Feeling like he had been kicked out of the house, Cheek trudged towards the marketplace.

Taking in a deep breath of air, he sighed.

Did you know that feeling? The one where you had eaten nearly nothing, yet still made physical effort? The one that made every breath of air to enter your lungs feel worthless?

That was what Cheek felt right now.

‘I suppose I do deserve it, though.’

Yes, looking back, his behaviour had not really been exemplary, ignoring all the theft he had done, he could have done better on other things too.

Minor things, unfortunately. The bigger one was like mountains, unmovable by man’s hands.

‘But what about a Beyonder’s hands?’

This was his out, his path to lifting the mountain.

…of course, there was also the issue of gathering ingredients.

Sources of such things shouldn’t be easy to access.

Cheek knew where to look, hell, some of the people he knew could get him in, easy.

The problem with that option was the very people themselves.

Going over his list of options, Cheek knew some risk would be involved.

Out of the people he knew, those that could get him into Beyonder circles were few.

Martin was one, but he was also the highest known risk, a viable option, just not the preferable one.

Dexter could also work, but Cheek knew even less about him than Martin, he also seemed… odd. All in all, a more unknown option, but given that Martin had affirmed that he could kill Dexter, it was one that should hold less risk.

The third, and final option, was the Thieves Guild, with what he had noticed of them, they were a well-organized group. From what Cheek had seen, they held some weight, enough to dissuade Martin from confrontation, at least.

It was also the most unknown option, though. He didn’t know their policies, their form of operation, if he could even trade or buy things from them.

‘Let’s not be rash, for now, I’ll play the waiting game.’

He thought, once more concentrating on his more pressing goal.

‘To get some food!’

And for that, he was making his way towards the marketplace.

‘Something other than bread would be nice.’

‘Perhaps I could make some type of stew?’

Turning the corner, Cheek had arrived at his destination.

This time, instead of directly buying bread, he took a look around.

Some more substance would be needed if he wanted to keep exerting himself.

Yes, now that he thought about it more, a stew was a good idea.

Cheap meat and some vegetables would be the main ingredients. They would most probably be the only ones too.

Heading over towards the butcher’s stall, Cheek wondered if he could get his hands on some chicken bone.

“How much for some beef?”

Glancing at his new customer, the butcher, who was a gruff man in his forties, spoke.

“For ho’w much?”

“About two pounds.”

Grunting, the man gave Cheek what he had asked for, yet he wasn’t done.

“Kid, you got a basket on you?”

Faced with such an unexpected question, Cheek could only shake his head.

‘I feel kinda dumb right now.’

Worse is, he usually had a nagging feeling whenever he forgot something, it just went to show how distracted he was when he left the house.

Giving him a once-over, the gruff man reached under his counter and pulled out a somewhat worn out basket.

“Take it. It’s old and probably won’t hold on for long anyway, but it’ll do the job for now.”

Blinking in incomprehension for a moment, Cheek didn’t get the chance to get a hold of himself before the basket was pushed against his chest.

Reflexively grabbing it, Cheek felt strange. It was rare for him to be treated so kindly, even then, he had manners and could appreciate the man’s help.

Bowing his head, Cheek mouthed an honest “Thank you” and left.

He had more shopping to do!

——————————————————————————————————————————

Stepping back into his house, Cheek felt woozy.

He had munched on some bread he had picked up, but he really needed a proper meal.

‘Being alert isn’t helping my case…’

A rest day sounded nice, though he wasn’t sure how Martin would react to that, didn’t he want to continue training him?

Either way, that could come later, a proper meal was worth more than not earning Martin’s displeasure.

Thinking back on it, a stew was a good idea, they should still have some pots stashed away somewhere.

And exactly as he had thought, he had found some under the cupboards.

‘This house may be old, we aren’t barbarians.’ Cheek thought with satisfaction.

Inspecting the pot in his hands, Cheek found it acceptable. A bit rusty, but that was mostly on the outside, there wasn’t inside for it to be worrisome.

‘Might at well get started.’

Putting the pot on the stove, Cheek threw some of the wood kept inside the house into the oven.

By his standards, it was an old thing, but for this world? It was a bit out of date, but still very much usable.

And, begrudgingly, Cheek could admit that it worked fine, it was just a hassle to use.

It got hot on everywhere, it was easy to get burned using it and most annoying of all… it smoked.

Of course, it was funnelled out of the house, but it wasn’t perfect!

This was an old rundown house! He was lucky it all worked!

Mostly…

Picking up a bucket, he had filled up from the nearby well, Cheek poured it into the pot.

‘Should I wait until it boils?’

Feeling dumb, he silently held his head, why couldn’t he have cooked more?

‘I guess I’ll learn the hard way.’

Even if he messed it up, it was a stew, how bad could it be?

——————————————————————————————————————————

Several hours later…

‘Not bad, a bit bland, but not bad.’

It actually was quite flavourful, his makeshift stew had a nice taste.

The broth itself was brown, a product of all the vegetable juices mixing together.

Cheek had periodically stirred it and would have added spices if they weren’t so expensive.

As far as he knew, they were exported from the southern continent and where damned expensive.

‘Rather, can’t only nobles afford them?’

It didn’t matter in the end, bad food was something Cheek was used to, this stew was a nice change.

Taking out a clay bowl and dipping it inside the pot, he ignored the burning feeling he got from his hand and placed a spoon within the bowl.

Crossing into the bedroom, Cheek gave his sleeping sister a fond look.

Before ruthlessly pulling her cheek.

“Hg? Stwop iwt!” The newly awake Elisia said, slapping Cheek’s hand away in annoyance.

Giving a mirthful chuckle, he waited for her to take a proper sitting position, before handing the bowl of stew.

“Here, it’s… dinner?” Cheek offered, unsure of what time it actually was.

…hey, stew takes a long time to make.

Staring at him for a moment, Elisia appeared to be thinking, before she gained a small smug smile.

“Ah~” She sounded, giving Cheek a look that practically screamed “I win!”.

And Cheek had to admit, in terms of cuteness, she was unrivalled.

Chuckling, he indulged her, picking up the spoon, Cheek stated feeding her.

It was a nice moment, one he would miss dearly in the future…

——————————————————————————————————————————

In a concealed kingdom known to few…

A wolf looked up at the sky.

It had felt it. The mask within its hand had trembled, much like a few days prior.

Although accommodating it had not been possible, the Angel could still feel such a shift with the connection it had established.

It seemed things were brewing…

It didn’t like it.

Standing up, it stretched its eight legs and shifted.

Its legs retracted into its body and its snout shortened, turning into a human head.

The process, although smooth, was quite horrifying to watch.

The being’s form had changed, and it had quite literally become human.

The thi- no, man looked towards the sky once more.

It was time for it to leave.