After an hour of explaining, James and Melinda stopped pestering me about what happened. Verd had to explain some parts, professionally removing the fact we got attacked. He kept winking at me too to follow up his words. Not so subtle, Verd.
Unfortunately, for all of us, the busy day has not ended. I really want to lay down…
But, they needed my help regardless. Wanna know what it was? Cooking, they need my help with god damn cooking.
I wasn't that bad at cooking in my previous life, but I wouldn't call myself good either. I just learnt to make basic things so I wouldn't starve to death.. Though I did get lazy most of the time and just made cup noodles.. In any case.
First, Jin with the help of Shaun skinned the deer. I had to look away and cover my nose as I watched this. It was disgusting watching them cut the pelt at first. My animalkin senses were an issue in a situation like this.
Due to the intensity I sat far away, sitting near the tent of Shen. She came after a couple of minutes, followed by everyone else.
The closest to me was her, then everyone else made a circle. Is everyone bored or something?
"You're easily readable, you know that right?" Shen asked me, her knee was up, resting on it was her elbow. In addition, she smiled at me, something that was giving me a bad feeling.
"What are you trying to say?"
"C'mon miss Grumpkina.." Shen let out, she was now resting her head on her hand. Seriously, what the fuck is she getting at?
And why am I being called Grumpkina? I thought as I glared at her. For some reason, that nickname got on my nerves. And obviously, she could see that, showing that by not batting an eye.
"Um, Miss Shen, what are you try- Ow?!" James tried to ask her, but Melinda jabbed his side with her elbow. "What was that for?"
"Don't stick your nose into it."
"...Fine…"
"Oh, Miss Gabri, has Mister James not realized?"
"My husband is a little dense…"
Why does it seem like these two are planning…? Huh.
Melinda had an annoyed, but playful look. She had a serious expression, but ever so slightly, I could see the smile forming. Even though her eyebrows were furrowed, they were forced.
I could feel a slight prang in my stomach; something was going to be said, that's what it was saying. And none other-
"Mister James, have you not seen anything- Different that happens to Yukina every month?"
"Wait." I tried to interrupt her, my face was becoming warm. Now I understand! I'm not going to let her say anything!
Or so I'd say, but my attempts were futile… I felt my stomach drop, even after I tried to cut her off, my voice came to nothing.
Thus… it was announced that I was on my period. I could feel my face becoming steaming hot. My hands instantly became itchy…
Before I could comprehend what I wanted to do, my hand had slid across Shen's face. In which, she only let out an "oh?" Oh my ass?!
Who the hell announces someone's period to an entire group?! Is she insane?! Can't you see that I wanted to keep it a secret?!?!
And of course I couldn't say this all to her; her face instantly switched to a serious look. She wasn't smiling anymore, instead, she had a deep frown.
And now, I was forced onto my knees; Melinda was standing above me, with Shen next to her whilst she crossed her arms.
I was forced to apologize, once, twice and a third time. However, I lost count… My face was red the entire time, and I didn't want to.
By the time I was allowed up, the skinning was done. We needed a way of cooking it, so Shen brought out a rather large pot. It was big enough for different chunks of the doe.
But we needed two people to hold it.
"Yukina, can you keep your hand there for a moment?" Sage requested. Underneath the large pot, I rested my hands. Isn't there some magic item to summon flames?
There was barely any room for my hands to fit. Cramped, feet hurting… I am some lighter for them… But, thank god the pot we were using was being held.
One side was Shen, she was holding it with one hand; Jin was next to her, holding a bucket of magic filled water. On the other side was Shaun and Vivienna.
Seriously, does no one else have a magic item or skill? I thought to myself, at the signal I lit my hand on fire. I controlled it, keeping it at a high heat. Just enough for a blue flame to lick the bottom of the pot.
I felt someone touch my back, refilling my mana capacity quickly. Due to the intense heat my palm of flames radiated, the pot was beginning to boil; bubbles popped into my ears, I turned my head to the two holding the pot.
Shen had a white light healing her hand, ignoring the immense burning that the pot gave her. Shaun now had gloves protecting his calloused hands, they were thick hide gloves, it did its job.
Once this was sufficiently heated, I was allowed to my feet. Isn't this way… too hot?
The water was sizzling, causing steam to waft into the air.
For the next step, they called me over with the rest of the girls… Now, my next job was skinning different vegetables.
Onions, carrots, and some more. I was tasked with chopping the onions.
In my past life, I never did chop any onions. I was lost at first, they just handed me a knife, saying have at it essentially. And the summary did not end well, for everyone but me.
As I started, I thought onions were meant to make me cry. I was wholeheartedly ready to. However, nothing happened, I split it into two, then fourths… and so on.
I didn't shed a single tear for this tiny little thing. As I continued, I heard the sniffling nearby, then felt someone grab my hand. This resulted in me looking up, Melinda had my hand in hers.
Her eyes were red, and there were wet marks on her cheeks. She held my hand, and asked me; "Have you ever cut onions before..?"
In which, I replied. "No…"
With that, she showed me how to. First, we needed to trim the top end; slice a bit off of the end root; next, we cut it in half lengthwise. These onions didn't have any skin, so we just had to cut it properly.
We commenced the dicing, causing me to stare at the leftover onions. Did they give me the easiest job? I wondered.
There was not much, there were around seven to eight onions. Seeing how fast I can do this, I'll be done in a minute or two…
Anyways, I did my own little job without much issue. At the final part, I put all of the diced onions into a wooden bowl.
Thus did my job conclude. Alas, I took a seat far from the group, watching them.
Everyone was chatting and doing their jobs, Melinda and Allisa were washing vegetables. The two little kids helping with them, James, Jin and Verd were talking away whilst separating the meat for the pot.
Whilst Shen and Shaun held the pot up with no issue. I can't imagine how much it weighs.
I'm bored… It didn't take long for me to get bored of sitting here. There wasn't anything to alleviate that boredom, no one called me over; no one needed help, they all had the help they needed.
I think I just need the rest then.After all… it's been a little busy.No, that's a lie, we all need the rest.
I laid back on the grass, staring at the sky idly. It was a beautiful orange, showing that the day was ready to turn to night.
It was pretty aimless to be honest, I don't know how long I laid there; due to nothing for me to do, I found it aimless and a killer of time.
You may be thinking, why can't you practice magic? I don't feel like it, and it would merely distract everyone else.
I wonder what spells I would have for the future?My spells seem to be slightly diverse… I thought as I raised my hand to the sky. My two type- well three, they are different.
The logic of this magic system slightly… broke. I thought fire was meant for mainly damaging spells, but I somehow gained a healing spell from it. That was a logic breaker there.
But, then again, I don't know much about this world, huh? Not like I can do that, there's been so much going on… with this trip, and learning only about the people around me. Conversely, I found Shen, who was my old History Teacher from back home.
As I rested here, I could feel my eyes droop. The past year has been exhausting, I feel-
"Yukinaa, it's time to do a little taste test~" I heard Melinda's voice ring out— the sky was already dark, and the moon was shining down on us.
Eh? What happened here?! I can only assume I fell asleep without realizing… but I was woefully aware of my surroundings.
"You're going to miss dinner if you stay laying there, silly."
"I'm coming…" I responded as I got to my feet. For some reason, I don't feel like I fell asleep. My head was clear, plus my body didn't feel tired.
Anyways, I got to the tiny campfire we had. Everyone was sitting around it, even Shen, she had a wooden bowl like everyone else.
Taste test? They finished it when I was asleep. How the heck am I going to taste test?
I was handed a bowl, it had a brownish broth, with onions, carrots and tomatoes in it. Of course, a chunk of venison in it. For what it was, it looked tasty.
There was a loud slap on Verd's shoulder; they wanted Him and I to do the taste test. Afterall, we hunted the deer down, then we both contributed a bit to the cooking.
Eventually, I took a sip of the broth; it was savory, tasting exactly as I could picture. Hearty, going down easily, it left a warmth in my stomach.
What was I expecting…? I thought as I used a fork to grab the venison. Was I expecting something odd? Probably, since Melinda contributed and all.
And here came the best part, the venison. Its taste was oddly refreshing, the meat wasn't chewy, nor was it soft. After a few bites it went down smoothly.
As for its taste, it rivaled the best food in my past life. The meat was rich in flavor, slightly earthy, but that didn't diminish its flavor.
I heard the clacking of utensils, but I stayed focused on my food. My stomach was quite empty, so I wanted to finish mine. Although, my body didn't need much to eat.
Just half of the venison, and the broth filled my stomach. This went with any food I had in this world, even if I had no liquids.
I wish I had a bigger stomach…
It's downright depressing! What is? That I have to waste this food, its taste is otherworldly…No pun intended.
"You gonna finish that?" Shaun asked me, his bowl was spotless. In response I shook my head and handed it to him. With a smile, he accepted it and thanked me.
And so, half an hour later everyone had finished their meals; I don't know what else to think, I just watched bored, listening to their random chatter.
Wait, does Shen even eat? I turned my head towards her, her back was towards us all. And my impulses went off, and my voice slipped through. "Master Shen, can you even eat?"
Her back jolted up. "I can't eat normal food."
Her response had me tilt my head, and she obviously could tell; as a result turning around, wiping something red off her lips. Blood.
"I don't think that's a good question to ask her, Yukina."
"Eh? She's a vampire though, I think that's something we should all be wondering about!"
"Miss Yukina, I'll answer your question then, " Shen responded, tipping her bowl down for me to see. "As you can see, this is what I can eat… Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
And that's disgusting! Ew, I should NOT have asked!
Inside her bowl was a mostly eaten, RAW piece of venison, with its blood pooling around! It wasn't just disgusting, it made my spine tingle.
"I-I thought vampires… just needed blood..."
"We do need it, but I can eat raw meat from animals."
"...I have so much to learn…" I clutched my head, lowering it. In addition, I felt a headache coming, unintentionally causing me to curse.
Melinda rubbed my back, as everyone else silently laughed at my agony. Even the culprit of it: Shen had a small chuckle. This world has so much weird information to learn.
And I feel that it'll just cause my head to literally and metaphorically explode. Furthermore, what Shen suggested next was going to be my worst nightmare.
Or in other words, more magic training, this time with a special guest! My adopted and new father, James… who has the worst explanations of all time.