Clash X Maha Zoldyck

Loyalty, too, depends on who it is served to.

Tsubone had dedicated her entire life to the Zoldyck family, serving masters ranging from Zeno and Silva down to the yet-to-be-born Killua; she had always served the true heirs or prospective heirs of the Zoldyck household.

Therefore, she did not believe she had done anything wrong that day.

On the contrary, she had been striving to secure benefits for Silva.

Since the master was too proud to lower his face and ask his own son for advice, such matters had to be handled by servants like them.

Now... that was no longer necessary. Since Young Master Roy dared to stab a camera to pieces, yet Master Silva had shown no reaction—even appearing somewhat "pleasantly surprised"—

From here on out, she, Tsubone, had to change her attitude.

Tsubone walked out of the bedroom, clutching her blade.

As evening approached, the sunlight streaming through the corridor windows was no longer as scorching as it had been at midday.

Being a butler was not an easy job; it required grinding away at one's own flesh and blood. One had to manage the master's daily life and recovery training, read the room, and, when necessary, know how to provide emotional value to the master.

Thus, in the entire Zoldyck household, there were few people Tsubone truly acknowledged.

Gotoh was one of them.

And in the corridor leading to the warehouse...

The old butler and the young man he respected crossed paths unexpectedly today.

The former was heading to the warehouse to oil his katana, while the latter held Snow Walk in his arms, also on his way to oil his blade.

Katanas were inherently hard yet fragile things that required regular application of blade oil to prevent oxidation and rust from contact with the air.

It was ironic; usually, such swords were left in the warehouse unattended, yet now... this place was set to become the most frequently visited spot for the two most prominent butlers of the Zoldyck family.

It was currently 5:49 PM.

Gotoh had already finished oiling Snow Walk and was walking out of the warehouse.

Just as he stepped out, he saw Tsubone approaching with a katana in her arms. He nodded at her, shifted slightly to the side, and walked straight past her.

"I thought you would hate me," Tsubone suddenly spoke up.

Gotoh stopped in his tracks immediately.

The old butler did not turn around, simply saying to himself, "I thought that since I had slighted your master, you would do something about it. I have been waiting for you these past few days."

The principle of "beating a dog requires looking at its master" applied just as much within the Zoldyck family.

Indeed, when he heard that the Young Master had been demanded to provide a reason, Gotoh had been filled with fury that day.

He had been ready to risk his own eyes just to demand an explanation from Tsubone.

But after calming down... he gently stroked the Snow Walk in his arms, remained silent for two seconds, and said firmly, "I choose to believe in the Young Master."

"Just as he is willing to believe in me, I have always stood and will always stand by his side, and I will never cause him any trouble."

"His hair is not silver," Tsubone remained silent for two seconds as well, turning her head to remind Gotoh, "Therefore, he is destined never to be the head of the family."

"So what?" The young butler adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and shot a mocking look back at Tsubone: "At the very least—"

"The Young Master treats me like a human being."

Having said that, he ignored Tsubone further.

He didn't care what she thought.

He strode toward the kitchen...

The Young Master said he wanted to cook some dishes himself tonight... Good heavens, what is this master thinking? Is that a place for you to be?

Gotoh quickened his pace, filled with worry. A moment later, he arrived at the kitchen and peeked inside—

Roy had tied an apron around his waist and was already wielding a spatula with practiced ease.

On the prep table in front of him were chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic, peeled tomatoes, beaten egg mixture, minced meat, blanched eggplant, and a prepared thickening sauce.

Two dishes in total—Scrambled Eggs with Tomato and Minced Meat with Eggplant. These were the two home-style dishes he was most skilled at making in his previous life.

Having not touched a stove in nearly a decade, he wasn't sure how much his culinary skills had withered.

Now, relying on his instincts and a desire to soothe his own Chinese palate while also improving the meals for the Kamado children, he gritted his teeth and picked up the spatula to perform an action that Zeno, Silva, Illumi, and even the ancestor Maha would never dream of doing—tossing the wok!

"Whoosh~" The flames from the stove flared up...

The few chefs Roy had chased out were curiously peeking through the door frame, craning their necks to look inside...

The sun must have risen in the west today; some had even seen a mouse eagerly offering New Year's greetings to a cat...

Otherwise, there was no explanation for the Zoldyck family's eldest young master appearing in the kitchen and strongly insisting on cooking for himself!

He hadn't even let his personal butler, Gotoh, come in to assist... he was handling the ladle, tossing the wok, and controlling the heat all by himself...

Little by little, he rediscovered the feeling of cooking, moving from clumsy to skillful, then to effortless, gradually entering a state of flow.

Finally, accompanied by a stylish flick of the ladle from Roy—

The two home-style dishes, Scrambled Eggs with Tomato and Minced Meat with Eggplant, were finished one after the other.

"Fragrant... it's a scent I've never smelled before..."

"Look at the color, it's rich and vibrant without losing that touch of freshness; it shouldn't taste bad at all..."

"What are you all talking about? Isn't it clearly the Young Master's skill? Whether it's wielding the ladle, tossing the wok, or that final flick of the wrist—those are movements a novice simply couldn't pull off, and in fact..."

"I suspect that even those world-renowned Gourmet Hunters might not necessarily possess the Young Master's level of skill..."

The cooks whispered among themselves; as the saying goes, the expert watches the technique.

Gotoh, who had been shooed out, stood by the door and overheard their assessment, feeling no less surprised than the cooks.

He had watched Roy grow up with his own eyes... ever since he was in swaddling clothes, he had been by his side... and so—

The fact that the Young Master knew how to cook was something he was completely unaware of; it was truly... a massive dereliction of duty!

Gotoh was filled with chagrin...

However, Roy didn't give him time for self-reflection, calling out directly to summon him inside to serve the food.

Good food is meant to be shared, and for a chef, the happiest moment is seeing others devour the dishes they poured their heart and soul into, preferably licking the bowl clean so there's no need to wash it.

Thus, Roy didn't mind eating with Gotoh, but the young butler, clinging to his low status and rigid class consciousness, refused to sit at the table...

Just like today, after serving Roy his meal, he crossed his hands and retreated behind him.

Seeing this, Roy wasn't surprised, nor did he try to change his mind; he only felt it was a pity for him to miss out on—

A rare opportunity to taste delicacies from another world.

It would all be his gain, then...

Only, what Roy didn't expect was...

A gust of wind blew in...

Someone walked through the door, beat him to the punch, picked up a chopstick full of tomato and scrambled eggs, and tossed it into their mouth.

Roy frowned, looked up, and his pupils constricted; he quickly stood up to salute, calling out respectfully:

"Great-grandfather."