Cck Cck Cck

  The sound of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the air as the knights and soldiers marched bad forth. With them were the escaped prisoners who were once again bound to new sets of magic cuffs.

  All the prisoners have been rounded up ly with the help of Gustav's knights and the adventurers from the guild. Of course, it was only resolved quickly due to the help of multiple high-rankers who happeo be there for the Labyrinth's opening. These include Grey and pany, and three other B-rankers from the guild.

  There also weren't any citizens harmed with how quick a was taken. Even the guards who had beeen up bd blue were now in safe dition and receiving treatment in the hospital.

  By the time Grey returns to the mansion, all the prisoners have bee back to jail and aighter security has been pced with the guards being temporarily repced by Gustav's knights.

  "I'm backー Hm...?" ［Grey］

  A strange se greeted Grey as soon as he walked ihe mansion, making him stop on his tracks. It was Eliza who was g in Yuna's embrace. Kris and Aria were also there, trying to calm her down.

  "What happened!?" ［Grey］

  Struck by panic, Grey quickly rushed towards Eliza's side as he feared something might have happeo her. But before he could even approach her...

  "Uuuu... Elder Brrey!" ［Eliza］

  "!!!" ［Grey］

  ... Eliza suddenly rushed towards him, hugging him as she bawled her eyes out, making Grey quite fused as to what just happened.

  Grey looked at the three who were previously looking out for her, but there was no immediate answer about Eliza's sudden behaviors. Kris only shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders whilst looking at Grey's dumbfounded face.

  While Grey didn't quite uand what was happening, he let the young girl just hug him as she pleased. He also stroked her head gently as to calm her down slowly as she let her tears out.

  "Yuna..." ［Grey］

  "Hmm... I'm not really sure. She's been like that ever since I came back. But it seems like we made her worry." ［Yuna］

  It was only when Grey looked at Yuna with questioning eyes that the former was able to grasp the current situation. He heaved a sigh of relief as he learnt that no harm befell towards Eliza.

  "Sorry if we made you worried, Liz... But as you see, We're safe and sound! So o cry, okay?" ［Grey］

  Grey said to Elza, gently, as he wiped her tears away. But trary to what he had expected, Eliza didn't let go, instead, she embraced him even tighter. It was so tight that if it were a normal person, their body would have been crushed.

  While Eliza's tears have stopped, Grey was now stu an awkward situation. He could easily get out from Eliza's embrace as he pleased but he didn't as it was clearly not the correct option.

  "Hm...? What's happening here?" ［Gustav］

  Just as their little drama was uaking, Gustav ehe mansion by ce, and not uanding what was happening, he gave them a fused face, with one of his eyebrows raised like an arch.

  Seeing his rea, the four of them quickly expihe situation to Gustav. They also asked for his assistand his response...

  "I uand, but first.... we should probably eat breakfast. That battle really made me hungry." ［Gustav］

  ... didn't help at all. It seemed like he was more ied towards breakfast than his niece who only stopped g retly.

  Though, because of what he said, the others remembered that they still haveen breakfast yet. There was only one more fact which made them despair. It was because from the amount of time that had passed, the meal had already gone cold.

  They then headed towards the dining room, with Eliza still ging on Grey's side. Fortunately frey, when they arrived there, they finally mao somehow vince Eliza to let go of him.

  trary to their expectations, the food that reviously served was still hot, or rather, had beeed. Rhodes had taken it upon himself to preserve the food aed it when the recapture was announced, allowing everyoo enjoy a warm and delieal.

  There was only one problem. It was that even after they finished eating breakfast, Eliza still seemed to be in low spirits, barely making any sounds. It made the reatly worried about her.

  'Haah... I wonder what I could do to cheer her up…' ［Grey］

  Grey sighed inwardly as he gazed upoill dejected Eliza. They were also having a hard time without Fritz as he was still on site, managing the aftermath of the prison break.

  "Ahh... That hit the spot! Good food really does cheer people up! Hahaha!" ［Gustav］

  Hearing Gustav's words, an idea suddenly popped up inside Grey's mind. It was just like Gustav had said, all one o cheer up was a taste of delicious cooking!

  "Thank you, Sir Gustav!" ［Grey］

  "Ah, sure...?" ［Gustav］

  Ign the puzzled Gustav's response, Grey started thinking what food he should cook for the dejected Eliza. He was searg for a dish which Eliza had asted before but would surely like.

  Spaghetti, burgers. Potato snacks... There were many things that went through Grey's mind, but ead everyone of them was too much of a hassle to make or was just too simple.

  ''Ah, that's it!' ［Grey］

  A sudden answer came trey's mind as he recalled the things he enjoyed in his past life. It was food which could be found anywhere, full of variations, cheesy, and most of all, fun to eat. Pizza!

  "Hey, Yuna. I have something to tell you." ［Grey］

  "Hm...?" ［Yuna］

  "You see..." ［Grey］

  Since Grey wouldn't be able to pull it off by himself, he lets Yuna in on the pn so that she distract Eliza while he prepares it. Though, he did not whisper to her too close. He's already learnt his lesson.

  "Hmm... I see..." ［Kris］

  But while Grey was whispering to Yuna about his pn, Kris suddenly popped out of nowhere and joined iher Grey nor Yuna didn't even notice him approag them, making the two quite surprised.

  "Kris, what do you think you're doing?" ［Aria］

  "Eh? Listening...?" ［Kris］

  "No, you're eavesdropping." ［Aria］

  But of course, his beloved fiancée, Aria, soon followed after him to scold him. Rather than an engaged couple, the two looked like a mother and son, with the mother trying to reprimand her mischievous son.

  "Haah... Grey, Yuna. I apologize on behalf of this idiot. He really doesn't know when and when not to meddle into things." ［Aria］

  "Aria, why do you always call me an idiot?" ［Kris］

  "Because you are one." ［Aria］

  Just shortly after they joined in, the two had already gone off to their own world, leaving Grey and Yuna who were supposed to be talking with just the two of them to be dumbfounded by their usual shenanigans.

  Yuna and Grey were about to tinue what they were talking about once again, but when Kris noticed them, he joined once again. And sihe two of them were already there, Grey also let Kris and Aria in on his pn.

  It was a simple pn where Grey and Kris will go out to catch fresh ingredients while Yuna and Aria, as fellow women, keep Eliza occupied with their girl talk while also buying ingredients from the market.

  "That's a good pn, but I have one question." ［Yuna］

  "Hm? What is it?" ［Grey］

  "What is pizza?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah, what is it?" ［Kris］

  "I've also never heard of it." ［Aria］

  There was just ohing Grey fot to resider, it was that her of the three knew what kind of food pizza was. After all, it was a dish which came from another world, namely, Earth.

  "It's... basically dough with toppings on it... Anyway, you'll uand when you have a taste of it ter." ［Grey］

  "Alright, it better be some good stuff!" ［Kris］

  "I'm looking forward to it." ［Aria］

  "It's going to be anreat dish again!" ［Yuna］

  While they didn't quite get it, her of the three questioned Grey any further. Yuna was especially enthusiastice she knew full well Grey's cooking capabilities. She knew by heart that it would be a delicious dish.

  The reason why Grey wants to go huntie the surplus of meat in his possession was mostly because of an iing fa the knowledge God had granted him.

  One every few years, there's a where migratory beasts called Bulldeers arrive near Moterno as a part of their migration journey. Other than their spectacur build, Bulldeers are known for their delieat. It just so happehat that event is happening right now.

  "What are we waiting frey? Let's go hunt some meat!" ［Kris］

  "Ah, sorry... Well then, we'll be going now." ［Grey］

  After they waved their goodbyes, Kris and Grey theed the mansion and headed to the Cervidia Pins where the Bulldeers were supposed to be at, whilst the dies were left behind to take care of Eliza.

  When they arrived there, an amazing se weled the two of them. Hundreds of Bulldeers gathering in one pce, grazing at the grass peacefully, without a single care in the world.

  "Woah...,there sure are a lot of them..." ［Kris］

  Kris ented as he sed the pins. With the number of Bulldeers present, if they were to run wild, it would surely cause a disaster, not just to Moterno, but to the neighb vilges as well.

  Thankfully, Bulldeers are docile beasts which would rather run than fight when being attacked. Though they are still G-rank so people are still wary of them.

  "So, Grey, how much should we take down?" ［Kris］

  "Hmm... Just one should be enough. But if we want to take some too, then we hunt more of them." ［Grey］

  "Nah, I'm good. With the size of those things, you could feed aire vilge with just one of them." ［Kris］

  Kris shrugged his shoulders as he responded. After all, even if they were called Bulldeers, their size was so big that one couldn't even pare her a bull nor a deer to them. Their size was only a little smaller than elephants.

  "So, how would you like to hunt them?" ［Kris］

  "Hmm... With a herd as rge as this, I think we should use traps to separate one of them and hunt it down without the others knowing." ［Grey］

  "Seems fair. We wouldn't want them to panid run wild after all." ［Kris］

  With a pn in mind, Grey and Kris the hiding in the perfect position behind the bushes where the Bulldeers would have a hard time notig the two of them.

  Their pn is as follows: First, Grey will use curse magic to lead one of them away from the herd. When it goes far enough, it will be trolled to approach them. When that happens, Kris will take it out in one blow.

  "You sure are a talented one, aren't you? To think you'd also know curse magic!" ［Kris］

  Kris ented in a surprised voi which Grey could only nod silently in response. He felt a little guilty when he only learnt it with the help of the knowledge God had provided him.

  Burying his guilt, Grey quickly locked on a target located quite a distance away. It was an adolest Bulldeer whose meat is still tender and juicy, perfect for any kind of dish.

  After he locked towards his target, Grey let Kris know with a simple hand signal which the tter respoo with a nod as he readied his trusty hammer.

  ??Hijack?? ［Grey］

  Evehe Bulldeer was located a couple hundred meters away, with Grey's eyes, the spell nded accurately towards the target's head, taking full trol over its will and body.

  "Oh, it's really moving towards us..." ［Kris］

  Like aed child, Kris observed carefully as Grey trolled the Bulldeer's movement. His eyes were full of curiosity and amazement as it was his first time seeing curse magi a.

  Slowly, the Bulldeer approached Grey and Kris' location without a smidge of suspi from its kin. Rather, the other Bulldeers didn't particurly care and just tinued grazing on the grass.

  "Grey, I have a question." ［Kris］

  "Sure, what is it?" ［Grey］

  "Do you like Yuna?" ［Kris］

  "Eh!?" ［Grey］

  A suddeion came hurling from Kris, throwing Grey's tration off. He was so shocked by the question that he lost trol of the Bulldeer which had almost reached them.

  As for the bulldeer iion, it just returned back to its herd, fused by how it got far away from it in the first pce. Though its tusion only sted for a short time as it immediately grazed in the grassnds as soon as it returned.

  "W-What's with that all of a sudden!?" ［Grey］

  "Ah, well, it was just a random thought of mine. But judging by your rea... looks like I was right." ［Kris］

  Hearing Kris's words, Grey immediately started panig, making Kris firm that his hypothesis was irue. Grey wouldn't be able to deny it now when the answer was already painted all over his face.

  Well, to be fair, Grey was also pretty obvious. Even Gil and Hal immediately figured things out just from seeing their reas a few days ago. It was only Grey who thought that he was hiding it well.

  "Was I really that obvious...?" ［Grey］

  "Well, if someone like me who doesn't eve you that often figured it out this quickly... Do I really o ahat question?" ［Kris］

  "Ugh... Do you think Yuna had noticed?" ［Grey］

  "I don't know... but probably not. She seems to be ag normally around you." ［Kris］

  "Haah... Thank God..." ［Grey］

  Grey's body loosened up as soon as he heard Kris' opinion. Well, of course Yuna would still aormally", after all, she was already in love with Grey when Kris and Aria had met her.

  ??Hijack?? ［Grey］

  Full of relief, Grey once again attempted to trol the same Bulldeer to separate it from its herd. And while this was happening, Kris and Grey tiheir talk about Yuna.

  "So, Grey, when do you pn on fessing to Yuna?" ［Kris］

  "When I have the ce to, I guess...?" ［Grey］

  "What are you, a kid? Ce is not something you have to wait for. It's something you have to create for yourself!" ［Kris］

  Kris' expression wheated his words was one full of disbelief and pity trey. And as all his words were also on point so Grey didn't have a way to refute against him.

  Grey fully uood what Kris was talking about, but just the thought of losing Yuna was enough to scare him out of his wits. He knew full well he was ag like a spoiled child, but he just couldn't help himself.

  The friendship and trust he had built over the time they had been together could easily colpse from a single mistake. It was a sario Grey wao avoid the most from happening.

  "Well, I couldn't really bme you. I was also like that at first when I realized my feelings for Aria. But after realizing that I might lose her someday, I braced myself for the worst oute and fessed to her." ［Kris］

  Out of nowhere, Kris suddenly started talking about his love story with Aria. His eyes were looking at a distance as he reminisced about the time he fessed his love to the girl of his dreams.

  Hearing Kris' words, Grey felt a sense of reassurand ce well up inside of his waveri.

  "But of course, I got rejected... I was so dejected that time that I wasn't able to sleep for two weeks. Ahhh... the memories..." ［Kris］

  But such reassurand ce quickly disappeared when Kris opened his mouth again. Those emotions were now repced with pity towards the man who was still reminisg of his past.

  "But I still didn't give up after that. Time after time, I fessed to Aria, and time after time I got rejected. It took 73 times before Aria accepted my feelings. At that time, I really felt that all my efforts were not in vain." ［Kris］

  That pity also soon ged into disbelief when Kris tinued his words. Rather, Grey felt pity towards Aria who was subjected to Kris' persistent fessions. He could only imagine how they went with Kris' personality.

  Somewhere deep inside Grey's heart, a feeling of doubt started to brew. Doubt whether Aria really accepted Kris' feelings because she developed feelings for him, or she just gave up because of how persistent and annoying Kris was.

  "Anyway, the thing is. It's better tret something tha not doing itー Oh, looks like it's here!" ［Kris］

  Just as Kris finished giving Grey advice, the Bulldeer had arrived at their location. Without wasting any time, Kris quickly bashed its head with his hammer, killing it in one blow.

  There wasn't even aan the Bulldeer's part. Thankfully, Kris held back quite a lot so the Bulldeer's body still remained intact even with the amount of force it had received.

  "Anyway, Grey, did you uand what I was getting at?" ［Kris］

  As if killing the Bulldeer was nothing, Kris once again shifted the topic back towards their love talk and advising session. Grey also didn't care about the fallen Bulldeer and only reflected on Kris' words.

  While Kris seemed like the unreliable type, he erson who was very good at handing out advice to other people. Grey was ihought as he processed his words.

  'If I don't fess today, how could I say that I do it tomorrow... No, will there eveomorrow with the two of us together?' ［Grey］

  That was the thought process which ran throughout Grey's mind as he reflected on Kris' words. Just thinking of the sequences of his cowardice sent shivers down his spine.

  One wouldn't know what the future holds until they've experie for themselves. If tomorrow es and something precious to you finally goes away, then one will surely regret not doing what they could have done.

  Grey khat full well and only needed Kris' words as a wake up call. It was a call which filled his heart with determination and steeled his resolve.

  "Mister Kris, thank you... My mind is all clear now." ［Grey］

  "Hm? Sure... Just think of it as advice from your senior adventurer. Anyway, we should probably dismahis thing before the meat goes bad." ［Kris］

  "Ah, right!" ［Grey］

  With the help of Kris, the rge Bulldeer's body was quickly dismantled in just a matter of mihey mao acquire a rge amount of meat which could st a family for a few months.

  After st the Bulldeer's dismantled parts on Grey's "Iory", Kris and Grey then headed to their hunt location, but on the way there, their topic had derailed once again.

  "By the way, Grey, you didn't use "Hijack" on Yuna to fulfill your desires, did you?" ［Kris］

  "No, I haven't! I don't even have the slightest idea of doing that!" ［Grey］

  "You sure...?" ［Kris］

  "Yes! I am sure!" ［Grey］

  It was a versatioween two grown men which made the two seem like they were little kids quarreling with one another as they slowly disappeared into the horizon.

  CHAPTER 54 END