kscans

Chapter 438 - Memories are the Best Seasoning

The day after Ginny logged in, Parfait, Chris, and Ginny were gathered around a table at their base.

Natsu was studying at home, and Rick was not present, citing significant psychological damage from the day before. Natsu would be logging in later, and while Rick was logged in, he was off by himself in Azuma.

"I wanted to thank Ashley-sama—I mean, Rick-kun properly, but it's a shame I don't think I'll be able to see him today."

"Well, you did make quite a scene yesterday. Rick-kun even cosplayed in the real world. He's so conscientious, in a way."

"Totally! I'm so happy, seriously happy! Abel-kun would do it without any fuss, but Rick-kun doing it so reluctantly gets a perfect two hundred points from me! Haah, I can feel the nourishment seeping in…"

Perhaps recalling the real world birthday party held at her house yesterday, Ginny had an expression that could be described as rapturous at best, or a forbidden, lust-filled look at worst.

"Rick-kun was on the verge of death, though. Anyway, Ginny-chan, when you say nourishment, you're super healthy, right? You're great at sports and everything."

"Parfait-chan, girls need a certain kind of nourishment. Just like how Instructor Ren would die if she didn't hear some love gossip regularly. You'd be in a dangerous situation too if you didn't watch dog and cat videos, wouldn't you, Parfait-chan?"

"I understand perfectly."

Presented with the most perfect analogy possible, Parfait understood Ginny's feelings. She too couldn't live without her daily dose of animal videos.

"Chris-chan also needs her daily dose of muscles, right?"

"I see, you mean psychological nourishment. In that case, I can understand. In my case, I can absorb that nourishment as long as I can feel myself training, even without seeing it. Muscle soreness is particularly good."

"That's a bit harder to understand, actually."

"It was in that romantic comedy manga I borrowed, wasn't it? Even if they get along well, they have a falling out once, and then they become lovey-dovey. It is like the calm after the storm."

"I understand completely! A spice of fasting in a situation of nutritional overload… Enduring that allows you to absorb enough nutrients to cause a super rebound! As expected of Chris-chan, your words are flawless…!"

It was debatable whether that analogy was appropriate, but with everyone in the group playing the fool, the conversation proceeded without any issues.

After some more idle chatter, Chris spoke up, saying, "Come to think of it."

"About that cosplay kit from yesterday, is that a product from Mikan-san's company? If I recall, Mikan-san was the president of 'Hyper Toy Maker,' the toy company directly under Lunaria-san, wasn't she?"

"That's right. Mikan-neesama is the president. And my mother is her secretary, and my father is the vice president. The cosplay kit from yesterday was a prototype that hasn't been released yet, so they were happy that everyone's feedback would be very helpful. Me too, of course. Everyone looked so good… Just thinking about it is seriously amazing, I could die… Oh, I'll send you some thank you sweets later. I'll send the picture and video data too."

"Ginny-chan's parents, huh. I think they're old acquaintances of my dad's, and Mikan-san too."

"I haven't heard the details, but it seems they met within AFO. My father was in a clan called the Demon Summoning Research Association and apparently fought against Hayato-sama's clan."

"The gentle-looking Adrian-san being into demon summoning doesn't really click, though."

"On the contrary, he's apparently a full-fledged demon summoner who's also a vampire and carries a coffin on his back. As expected of my father, I decided to go with that style myself and joined the Demon Summoner's Guild."

"Ginny-chan, you're on the same dark side level as Nacchan."

"I believe Nacchan and I share the same attribute. Also, my mother is a demon secretary serving Demon King Mikan-oneesama… I can stan my own parents…!"

"Lindsey-san, right. Players can't choose a race like demon, so why was she a demon character player?"

"That's probably because my mother, who admired Mikan-neesama, used summoning techniques to have the strongest demon descend into her own body. After that, my mother, pursued by exorcists, happened to meet my father and they went on the run, during which a passionate love blossomed between them… I'm sure of it!"

"You say 'probably' but end with 'I'm sure of it'."

Taking Chris's calm retort in stride, the three continued their idle chatter.

About thirty minutes later, a voice chat came in from Rick.

He wanted them to come up with a dish for the event. He also wanted Ginny to work on leveling her Demon Summoning skill. And he added that he would be acting alone for a while due to severe mental fatigue.

"Chatting is fun, but since we're playing a game, we should enjoy that part too. Besides, we put Rick-kun through a lot, so we need to get serious. I guess we'll start with the cooking."

"If it's cooking, I was asked yesterday, so I've come up with some ideas."

"You work fast! You're the best cook among us, Ginny-chan, so I have high expectations."

"Leave it to me. Here you go."

Ginny took several pieces of paper out of her item bag. There was a system in AFO that allowed you to write out information from the real world onto paper in the game, and Ginny had used it.

Parfait and Chris took the papers from a proud-looking Ginny and immediately read through them.

Parfait tilted her head.

"'The Nikujaga a High Schooler Tried Her Best to Make for Her Boyfriend on Their First At-Home Date'?"

Similarly, Chris tilted her head.

"'The Cookies a High Schooler Who Loves to Bake Secretly Made for His Girlfriend'?"

There were other dish names written with an emphasis on "high schooler." The dishes themselves were normal, but there were too many extra adjectives.

With eyes that clearly said, "What is this?" the two looked at Ginny. Ginny took a sip from her teacup, pinky finger extended, and smiled.

"We'll lure them in with the dish names."

"Ginny-chan?"

"It's fine. High schooler, that's a high point. A so-called moe point. It's a path of youth that every AFO user must have walked, it'll resonate with a wide range of generations. It might even be a critical hit. Nostalgia guaranteed."

"No, um…"

"Simply put, since we can't win on taste, we'll compete with 'memories.' Yes, memories are the best seasoning…! That's what Mackenroe-sama from DokiPan says. Even if you haven't had such an experience, your imagination is infinite, so you can easily imagine it, don't worry. There's also research showing that memories are mostly fabricated, so it's okay!"

"Uh, umm?"

"And since 'high schooler' serves as an indulgence, even if the taste is bad, it'll be passed off as charming. In fact, the fact that it's not too delicious is the selling point. In other words, victory is assured. We might even have a shot at winning."

Parfait thought that it bordered on fraud, but she also thought that at least the high schooler part wasn't a lie.

"Besides, when it comes to cooking, it's less about whether it's delicious and more about who made it. For example, a dish named 'The Slightly Off-Tasting Omelette Rice I Made for My Dad for the First Time.' That'll strike a chord with men in their thirties and older."

She could sort of understand that. When Parfait made a dish for her father, Hayato, for the first time, he ate it with tears in his eyes. Even though it tasted a bit off, he kept saying it was delicious as he ate. Afterward, Diite had made the unreasonable demand, "Is there none for me?"

"I think luring them with the name is a good idea. The important thing with these things is to get them to try it first."

"You're for it, Chris-chan?"

"Yes. I like this 'Aim for Muscle, The Ultimate Protein Dish'."

"That's just your personal preference, isn't it?"

"'High School Maid's Tea Time Set' is also fine."

"Couldn't we just leave out the 'high school' part?"

"That is the best selling point. However, since it mostly appeals to men, I've also prepared 'High School Butler's Tea Time Set.' Let's leave this one to Rick-kun. No woman dislikes a butler, so it will be fine. And of course, no man dislikes a maid!"

Ginny gave Chris a thumbs-up. Chris nodded and gave a thumbs-up in return.

When these two teamed up, she couldn't win. Parfait had her doubts about luring people in with names, but she also thought they weren't wrong. A huge number of dishes were already registered, and it was true that they needed to stand out in various ways to get people to choose theirs.

Besides, an event is a festival. It's also true that the one who has the most fun wins. If they made something that tasted good but had a clickbait name, it wouldn't be quite a scam.

"I get the idea of luring them with the name, but let's make sure it tastes good, okay? It's not a scam, but anything that feels like one is forbidden. So, Ginny-chan, you have to teach us how to cook properly."

"As expected of Parfait-chan. It is only natural if you aim to be like your father, Hayato-sama. Of course, I will teach you with my entire being."

Just as they decided to cook properly, Natsu arrived.

Anyone could see she was in a great mood.

"I have arrived! Fuhaha, today's dark side is filled with light!"

Parfait wondered if a dark side filled with light was a good thing, but she could guess why Natsu was in such a good mood. In fact, it would be strange not to know. Her study session with Ruth had been enjoyable.

"Welcome, Nacchan. Are you done with your studies?"

"Of course! To learn one thing and know ten, that is who I am!"

She must have been studying with incredible concentration. Parfait wondered if that was a good thing when studying with someone you like, but she vowed not to say anything.

"Hmph? Are the three of you researching a dish to make?"

Natsu said as she picked up the papers spread on the table. Then she nodded.

"I see, as expected of my friend Ginny, a plan to lure them in by name."

"As I thought, Nacchan and I share the same attribute. Our direction is different, but as a fellow resident of the dark side, I knew you would understand immediately."

Parfait wondered if there were different directions even within the same dark side, as she prepared drinks and snacks for Natsu.

Natsu, who had been looking at the dish names while flipping through the papers, suddenly stopped, her body twitching once. She was completely still, as if time had stopped just for her.

"Did one of the dishes strike a chord with you, Nacchan? Let's see…"

Parfait peeked at the paper Natsu was looking at from the side.

Written on the paper she was holding was "The Valentine's Chocolate a High Schooler Was Too Embarrassed to Give."

"…Nacchan, do you have experience with this, by any chance?"

"It's not like that. Not at all. They ate it just fine. I gave it to my father and mother and said, 'Please have some if you'd like.' Of course, I also camouflaged the handmade ones to look store-bought."

Parfait wondered why she had to go to such strategic lengths, but she hadn't denied giving chocolate in her haste. There was a limit to how flustered one could get.

"Natsu, you always deny it, but are you concerned about the age difference? Do not worry, everyone is equal before muscles."

"My friend, are muscles a religion? And it is not like that."

"Nacchan, as someone who walks the same path, please let me say this. Even though we're both on the dark side, you're Law and I'm Chaos, but our core is the same."

"So my dark side is order. But you do not need to say anything. In fact, please do not."

"To complain about obstacles in love when your crush is in the same dimension is just being spoiled. The real challenges in love begin when you're in different dimensions."

"I now understand why my friend's dark side is chaos. Now, this conversation is over. Let us train on the cooking again tomorrow, for today let us level up our skills. We need to make money too, do we not?"

It was a blatant change of topic, but Parfait went along with it.

It wouldn't be bad to keep talking about this love-gossip-like thing, but unfortunately, it was too chaotic. And she didn't think she could get any more information out of Natsu. She'd just have to look forward to the next development.

"Well then, since today is like Ginny-chan's combat debut, shall we fight somewhere with a low difficulty?"

Everyone agreed to her words, and the four of them headed off to level up their skills.