The afternoon after I gave Dusty the p t recipe. While I was sitting idle at the reception desk, Hermina, Ralph and Sheik came back.

I'm home.

Welcome home.

They come in looking deeply exhausted and dizzy.

The three of them did not even pick up the keys at the reception desk, but sat down, throwing away their backpacks, canes, and swords. They no longer had the strength to climb the stairs to their rooms.

'It's a bit of a nuisance to be so close to the passage, so I'm going to move them to the side.

'Sorry, Tori. Thank you.

After placing her luggage out of the way, Hermina thanks him while lying down on the floor.

Unlike Ralph and Sheik, Hermina does not often show this kind of sloppiness, which is unusual.

''Was this adventure hard for you?''

I know. We had to defeat a demon that was messing around in the fields, but first of all it was a long way to the village. The roads are all uphill. And when we got there, the demons were totally different from what was written in the request, there were more of them than expected, and they scattered and ran away...''

I wish I could have asked for a brief history, but Hermina's complaining just wouldn't stop.

But since I was the one who asked her, I couldn't just hang up on her.

As a result, I kept listening to Hermina's complaints for about five minutes.

What do you mean!

'I didn't know that was happening. I'm so sorry.

'...... sorry for complaining all the time about something.'

'It's okay, it's better to let these things out.

It is better to vent in moderation than to accumulate. It's better for you mentally and physically.

Yes, lemon water. It will soak into your tired body.

'Thank you.'

I wish I had some lemon with honey, but unfortunately I don't make it.

I like the subtle lemon flavor.

As Hermina drinks the water, Ralph and Sheikh also start to drink.

I feel like I'm feeding a turtle.

'Come on, let's get our stuff and get going.

Hermina stands up after she finishes her complaining, perhaps invigorated by the lemon water.

It seems that Hermina is the fastest at switching from one situation to another.

'Well, I need to rest a little longer.

'My legs are heavy.

And, as expected, Ralph and Sheik seemed disheveled.

Well, I'm more on their side myself, so I can understand their feelings quite well,

There are times when people just don't want to move.

It's better to take a break in your room than to slack off in the cafeteria. Come on, you two, get your lunch boxes out. Abel will get angry with you if you take them out too late.

''Hey.''

Ralph and Sheikh start rummaging through their belongings, with a look on their faces and a reply as if they have no choice when Hermina tells them to do so.

Hermina and the others usually have their father make lunch for them when they go on adventures.

Normally, they wash the lunch boxes themselves before handing them over, but Hermina's father washes his own lunch boxes so that he can see how they were eaten by the person who gave them to him. The rest of the time, he simply likes to see his lunchboxes empty.

I don't know how cooks feel.

Well, the best way to get him to wash it is to put it out as soon as he comes home.

Hermina and the others take the lunch boxes out of their backpacks and bring them to the kitchen counter.

Thank you for the lunch box, Abel! It was delicious today!''

'Thank you very much!

'Oh, you guys, wait a minute.

When Hermina and Seek called out to him, his father came all the way to pick up the food even though he was washing up.

Usually he only answered lightly, but this was unusual.

Did he want to see the empty lunch box that quickly?

While I was questioning, I saw Ralph quickly making his way up the stairs out of the corner of my eye.

'I knew it, Ralph.

'Grrrrr!

Then my dad chased after Ralph and put his arm around him from behind.

'What do you mean, I knew it?

I tilted my head, not understanding the meaning of his words.

There's a guy who only leaves green peppers in his lunch box these days. It's been bothering me for a while now, but I guess it's Ralph.

'Oh, so that's why there have been so many side dishes of green peppers lately.'

'Mr. Abel was casting a net?'

Hermina and Sheik nodded mysteriously, as if they had an idea of what to expect.

It seems that they had been mixing one green bell pepper dish with the others all along in order to find the culprit.

And finally they found the culprit, Ralph.

As we stare at him, Ralph mutters sulkily in his held position.

I don't like green peppers.

''And peppers, too, to be precise, right?''

'Shut up! I basically don't like vegetables! And they smell green! Meat is much tastier!

Sheikh quickly butted in, and Ralph bit into him.

Well, tomatoes and cabbage are no good for me either. Ralph doesn't have tomatoes when he eats hamburgers.

If you don't like green peppers, you should have just said so.

'...... No, you'll get angry if I tell you that, won't you, Abel?'

When Ralph asked where he was, Dad let out a sigh,

'I'm sorry you can't eat what I made, but I'm not going to force you to eat it.

'Really! Then take all the vegetables out of my lunch and make it meat!

'That's no good. I'm going to put vegetables in there for nutrition.

I thought you didn't force me to eat it if I didn't like it!

'It's a health consideration. There are limits.'

If you eat meat all the time without vegetables, you will die. It is impossible to eliminate all meat from the diet, no matter how much consideration is given to it.

Well, I will make it as easy as possible for you to eat the vegetables you don't like, so if you can eat them, try to eat them. Eating meat all the time is bad for your health.

'You're not a child, you should eat vegetables too. Besides, meat is expensive.

'Hey.



Hermina also gives a light sermon to Ralph, but I felt that her true feelings were concentrated in the latter part of her speech.