Chapter 2
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    Hildebrand just sat there for a minute in confusion, before he realized what she had said. When he did, he shot to his feet and shouted "WHAT?! Why not?!"

"I don't wanna." She said simply.

"But, if the Demon Lord isn't stopped, the world will likely be destroyed!"

"Why should I care?"

"You'll be destroyed too!"

"No way. The barrier will stop any demons from getting too close."

"Mistress, I must say that I agree with Sir Hildebrand." Nesta said.

"No! I don't wanna! Fighting is scary!"

"Don't you care that thousands of people will die?" Hildebrand asked.

"Why? I don't know them."

"B-but..."

"Mistress, if I may point out, if the world were destroyed, it would make getting food very difficult." Nesta chimed in.

"Ugh." Gwyn groaned. "That's true, but..."

'It seems like the only thing she really cares about is food. In that case...' Hildebrand thought, starting to create a plan.

"I understand." Hildebrand sighed, "I suppose I should go and let the King know that you refuse to help."

"Exactly!" Gwyn said.

"What?" Nesta exclaimed, looking at me in confusion.

"Well, thank you for the meal Lady Gwyn. It was... alright." He said, pausing before the last word.

"Huh? Just alright?" Gwyn asked, her head tilting in confusion.

"Indeed. I thought it was cooked perfectly." Nesta added, clearly trying to figure out what Hildebrand was up to.

"Oh, it was cooked great. It was just, sort of... bland." He said, shrugging.

"Wait, you mean you usually eat even yummier food?!" Gwyn shouted, shooting to her feet.

"Yes." He replied calmly. "If you want, I could make you something. I'm not a chef, but I do know a little bit."

"Yes! Do it! Do it! Do it!" Gwyn demanded, jumping up and down.

"Mistress, mind your manners!" Nesta scolded.

"Alright, I'll try, but you might not have the right ingredients." He warned.

"We get new food every month! I'm sure we've got the right stuff!" Gwyn exclaimed, ducking down to run under the table.

"Mistress!" Nesta exclaimed.

Ignoring her, Gwyn grabbed Hildebrand's hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

"Hold on Mistress, you have not yet finished your brocoli." Nesta said, standing as well.

"Who cares? He's gonna make me something yummy!"

"It doesn't matter, you still need to eat your broccoli. I will escort him to the kitchen while you finish eating. I expect your plate to be empty when I return." She said, pushing Gwyn back towards her spot at the table before leading me into the kitchen. Once there, she started talking again. "Now then Sir Hildebrand, what exactly are you doing?"

"Sorry for not talking to you first, but it seemed like the only thing she really cares about is food, so I thought if I made something delicious, I might be able to convince her to fight the Demon Lord for recipes." Hildebrand explained. "I know it's a long shot, but it's the only thing I could think of. Oh, what kind of food does she like? Sweet? Spicy?"

"Then you were serious when you said the food was bland?"

"Yeah."

"It seems the food outside the manor has progressed quite a bit. I had no idea."

"Yeah, from what The Great Sage said, and how she acted, I figured that the food quality earlier was normal for here."

"I told you, call me Gwyn!" A voice said from behind Hildebrand.

He spun around, expecting to see Gwyn standing in the doorway, but no one was there.

"Sorry, she has a bad habit of projecting her voice across the house." Nesta sighed, shaking her head. "On top of that, her hearing is extremely sensitive."

"That's... kind of creepy." Hildebrand muttered quietly.

"Yes, it is creepy, as well as bad mannered." She replied, raising her voice and turning her head towards the dining room.

"No, it's funny!" Gwyn countered.

“I swear, she wasn’t like this when she was an actual child.” Nesta groaned, rubbing her forehead. “Oh, and she loves sweets.”

“It’s fine, it’s good that she’s so lively.” he chuckled, starting to look through the cabinets.

“What are you looking for sir?” A robotic voice said from behind him. Turning around, he saw a feminine android.

“Oh, some spices please.”

“Understood.” It said, moving two cabinetes down from where he was searching. “Here they are sir.”

“Thank you.” he said, looking through what they had as the android bowed and backed away.

“Excuse me, Sir Hildebrand, but what did you mean when you said it was good that the young Mistress is so lively?” Nesta asked curiously.

“Oh, well, where I grew up, there were a lot of kids that were depressed and lifeless. It was incredibly sad to see. That’s why it’s good that she’s so lively; it means she’s happy.”

“I see, I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Nesta murmured.

“Huh, that’s a surprise.” Hildebrand muttered.

“Is it really?”

“Oh, no, not that. It’s just that you have all the spices of a first rate kitchen.”

“Like the Mistress said, we get deliveries of the freshest foods every month.” Nesta explained.

“Then why haven’t you been using them?”

“Actually, now that I think of it, their programming hasn’t been updated since the Mistress sealed her powers a few centuries ago.”

“That would explain it; they don’t know what to do with them.” He chuckled, grabbing the ones he needed.

“So you’re a good cook, right?” Gwyn’s voice said from directly behind him.

“She really does that a lot, doesn’t she?”

“No, this time she’s actually behind you.” Nesta said.

“Huh?” He said, turning around. “Ah!” He cried, startled at seeing Gwyn’s face only an inch away from his. He drew his sword instinctively, swinging it at her neck.

“Ahahahahah! Gotcha!” Gwyn laughed, jumping backwards to avoid the blade. 

Now that he had some space, Hildebrand saw that she was standing on a pillar of ice that hadn’t been there before.

“You surprised me! I could’ve killed you!” He yelled, lowering my sword. ‘Hold on, how is that possible? I didn’t sense her at all! And that pillar, she had to have used magic, but I didn’t feel anything!’

“No you wouldn’t. See.” She said, pointing at his sword as she jumped down from the pillar.

“Huh?” He murmured, following her hand. His eyes widened when he saw that his sword was encased in ice.

“See? Even if you did hit me, you wouldn’t have killed, or even really hurt me.” She said, touching the ice pillar and the ice around his sword, both collapsing at her touch. “Besides, what kind of master swordsman would you be if you couldn’t even stop before hitting me?”

“It was still dangerous!” He exclaimed before pausing. “Hold on, what makes you think I’m a master swordsman? And how did you freeze my sword?”

“Well, the sword froze cuz of my barrier, and the swordsman thing, you have a sword.” She said as though it was perfectly obvious.

“But just because I have a sword, it doesn’t mean I’m a master.”

“No, but you said a king sent you here about the Demon Lord, so you must be pretty strong, right?”

“I suppose…” He murmured, sheathing his sword.

“Yep! I’m pretty smart, huh?” She said proudly, hopping up to sit on the counter.

“Mistress.” Nesta said warningly.

“Aw c’mon! I wanna watch him cook~!” Gwyn whined.

“Either you get off the counter on your own, or I will.” Nesta growled, spreading her feathers threateningly.

“Fine.” Gwyn groaned, hopping down.

“Good. Now, did you finish your broccoli?” 

“While you’re cooking, I’ma go play!” Gwyn announced, running out of the kitchen.

“Mistress!” Nesta exclaimed, exasperatedly, as Hildebrand chuckled to himself.

“This should only take about 15 minutes to cook, so it’ll be done soon.” He said, grabbing the ingredients he needed.

“May I ask what you’re making?” Nesta asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Just some vegetables.”

“And you think this will make her change her mind?”

“I hope so.”

“I see. Anyway, as far as that goes, you don’t have to convince her to actually fight the Demon Lord.”

“What?” He exclaimed, turning to look at her. “But, that’s the whole reason I came here. Plus, without her strength, I’m not sure we’ll stand a chance against him.”

“Just convince her to unseal her powers. Once she’s back to her normal self, I guarantee she’ll fight the Demon Lord herself.” Nesta explained.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” He said, turning back to cutting up the ingredients.

“Perfect. Now, I’m going to see if I can get her to finish her broccoli.” Nesta said, turning to leave the kitchen.

“Wait, how should I let you know when I’m finished?”

“Just tell C20000 and she’ll alert us.” Nesta said, gesturing to one of the androids as she walked away.

“Ok, can do.” He nodded, continuing to cook.

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