Two figures, each holding a spoon and a skewer, pestered a man with a bloated stomach.
"Fuu, fuu~! Here, Sir Tao, say ahh~!"
"Master Tao, I braised this one specially for you. Open wide~!"
Of course, they were none other than Xu Tao, Jehanne, and Yifa together at the dining table.
How did it come to this? Well... it all started about an hour ago.
After arriving at Jehanne’s new home... chaos spread.
The two girls had both declared they’d cook for Xu Tao at the same time. He wasn’t sure what made them decide that, but thinking it would lessen the burden compared to just one person cooking, he’d simply cheered them on—a fatal mistake on his part.
His guess was way off. Rather than cooperating to cook a full meal, the two girls... started to compete.
One dish after another, created using ingredients found in the loot boxes, was brought to the table. Dishes that, by themselves, could already be full meals.
Leaving food behind would not only disgrace the chef who cooked it—it would also be a waste of resources. Thus, as a man who didn’t waste things, Xu Tao made sure to clear the plates before him—even if that meant overeating to the point of collapse.
"That was a great meal..." Xu Tao sighed, feeling full.
He had eaten two full servings, after all. Though thankfully, both recipes were delicious to the point he had no complaints. Jehanne’s skills were almost a given, as he had experienced them beforehand, but Yifa being a great cook was quite the surprise.
"Thanks for the praise, Sir Tao!" Jehanne cheered from the kitchen, smiling sweetly. "And just in time, the next dish is almost ready! Look forward to the Pain Perdu I made~!"
"Ah, mine’s almost done too! I made Trail Broth Soup just for you. It should help with digestion!" Even Yifa chimed in, announcing that her second dish was nearly done.
Of course, it didn’t end there.
The two girls continued making dish after dish, serving him until he was so full he wanted to throw up.
Although he wanted to back out, to say he was already full, the look in the two ladies’ eyes made him reconsider. He felt that asking them to stop wouldn’t end well... for him.
And now, in the present, they were finally presenting their tenth dishes respectively.
Jehanne had gone with her usual recipe, Potée de Lait, and was feeding him one spoonful after another with great care. On the other hand, Yifa had chosen a skewer of dried meat and root crops, grilled to perfection—and was also feeding it to him directly.
Jehanne’s stew was just as nostalgic as he remembered from the first time. The sweet taste of milk, the softened vegetables, and the tender strips of meat created the perfect harmony—almost as if angels themselves had blessed the recipe. A miraculous mix.
Yifa’s skewers, though they looked simple, didn’t lose out either. The saltiness of the dried meat was balanced well by the strategically placed bite-sized potatoes and carrot strips. Not only that, the original flavor of the vegetables, grilled just right, stood out on their own, striking a subtle balance that was nothing short of magic.
Xu Tao whispered, finishing the last servings of each.
"T-Then, which dish did you like the most, Sir Tao?"
"Master, it’s my cooking that’s better, right?"
And as if for a clincher, the two leaned forward and asked. Their gazes sparkled with trust and belief that they were the winner—but to Xu Tao, they looked more like madwomen interrogating him after prolonged torture.
"The best one is..." Xu Tao whispered, before—
—collapsing onto the table, mouth frothing.
"M-Master Tao?! Are you alright?!"
Eating food meant for twenty people in one sitting was definitely not a great idea. Even with the help of the Iron Stomach Technique, which allowed him to eat more than a regular human, he couldn’t handle the sheer volume of food he’d just consumed.
All that protein and carbohydrates caused his blood glucose to spike, which in turn triggered an over-response from his pancreas—leading to an obvious insulin crash.
To make things worse, blood was diverted to his stomach to handle the extreme intake, causing a drop in blood pressure and reduced circulation to his brain—robbing him of consciousness.
And with the only judge unconscious, in the end, no winner was decided that night.
[Alert! The third wave is about to arrive in sixty minutes. Please make sure your defenses are well prepared before then!]
The next day, Xu Tao was roughly woken up by a boorish notification. Since it was important, it wasn’t silenced by default—making it work like an alarm clock.
But the first thing Xu Tao did upon waking... was rush to the nearest comfort room to pick some flowers. Unfortunately, he’d woken up in an unfamiliar castle, making him run around for a few minutes before finding the place he needed.
After lightening his load, he finally returned outside with a slightly refreshed expression—before glaring at the still-open notification.
"The third wave, huh?" he muttered, confused.
The first wave had come almost without warning. But the second wave had been announced to arrive exactly one week after the first wave ended—a story from just five days ago.
Thinking logically, the third wave shouldn’t be coming for another two days, but...
"Well, it’s here, so we can only face it directly." He shrugged.
Xu Tao walked forward, following the unfamiliar hallway until he stepped out onto a wide balcony on the highest floor. From there, he could see the entire village that Jehanne had built, along with the two concentric walls protecting it.
The area they now needed to defend from the wave had increased... but thankfully, the number of hands available to help had also grown.
"With proper planning, it shouldn’t be a problem."
Even if their firepower was lacking, holding the line until one of the three—Arthur, Jehanne, or Xu Tao—could provide backup should still be feasible.
"I have fourteen days left to stay here..." he whispered.
Considering the three-times time flow disparity between the two worlds, Henrietta’s birthday would fall exactly on that date.
In short, Xu Tao needed to ensure everyone could handle the succeeding waves without him by then.
He took a deep breath before gazing up at the clouds in the distance.
"Who the hell made this castle’s hallways so confusing? How the hell do I get back to my room from earlier?"
...But before anything else, first, he needed to understand the layout of his own castle.