Chương 4: Chapter 4: Well, when are you moving in?

My old girl was still shining from having her grandson here. Mael was still washing the dishes. His payment for that one slice of baked pumpkin.

There are times in my life when I ask myself if taking that culinary skill back when I came to this world was a good idea.

But today was no such day!

"So, when are you moving in?" I asked the orc, as he placed the pan on the grass. "And you still owe me a story."

"And I will give you one," Mael said, as he looked at the embers in the cooking pit. I raised an eyebrow. We ate just two hours ago!

Some people…

"But what are you going to do with those two?" Mael asked, as he pointed a finger at the tree. I shrugged.

"Make a camping resort!" For I could deny the truth all I wanted, but there was no power under the heavens which could stop the tourists.

And it was the tourist season. Oh, how I hated the summer…

"And you think that would be enough?" He asked. I nodded. "And you will what… cook the entire day?"

I nodded once more.

"But… why?" He looked genuinely confused. I did not take it personally. Most mobs in charge of a dungeon would gladly massacre humans.

Poison rivers, fail crops, send zombies at the crack of dawn for dramatic effect.

But I was no such person.

"My old girl is a good person. Violence is not the answer," I smiled at the tree, hearing a giggle.

She was awake! Grumpy Pants, too, but they went together like yogurt and honey.

"And if someone comes along? Someone strong," he asked, as his eyes traveled to his two-handed axe. "Then what?"

I shrugged.

"The muffin is the question, answer, and the way out," I told him with a straight face.

Mael chuckled, running a hand over his face.

"And if the muffin is not enough?" he asked.

Ah, he was one of those who did not believe that there was a way out when there really was one.

"Then…" I snapped my mouth shut. Man, I nearly told him about the mind-controlling mushrooms!

"Then?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't know. We die, I suppose," I finally said. I hated having to admit that it was a possibility, but still did so. Everything had to have an end. "But we die without losing our humanity. That is still something, right?"

Mael smiled.

For all that his face was littered with scars, the smile was charming. His eyes, so dark before, had a light in them.

"I will go and take Nara and the kids," he said, as he placed his axe in its sheath. "And one day, I will give you your story."

I felt so, as if I had passed a test. As he walked away, I looked at the tree.

"Well, I think we should get down to work, right, Thea?" I asked her.

0000

The thing about preparing to feed tourists during the tourist season was that they were countless.

But I had a plan!

More than one village got its tourists by renting houses and letting those city folk milk cows and goats and cook their own breakfast.

It was underhanded. It was cheating.

But I needed Mael for other things.

Before I could set up all of the cooking pits, however, I needed to upgrade the dungeon.

As it was now, it was just level one.

The food that had to be cooked in this area had to be so good that the tourists wouldn't want to chop off branches, pick flowers, or terrorize bird nests.

Basically, the whole air had to be loaded to the brink with the mana of someone who could cook. My mana, to be exact.

I was not going to go down Pan's way. The poor boy had nearly ended up a Lich. Besides, I had never killed something if I was not intending to eat it.

Using every part of the animal. Throwing nothing away.

The problem with that was that I, as a boss mob, did not have much mana. My dungeon was level 1, after all.

The easiest way to get mana was to absorb treasure. I had none, but I could already sense the tourists at the edge of the forest.

They were coming to see the oldest tree… and probably harm my old girl.

It was a siege.

Just me against five of them.

I smiled as I began to get the fire going in the cooking pit. I might be outnumbered, but I was not outmatched! I could hear their growling stomachs from here.

I smiled as the smoke rose. They were going to find me anyway. Besides, that was what I wanted them to do! I needed their money; they needed something to eat!

As I looked at what I had left to fight with, I made a mental calculation. Five people, and I did not have enough flour to make them all a huge sandwich.

Bread was the easiest way to one's heart, add cheese and you get sworn eternal loyalty.

This battle was not going to be easy!

I had potatoes, chicken, bacon, small mercy, that, and herbs.

The first tourist appeared out of the tree line as I was cutting up the chicken.

"Hello! We want to take some moss from the tree! Don't mind us!" He had the nerve to say. Moss from the tree? That was the mana to our regen!

"Hm? Don't you know that the moss is sacred?" I asked, as I cut into the chicken. A bit too strongly, for the wing fell on the grass. I forced my lips into a smile, trying to control my anger. "But you must be hungry! Why don't you join me for lunch?"

I could see how they were eyeing the tree. How their greed was shining through. That tree deserved to live!

They didn't care.

I am no such person, I told myself. Even if sometimes it would have been easier if I was.

"Sure! We'd love to join you!" One heavily pregnant woman with a kind face said, as she sat opposite me. "Do you need help?"

I shook my head, keeping my smile on my lips.

"No, but now you owe me a story," I told her.

For there was no greater and mana rich treasure than a good memory woven into a dream catcher. One which I had hid in the tree's roots.

And their money would help me get more ingredients!

If I played my cards right…