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[You have left the Brown Merchant Group]
[Your current party: Unnamed (2 members)]
[Current party attribute bonus: All attributes +7]
Eve, walking across the grassland, stared blankly at the system notifications that popped up before her, her mouth agape. “H-how much?”
“All attributes +7?!”
Considering Eve’s lowest attribute, Spirit, was only 14 points, this was a sudden boost of half its value!
And if she factored in the current bonus from being in the Calamity Domain…
Whoosh! She was soaring!
Unfortunately, ordinary slimes couldn’t even withstand a single attack from her. Eve had no idea what her true strength was now.
‘Perhaps I should try my luck against the Slime King?’
Acting on the thought, Eve noted her direction and began venturing deeper into the grasslands.
Yet, after wandering the grasslands for two days and two nights, Eve still hadn’t encountered anything that seemed remotely challenging. All she found were ordinary slimes below level ten.
Eve was already level 20, and the experience provided by these slimes had diminished significantly. To reach max level by grinding slimes would likely take centuries.
She still had her three-year promise to Alice to uphold, so she had no desire to continuously grind slimes for levels on the grassland. She only dealt with them when she encountered them incidentally.
This time, Eve collected their drops, the slime mucus, and stored it in her bracelet.
Eve’s thought was that once she reached Xielan, the City of Adventurers, she might be able to complete some guild quests by submitting these materials.
****
The third night descended.
Before the bonfire, Eve sat cross-legged on the grass, her mask removed. The coffin beside her lay open, and the little maid, Wennya, was busily and enthusiastically preparing dinner.
Though, in truth, neither of them actually needed to eat.
Still, since Wennya was in the mood to cook, Eve let her be.
“Ta-da! Charcoal-grilled slime with grass roots, fresh out of the oven!”
Gazing at the purplish, gooey concoction that emitted dark fumes, presented before her, Eve fell silent.
Suddenly, she felt that not needing to eat as an undead wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“Lady Eve, please come and taste Wennya’s cooking!”
The little maid thoughtfully offered a spoon, her golden eyes sparkling with anticipation as she looked at Eve.
Eve’s mouth twitched slightly.
‘Even if you look at me like that, I still don’t want to eat this stuff!’
After a brief internal struggle, Eve took a deep breath, then reassured herself inwardly.
‘It’s fine, Eve. You’re a little undead, and you have your talents. It’s just a dish that looks a bit strange; there’s nothing to worry about…’
Bolstering her courage, Eve took the spoon and tentatively scooped up a dollop of the purplish goo from the plate.
Was it Eve’s imagination, or was the unidentified purple substance in the spoon still… wriggling?
‘Oh no, I suddenly regret this…’
But Eve had already brought the spoon to her mouth, and Wennya was still watching her expectantly, so she gritted her teeth.
‘Let’s do this! Get it over with!’
Just as she opened her mouth, preparing to taste it…
Eve suddenly noticed something green wriggling out of the purple substance in her spoon.
Her hand paused. Then, she silently used her fingers to pinch the green thing, pulling it out from the purple mass in the spoon.
It turned out to be a tenacious little green worm, still fighting its fate, ceaselessly wiggling its tiny body.
Eve: …
Wennya: …
Calmly setting down the spoon, Eve looked at Wennya and, with remarkable tact, praised her. “Wennya, I didn’t expect this dish of yours… to be so rich in protein. Was this intentional, or an accident?”
The little maid’s cheeks flushed crimson as she waved her hands in a frantic panic. “Th-th-this wasn’t on Wennya’s ingredient list! Wennya doesn’t know where it came from! Lady Eve, you have to believe Wennya!”
“Of course I know that. Perhaps the grass you picked wasn’t washed thoroughly.”
With a flick of her finger, Eve sent the little green worm back into the embrace of the vast grassland.
Then, under Wennya’s incredulous gaze, she brought the spoon to her mouth and began to chew.
The moment it entered her mouth, an incredibly abstract taste and texture — like rotten leather shoes drizzled with sesame oil, then mixed with dirt, all accompanied by a burnt aroma — exploded on Eve’s delicate taste buds.
[You have ingested harmful food and gained the Poisoned debuff (duration: 1 minute), Nauseated debuff (duration: 1 minute), and Hallucinating debuff (duration: 1 minute).]
‘Ah… crap, it seems the immunity from [Heavenly Harmony] only works during the day…’
*Pthh—*
No sooner said than done, the instant Eve felt something amiss, she immediately covered her mouth with her free hand. Although a little ‘rainbow’ still burst forth, it was harmless.
Gracefully setting down the spoon, Eve gave a thumbs-up, still covering her mouth.
“We-Wennya, your cooking… is v-very delicious. It’s probably… on par with a five-star chef.”
“Though I’m touched, Lady Eve, please don’t force yourself any longer! The rainbow is already flowing out!”
“I’m not… not… forcing it… *retch!*”
“Lady Eve!!”
After a minute-long, ‘heavenly-yet-hellish’ culinary experience, Eve vomited until she was utterly drained, lying spread-eagle on the grass.
During this time, Eve’s mind traversed a series of profound philosophical ponderings, from the birth of the interstellar cosmos to the origin of human civilization, and even to ‘why was I born?’
She finally reached a conclusion.
‘Perhaps it’s better to just die…’
Fortunately, this thought had barely surfaced when Eve’s debuffs vanished, and her intelligence swiftly reclaimed its rightful place.
Eve weakly turned her face, looking at Wennya, who was beside her, her face etched with worry.
At this moment, the little maid’s cowlick no longer swayed; it just drooped. Tears dripped continuously from her eyes as she said, full of self-reproach, “Lady Eve, Wennya was wrong… Wennya shouldn’t have let you eat that dish… *sob sob sob*…”
Seeing Eve look at her, Wennya choked back a sob and quickly fetched a water bottle from nearby.
“Lady Eve, are you alright…? Here, water. Rinse your mouth again…”
Eve shook her head, pushing the water bottle away. “It’s alright, Wennya, I’m fine.”
“That’s not the main point. More importantly…”
“I want to know, aren’t you a professional maid? How can you not know how to cook?”
Eve posed a soul-searching question.
Ever since recovering from the negative effects, this question had been nagging at Eve’s mind.
“Lady Eve… actually, this is only Wennya’s second time cooking…”
“Oh, so Wennya is a novice cook, no wonder. That makes sense then… By the way, what about your first time cooking?”
“The first time, Wennya tried to help out in the kitchen, but after taking over, she accidentally burned a pot and was then chased out by the Head Maid…”
“Uh, just a pot. That shouldn’t be too serious, right?”
“But that was the pot used for cooking porridge that day…”
Eve: ?
You’ve got to see this next! About My Desire to Escape in a Matriarchal World will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : About My Desire to Escape in a Matriarchal World
