When the young archer regained consciousness, he found himself in the presence of the same scary woman from before. He squeaked at the sight and tried to scoot as far away from her as possible. She was dressed differently from before, she had on armor and weapons were clearly visible.

"Ah, good. You're finally awake. Sure took you long enough."

"Why are you here? Back to torture me some more?"

Minako snorted and laughed.

"I wish!"

She cracked her knuckles as she gave the young man the most scathing look she could muster.

"Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to personally teach you some manners."

The young archer scooched further back, fully flattening himself against the tent wall.

"However, our Emperor has stated that you are under our protection until you are well enough to be returned to your kingdom."

"Oh! Well, in that case...I think am completely and fully recovered now…so I can just go and be out of your hair and on my way back to my kingdom."

Minako laughed once more as she saw the young archer make a move to throw the blankets off his body.

"You really are inexperienced and as green as they come, aren't you? How the hell did you manage to get assigned to a mission when you're so clearly clueless?"

The young archer bristled at the woman's comments.

"I'm Squire Yuri Plisetsky, a royal archer of the Ice Dragon Clan! I come from noble blood and am not green!"

"Your fancy titles and lineage mean nothing to me, boy. All I know is that I don't trust you enough to even be within sight of the same battlefield as me. You're the type of person who'd get his whole team killed with his stupidity."

Squire Plisetsky's face burned red with anger.

"How dare you speak to me that way? You know nothing about me!"

"I know more than enough about you, boy. I doubt you came here by yourself, given your obvious inexperience. So at some point, you ditched members of your team and then nearly got yourself killed as a result. You're a spoiled brat with noble blood you don't deserve. Just a mouthy and entitled whelp."

Squire Plisetsky was so angry that steam could practically be seen coming out of his ears.

"I'm done here. I'm going home, NOW."

Minako crossed her arms and leaned back on the chair she was sitting in.

"This should be entertaining. Go on, oh noble Squire Plisetsky. Show me what you're made of."

Squire Plisetsky planted his feet firmly on the ground and pushed himself into a standing position.

"Ah-ha! You see! I'm…"

The young archer's face turned a sickly shade of green and before he knew it, he was face down on the floor in front of him.

Minako stood up and picked him up by the back of his yukata, pushing him roughly back onto the tatami. She mumbled angrily in her native tongue of Iaponica as she arranged him into a sitting position, and waited for him to come to. Finally, the young boy opened his eyes once more.

"You clearly know nothing about demonic poisons, how they work or how to treat them. They are potent, deadly and devastate the body from the inside. You were on death's door when we found you. A minute later and you'd be on a funeral pyre right about now. Yuuko's antidotes are the best in the whole land, but not even they can purify the toxins from the body. That's what this is for."

Minako reached down and removed a flask from her belt. She held it out for the young archer, urging him to take it. Squire Plisetsky eyed the flask suspiciously.

"How do I know that's just not more poison? How do I know you're not just trying to finish me off?"

The warrior woman rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. Kami give me patience.

"As I have previously stated, you're under our protection. The Emperor has sent a letter notifying your King that you are safe and being taken care of. Also, if I was going to kill you, I wouldn't do it with poison. It's much too quick." She paused to waggle her eyebrows suggestively at him. "I'd want to enjoy it, you know?"

The young archer shuddered at the thought.

"So…this is to purify the poison from my body?"

Minako nodded.

"Correct. You should notice a dramatic change in your well-being after drinking this draught. It'll be almost like you'd never been poisoned at all."

Squire Plisetsky reached for the flask and snatched it out of the woman's hand.

"Why didn't you say something sooner? What does it taste like?"

Minako smiled wickedly and waited for the perfect moment to give her answer. Just as the cap was about to be lifted off the flask, she spoke.

"Rotten meat."

The cap came off and was almost immediately screwed back on. Minako laughed heartily as all the color drained from the young man's face and he fought to keep the bile from rising up in his throat.

"Oh…urk…that…burp…was vile. NO WAY I'm drinking THAT."

Minako stood up and pulled out one of her swords.

"Ah, you see…but you WILL. This is a normal and very-much-unavoidable part of the treatment plan for those foolish enough to allow themselves to be hit with demon poison. Forgive me if my bedside manner is a bit rough. Usually Yuuko handles the recovery phase, but she's not here for…obvious reasons."

Squire Plisetsky swallowed hard as the tip of the woman's blade slowly dipped lower toward the junction between his thighs. What is her obsession with that body part? Does she hate men or something?

Minako reached into a small bag and pulled out a juicy-looking peach.

"If you plug your nose and drink it all in one go, it's not so terrible. I'll even give you this tasty peach here to take the sting out of the bad taste."

Squire Plisetsky's mouth watered as he ogled the peach. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten and his stomach seemed suddenly very empty.

He took a deep breath and pinched his nose with his left hand and opened the flask with his right. He brought it up to his lips and tried to get it down his throat as quickly as possible. The stuff was vehemently revolting. His eyes watered as he fought to keep it going down and not back up. When he had finally drained the bottle, he held his hand out impatiently for the peach.

"What's that you want, boy? I don't respond to callous gestures. Speak up."

Squire Plisetsky glared at the woman with all the hatred he could muster. When he opened his mouth to speak, the full horror of what he'd just consumed flooded his tastebuds. He squeezed his eyes shut and pounded his fist angrily on the ground. For the first time in his life, he wished for death.

"Hmm, I guess you don't want the peach after all. Might as well eat it myself, I wouldn't want to be wasteful..."

Minako went to take a bite of the peach but stopped when she felt hand wrap around her ankle.

"Yes? What is it, boy?"

"M-m-may..burp...I p-please...burp...have the...wretch...p-peach?"

"Certainly! After all, you've asked so nicely!"

Minako tossed the peach to the young archer and he caught it in mid-air. He bit into it with great gusto, causing its juices to dribble down his chin. He chewed the first bite really thoroughly, making sure to wash out every trace of the horrible potion. He took much smaller bites after that, wanting to take his time to savor the fruit's natural sweetness now that the bad taste was gone from his mouth. When all that was left of the peach was the pit, he sighed with great contentment.

"Thank you. I think that was the most amazing peach I've had my entire life."

Minako smiled triumphantly.

"You see, it's not so hard using manners, now is it?"

Minako brought her hand up to her chin and rubbed it pensively.

"It's so strange though. Usually, Yuuko's poison purification potions taste absolutely wonderful and sweet. She always takes the extra step to make them more palatable for her patients. I wonder why this batch came out this way..."

Minako looked down at the young archer and saw the realization slowly dawn on his eyes. His head flew up and he shot her a hard look. Surprisingly though, he was able to bite his tongue and did not say anything.

Minako laughed heartily as she stood up.

"Good, good...you're learning! Lesson number one, boy. Never, EVER piss off people with the power to make you suffer."

The young archer remained silent. Minako walked to the tent entrance and opened the flap just a little bit. She called out something in that strange language of hers and a young servant appeared with a tray of what looked like food. Minako took the tray over to the young archer and placed it in front of him and waited to see what he would do.

"Thank you for the food."

A bright smile lit up her features and her gray eyes twinkled with delight.

"You're quite welcome."

A servant came into the tent just then, bearing another identical tray. She placed it in front of the warrior woman before bowing deeply and walking backward out of the tent.

Minako removed the lids from all the bowls, releasing their delicious aromas into the tent. Squire Plisetsky was practically drooling all over himself at the sight. His stomach growled loudly in anticipation.

"Now, pay attention boy. I'm not trying to torture you...this time...but I need to show you the order and way these dishes are consumed. I imagine that you've never seen or had a meal like this before, correct?"

The young archer shook his head.

"When you are recovered, you will be expected to share a meal with the Emperor. He has requested your presence for a late lunch this afternoon."

The young archer's eyes grew impossibly wide as he processed the information he'd just been given. He'd never shared a meal with any kind of royalty outside Occidentis before. Sure, he'd had etiquette lessons and what-not...but he'd never really paid attention to the classes, thinking that they were just a huge waste of time. Gods, how he wished he had paid attention then!

"Worry not, I shall teach you the basics. That's all you'll need. The Emperor does not expect you to learn how to use chopsticks in less than a day. So you will be given Occidentis utensils at the time of your meal."

"Sorry, what are these 'chopticks' you speak of?

Minako picked up two wooden sticks from her food tray. She held them between her thumb and index finger. She reached for a piece of ginger and picked it up easily before bringing it gracefully to her mouth.

Squire Plisetsky's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"You eat with two little sticks? That's it?"

"Yup! But we learn how to use them from very early childhood, so it's second nature to us. You have forks and spoons on your tray."

Yuri looked down and was very thankful that he did indeed have utensils from Occidentis.

And so Minako began showing the young man which dishes were consumed first and how it was acceptable to bring a soup bowl to one's lips for drinking. She told him about the different garnishes and sauces and how they paired up with each kind of food. The young archer was fascinated. He had never known that there was so much more to food than just eating whatever was on a plate. The food at the castle was always amazing, but the food from Orientalis was on a whole other level. It was surprising because it looked so simple compared to the fancy dishes he was used to.

"All the foods here are designed to bring out the most flavor of the meal. The order in which they are eaten also works toward this purpose. It's ultimate balance and harmony."

Squire Plisetsky mirrored the woman's actions as they systematically went through their meal. He paid attention to every detail and soaked in as much information as possible. Once they were both finished, the servant came back and took their trays away. Minako turned to the young archer.

"How was it?"

"It was amazing! I've never tasted food like that before!"

"Good. Now rest up while the demonic poison is flushed out of your system. The chamber pot is in that corner there. You'll be using it a lot. A servant will periodically come in to replace it with a clean one. You'll be good as new in a few hours."

Minako vacated the tent, leaving the young man to his own devices.