Despite Clara wanting to just make pizza for her and Reiya, now her, Reiya, Sherone, the knights, and even some villagers were somehow invited and waiting for Cloud X to arrive. Even the crew on Cloud X managed to invite themselves over. Even Laura stopped by to get a slice, but she was quickly called off to somewhere else. Was she even there for the wave?
While the villagers and knights were bringing out several tables, silverware, seats, drinks and appetizers, Sherone and Clara were preparing the cooking area.
"Alright, I'll roll out the dough from storage, the kitchen staff will make the pizza sauce, send it over to you, you combine everything and throw it in the oven. I'll help out when we get a few pieces of dough rolled out. Are you ready?" Sherone briefed Clara as the ship descended next to the village.
"I hope so. There are so many people to feed though, will we even be able to do it?"
The cargo door on the ship opened up, revealing a prepared kitchen setup and one single chef walking back and forth.
"Hey Larisa, where is everyone else?" Sherone inquired, putting on an apron. Larisa glanced at him with bored eyes and sighed.
"Everyone else is on break or off shift. Some wanted to see their families before the wave in case it hit their hometown," Larisa replied in a monotone voice.
"Dang, so it's just us 3 for now. Well, time to fire it up and cook then." Sherone began to roll out the dough and passed it onto Clara, while Larisa lazily stirred the pot with the sauce. Clara nervously took her place and waited for the sauce to be finished.
Alright, I saw some cooking shows so this shouldn't be too hard. Right?
==}—
It was too hard.
Larisa was now sitting next to the sauce, lazily adding the ingredients to the pot as the spatula inside it was stirring the sauce by itself… somehow. Sherone was still on dough duty, now not helping do anything else, and a few villagers would supply the toppings they wanted. So why was Clara running around the kitchen and panicking inside?
"Guys! The food supplied by the cooking hero just gave me some kind of permanent buff!" one of the knights exclaimed when a pizza came out of the oven and got devoured in seconds. The pizza that was specifically made and put in the oven by Clara. The pizza that Sherone made just before didn't seem to give any bonuses, however, meaning that every knight and villager now wanted to get pizza specifically made by the cooking hero. Which meant that the entire process of adding the sauce, cheese and toppings, putting it in the oven, and pulling it out in time was now completely in Clara's hands.
While the process itself wasn't hard, Clara now had to do a lot of running around and moving pizzas back and forth. Sherone did try to help out as much as possible, but it was kept to a minimum for fear of not getting the cooking EXP bonus. The only relief came when some random mage came by and started showing off over a dozen stars floating around him as he occasionally gazed in Reiya's direction. But even that wasn't enough to stop the waves of hungry people.
"Clara! We need another pizza, pronto!" Sherone exclaimed, tossing Clara more dough.
"I require more nutrients!" Mushroom Reiya yelled over the knights, grabbing a slice from every pizza.
Somebody, help meeeeeeeeeeeee!
==}—
Clara dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. Her arms and legs went limp and she didn't have any energy left to cook. The girl closed her eyes as exhaustion began to plunge her into a deep sleep, but a shadow appearing over caught her attention.
"No, please *huff* not another *huff* I can't feel *huff* my arms," Clara gasped out, glancing at Reiya.
"Miss Clara, I'm sorry I didn't help," Reiya whined, sitting down next to Clara. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to, I swear."
"It's ok. At least *huff* I got a lot of cooking *huff* levels out of this. But let's not *huff* repeat that again," Clara wheezed out, smiling at Reiya and trying to pat her on the head. However, her arm only came up half way and quickly dropped to the ground.
"Please wait for a second," Reiya quickly walked away before Clara could reply. She heard a few clangs and crashes before Reiya returned, hiding something behind her back. "Close your eyes and open your mouth."
Clara sighed and did as instructed. The next moment a slice of pizza entered her mouth. Its fluffy and soft dough, the delicious and slightly sweet sauce and the soft and stretchy cheese were all so tasty that Clara was a bit jealous that it was better than the pizza she made. However, that jealousy quickly faded in the light of how tasty it was.
She smiled at Reiya and the girl smiled back. In that moment, the pain on her arms and legs, the waves and the monsters were completely insignificant to her. At this moment, it was simply Clara and her friend sharing some food after a long day of work.
She wished this moment would last forever, but she bitterly remembered that she would have to wake up tomorrow and train. Or cook in the kitchen. Or something else.
"Miss Clara?" Reiya spoke up, putting her hand on Clara's arm. Clara smiled and looked at her friend.
"Reiya…"
"Yes, Miss Clara?"
"Can you please help me get to bed?" Clara whimpered as her body began to burn when she tried to get up. "I don't think I can move right now."
"Of course! Let's go!" Reiya replied, picking up Clara with such ease that Clara was beginning to wonder just how strong Reiya was.
Reiya walked the two to the room and gently set Clara onto the bed and crawled inside next to her.
"Do you need anything else? You look a little worried."
"Don't worry about it. Thank you."
"Alright. Good night, Miss Clara."
"Good night, Reiya."
It can all wait until tomorrow. Clara thought with a smile as she finally drifted off to sleep.
==}—
Damn it, it's tomorrow.
Clara woke up to Reiya shaking her awake. In response, Clara let out a long groan as she tried to go back to sleep.
"Miss Clara, you can't just sleep all day! Come on!"
Reiya tried to pull Clara out of bed by force, but Clara summoned some chains and chained herself to the bed.
"Just a couple more minutes… or hours," Clara mumbled, wrapping herself in the soft and warm blanket.
"But Miss Clara, Laura said she didn't want us to be late! Plus, this is my first time when I'll join you in training," Reiya whined, biting the chains in an attempt to break them.
"Nooooo…" Clara groaned. "Go without… me. I'll join later." Clara waved the girl off, drifting off again. Suddenly, the chains shattered and Clara was lifted into the air by a pair of armored hands.
"R-Reiya?" She yelped, trying to break free from the now mushroom girl's grasp. However, her strength seemed to have risen explosively after the wave and all her attempts were futile.
"Miss Clara, we are going whether you like it or not! Now you can be carried by me or dragged halfway through the ship by big sister Laura. Which one do you prefer?" Reiya asked, turning back to her normal form and lowering Clara down to her eye level. Clara sighed and relented.
"Fine, let's go with you."
"Great!" Reiya exclaimed, walking into the hall.
"REIYA WAIT! AT LEAST LET ME GET DRESSED!" Clara yelped, gripping her blanket tighter.
"Oh, right. Sorry…"
==}—
"-so whatever your father is trying to sell me, I ain't buying!" Clara heard Laura yell from inside of her room.
"For the last time! I am not trying to sell you anything!" another voice replied. A loud crash was heard and a second later the door burst open with a guy running out and coughing. A large, colorful cloud of smoke began to leak out of the room.
"Not trying to sell me anything, huh?" Laura asked with a gas mask covering her face.
"Yes, I happened to have merchandise on me, it's what a merchant doe-THERE YOU ARE!" He suddenly stopped and turned towards Reiya. "I've been looking for you all day!"
"No! You will not sell her anything either!" Laura yelled, pulling Reiya away from the man.
"For the love of all things holy, I'm not trying to sell anything!"
"What's going on?" Clara asked, turning to Laura.
"This is Izuma Emberwood. I think you met his dad last time you visited Enchanted Lands. They're known merchants who will make you buy stuff." Laura groaned.
"I'm not here for that! I am here for her!" he yelled, pointing to Reiya, causing her to squeak.
"You are not turning my precious Reiya into a merchant!" Laura screamed in disgust.
"Why are you here for Reiya?" Clara asked, stepping in between the two.
"Well, you see, I was traveling around yesterday when I came upon some party. Seeing the chance of such a gathering, I went and sold a few things to get Father off my back. As a merchant, it is a good opport-," Izuma began to train off.
"Get to the point!" Laura barked.
"Fine! Anyway, I saw your friend there and let me tell you! She has an extraordinary amount of magical potential! Even more than anyone in this room, and that includes myself! I may never see that amount of potential again in my lifetime and I want to be the one to bring it out of her!" He declared. Laura paused and looked at him confused.
"More than you? Didn't think I'd hear you say that in my lifetime," Laura mumbled, genuinely surprised.
"So can I take her as my disciple? I'll treat her well and she will learn a lot. I mean, unless you know some other 14 star mage other than myself," Izuma bragged, grinning as he said that last part.
"Yeah, that's more like you. Everyone, quick meeting," Laura exclaimed, pulling Reiya and Clara away.
"So, what do you think? You wanna learn magic from him?" Laura asked. "As much as I hate to admit it, his magic is top notch, but he will probably try to sell you stuff as you learn and bleed your wallet dry."
"I mean… I wanna be more useful during the waves and help Miss Clara with healing and defense spells," Reiya mumbled.
"Aw, Reiya. You don't have to just for my sake. If you don't want to, we won't force you," Clara assured her.
"But I wanna know some magic so I can be helpful!" Reiya pouted.
"I guess if you're sure. But since he wants you as a disciple, we should get something out of him," Laura thought out loud. Clara suddenly perked up and turned to Izuma.
"Alright, we'll take you up on the offer." Clara began, glancing at Reiya. The ghost girl smiled at her and nodded. "But on one condition."
"Sure, name your price."
"Please teach me magic as well!" Clara pleaded.
"Huh… I mean… I can try? Your potential isn't very high." He said bluntly.
Oh…
"As a matter of fact, I'd say it's below average."
Ouch.
Clara glanced helplessly at the ground in disappointment. Reiya quickly hopped over to her side and hugged her to try to cheer her up while glaring at Izuma.
"Don't be mean to Miss Clara!"
"I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to set up reasonable parameters for her expectations. I can't bring out more than what is there," Izuma exclaimed.
"Well just for that you now have to take us to a bar and pay for our drinks," Laura demanded.
"Why the hell would I do that?! You'd pick some super expensive bar and do hell knows what! You don't even drink!"
"Since my secret is out I might as well let loose for once. Plus, our little hero here could use a pickmeup."
"But I'm not even old enough to drink," Clara whined.
Can't cook, can't cast, can't even drink. What am I supposed to do?!
"Wait, you're fifteen?" Laura's eyes widened in surprise.
"Seventeen."
"Then you're old enough. We start drinking at 16."
"I'm not gonna pay for you all to get drunk," Izuma argued.
"Fine, guess we'll just get another instructor instead. It's just forming and flinging balls around with mana. What's so hard about that?"
"It is so much more than that! You have to carefully power the construct with a specific impu-oh you sly sly fox. You almost had me there."
As Laura and Izuma continued to argue, Clara glanced over at Reiya, who was still tightly wrapped around her.
"I think you can still quit if you are having second thoughts," Clara remarked, petting the top of the ghost girl's head.
"I'm not gonna quit! I wanna learn magic so that I can help people. I wanna be able to do more than just throw monsters and small pellets! And I want to be able to protect you too!" Reiya declared with determination burning in her eyes.
"Thank you." Clara smiled and hugged her back.
I am so lucky to have you!
"Alright! Fine! But nothing else after this!" Izuma agreed and Laura shook his hand.
"It's a deal then. I know just the place!"
==}—
"Since when was this here?!" Izuma yelled, looking over the building they entered. It was a large wooden bar with a slight overhang for customers and wooden stools with cushions outside. A large sign with the words 'World's Edge' hung on the front. Or at least that's what Laura said the sign said. Clara didn't understand the symbols very well yet.
The inside lighting was just bright enough to see everything but not too bright that it would hurt the eyes. Behind the bar were five rows of shelves, each holding different bottles of alcohol, all a different color. The bar itself was pretty packed with customers, some more drunk than others, some just eating food at the tables further back.
"Alright, make yourselves at home. Just watch your drink or someone could spike it," Laura said, walking off happily.
"I'm already regretting this. Don't do anything stupid, especially you," he told Reiya before following after Laura.
"Miss Clara, should I grab us a table to eat?"
"It's alright. Let's just sit at the bar for now. I have a few sandwiches packed if you want." Clara pulled out a wrapped up lunch and handed it to Reiya, who eagerly sat down and opened it up.
"Can I get you two anything to drink?" the bartender asked, appearing behind the bar table with a fancy glass in hand. He set down the glass and grabbed another one, quickly rinsing and drying it off. His black hair was nicely kept and his dark long jacket that almost reached the floor was in pristine condition.
"Uh… Do you want anything?" Clara turned to Reiya, who was happily eating her sandwich. She glanced at the bartender and opened her mouth. However, she remembered something and lowered her head.
"I can't drink anything unless it has soul energy in it. So I guess not," she muttered. However, the bartender pulled out a glowing bottle and poured it into a tall wine glass before handing it to Reiya. The ghost girl happily took it and downed it in one go.
The bartender handed her the whole bottle and turned his attention to Clara. "And what about you?"
"Not much of a drinker. Can you recommend anything?"
"For your first time? I guess I can give you this," he said, pulling out a red drink and handing it to her. She twirled it around in her hand and looked at the liquid in her glass before giving it a sip. It tasted like cherries and raspberries and had a very faint smokey scent.
"Thanks. This is actually pretty sweet. I thought all alcohol was bitter and horrible," Clara remarked as she continued to drink.
"So why did you go to a bar then?" the bartender asked. Clara put down the cup and sighed.
"One of my friends thought I should come here to… relax."
"Did you fight in the recent wave or a bad day at work?"
"Unfortunately, I'm actually on the front lines of the waves. Being the holy hero of the cooking tools and all."
"I see. My world is also facing them at this time, so as one holy hero to another I wish you good luck on the waves."
Clara shot up and looked the bartender up and down several times before responding.
"Wait, what?! But my weapon told me I couldn't leave this world! How come you get to travel around? No fair," Clara pouted, crossing her arms.
"I'm not actually here. One of my skills allows me to control a puppet anywhere my bar is set up, even if I'm halfway across the multiverse. So I'm not actually here. Though I can be here without many issues. My vassals are strong enough to take care of the waves without me for now. The name is Fane, by the way."
"Clara. And I wish I could say the same about my vassal heroes," Clara mumbled, leaning on the table and using her arms as a pillow.
"Want to talk about it?" Fane questioned.
"Sure. Can you pour me some more while I'm at it?"
==}—
"So your vassal died and the other set you on fire? And you're still cursed?"
"And and and… then he just *hic* up and leaves!" Clara cried out, dropping her head onto the table with tears in her eyes. Her face was flushed and she could barely sit up straight without toppling over, so most of her body was now laying on the table. "And then… then I went and grinded so much! And I didn't even need to cause I got upgrade methods *hic* and so I almost died!"
"Well, it's never a bad thing to be overleveled. It'll help out later on," Fane pointed out.
"Yes, but I could have spent *hic* more time with friends and Reiya. Maybe even went shopping or something. I wasted so much tiiiiiime!" Clara continued to cry into the table while Fane mixed a few liquids together.
"I see. Give this to her to drink when you get into the hot springs, it'll help with the curse," he said, handing Reiya a small bottle of bluish liquid. She nodded and put it away into her kimono.
"Another! Gimme another!" Clara yelled, slamming her cup on the table.
"That is enough for today. You shouldn't drink so much on your first time," Fane replied, taking the cup away.
"No fa~ir! I wanna drink my sorrows and stress away~! Let me have this!" Clara whined, trying to reach for the cup again, but she missed it by a long mark and dropped onto her face instead.
"Miss Clara, please stop. You're worrying me," Reiya pleaded, putting down her sandwich and grabbing Clara's shoulder. Clara looked to the side and smiled.
"Aw, don't worry, I'm *hic* fine! I didn't mean to worry you," Clara said, lightly patting the top of Reiya's head.
"So you won't keep drinking? Can we go home?" Reiya asked.
"Of course of course. Let's go take a walk before we go," Clara said, gesturing to the door. Reiya turned to try to find Laura, however she was loudly talking and swinging her mug around. Izuma glanced at her and gestured for Reiya to go with Clara.
The girl in question tried to run outside for some fresh air, however she barely made it three steps out of the door before Reiya had to catch her.
"Miss Clara, please be careful," Reiya begged, leading Clara out of the tavern. Clara giggled as the fresh air hit her in the face and blew her hair back. She looked to the side and saw Reiya in the moonlight for the first time in days. Clara began to gently weave her fingers through the ghost girl's long, gorgeous pale hair, causing Reiya to blush.
"M-miss Clara?"
"Reiya~. Reiya~! You know why I call you Reiya~? It's *hic* cause you are *hic* you are my 'Ray a sunshine,'' Clara mumbled suddenly, smiling at the ghost girl and patting her head.
"Really? Is it because I glow in the dark a bit?"
"Nope, he he *hic*. It's cause you're *hic* always there when I look up," Clara corrected her.
"Of course, I'll always be there for you when you need me," Reiya smiled brightly, her beautiful ruby red eyes meeting with Clara's emerald green ones. The little hero's eyes began to tear up and she forced herself to stand as close as she could to Reiya.
"You're the best friend I could ever ask for," Clara whispered, quickly pecking Reiya on the cheek. Reiya looked at Clara for a few seconds, trying to process what happened, until her face turned bright red and a high pitched squeaky sound left her mouth.
"Heh, you're so adorable when you're flustered, you know that?" Clara laughed, poking Reiya's cheek. Suddenly her legs gave out and she wrapped both arms around Reiya's waist as tight as she could and started crying into the girl's stomach.
"Please don't *sob* leave me! Please stay by *hic* my side in this scary *hic* world!" Clara yelled, her voice muffled by Reiya's clothes. Reiya, flustered and confused, patted the girl on the head and leaned down to her ear.
"Don't worry, I'll never leave you, not even if you get sick of me," Reiya whispered softly. Clara's sobs began to quiet down and she relaxed under the ghost girl's grasp, falling to the ground. Reiya was left in the middle of the street with an unconscious girl in her arms, and a very red face. Any monster with acute hearing could hear a high pitched squeal from a mile away.
==}—
*Barf*
The first thing Clara did after she woke up was start running to the bathroom, but she could barely make two steps before her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. Luckly, Reiya prepared a bucket for Clara, who emptied the contents of her stomach into it. Reiya pulled the girl's hair back as she vomited over the course of thirty minutes, until she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ugh, I feel awful. Why did I drink so much last night?" Clara asked weakly.
"You wanted to forget your problems. I'm sorry, I should have made sure you didn't overdrink," Reiya mumbled.
"*Cough* don't blame yourself. It was my fault," Clara mumbled, her throat dry as a desert. She tried to pull herself up on the bed and Reiya quickly jumped to her side, helping her up.
"Be careful. Laura told me hangovers hurt a lot," Reiya mumbled.
"Thanks. What did I even do yesterday after I drank all that alcohol?" Clara inquired.
"So do you not remember anything after that?" Reiya inquired, looking at Clara's face with pleading eyes.
"Uh… n-no. I don't think so," Clara replied. Reiya sighed and looked down at the ground.
"Aw, alright. Well, I'll go get you some water. I heard from Laura that it helps with hangovers," Reiya mumbled, walking out the door. A few seconds after Reiya left, Clara dug her face into her pillow and let out a high pitched scream.
WHYDIDIDOTHAT? WHYDIDIDOTHAT? WHYDIDIDOTHAT? WHYDIDIDOTHAT? WHYDIDIDOTHAAAAAT? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Clara kicked her blanket in panic, but the sudden movement caused her to wince in pain and grab her head. She took a deep breath and looked up.
Well, Reiya didn't mention anything. Maybe she just wants to forget about it? Oh god, what must she think of me now?
Clara let out a long groan and covered her face with her pillow. She waited for a few seconds for her mind to think of what to do, but eventually sighed and pushed her pillow onto her chest.
Well, if she doesn't mention it she probably doesn't feel the same way. Wait, how do I feel about her? What am I even thinking? Come on Clara, get your head together! You have a wave to prepare for soon.
Clara slapped both of her cheeks to try to fully wake up, but instantly regretted it when a sharp pain ripped through her head.
Ow. I will never drink again. How does Hol do this?
As Clara groaned in pain and moved a bit to the side, she heard a small wrinkling noise in her pocket. She reached inside and pulled out a note, written in English.
[If you get a hangover then I recommend coffee. It will help.
-Fane]
Clara smiled and transformed her weapon form into the coffee maker, loading up the ingredients from her inventory.
Thanks for the advice.