The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War ~And Thus, I Became The Strongest Knight Disciple (♀) in The World~

Chapter 465: 16-year-old Inglis and the Knight Academy Seminar Festival (3)

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"R-right. I just have to endure… I’ll endure it, Glis!"

"Yeah, Rani. But could you switch with me? The more I cook, the hungrier I get…"

"No way! That’s exactly why I made you the grill master! We decided by drawing lots, remember!?"

"Then, Meltina—"

"Sorry. I also struggle when I get hungry… and the lottery results are final."

Meltina turned her down as well. True, they had drawn lots beforehand to decide who would do what, but the lucky winners, Rafinha and Meltina, had chosen to be sellers instead.

"Ugh… having delicious food right in front of me and not being able to eat it is torture…"

Just as Inglis sighed—

A gentle smile on his face, Raphael appeared at the stall. Beside him stood Ripple.

"Brother Rafa!"

"Miss Ripple!"

"You were all beautiful! And it’s a clever use of the subspace Gift… I wish Eris could’ve seen it too."

Ripple smiled but looked a little wistful. Eris was still sealed within the Sarcophagus of Greyfriar.

When Special Envoy Theodore inspected the device where Eris was undergoing the Hyrule Menace transformation, he concluded that there were no issues with continuing the process as planned. It would still be about a year before Eris emerged, just as originally scheduled.

"I hope she can come out soon."

At Inglis’ words, Ripple nodded eagerly.

"Yeah~ Without Eris around, my workload just keeps piling up. Well, I guess it goes both ways, though."

Back when Ripple had suffered abnormalities in her body and started involuntarily summoning Magic Stone Beasts, Eris had taken on the duties Ripple could no longer handle. Eris and Ripple had been comrades working as the Hyrule Menaces of Charalia for a long time.

Now, it was Ripple’s turn to hold things together until Eris returned.

"By the way, Rani, you’re selling some delicious-looking food. Could I get five portions of everything?"

"Haha… You’re planning to eat all of that yourself, aren’t you?"

Ripple chuckled wryly at Raphael’s order.

"Of course. It’s not every day I get to eat food made by Rani and Glis."

"You just wanna eat Glis’ cooking, don’t you, Brother Rafa~?"

"N-no, that’s not true…!"

Before Raphael could fluster any further, Inglis brought over a wooden plate piled with freshly grilled skewers.

"Here you go, Brother. Thanks for waiting."

"Ah, thank you, Glis. It looks delicious."

Just then, Rafinha leaned in and whispered into Inglis’ ear.

"Glis, Glis. Hey, why don’t you feed Brother Rafa a bite?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Come on, just do it~! Look, Brother, Glis is gonna feed you!"

"Eh, eeh!? No, wait, I’m sure Glis is finding it embarrassing too—"

"Oh, I don’t mind at all. Here, go ahead, Brother."

Smiling, Inglis held the skewer up to Raphael’s mouth. From her perspective —someone who still had the mind of a man— this was just one man feeding another. It felt a bit awkward doing so.

But if it was Rafinha—who was as dear to her as a granddaughter—asking, Inglis could hardly refuse. And since the one she was feeding was Raphael, someone she had watched grow up since childhood, it wasn’t as embarrassing as it could have been.

"Th-then… I’ll have a bite."

Raphael took a bite of the skewer, and his face instantly lit up.

"Ah! This is amazing! As expected of Glis’ cooking!"

"Right, right, Brother!? But you know, we wanna taste it too, but since it’s our merchandise, we can’t just eat it, and we don’t have any money on us… But we’re sooo hungry—"

Rafinha’s voice turned sweet and pleading. In other words, she used Inglis to butter Raphael up before begging for food.

"Ah, I see. Well then, should I get ten more servings each?"

"Mm~ Just a little more, Brother! How about fifteen each?"

"? Sure, but… are you really that hungry?"

"Nope! We need one more portion for someone else!"

With a bright, innocent smile, Rafinha turned toward Meltina. And then—

Munch! Munch! Munch, munch, munch!

The store’s skewers, pancakes, and soup vanished at an alarming rate.

"Aaah~ So good!"

Rafinha beamed, looking completely satisfied.

"Cooking is nice and all, but eating is definitely better."

"I ended up partaking in the kindness… But it was truly delicious."

Inglis and Meltina both grinned from ear to ear.

"I had a feeling this would happen, but… they really ended up like this, huh…"

Leone sighed deeply.

"W-well, well. The payment has been made, so technically, there’s no issue."

"I-I can’t believe there’s another big eater in our midst… No wonder Miliera suddenly decided to turn this festival into a moneymaking event… Hahaha…"

Ripple let out a dry laugh.

"I never thought I'd meet someone who eats as much as our family… And to think that person is—"

Raphael trailed off before finishing his sentence. He was about to mention her title as the Princess of Venefique, but he swallowed the words. Of course, he was aware of the circumstances. He knew exactly who Meltina was. Sensing Raphael’s gaze, Meltina lowered her eyes slightly.

"Y-yes…"

Charalia and Venefique were enemy nations. It was still fresh in everyone’s memory that the Venefique army had attacked the royal capital just recently.

Many also believed that the invasion of the Frozen Prisma, which had caused severe damage to the kingdom, was orchestrated by Venefique. The people of Charalia harbored nothing but resentment toward Venefique. Meltina was no doubt aware of this and felt uneasy.

"But doesn’t it make her feel even more like family? Right, Brother?"

Rafinha smiled as she turned to Raphael.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Even though I… am that nation’s princess?"

"Right now, you’re a student at the Knight Academy, aren’t you? I was once a student here, too. It’s only natural for me to feel a sense of camaraderie with a junior who eats as heartily as I do."

Raphael responded with a gentle smile.

"Please teach Rani and Glis more about your country. There may be challenges ahead, but spending time together and understanding one another will one day prove to be a great treasure. And everyone—please take care of Lady Meltina."

“ “ “Yes!” ” ”

Inglis and the others answered in unison.

"Everyone… Thank you so much!"

Meltina smiled brightly, then bowed deeply.

"Now, eat as much as you like. That goes for you too, Rani and Glis."

"Yay! Then I’ll have three more servings of everything!"

"Me too. Cooking is fun if I can eat it right away!"

"I’ll have more as well…!"

"Alright, alright. That’ll be nine servings each, then."

"Well, sales are booming, at least. Though I do worry about Sir Raphael’s wallet."

"Absolutely not!"

A sudden voice interrupted them.

"Oh, Miliera. What’s up?"

Ripple called out the name of the newcomer.

"Ehhhh!? But Miss Principal, Brother Rafa’s paying for it, so we can eat more—"

"Not now! It’s time for your shift change! Miss Inglis, you have another stall to attend to, don’t you? You weren’t showing up, so I came to fetch you!"

"Oh, is it that time already? By the next stall, you mean the one where we get a share of the profits, isn’t it?"

"It is, Miss Inglis—so get moving. Ufufufufu…"

The Principal’s glasses gleamed ominously.

"Whoa, what’s with that villainous smile?"

"S-, senior Miliera… What exactly are you planning…?"

Ripple and Raphael stiffened at the sight.

"My back’s facing a wall, I had no choice! Running a knight academy isn’t child’s play, you know! Now, let’s go, Miss Inglis!"

"Yes, Miss Principal."

Inglis nodded and followed after Miliera.

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