“Such a dull friend you have. Kite must’ve had a hard time, too.”

Kite didn’t respond, simply shrugging his shoulders, but that was enough to irritate Hajen. Words of self-praise flowed from his lips, though there was no confidence in his voice.

“W-what do you mean dull? Do you know how refined and artistic I am…”

Hajen was interrupted when Luella clapped her hands once.

“I agree. Didn’t you suggest leaving the carriage in the hall? That alone proves you have artistic taste.”

“Choke!”

Kite, who was drinking tea, coughed and looked at Luella.

“Do you really think that’s artistic?”

Luella sighed as if he didn’t understand and explained.

“Kite, I come from a world much more advanced than this. You see this stove? I come from a world where such wondrous things are abundant.”

“And so?”

“That world has something called installation art.”

Kite’s expression twisted.

“Installation art? You’re saying leaving a carriage in the hall is art?”

“Exactly. I used to make the same face as you when I saw installation art. But seeing a carriage parked in the middle of the hall upon my return, I understood the profound intentions of the artist.”

“I’d like to hear what you understood.”

“I safely returned without injuring anyone despite hardships, thanks to my great wits. Don’t you think that deserves commemoration?”

Kite, upon hearing Luella’s question, paused to think and then nodded.

“…It sort of makes sense.”

“It has to make sense, not just ‘sort of.’ I’ve decided.”

Luella looked at the carriage beyond the office door as she spoke.

“To do what?”

Kite furrowed his brows as if uneasy.

“We need to put up a sign with the title of the piece in front of the carriage.”

Kite, who just a moment ago seemed to understand, made a displeased face upon hearing her words. But before Luella’s glare could reach him, he quickly composed himself.

“Do we really need to go that far? Everyone among us knows the title.”

But Hajen didn’t back him up.

“No! Luella, it’s a great idea.”

Hajen asked with twinkling eyes.

“What will the title be?”

“‘The Adventure of Luella and Friends.’ What do you think?”

Hajen’s face twisted.

“Is that all? I was the one who stopped Rafael from smashing the carriage.”

“Fine. Then, ‘Installation by Luella Rominin, maintained by Hajen Erme.’ How about that?”

“Deal!”

When Hajen offered a handshake, Luella grabbed his hand and added,

“Don’t forget to make the sign look like the one for the pharmacy. Cohesion makes the decor stand out more.”

“Do I have to do it?”

“Who else will? You think Kite will?”

“No.”

“What about Rafael?”

Luella pointed at Rafael, who was drinking tea with half-closed eyes. Hajen shook his head.

“We’re lucky if he doesn’t destroy it.”

“See, you’re the one for the job, Hajen Erme. Don’t forget.”

Luella concealed her rising smile with her teacup as she looked at the grumbling Hajen.

It was fun to act against their dislikes. Moreover, the conversation with Hajen, who would play along if egged on, was also enjoyable.

If her plan to woo Duke Curan failed, Luella would no longer be here. She wanted to leave as many of her marks everywhere as possible.

She tried not to dwell on such depressing thoughts, but Vincenti, the first named enemy, had been so strong that she felt she needed a moment of reflection.

“I also want some tea.”

At that moment, Mitchel came down and requested tea.

“How are you feeling?”

“Totally fine. So fine that it’s hard to believe what happened yesterday.”
He raised his thumb to Luella as if impressed. After pouring tea for Mitchel, Hazen woke up Tien, who was still sleeping.

“Tien, if you don’t get up, we’ll leave you. They say there might be better quest rewards today.”

“I never said that was today. I said later, but not today.”

“Shush! If we hurry, later could be today.”

Watching Hazen gently shake Tien to wake him up, Mitchel chuckled once and refilled his already empty teacup, then looked at Kite.

“Have the watchers decreased a bit?”

“Only two or three left now. They probably think Luella has escaped beyond the kingdom. Good for us, we won’t be bothered for a while.”

Responding to Mitchel’s question, Kite looked at Luella, who was wearing Ralph’s clothes.

“It’s better to keep wearing those clothes until we go to the royal ball. Are you uncomfortable?”

“Uncomfortable? If servant’s outdoor clothing is more uncomfortable than a corset-tightened dress, then something’s wrong. I ditched corsets a long time ago, but pants are more comfortable, it’s a fact. I’d like to keep wearing them.”

“That’s not happening.”

At the firm tone, Luella pouted but nodded.

The clothes were comfortable, but the fabric was rough and chafed her skin. The dress Cozette had made definitely did not have that issue; it was comfortable and pretty, except for the corset.

Still, Luella thought both were fine, and with no clothes to choose from, she opened the cooking window.

“I should buy Ralph a new set of clothes.”

“It’s fine. Ralph has grown so he can’t wear those clothes anymore.”

“He grew in the meantime?”

Surprised, Lapellian looked outside. The servants were starting to come down.

“I’ve grown too.”

Proudly, Tien shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah, the youth. They grow so fast.”

Watching Hazen pat Tien’s head approvingly, Luella began to finish grilling the remaining chunks of meat.

Because level 80 players were sweeping the beginner zone, the animals in the Camun Forest had been dying off. As a result, Luella’s bag was overflowing with leather, meat, and useless trinkets.

She figured she wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while as she prepared the grilled meat, and her skill level increased, enabling her to make cookies from flour.

Luella put the prepared grilled meat on the table.

“Ah, grilled meat right after waking up…”

Pushing away the grilled meat with disgust, Lapellian watched as Kite picked it up curiously.

“It’s interesting.”

“It’s also good. I was hungry because I didn’t eat dinner, so it’s good timing.”

Watching Mitchel enjoy it, Kite also took a bite of the grilled meat.

“It’s really good.”

“I’ll get flour from Emma later and make cookies too. Those will increase your attack power. It won’t be much because the level is low, but still.”

“It’s already amazing that we can eat like this when we’re hungry. Otherwise, we’d have to starve until we return.”

“Exactly. It’s better than not trying anything eye-catching like bread. We’re lucky to have this.”

Listening to Mitchel and Hazen, Lapellian reluctantly picked up the grilled meat. Watching him, Mitchel asked,

“Did you bring any food?”

“No, it was confiscated at the port. They cited quarantine.”

“Quarantine? What nonsense is that?”

“They said the food supplies might be contaminated and could spread disease.”

“That’s absurd… That never happened before.”

Responding to Mitchel’s point, Lapellian glanced at Luella, then made a rather cold assessment.

“It’s probably because Luella joined our guild.”

“That’s troublesome. The food we brought won’t last long. Plus, with Xenon’s family joining us today, our food consumption will increase even faster.”
Listening, Luella’s mood dropped, but she made an effort to speak calmly about the situation.

“Although we have plenty of ingredients left from yesterday’s forage in Camun Forest, eating the same grilled meat every day will get boring soon.”

Kite, who had been pondering, seemed to have a question.

“Can’t the quest meat be used for cooking?”

“No, it’s like the herbs. I’d understand if we just carried the ingredients, but materials transported through the system seem unusable in daily life.”

“System?”

Luella clicked her teacup, put it into her bag, and then took it out to show.

“Huh? What’s this? Why is it like this?”

Hajeni picked up the teacup and threw it, asking. The teacup Luella took from her bag had transformed into a squishy material, retaining its shape but unable to hold tea, and it didn’t break when thrown.

Luella also took out money from her bag to show.

“It’s the same with money received as quest rewards. Like this, they become useless toys in the real world.”