*Clatter-. Clatter-.*

Back in the room, Samuel started cooking on Miriam's behalf.

I watched Samuel's back as he concentrated on cooking and asked,

“This time, you're cooking yourself, Mr. Samuel. ……I thought it would be different because Miriam said she would take care of the meals."

“Miriam can’t see, so she can't distinguish seasonings well. She can only make snake soup or strange dishes like that."

I still haven't adjusted to Samuel's original form, so an awkward atmosphere lingered.

It's like he's wearing clothes that don't fit him.

Moreover, unlike before, the energy felt from his body had changed heterogeneously.

‘……Does it feel a little calmer?’

However, strangely enough, the momentum contained within him felt even sharper.

What was certain was that Samuel had become even stronger than before.

I even wondered if the change in his hair color was due to the influence of the ‘book’ he had obtained earlier.

I was about to ask him about it, but Miriam and Samuel looked so affectionate that I couldn't help but shut my mouth.

*Scoot-.*

As I looked at him with a strange gaze, Samuel glanced back.

“You seem to have a lot to ask.”

“Well, not a small amount.”

As Samuel said, I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask.

Why did his hair color change, how much stronger did he become, and what exactly did the God of Gluttony say to Samuel?

I had heard a brief explanation about the latter from Samuel, but that didn't answer all of my questions.

As if he had expected my curiosity, Samuel gave a faint smile.

“I'll answer everything, so don't rush me. I still need time to adjust to this body."

“……Alright.”

Samuel, who had lived parasitically in my body for several months, no less.

So, Samuel would need time to adjust to his body, and I couldn’t just bombard him with questions.

So, let's be a little patient and wait.

‘……But why is that?’

Samuel could have spent time alone with Miriam as a family.

However, he reached out to me, who was left alone.

He asked me to eat with him.

To be honest, I was hungry, but I wasn’t starving, so I would have let the two of them have some time together.

However, Samuel, instead of spending time alone with Miriam, asked me, an outsider, to join him for a meal.

I couldn’t understand Samuel's behavior.

……Maybe I just don't want to admit it.

What does Samuel think of our relationship?

Friends, or maybe colleagues?

Then,

What do I think of Samuel?

‘……A colleague?’

Perhaps Samuel is the one I have spent the longest time with since coming to this world.

We even slept and ate together.

At first, Samuel and I were always bickering, but at some point, we formed some sort of relationship.

Relationship.

That scares me.

After all, I know that this world could be driven to ruin, and I'm well aware that I'm the root cause of it.

This was a kind of avoidance.

……It was the same when I rejected Luna's confession, and I'm still just avoiding things.

The responsibility for what I started.

The fear of the deaths that will occur and the severing of relationships that will follow.

Maybe this is my true nature.

So, the goal of living.

I set it as the last words Adel left me, not my own will, to do what I have to do here.

I always tried to deny the fact that it was just a simple avoidance.

But.

‘……Now I have to face it.’

I have to stop ignoring the lines of relationships reflected in my small eyes and face them head-on.

Even though I'm scared,

Even though the sticky hesitation is holding me back.

I have to face this world.

“Samuel.”

“Why are you calling me? The meal is not ready yet.”

Samuel was still focused on cooking.

A savory and sweet aroma wafted into my sensitive nose.

I couldn't help but smile and open my mouth at the soft scent.

“I think I finally understand what you said to me.”

“If it’s what I said, you mean when I gave you a piece of my mind.”

“Yes.”

“It took you long enough."

*Smirk-.*

Samuel turned his head slightly and asked me with a smile,

“So, what is the conclusion you've reached after much deliberation?”

“……Now.”

“Now?”

“Hmm.”

“……?”

When I stopped without continuing, Samuel's face was filled with questions.

I smiled playfully and said, putting my index finger to my lips, “It’s a secret.”

“……You’re crazy.”

Samuel let out a hollow laugh and started to concentrate on cooking again.

I gave a deflating answer, but he might have noticed the change in my attitude.

Well, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t notice.

Even at this moment, when I've made up my mind, my head is still in a state of endless agony.

As I was waiting for Samuel’s cooking to be finished, with my arms crossed,

“It’s done.”

Samuel said, picking up the bowl filled with food.

I thought the bowl was too big for him to carry, so I decided to carry it instead.

“Please give it to me. I'll carry it.”

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

Samuel slowly handed me the bowl.

As I received the bowl, I felt its heavy weight.

As expected, it was quite heavy, so it seemed like the right choice for me to carry it.

So, Samuel and I headed to the room where Miriam was, carrying the bowl.

"It smells so good……!"

Perhaps Miriam smelled the mouthwatering aroma from afar, as she was waiting while drooling.

I placed the bowl on the table in front of her.

I also brought several spoons and bowls to scoop and eat with.

*Whoosh-*

As I lifted the lid of the bowl, white steam billowed up.

Inside the bowl was a white soup filled with various vegetables.

“It’s a soup made with vegetables that I made in the basement. It may not taste as good as the one in Sytan, but I hope it suits your taste.”

“Mr. Samuel’s cooking skills are excellent……!”

*Swoosh-*

Miriam, at the even stronger smell of the soup, quickly took out a small bowl and scooped some soup.

I was also hungry, so I didn't refuse and scooped some of the soup Samuel made into my bowl.

As I took a bite and tasted it, a soft and savory flavor filled my mouth.

It may not taste as good as the ones made with expensive ingredients, but it was a taste that filled something lacking.

Miriam, who had tasted the soup first, began to sniffle.

“Samuel, it's so delicious…! I'm so glad you came back, brother!”

“……What are you saying, sister.”

Samuel said so, but he smiled and scooped some soup into his bowl.

Miriam, with tears and laughter at the same time, devoured the soup in her bowl.

Was she that hungry?

Miriam ate the soup Samuel made as if she was going to finish it all.

Come to think of it.

Samuel couldn't come here because he was studying in Sytan.

Miriam must have been eating snake soup and bugs as her main meals, as I had seen before…….

Somehow, seeing the two of them made my heart ache.

Family.

Right, I had a family too.

Not close friends, but blood relatives who gave birth to me and raised me in the present day.

However, ever since I came here, I haven't been able to see them even once.

Not long after I fell into this world, I used to soak my pillow with tears of longing.

Now, I had almost given up on returning to reality, so I had buried it in a corner of my heart.

*Scoot-*

I got up from my seat after finishing my meal.

“Samuel, so you don’t have a girlfriend? I raised you to be this handsome!”

“No.”

“Really?”

“……Actually, there is a girl I like. Her name is Eris.”

“Eris! What a pretty name!”

Miriam and Samuel were still engrossed in their conversation while eating.

Of course, I was grateful that Samuel invited me to dinner, but now I thought it would be better to give them some time alone.

I figured it would be better to ask the questions I had wanted to ask later rather than now.

So, I turned around, still standing.

Samuel looked at me.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get some fresh air.”

“……There’s no wind here.”

“Haha, I’m going for a walk to digest my food. Please enjoy your meal.”

“Hmm……”

Samuel seemed to be wondering if I felt left out because he was busy talking to Miriam.

*Scoot, scoot-*

I was so happy to see Samuel like that, I ruffled his hair.

“Don’t touch my hair……!”

*Dash-*

As soon as Samuel got angry, I quickly moved my feet.

And as soon as I left Samuel's room,

I wandered aimlessly down the hallway.

I was lost in thought.

‘……They looked good together.’

A smile crept onto my face.

The way Samuel and Miriam acted was enough to stir up the nostalgia I had pushed to the back of my mind.

Family.

A word that somehow made me feel nostalgic.

Mom, Dad.

And my little sister…….

As I was strolling down the hallway, lost in strange emotions, memories of being with my family came to mind one by one.

Memories of laughing and crying, of being happy.

Of course, there were also bad memories.

The times when my father’s business wasn’t doing well and we had to live off of ramen.

The memory of carrying my sick younger sister to the hospital because my parents couldn’t come home from work.

At that time, I was so flustered that I didn’t even think of contacting my parents.

My parents scolded me for not contacting them, but they still gave me a warm hug.

As I clung to them, crying, I later realized as I grew older that they were also sobbing behind my back.

My father, who hadn’t shed a single tear even when his business went bankrupt, cried as he comforted me.

Right, that’s right.

That’s…….

“……What the.”

Lost in thought, I froze.

I could remember most of the memories I had with my family.

But one thing.

Only one thing wouldn’t come to mind.

“What is this.”

Gripped by a terrible fear, I clutched my head.

What was it?

What was it?

What was it?

Why can’t I remember?

Why can’t I remember?

One of the most precious things.

No.

Something I thought would exist so naturally wouldn't come to mind.

The word my usually blunt father called me in a warm voice.

The word my mother, who was heavily pregnant, called me with a bright smile as she held me in her arms.

The word my younger sister, who came out into the world from my mother’s arms three years after I was born, first uttered before calling for our mother.

……I couldn’t remember it.

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