Published at 18th of January 2026 8:04 am

Chapter 2481: Movie Watching with Kaori

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

After it was decided that Kaori-san would be staying the night and I asked Illness-san to prepare a room, we spent the time watching another movie and chatting. When it was time for dinner, we had the meal brought to my room.

Since my room is about the size of three regular rooms put together, eating together with the two of us was no problem at all.

[Ohhh, its not a course meal, but theres a lot of dishes and its really luxurious Is this soup potage? It looks delicious.]

[They sometimes serve it like a course, but since Aoi-chan, Hina-chan, and I arent really used to that style, they often arrange everything like this instead. It seems the head chef puts a lot of thought into it and makes various improvements.]

[Hehh. When you say head chef, you mean the one from Lilia-sans mansion, right? She wasnt directly involved in cooking for the ship party, but she was interested in otherworld cuisine, so we talked quite a bit and taught each other different cooking methods.]

[Ohh, now that you mention it, I do feel like since the ship party, theyve started serving meals that incorporate a bit of the flavor style from the world we were in.]

During the ship party, I was technically the host, and it was mainly handled by the staff from my household and the hired maids, so the cooks from Lilia-sans mansion, including the head chef, werent very involved.

However, the head chef is apparently quite eager to absorb new cooking techniques. Out of personal interest, she observed the menu planning and such, and it seems she became acquainted with Kaori-san as well.

[As expected of a Duchys head chef, her skills are incredible Unn! This potage has been strained so carefully, the texture is amazing.]

[From what Ive heard, she originally worked at the royal castle. Apparently theres a kind of competition where court chefs compete in cooking techniques, and she once made it into the top four.]

[Hehh, so theres a tournament like that.]

[It seems its only held within the royal castle though.]

Since I talk with the head chef fairly often, Ive heard stories about her time working at the royal castle a few times. As part of daily training, there are apparently competitions like that as well.

Even if you just say royal castle chef, there are many people working at the castle, and the number of cooks is quite large. Some prepare meals for the servants, while others are in charge of devising dishes for parties and the like, it seems to vary a lot.

Well, apparently the winner of that competition was Beatrice-san, so it seems even maids, not just cooks, are eligible to participate

[This is delicious Is it the preparation thats different? No, maybe its this slightly sour sauce that makes the difference]

While eating the food with obvious enjoyment, Kaori-san would occasionally put on an expression that looked like a professionals, serious and thoughtful, as if she were analyzing the flavors. She might be thinking about trying to recreate seasoning combinations she liked.

It seems shes been experimenting with new dishes quite a lot and putting a great deal of passion into cooking. Well, in any case, as long as shes having fun, thats what matters most.

After finishing dinner and taking a short break, I suddenly spoke up to Kaori-san.

[By the way, Kaori-san. Do you drink alcohol?]

[Alcohol?]

[Yeah. Theres a bar in the basement.]

[I see, a bar in the basement in the basement Unn? Why is there a bar in the basement of your house?]

[If you ask why, all I can say is that Alice built it on her own By the way, the shop manager is the Death Kings Head Subordinate.]

[Ah, just like always, this kids living outside the bounds of common sense W- Well, I am interested in bars, so Id like to check it out. I havent really gone to bars before, so Im looking forward to it.]

Thinking that Iris-san is also good at cooking and that they might have things to talk about, I made the suggestion, and although Kaori-san looked puzzled, she replied enthusiastically.

We left the room together and headed toward the bar in the basement. Going down the stairs and getting close to the bar, Kaori-san tilted her head and just like Amel-san did when I brought her here, she looked in the opposite direction from the bar.

[Kaito-kun, if that way is the bar, then whats this way? A food storage room or something?]

[Ah, no thats a weapon shop.]

[A weapon shop? You mean that kind of shop that sells swords and spears?]

[That very kind of weapon shop.]

[Why is there a weapon shop inside your house?]

[All I can say is that Alice built it on her own But well, lately Aoi-chan and Hina-chan have been using it, so its not completely pointless]

[Ah~~ for adventurer activities, you definitely need weapons and armor. And if its Phantasmal King-samas shop, the quality should be guaranteed]

[If youre interested, want to take a quick look?]

[Honestly, I am a little interested. As long as its not a bother to Phantasmal King-sama]

Kaori-san seemed interested when she heard it was the Phantasmal Kings shop, though she also looked slightly hesitant, but that shouldnt be a problem. If anything, she might already be preparing to try to sell something.

Thinking that, I went with Kaori-san to the weapon shop and stepped inside, where, as usual, Alice wearing a lion mascot costume greeted us.

[Welcome Somehow it feels like this place gets more customers than the general goods shop]

[Thats because your general store is in an alley and you close it on a whim, so your business days arent stable]

[S- Sorry to intrude, Phantasmal King-sama! Your costume is really cute today too.]

[Cute, you say?]

[Eh? It is cute! That brazen-looking face, and the cat costume was cute too, but I think the lion costume is cute as well]

It had been that way since the Founding Festival, but Kaori-san was fairly positive about Alices mascot costume, either it matched her tastes or she genuinely thought it was cute.

Somehow, it even felt like Alice was nodding in satisfaction Maybe its because, including Kuro and others, there are many people who rate it poorly? Well, but if you look closely, it does seem like a design that could be popular with women

[But its still the person inside thats the problem. When you include that, the evaluation ends up being annoying]

[Isnt that cruel!?]

[Kaito-kun, you really show no mercy to the Phantasmal King-sama. I- I guess that just means you two are really close?]

Serious-senpai : [Alice, showing up here? W- Whats going to happen? Kaori isnt the type to seriously take weird things at face value like Isis does, and Kaito is with her too, so it doesnt really feel like a situation where things can be stirred up]

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