Tilea's Worries

Three days had passed since Vegeta Village surrendered.

Everyone's eyes were hollow, having become living corpses.

Until now, the wolf tribe had never surrendered completely even when they lost battles. Even when they lost local battles, they never lost when it really mattered.

Now it was different.

They were prostrating before Ortissio's overwhelming violence.

Everyone uniformly had anxiety showing on their faces. Ortissio scorned all the villagers as livestock and didn't treat them as warriors. He told them to take hoes and just plow the fields endlessly.

Truly slaves.

Well, I had originally been treated like a slave anyway. It didn't matter who was giving orders from above.

Being inferior in physical strength, I couldn't even do farm work properly.

I was quickly eliminated in Ortissio and his group's physical examination.

I just had to cook everyone's meals as usual. Without battles, it might be a little easier on my mind.

The usual daily routine was beginning.

Now then, first I needed to procure ingredients. Let's go gather wild vegetables.

I shouldered my backpack and entered the mountains at the village outskirts.

On the way, I saw Ortissio.

Ortissio had positioned himself on the high ground in the village center, supervising everyone.

His gaze was stern.

"Work, work, you livestock! Try saying you want to rest or slack off. When that happens, die. Slit your belly and die to apologize to Tilea-sama."

Ortissio was shouting encouragement while spitting saliva.

Amazing...

I'd heard many unreasonable orders from the clan leader and others, but none as tremendous as Ortissio's orders.

They had been swinging hoes for over ten hours now. They weren't allowed to eat, only permitted to drink small amounts of water.

No matter how tough the village warriors were, there had to be limits.

Harvest even one more grain of rice.

Those were the words of demon Ortissio.

What kind of monster was this Tilea who commanded Ortissio?

Surely a monster like the incarnation of power and destruction.

Ugh, terrifying.

Just imagining it made me shudder.

Well, it had nothing to do with me.

I'd never have anything to do with a monster above Gigand-sama, above Vegetable-sama, above Ortissio.

Ah, scary, scary.

I shook my head and tried to pass by when,

"I can't take this anymore!"

Aja, a warrior from Vegeta Village, slammed his hoe into the ground and vented his dissatisfaction.

Aja was baring his fangs in indignation.

That was understandable.

Aja loved plundering but extremely hated this kind of tedious work.

The only reason he'd lasted this long was because Ortissio was that terrifying. But apparently he'd finally reached his limit.

Aja raised his voice in fierce protest.

"I'm not a farmer, I'm a warrior. Don't mess with me. I'll do plundering or whatever to contribute to this Demon God Army. If you want, I'll go kidnap some women for you right now—ggyah!"

Ortissio didn't let Aja finish his complaint.

He rushed over at godspeed and slammed his fist into Aja's face.

Aja made a sound like a crushed frog and was twitching convulsively.

"You bastard, who said you could rest! Move your hands quickly."

Ortissio grabbed Aja's collar and shook him back and forth.

Aja was already dead...

Everyone thought so, but couldn't say it out loud.

There was no one who could oppose the absolute strongest.

"Ortissio-sama, that guy is already dead."

Instead, Edim spoke for us to Ortissio.

Edim was frequently speaking up to Ortissio like this.

No matter how noble she was, I couldn't understand why a seemingly frail girl like Edim was in the vicious Demon God Army, but I understood she was necessary for making comebacks to Ortissio.

"What? You bastard, who gave you permission to die on your own!"

Ortissio let out a battle cry and threw Aja away.

Aja's corpse flew far into the distance, rolling and tumbling. Then it fell off the cliff.

Ah~ he was a rough and unpleasant guy in the village, but seeing this, it was pitiful.

Ortissio snorted through his nose and shouted encouragement again.

It felt like he didn't care whether one or two beastmen lived or died.

Life was cheap here.

Ortissio's mood alone could lead to death.

Everyone was afraid of Ortissio's fury.

I think everyone felt somewhat the same as Aja, but they didn't show dissatisfaction on their faces.

They quickly returned to their posts and began swinging their hoes.

Well, they didn't want to die.

I should go procure ingredients too.

As I was heading toward where the wild vegetables were,

"Shiro, wait a moment."

Someone appeared to stop me.

When I turned around, a sturdy man was standing there.

He had a steel body and eyes that held intelligence.

Ah, it's Gil-san.

I hurriedly tried to prostrate myself, but Gil-san stopped me with his hand.

Gil-san was Ortissio's subordinate. However, unlike Ortissio, he was an intellectual person.

When I failed the physical examination and was about to be disposed of, he saved my life by saying they needed personnel for odd jobs too.

It was thanks to this person that I could remain in the village as a cook.

"Shiro, I have a favor to ask."

"Ah, yes, what is it?"

"Cook with this."

Gil-san took out ingredients from the large bag on his back and placed them on the ground.

Large quantities of potatoes and vegetables scattered about.

"Ah, um, what exactly...? I need to make everyone's dinner."

"That doesn't matter."

Doesn't matter...

The villagers hadn't eaten anything since morning, and they'd been swinging hoes for over ten hours. If there was no food here, a riot would definitely break out.

"B-but if I don't make dinner, I'll get in trouble."

It wouldn't just be getting in trouble.

I knew from experience. If I said there was no food in front of villagers who were this hungry, I'd definitely be killed.

"Hah, who would get angry at whom?"

Gil-san said with an exasperated face.

That's right. Now the residents of Vegeta Village were slaves of the Demon God Army. There were no residents who could overturn Gil-san's orders.

"I understand. I should use these ingredients, right?"

"Ah, that's right."

They were all glossy ingredients full of vitality.

I'd heard about this from grandmother. These must be what they call A-grade ingredients. Since the village barely grew any crops, I'd never seen such high-quality ingredients.

I picked up a plump, large potato.

Amazing.

Even just one piece was packed with sufficient nutritional value. Usually I had to combine ingredients to concentrate nutritional value, but that wasn't necessary.

For now, let me make the power soup I was planning to make.

I took out a large pot from my backpack, set up a cooking station, took the kitchen knife hanging from my waist, and peeled the potatoes. I put the peeled potatoes into the large pot in order.

"I've been watching you these past few days."

While I was making soup stock, Gil-san spoke to me.

He sat on a rock and stared intently at me.

"You are an excellent cook."

"Th-thank you very much."

"However, I want to be certain of that."

"Certain..."

"Ah, you make your cooking based on the standards of the village people, don't you?"

"Standards?"

"In other words, when cooking, you prioritize quantity over quality in your proportions."

Gil-san is sharp.

When the villagers got hungry, they tended to become violent. I tried to make food that would fill their stomachs as much as possible. The taste was delicious, but only at the minimum level of deliciousness. With the village's poor food situation, it was extremely difficult to achieve both taste and quantity.

"As expected. The village people had big appetites and needed quantity above all."

"I thought so. Then this time, please make it with gourmet food as the main focus."

Gourmet food?

So I just need to make it delicious? That's simple.

Usually I had to devise ways to make rotten, inedible things edible.

With these A-grade ingredients, I could do it with my eyes closed.

Ah, no.

This was such a strict Demon God Army. There might be intentions hidden that I couldn't even think of.

Gourmet food, gourmet food... what could it mean?

Using such high-quality ingredients, I could easily master [gourmet food].

There's no way the Demon God Army's test would be this simple.

Gourmet food, gourmet food...

As I was racking my brains thinking,

"Don't be nervous. You can think about it casually."

"Uh, um..."

"Haha, don't be so scared. I just want to know your cooking skills. That's all."

"Y-yes."

"However, don't hold back. Make it with full effort. I want to see your true skills."

Gil-san said with a scary face.

Holding back in cooking... impossible.

In Vegeta Village where might makes right, the reason a weak person like me could survive was because I could cook.

Cooking was my only means of survival. Holding back in cooking was synonymous with dying.

As usual.

I understood without Gil-san telling me.

If I made poor cooking, I'd die.

So I'd give my all.

Grandmother, don't worry. I won't die.

Several dozen minutes later... the soup was complete.

It wasn't power soup.

It was soup with emphasis on gourmet food - Fuotiaoqiang.

It was an ethnic dish said to be so deliciously fragrant that even training-loving warriors would abandon their training and come running.

"Um, how is it?"

Gil-san said nothing.

Every time he sipped the soup, he kept thinking about something.

The silence was scary.

Maybe it tasted bad?

I made it with all my strength though...

And then...

Gil-san, who had finished drinking all the soup, went somewhere.

As he left, he said "well done."

I probably got a passing grade?

After that...

For some reason, I stopped being bullied by the villagers.

Because Gil-san's colleagues took turns constantly staying close to me. It was like the bodyguards that humans talk about.

Why me?

When I found out the answer... I was astonished.

Something incredible had happened to me.