Party! Party! Party! (Part One)

By the time Dania and the other girls arrived at Chun and the others' new home, the clock had already struck eleven.

"Knock, knock." Dania knocked on the door twice, not too hard, not too soft.

"Tap tap tap." A series of rapid footsteps came from behind the door.

"Click." The villa door opened in response, and Iuno was there to greet Dania and her group.

Dania's eyes lit up when she saw Iuno.

"You were... the convenience store clerk back then?" Dania confirmed.

"You have a good memory. I thought you had already forgotten me." Iuno said with a smile. "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Iuno, Yuno as in Iuno, and Nuo as in Iuno."

"Alright, stop standing outside, come on in, it's terribly hot."

"Okay, sorry to bother you."

Dania and her group entered the living room and immediately saw Aemeath and Tsubaki playing Mortal Kombat with game controllers. The TV screen was filled with flashing swords, and the battle seemed to be in full swing.

"Everyone's here!" Aemeath glanced at Dania and her group out of the corner of her eye and immediately smiled brightly at them.

"Hey! Little Ai, you sneaked away!" As soon as Aemeath finished her game, Lynae pinched her cheeks and began to interrogate her.

"What do you mean, 'run away'! I didn't run away! Little Lin, how could you frame an innocent person like that!" Aemeath retorted, taking the opportunity to retaliate against Lynae's attack on her.

As a result, the two demon balls started causing trouble again, with laughter and pleas for mercy filling the air.

"Where's Ling?" Dania asked about Ling's whereabouts.

"He's in the kitchen." Chun, having put down her game controller, pointed towards the kitchen. "He said he was worried the Shorekeeper wouldn't be able to handle everything alone, so he volunteered to help."

"I'll go check." Dania put down what she was holding and quickly went into the kitchen.

Chisa followed closely behind into the kitchen; sitting idly on the sofa was clearly not in line with her style.

Cartethyia was talking to Iuno. After all, the two were comrades who had fought against the Lament together, and their relationship was already very familiar. They mostly talked about their recent situation since they came to this world.

Sigrika: And what about me?

Sigrika felt like an outsider; everyone was busy with their own things, leaving her unsure of what to do.

Just as she was feeling a little helpless, her hem was suddenly tugged twice.

"Um?"

Sigrika looked down and saw a pink-haired little girl standing at her feet, her big, bright eyes staring at her. She looked very cute.

"Hehe! It's the cute big sister with orange hair!" Encore laughed happily. "No wonder the big brother calls you Little Orange!"

"Me? Little Orange?" Sigrika pointed to herself with some confusion.

"Yes, yes! Little Orange, would you like to go to the back garden with Encore?" Encore obediently invited Sigrika with her hands behind her back, "There are lots of cute birds there!"

"I'm not called Little Orange, I'm called Sigrika, call me Sigrika Sister!" Sigrika squatted down and patted Encore's little head, "Then Little Encore take me to the back garden to meet those sky fairies!"

"Good!"

With a sweet smile on her face, Sigrika was obediently led by Little Encore, and they took small, quick steps to the villa's back garden.

As for the nickname... I'll give the senior a good talking-to when we get back. After all, it's very impolite to give a girl a nickname behind her back!

Inside the kitchen.

"Actually, as the host of the house, I shouldn't have let the guests cook for themselves." The Shorekeeper's voice was gentle as she carefully separated the cabbage leaves one by one with her delicate hands.

"I'm just killing time anyway, and I don't think you can handle it all by yourself, Shorekeeper," Xiao Ling said with a grin, flipping the pot with a spatula, the aroma of meat wafting from the pot, making one's mouth water.

"Besides, I also want Shorekeeper and everyone else to try my cooking. We're all family, no need to be so polite."

"I'll be looking forward to it," the Shorekeeper with a gentle smile.

The two were working together to prepare a meal for the whole family when Dania and Chisa arrived to visit.

"Need any help?" Dania's languid voice carried a hint of eagerness she had never shown before.

"Are you sure you're here to help and not to steal food?" Xiao Ling teased with a smile.

Dania rolled her eyes at Xiao Ling, annoyed. She had come to help out of kindness, but this guy was actually making fun of her.

I'm so sorry I can eat so much.

"Eat as much as you can, then I can eat you like a Honey Peach without feeling guilty." Xiao Ling reached out and pinched Dania's cheek.

Then, Dania, her face flushed, stomped firmly on Xiao's foot.

Dania sometimes really wondered if Xiao Ling, that scoundrel, had any sense of propriety at all. Everyone else was right there! How could he still tell such dirty jokes so brazenly?!

While Xiao Ling and Dania were interacting, Chisa had already started helping the Shorekeeper. The two already knew each other, so there was no need for formalities when helping each other.

After bickering for a while, Dania ignored the big bad wolf who was plotting against her and wandered aimlessly around the kitchen, hoping to be of some help.

As the green peppers and lean meat were poured back into the pot, a cloud of spicy fumes instantly billowed up, causing Xiao Ling, who was in charge of cooking, to be choked by the fumes.

"Are you alright A-Ling?" the Shorekeeper asked with concern.

"It's a minor issue, it happens all the time. That's how it is when stir-frying chili peppers." Xiao Ling waved away the fumes with her hand, soothing the Shorekeeper's worries with her gentle voice.

After skillfully cooking the stir-fried green peppers and pork until done, Xiao Ling rinsed the pot with cold water, preparing to continue cooking the next dish.

"Eeya!" A cute, strange cry rang out at this inopportune moment.

"Hey, this girl... Chisa, you take over for a bit."

"Okay, leave it to me." Chisa immediately took the spatula from Xiao Ling and became the temporary head chef.

Xiao Ling, who had temporarily stepped down from his position as head chef, rushed to the source of the sound and, sure enough, saw a certain Honey Peach staring timidly at several crabs in the sink, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"How can it be alive!" Dania pouted her right cheek slightly in dissatisfaction when she saw Xiao Ling rushing over.

"Crabs taste best when they're freshly killed," Xiao Ling teased with a light laugh. "Speaking of which, can't you use your Exostrider hand to think of a solution?"

"Then there will be one less crab dish on the lunch table today," Dania said irritably.

After laughing twice more, Xiao Ling didn't just watch Dania struggle with her dilemma. Instead, she took the initiative to teach her how to prepare the crab step by step.

"Don't be afraid of it. No matter how arrogant it is, it's just a crab. Getting pinched will only hurt a couple of times and break your skin a little," Xiao Ling patiently explained.

He then rhythmically demonstrated to Dania how to handle crabs: catching them, washing them, killing them, opening the shells, and cleaning them. The whole process took less than ten minutes, making Dania eager to try it herself.

"You've learned it?"

"I've learned it!"

"Then I'll be going. I'll have to cook your lunch."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Ling turned around and returned to her workstation, leaving the stage for Dania to perform on her own.

After watching Xiao Ling return to his position at the main table, Dania prepared to try and deal with the group of unruly little creatures herself.

"It's okay, it's okay, you can do it, Dania, they're just a bunch of crabs..."

She secretly encouraged herself and, imitating Xiao Ling's earlier actions, prepared to catch a crab to test her learning progress.

"Click!"

Unfortunately, just as Dania was about to make a move, a swift crab grabbed her thumb and pinched it.

After feeling the pain in her thumb, Dania reflexively flung the crab back into the sink.

Looking at her thumb, which was already starting to swell and turn red, she cried out in distress, "Ouch!"

Preparing crabs is too difficult... She'll just have to be a little foodie and wait to be fed...