Philomina, fresh from her bath, ran into Richard carrying three buckets as she walked toward her tent.
The corners of her mouth almost instinctively tried to rise, only for her to unconsciously force them back down, leaving her expression gloomy.
She already had a deeply brooding air about her, and her constant clashes with the Allied Forces' scouts since arriving at the front had added a chill severity.
Anyone else faced with that look would probably have felt their scalp prickle and found an excuse to escape, but Richard was completely immune.
"Hey, I know you've eaten, but you probably didn't get enough."
Philomina said nothing and walked into her tent.
When Richard followed with the buckets, he saw that Philomina was already moving the stove.
Yes, even after eating the Legion Commander's portion and ordering extra food, she still wasn't full.
Her appetite had surged lately, reaching a level even she found unbelievable. She felt like the camels found everywhere in this desert: she could cut back on supplies during missions, but once she returned to camp, she had to eat desperately. Yet she didn't have two protruding humps.
"Move it aside. We'll cook directly in this. Fresh supplies arrived, and I stole quite a few more Hot Pot Tallow Blocks from Kallen."
One of Richard's three buckets held a Magic Crystal Cannon shell casing. The Artillery Battalion hadn't fired much lately, only testing a few shots at distant targets, and he had called in favors to get this casing.
Of the other two buckets, one was filled with tallow blocks and other seasonings. Richard managed Legion Commander Kallen's private storeroom of everyday supplies, so this counted as stealing from his own charge;
the other held fresh hot pot ingredients, covered with ice, something rarely seen and even harder