Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.1 Chapter 3.8

“Um… Why did Ares call me?”

Beautiful, yet sharp golden eyes stared at me as if piercing through.

“…I’ve been tainted.”

“Huh?”

Tainted? What does that mean? Is he injured?

But I don’t see any wounds anywhere on his body.

“My body is being consumed by the taint. I was trying to wait here to recover, but then that man came.”

Ares pointed his beak behind me.

“Huh?”

When I turned around—ah, I see. Kiril was standing there, looking puzzled.

“I was just resting here. Then that man showed up. Even when I told him to leave, he wouldn’t go. By chance, he offered me that fruit water you made, and my recovery sped up.”

“!?”

I knew it. Maybe the “healing” power Simon mentioned is gradually getting stronger.

“I don’t actually need to consume anything. I just wanted to meet the person who made it.”

Saying that, Ares lowered his head tiredly.

What is this… He’s not exactly injured, but he seems incredibly weakened.

That “chosen one” thing he mentioned earlier, and the “taint”… I don’t really understand, but… maybe it’s best to fill his stomach first.

“Um… I brought a lot of food and drinks today. Would you like to eat?”

When I said that, Ares looked at me with interest. I hurriedly peeked into my backpack.

“Lulu, I want to prepare the meal.”

“Ruu~”

Lulu, who had been lying down inside the backpack, quickly started gathering the supplies.

The Pipi birds chirped and grabbed the items Lulu had collected, flying over.

“Piyoo!”

The Pipi birds popped out from the bag. But when they saw the gryphon, they seemed a little startled.

“…Piyo?”

“Pii.”

“Piu…”

Frightened, they slowly retreated behind me.

The Mokomotts peeked out from behind me, looking up at the gryphon.

“…You’ve tamed creatures like these as well?”

“Um, well… a lot happened, and they just ended up following me…”

“They’re quite plump, aren’t they?”

Ugh. Even Ares said that.

“Creatures like you wouldn’t even taste good if I ate you.”

At those words, the Mokomotts finally relaxed and came out. It seemed they thought they were going to be eaten.

Lastly, Lulu appeared, poking out of the bag with a basket in its mouth.

“!”

Lulu seemed surprised as well.

“Ru?”

“…”

Ares and Lulu stared at each other.

“…A Carbuncle child, huh?”

“Roon.”

“You chose a good master.”

“Ru!”

The two somehow found common ground and got along well.

Lulu happily wagged its tail and nodded eagerly.

“Lulu, can you line them up here?”

I spread out the sheet I brought on the ground and had Lulu and the others help with the preparations.

With Ruri and Dan’s cooperation, we made plenty of food and drinks.

The dishes included the spinach and bacon quiche I practiced making recently, sandwiches filled with fresh leafy greens and meat from a monster called a Porkul, and a mix of steamed chicken and crispy green onions…

The dishes weren’t too fancy, but I made up for it with plenty of quantity.

As for drinks, I brought lots of cold lemonade, fruit vinegar, milkshakes made from eggs and milk, and smoothies.

I might have gone a bit overboard, thinking it’d be trouble if something happened in the dungeon.

“…Huh?”

But upon closer inspection, the food and drinks seemed to be gradually disappearing…

“Did you… eat some?”

When I asked, Lulu and the others gave me sheepish grins. So they ate it…

As I sighed in disbelief, Ares, who was right in front of me, suddenly became enveloped in a golden light.

“!?”

As I stood there in shock, the light gradually faded, and from within, a man emerged.

“…!”

He was a beautiful man with long golden hair braided neatly. His sharp eyes were very familiar. As I stood there, speechless, he looked at me and smiled.

“It seems you all are quite afraid of me.”

“Eh, Ares…?”

“Rejoice. I’ve decided to match your form, just for you. This is also one of my appearances…”

“Amazing! You can turn into a human too!”

“I wonder how long it’s been since I last took this form. Consider it special.”

I did think it was cool… but… he’s not fluffy anymore…

A little disappointing…