บท 20: The journey, part III, phew finally.

Having said that, I can't help but feel a little guilty, so I just end up making breakfast for everyone, something straightforward yet filling and, honestly, good enough for being in the middle of nowhere, alright? So, what did I make? I guess. I should tell you about the new section, I call it! Cooking with Yui, the TV show!

First comes the hard part: thinking about something with minimal resources that resembles breakfast in some way. We can't have steak for breakfast, so what do we have in our backpacks? Only a little, just snacks and camping equipment for the most part. The good news for me was that there were birds around me. Do you know what I'm getting at yet? No? Fine, I'll keep going, so the first step of making breakfast is stealing bird's nest eggs! That should be easy enough, right? Wrong! Ugh, as soon as I took merely some eggs from some nests, the birds just started pecking me. They all ran around chasing me for a couple of minutes until I got far away enough from them that they decided to drop chase. Okay, okay, so we got the eggs and some minor injuries, which is no big deal thanks to "Supa" HP auto recovery. Good, next we have to, of course, make fire, which is honestly easier said than done. I just sat there for a few minutes trying to start a fire with sticks. Still, after a long while, I just said screw it and just started the fire with magic, shut up! I can cheat once in a while, alright?

Next, uhm, what comes next, oh yeah, putting a pan on top of the stone stove you made last night, with the fire going already, of course, then you crack the eggies, wait for the pan to get hot enough, and then you drop the eggs, what comes next is just, pure speed, you got to whip the living heck of the eggs, so they don't burn or overcook, getting yourself some nice tasty eggies, with nothing more than salt and pepper, and that was that, that's the end of the first episode of "cooking with Yui the TV show."

Innately, everyone loves the breakfast I made for them, the smiles on everyone's face are honestly worth all my efforts, and the pecks from those birds, hey come on, give me some credit, even if I have HP super auto recovery, I don't have any pain mitigation or something of the sort, so their pecks actually hurt, aside from the point that they chased me down, in all seriousness though, seeing everyone's smile, and everyone happy, I can't really describe what that makes me feel like really, it's like a weird warm feeling of gratitude, like, I just met the hero and his companions like a day ago, but seeing their happiness and my dad's happiness, makes me happy, I don't know why, but this is a nice feeling, that I genuinely wish I could feel every day, oh my gosh, is this what motherhood feels like?

After a while, however, I just returned to my senses, noticing that the hero looked a bit nervous like he was trying to hide something during breakfast. I don't pay that much attention to it, of course. Although the thought crosses my mind, I just blindly dismiss it since I already appraised him, and well, yeah, there would be zero reasons for him to try to steal my MP since his stats are already crazy high for a human, so I just ignore it, and move the morning conversation, into the struggle I went through to get the eggs, making everyone laugh when I confess that I got chased down by birds. Although it was embarrassing, it didn't make me feel bad, uh? I guess I'm in a light mood today.

Regardless of what everyone thinks, we just finished breakfast, and each group continues its journey. It turns out that the hero was actually also heading somewhere else after his mission of killing the cobra was supposed to end. Still, since I accelerated his mission, he could now arrive earlier to the next city that needed cleansing. By cleansing, of course, he meant killing all the monsters around the town. Honestly, I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing, but since it's the hero, I assume it's a fantastic thing.

Speaking of which, isn't it awesome? Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about, right? No? Well, I'm speaking of my title, of course, ruler of justice. It's an extraordinary title that protects me, even when I'm asleep; how cool is that? Yet, I better keep a better track of people around me since I still don't know who tried to steal my MP. I have to assume someone knows about my maxed-out MP. Yikes! That's totally bad news. Although I'm still suspicious of Kars, I can't help but think that he wouldn't do such a thing, especially after how polite he has been lately. Who knows, maybe it's all a cover-up act? No, I doubt it; he seems legit regarding his new attitude, so who could've been? The hero? No, but maybe one of his companions. Yeah, his companions would make a little more sense, especially since they seem to be like slaves of the hero or something. Yeah, I did notice, Mr. Reader. You really thought I wouldn't appraise them? Bah, think again; of course I did. I'm not going to lie. I didn't really like the fact that they both showed up as "slaves." Still, though, they don't seem to be in pain of being forced by the hero, so maybe it's just a case of, well, you know, ow come on, you know that other isekai with a particular guy who uses an OP shield, in which the hero has "slaves" working for him, yeah maybe in this world, this hero isn't really keeping them as slaves because he wants to force the girls to do, whatever the heck he wants. They're slaves still because that's what they want. Yeah, that could totally be it. I can't judge after all since they both seemed pretty happy.

Thus, our farewell, though painful, was just bound to happen. The hero has hero duties, after all, and unfortunately, I'm too young to go with him on his amazing adventures. Still, pops seems to notice my interest in the hero's adventures, so he already brings out the topic of my future while on the road.

- So, Yui, have you? Uhm, well, have you thought of what you want to do once you're of age?

- Now that you mention it, Dad, no, I haven't, really.

Is that so? Have you thought of being an adventurer?

Well, I would like to try, Dad, but what about the dangers?

- you make a fair point. Still, with your tremendous talent and power, I wonder if you would be in any real danger. Besides, if Kars is interested in being your teammate, perh-

I cut my dad abruptly once he mentions Kars since it just makes me blush a little bit and attracts Kars into the conversation.

- Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I heard my name and couldn't help it. May I ask what are you talking about me?

- No, you may not {I respond to him, of course Dad had other plans}

- well, I was proposing an arrangement in which you would protect my daughter while out being adventurers.

- Oh, cool, I would totally be up to the task, especially with how strong Yui is. I bet her support magic would boost my stats to the sky! There would be no way for us to lose, a fantastic mage teaming up with an excellent swordsman!

- Yes, that's precisely why I was suggesting it, but for some reason, Yui seems a little uncomfortable with the idea.

I can't believe it. I simply can't take it. I was actually being praised by my dad. Wow, did he really think that highly of me? All this time? I really did misjudge him and Kars, too. He totally just called himself incredible, but he also recognized I might be even more awesome than him, so? Then why? Why can't I just respond logically to them? Why am I so afraid to keep talking? Is it because I was an outcast in my past life? It might come as a surprise to you since I was a teacher, after all.

Yet, the only reason I ever had "friends" was because all my students loved me, but that was only a coping mechanism on my part. In reality, besides my interactions with students, I had no real "friends," you know? The type of friend you can go out with, drink at a bar, or sing at a karaoke all night, the real friends you could actually tell all your problems without restrictions. I never really had that in my previous life, so now that I potentially have a friend like that in Kars, why do I keep acting so difficult with him? Oh geez, am I like a crazy yandere type of girl? Oh man, that really doesn't make me feel great, but I just can't come to admit it either, Mom! Where are you when I need you? I need another girl to talk to; there is no way these two blocks will understand my feelings.