Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 13: Venata Wang and Susie Jingze

"Come and take down the dishes. How about you do some housework as well?"

As Altaïr scooped the braised catfish out of the pot, he spoke to Vinata, who was lying on the sofa staring at her diploma in a daze.

"Tsk." The other person smacked his lips in dissatisfaction, but still obediently put down what he was holding and came over to help.

Altaïr glanced at her and turned up the heat on the stove to prepare the sauce. The rich aroma spread, causing Venata to turn her head repeatedly to look in the direction of the stove. Altaïr was not in a hurry and waited patiently for the sauce to become thick.

"I didn't realize you were quite knowledgeable about food."

Finally, Venata couldn't help herself and started a conversation with Altaïr.

"There are many things you can't see." Altaïr replied calmly, lifting the lid of the pot and throwing the chopped green onions in.

"Tsk, what a petty man." Vinata pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Serve the rice out and let it cool down for a while. Don't wait to eat it." Altaïr instructed Venata without turning his head.

Vinata just sat back on the sofa, frowned when she heard this, and was about to complain, but Altaïr didn't seem to have any intention of urging her to do it anymore. He just poured the fish out and put it on the plate.

"What are you showing off for..." Vinata thought in her heart, somewhat unconvinced, but she still moved her body honestly and served rice to herself and Artair.

"I bought the rice from Intis. It turns out that this kind of rice is the best match for the dishes created by Roselle."

Altaïr introduced himself.

"Really? This is my first time eating it."

Venata took the rice and looked at it carefully. Her curious look reminded Altaïr of a kitten, and he could not help but take a closer look.

"Isn't the relationship between Feysac and Intis very good? Since you can afford to go to Feysac University, it shouldn't be difficult to eat Intis's dishes once in a while, right?"

Altaïr took out the cooked duck blood from another pot, cut it into cubes and threw it into the pot to stir-fry with chili peppers.

"If my family was really that well-off, I wouldn't have been drafted and ended up here." Venata rolled her eyes. "And what black stuff are you cooking? I'll tell you first that I won't eat anything suspicious. You're not going to put mummy powder in it, are you? If that's the case, I'll kick you in pieces."

"I didn't intend to take your share in the first place, so don't be so self-indulgent." Altaïr said without turning his head. "I want to give it a try and see if this blood clot can be used to alleviate the side effects of the Blood-Tearer. If you don't want to eat it, that's fine, but don't snatch it from me later."

"Tsk, that thing looks disgusting, even vampires won't eat it..."

Vinata originally wanted to refute this, but it smelled so good that she couldn't help swallowing and failed to complete the negative sentence.

You're just short of having "I want to eat" written all over your face...Altaïr, who had been observing Venata's expression out of the corner of his eye, quickly looked away, trying hard not to laugh.

Then, Altaïr put the stir-fried duck blood on the table, together with the braised catfish. The two dishes were colorful and very beautiful. Altaïr sat down at the table, ready to see how Venata smelled.

However, the moment she sat down at the table, Venata's embarrassment of being greedy but embarrassed to tell the truth disappeared, replaced by a kind of piety of a believer. She stretched out her hand and pointed a crimson moon on her chest, and began to pray before the meal.

"Merciful and Great Mother Goddess:"

"You are the symbol of life and beauty, the protector of all living things on earth, the mother of all spiritual powers;"

“Give us this day our daily bread;”

"Praise the Mother Goddess!"

Seeing Venata's expression, Altaïr was a little stunned, but then he reacted and also tapped his chest four times, but unlike Venata's gesture that symbolized the red moon, his gesture symbolized the stars.

"You are the goddess of the night, higher than the stars, and more lasting than eternity;"

"She is the Lord of Death, the Mother of Secrets;"

"Queen of trouble and terror, lord of sleep and silence;"

"Thank you for giving us the leisure to eat and the comfort of a stable life;"

"Praise the goddess!"

After finishing their respective prayers, both of them felt that their exhausted spirits after yesterday's battle were soothed a little, and they temporarily lost interest in bickering with each other. They began to eat in silence, and for a while the only sounds on the table were the collision of knives and forks and plates.

I didn't expect that she was actually a believer of the Earth Mother Goddess... After hearing that she was from Feysac, I thought she was a believer of the God of War. Altaïr thought as he ate rice with fried duck blood. He didn't use a knife and fork, but like those restaurants in Intis, he prepared for himself the tableware called "chopsticks" invented by Emperor Roselle - in fact, it was promoted, and it seemed that ancient elves had used it before. The only set of knife and fork in the house was left to Vinata.

However, the main activity area of ​​the Church of the Earth Mother is along the coast of Feysac, which makes sense. However, it is hard to associate her, who fights so crazily, with the followers of the Earth Mother. Altaïr thought so and stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the chicken blood.

The tip of the chopsticks felt something hard. Altaïr looked up and found that his chopsticks had touched the spoon that Venata had quietly extended. Apparently, she had quietly scooped several spoonfuls of stir-fried vegetables into his bowl while he was distracted.

The two looked at each other for two seconds. Altaïr had a playful expression, while Venata blushed with embarrassment.

"Vampires don't eat them, huh?"

Altaïr raised his chin slightly. Venata's face was red as if it could bleed, she lowered her head, her lips trembling.

“…Don’t say that.”

Venata uttered a few words in a low voice.

"What did you say?"

Altaïr did not hear clearly, but the next second, a knife covered with sauce and chili slices was placed at his neck, trembling dangerously with Venata's emotions.

"...Don't say a single extra word, or I'll stab you to death."

Vinata's shoulders trembled slightly, and the shameful look on her face had not yet faded.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything." Altaïr stopped when he saw that he had an advantage and raised his hands in surrender. "Put the knife down first, and don't get the sauce on my collar. It's hard to wash off."

Vinata stared at him silently for a while, slowly put down the knife, picked up the spoon, and scooped a large spoonful of stir-fried vegetables into her bowl in a self-destructive manner.

The two looked at each other for a while and continued to eat in silence, but their shoulders would occasionally tremble slightly uncontrollably, but one was because of embarrassment, and the other was trying hard to hold back laughter.

I'll have to buy her another pair of chopsticks next time I go to the convenience market. Altaïr thought to himself as he watched Vinata clumsily eating the braised fish with a knife and fork. This was the first time this room had become lively.

I take back what I said before. It seems that I didn’t lose too much by taking this commission. At least, it brought me a lot of fun.

Looking at Venata's expression, Altaïr put a piece of fish into his mouth with a sense of pleasure that his prank had succeeded.

Then, Mr. Instigator started coughing because of the fish bone, and there was a commotion in the room.

At the same time, a big golden retriever was lying in Altaïr's yard, looking eagerly through the door at the direction where Vinata and Altaïr were eating. In a small hotel a few blocks away, Audrey was communicating with Susie using her "manipulator" ability.

"The two are currently having dinner, and they don't seem to be infected by the magical item."

Susie reported the results of the surveillance. Although it had reached Sequence 5 and could bite two people in the room into four pieces, it was still no different from an ordinary golden retriever at this time - perhaps 790 pounds more expensive than an ordinary hound?
"Yes, it's the same as the result of my examination."

Audrey nodded slightly, fiddling with the corner of her clothes restlessly. "Anything else you found?"

"If you can't see it, I probably can't see it either, Audrey," Susie said helplessly, "After all, I'm just a dog... Well, a Sequence 5 dog is still a dog."

"Then, when they fall asleep, you can tell them the mission through dreams." Audrey stroked the emerald brooch on her chest. "This is safer."

"But Audrey, I'm just a dog. Wouldn't it cause unnecessary trouble if I interact with them?"

Susie in the sea of ​​consciousness shook her virtual tail and asked worriedly.

"It's okay. This kind of retelling also has a certain confidentiality meaning in mysticism. It should be said that this is the most appropriate solution compared to me giving orders directly." Audrey comforted, but then she frowned.

"By the way, Susie, you just emphasized twice that I'm just a dog. You obviously haven't said that for a while? I can understand that you were trying to comfort me before, but what are you trying to emphasize now?"

Susie let out a frustrated whine.

"I mean, I'm just a dog. Can you understand how tormenting it is for a dog to have to watch others eat but not get close to them to eat? And what they eat is the court dishes of Emperor Roselle and the spicy dishes of the elves! Goddess, this is the first time I regret why I have such a keen sense of smell. I can smell the fragrance coming from their room through two walls!"

Audrey laughed. "Okay, Susie, when you come back, I'll take you to the Roselle Palace restaurant in Backlund for dinner. It just so happens that I haven't eaten the food there for a long time. It really makes me miss it."

So, the fantasy dog, who had the strength of a pirate general, lay in front of Altaïr and Venata's door for two hours, looking impatient. As for whether Audrey took it to the Roselle Palace Restaurant later, we will not go into details.

(End of this chapter)