Volume 7, Chapter 49 – The Content Vampire Princess

“Like this, drizzle the ‘event grass’ and sauce on top, then sprinkle some red pepper powder, and the flavor will come out.”

While Yisi was discussing the Gospel with Laxy, Mary from the cooking team sprinkled green onions—called ‘event grass’ in this world—soy sauce, and chili powder onto the sizzling barbecue. The oily, thick-cut meat, under the dual effect of the high heat and spices, burst forth with an exceptionally tempting aroma. If the charcoal weren’t black but the color of red meat, a person at the peak of starvation would probably even take a couple of bites out of it. The dish in Mary’s hands now held that kind of charm.

The group, who had been conversing, including Laxy, subconsciously stopped their conversation and turned their gazes to the smoky grill. This was especially true for the Cerberuses sitting near the dining table. If they weren’t constantly licking their lips, their overflowing saliva would surely be dripping onto the sea of flowers.

“I want some.”

Like a puppy waiting to be fed by its master, Tiffany, kneeling beside Mary, pointed to her open mouth.

“Not yet. It needs to be grilled a little longer.”

Normally, the green onions should be added at the end, but ‘event grass’ was different from the onions Yisi knew; it needed to be grilled a little longer to release its proper flavor.

“I feel like I can still eat some more.”

“Didn’t you just eat a lot of dessert, Evelyn?”

“How rude. For a beautiful girl like me, dessert goes into a separate stomach.”

“Eh.”

I didn’t expect this world to have that saying too.

By the time the aroma of the food had made everyone ravenously hungry, Mary finally finished the first batch of barbecue.

Yisi, naturally, became the first one to taste it.

“The skin is crispy, but the meat inside is tender. The spices are just right. With one bite, my tongue is about to be overwhelmed by this explosive flavor.”

“Ugh, even though I used the same method, the taste is so different…”

Very resentfully, Andrea, who had obediently swallowed the barbecue, bit her fork.

“If you just try a few more times, you’ll be able to cook it well, Andrea.”

Yisi patted Andrea’s head.

Although she had eaten this kind of food, which was considered unhealthy, many times back on Earth, there were still many people in the era she lived in who were passionate about it. Only those who had tried it themselves knew that grilling only looked simple. To make a good barbecue, the cook must have a high level of proficiency with the heat, and the selection and combination of seasonings was also a science. This was why the taste could be so different even with the same procedure. In Yisi’s experience, the vast majority of barbecue restaurants were unsatisfactory.

The barbecue Mary had made now was definitely one of the most delicious dishes she had ever eaten.

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“Mmm~ It’s indeed very delicious. Compared to you, Mary, my cooking can only be considered barely edible.”

“No, no, I just like to cook… Miss Refina’s talent is higher than mine. If she just tries a few more times, I won’t be able to catch up to her.”

“Don’t be so modest, Mary. It really is delicious. So delicious that I want to kidnap you and make you the exclusive chef of the Church.”

Although her movements gave off a sense of elegance, the meat on her plate disappeared with exceptional speed. Evelyn spoke while casting her gaze towards the grill, waiting for Mary to redistribute the food.

Yisi quickly cut in.

“No, Mary is mine.”

“Master… this is too embarrassing…”

“It’s going to burn.”

“Ah.”

Camilla’s reminder brought Mary back from her bashfulness. She hurriedly picked up the tongs and distributed the oily, thick-cut meat onto everyone’s plates.

After that, Mary made many other dishes that Yisi had never seen before but found very much to her taste, such as a creamy rice porridge with a hint of lemon juice, soft and chewy dough, and a fruit juice that went very well with the open-air barbecue.

It was worth mentioning that this fruit juice was not real ‘fruit’ juice, but a drink made from a mixture of slime liquid and morning dew, fermented. At first, Yisi couldn’t accept this dish, but after Mary explained that the slime liquid came from freshwater slimes and the dew was also collected from clean plants, Yisi reluctantly convinced herself to try it with the reasoning that “slime liquid is no different from slime blood”. As a result, it was a slightly sweet liquid, much like a soda drink. Even Edith couldn’t refuse this deliciousness. Or rather, Edith was the one who was most fond of this drink among everyone.

Yisi quietly leaned over to Mary, who was enjoying her meal.

“Did you tell Pepe the ingredients, Mary?”

“No.”

I see… If Pepe knew the ingredients were from a slime, a very awkward scene might occur. Yisi kindly whispered a warning.

“You’d better not tell Pepe the ingredients, Mary. Otherwise, she might throw you into a pot of boiling oil.”

“Eh? M-Miss Edith wouldn’t do such a thing…”

Although she said that, her tone lacked confidence. Yisi pointed to the group, who were focused on their food, and then made a hushing gesture to Mary.

“Shh, I won’t tell anyone. Just don’t tell Pepe.”

“O-okay.”

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As if imagining herself being tied up and thrown into a pot of boiling oil, Mary nodded like a chick pecking at rice, her expression tense.

“This is for Charles I, this is for II… this is for VII. Something feels a little strange…”

When she got to the seventh, Andrea, who was distributing dinner to the Cerberuses, wore a complex expression. Although Yisi hadn’t told the Cerberuses that Andrea was someone close to her, they, as if they had eyes that could understand interpersonal relationships, wagged their tails and circled around her. The only one among the group who was not welcomed by the Cerberuses was Evelyn. But Yisi felt that the reason the Charleses ignored Evelyn was because on the way here, Evelyn had commented that they were too ugly.

Evelyn, chewing on her dinner, wore an expression as if she were enjoying the show.

“It’s a good thing there aren’t twenty-four of these dogs.”

Otherwise, they would have to be called the twenty-fourth, which would be the same as Evelyn’s title of the 24th Pope.

“Ahaha… the name is just a coincidence.”

I’ve always been bad at naming things.

“Lady Yisi, didn’t you give the Charleses a bath? Their fur should be white, but now it’s all gray…”

“Ah, I was just about to talk to you about that, Andrea. The Charleses are pets I found in this labyrinth. Just as you said, they should indeed be white, but it seems someone has painted them with black dye. And over time, without being groomed, they slowly turned into their current gray color. So I was hoping you could help them take a bath.”

Since she was going to entrust the Cerberuses to Andrea and Evelyn, she naturally had to ensure their status as masters, and also ensure that the dogs would be absolutely protective of them. In that case, bathing and feeding were naturally the best ways to foster a bond, which was also why Yisi had let Andrea do the feeding.

“Is it alright? Fire-attribute monsters hate water…”

Andrea’s words made Yisi pause.

Come to think of it, both cats and dogs seem to be afraid of water.

Yisi glanced at the nine Cerberuses, who were sitting obediently on the ground, panting with their tongues out and looking at her with their innocent black eyes.

Recalling that when she first met them, they had voluntarily jumped into the pool of water after she had sprinkled chili powder on them, Yisi silently nodded to herself. Even if they hate water, I can’t let them interact with Andrea in such a grimy state. That’s just too dirty.

Yisi showed a pure and flawless smile, without any impurities.

“It’s fine. They love to take a bath. When they first met me, they all happily jumped into the pool to swim, as if they were asking me to help them bathe.”

“Woof.”

As if sensing something, Charles I’s ears pricked up, and he stopped wagging his tail. His three heads barked in unison.

Andrea looked skeptical.

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“They don’t seem very willing…”

“You’re mistaken, Andrea. That’s the sound of joy and anticipation.”

Yisi took out a piece of earth dragon meat from her inventory, stood up, and, in a javelin-throwing posture, threw the meat towards the shore of the lake where the Sub-Whale lived. Charles I immediately dashed from the hill to the lakeside with the speed of a bullet. However, due to the excessive inertia from his dive, he couldn’t brake in time, and his body crashed into the lake, sending up a huge splash several meters high.

Yisi shrugged.

“See? They’re not afraid of water at all.”

“So that’s how it is. Then I’m relieved. As expected, Lady Yisi is always so considerate.”

Andrea gave a knowing smile.

Feeling a pang of guilt, Yisi averted her gaze. To be on the safe side, when Andrea was bathing them, I should probably watch from the side—holding the wooden stick I used to train them this afternoon.

As dinner was drawing to a close, the Charleses, who had eaten their fill and were sleeping in the sea of flowers, suddenly stood up. While baring their teeth, they let out a low growl towards the entrance of the guardian’s room.

Noticing the abnormality, Yisi and Andrea turned their heads.

Appearing in their field of vision was a group of monsters that looked very much like the “Sherbet Slime Dessert” Evelyn had brought out. They had small, round, milky-white bodies, with two snow-white rabbit ears on their heads. Since they were a type of slime, they had no legs and could only move by bouncing. The [Omniscient Map] showed that their levels were around twenty.

“So cute!”

Due to the Sherbet Slimes’ spherical appearance and their cute bouncing movements, Andrea’s attention was instantly captured. She quickly waved her hands at the Charleses, signaling them to be quiet. At this time, the others also noticed the presence of the slime group and stopped what they were doing.

“I didn’t expect Sherbet Slimes to actually exist in the world. I thought the name was just based on their appearance. They look so harmless. I wonder if they can be raised.”

“They must be so soft.”

“Delicious.”

The expression on Tiffany’s face as she licked her lips sent a chill down Yisi’s spine.

Those are your own kind, Tiffany…

It didn’t take long for the approximately thirty Sherbet Slimes to bounce to the dining table—mainly near the grill. It seemed this group of slimes had been attracted by the aroma of the roasted meat.

Although they looked very cute, slimes were, after all, omnivores. It wasn’t strange for them to eat meat.

As she was thinking this, Yisi watched as a Sherbet Slime hopped onto the dining table and was poked back and forth with a fork by a curious Evelyn. However, not only did the slime not flee from Evelyn’s actions, but it even moved closer, bouncing expectantly in front of her, as if asking for a hug.

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Pleased by the slime’s affectionate gesture, Evelyn extended her hand to it, making a gesture for it to hop into her palm.

“Hehe, as expected, cute things attract each other—Eeeeeek!!!”

Before Evelyn could finish her sentence, the originally fist-sized Sherbet Slime suddenly swelled up. Then, a huge mouth full of neat, sharp teeth suddenly appeared on its previously featureless body. Its cute appearance instantly became ferocious. It opened its mouth wide and bit down on Evelyn’s outstretched hand.

If Yisi hadn’t reacted quickly enough and pushed Evelyn, it would have been more than just a scratch on her finger.

“Ouch!”

“Tsk, I knew it wasn’t that simple. A monster is a monster, after all.”

Following closely behind the reacting Yisi, Edith picked up a dining knife, grabbed a Sherbet Slime by its rabbit ear, and cleanly sliced it in half.

But for a slime, as long as the attack didn’t hit its core, it wouldn’t cause any damage. The bisected body could even act separately for a short time. A total of more than thirty swollen Sherbet Slimes quickly made a mess of the dining table. Using a strategy of surrounding them, every four of them targeted one person.

“Onee-sama!”

“My lord!”

“Focus on the monsters. Don’t worry about me.”

“Worry about me instead!”

Compared to Yisi’s calmness, Evelyn, who was surrounded by the Sherbet Slimes, could only use her Staff of Divine Retribution as a close-combat weapon to defend herself. The slimes seemed to have seen through the fact that Evelyn was the weakest among them, and a total of six of them had split off to give her special attention.

Although there were more than thirty of them, with the current lineup, it wasn’t too difficult to deal with them. Yisi let go of her wariness. Not to mention that Laxy was present, the nine Charleses alone could annihilate all the slimes. However, what made Yisi not know whether to laugh or cry was that the Cerberuses were quite vengeful. Not a single one of them went to help Evelyn. Most of them were like a royal guard, surrounding Andrea.

Well, even if Evelyn can’t use magic, six Sherbet Slimes lacking in attack methods aren’t too much of a threat. After all, she isn’t just a magic chanter; besides magic, she also has martial skills.

Just as Yisi had predicted, after her companions reacted, they quickly turned the chaotic situation around. Camilla, Mary, and Laxy grouped up, while Edith formed another team with Refina. Andrea was protected by the Cerberuses and was completely unaffected. The Sherbet Slime in front of her had long since been vaporized by the flames from Charles I. The only one who left Yisi at a loss for words was Tiffany. The latter was not only not afraid of being bitten by the slimes, but was also very proactive in attacking. Whenever a careless slime appeared, Tiffany would quietly circle behind it and swallow it into her body.

Her experience was growing at a visible rate.

…Perhaps I should have the Charleses sit down. The experience from Sherbet Slimes is much higher than that of other monsters of the same level.

Haaah, I should go and help Evelyn.

Although the rare picnic had been ruined, her group had already eaten their fill. Looking at it from another angle, compared to a peaceful ending, a lively scuffle like this wasn’t bad either.

Gazing at her companions as they cleaned up the Sherbet Slimes, Yisi felt very content.