Chapter 30: Coming to find me?

So hungry——!

After lying like a corpse on the sofa for half the day, Alice was feeling increasingly miserable, the emptiness in her stomach growing stronger and constantly sending signals of protest to her brain.

Well, aside from the simple breakfast they had for the fight this morning, they hadn’t eaten anything all day.

On top of that, her body needed a lot of energy to recover, making the hunger pangs even more intense at this moment.

I really want to eat…

Alice felt that, at this point, no matter what was brought to her, as long as it was edible, she would wolf it all down in one go. 

But, unfortunately…

There was absolutely nothing to eat prepared in the base.

This was actually because of Keti. 

In the past, all the meals and daily needs of the Hero Party were managed by Keti.

That idiot could even remember everyone’s dietary habits and preferences—what the girls liked and disliked—he had it all memorized. 

Every day, he’d come up with something new to prepare a feast for them, satisfying their taste buds…

So, with such a chef around, how could they possibly bother to stock up on bland rations in the base? 

Even snacks and pastries were all handmade by Keti, so there was no need to spend money buying them.

RATTO……

Now, Keti was gone…

And so the problem appeared.

Don’t be fooled by how independent everyone in the team seemed—

Layla looked like the gentle big sister who could take care of everyone, and Sylvia seemed quite dexterous too—but in reality…

None of them could cook!

In fact, not only could they not cook, their basic life skills were so poor they could be called household idiots. 

Other than dressing up, they weren’t good at anything else; even washing their own clothes was a nightmare. 

Even their underwear and stockings had been washed by Keti…

In these few days since Keti left, Layla had tried to cook, but…she almost blew up the pot right then and there, and what she made was just a black, sticky mess…

That stuff couldn’t even be called dark cuisine; it was more like some kind of purely toxic chemical substance. 

Not only could it not fill your belly, just looking at it would make you want to vomit.

So, these past two days, they’d all just bought food for themselves. 

Sure, it solved the problem of eating, but…the stuff outside was expensive, tasted bad, and the portions were tiny—not worth it at all.

Alice pouted. 

She hadn’t even washed her clothes these past few days, just letting them pile up. 

Anyway, she’d just wait for Keti to come back in a couple of days and make him wash everything for her.

That idiot…why isn’t he back yet?

At this thought, Alice silently lowered her head, the atmosphere growing inexplicably heavy.

Still…so hungry…

“Grr—!”

Suddenly, a long and loud stomach growl came from the blonde twin-tailed girl’s belly. 

Alice’s face immediately turned red, and she hurriedly scrambled up from the sofa in embarrassment…

But even standing up didn’t help. 

Her stomach kept rumbling for a full ten seconds before finally quieting down…

Layla and Sylvia’s eyes were all drawn to her, watching Alice’s flushed face with a bit of awkwardness, and then…they smiled helplessly…

Hehehehehe═!

Gah—!

Alice, who prided herself on being strong, suddenly felt her vision go black, her heart pounding in panic. 

She wished she could find a hole to crawl into right then and there…

How could this be? 

She’d already embarrassed herself enough today, so why did her stomach have to betray her too, ugh…

Why couldn’t she just hold it in for a bit?

 And it had to happen in front of these two women—damn it—!

“N-no…it wasn’t me, it wasn’t…”

So, after a moment, the blonde twin-tailed girl covered her face, stubbornly denying it in a fluster. 

Layla, watching her embarrassed look, could only try her best to hold back a laugh…

Pfft… 

Ah, it actually made her body ache a lot less~

But after a while, Layla gently coughed twice to stop herself from laughing, then waved her hand as if nothing happened, comforting Alice, “Ahem…Actually, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone’s probably really hungry. We haven’t eaten all day, after all.”

“I feel like my stomach’s about to start growling too. Sylvia, you must be hungry as well, right?”

The purple-haired, jellyfish-bob big sister looked at Sylvia. 

After a moment, the usually silent, eye-patched elf girl nodded, indicating that she was hungry too.

“Mm, since that’s the case, and it’s still early, why don’t we go out together and find a restaurant for a meal?”

“After all…you need to eat to have the energy to recover. If we go hungry all night, it’ll be tough. Is everyone feeling better? Can you walk? If anyone really can’t move, I can bring the food back.”

“Uh…I-I can go.”

Not wanting to owe this busty pervert woman any favors, Alice forced herself off the sofa. 

Sylvia also nodded, mumbling each word out slowly, “I… will go too.”

“Alright, then let’s go! Hmm…As for the restaurant, I remember there’s a good one near the Magic Academy. The portions are big and the prices are reasonable. Let’s just take a carriage so we don’t have to walk. Everyone, get changed, then off we go!”

This was what happened before tonight’s encounter at the restaurant…

Back to tonight.

In the corner of the restaurant, Keti was nervously hiding behind the soft-backed sofa, cautiously watching as Alice, Layla, and Sylvia entered.

They…they all came?!

Wh-what’s going on?

The moment she saw her former teammates, the silver-haired beauty almost lost it, her first reaction to quickly duck under the table. 

But as soon as she got down there, she realized she was face-to-face with Lynn’s zipper…so she hurriedly got back up.

And then she just sat there, trembling with fear.

Well, you really couldn’t blame Keti for being so timid. 

Given her current appearance, she’d panic no matter which acquaintance she ran into…

Why did Alice and the others suddenly show up here?

And all three of them at once—rare for them to move together. 

C-could it be…they were here for her?

They couldn’t possibly know she was eating here, right?!

Hiss—

No, no way, how could they know? 

This restaurant didn’t require reservations, she hadn’t given her name, and she’d only decided to come here at the last minute. 

Plus, looking like this, there was no way anyone could’ve tipped them off about her being here, so…ttt…………

Just as the silver-haired beauty was so scared her legs were shaking, she suddenly noticed something odd…

After coming in, the three girls were all walking strangely—some limping, some struggling to take a step, obvious injuries on their bodies, and they all looked exhausted.

And after entering, they didn’t look around the restaurant for anyone; instead, they went straight to the front desk and started ordering food.

Keti blinked in confusion. 

This…doesn’t look like they came to find her?

“How come, little kitty, don’t leave me hanging here~”