"That day's melancholy, becoming melancholy."
"That day's loneliness, becoming lonely."
"..."
In the deep night, in the inn's kitchen.
Working in the dark, Gut hummed the terrible tune from his memory while squeezing an entire lemon with its peel.
Only after extracting enough juice from the crushed lemon to make that flavor of ice cream did Gut stop humming.
After making several other flavors in succession and orderly placing them in two containers to freeze, Gut finally stretched and returned to his room to continue sleeping.
A few hours later.
The prepared ice cream should have been frozen to the optimal texture for consumption under the dual effects of time and temperature.
Gut first took out his own portion from the freezer, hastily ate it all, and after confirming there were no problems, took out the portion made for his teacher.
Out of the caution a qualified cook should have, before delivering it to the diner, Gut first opened the lid to take a look.
Inside the metal ice cream container, three different flavored ice creams were neatly arranged together. Though connected to each other, they were clearly separated by their different colors.
His craftsmanship was truly exquisite.
After sighing in admiration twice, Gut, who should have closed the container, suddenly felt it was somewhat too plain. His gaze swept around the inn's kitchen and locked onto decorative mint leaves.
Going forward to pick a small clean leaf, Gut placed it in the center of the three-colored ice cream.
Mm, perfect!
[Ding!]
[Talent trait [Otherworld Culinary God] successfully triggered]
[Delicious Three-Colored Ice Cream (Enchanted)]
[Score: 79 points]
[Description: A work with fairly skilled preparation techniques. Excellent milk sources ensure its rich and pure flavor; appropriate freezing time gives it a soft and light texture; the arrangement of three different flavored ice creams brings sufficiently rich layers]
[Effect: Can cool and reduce heat after consumption. Rich fats and sugars can quickly replenish energy while making people feel pleasant]
[Enchantment Effect: After consumption, temporarily greatly enhances ice magic power boost; moderately improves physical recovery speed; slightly improves vitality (enhancement effects last two hours)]
"This..."
Looking at this ice cream that had inadvertently received system trait enhancement and was glowing with a shimmering light, Gut fell silent.
Last time it appeared at the beginning of cooking, this time it appeared at the end.
The triggering of the Otherworld Culinary God talent trait was truly random.
After sighing twice, Gut placed this "delicious enough to glow" dish in a food box, and also brought some freshly baked bread and warm milk from the kitchen to take to Serie.
As for "keeping this enchanted ice cream as a weapon for dangerous moments," Gut had considered this idea.
However, the system space couldn't store external items, and ice cream, being a rapidly melting food, naturally didn't have the property of long-term preservation.
Additionally, he had promised it to the elf yesterday, so the idea of withholding the ice cream fell away moments after rising.
"Knock-knock—"
After lightly knocking twice on the elf's door, there was still the usual silent response. Gut, already accustomed to this, pulled out his teacher's door key from his pocket and openly pushed the door open.
On the bed, today the elf unusually hadn't kicked the blanket to the floor.
However, the pillow that should have been under her head had somehow ended up in the elf's arms.
At the position where it contacted the elf's mouth, a faint wet mark could be seen.
"Mm, truly enviable."
After a final glance at the heavily "oppressed" pillow, Gut set down the food box and sat in the chair at the table as usual, no longer trying to wake his teacher.
The elf's perception was very sharp - when he knocked, teacher's consciousness had probably already awakened.
Her unwillingness to wake up was just the elf's laziness in getting up. If he thoughtlessly went forward to disturb her at this time, he would get an extremely grumpy magical old-timer with severe morning mood.
So he just needed to wait quietly beside her. Teacher would move on her own.
Sure enough, after hugging the pillow and rolling around several times, stepping with her jade feet and kicking the blanket off the bed again, the elf yawned loudly, stretched, then walked down from the bed barefoot in her pajamas.
"Pat-pat—"
Serie walked barefoot on the floor to her disciple's side at the desk.
After taking the lunch box prepared for her, Serie glanced at her disciple's actions, saw that Gut was studying the drafts on her desk, and nodded slightly in approval.
Then Serie reached out to pull from the desk the magic book recording the magic Reparo that her disciple had brought earlier, returning it to its original owner while saying:
"I've roughly mastered this special magical system."
"If you have any doubts while studying, you can come ask me anytime."
"If... you really have any."
Hearing his teacher's words that were still testing and teasing him even now, Gut helplessly shrugged and replied:
"Teacher, there should be more trust between teacher and disciple."
"Right, I think so too."
Looking at the elf's eyes that said "I know you're hiding big secrets," Gut was quite helpless and had no desire to continue explaining.
Anyway, teacher hadn't guessed wrong...
Holding the lunch box her disciple had prepared for her, the elf sat on the bed, opened it, and prepared to enjoy it beautifully.
However...
Looking at the three-colored ice cream emitting a shimmering glow inside the metal container, Serie fell silent.
The elf looked up at her disciple, pointing at the ice cream in the container with her spoon, the meaning already clear.
"Teacher, just eat it with confidence. There's absolutely no problem."
Looking at her disciple's resolute eyes, then looking down at the still-glowing ice cream.
Finally, Serie chose to trust her disciple, carefully scooping up a small bit with her spoon and putting it in her mouth.
However, the moment this cold, creamy fragrance contacted her lips and teeth, the elf's body involuntarily trembled.
"What is... this feeling..."
"So cold, my head feels completely cool."
"So hot, my entire body feels heated up..."
"Eep—"
As this spoonful of ice cream entered her body, the elf couldn't help but let out a soft moan, even her complexion becoming somewhat flushed.
"Delicious, but why is even my breathing becoming heavy..."
"Gut, what exactly did you put in this ice cream?"
The elf questioned breathlessly. This body heating reaction reminded her of certain magical potions used as aphrodisiacs during intimate moments.
"Ah?" Seeing the elf in this state, Gut was also somewhat confused.
"I added... a little bit of love?"
The word love probably made the elf incorrectly confirm her suspicion.
While the "aphrodisiac potion" effect hadn't yet affected her thinking, the elf decisively cast a strong binding magic at her disciple.
The next moment, the familiar binding sensation struck again.
Before Gut could explain, he found himself firmly fixed to the chair, unable to move even with all his strength.
"No, I really just..."
Some time later.
"So you're saying teacher really misunderstood you?"
"What else?" Gut said without good humor. "You also said to strengthen trust between teacher and disciple. Teacher, is this really the kind of image you have of your disciple?"
Faced with her disciple's counter-question, the elf pondered for a moment before nodding. "Pretty much."
"Though not quite to that extent, if you really did this someday, I probably wouldn't be too surprised."
Gut: ...
"Regardless, teacher, this time you didn't trust your disciple. I need compensation!"
Enjoying the delicious breakfast her disciple had prepared for her, Serie didn't avoid this due compensation and readily agreed.
"Alright, what do you want?"
"Emm..." Gut stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, suddenly having a good idea.
"Teacher, I want you to help clean my ears. The movements should be slow and gentle."
"Mm— that's quite unexpected. Are you sure you want this kind of compensation?"
"That's right."
"Very well." Serie put away the lunch box, went to the vanity to wash up, took out several cotton swabs from the cabinet, and walked to sit on the bed.
Patting her smooth, fair thighs, the elf said to her disciple:
"Come up, rest your head here."
"Gulp—" Gut swallowed, looking at those dazzling white thighs, hesitating. "This... isn't this inappropriate?"
"You're right." The elf thought about it - according to human standards, this level of contact was indeed somewhat intimate.
"Then how about I put a pillow on my legs? You might be even more comfortable."
"Please absolutely do not do anything so unnecessary."
Gut said not another useless word and directly lay down.
Feeling the wonderful sensation beneath his head, Gut was greatly moved and wanted to take a deep breath, but a big slap came down.
"Be honest."
"Your ears are in my hands."
"Alright..."
After being disciplined, Gut also became well-behaved, no longer moving around, and began properly enjoying his teacher's "service."
Actually speaking honestly, teacher Serie's ear-cleaning technique couldn't be called very good.
Or rather, it was too pure.
The elf's ear-cleaning was only for the single purpose of cleaning the ears; unlike the professional technicians from his previous life who used various tools and movements, with the main goal of relaxing customers' spirits, ear-cleaning being just the final result of this process, not the purpose.
However, some things and experiences depend on "who" is "doing what."
Even though the ear-cleaning process wasn't particularly wonderful, the person cleaning his ears was Serie, and that was enough.
Just like in his previous life's foot washing, what mattered wasn't the foot washing, but those poor souls with tragic backstories of "father gambling, mother sick, brother studying."
At the same time, at the Continental Magic Association.
The girl tugged at her brother Hafka beside her, saying quietly:
"Serie and Mr. Gut are so late today. They wouldn't have encountered some trouble, would they?"
"I guess probably not."
Looking at the candidates gathering outside the hall as examination time approached, Hafka answered calmly.
"With teacher Serie's abilities, there probably isn't anything in the entire Holy Capital that could trouble her."
"Oh, wait."
"If we're really talking about it, there actually is one thing."
With Gut's figure surfacing in his mind, Hafka slowly added.
"What? Brother always likes to stop talking halfway."
Hafka's abrupt pause made the girl complain dissatisfiedly.
"But brother, have you heard an urban legend these past days?"
"They say that during morning hours in the Holy Capital, a masked figure will suddenly appear on the streets, completely ignoring people's inquiries around him, and disappear again after a few seconds."
"They say many witnesses have seen his existence."
"What do you think he is, brother? A rare demi-human gentleman? Some special creature? Or... could there be demon spies who've infiltrated the city?"
"Stop thinking nonsense. It's just a careless mage from the southern nations."
"He was controlled by city defense personnel on the first day of examinations for violating the Holy Capital's regulations by illegally using the mountain tribes' High-Speed Movement Magic within the city."
After explaining, Hafka sighed and tapped his sister's forehead with his finger, saying:
"What goes on in that little head all day? How could there be so many special creatures in this world?"
"Moreover, the Holy Capital's city defense barrier was established during the mythological age and is said to be connected to the Goddess herself. The possibility of demon infiltration is nearly impossible."
"Hehe." The girl stuck out her tongue embarrassedly and acted cute beside her brother.
"I don't pay attention to news like brother does."
"Anyway, I have brother with me."
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Powerstones?
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