Barbecue

"Hey, Maicomarlon, what are you thinking about!"

Kaldara's voice pulled Malone back from his reverie, and he noticed a longsword pointed straight at his face.

The sudden turn of events gave Malone a start, though his state of mind was far superior to what it had been in the past.

Calming down quickly, Malone noticed that the tip of Kaldara's blade was skewering a small piece of smoked meat.

In the flickering firelight, a faint heat rose from the meat, and this rock-hard slab finally began to emit the aroma that meat should have.

Malone sniffed hard, his mouth watering profusely.

"Thanks."

As Malone expressed his gratitude to Kaldara, he plucked the roasted smoked meat from the tip of his sword.

However, Malone did not enjoy it himself; instead, he turned around and handed the meat to Tiffany, who was behind him.

The space inside the wooden shed was not particularly large.

To find a spot where they could build a fire without igniting the haystacks, Kaldara, Teron Gorefiend, and Malone were positioned not far from Tiffany in the corner, within easy reach of Malone's hand.

Tiffany had been trembling with fear for a long time, but as she realized her safety was not being threatened, she gradually began to relax.

Mr. Malone is blocking the way in front of me! If I can't trust Mr. Malone, then who else can I trust?

--Tiffany told herself.

Just as Tiffany was staring blankly at Malone's back, he suddenly turned around and handed her something dark and charred.

"Mr. Malone, this is?"

As soon as Tiffany asked, she caught the scent of the smoked meat.

"It's supposed to be smoked meat... I'm not entirely sure, but it smells quite good. I didn't know where else to get you some food, so go ahead and try it!"

Malone said to Tiffany with a smile.

"But, Mr. Malone, you also..."

Tiffany knew that Malone hadn't eaten anything either—she believed that if Malone had eaten during the day, he wouldn't have forgotten that she was still starving.

Although this trust was baseless, that was exactly what Tiffany thought.

"It's fine, you eat first. I have plenty more here."

Malone said with a smile.

"Oh..."

Tiffany carefully took the small piece of smoked meat from Malone's hand. The skin was no longer too hot, so the girl gently cradled it in her palms and took small, delicate bites.

Malone turned back around. Kaldara had already sliced off a few more pieces of meat, skewered them on his blade, and was roasting them over the campfire.

Just how strong was this Blademaster?

Malone looked at the well-defined muscles on Kaldara's body, knowing they must contain explosive power.

More importantly, there was the control over that power.

Malone recalled a moment ago, when the long blade was extended right in front of his face, Kaldara's sword tip hadn't trembled in the slightest.

What meticulous control that was!

Malone believed his own strength was surely no less than Kaldara's, but he certainly couldn't pull off a feat like that.

And yet, such a powerful Blademaster was sitting in front of him, focused intently on roasting smoked meat.

If this meat hadn't been looted from humans, Malone would have almost thought he was on a picnic—how was this any different from going out into the wild to grill skewers with his buddies before college graduation?

"Where did you get the meat?"

Malone suddenly asked.

"I took it from the supply tent."

Kaldara said.

"You can just take this stuff?"

Malone asked, puzzled.

The Orcs did not engage in production; their strategic resources relied entirely on looting from humans.

If something like smoked meat could be taken at will, wouldn't the Orcs have eaten through their entire food supply long ago?

"Of course not. How could you have such a naive thought?"

Kaldara glanced at Malone, his eyes full of confusion.

"Then... you're a Blademaster, do you get special treatment?"

Malone guessed—perhaps, just like in ancient armies, soldiers of different ranks received different treatment.

"There's no such thing... I stole it from there."

Kaldara said, stating the truth.

"Stole?"

Malone's jaw dropped in shock—on one hand, he was stunned that this Blademaster was actually a thief, and on the other, he was amazed by Kaldara's blunt honesty.

"Was there no one guarding that food?"

Teron Gorefiend asked.

The Death Knight leader frowned; concerned for the future of the Horde, he could not accept such dereliction of duty from the guards.

"Of course there were. Orgrim sent the finest warriors of the Blackrock Clan to guard those supplies, but none of them could beat me, haha!"

Kaldara laughed brazenly, handing a piece of roasted smoked meat to Malone as he did so.

"That's not stealing, that's a straight-up robbery!"

Malone took the smoked meat but couldn't help but criticize Kaldara.

"Call it whatever you want. Whenever I want to eat meat, I'll beat up anyone who tries to stop me."

Kaldara said dismissively, then offered a piece of smoked meat to Teron Gorefiend as well.

"No need. We Death Knights do not eat."

Teron Gorefiend did not take the smoked meat, waving his hand in refusal.

"Death Knights don't eat? That's the first time I've heard that... Then what about you? Maicomarlon!"

Kaldara looked at Malone, who had already taken a bite of the smoked meat, and asked with a look of surprise.

"I'm just that kind of Death Knight who eats, is that a problem?"

Malone couldn't be bothered to explain too much to Kaldara; he knew that the more he said, the easier it would be to slip up.

"So that's how it is..."

Just as Malone had imagined, Kaldara didn't press the issue, instead tucking into the roasted smoked meat with large bites.

Malone chewed the smoked meat in his hand bit by bit. The salty taste, while not as good as the food he had eaten on Earth, was still much better than the pot of meat stew from that morning.

"Good thing you still eat, otherwise this smoked meat would have gone to waste."

Kaldara said, his mouth full as he chewed voraciously.

"It wouldn't have gone to waste, wouldn't there still be her?"

Malone gestured with his chin toward the person behind him.

"I've been wanting to ask... what's the deal with you and this human woman? I feel like you're being a bit... too good to her? You gave her the very first piece of smoked meat, too..."

Kaldara looked behind Malone at Tiffany, who was burying her face in her hands and eating slowly, and asked with curiosity.

"None of your business... go roast your own meat!"

Malone's face flushed, and he instinctively snapped at him.

What was he supposed to say? Could he admit that he had fallen in love with this human female captive?

Fortunately, Kaldara was not an Orc who liked to get to the bottom of things. Upon hearing Malone's rebuke, his attention was immediately diverted.

"Why don't you roast your own?"

Kaldara swallowed the smoked meat in his hand in two bites and picked up his sword again.

Yet, as he skewered more smoked meat onto his blade, he continued to grumble with dissatisfaction.