Once the main course was fully prepared, I began making simple desserts. The only one I could make under such short notice was my signature dessert, the amazing strawberry ice cream.

"Done and done!"

"There were some suspicious looking ingredients. Are you sure it's edible?" Mera looked between me and the foods I cooked.

Strictly speaking, it was mostly Blueberry and Blackberry who labored and I was merely directing them. Even so, as the head chef, it was my responsibility to make sure my customers were satisfied.

"Why do you ask? All the foods here you've been eating for the past... I don't know... days? They were all created by me using the same method."

"Eh!?"

She was absolutely shocked as if this was her first time hearing it.

"Mera, don't tell me you didn't know?"

"But... I thought they were from... Never mind!"

"Let me just clarify. I created the ingredients, all of them. None of them were brought from the outside world or gathered from nature..."

She covered her ears, "Ahhh, yah, I heard nothing! Just bring the food here, I'll try them! Okay?"

When I turned towards Vintelo and Mufy to see their take on it, just shrugged without care.

The foods were served by Blueberry and Blackberry to the three of them.

Kanoko was mentoring Smoothie in another room regarding the [transformation] ability. Since I was interested in it, I listened in through a phantom construct this time so I wouldn't be caught by Smoothie again.

As I listened, I kind of understood that it was basically not possible for Smoothie to eat any time soon unless her [sage] ability could directly control the [transformation] ability. However, since they were both abilities, one couldn't control the other. If [sage] was a trait, perhaps things would have gone differently.

"Mera, how's the food?"

"It's... Exotic to say the least. I've never had anything like it before."

"Do you like it or not? Give it to me straight."

"It's good. I want seconds."

Why do I like having freeloaders in my home? Isn't this strange? Well, whatever, I'm generous like that.

I served her seconds. The two fey beings, they too requested for second servings.

"Don't forget the dessert. It's my specialty."

I thought about it for a second and opened my mouth to ask. "Vintelo, Mufy, you two can eat food just fine. How long have you been around for?"

"I don't count. Maybe 200 years?" Mufy mumbled after a bit of thinking.

"I think I've been around for 300 years."

"Ah... You two could have taught Smoothie how to properly transform. It would have saved her from a bit of suffering." I mused aloud.

"We tried. She only wants you." Mufy said, and to that, Vintelo nodded quickly.

"Tch, why does she have to be so stubborn."

"Berry, you're not that much better." Mera remarked even though no one asked her to.

"I'll take away your food."

Mera hugged her bowl filled with curry over rice, "No please. You're very kind and... Uh... Thanks for the delicious food!"

At this rate, the hot food would go cold if those two wouldn't come. Since it would be cruel to let Smoothie, my only child, suffer all alone, I decided to offer some assistance.

"Smoothie, how is it? Have you mastered it?"

"No..." She was sitting on a chair, her shoulders slumped, sulking all by herself.

"Berry, it takes time. She didn't originate from an animal type creature so it is even more difficult for her to have our biology. You should know that there's quite the difference between plants and animals, right?"

"Yes, I know." Then, I approached her and whispered, "Kanoko, leave this to me. If you follow Gooseberry, she'll lead you to the cafeteria."

Just then, Gooseberry, the maid with orange hair showed up.

"Is she one of your..."

"Yes, a clone created from an ability."

 "I see."

Once our little exchange ended, Kanoko left the room following Gooseberry.

"Now, now, Smoothie, come to me."

"Why!? I waited for so long in this world. Why wouldn't you teach me? Mother, do you not like me?"

I grabbed a chair and took a seat in front of her.

"Do you remember? A long time ago, we made promises. Tell me, are you living up to your promises from back then?"

"Yes... I said I would entertain you, fulfill your wishes... I-I'm sorry. Mother, I've been nothing but a burden to you... I've been useless...! I've not fulfilled any wishes of yours..." She sobbed as she continued to speak, tears flowing down.

Now I feel like I've been bullying her... Even if she wasn't a human back then, to see she now has a full range of emotions, it must be a work of god.

I sighed with a deep exhale.

"I still don't know your circumstances to this date. Won't you at least tell me? Or is it still not the time yet? If you have any contracts, I can remove it if conditions are met."

"Mother, I'm sorry. I really can't tell you."

"Tell me this then. Does it have to do with that blessing you've received?"

"I can't say."

At that moment, as I understood, that blessing currently on her was likely the sole reason she existed in this world. Without it, she wouldn't have made it into this world. An agreement had to have been made with an existence outside of this system, otherwise I would be able to interact with the energy link. That was one possibility I couldn't ignore. If anything, I likely also was part of that agreement. Yet, to this date, I had no recollection of it, not even a inkling of it.

Perhaps I was over thinking things but I couldn't shake off the various possible scenarios floating in my mind.

"Smoothie, I believe in you."

"You're... Not angry?"

"No, of course not. Come closer." I beckoned.

She slowly drew closer to me, and in an instance, I took hold of her and held her tightly to my chest.

"Mother...?"

"It'll be over quick."

Let's get to the bottom of this.

After she fell asleep, I carried her back to my bedroom and gently laid her back on the bed. Since I didn't know how long this would take, a void barrier was casted around us with relative time adjustments as not to worry the others in case.

If there were any hidden contracts with invisible links, I was going to find it. With absolute focus, |dedicated one| activated for the second time, I scanned her entire existence.

The first up was her memories of her past life. Unlike the glimpse from last time, now I could examine everything crystal clear.

I was mistaken, kind of.

The memories were integration of two entities. It didn't appear to belong solely to myself. She had gained a faint consciousness by herself, an ego or self identity that shouldn't have came to existence without external aid. It was a miracle perhaps that she became sentient at the exact moment of my death, almost too coincidental as if I granted that non-sentient existence a breath of life.

Frankly, the memory of my past life was quite fuzzy at times, especially near the time of my death. Trying to remember that part was like trying to grasp clouds with my bare hands. However, now that I could scan her memories, it all came together.

She was assigned one mission from the central command. Her mission was to unite my entire soul and send me back to my previous world.

Hm? Does that mean I actually didn't die? No, I did... I am sure I died. Why would they care about a soul of someone who died?

Even based on her observation, my physical body had completely disintegrated. There was no way they could piece my body back together. Calling that body, damaged, would be an understatement. I'd be surprised if they could even retrieve a few shards of it, which begged the question as to why she was tasked with something this absurd.

Smoothie, why? It doesn't make sense?

As much as I would love to dig further, she had not received an explanation from the command centre. As for how she was able to cross the dimensional barrier, none of that information was directly stored in her memory. There were two possibilities, one of them being a god was involved in transferring her over, the other being that the civilization I belonged to had technology more advanced than what I was privy to know. Whatever the case, it seemed to be an one way trip for her.

One interesting thing was that apparently she had memories of my death from my perspective before she crossed over. That could only mean one thing. My soul was somehow damaged during that accident causing a few pieces to drift off. Perhaps it really was my soul fragment that caused her to become sentient. Perhaps it was also the reason she initially called me "Mother" instead of asking for my name.

She had carried those pieces of my soul with her and inadvertently integrated into herself before obtaining a temporary soul core. An agreement was formed with an entity. I could certainly guess who it was because no one else had such authority to give divine blessings.

It's that guy again! Ahem... That god. I can't be rude here. 

Again, the figure of this god was blurred out just like in my own memory though the divine aura was unmistakable. As an upper celestial being, I too had a divine aura, albeit a nearly non-existent version. Normally, I preferred hiding my aura with my void barrier, not that most people could see it anyway but rather not to bother those with more gifted eyes.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I didn't particularly care what happened in my previous world. The question I had was why she couldn't tell me about it.

Perhaps she was afraid of parting with the memories that had became precious to her. Perhaps, by returning those memories, she would perish in some way. Or, perhaps, was she enamoured with life, her own life, that she refused to part with it? Certainly, there was nothing in the agreement that was a detriment to her wellbeing. In fact, that god was quite benevolent in that he even helped her by placing her in my life path.

If I had been reborn as a human, she would have likely been a friend or a younger sibling.

It couldn't be that she was just super attached to me, right? No way, seriously... No. Way. It's not happening! It would be like being attached to myself since she was originally a part of me? Ehh... I'm not such a narcissist! Denied.

Let's review in details...

Although I had scanned her entirety, detailed analysis was still ongoing. I was going to get to the bottom of this with or without her input. I just couldn't understand why she would hide this from me.

blanksphere

I know I said 30 chapters in a previous chpt note but that's if I skip lots of stuff not super relevant to the main plot. Meaning, the story will last a bit longer.