Chapter 8: Good Food Time
Satoshi and Soukichi were walking in the plains surrounding Helonia, along with Merrilee and Grimm, the Eidolons who were accompanying them. They were looking around for Dryads from which they were supposed to cut vines to bring back to the restaurant.
"Ok." Satoshi said "We'll need a plan to get the Dryads and fetch their vines quickly."
"I think I have an idea." Soukichi suggested "Since they'll most likely hide under the leaves, I'll just have to use my cannon's thundering to scatter them, which would allow Merrilee and Grimm to immobilize them, and you to cut their vines."
"Hey, that's a great idea!" the boy's older brother exclaimed, but then he put his fingers under the chin pensively "But maybe it's best not to leave Grimm to immobilize them. We don't want them burnt to a crisp, after all..."
"Hey!" The little dragon quipped, offended by the comment, but he eventually piped down before continuing "But I do understand where you're getting at. I think that, rather than trying to get them, I should be taunting them, so that they would try using the vines to attack me..."
"And that would allow Satoshi-kun to cut the vines!" Merrilee realized "Great idea!"
"It's settled, then." Soukichi concluded, beating his fist on his palm, before turning to his older brother "Will make for some good practice, too!".
Eventually, their steps led them in proximity of tall trees, under which small shadows could be seen, hiding in the leaves.
"It's them" Soukichi claimed, before taking his cannon and aiming it in the air. Then, he fired a shell to the sky. Just as expected, the little Dryads scattered away from the tree and began running towards the ground. "Bingo!" the amber-eyed boy exclaimed "Grimm, you know what to do!"
"Roger!" the little dragon replied as he immediately flew towards some of them, and immediately started his attempt on getting on their nerves.
"Hey, leaf-faces!" he called, prompting the creatures to turn to him. However, as soon as the Dryads saw the dragon approaching them, they immediately recognized him as a threat, and tried fleeing.
"What the?" Grimm exclaimed upon noticing that the Dryads were running away, as a tick mark appeared on his head "Hey! I hadn't even started!" Quickly understanding the situation, Satoshi thought fast of a solution.
"Merrilee-san!" he called out.
"Leave it to me, Satoshi-kun!" the twin-tailed fairy replied as she flew towards the fleeing creatures and waved the staff at them. As if on cue, ice grew below the Dryads, eventually encasing their legs and blocking them in place. Immediately, the creatures flailed around in fright, as they vainly struggled to get free from the ice.
"Whoa..." Soukichi gasped at the sudden sight. Satoshi was surprised by the speed with which Merrilee had casted her ice, but recollected himself in no time.
"That's our plan B." he said "That way, they won't run. They will be only able to flail their vines against us, and the vines are exactly what we want from them." His younger brother nodded in response.
"Don't think I can do much to help, with a cannon..." he observed, looking at his weapon, which was definitely not fit for leaving material to collect.
"But I can help." Grimm proudly exclaimed, before remembering an embarrassing particular and blushing "If I can hold my fire in, that is..." Satoshi nodded in response.
"That'll do." he replied, before turning to his younger brother "And you could collect the vines we cut.", to which Soukichi nodded. With that matter settled, the young man took a deep breath, unsheathed his twin katanas and got closer to one of the trapped Dryads, which immediately recognized him as a threat and began flailing its vines against him.
"I'm sorry..." Satoshi raised in a whisper as he rose his arm, dodged the incoming vine, and then swung down his blade, cutting it cleanly. The Dryad let out a shriek of pain as it pulled its vine away from the swordsman, and immediately tried attacking it with another vine, with the intent of driving the assailant away. Once again, Satoshi avoided it and cut it.
In the meantime, Grimm flew towards other trapped Dryads and, as soon as the creatures attempted to drive him away, he cut the vines away using his teeth, and held them inside his mouth.
"Wow! Those Dryads can regenerate their vines!" Soukichi noticed, as more vines sprouted from the bodies of the captive creatures "No wonder the people of this place get their vines from them..."
"Yeah, one could mill them for that!" Grimm added.
"How mean, though..." Merrilee observed, a bit sadly.
"That doesn't make having to take from them what are essentially part of their bodies any easier..." Satoshi thought, silently agreeing with the pink-haired fairy, as he kept slicing the vines away, jumping from a Dryad to the other one upon collecting a number of vines.
The cut vines were collected and piled up by Soukichi, close by. Grimm did the same, placing the vines he had cut and had been holding in his mouth in the same place. It wasn't long before quite a number of scavenged vines was amassed. Upon glancing at the amount collected, Satoshi decided that it would have been enough.
"Ok, we're done here." he claimed. At those words, Merrilee's ice, which had been immobilizing the Dryads, shattered. Immediately, the little critters ran away to safety, hiding behind the closest bushes and trees they were able to find.
"Wow, now that's a load of vines!" Soukichi exclaimed, upon noticing the rather large amount collected.
"That should be more than enough." his brother added. The two travelers collected the vines and began carrying them back to Helonia.
"To think that we had to hurt what were basically animals to get these..." Satoshi muttered. Soukichi heard him, and understood the amber-eyed young man's feelings upon looking up at his face.
"I know what you mean, Nii-san..." he said "To fight them in game was one thing, but we just met them in the flesh..."
"Yeah, exactly!" Satoshi replied.
"Game?" Grimm couldn't help but ask "What are you guys talking about?" His partner let out a small sigh and dismissed the question.
"It's a long story..."
"In any case, Satoshi-kun..." Merrilee said, floating close to the young swordsman "I noticed that you showed respect to those little critters before cutting their vines..."
"That was the least I could do." he replied, seriously.
"That's really admirable!" the twin-tailed fairy beamed. "Most people don't even consider that!"
"I know..." Satoshi sighed in response.
"Being in this world sure does change one's perspective, doesn't it?" Soukichi mused as well. Eventually, their steps led them back in town, to the rear entrance of the "Good Food Time" restaurant.
"We have the vines!" Satoshi said as they entered the kitchen. Immediately, the head chef came to meet them and looked at what they had managed to collect, finding himself impressed.
"Wow!" he exclaimed, as he took the vines "Now this is a supply that will be lasting for quite some time! Good job!"
"You're welcome, sir." Soukichi replied, while Satoshi simply bowed in response.
"Now, I've just gotten word of another shortage." the head chef said, having another request for them "There's an ingredient we need you to collect."
"And what is that?" Soukichi asked.
"Something actually edible, this time around." the chef replied "Apples." Hearing that word, Merrilee immediately exulted, beaming brightly.
"Yaaaaay!" she exclaimed, leaving the others surprised by her reaction.
"Wow..." Soukichi uttered.
"Well… I guess she loves apples..." Satoshi added.
"Yes, I really love them!" Merrilee nodded happily at the remark.
"You have no idea, man..." Grimm added. The chef simply chuckled at the pink-haired girl's happiness.
"Well, good for you." he said.
"Excuse me, sir..." Satoshi asked "At this point, I have a question. Do you have a ranch, a farm or something from which to get safely grown apples?" The head chef smiled at that.
"Good question, young man." he replied "Actually, we do have one, but it's been falling on hard times recently, so it would be best not to bother them, for now. Don't worry, though. You can still find nice, good apples in the forest."
"I see..." Satoshi nodded in understanding. "In that case, we'll be right back." With that, the two travelers and the Eidolons accompanying them moved out. Meanwhile, Miyuki and Tyr were cooking close by. The former smiled upon hearing her partner's happiness for the job they had been assigned.
"Why are you smiling, Miyuki-san?" Tyr couldn't help but ask, noticing her mood.
"Oh, nothing." the woman replied "I was just amused. After all, when your friends are excited, you can't help but feel excited, too..."
"Personally I'm more impressed than anything else..." Tyr replied "Impressed that Merrilee's love for apples would be this deep..." Miyuki chuckled at the remark.
"By the way, Tyr-kun..." she said "I can see that you're doing rather good in here." To that, Tyr began blushing brightly.
"Wh-why, thank you. Of course, I strived my best to learn..." he replied, embarrassedly
"Tell me, when have you begun to learn?" Miyuki asked.
"Uhm..." Tyr uttered, still blushing. It was then that the woman remembered what Serena had said about it shortly before.
"Or maybe I should ask… Since when you know Ayako-chan?" At that, right when he thought he couldn't blush any more than he had been, the blue-clad warrior's face became red like a ripe tomato, as he embarrassedly lowered his gaze.
"So we're doing this now, aren't we?" he thought. At first, he struggled to even get voice out of his mouth, but then, he took a deep breath and gave a clean answer.
"What Serena had told you was true." he said "We've known each other for quite a long time, and I do think of her as a little sister..."
"Awww, that's cute." she replied "You must care a lot for her, especially since you've learnt to cook for her sake..."
"I just don't want to see her sad or angry..." Tyr said, still blushing, and not looking at her, but his voice got more serious as he continued "I ended up seeing her sad a lot of times, after I got hurt during my warrior training..."
"That means she cares for you as well!" Miyuki readily replied, smiling brightly "You're lucky to have such a caring and sweet little sister!" The blue-haired young man's eyes widened, as a small smile made its way on his face.
"Yeah, I guess I am..." he replied, thoughtfully.
"Though, I can only imagine how jealous she could get when some girl notices you, cute as you are..." At Miyuki's remark, Tyr's blush returned as he immediately turned his eyes to her, embarrassed and annoyed.
"That crosses the line, Miyuki-san!" he exclaimed "I'm not cute! I'm the One-Handed God of War, I'm supposed to represent power, regardless of height or anything else!"
"Enough chatter, bolt boy!" the head chef called, making both the interns jolt "Focus on your job!"
"Yes, sir!" Tyr immediately replied, his mind fully returning to the food he was cooking. Miyuki couldn't help but let out an amused giggle as she resumed working alongside him…
"So, he's sensitive about being called "cute", eh?" she thought, a smile on her face "But I did mean it..."
Meanwhile, the Yatsumura brothers and the Eidolons accompanying them made their way to the forest, carrying a bag in which the apples they were tasked to find. Merrilee hummed merrily as she went with them. It wasn't long before they found trees with crisp red apples dangling from the branches.
"Found them." Satoshi exclaimed.
"Yay! Apples!" the twin-tailed girl exclaimed happily, before lunging towards one of the apples and grabbing it. Immediately, Satoshi opened up the bag for her to drop the apple inside, and she did so, before immediately flying off to look for more apples.
"Grimm, keep the bag open while we look for apples, and guard it." Soukichi said, as his brother let go of the bag, for Grimm to catch "But make sure not to damage our apples!"
"I'll try." Grimm replied, with a nod, as he caught the bag and kept it open. Meanwhile, Merrilee and the two siblings began picking any apple they were able to find and putting them in the bag.
"These apples are so beautiful..." Merrilee said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the apple in her hands "And they look so tasty, too…" She felt herself drawn to the apple. Satoshi noticed her, as she was just about to take a bite.
"Merrilee-san!" he called her, prompting her to get the apple away from her face "Please don't eat any apples. We'll have to bring as much as possible to the kitchen." The Eidolon nodded, albeit with a slightly saddened expression on her face.
"Come on!" Soukichi added "Once we're done, we'll be having lunch in there. Who knows, you might even eat apples or apple-based dishes there!"
"Really?" At those words, Merrilee's face brightened up. "Great! That's something to look forward to!" Satoshi smiled at the pink-haired girl's excitement as he resumed collecting apples.
"That apple looks delicious..." the amber-eyed youth thought upon seeing a crisp, juicy red apple hanging from the branch of a nearby tree "I'll get it later and put it in the bag." He then focused on collecting some other apples, before his eyes returned to it. Much to his shock, the apple was no longer there. "What?!"
"Whoa! Did that apple just disappear?!" Grimm exclaimed in shock, having witnessed the occurrence as well.
"What? Oh no!" Merrilee exclaimed in dismay upon hearing those words "Is someone stealing them?"
"I would say something, rather than someone..." Satoshi replied "This is a forest. Any animal could possibly..."
"Hey!" His explanation was cut off by his younger brother's cry as two little paws snatched an apple away before he could grab it. The creature to which the small paws belonged, a small raccoon-like critter, eventually came into sight, attempting to run away.
"Uh, guys?" Soukichi said "I think I know what did it, now..." In that moment, some of the little raccoon-like critters appeared in sight of his older brother and of the two Eidolons.
"I see them, too!" Satoshi exclaimed. "They look a lot like Tanuki..."
"Awww, look at how cute they are!" Merrilee couldn't help but fawn over them.
"Uh, Merrilee-chan? They're taking our apples..." Grimm reminded, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
"Oh, great..." Satoshi thought, grimly "And here I hoped that this would have not made me hurt any more animals..." Soukichi let out a sigh as he took out his cannon, under the increasingly concerned eyes of the little fairy.
"Sorry, but we need those apples so..." the boy said as he aimed the cannon up in the air "Scram." He then fired a shot in the air. At the loud sound, all of the Tanuki close by dropped the apples they were holding and fled in fright.
"Whew, more apples for us." Soukichi exclaimed in satisfaction as he crouched and began collecting the apples "Guess the oldest trick in the book always works."
"And, most importantly, we didn't have to hurt them." Satoshi added, gaining a nod from his younger brother and a sigh of relief from the pink-haired girl floating beside him. Soukichi brought the apples he had collected to the open bag and put them inside it, filling it almost to the brim.
"Well, this amount should be more than enough to bring back to the restaurant." the boy stated, to which everyone nodded in agreement.
"In that case, we should go back." Satoshi added "It shouldn't be long before lunch time hits." With that, the two travelers and the Eidolons accompanying them headed back to the restaurant, carrying their bag of apples.
And so, the first errand of the otherworldly Envoys was complete...
