Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce returned back to town, greeting the guards at the city gates as usual. After the past two weeks there was no longer any tension between them, the man wearing the cowboy hat had also apologized eventually. This was only after not receiving any breakfast for 5 days straight.

While he had mainly been training the past two weeks, he had gotten to know a few of the towns residents, even learning some of their names. They seemed to have no idea that their leader had been possessed, and the disappearances of people were chalked up to monster attacks and the like.

This was probably for the best, he did not want people to outright revolt in the middle of the forest. Leah too probably felt horrible for what she had done, so there was no point in bringing these things up. After all, it would not bring back the dead.

Tonight was the last night before Leah finally recovered from her Weakened Soul debuff, which meant that they would venture deeper into the tree tomorrow in search of Mana Stones.

Thus, they had decided to meet up at Jayce’s cottage for dinner. With Leah’s hazy memory, there was not much that they could plan specifically for, so there wouldn’t be much talk about the mission.

Like a loyal servant, Tony was waiting outside the cottage for him. As if he were a VIP guest, Tony opened the door and let him in, guiding him to a seat at the dining table.

Leah and Lianna were already here and greeted him with a smile.

"Just what have you been doing in that forest these past couple weeks?" Leah asked once Jayce had taken his seat across from them.

"Training... Like I said." Jayce harrumphed.

This was not the first time that Leah had asked him. In fact, she had been probing him every single day without fail.

"You keep saying that, but I dunno. It sounds fishy." She sent a wink Lianna’s way, her face showing a sly smile.

"I sent one of the guards to check out your supposed training spot. He said that there were over a hundred trees that had been cut down. Are you training to be a lumberjack or something?"

"Mmph" Lianna quickly brought her hands to her mouth to stop the giggle that was threatening to escape.

Jayce merely rolled his eyes in response, not wanting to deign that question with an answer. Unlike Lianna, Leah was rather extroverted. Or rather, she had a boisterous personality, not afraid to speak her mind and poke fun at others.

However, he didn’t mind being the butt of the joke. Seeing Lianna giggling and laughing all the time made him happy. In these past couple of weeks after reuniting with her sister, he had seen her come out of her shell.

While Leah had been giving him a ribbing from time to time, he also noticed that she would give him approving glances every now and then. It was like he was a prized pony at the store.

After a while of back and forth chatter, Leah rubbed her hands together in anticipation, "I can’t wait to taste Uncle Tony’s food again."

"Is it true that he hasn’t cooked a meal since..." Lianna said, trailing off.

Leah nodded, "Yeah, ever since the restaurant was destroyed he hasn’t been the same person." Her eyes moved to Jayce before she continued, "That was until you and your boyfriend got here."

Ignoring the small protests from Lianna, Jayce was a little surprised. He had told Tony that tonight he would have to cook, using everything that he had taught him. Tony had not mentioned that he hadn’t cooked in so long.

He raised his eyebrow, yet did not say anything. If his food was satisfactory, Jayce would approve to open up a restaurant with the man. If not, then he would not bother.

As if hearing his name being discussed, Tony waltzed in from the kitchen area carrying some appetizers and placing them in front of each of them.

"Panther Tartare, with onions, capers and mushrooms." He announced, before returning to the kitchen.

"Is this raw?" Lianna said with a weird expression, looking at the others with confusion.

Leah smiled, looking overly excited. "Yes yes, try it! You won’t be disappointed." She grabbed a fork full of tartare and brought it up to her mouth.

"Mmmm" Like a balloon that had been deflated, Leah sank into her chair as she took her bite. It was clear that she really enjoyed the dish.

Lianna worriedly looked over to Jayce who seemed to be in his own world, holding up the plate to eye level in order to check the shape and sturdiness of the dish. Seeing that he would be of no help, she gulped before picking up a small piece and placing it in her mouth. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

As soon as she placed it in her mouth, it was like the food was signing to her taste buds as she chewed reluctantly. There was almost no resistance as the meat broke apart with only the slightest effort.

Her eyes lit up, before she quickly dove in with her fork to grab another bite. This time she placed it on the toasted piece of bread that accompanied the dish. The next bite was even more delightful, mixing the crunch of the bread with the tenderness of the meat.

By this time, Jayce had already taken a few bites of his appetizer and was pleasantly surprised. The panther meat was rich and tender and it had been ground to perfection. It was also chilled, which meant he would have had to ask an Ice Mage to assist him at some point today.

A big grin formed on his face, ’This guy knows his shit.’ He praised inwardly.

In passing, Leah saw the large and frankly a little scary grin on Jayce’s face and suddenly felt like a little lamb who was heading to the slaughterhouse.

’W-What the hell is he grinning about?’

In the next moment, Jayce’s grin turned into one of shock as he quickly rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not seeing things.

[You have consumed Panther Tartare +6 Intelligence for 2 hours]

"Hahahahaha, Awesome!"