# 304
Helmut
Episode 304
Antiol’s hideout welcomed many guests for a long time. Two of them were so large that they could barely fit through the entrance.
However, there was a yard large enough to accommodate even that large number of guests.
“Now it’s time for joy! “Now that we have passed this difficult time, everyone can enjoy it to the fullest.”
Antiol extended his hand and offered. In the direction his hand was pointing, there was a huge table full of food.
At that moment, I remembered a feeling that everyone had forgotten.
hunger! In an instant, the tension was relieved, and all of a sudden the heartbeat began to ring in my stomach. Grumble!
I had starved for more than 11,000 days because I couldn’t even think of eating anything in the middle of the night.
Without worrying about who was first, I sat in front of the dining table and reached for the food whenever I could.
Crunch!
A particularly loud noise came from Asuka and Xian.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, who was born a noblewoman, and Area, who was always a brat, maintained their unique elegant demeanor.
Susan and Sarah, who had become accustomed to the forest of Pahe, were eating decently, although not like nobles.
Helmut, who was squeezing a huge rib with a spicy scent, suddenly became aware of the gaze from the side and stopped his hand.
“Eat slowly.”
Area, who was elegantly cutting steak with a fork and knife, showed a friendly smile.
For some reason, I felt embarrassed by the pitiful look in his eyes that seemed to say, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t take this poor thing away.’
Helmut opened his mouth as if making an excuse.
“I didn’t starve. Just the food….”
It was so delicious. It tasted like something I had eaten somewhere that somehow brought out nostalgia. I felt like I couldn’t remember anything.
His time in the human world was short, and his memory was extraordinary.
Helmut was able to dig up the name in his head a little later without difficulty.
“pin?”
“Do you remember Finn?”
“I remember the dishes he made.”
A pin from the Face Mercenaries. I remember him being a shockingly weak and loud guy.
But he also had one great talent. A talent that Helmut doesn’t have. Cooking talent!
“He left the Face Mercenaries and became a chef. After gaining a few years of experience, I recently opened a restaurant, and it looks like the mercenary group provided some support. Since then, I have been dealing with the Face mercenaries and have been hearing about them. Even for this old man’s picky taste, his food was quite delicious. Since he knows you too, I thought it would be okay to ask you to prepare food. “He also willingly agreed.”
“Finn…”
It sounded unfamiliar because it was a name I pulled out of my memory after such a long time.
Time was passing by while Helmut was in the Forest of Pahe, and it was a life-changing time for someone.
“Finn won’t know you’ll be eating the food he made. “I thought it would be a new feeling for you who came out of the Forest of Pahe. What do you think?”
“Thank you…thank you.”
Helmut answered awkwardly. It was Antiol who had prepared to welcome Helmut so thoroughly and meticulously that it was a bit creepy.
Is that why he is called a weirdo? Then Asuka suddenly opened her mouth.
“Hey, but who is Finn? Someone you used to know? What is it? “Maybe it’s not a woman?”
Asuka, I just jumped in without thinking, but I could feel Area’s eyes becoming sharper. Helmut answered right away without thinking.
“friend.”
“what? Friends? “You mean you had friends again?”
Asuka gave an exaggerated reaction. It was the same for Sian, who was biting into a huge pie next to him.
“Friend? To you?”
“When I was working for a mercenary group.”
Helmut thought for a moment whether he should have said he was a colleague.
However, colleague is somewhat like a term used on equal footing.
Finn was a useless burden as a mercenary. Even though it was a long time ago, the memory was not embellished at all.
It looks like Finn is well on his way to becoming a chef. Will there come a day when I will be reunited with him?
Anyway, there were more urgent matters than that. My stomach isn’t full yet.
“Let’s eat.”
Asuka and Xian, who were in the same situation as Helmut, obediently followed Helmut’s gesture. While the humans were enjoying their meal like they were possessed, the monsters were very dissatisfied.
[What is this? There’s nothing for us to eat.]
[Human food… It smells strange. Why do you process and eat normal ingredients like that?]
[They say it has a savory taste. To me, it was so disgusting that it made me vomit.]
Elaga, who had had the chance to experience human food, frowned and grumbled.
Whatever food humans ate tasted strange. Heike suggested with a smile.
“If you want, can I prepare some raw meat for you?”
[There is no need.]
If it is a monster that is the ruler of the area, there is no need to eat anything. However, while Elaga spoke clearly, Igrel immediately raised his head.
[I want to eat rabbit. Preferably a white one.]
Most recently, Ygrel had to give up one of his favorite white rabbits. Heike responded lightly.
“As much as you want.”
And soon, in one corner of the yard, a true scene unfolded where Igrel lowered his head to the wild rabbits tied by his beak and swallowed them one after another. It was almost like a massacre.
[Well, the rabbits in this neighborhood are really small. Instead, the flesh is soft.]
Everyone was so busy picking up and swallowing their food that they didn’t have time to look at the unappetizing scenery over there.
Moreover, since the rabbit was so small compared to Ygrel, it was only a bite away, so no blood splattered.
Elaga, who saw this, also chewed and made a demand.
[I am a deer.]
This time, Heike prepared a deer for him that he did not know how he had obtained.
Even though Igrel was still clean after catching and eating about twenty rabbits, Elaga created a wild scene in the middle of the yard with blood flowing down.
[Oh really, the deer in this neighborhood are a bit soft and soft? The texture of the flesh is on a completely different level from the rough and stiff ones from the forest.]
[Yes, just like humans. Are all things in the human world like that?]
[Huh? Didn’t you… say that humans don’t eat?]
Elaga’s eyes became sharp. Ygrel quickly made an excuse.
[No, that’s what I’m saying. Where did I get humans from? Naho is taking it all.
[If you eat humans here too, you will fall into my hands. Well, even if I don’t step forward, there will be people who say they are temples or something that will try to eat you.]
[Huh? Do humans eat monsters too?]
[…Are you saying this for fun? Let’s not talk about it.]
Anyway, everyone was able to fill their stomachs satisfactorily. As the meal progressed to a certain extent, Antiol attracted attention.
“Now, I have prepared something for you.”
Soon everyone’s eyes widened. What Antiol presented was his extensive liquor collection.
Soon, a huge amount of liquor bottles flew in and were placed on the table. Liquor bottles with jagged shapes. The Archmage’s liquor collection is a collection of liquor from all over the world.
The prices varied, but there were quite a few expensive ones.
“Enjoy yourselves.”
Due to Antiol’s generous hospitality, almost everyone was in favor of him. A drinking party soon took place. Everyone ate and drank heavily to celebrate getting out of the Forest of Pahe.
Sera also drank a glass of alcohol that Asuka gave her and got drunk.
“Kyahaha!”
Susan, the mother, was so drunk that she couldn’t take care of her daughter.
It was natural that Asuka and Xian emptied their bottles with excitement.
Area drank a glass of the unknown drink that Helmut had poured her and then buried her head into Helmut’s shoulder. She was weaker than she looked.
It was Helmut’s first time seeing Area so relaxed. It was refreshing and cute to see him dozing off while leaning on my shoulder.
Antiol looked at Area’s condition and shook his head left and right.
“You drank crocodile alcohol. “It’s a strong drink.”
“….”
Helmut hoped that even after Alea woke up, she would not know the identity of the alcohol she had consumed.
The two monsters also joined in this time.
[huh? Is this alcohol? It brings about an abnormal state of the body, but it also gives a strange sense of inspiration.]
Igrel recited the common sense he had realized through his demonic nature. Alcohol is said to be poison to animals, but this does not apply to Igrel and Elaga, who are dozens of times larger than humans.
[huh? This is delicious.]
[Oh, this is what it feels like.]
Antiol’s expression distorted as he saw the two monsters sitting with their noses pressed together and emptying the liquor bottle one after another.
‘That expensive drink! It’s like a 200-year-old imperial liquor! ‘Slurp it up like that!’
Still, since it was such a nice place, I thought about giving it a taste, but since Antiol is also human, I hid the expensive liquor in a corner.
It was such a shame that I cried tears of blood to see a monster, not a human, drinking with its mouth stuck in its mouth. But what can you do?
At that time, Heike, who seemed to have sensed Antiol’s mood and was watching with contemplation whether the drinking party was taking place or not, approached the two monsters.
“How are you two feeling?”
[huh? Well, that’s okay.]
[Something to do.]
“I’d like to continue talking about what we said earlier.”
[So, what is that you were thinking about?]
Heike calmly opened his mouth while receiving the gaze of the two monsters.
“Don’t you two look so striking? So it’s a kind of disguise. “I have prepared a transformation magic artifact.”
The slightly tingling state was good for applying magic.
The wizard’s lair is full of magical power. It was a place where it was easy to perform even high-level magic.
[Transformation? That would be fun.]
[My appearance will change, right?]
Heike took out two magic stones from his arms and placed them on his palms.
“I didn’t know if it would be effective, so I prepared a temporary item. It works by putting it in your mouth. “You know you shouldn’t resist magic, right?”
Elaga and Ygrel thrust their muzzles at the same time and almost collided.
[I’m first, birdhead!]
Heike said with a smile to Elaga, who was growling.
“Oh, by the way, this magic is applied according to will. “It will change to something closer to what you want it to look like, so please think about what you want it to look like before operating the artifact.”
Elaga did not think for long.
[I just want to look less threatening. I hope it gets smaller.]
Ygrel took a little longer. He rolled his eyes for a moment and then shouted.
[I like it! I have decided!] As
soon as Elaga took the magic stone, Igrel also put the magic stone in his mouth. And immediately after the blue light spread from the bodies of the two monsters, a change occurred.
The change made even the heavily intoxicated people on the other side unable to help but look back in surprise.
