Bad Taste

Morning came.

We’d headed back to the camp for a quick nap after the night’s events, and now it was finally breakfast time.

Under a biting cold sky, with the snow-covered plains glittering in the dawn light, I sat there feeding wood into a campfire. The flames crackled and popped. The pot rattled as its contents danced inside, and a mouthwatering aroma began to drift through the air.

Meanwhile, Violet-san was busy doodling in the snow with that finger of hers.

I let out a yawn while keeping a close eye on the pot to make sure nothing scorched. Suddenly, I felt a series of tugs on my pant leg.

"What is it?"

Tug, tug.

Violet-san pointed toward the doodles she’d been scratching into the snow.

"Hmm?"

I’d assumed she was just messing around, but it looked like actual writing. She wiggled back and forth in front of the characters as if pleading with me to read them.

"I see..."

I gave the text a once-over and nodded sagely. They looked like Ancient Letters.

"Right, right. I get it."

I have absolutely no idea what this says.

"I understand completely."

It was probably something about her remaining body parts. I’d communicated with her last night through the power of pure, unadulterated body language, so we were on the same page. She’d pointed toward the Royal Capital of the Oriana Kingdom. As long as we headed that way, there wouldn't be any problems.

I decided to just appreciate the sentiment behind her effort and gave her a wide, confident smile. Violet-san bent her joint in a reciprocating nod. Then, she started rolling over the snow like a tiny log to erase the characters. I didn’t really mind if she left them, though—it wasn’t like anyone else could read them anyway.

While we were playing around, the pot started to boil over.

"Crap, hang on."

I hurriedly pulled the pot away from the fire. After confirming the bottom hadn’t burned, I gave it a slow stir. It was just Vegetable Scraps and Potato Soup. My culinary style for the day was "bringing out the natural flavor of the ingredients," which was code for "I only have salt for seasoning."

Well, whatever. Flavor wasn't the priority here.

"But man, we are seriously lacking in protein..."

Having finished her snow-clearing duties, Violet-san hopped up onto my lap. Her finger was ice-cold. I pinched her and held her over the fire to warm her up, and she seemed to bask in the heat quite comfortably.

"Precious, precious protein..."

Violet-san froze with a sudden twitch over the flames.

"I wonder... if I ate the meat but left the bone, would it just grow back?"

Violet-san began to tremble.

"If that works, wouldn't that basically be an Infinite Meat Loop?"

She started flailing frantically.

"Relax, I’m not going to eat you. I’d probably just get an upset stomach anyway."

I’d just been idly wondering about the mechanics, that's all.

"There, your finger's all warmed up now."

I let her go, and Violet-san gave my hand a sharp smack before settling back down on my lap.

"Anyway, the meat situation is fine. I asked Epsilon to handle it."

She’d probably bag a rabbit or something. It’s times like these when Delta really comes in handy—she would’ve finished the hunt in record time. I took a moment to imagine what it would be like if Delta were here.

I pictured her dragging a dead dragon back to camp with a massive, blood-stained grin on her face. I immediately shut that thought down.

"Yeah... better that she’s not here."

Just as I muttered that to myself, a voice called out.

"Brother Cid, I’ve returned from the hunt."

Boy Soldier Epsilon had arrived. She was holding a White Wild Rabbit in her hand. I let out a breath of genuine relief.

"I’m glad it was you, Epsilon. Truly."

"I-I beg your pardon?"

Despite looking like she was about to accidentally slice her own hand open with her knife, Epsilon skillfully butchered the rabbit and tossed the meat into the pot.

As we sat there waiting for the stew to finish simmering, the Three Middle-aged Men wandered over.

"Yo, you kids sleep alright?"

"Smells like the food’s almost done."

"Hey, kid. What’s with the finger?"

One of the older men had noticed Violet-san relaxing on my lap. The trio looked at me with varying expressions of disgust.

"Ugh, is that an Enemy Soldier's Finger?"

"That’s creepy as hell, kid."

"Toss that thing out before it starts to rot."

They gave me a few pitying pats on the shoulder.

Right then, I felt Violet-san's Magic Power begin to spike.