Chapter 39: Meat Knows The Answer

I was a little nervous, wondering if I wouldn’t receive the reward since I hadn’t completely finished off the enemy.

“Well, at least this demon has some manners.”

“Hm~ Arachne may have a big appetite, but she’s not too greedy otherwise.”

With a pop, the doppelgänger of Arachne disappeared, leaving behind a treasure chest!

A satisfied grin naturally formed on my lips.

Well.

“Meh.”

Just because there was a treasure chest didn’t mean the reward inside would always be satisfying.

Maybe my standards had become too high.

At this point, I barely batted an eye at most rewards.

That’s just who I am.

“Let’s keep climbing without any repeated clears today. But first, let’s head back to the guild house and make some preparations.”

I still had my cooking buff, but…

How could I possibly resist freshly butchered beef?

Back at the guild house, I started slicing up the thick, juicy thigh meat of a minotaur and grilling a steak.

“Nya!”

“Woof!”

Our party’s two short-spoken warriors, who had no concept of dignity, watched with shining eyes.

One was observing the entire cooking process with great focus—fitting for a future store manager.

“Sniff, sniff! Smells so good!”

The other was just high on dopamine from the scent.

That reminded me of something I saw in the tower earlier.

-Ya…… Village……?

-Grilled… meat…

Didn’t they say Arachne had a big appetite?

Rumi’s a bit similar in that regard, but unlike her, Rumi’s more about enthusiasm for food than sheer volume.

Hmm.

Hmmm…

As I plated the perfectly medium-well steak and served it to the warriors,

“Saha? This might be a slightly rude question.”

“Yes, Ark? What is it?”

Saha absentmindedly stroked the handle of her hammer.

Why so scary all of a sudden?

“If I were to bring this brazier into the dungeon, would you be able to light it up for me?”

“…Huh? That’s easy enough.”

Saha’s expression softened.

What kind of question did she think I was going to ask?

A whole brazier… might be pushing it a bit.

“Enjoy your meal. I’m going to step out to the shop for a bit.”

“Nya! Tina wants to go too!”

“Alright, alright.”

With my little shadow trailing behind me, I made my way to Halong’s forge.

Harong was surprisingly a workaholic—no matter how many times I told her to take a break, she insisted that hammering away was more enjoyable.

I just couldn’t understand that mindset.

How?

How could anyone feel that way?

It reminded me of those “I love my company too much” villains I used to read about on forums back in my modern life.

“If only Tinya had even a quarter of that dedication.”

“Wuu?”

“Nothing.”

Well, our future store manager has been getting more professional lately.

At this rate, I might be able to step away from store management entirely.

Auto-hunting is the best!

Auto-clickers are amazing!

“Oh, Ark! You came at the right time. Look at this—I just finished refining this!”

Harong held up something that looked like an oversized pinking shear—a hybrid of a saw and scissors, like those craft scissors from stationery stores but at a ridiculous scale.

She then launched into an impassioned explanation of her creation.

…Something I’d probably never have any use for once I escaped this labyrinth.

Still, she put effort into it, so I gave her my full attention and responded enthusiastically.

After a bit of back-and-forth, I asked,

“Could you make a small portable brazier? Not for melting metal—just something for grilling meat outdoors.”

I sketched a rough idea, something similar to a camping stove, and showed it to her.

“That’s easy! Just give me a moment!”

With that, Harong got to work, hammering away.

Meanwhile, I casually slipped a few stray charcoal pieces into my inventory.

“Master! That’s not allowed!”

“Just once…?”

“No way!”

I was about to head to the second floor to try a special gacha since I finally had some spare gold, but I was stopped by Tinya.

Is this one of those master-servant role reversal worlds or something?

I’m the master, but I can’t even spend my own money freely…

Is this really okay?

In the end, I gave up on the gacha and instead browsed through the shelves where Ellis kept her alchemy creations.

She seemed to have some talent for alchemy because, in addition to antidotes, there were all sorts of potions.

“Master, what’s this?”

“Oh…”

When I finally glanced at the potion bottle Tinya found, a cold sweat ran down my back.

It didn’t have a label, but thanks to my power as a Seer, I could check the item’s tooltip.

[Special Stamina Enhancer (★★★)]

[A stamina-enhancing potion made by blending several ingredients, including the venom of an Arakrene, said to be beneficial for men. A single sip will make you feel like you could go at it four times in a row without breaking a sweat.]

[Maker: Ellis]

“…It’s probably just, you know, something healthy…”

Honestly, leaving her alone and unsupervised led to her making this kind of stuff…

Fearing that this potion could be used for nefarious purposes, I quickly stashed it in my inventory.

And after conducting a thorough search, I found more:

Love Potion (Failed), Subtle Aphrodisiac, and other suspicious concoctions were all confiscated.

I’d thought it was impressive that Ellis had already reached Alchemy Level 2, but…

This is what she’d been making? All of it’s getting confiscated!

To be honest, I wasn’t entirely disinterested.

Of course, Ellis could’ve made these just to tease me.

And since I wasn’t sure if the heroes liked me or not, making the first move would’ve been awkward.

What if I confessed and got rejected? It’d be so uncomfortable afterward.

The rapid awkwardness post-confession…

The shadow of discord looming over the party,

The heroes, one by one, unable to endure the discomfort…

Ugh.

A nightmare of a bad ending.

Let’s just stick to being a wholesome, self-reliant individual like I’ve been so far.

“Arc! It’s ready!”

Hearing Harong’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I headed downstairs and acquired Harong’s special portable camping stove.

Thankfully, it fit perfectly in my inventory, almost like a Doraemon pocket.

With that, preparations for battle were complete.

***

15th Floor, Section 5.

“Forgiveness….. Can’t…..?”

“Now then, let’s take a brief meal break. As noble demons, you can wait that long, can’t you?”

Facing yet another clone of the Arakrene.

I took out the portable stove and loaded it with charcoal.

“Ark…?”

“Saha, could you light the fire, please?”

“…?”

Not only did the heroes look puzzled with question marks practically floating above their heads, but even the Arakrene seemed confused.

Still, Saha obediently lit the fire as I asked.

Sizzle.

Soon, Minotaur meat began to cook vigorously on the hot plate.

“Gulp.”

“Gulp.”

The sound of swallowing echoed in surround sound.

Not just from my heroes, but even from the direction of the Arakrene’s clone.

I smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

I sprinkled some pepper and other spices, added salt here and there.

With my dazzling cooking skills on full display, everyone’s eyes were glued to me.

Feeling exhilarated from the attention, I fully committed to showcasing my usual expertise.

“Arachne?”

“Hrrr…?”

“Care for a taste?”

Though she shook her head, drooling and trembling as she tried to resist, I handed SD Ellis a plate and sent her over to the Arachne.

Sniff sniff.

Twitch twitch.

Gulp.

The sound of her instinctively sniffing, her pincers twitching, and her swallowing resonated clearly.

The sound of footsteps firmly hitting the ground in rhythm.

The decisive sound of swallowing saliva.

A perfect harmony of three beats.

“Hoo~ Our dear Ark is truly generous, isn’t he? Even treating a kid like you to such precious grilled meat. You should consider it an honor.”

“Huuu… grilled… meat…”

Elise’s slight sarcasm went unnoticed.

Arachne simply began savoring the scent.

And then—

Her hand slowly rose, touching the plate, picking up a piece of meat, and placing it into her mouth.

“……!”

For the first time, an expression of surprise and delight bloomed on Arachne’s usually emotionless face.

A friend who never smiled finally smiling—it’s quite charming in its own way.

…If only she didn’t have all those spider legs, that would’ve been a bonus.

After devouring the grilled meat in a hurry, Arachne quietly stared at me.

By now, I had become a seasoned pro at handling heroes as a prophet.

I could perfectly understand the meaning behind those eyes.

That was—

A request for more.

So, after grilling about two more pieces of meat—

“…”

Arachne suddenly flinched, realizing belatedly that she was accepting food from an enemy.

And then— poof—she vanished.

“……Ark, are you really sure about this?”

Johanna cast me a slightly uneasy glance.

“A dog never bites the hand that feeds it.”

“Isn’t that a bit specist?”

“Right! Rumi doesn’t bite!”

Ari tried to argue, but the one closest in lineage to a canine here validated my words like an official certification.

Heh.

***

Finally, the last area—Zone 10.

Just before entering the boss fight, I once again pulled out the brazier and declared neutrality.

“……Delicious…Ug……”

“Here, there’s plenty more. Rumi, you eat too.”

“Woof!”

The warriors who had fought their way through the previous nine zones must have been hungry too.

They even laid out a mat and started eating.

Of course, keeping a slight distance from Arachne.

For a while, the lavish temple was filled with the scent of grilling beef.

“………Can I… eat this… every day…?”

“Of course.”

“Then…….”

The carrot-and-stick approach has been the ultimate strategy for winning over both people and beasts since ancient times.

At last, I received the declaration of surrender—or rather, the contract of defection.

Of course, in making that choice—

“Afraid of the spider legs? Hmm, well, if you put a collar on me like the one I already wear, those should disappear too?”

Ellis’s advice played a decisive role.

…I really didn’t want to see those spider legs happily tap-dancing through the village.

It was an important matter.

Anyway, after hesitatingly handing over the defection contract—

“Meat… take care of it for me…”

For some reason, her loyalty seemed more directed toward the food than toward me.

But well, that’s just how the Demon of Gluttony is.

In any case—

Enemy commander: Tamed!

[Tower of Wishes, 15th Floor – Arachne’s Domain, Zone 10]

[You may now enter the 16th floor of the Tower of Wishes.]

The moment marking the end of a long labyrinth journey.

[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Master of Demons (1)]

[You have accomplished the feat of earning the loyalty of three demons who govern the Tower of Wishes. This achievement has reached even the Demon Realm, drawing more demonic attention toward you.]

[Hidden Trait ‘Demonophile’ LV.1 Awakened]

[A special reward will be granted.]

“……?”

Another unfamiliar hidden trait appeared.

Everything was fine, but—what the hell is Demonophile?

Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?