Chương 19: Chapter 19: Half-Orc! Invited To a Party!?
Ssss!
The hissing of the silver pan filled the room as Raven added two drips of white wine, with a zesty and clear taste and a light dash of oil gently heating the thick and juicy 5-credit salmon fillets with a light garlic butter glaze.
A wonderful flavour filled the kitchen with a strong and aromatic scent as Raven wore his apron, humming the pianist's lament while cooking, adding two eggs to the boiling water, and planning to poach them to Lilith's liking.
Raven looked back to see Lilith, now watching television with her borrowed pyjamas kicking her legs as she watched the news.
"Last night, a group of criminals managed to maim and kill a goblin adventurer...." The Lamia newscaster announced in a clear and well-spoken voice, as the afternoon sun was high in the air pouring into the medium apartment through the western windows.
"Ah, what a dangerous world~ will my handsome orc protect this innocent little girl?" Lilith began to sing a strange song that caused Raven's face to twitch.
'Who is a damn innocent little girl, don't think your wailing like a cat in the heat wasn't heard; I imagine the neighbours will think I have a new woman already! Tsk... not to mention you're as deadly as a Venus fly trap...'
"Raven, did you add butter to my fish, salt my eggs? Hu hu~ I like salty eggs Hu hu~ with tomato sauce~ please feed the poor starving girl food!"
He shook his head, snapping off the heat for the fish as he just flipped them for 90 seconds for the perfect crunch—the eggs were from a strange beast named a cockatrice. Each cost 2 credits and was the size of Raven's fist, like a small football.
'This girl... since this morning in the bath, her sense of distance suddenly vanished... is it thanks to this?'
Raven thought, noticing that when he made things or did things for Lilith, the purple mist would enter the food or object and then pass directly into her body, leaving pink energy left her body moments later after she seemed perkier and more refreshed and lingered until he entered her range.
Clack!
He snapped open the expensive glass tomato sauce without any extra ingredients or water and other fluids to thin it out, letting a dollop land perfectly in the centre of the poached eggs.
Which looked like little plums with a slight dent where the tomato spread like a little lake. With a clean cloth, he wiped the edges, making sure none of the sauce dripped onto the garlic butter salmon, before carrying the plate over to her side.
"Oh! Food is here~ good work, good work!"
Raven felt she needed something to do in the meantime; not wanting her to be bored here alone, thus decided to get the laptop and hook it to the interweb allowing her to learn at least or have fun.
"Enjoy, I'll be going to work again today, but you can relax here if you want something to do. I've already sorted the food and general waste earlier."
"How about you sort the rubbish into paper, plastic and combustive trash for me?"
"Mmmm... I want to eat meat for dinner then, okay?"
Somehow Raven himself was shocked at how easily this girl settled into his home; maybe the sudden absence of Philis also left him quite open to having someone to keep him company, too, as long as she eventually could get a job.
Then he would also take her with him, allowing her to get an income, branch out, and explore the world herself.
"Oh... it's delicious..." She whispered in a serious and honest tone, not a playful voice.
Her eyes looked towards Raven, who sat on the single chair, his plate on the arm and a dark coffee on the other in a slotted cup. He turned his head, giving a gentle smile and enjoyed the slight reactions this girl sometimes showed.
"Thank you, it's the most delicious food I've tasted for as long as I can remember..."
Raven looked into her eyes, giving her a warm smile.
"Eat it while hot; as long as you behave, I'll cook for you until you leave. No matter how long it takes to stand up alone, don't worry; treat this as your home."
"Mmm...."
Quietly the pair enjoyed their meal after finishing the special report about the sub-race murderers finished as the pair let out a synchronised belch, one deep and loud, the other quiet and more graceful.
"For a woman... why do you burp like an old man?" Raven looked at her with narrow eyes as he spoke, a smirk on his lips.
In response, the manticore blushed before getting rebellious.
"Hmph! I am paying the correct homage to tasty food!"
"Whatever, let me get the laptop so you can do something after finishing with the trash and rubbish."
"Ohhhh! Victory!"
He ignored the stupid girl bouncing on his clean sofa, messing up the cushions as her tail began to dance and almost tear apart the cloth.
Raven entered the room Philis would use when busy with work; the place was now fairly empty, the dust missing in the shapes of folders and stacks of paper, as the laptop he bought her when they first moved in together was lying on the desk as if brand new.
This was the first time he had entered the room since she left, only to find a small envelope with a pink love heart on the back, with "To Alice~ <3" written in the beautiful cursive of Philis, with adorable hearts instead of dots over the I's.
"Stupid girl... If it wasn't for Lilith, when would I have entered this place again?" He muttered.
Before stuffing the letter in his top shirt pocket, the slight scent of lavender and violets filled his nose as he grabbed the laptop and power cable, taking one last look at the room where Philis had occupied most of the time the past six years.
"Oi, fat ass! Stop jumping only on my sofa!" Raven yelled as the girl in her pyjamas cared nothing for class and modesty as her ass was hanging out, but she still jumped and danced to the stupid advertisement on the television.
On the television was a group of 5 undines singing a beautiful melody with different colours that would interchange when one switched the lead vocalist spot, with every girl able to fill all the vocal ranges.
"Do you like Undine 5?" Raven asked as she began to fix her clothes, still shaking her hips and arms to the music with a pout.
"Mmm! They are so cute!" Lilith beamed to speak about how amazing they were, like a true fangirl.
Bzzt! Bzzt! ♫ Pianist Lament, Second Movement begins playing ♫
Suddenly Raven's phone began to buzz; the Davesung phone was rarely used except for work and other things that might bother him.
"Hmmm? Who is it?"
"Who?" Lilith added with those gleaming purple eyes, watching him like a snake.
He turned away from her, using his hand to shoo at her, grabbing her tail and yanking it a few times to make her behave.
"Ahhhn~ don't pull...!" She complained.
Beep!
Raven flipped slide the phone open, his thumb sliding several times to accept the call due to his large hands finally.
"Hello?" He answered in his customer service voice due to the private number.
"Hello, this is Emily from the Divish Bureau. Am I speaking to Raven Granbell?"
"The one and only; how may I help you, Emily?"
"Who is Emily?" Lilith asked, watching him from behind the sofa, her eyes looking over the top sneakily as she rubbed the part where her tail met her ass, with a red face.
"Ah well, I know you cleared the wailing cavern's solo; congratulations, by the way...! The problem is that I have a G-ranked party here; they wish to enter the Burning Cove but no longer have a tank and are seeking somebody to help them."
Raven leaned against the door, his eyes closed, waiting for the request—Emily was using a business tone and likely needed the help, so he wanted to get some benefits if possible.
"Hmmmm, and?"
There was a moment of hesitation on the phone; her seeming to tap on that marble desk sounded.
"Would you be willing to sub in, act as the tank for their party? The Burning Cove isn't a high-level dungeon—G-rank adventurers could easily clear it."
The call went silent as he began to contemplate, taking a long breath before sighing loudly, the call suddenly continuing.
"If... it's too much. I can offer you a bonus quest from my quota. Should you help them, you will gain 30 credits even if the run fails as long as I see you enter the dungeon from here... okay?"
"You are too easy, Emily—how do you call yourself a receptionist if a mere sigh tricks you... I will help them; how long do I need until they start? It's not going to be overnight or anything, right?"
"No! It's a few hours from 6 pm tonight until 10 pm, Raven, if you're too busy... I can."
"Don't worry, the 30 credits were enough! Just doing you a favour would have been fine. I'll come to sell my things tomorrow. Message me when your shift starts—I hope to have you process everything."
"Hmmm.. what's with that smile... why do you need to know her shift?" Lilith's little whispers entered his ears as he beamed, giving the manticore a wink.
"Uhm... ah.... anytime! I... we receptionists live in the dormitories upstairs... so 3 pm, maybe we could go for a light meal or something after to celebrate your success?"
Raven turned his body, facing down the corridor as he began to tap his foot, considering the thought of enjoying a meal with the pretty dryad receptionist. It was appealing, but he had this little monster at home and didn't want always to leave her alone.
"Let's see... I don't think I can do it tomorrow, but how about I take you for a meal next Friday? I'll make sure to earn in the dungeon, and we'll go to Gorden Rimsels new restaurant; I hear their vegetarian and vegan dishes are top-class?"
"Eh!?"
"I... is that an invitation to a date?" Emily's voice sounded before the tapping on the other end became like drills boring into the marble; her breathing also seemed rather heavy.
"If you don't want to..."
"NO! Please, I agree! I agree... Friday? Okay... okay.... see you tomorrow, ah I need to see the beautician..... my nails... trim my leaves... first date.... how embarrassing." Her voice became quieter as her body moved around, and rattling noise and banging sounded as she stepped away before closing the phone.
Beep! Beep!
'Cute woman... Has she never dated? Despite being that beautiful.... suspicious... Anyway, important things first... Burning Cove... 6 pm... It's on the opposite side of town... through the slums.'
Raven turned his body, only able to see the angry swaying tail of the manticore he brought home, her little white ponytail peeking just above the sofa backrest, and two small narrow purple eyes peering at him like some evil villain.
"Hmmm?"
"Hmph!"
"Do you want to go on a date too?"
"Ah!?"
"Yeah, just grow more hair down there and stop masturbating in the bathroom; it's not soundproof; use the room I gave you to use; that one is."
She suddenly gave a sneaky grin, remembering the shower from this morning, wanting to call this bastard bluff.
"Wanna join me? Fufu~ I bet I'm super tight!" She began to stretch and show off her body as the girls from the Undine 5 did in their songs.
"Sure, get naked and wait for me on the bed with your ass spread, swaying in the air," Raven replied, his response dull.
The moment he took a step forward, the sudden serious face and his response that seemed passionate, his neon eyes filled with a passionate gaze.
"W-wait... I was.... idiot! I was joking... hmph! Don't get all serious!" She said, rushing off before jumping into the bathroom and locking the door in a rapid dash.
"Silly girl... thinking she can tease me like that..."
He looked at the messy plate on the table and the sink with a few pots and pans; turning his head, it turned out to be 4:49 pm, so he quickly cleaned the place before leaving.
'A party, huh... I wonder what they are like..'
Raven turned the tv off as the notification about those sub-race killers played again, heading to the kitchen and humming again while cleaning the dishes.
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