Elma reached across me. “Could you please pass that golden meat of the gods, Zee?”

Dorth nodded many times, her lantern wobbling above her head and shining brighter than usual. She went to grab a piece of the ‘golden meat,’ —or a fried chicken wing as I called it—but I snatched it before Dorth could and bit it.

“You’ve been nibbling on too much of these, Elma,” I said with a sly smile and the wing hanging from my mouth.

She came closer to me, the smell of the Feast’s alcohol drifting from her lips, her eyes half closed. “Can one blame me for being enamored by a feast worthy of the gods?” 

She came close, and in a movement not impaired by her intoxication, she snatched the wing with her mouth. Delighted, she held it gently and took a small bite.

“I wouldn’t dare not keep this down,” she teased.

Meanwhile, Dorth had a wing that she was waving around, utterly displeased that she was being ignored.

“Mwah, this wine is tastyyy!” Svilran declared from the other side of the table. She was on her third bottle and still going strong... I was starting to think she was once a goddess of booze with how she pounded them back.

This was the kind of atmosphere we had managed to settle into after erecting the <Mess Hall> Building. It looked like the kind of dining hall you’d expect to see in a fantasy village, with the slight exception of the kitchen. That part looked relatively modern with all manners of complex utensils. The appliances were modern but with the texture of a fantasy hall. 

Appliance-wise, for this level, we got an oven, stove, three sinks, and a blender. I really hoped we would be at a stage where we could one day use that kitchen. Anyway, what we were using now was the Kitchen Menu feature. In exchange for 100 Resource Points, we were able to purchase the Feast menu item out of three possible choices. This produced a mind-blowing spread on one of the eight tables for us to enjoy. Fresh fruits, meat, veggies, drinks, and booze—it was more than I expected... Very worth the points. 

Anyway, it was all very familiar foods, though... I wondered if there was a way to enjoy foods from other worlds. Unfortunately, the food would disappear twelve hours after it was produced, and after selecting the menu item, it would need to cool-down for many days. Still, no one was regretting the choice one hour into the Feast.

“I have a proposal,” Elma said as she wobbled. “From now on, whenever anyone completes a hard mission, a celebration should be had! There must always be a meal ready for a Hero! Heroes should always come home to a warm place!”

“Yes! Let’s!” Svilran chimed, raising her wine bottle in absolute agreement.

I smiled and shrugged. “If it’s feasible, I don’t see why not. What do you think, Dorth?”

She nodded happily before placing food in her lantern. Yup. That was how she ‘ate.’ The mystery was solved. The lantern light would burn the food, and she would absorb it. She seemed delighted and was trying everything. We were happy that she could be involved too.

Anyway, we lifted our glasses and cheered. This was where it really felt like we started our Hero Hub in earnest.

The night went on for three more hours. At that point, Dorth was so full she was starting to doze off. When the adorable nun’s head fell against my shoulder, Svilran took that as the signal to take Dorth home.

“Okay, I’m going to walk Dorthaunzee to her room.” She went and helped Dorth up—or tried to. The girl had hooked her arms around mine and seemed like she didn’t want to let go... I was in heaven. She was just too adorable for my barren heart. 

Please struggle, Svilran. She may not have your aura, but this is still the stuff of dreams.

Eventually, Svilran pried her off and helped her out the door. “Don’t stay up too late you two,” Svilran said, strangely as intoxicated as she was three hours ago despite all the alcohol she had consumed. In fact, I was looking at the table. There were twelve empty wine bottles—I’m not sure she actually had food.

“That woman must be a goddess of alcohol.”

“Oh, come now.” Elma rubbed her shoulder against mine. “Don’t be so rude to our Goddess. She must be as enraptured by this food as we are.” Elma’s eyelids were heavy, but she still had a plate of food before her that she was happy to nibble on.

The two of us had not been eating as quickly as Dorth had been, largely because our stomachs were still on the mend. In Elma’s case, she could eat little pieces at a time without becoming ill. I, meanwhile, fared better, but I had matched my pace to hers... I hadn’t really noticed I did that until many hours later.

“So you have five rest days you earned. Are you going to use them?”

“I think so... A body must rest so that it may take advantage of its new potentials.” She poured some wine and swished it around. “What about you two? Are you going to work on improving the Hub tomorrow?”

I took a bite out of a golden steak. “Probably. This Building cost a pretty penny, but we have enough to create a new plot of land... Yeah, we might spend most of the day searching for another Hero and new missions.”

“I see...” Elma broke a piece of a cracker as she looked at me from the corner of her eye. She playfully placed it in her mouth and licked her lips.

I was flustered. She was a beautiful woman, after all. That mana she was radiating from her arms didn’t change that. I took a gulp of water and looked at my plate.

“Thank you for your help with Dorth... It went way better than I thought it would... Heh, I’m a little embarrassed about how worked up I was.”

“Yeah, maybe it was a bit silly.”

“Ack. Ouch. Sorry.”

Elma smiled as she kept her eyes on her plate. “I’d rather you be someone that errs on the side of caution, though. Madam Goddess is clearly prone to idealism—that idealism can blind someone to anything that is less than ideal. To be perfectly honest, I thought that was by design at first. I thought you two were twin gods that served to balance the other out.”

“Twin gods?” I shook my head, my brow furrowed. “No, I was a mortal... I don’t think it was by design. Svilran was the one that picked me. We later picked you in the same manner.”

“Yes, I got the feeling that was the case later on... Still, I want you to know I don’t think you were wrong to question whether or not Dorthaunzee was capable of handling the truth.”

“Thank you... I think I veered too hard into the camp that she couldn’t, though.”

“Well, now we have the luxury of hindsight... Like I said, I prefer the caution. I also preferred being brought into the decision. That was wise.” Elma sighed. “The truth is, people are capable of handling different things, and that isn’t just determined by physical traits.”

“By physical traits, are you talking about how the worlds we can send you to are ones where your gray skin wouldn’t raise flags?”

She looked at me with a raised brow and a coy smile. “How were you able to understand exactly what I was referring to?”

“I had a feeling of where you were going to take this conversation.”

Elma chuckled. “Right. You aren’t blinded by idealism... You said you could see what happened on the ground. How did you feel when you saw what I did to those bastards?”

“I was... I think the best way to say it is that I was more concerned about you than I was with them.”

“I see...” She took a small bite of a piece of celery. “When you told me that I was penalized, I ended up being happy and relieved.”

“Because you weren’t penalized for killing villains, right?”

“That’s right.” Elma swirled the wine in her glass as she gazed at it. “I know what idealistic heroes look like. When I was property and being shown off, I would chat with others who were born outside of breeding farms. They had all sorts of stories of noble Witherspells who would always fight righteously and with honor. They believed in redemption and that everyone could be saved—apparently, they were the heroes from our legends. It didn’t make sense to me why people clung to them and hoped they would return one day. 

“To me, it was obvious—those heroes had perished against the undead that enslaved us. Mercy was something that would get them killed. That was why no one came to save us. Our evil was too warped for a righteous sword to pierce.” Her tone turned chilly. “Warped evil requires a warped weapon to strike it down. A weapon with jagged edges that tears when it enters, scrapes as it travels, and hooks before it exits. When I saw that I was penalized—and that it was actually a reasonable penalty—I knew it to be true... Creation itself is done with this evil. In such a reality, MY warped weapon can be just as heroic.”

I rested my head on my hand. “There are all kinds of evils out there—I’m sure there exists evil we can’t begin to fathom... So I get it. I think... given the situation, we shouldn’t be shying away from... unsettling means. The really evil people are the types who know how to operate within society’s rules without being caught by the idealistic types. Those sorts of people can be difficult to take down because they’ll usually be protected by the society that peace fostered.”

“I would agree.”

“On that note, don’t forget our position. We have to exercise care because we don’t have to deal with the aftermath. For instance, you killed someone important. You saved the Hero, but what if that country experiences upheaval afterward and hundreds end up dying?”

“I... considered that...”

“I don’t think it’ll happen, but we have to be aware of how much weight—as outsiders—we have and always be vigilant.”

“Yes sir...”

I tapped her on the shoulder. “Didn’t mean to take the wind out of your sails.” 

She looked at my hand. “You didn’t.” 

She bit her lip, took my hand, lifted it, and rested her back against my torso. She capped off the sudden movement by placing my hand on her lap, where she held it with her own. She then quickly bit off another piece of celery.

“I think idealistic heroes are valuable and are certainly necessary for some scenarios, but I believe people like me are necessary for other scenarios.” 

“I agree with you,” I said, still stunned and unable to think.

“I don’t want Dorthaunzee to have to trouble herself with the morality of a final solution. She seems so pious and innocent—I’d like for her to be someone who is celebrated.”

“I... Well, I would like to celebrate both of you, but I can do that whenever.”

“So, Lord of the Hero Hub, do you accept me? This warped self?” She played with my fingers as she waited for an answer.

I smiled. “It feels like you’re the one being overly cautious now.” I was feeling ambitious—maybe the alcohol was greasing the wheels. I freed my hand from her grip and quickly placed it on her shoulder, wrapping my arm around her, and pulled her in closer. I could feel her heartbeat clearly.

“Ask me how I felt when I saw that man lay hands on you.”

She held my arm with shaking fingers.

“How did you feel?”

“I was incredibly upset.” Her grip on my arm tightened. My heart was beating like crazy now too.

“I—I—umm—hmm—I—“ She was stammering a lot. A lot more than I could convey. Finally, she took a big breath in. “I’m sorry for letting him touch me like that.”

That caught me off-guard. “You don’t have to apologize to me for that. You suffered at that moment too.”

“Right. Of course.” Her hand flew toward her cup of wine, but she knocked it over. “Oh! I’m sorry!”

“Not a problem.” 

I let go of her—

“Oh...” she whimpered.

—wiped up the wine and poured her a fresh glass. Then, when she looked at me, I chuckled. 

“I didn’t think you were so easily flustered, Elma.”

She looked at me and giggled. Then she lightly punched my chest. “It’s not my fault. I’m dining with a god I happen to like. Could one expect more from me at this moment?”

My ears were burning. “You like me?”

She rested her elbows on the table and then her chin in both hands, and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “I’m feeling a little dizzy... Could you escort me back to my room, Fainn?”