Chapter 46: The Chef’s Deception

Lu Chen cleared his throat, then looked up at the tomato, speaking in a deep voice.

“Ah, yes, I am indeed ‘The Chef,’ your lifelong beloved.”

The tomato’s skin wrinkled slightly, its dark red hue deepening by another shade.

It rolled across the ground, pressing close to Lu Chen. Lily of the Valley quickly raised her blade in a defensive stance, yet the monstrosity made no move to attack.

Like a dog greeting its returning owner, it pressed against Lu Chen, sniffing the young man from head to toe.

Its wide maw oozed sweet and sour juices. Lu Chen dared not move, simply holding his breath and waiting silently.

After its inspection, the tomato recoiled, letting out a furious roar.

“Liar! Do you take me for an idiot? Your scent is completely different from The Chef’s! The Chef always carried the sweet scent of blood, but you, you brat, smell like nothing but a foul vegetable cake!”

“I knew it wouldn’t work!”

Lily of the Valley growled softly, suddenly tightening her grip on her sword hilt, ready to strike first. Lu Chen, however, found this charade rather effective.

If this foolish tomato hadn’t believed him at all, it would have bitten him already, sending him off to slowly recover under Silvermoon’s care.

Yet, it clearly had no such intention now, instead waiting eagerly for Lu Chen’s reply.

He immediately made a ‘shush’ gesture at the girl.

Then, he turned to the tomato.

“Idiot! Have you forgotten who I am?”

“?”

“I’m a chef! What’s so strange about picking up some different scents when I occasionally bake a cake? Was I bathed in blood 24/7 before?”

“Hmm, that’s true… No, wait, in the end, I’m male, and The Chef is my wife, a female! But you are clearly a man!”

‘You… you’re a tomato, yet you’re pretending to care about gender? What’s the point?’

‘Though a few monstrosities are transformed humans, you’re clearly not one of them, are you?’

‘…No, wait. First, I need to figure out how to answer this question.’

Lu Chen barely managed to suppress his shock.

He silently apologized to Xia Shi, his lover, for having to impersonate the tomato’s partner for a few minutes. Then, he addressed the tomato.

“Idiot! Don’t you know Lord Envy has been recruiting servants lately?”

“There is such a thing, so what? It’s true I’m Lord Envy’s servant, but you… no, The Chef was a remnant of Gluttony, wasn’t they?”

“‘Lord Gluttony’ has passed away, after all. I wanted to fight alongside you, so I went to Lord Envy to inquire about it. He admired my abilities but disliked my appearance, so he simply made a slight adjustment, transforming me into my current form. That is to say, what’s commonly known as a TS!”

In his desperation, Lu Chen blurted out whatever came to mind, improvising this elaborate tale.

He even managed to throw some outrageous slander at Envy, leaving Lily of the Valley, who was diligently healing herself nearby, utterly dumbfounded.

In truth, the young man himself found it quite far-fetched.

‘Even if the target is a foolish tomato, could such madness actually work…?’

After a moment of silence, the tomato suddenly closed its massive mouth.

Immediately afterward, its smooth skin abruptly wrinkled into an unsightly mess, and it spoke with a tearful whine.

“Ohh… what a tragic fate! That scumbag Envy must be jealous of your beauty, jealous of my happiness. But if that’s the case, who will be the man in our relationship from now on?”

‘It’s *that* he cares about?!’

Lu Chen once again personally experienced the incomprehensibility of monstrosities.

He collected his jumbled thoughts.

“No, no worries, I’ve naturally considered this issue. In fact, I was just discussing this with Miss Lily of the Valley yesterday, deciding to cooperate with her to force Envy to change me back to my original form. Although there were some minor frictions, we’ve now reached an agreement.”

The tomato listened in silence.

It then bounced, turning towards the young girl, and murmured.

“So that’s it, you’ve formed an alliance with Lily of the Valley…”

“Exactly. So, even though she’s a magical girl, she’s not our enemy, but rather a benefactor—”

“You dared to cooperate with someone other than me! Scumbag!”

‘It’s a yandere tomato…!’

Before Lu Chen could even retort, the monstrosity opened its gaping maw and roared.

Sweet and sour juices splattered everywhere as its surrounding magic surged and erupted!

It swayed its highly elastic stem, turning towards Lily of the Valley.

“You abominable cuckolder…! I’ll slaughter both of you, one after the other!”

With that declaration, the monstrosity stomped, shattering the ground.

It launched itself forward like a cannonball once more, hurtling towards the girl’s still-recovering, precarious body!

Lily of the Valley had no choice but to halt her healing, desperately dodging.

But the monstrosity’s speed was even greater than before.

Though the girl barely avoided a direct hit, she was still a fraction too slow.

The unstoppable impact grazed her, fracturing her calf!

“Tsk…!”

Lily of the Valley let out a sharp cry of pain. Her body inevitably lost balance, forcing her to her knees, momentarily unable to move.

The monstrosity gave her no time to rest or recover.

It opened its gaping maw in a sinister grin, then twisted and contracted its massive body, preparing to charge again!

“Hmph…”

However, a small spark suddenly rose beside it, illuminating a corner of the plaza.

The tomato was instantly startled, an alarm bell ringing in its mind.

It quickly focused its senses, twisting its body to face the direction of the spark—

Xia Shi’s… boyfriend, Lu Chen, stood beside it.

In his hand, he held a model javelin with its tip alight.

“My apologies, I just lied to you, you moron. Your beloved died ages ago, rotting away. By now, they’ve probably reincarnated as premium vegetables like yourself, ready for harvest this autumn.”

As the young man spoke these utterly self-unaware words, he tightened his grip on the burning javelin.

He thrust it with all his might towards the tomato’s skin.

“Bang!”

The spear tip struck the skin.

Without leaving even a mark, it slid off to the side, causing absolutely no damage.

However, the tomato suddenly swelled, turning into its reddest form of the day.

“You… you just go, go die, ahhhhhh!”

The monstrosity’s roar pierced the sky, startling several birds in the forest, which promptly flew away.

Ignoring Lily of the Valley, the tomato directed all its boiling rage and murderous intent towards the young man.

A terrifying aura reverberated across the plaza.

Lily of the Valley watched her friend, who was in grave danger.

She forcibly propped up her broken leg with vines and wooden splints, anxiety and guilt swelling in her heart.

One step. Two steps.

The girl barely managed to stand, swaying as she moved towards the monstrosity.

‘It’s not enough. This speed is completely insufficient!’

‘Lu Chen will be hit first! He’ll be gravely injured… he’ll die!’

Three steps, four steps.

The girl ignored the pain, running with all her might, yet the monstrosity and Lu Chen seemed impossibly far away.

‘I should have forced him off the battlefield earlier!’

‘No, that’s wrong; I’m just desperately searching for excuses.’

‘Ultimately, it’s because I’m too useless, too complacent, too weak.’

‘Once I lose my firearms, I completely lose the ability to fight.’

‘If Fireworks were here, the monstrosity would turn to ash within three seconds.’

‘If Morning Star were here, the monstrosity wouldn’t even realize something was wrong before it was killed.’

‘But there’s only Lily of the Valley here, a Lily of the Valley who even needs a normal person to provide cover.’

‘This is the sole reason Lu Chen is currently on the brink of despair.’

Five steps, six steps.

The girl barely reached the bench, while the monstrosity’s attack had already built up to its maximum.

‘Old Nie was right.’

‘Even if coerced by Fireworks, I shouldn’t have gone to shoot promotional photos, shouldn’t have worn clothes other than suits and sportswear, shouldn’t have indulged in my parents’ comfort!’

‘I clearly know how useless I am, clearly know how much guilt I need to atone for.’

‘Yet, I shamelessly craved these pleasures anyway!’

‘I must immediately find a way to save Lu Chen.’

‘Think, think, think, think, think—’

As Lily of the Valley’s mind raced, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her broken foot.

She immediately lost her balance, feeling the world spin around her.

“Damn useless trash!”

The girl cursed herself aloud, her hands frantically reaching for the bench.

However, perhaps due to a stroke of luck in where she braced herself, her hands didn’t hit the hard, cold surface of the bench.

Instead, they crushed the cake Lu Chen had just placed there.

“…At that moment, your smile was so natural, truly wonderful.”

A soft, yielding sensation spread through her palms.

The young man’s words suddenly drifted through the girl’s mind.

Lu Chen sighed.

He cast aside the useless javelin, opening his arms to the tomato.

He silently gritted his teeth, mentally preparing himself.

‘While I don’t believe this ordinary monstrosity could overcome Silvermoon’s healing and take my life…’

‘…the pain will still be quite ordinary.’

‘I probably won’t be able to meet Xia Shi at the armory as planned later.’

‘I’ll have to compensate her properly once I’ve recovered.’

As the young man thought of his lover’s figure, his fear and tension immediately subsided by more than half.

He closed his eyes, awaiting the searing pain to pierce his body.

“Boom!”

A tremendous roar erupted, and the earth cracked.

All other conditions being equal, the stronger the hatred, the greater the monstrosity’s power.

At this moment, the tomato monstrosity, brimming with hatred expanded to its peak, charged towards the young man.

It struck with its highest speed and power of the day, like Mount Tai pressing down.

Then, it was stopped mid-charge by a model javelin with a charred tip, unable to advance an inch.

All other conditions being equal, the stronger the love, the greater the magical girl’s power.

Lily of the Valley gripped the javelin tightly.

She swung the weapon like a Michelin-starred chef wielding a kitchen knife, sending the tomato flying with a single strike.