I look at Gramina, the harpy woman, and think about her status. She’s level one hundred fourteen, which is absolutely ridiculous. That means that she’s been fighting for a long time, at the very least. Though, her taboo could say otherwise. Maybe she’s killed and eaten a lot of other harpys? Who knows.

For some reason, I don’t really feel disgusted knowing that she’s a cannibal. Maybe it’s the motherly aura, or the slightly innocent smile she has while cooking. She definitely doesn’t look the cannibal type.

Looking at her, there’s really no way to tell that she’s a harpy. Yeah, her hair is feathery, but so are a lot of people’s. There’s no actual feathers anywhere on her body, at least none that are visible.

She also has big breasts, which, last I checked, birds do not have. Though, to be fair, I’m glad she’s not a Monster Musume harpy. I’d rather not deal with bird-brained harpies flying around laying eggs.

“So, what’s your name?”

Lulu speaks up from under my arm, barely peeking her face out. Gramina looks at her and gives her a smile while turning over the skewers,

“I’m Gramina. You can just call me Mina, though! How about you two?”

“I’m Lulura… And this is… My sister, Lilith. You can call me Lulu.”

I pay her head through her hoodie and say,

“And you can call me Lily!”

Mina nodded her head and handed us another set of five skewers, which Lulu and I devoured in seconds. While we ate, Mina continues talking,

“I’m surprised you guys are enjoying this so much! The last time someone enjoyed my cooking was before I left my parent’s nest-er-uh-I mean, Uhm, home!”

She’s a bit clumsy, huh? It’s kinda cute, honestly. She seems like a bit of a dork, but like she can get serious if she needs to. I nod my head,

“That makes sense. There’s not gonna be a lot of higher races out this close to the cult’s territory. Humans, especially, will find this disgusting because of the mana in the meat.”

I read a little on lesser, normal, and higher races with the system. Apparently, I can analyze words in the system as well, but most of them lead to nothing. I bring up the description again.

[Race Rankings: In the past, races were split between lesser, normal, and higher. Lesser races were those who gained between 0.5x and 1.5x stat points per level. Normal races were those who gained between 1.6x and 3x stat points per level. Higher races were those gained above 3x stat points per level. This system has since become antiquated as the general world has stopped using it. There are some skills left over from this point in time that are still gained today, but they are very rare.]

I see why this system would become antiquated. Anything that’s meant to draw distinctions of status between races is gonna lead to strife. Besides, it does nothing to take into account the general strength of the people of that race. I mean, humans are middle of the road, but are probably the most populous species on the planet, other than animal species. Us demons, while pretty strong, are exceptionally rare.

Humans have strength in numbers, while demons have individual strength. Not to mention, humans are still able to gain the strength to slay dragons. It’s much more rare, but still.

Mina looks at me with a bit of confusion before realization sets in,

“Wait, is that what lesser races means?”

I shake my head,

“Not quite. I assume you have a skill or title that allows you to cook monster meat like regular meat, correct? If it mentions the words ‘lesser races’, it’s an old skill. People don’t use those terms anymore, and the system doesn’t create skills based on that anymore. Basically, just know that most non-monster races will find the mana inside of the meat to taste awful.”

She nods her head and gives us another set of five skewers. We devour them quickly again. As she sets the next round out to cook, I see tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes again. She looks down and rubs her eyes to try and hide the tears from us, and mutters under her breath,

“You were right, brother… This dream was stupid…”

I look down at her with pity. It seems having people enjoy her cooking is really important to her. It sucks that this title couldn’t let her cook for everyone. While I stand there, Lulu suddenly gets out from under my arm and walks back behind Mina’s stall. Mina looks up at her a bit flustered, and scrambled to try and wipe the tears from her eyes while stumbling over her words,

“Ah! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t be-“

Lulu suddenly wraps her arms around her head and pulls her head into her chest while saying,

“Your cooking is incredible. Every bit of that food is the most incredible meal I’ve ever had, and it’s just street food skewers! I shudder at how delicious a full course meal cooked by you would be! You must really care about the food you cook if it tears you up so much that some people won’t enjoy it.”

Mina wraps her arms around Lulu’s waist, holding her there and crying into her chest with open sobs. Lulu rubs her head comfortingly while continuing to give her words of encouragement. At this point, I feel like Lulu is more of a mother figure than I could ever be. Should I start calling her mommy or something?

After a few seconds of crying, Mina pulls back and wipes her eyes before saying,

“Thank you… I needed that… I really wanna keep cooking… Learning the different ways to cook different meats is always fun and makes me so, so happy. The way the herbs, meat, veggies, and sauces all come together in a beautiful orchestra of flavor… I just wish everyone else could enjoy the taste as well…”

This time, I come up to her and pat the top of her head before saying,

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that one day you’ll make a dish so delicious that even a human royal will love it! Especially if this is what you’re able to make now!”

She looks up at the two of us and begins to blush. She speaks out with embarrassment, 

“Thank you…”

Lulu looks up at me with a frown before saying,

“I don’t think other foods are gonna taste nearly as good to us now, sadly.”

I nod my head and let out a sigh,

“Yeah… I shudder to think of what you’ll say about my cooking while we travel now.”

Suddenly, Mina reaches out and grabs my hand, holding it in her own before saying,

“Wh-where are you guys going?!”

I take a second to recover from the shock and think for a few seconds before saying,

“Maybe Gulfhaven. We’ve got a friend from there, and I’d like to see the sea with Lulu.”

Mina suddenly starts to drool and get lost in her own thoughts. She looks off into space, before suddenly letting out an ‘Ah!’ and wiping her mouth.

“I hear that Gulfhaven has a lot of really strong sea monsters in its waters. I bet they’d taste delicious! If you don’t mind, could I tag along with you?”

I look over to Lulu, who is vigorously nodding her head with a bit of drool leaving her lips. I look over to her for a second before saying,

“Uh. Can you give us a second?”

She looks a little down but nods her head. I grab Lulu’s arm and bring her over a little further away, out of earshot. I look at her and say,

“I want her to join us, too. But… If she does, she has to know about us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could hold in my lust till we get to Gulfhaven.”

Lulu’s face grows grim as she realizes this. She shakes her head and blushes slightly saying,

“I… Don’t think I could either… But, I really want her to travel with us… It feels like something is telling me that she HAS to come with us! Like it was fate or something…”

I nod my head and rub the top of hers,

“I know, baby girl. I do too. She may not have the same morals as the other people around us, so she might accept us more easily. I checked her status, she’s a harpy. They’re a monster race.”

She looks at me with wide eyes and then back to Mina. She reads her status and then blinks a lot before saying,

“Holy shit, she’s strong! Wait… She’s a cannibal?!”

I nod my head and put a hand on her head,

“Yes, she is. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think she’s a bad person. Maybe monsters view cannibalism differently? Kinda like how some tribes on earth practiced cannibalism. I heard a tribe had the belief that by consuming the flesh of the dead, they’d live on through you. Maybe it’s that kind of situation?”

Lulu nods her head,

“Yeah, maybe… But still… I don’t think I’d feel safe sleeping near her now…”

I shake my head,

“We’re not harpies, are we? I think we’ll be fine. Though, that could change if she hates demons as much as everyone else. Plus, showing her the ‘proof’ that we don’t have a taboo should be enough for her to accept our relationship.”

Lulu thinks for a second, putting her thumb against her adorable chin. Eventually she sighs and nods her head,

“Honestly, with how good she cooks, I’m willing to overlook the cannibal thing. Besides, like you said; monster culture might be different.”

She shrugs her shoulders and puts her hands on her hips, balancing most of her weight on one leg. Something about this pose makes me feel a bit worked up. Maybe it’s the way she’s got her hip angled? Maybe it’s the fact that I can see some of her thighs from under her dress? Bah, who knows?

I nod my head and wrap my arms around Lulu in a hug. She feels a little confused, but wraps her arm around me as well as I plant a kiss on her forehead. I pull back after a few seconds and look down at her. She looks away from me with a blush before stammering,

“Wh-what was that for?”

I smile and rub the top of her head through her hood,

“You were too precious, baby girl.”

She puffs up her cheeks and pulls her hood down to hide her face. I smile at her and chuckle a little bit before wrapping my arm around her and turning around to walk back to Mina, only to see-

*CRASH!*