I felt bad for Pandora-san, who had been so worried about me, but in all honesty, the food and drink Gluttony-san served weren't nearly as bad as I’d expected.
Oh, don’t get me wrong—it was foul. Disgusting, even. There was no doubt about that. But... I couldn't help but rank it as "low level."
At the very least, it wasn’t enough to crack my poker face, which had been forged in the fires of my mother’s terrible cooking and tempered by Kuro’s Failed Baby Castella. Especially the latter—that was in a completely different league. If I were to rank the various degrees of "foul" found in Kuro’s failed batches on a scale of one to ten, this Kaiju Ham and Heavy Oil-like Tea would be a mid-tier level five at best.
It wasn't as if I felt a searing pain in my mouth the moment I tasted it, or felt my consciousness slipping away with every chew. My body wasn't violently rejecting it with waves of nausea, nor were my knees buckling beneath me. It was just... plain old bad.
If it was only this unpleasant, I could easily clear my plate with a polite smile. Since it didn't actually cause physical damage to my body, I’d call it an easy victory.
Still, thinking about it only made me realize how truly diabolical the failed batches made by that baby castella devil really are. Even Alice calls them "dark matter," so they truly exist on another plane of culinary horror.
Thinking about such things, I turned to Gluttony-san and offered her a gentle smile.
"Gluttony-san, thank you for going to all this trouble. I came here to express my gratitude to you, so I really appreciate the hospitality."
『No! If Miyama Kaito-sama is pleased, then it is a supreme honor for me as well!』
It was a forced smile, of course. I’m often told my emotions are an open book, but I didn't think I’d be caught out this time. After all, I was feeling a genuine, profound sense of relief.
My eyes drifted to Pandora-san. After seeing me smile and offer my thanks, she wore an expression of pure, unadulterated shock. She went quiet, resting her chin in her hand as she sank into deep thought. After a moment, she seemed to reach some sort of epiphany. She clutched her head for a second before her eyes turned hazy and dark, a feverish flush creeping up her cheeks as she drifted into a state of pure ecstasy.
I had a very bad feeling about this. This was just my imagination, but right now, inside Pandora-san’s head...
(Unbelievable! To smile while eating that... C-Could Miyama-sama be just like Gluttony? No, wait. My data says his sense of taste is perfectly normal. I know that from the information I've gathered so far—Agh! I see! Miyama-sama stands on a peak far beyond my reach! Trying to measure him by my own shallow standards was my first mistake! To worry for him was to insult him... How arrogant of me! I must repent! My loyalty must be absolute—greater than ever before!)
Or something like that. It was just my imagination, obviously. Right? It couldn't possibly be that accurate. I’m sure that surge of affection I was sensing was just a coincidence.
As an aside, even compared to a fellow member of the fanatic category like Gluttony-san, Pandora-san’s loyalty and affection were in a league of their own.
When it came to the emotions I felt through Sympathy Magic... if I were to compare Gluttony-san’s emotions to a flash flood, then Pandora-san’s were a massive tsunami. The scale was just different. It was heavy, it was immense, and the word "yandere" was currently flashing in neon lights inside my brain.
...Eh? Eden-san? That person is out of the question. Her affection is the equivalent of "the entire world drowning in the sea" or "the universe being swallowed by the ocean." You can't even use natural disasters as a metaphor for her.
Well, setting that aside, I decided to finish what had been served to me for now.
『Miyama Kaito-sama! If you would like, please, have another serving...』
"Ah, thank you."
Honestly, just because I can handle it doesn't mean it’s good. I wasn't exactly eager for more, but it was incredibly hard to say no. Gluttony-san looked so genuinely happy—like she’d finally found someone who shared her tastes. She was beaming, her eyes sparkling with such excitement that I just couldn't bring myself to turn her down.
It was for the sake of our future relationship. I’d just have to accept her kindness. Though, I definitely couldn't finish an entire monster on my own, so I’d have to find a way to stop her eventually. Also, I really needed to ask for a different tea. Taste aside, that sludge was so thick it wasn't doing anything for my thirst.