Back in bed, I checked Alessia's status.

[Alessia Addari] [Adventurer Lvl 24] [Warrior Lvl 23] [Lancer Lvl 19] [Leader Lvl 21]

[Alessia Addari has 2 points free]

Unexpectedly, she increased two levels in Warrior just by training with my mother. This implies that she had a very hard training. Especially when my mother was fighting with her to check the results...

Since now Masochist is not visible in her status, I have to take some extra steps to be able to see it.

[Masochist Lvl 8]

'T- T- Two levels! It went up two levels! Yes! Rejoicing more for this instead of rejoicing for her Warrior class level up... I really have my priorities rotten.'

[Alessia Addari] [Adventurer Lvl 24] [Warrior Lvl 23] [Lancer Lvl 19] [Leader Lvl 21]

HP=18 || MP=1

Agility=29 || Strength=22 

Intelligence=28 || Luck=15 

[Resistances]

Physical=8 || Magic=0 

Poison=0 || Curse=0 

After thinking for a long time, I decided to add the two points to Intelligence. That way, she will be able to better understand my mother's teachings. As for activating more classes… for the time being I won't do it as that would decrease her stats points.

Seeing her status made me think about what happened while leveling Delia in the labyrinth. It's true that it's quite a feat to fight practically alone on the 8th floor, but I couldn't help but feel a bit weak, as if something was missing. Something very strange thinking that I deactivated the 60% discount to add 15 more points to my status… 

'I should feel stronger instead of weaker. Haa... Well, maybe it's my imagination.'

Now, because I deactivated the discount, my classes haven't even gone up one level. I originally thought that if I defeated twice as many monsters as normal, I could at least go up by one, but I didn't.

Apparently, the 60% discount is not as simple as it seems.

Before I go to sleep, I want to know what Delia is doing. When I left the temple, she started working on the deer. I hope she's gone to bed by now.

I opened the map in full screen and expanded it until all the cities I have been to were visible. Northwest of here, I managed to see the [Delia] marker. With her marker in the center of the map, I got close enough to her location to be able to see the Solitary Temple.

Delia is now in the backyard of the Temple, moving around from time to time.

'Haa... She is still working on the meat.'

Sighing, I got out of bed and equipped my clothes.

"... Space Travel."

An illusory door appeared in the center of my room.

Passing through it, I appeared outside the Solitary Temple, and in front of me... 

'There's Delia.' 

"Ah, Wa Wa Wa Wa. That scared the hell out of me!" she said as she backed up three steps.

'Ah, any worries I had vanished into thin air as I saw her adorableness.'

"I thought you had already gone to bed?"

"I had nowhere to shelter the meat, so I decided to cook it now." she pointed her finger.

At the place she points, there is the deer corpse, affirmed with irons over a campfire.

"Deer on the spit," she lifted her chest proudly.

Even when the meat is not yet ready, the smell of roasting meat in the air is captivating enough to make my mouth water. If the deer could see us, it would be proud to see how its body is being cooked.

"Emir... Why did you come back?"

I was going to answer casually, as I thought her words didn't matter that much. But then something changed my mind.

Among the books in my parents' house, one in particular talked about politeness and good manners. One small part of that book that caught my attention said that ‘a word can immediately change meaning depending on the expression with which it is said.’

'Her words would seem casual, but something in her face gave me the understanding that they weren't.'

"I felt worried."

"Why?"

"Because of you."

Looking at her face, I can see that I solved part of her doubt, but I didn't cover all the topics she wanted me to answer. This reminded me of the moment I left, when I asked her to perform energy recovery magic on me.

"You must have figured out by now what I used that magic for, Right?"

"Mn" she nodded without hesitation.

'Haa, because she's so adorable, I forgot that she was once a Temple Saint. She must have dealt with many types of people.'

"I could have hidden it if I wanted to. It would have been very easy for me not to have asked you for that magic and thus hide the fact, but I didn't because that's just the way I am. It's very likely that in the future something similar will happen again, and if I really want you to fall in love with me, I should only hide the unimportant things from you. But the important things... I'll tell you all of them."

For a few seconds, Delia was silent.

Making her resolution, she looked at me and then smiled.

"You must also tell me the unimportant things!"

"Huh? You take the fun out of life."

"Hehehehe" 10 perfect points.

Sitting on a nearby log, we watched the meat being cooked.

'- I also wanted to ask you why I feel so different. Why do I feel faster… Why did my magic become easier to recite…'

At some point, Delia started to look at me intently. Without hesitation, I stroked her head.

'- But that doesn't matter for now... I want to live this dream.'

Seeing her three tails wagging and showing happiness, I could finally relax.

'This humble me has managed to survive another day.' 

***

Hours later in the morning.

After removing the deer from the campfire, I left it on a kitchen counter and removed the iron bars that kept it stable over the fire. Quickly Delia arrived and, with a large knife, cut it into different pieces until the deer was cut all the way through.

Since freshly cooked meat tastes better, I kept it in the inventory. And it will only be taken out when it is time to eat.

And so, our current breakfast is... deer meat.

"I've always been curious. How could a Saint have so much knowledge in the kitchen?"

It is very likely that Solus Temple raised their Saints with great care and respect, with no lack of anything. Following this logic, no Saint should know how to make her food.

"I and the other Saints lived in isolation from other people, to get away from all the earthly desires of the modern world. All around us, there was only nature, so we had to get our food."

After leaving her services on the table, she closed her eyes a little to remember.

"I was good at hanging things. Another Saint was good at camouflaging things. Another Saint was good at placing things... In short, we put all our skills together and created traps that no animal could elude." 

'She stretched out her arms to add excitement to her tale.'

"As for cooking… it was similar. We were all good at something, and, depending on what we caught, was who owned the kitchen that day. I've never cooked a deer, but I vaguely remembered how one of my old companions cooked one. So, when you handed me the deer, I took it to the kitchen and walked around it a few times, just to remember what happened on that day. And so, I could cook it."

Smiling, she looked back into my eyes and then blushed.

"Sorry! The memory was so fresh that I unintentionally answered your question with a story from the past."

"It's okay. It was very interesting to hear from you."

So, since the Saints are isolated from society, they must do the daily chores. Hence, they learned to cook.

As for their contact with the outside… most likely they had a [Traveler] living nearby who worked as a messenger. This is because, if something happened to the Saints, only a Traveler could bring help in the shortest possible time.

Something similar was to happen when an important person was seriously injured. Someone like a nobleman. The Traveler would simply move the Saint to the appropriate place, and after helping the nobleman, he or she would return to the secluded home.

A Traveler can solve almost any problem concerning distance; after all, it is only logical that there would be one nearby.

"Speaking of Saints, what were the others like?"

In response, Delia raised the index fingers of her hands and held them over her mouth, forming an 'X.'

'Haa… That's a lovely way of saying she can't talk about it.'

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I was just asking it out of curiosity."

"Mn! I'm glad you understand."

I smiled in response.

As we ate breakfast, we talked about anything. It really didn't matter what the topic was, we were just feeling cheerful. More than once, Delia made an adorable gesture and prodded my hand to stop me from stroking her head. I barely managed to restrain myself.

'Apparently, appeasing Delia brings good results too.'