Chapter 91. Cooking for the little devil

Chapter 91: 91. Cooking for the little devil

Kai woke up in the morning, before the sun had fully risen. He stretched for a moment before getting out of bed and going to wash his face.

Almost everyone was still asleep at that hour, except for a few people who had to work early in the morning.

Kai left the inn and took a walk around town until he reached the forest just outside the city gates.

Deep within that forest, Kai could sense the presence of several weak monsters. If he went even deeper, he could sense stronger monsters as well.

It was true that the forest was a common hunting ground for hunters, but only lower-level hunters hunted there. Even though the Empire itself had many more high-level hunters.

High-level hunters usually didn’t want to hunt in such a trivial forest. They typically took on higher-level assignments involving high-level monsters. Such high-level hunters often claimed they were giving novice hunters a chance, when in reality they were simply too proud to hunt trivial monsters. The lowest-level monsters they would hunt were B or C-rank.

However, that day Kai just wanted to take a walk; he had no intention of hunting any monsters. He went to the edge of the forest just to enjoy the beautiful view from the top of the hill. He made sure to capture it with his camera.

He would indeed be there for quite a while; he could go there anytime. However, he might not necessarily be able to go there again, since he might get busy.

Watching the sunrise from the top of that hill had been a desire of Kai’s ever since he set foot in the city. And sure enough, the sunrise looked absolutely beautiful.

"The view here really is beautiful, isn’t it?"

Kai jumped in surprise; he turned around and saw someone who shouldn’t have been there.

It was Keano, a demon prince his own age, who had entered his dreams a few days earlier using his illusion magic.

"You..."

"Surprise! Hahaha! I can come here using my special magic, and I can also make myself invisible for a while to surprise you," said the young demon, flashing a mischievous grin that annoyed Kai.

"Why are you here? Don’t tell me you want more chocolate..."

Keano sat down next to Kai, then gazed straight ahead at the beautiful scenery before them.

"Well, actually, that’s not the only thing I want. I heard you’re a good cook, right? I want to try your cooking!" Keano said with great enthusiasm.

Unlike Kai, who still couldn’t trust that little demon. But there were no signs that the demon had any evil intentions either.

"If you want me to cook something, then go find the ingredients yourself—"

"Alright, I’ll hunt a rabbit, or that wild chicken roaming over there. Wait here, Kaileon!"

Keano darted quickly into the forest, but less than a minute later, he was back with a chicken that looked like any ordinary chicken, except it was twice as big.

"Look at this—they say this white-feathered chicken is tastier and more tender!" said Keano as he handed the submissive rooster to Kai.

"Don’t hand it to me until it’s been slaughtered and plucked—"

"Done!"

Kai stared in disbelief as, in a matter of seconds, the chicken—which had been alive just moments ago—had been transformed into a chopped chicken, with its wings, breast, thighs, head, and feet separated. The chicken pieces had even been arranged in a medium-sized glass bowl.

"You..."

"Haha, are you surprised? I’ve got practical slaughtering skills like this... I’m awesome, right?"

Kai laughed afterward, thinking that the little devil was utterly ridiculous.

"Don’t laugh, Kaileon!"

"Hahaha, all right, all right. Just sit there quietly; I’ll get my cooking tools out."

Kai then unfolded a large mat for them to sit on. He also set out a long folding table, a portable stove, a nonstick skillet, and the necessary cooking ingredients.

"I’m going to make some delicious breaded fried chicken for the two of us. Oh—do you like spicy food, Keano? I want to make a chili sauce that’s a little spicy but also sweet to go with the fried chicken."

Keano simply answered Kai’s question with an enthusiastic nod.

Kai began cooking, and Keano watched with wide, curious eyes.

Keano, who was paying close attention, kept asking questions whenever a cooking technique puzzled him. Since he’d never cooked before, he was very curious to learn that Kaileon was a skilled cook.

"Why are you frying the chicken twice?" asked Keano.

"This is done so the chicken cooks through perfectly and the breading gets perfectly crispy. Now, we’re going to make tomato sambal; I’ll use just two chili peppers."

"Oh, why only two? But there are so many tomatoes? Add more chili peppers!"

Kai laughed at that—Keano was just like a little kid, curious about everything. But then Kai remembered that he was the same age as Keano and often acted as if he didn’t know something either. Besides, his mental age matched his physical age.

"Stop laughing! Do I look that funny to you?" asked Keano, which only made Kai laugh even harder.

Kai didn’t answer until he’d regained his composure. "Do you know that these orange chili peppers are really spicy? I only used two because I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it."

Feeling a little challenged, Keano finally said, "Y-you can add one more—or two."

Kai grinned and replied, "All right, I’ll give you two more chili peppers..."

"No, just one!"

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!"

Once everything was ready, Kai arranged the fried chicken and chili sauce on the small table in front of him. He didn’t forget to grab a bowl of rice—that way, if Keano found it too spicy, he could eat the rice to cut the heat. He also set out a one-liter carton of milk, just in case Keano still couldn’t handle the heat.

Sure enough, the little devil immediately started coughing from the unusual spiciness. Eventually, he ate the rice, but he didn’t want to stop eating—it tasted so good.

Kai just smiled, letting the little devil be. He himself was happy to see Keano eating so heartily. Cooking for someone else, and having that person eat it with such gusto, was a sight he really enjoyed.

Kai himself hadn’t expected that he’d be cooking and eating together with the son of the very person who wanted to kill him.

It felt strange to him.

But Keano seemed genuinely eager to be friends with him.

"Why are you staring at me like that, Kai? Do you know something about me?" asked Keano, who was still happily munching on a fried chicken drumstick.

"No, I’m staring at you because you look starving... hahaha."

Hearing Kai’s remark—which was really just a joke—Keano quickly swallowed his food, then looked at Kai seriously.

"So, you don’t know... that I’ve rarely been fed all this time?"

Kai stopped laughing. "Huh? Are you serious about what you just said?"

Keano nodded quickly, "Yup! I’m serious!"

"But... why?"

Keano sighed heavily, then said, "My father doesn’t like me, so the servants at the palace don’t like me either and look down on me. My dad, well, he doesn’t care what I’m like. In fact, none of them even realize that I have new spells, like illusions and others. But with those spells, I usually sneak out of the palace, hunt for my own food, and then cook it however I can—just by roasting the meat I’ve hunted... it doesn’t taste great, but it’s better than nothing, because I’m starving. Once I figured out how to use money, I sold the meat from my hunts to make more money. I wandered around and gathered information until I heard about you. I got information about you by sneaking into my father’s dreams—it wasn’t easy, but I got the information I needed and became friends with you!"

Kai was speechless when he heard that.