Bella Becomes a Disciple

"Huh? You want to take me as your master?" ∑(′△｀)?!

Mei stared in surprise at Bella, who was kneeling and kowtowing before her.

What's going on? Didn't I bring her here just to stall her? Why's she suddenly asking to become my disciple?

"That's right!" Bella looked up earnestly at Mei.

"Please accept me as your disciple, Master Mei!" (＞人＜;)

She remembered hearing Xiaoyue and the others mention how that Ruoshui in their class had apprenticed herself like this. Oh, right! She probably needed to prepare a pot of tea too.

Bella glanced around, but there didn't seem to be any tea leaves. Just as she was about to go look for some, Mei helped her up.

"Get up first." Mei lifted Bella to her feet, then asked, "Why do you want to become my disciple?"

"To serve Her Majesty the Queen better!" Bella declared firmly.

"From the sauce earlier and this pot of curry, I can tell you're far beyond me in cooking."

"To offer Her Majesty the most exquisite cuisine, I swear on my title as Her Majesty's exclusive maid—I must learn even more delicious cooking!"

Seeing Bella suddenly fired up like that, the Herrscher of the Feast soul within Mei ignited too!

And as everyone knows, the most important part of a Herrscher Core isn't the authority, but...

"Alright!" Mei waved her hand grandly. "In that case, let me see your resolve, little Bella!" ??(??ω??)?

"Yes, Master!" (◕‿◕✿)

"Don't call me Master, call me Teacher Mei!" ヾ(ｏ?ω?)ノ

"Yes, Teacher Mei!" ヾ(?ω?*)ノ

"Great, little Bella! First, make a signature dish! Let me see what you've got!" ヾ(ｏ?ω?)ノ

"Yes, Teacher Mei! I'll give it my all!" (ノ≧?≦)ノ

With that, Bella grabbed a few skewers of chicken wings, spat out flames, and started roasting them.

Mei watched Bella's serious expression and nodded in satisfaction.

Then she suddenly froze...

Wait, what just happened? How did I suddenly end up with a student? And those words I said...

Thinking back to what she'd just blurted out, Mei's face slowly turned red. o(////▽////)q

To calm herself down and stop replaying that moment, she decided to keep cooking to shift her focus.

And then Theresa and the others arrived.

Himeko: "So that's how it is—you've got yourself a student?"

So my student hasn't even graduated yet, and she's already found me an apprentice's apprentice?

Theresa: "More than that, I want to know how Bella went about apprenticing herself?" ゛(◎_◎;)

"That's not important." Mei brushed it off with a laugh—there was no way she'd expose her own embarrassing history, right?

Mei quickly changed the subject: "Since you're all here, Teacher Himeko, let's eat together."

When Bella heard "eat," she immediately jumped down from Sirin.

"Your Majesty! Please wait a moment—I'll prepare your favorite roasted wings right away." (?˙▽˙?)

With that, she grabbed a few more marinated chicken wings that hadn't been cooked yet, spat out a burst of flame, and started roasting them.

Bella controlled the flame's temperature, and soon the wings were done.

Just then, the dishes Mei had prepared were also ready, and they were brought to the table alongside Bella's chicken wings.

Mei: "Alright! The food's all set—dig in, everyone." (﹡?o?﹡)

"Your Majesty! These are my carefully made roasted wings—please try them." (?＞?＜?)

"Alright, let me taste your handiwork! ☆"

Sirin picked up a chicken wing and put it in her mouth to savor.

"Your Majesty, how is it?" (???ω???)

Bella waited nervously for Sirin's verdict.

"Mm~ Not bad! Very satisfying. ☆"

"Yay!" (?＞?＜?)

Just as Sirin was about to reach for another piece, her body suddenly stiffened. She clutched her head and staggered to her feet.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Seeing this, Himeko had a sudden suspicion.

"Could it be..."

At the same time, Mei and Theresa also guessed what was happening to Sirin and watched her anxiously.

Sirin held her head and let out a strained roar.

"I want to eat~Mei's cooking!"

At that moment, her eyes had returned to their original blue.

"Kiana!" ×3

That's right, Kiana's body detected the aroma of Mei's cooking, awakening the slumbering soul of Kiana.

"No way! Bella worked so hard to make these chicken wings for me! How could I fall here! ☆"

Kiana's eyes turned gold again.

"I'm not giving up any chance to eat Mei's cooking!"

Kiana's eyes turned blue again.

"I'm the mightiest Herrscher of the Void! How could I lose to you!"

Kiana's eyes flickered between gold and blue. Suddenly! Her body slumped into the chair, her head drooped, and her long white hair covered her face, making it impossible to read her expression.

"Kiana..." ×3

"Her Majesty the Queen..."

Bella and the others stared intently at Kiana, waiting for her to lift her head and reveal the answer.

Kiana raised her head, but her eyes were neither blue nor gold—one was blue, the other gold.

(Think of the Skyward Ranger.)

"Her Majesty the Queen?" Bella asked cautiously.

"It's me. ☆"

"Thank goodness!" (?˙▽˙?)

Mei: "Then what about Kiana..."

"I'm right here, Mei!" (﹡?o?﹡)

"What's going on?" ×4 ∑(′△｀)?!

After Kiana and Sirin explained...

Theresa: "I see, so this body is now shared between the two of you?"

"To be precise, I only come out for meals, since this body... ☆" (￢_￢)

Sirin's gaze was full of disdain.

"Hey! What do you mean by that? Looking down on me?" (〝▼皿▼)

Since Kiana and Sirin shared the same body, Kiana naturally felt Sirin's contempt.

Seeing them about to argue again, Mei quickly interrupted.

"Alright, Kiana, stop fighting. Let's eat first."

"Since Mei says so, this young lady will graciously let you off this time!"

"Heh~☆" Sirin sneered dismissively, too lazy to bother with her. Compared to this Grassworm, her own familiar's roasted wings were far more important.

The others breathed a sigh of relief as the two calmed down, ready to continue eating.

But soon, a new conflict began.

"I want to eat this!" ×2

"I want Bella's roasted wings! ☆" (〝▼皿▼)

"No way! I have to eat Mei's fried chicken!" (▼ヘ▼#)

"Heh~ The chopsticks are in my hand, so I'll eat whatever I want! ☆" (ノ｀⊿′)ノ

(Sirin now controls the right half of the body, Kiana the left.)

With that, Sirin reached the chopsticks toward the chicken wings.

"Aaaah! If that's how it is, this young lady isn't someone to mess with either!" (╬◣д◢)

Kiana directly reached her hand toward the freshly fried chicken Mei had just made...

"Hot, hot!" ×2

"Damn it! Since you're being ruthless, don't blame me for being merciless!"

Sirin grabbed directly for the skewer holding the roasted wings.

"Aaaah!" ×2

The still-hot skewer scalded them both, making them scream again.

Watching this scene, Mei and the others felt that every meal in the future was bound to be quite "lively"...