Fallen Angel's Daily Life II

"So... Kevin, this is the emergency you were talking about?" Zhu Yufeng stood with her arms crossed, staring speechlessly at the pile of indescribable matter before her.

"This really is an emergency..." Kevin said as he looked at the indescribable matter in front of him.

"Why don't you just eat Mei's cooking yourself? Why did you call me over?" Zhu Yufeng's expression darkened.

"That's why I called Su too," Kevin said in a lowered voice. "I'm afraid that if I eat all of this by myself and get rushed to the ER, it'll hurt Mei's confidence."

"But Kevin..." Su opened his eyes and said quietly, his expression difficult to describe, "don't you think that you being rushed to the ER alone, versus all three of us being rushed to the ER... the latter would hurt Mei's confidence even more?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Kevin replied in a low voice. "We're all Fusion Warriors now. If the three of us split it, at worst we'll just feel unwell. If I eat it all alone, I might actually need emergency treatment... Mei rarely has an idea like this, so... please!"

"I think this kind of confidence is something she could do without..." Zhu Yufeng twitched the corner of her mouth. "If she gets confident and starts cooking for you every day, are you going to call us over every time?"

She feared that before she died fighting the Honkai, Mei's godslaying cooking would finish her off first.

"What are you discussing?" Mei walked out of the kitchen and addressed the three men, whose expressions were hard to describe as they stared at the "dishes" before them. "Don't worry. While I truly am not skilled at cooking, and the presentation is indeed rather poor, I took into account the nutrients you Fusion Warriors need. I also learned a little from Lilith beforehand, so there won't be any problems."

Really? Was this really something Lilith could have taught her? Did it have anything in common with Lilith's cakes or any of her other dishes?

Zhu Yufeng felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the indescribable matter before her. Why did she find it so hard to believe? Or was Mei a spy Lilith had sent to harm her?

"Mei, you know me. I'll always trust you!" Kevin declared, immediately picking up his knife and fork.

Seeing Kevin's expression as though he were marching to his death, Zhu Yufeng exchanged a glance with Su. Su chose to close his eyes, then said, "The appearance may indeed be poor, but as long as one does not dwell on it, it is no different from ordinary food."

Then Su picked up his chopsticks.

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

If it really came down to it, why didn't Su just make do with Kevin? She was a Fusion Warrior too, so she wouldn't have to fear Kevin's abnormally low body temperature. She actually dared to eat it!

Forget it... It was made from ingredients, after all. No matter how bad it was, it couldn't be that outrageous. As long as the ingredients were normal, it had to be edible!

Zhu Yufeng picked up her chopsticks as well.

Half an hour later.

Zhu Yufeng supported Su as the two of them emerged, clutching their stomachs and limping along.

Kevin? Kevin had eaten the most and had already collapsed. Before passing out, he had not forgotten to tell Mei that he had stayed up too late gaming the night before last and needed to rest.

Kevin had burned out.jpg

"Why... was there even a Honkai Beast in there..." Zhu Yufeng said with a speechless expression.

"In theory... Fusion Warriors can indeed consume Honkai Beasts as an energy supplement..." Su tried helplessly to explain on Mei's behalf. "As one of Fire Moth's foremost scientists, Mei must have had her reasons for doing this..."

"But even so... I feel like all my internal organs are hurting right now... My stomach hurts the most..." Zhu Yufeng grumbled, while wondering whether Mobius's medicine should not have worn off yet. Had Mei's cooking caused the medicine to fail prematurely?

"My stomach is mostly just uncomfortable... and I'm feeling weak all over now as well. Mei may have added some kind of medicine or something..." Su said with a wry smile. "Sorry, Feng. Even though you're unwell too, I can only ask you to support me and take me back..."

"Then next time Kevin calls us over, help me eat more."

"Uh... could you choose another way for me to repay you?"

"Hehe, I'm joking... I definitely won't come next time."

"Though I would very much like to agree with you, I can't just watch Kevin get sent to the ER again..."

"...Later, I'll ask Lilith what exactly happened."

After taking Su back to his residence, Zhu Yufeng felt the side effects of being a Fusion Warrior gradually intensifying. She supported herself against the wall as she made her way back to her dorm. She did not want to take medicine in front of others and make them suspect what her true side effect was. She did not need anyone's sympathetic or pitying looks...

On the way back to her dorm, Zhu Yufeng happened to run into Lilith walking toward her. Seeing her like this, Lilith asked curiously, "What happened to you? Did Mobius's medicine wear off early?"

"You should be asking yourself that..." Zhu Yufeng said through gritted teeth.

"Huh?"

Zhu Yufeng raised the lunchbox in her hand and held it out before Lilith. "This is the food you taught Mei to make..."

Lilith opened the lunchbox and froze. "Feng, this... You didn't pack up some failed biochemical product from Mei's laboratory and bring it over, did you?"

"I watched Mei bring it out of the kitchen with my own eyes..." Zhu Yufeng said helplessly. "This thing seems to have suppressed Mobius's medicine. Kevin ate the most and has already passed out. I just took Su, who was weak all over, back to his dorm... It's really hard to imagine that you taught her this... Forget it, I'll go back to my dorm and take my medicine first."

Lilith closed the lunchbox and reached out to support Zhu Yufeng. "Enough, stop trying to act tough. Don't you know how awful it feels when your side effect acts up? I'll take you back. I happen to have a key to your room too, so you won't need to open the door..."

"Then I'll trouble you..."

After taking Zhu Yufeng to her dorm, Lilith did not leave immediately. Instead, she watched Zhu Yufeng take her medicine and said, "Since you think this thing made Mobius's medicine fail early, it could also be directly suppressing Mobius's medicine. There's no guarantee taking your medicine now will work either. I'll stay for the moment, so if anything happens to you later, I can notify Mobius."

"Can't you hope for the best for once..." Zhu Yufeng said speechlessly. Then she watched Lilith open the lunchbox and, with practiced ease, find a pair of chopsticks in her room.

"Hey... I only brought it for you to look at. This thing..."

Before Zhu Yufeng could finish, Lilith had already picked up a small portion and put it into her mouth. After a moment of silence, she said with an odd expression, "I never taught Mei to add Honkai Beast remains to her cooking?"

"Is this... Mei figuring it out on her own?" Zhu Yufeng covered her face. She knew it—there was no way Lilith's food would have Honkai Beasts added to it.

She remembered that Kiana had seemed to add Honkai Beasts when cooking during a Spring Festival event too. Could the Caslana family please not have such bizarre inherited traditions?

"Now that you know, throw this thing away... Huh? Lilith?!" Zhu Yufeng stared in astonishment as Lilith slowly finished everything in the lunchbox she had brought over.

Then Lilith walked over to the sink to wash the chopsticks, saying, "If Mei calls you all over to eat this again next time, call me too. I truly want to know how exactly she managed to make food like this."

Zhu Yufeng fell silent for a moment, then asked, "You... are you okay?"

Lilith looked at Zhu Yufeng. "In upper-class social etiquette, maintaining a good poker face is also a necessary skill."

"Then why did you eat it?" Zhu Yufeng asked in confusion.

"Consider it a punishment for my mistake." Lilith smiled. "After all, it was because I taught Mei that you ended up eating this, wasn't it?"

I only wanted to experience what you felt, that's all.

Compared to pain, perhaps there was actually more happiness?