章節 9: Cooking for Breakfast
As the golden sun ultimately emerged from the boundless and vast horizon, its brilliant sunlight illuminated with its full power. The blue azure skies were covered by milky ivory fluffy clouds, carried by the calm breeze of wind. The grass plastered upon the ground rustled as the leaves sticking out from the branches fluttered altogether.
It was the beginning of dawn in the realm of Divum.
The gleaming sunlight pierced through the curtains as they lit up the dark hallway. The hallway was on the mansion's right side and was connected to the central part. Within the spoken hallway, two figures walked in silence and calm. They were gorgeous beauties living on a flying island within Divum.
One was a young girl with silver-ivory hair reaching her waist. Her light magenta irises gleamed like a gemstone with the illuminating and brilliant sunlight, making her more mysterious and beautiful. She wore military clothing, which was jet-black in color. Though, the most eye-catching of the young girl was the crow-like wings behind her.
Her name was Alastair Hecate, the first Krieger in existence and would probably not be the last one.
Behind the young Alastair was a lady wearing victorian maid clothing. She had jet-black hair strapped in a ponytail. She had a monocle strapped on her right eye and radiated nobility and elegance. The lady looked gorgeous and seemed like a grand noble pretending to be a maid.
The handmaid's name was none other than Soteria.
The two of them continued walking through the hallway, along with the silence and calm shrouding each of their movements. While walking, Alastair took a short glance towards Soteria, who was behind her. Then, she questioned with a calm voice. "Is the kitchen fully stock?"
Soteria nodded without that much hesitation and replied with a calm tone. "The stock in the kitchen is enough for two people to last a year without going outside the mansion. Is this enough for, my lad- Hmm... Alastair?"
"You're getting a hand of it, and yes, it is enough. More than enough."
A smile formed on Alastair's face as the two of them left the hallway and reached the staircase. The mansion was just the same as she had remembered it before. There was a time when it was covered by students. And there was a time when it became a short-term command post for her army.
Many things happened in this mansion, all of which were important to Alastair's memories and life.
'I should start getting used to my home once again.' She thought to herself as she shook her head and climbed down the luxurious grand stairs.
Soteria kept following Alastair without making that much noise. She was observing her lady's actions and behaviors to understand her better. From her observations, her lady was rather blunt and straightforward. However, she also had violent tendencies, which would appear in rude situations.
Meaning... Soteria would have to stop entering situations where she could offend her lady. That was an excellent step to maintaining a good relationship with her lady.
Soteria had thought that as a maid, she was supposed to handle everything on her own but at this very moment. She was seeing things that were different from her expectations. She stood right beside the table while looking at her lady from afar, cooking their breakfast.
She didn't know how to react in such a situation. Soteria had expected her lady to be tired after the long fight with the minotaur. To be cooking after experiencing such things not too long ago. But, it appears that her lady had gotten used to it. While gazing at the lady with her pitch-black eyes, Soteria questioned with a calm voice.
"Does the lady need me to make breakfast?"
Alastair shook her head and answered while preparing the kitchen utensils she needed to cook her meal. "No need... I can cook for myself. Also, I'd rather create my own meal. I had a lot of experiences where almost all of my meals outside of my creation were shrouded by poison. They either came from enemies or allies."
"I hope you don't mind."
Soteria found herself shrouded in silence as she simply nodded. Alastair continued on her way, cooking her meal while wearing a white apron. The stove began emitting its flames as Alastair cooked everything without that much of a reaction.
During her short cooking session, she noticed Soteria gazing at her. It had been a while since she started cooking and Soteria continued looking at her without doing anything. Was she waiting for orders? Or was she trying to find out some information about Alastair? Such was the questioning thoughts within Alastair's mind.
"So, is it okay to start the explanation now?" Alastair questioned as she continued cooking the meal before her. Soteria thought about it for a short while and nodded in agreement, replying with an emotionless tone. "I can begin the explanation..."
Soteria took a short deep breath and concentrated every information and memory within her mind. She then started the explanation with a robot-like voice.
"The Krieger is a certain race similar to spirits or a subspecies of spectral entities. As the first Kreiger, you can be called a progenitor, and you are also the only one that went into a metamorphosis. Due to your long and dreadful battle with the minotaur, the three beings of judgment decided to give you a special reward."
"The reward was simple. You undergo a change of fated lines. This resulted in the evolution of your body. Your original hair became white, your irises became light magenta, and you received crow-like wings behind your waist. The reward wasn't that special though it would aid you in your journey."
"I'll continue with the Krieger. The Krieger can become stronger via soul deals with beings from the materium realms. One soul would be required for a tunnel, and another would be the deal's price. One soul can only give you the ability to take ten lives. But other than that, there is no limit on how many souls you can take."
"To become more powerful, you must consume souls. I don't have that much information, but that is the general thing you should know as a Krieger. You wouldn't be the last Krieger, as many others would follow you. The competition will become hard as it will get rowdy in the future. You wouldn't also only compete with Kriegers but other beings that partake in deals."
"Such is the simple information given to me."
"I apologize if it wasn't enough for you."
Soteria slightly bowed with elegance without any change in her expression. She really was like a robot. Emotionless, calm, and probably aloof. Upon hearing the explanation of Soteria, which spanned numerous paragraphs, Alastair nodded in understanding as the gears within her mind began spinning.
'A Krieger... A spectral entity that consumes souls using a deal. That is a simple explanation though the last paragraph was a bomb. Competition of contracts, the only ones I can find being a competitor would be the devils. After all, they do use such ways to take a soul.'
Having an enemy such as the devils would be extremely bad, but she doubts it would be the highest of the absurdities she would meet in her second life. Since the devils were apparent, there might be angels or other mythical creatures found in myths and legends.
There might be an abomination such as a world serpent, a monster that consumes worlds. Again, though... Alastair would have to see for herself before even thinking of her thoughts as a fact.
Shaking her head after releasing the thoughts back to the void of her mind, Alastair replied with a calm voice as she continued cooking her breakfast. "No need to apologize. The information you have given me is enough. Thank you for that. It would have been dangerous treading without such a piece of information."
After that, silence enveloped the kitchen again as Soteria continued staring at Alastair with a blank expression. Chopping sounds echoed as the oil frying sounded in the kitchen. Soteria then spoke with her calm and emotionless voice. She had something to get off her mind.
"I apologize for instigating you, Alastair. It was simply a rude way of mine to get to know you better and make you stay true while being in front of me." Soteria's words had a tinge of honesty as she was genuine with the words escaping from her mouth.
Alastair raised an eyebrow as she got confused by Soteria's words. After all, it simply came out of nowhere, and she had already understood the reasoning of Soteria's instigation even before Soteria spoke of it. It was why it was easy for her to not talk about it ever again.
"You see, Alastair. I have seen you fighting that demonic minotaur in the ancient arena. You died and were devoured by the monster, but you didn't give up and continued fighting. Such was the first scenes I had seen after my creation." Soteria continued as Alastair furrowed her eyebrows upon hearing a single word coming from Soteria's mouth.
'Creation?' It practically implied that Soteria, a gorgeous lady who was her maid, got created by the three beings of judgment during her time in the ancient arena. They must have already anticipated her victory and were readying Soteria for it. 'So they must have seen the lowest of my pride.' Alastair sighed upon the thought.
"There were times when I was sure that you would give up. The way you cried as the demonic minotaur took out your limbs from your body. The way you wanted to beg for mercy but bit your tongue before even saying anything. You weren't fearless. You were simply brave."
"That was why, the moment I met you and spoke with you. I found myself confused and wanted to instigate your anger. But, then, during my time talking with you. It appears that your personality was more complicated than it seems. You aren't simply a brave and blunt lady."
"I apologize if I spoke too much."
"Again... There is no need to apologize. You have already apologized to me for too many times. The more you do it, the more worthless your apology becomes. So save it for future uses." Alastair replied as a smile formed on her face.
She was almost at the conclusion of her cooking her breakfast. It didn't take that much effort, and the aroma began its way everywhere in the kitchen.
"Besides, the complication this life gets is simply becoming more entangled. I doubt that I would be able to such a complication alone, so I hope as my maid that you would guide me. After all, unlike me, you can see clearly without my biases." Alastair said with a casual tone as she readied the dish and plate where her breakfast would be served.
"So, let's get along, Soteria. My only handmaid, I hope that the two of us can get along with each other."
"And, I have finished making our breakfast. Would you care to eat with me, my handmaid?" Alastair smiled as Soteria simply tilted her head in confusion, wondering what Alastair was trying to do. Alastair prepared all the dishes and plates on the wooden and luxurious table. After the preparation's completion, she looked at Soteira again as if waiting for Soteria to sit with her.
Soteria pointed at herself to be sure, which resulted in Alastair nodding towards her. Soteria then walked towards the chair right beside Alastair and sat there. She was looking at their breakfast which was eggs, slices of bacon, and fried rice. She could make something better than it.
But she was sure that simplicity was Alastair's forte.
"This is our first breakfast together, in our first dawn, in the first, second chance. Of course, that's a lot of first, but still, this will be our first day together." Alastair said with a calm voice as Soteria nodded and replied. "I hope for a long relationship with my maste- ehem... Alastair."
The two of them then started eating their first breakfast together. It was Soteria's first time eating, and it was Alastair's first breakfast in her second life. It was pretty enjoyable as silence enveloped everything. Though before they could continue their breakfast, a knock echoed from the door.
They stopped breakfast as they furrowed their eyebrows and looked at the front door simultaneously. The knock once again echoed as Alastair stood up and walked towards the front door. She wanted to know who this visitor was and was curious about why there was a visitor.
Though, Soteria herself knew that they were on a flying island with no one other than themselves. That would mean that something or someone strong would enter.
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