emotion stirred in Pure White Stormโs heart.
Because she was an artificial human, Pure White Stormโs emotions had always been thin. Even if she was hurt herself, she rarely felt sad. She hardly ever felt fear, much less any negative emotion that would affect combatโฆ
But seeing Claraโs ashen face leaving her seat, she couldnโt help but take a step forward.
By then, Clara had already left the restaurant, heading downstairs.
This was an island-themed resort. It was perfectly normal for the kitchen to have squid among the ingredients.
She really should have thought of that sooner.
Seeing Claraโs obvious discomfort, Okita Daruma realized she really was unwell, so she asked the cameraman to film the Sigma quartet and then chased after Clara out of the restaurant.
โClara, are you feeling very sick? Was it the steak?โ
โNo, itโs justโฆ there was something in the soup I canโt eat.
โฆ Just seeing it
makes me uncomfortable.โ
Okita Daruma thought quickly, recalling what was in the bowl, then glanced at the tentacles in Claraโs hair and suddenly understood.
โI see, so you have the squid factor?โ
A heroโs manager was a professional in the field, familiar with the quirks of modified mutants. Unable to eat foods related to oneโs own factorโshe also remembered Clara mentioning she was a natural-born mutantโฆ
โโฆMm.โ
Clara had just nodded when a familiar voice sounded from behind.
โEh? So Clara-senpai is also a squid mutant?!โ
Turning her head, Clara saw Lucia following Pure White Storm, who had also come after her.
Claraโs expression instantly soured, afraid Lucia would notice anything else, so she put on her gas mask again.
The first activity was over. Until noon, it was free time with nothing scheduled. As long as you didnโt mind being filmed or live-streamed by the drones, you could do as you pleased.
โLucia, Pure White Storm, why did you come?โ
โBecause what I made made you uncomfortable, Pure White Storm-sama felt bad and wanted to apologize to you in personโฆโ
Even though Lucia now knew Pure White Stormโs real gender, she still addressed her as โPure White Storm-sama.โ
It wasnโt out of respectโthere was a hint of teasing in it.
As a result, she unintentionally overheard Claraโs secret.
Clara-senpai and her brother really are alike, huh?
Its weird she can’t eat squid seeing that squid eat squid all the time.