Chapter 8: Miss Pink Elf’s Scream
Chocolate Hills, Marshmallow Boulders, Candy Corals, Donut Plains...
In just one day, Kenji had gathered a small mountain of ingredients over three meters high. This was more than enough for his interior decorations; he had no desire for a fully edible house like Toriko’s.
"Mr. Kenji, we’re here," Smile announced, arriving with his construction crew. A fleet of dump trucks was loaded with top-of-the-line building materials.
"Smile, will these ingredients be enough for the interior?" Kenji asked.
Smile did a quick mental calculation. It was plenty. In fact, there would probably be some left over. Toriko usually gathered several times more ingredients than this for his own houses.
"What’s the estimated completion time?"
"If you’re in a hurry, Mr. Kenji, we could probably finish it in about a month," Smile added, though it would require him to call in more workers.
"There’s no rush. Two months is fine," Kenji said. He planned on going out to hunt for more ingredients anyway. After living in a cave for three years, spending a couple of months in a tent was no problem at all.
Smile nodded, pleased. These were the kinds of clients he liked—no nagging, no complaining about every little detail until his head spun.
"Alright, let’s get to work!"
The gourmet construction crew sprang into action. This was a job for professionals; Kenji’s only role was to state his requirements.
"Hey, Smile, build me a house after this, will ya?" Toriko said, munching on a giant donut he was holding. He had gone back to check on his place only to find his Candy House had vanished without a trace. Even the ground it stood on was licked clean. He’d been away for too long.
"Toriko, why can’t you just build a normal house like Mr. Kenji?" Smile sighed, completely exasperated with his regular client. He remembered that the record for one of Toriko’s houses disappearing was half a day. He had just left the construction site, and that very afternoon, Toriko called him to come back and build a new one.
"I’m used to the Candy House. Money’s not an issue," Toriko said, shaking his head and refusing Smile’s suggestion. He gathered the materials himself; Smile just had to do the construction. The cost was a drop in the bucket for Toriko. Even if he ran out of cash, he had plenty of ways to get more, like capturing a rare Gourmet Beast to sell.
"I think you’re just a glutton," Smile grumbled under his breath. ’Used to it,’ my foot. You’re just not used to waking up without a house to eat.
Ah, whatever. Toriko paid well, so he wouldn’t press the issue.
Honkai Impact - The Previous Era.
"The food in Kenji’s world is so delicious," Elysia sighed, sitting on her bed and nibbling on a small cake that had grown naturally on a tree, with no artificial additives.
Ever since Kenji first shared some food, she found herself asking him for more from time to time. Kenji was generous; these ingredients were free for the taking in his world.
"Time for today’s weigh-in... Let’s see... Wait... this has to be a mistake..."
Elysia stepped onto her pink scale. As the numbers flickered and finally settled, her voice began to tremble. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it was just a hallucination.
She had gained a full kilogram.
Elysia placed a hand on her stomach. It definitely felt a little... plumper than before.
The devastating realization caused the pink-haired beauty to let out a piercing shriek. I’ve gotten fat! Nooooo!
Thankfully, her room was soundproof. Otherwise, the ceiling of the Fire Moth dormitory would have been blown clean off. It was also a good thing Mobius wasn’t around, or she would have undoubtedly chimed in with a smug, "You’ve gained weight again, Elysia."
Elysia whipped out a pink magical staff and performed a physical data deletion on the electronic scale. Such incriminating evidence could not be allowed to exist in this world.
Frustrated, she opened the chat group and fired off a message.
[Miss Pink Elf♪]: "You bad man, Kenji! You have to take responsibility for this! @Star Forger"
[Lady Justice]: "Kenji, did you get Elysia pregnant (≖ᴗ≖)?"
Focalors was a gossip fiend. Having lived for over five hundred years, she certainly knew what it meant when a girl told a guy to "take responsibility."
Kenji was completely baffled. What on earth was Elysia talking about? What was he supposed to be responsible for?
Seeing Focalors’ message, Elysia’s expression stiffened. In a way... she had gotten a bigger belly.
[Star Forger]: "Alright, I’ll take responsibility."
Kenji just rolled with it. It wasn’t like he was losing anything. Two could play at this game.
Now it was Elysia’s turn to be confused. Is that how this is supposed to go, buddy?
[Miss Pink Elf♪]: "Wait, aren’t you supposed to ask what happened?"
[Miss Pink Elf♪]: "Kenji, the food you sent was just too delicious, and I couldn’t help myself..."
Elysia was too embarrassed to admit she had gained weight. It was utterly mortifying.
[Star Forger]: "Oh, I get it. You got fat, Elysia (¬‿¬)."
Elysia clenched her pink fists. Did he have to be so blunt? Doesn’t he know I have a reputation to maintain?!
[Star Forger]: "I remember your weight was 54.8 kg. Rounding up, that’s 55 kg. So how many kilograms did you gain?"
[Miss Pink Elf♪]: "You are not allowed to round up! ฅ(╬Ò﹏Ó)ฅ!"
[Star Forger]: "You know, you can buy a potion in the chat group shop that prevents weight gain. By the way, Elysia, aren’t you a Herrscher? Can Herrschers even get fat?"
Kenji was genuinely confused. Wasn’t Honkai energy supposed to be all-powerful? Losing weight should be a piece of cake. Just use the Honkai energy.
[Miss Pink Elf♪]: "Uh... ah... well..."
Elysia felt a wave of embarrassment. Right. She was a Herrscher. Adjusting her own body weight should be no problem at all.
Authority of Origin—activate! Her weight instantly returned to 54.8 kg. Hee hee, the Herrscher powers really are useful. It was the first time she had ever been so fond of her Herrscher authority. No, she absolutely adored the Authority of Origin.
Kenji figured it out. Elysia probably hadn’t been training or fighting much lately, instead choosing to lounge around and enjoy high-calorie foods.
Focalors patted her own stomach. No extra weight. For the past five hundred years, she had eaten small desserts every single day. The sugar brought her a fleeting sense of joy, a momentary escape from the numb feeling of playing the role of a god. She had eaten plenty of the delicious food Kenji had sent, but her figure remained as "perfect" as ever.
[Ghost of the Uchiha]: "Kenji, I have a question. In the end... did my plan succeed?"
Kenji saw the question and knew the answer immediately. Of course it didn’t. In fact, it ended with Black Zetsu giving him a heartfelt... and heart-ripping... speech.