Beneath the magic stone lamp, a golden sphere sat before the boy.
No matter how you looked at it, it was unmistakably a dish known as a potato ball.
Bell, however, seemed to have already foreseen how this would end. His expression grew noticeably more serious.
Lefiya clicked her tongue and complained,
"Why did you have to go this far? Isn't this kind of rude?"
She picked up the potato ball, but after taking just a single bite, she froze, unable to say a word.
"......! Huh? Huh!!!!"
"Airmid-san, hurry and cast magic, nya!" Chloe called out in a panic.
Bathed in a pale blue glow, Lefiya finally came back to her senses.
"Why did I just see a fog-covered river? No, wait… why is this potato ball so strange?!"
From the spot where Lefiya had bitten into it, a black filling slowly seeped out.
"What an incredibly original creation…"
Bell took a bite himself and immediately understood what it was made of.
On the outside, it was a potato ball, but inside was a mixture of chocolate and all kinds of other ingredients.
"Not bad, right? This is my Valentine's chocolate for Bell."
Syr smiled gently.
"It's absolutely terrible… no, wait. Syr, this thing is so good I can't stop eating it."
Ryuu swallowed the entire potato ball in one go, her face instantly turning pale.
"Y-you're fine, right?! How can you even eat something like that…?"
Lefiya frowned.
To her, the potato balls in front of them had already gone beyond the realm of cooking and crossed into something closer to poison.
"What?! You're saying Fr… Syr-sama's cooking isn't good?!"
Heith stormed up to Lefiya in a rage. "Let me try it."
"O-of course, if you don't mind…"
Intimidated by Heith's anger, Lefiya shakily handed over her potato ball.
From Heith's attitude, if she refused, the girl might have gone after the one in front of the boy instead.
And if that happened, things would be completely different.
With Bell having already taken a bite, that potato ball had effectively become forbidden fruit, carrying the implication of an indirect kiss.
Handing over her own potato ball was Lefiya's way of avoiding that outcome.
Heith picked up the black-filled food and put it into her mouth.
"Th-this… why?! They tasted perfectly fine before…"
Heith stared in disbelief, her eyes wide.
"You don't look so good… maybe we should stop?"
Lefiya asked softly.
If it were anyone else from the Loki Familia witnessing a member of the Freya Familia suffer, they might have applauded the spectacle.
But Lefiya didn't have much of a competitive streak, and besides, this involved a girl connected to Bell.
Because of that, Lefiya couldn't help but worry.
"Mm… I just think it's way too delicious!"
Heith wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Even though her face was deathly pale, she still completely finished off the potato ball in her hand.
The next moment, Heith shot a glance at the boy beside her, her eyes clearly locking onto the one still sitting on Bell's plate.
"W-what are you thinking?!"
Lefiya hurriedly grabbed Heith to stop her.
"Let go of me! The potato balls, this dark history, must be completely erased!"
A fierce blaze burned in Heith's eyes.
"Everyone's actually arguing over my potato balls… I'll go make more right now!"
Syr spun around and ran toward the cooking counter.
"Huh nya nya?! Syr, I really think that's not necessary, nya!"
Led by Chloe, the girls all rushed after Syr.
Bell let out a deep breath, preparing to use the brief moment of calm to deal with the potato ball left on the table.
Just then—
A blonde girl suddenly appeared beside him.
Bell stood up and greeted her.
"Ais-san? Why are you here?"
Ais glanced toward the distance.
Those trying to stop Syr and those supporting her were tugging at each other, dragging the cooking counter along and creating an utterly chaotic scene.
"Lefiya suddenly disappeared… so I came to look for her…"
"Sorry, things are a bit messy right now. I'll bring her over."
Bell headed toward the area filled with black smoke, helping Lefiya escape the chaos.
"Ais-san was looking for me?!"
Lefiya had been swept up by the playful commotion and ended up mixed into the crowd.
The moment she learned Ais had arrived, she instantly snapped back to her senses and returned with Bell to where they had been before.
But what awaited Lefiya was a blonde girl whose expression looked oddly unsettling.
"Ais-san…?"
The person she had always seen as her goal stood right in front of her, yet Lefiya instinctively stepped back, unable to move any closer.
Something about Ais felt wrong.
Her adventurer's instincts were screaming at her not to approach.
"Ais-san? What's wrong with you?"
Bell also sensed the strange atmosphere surrounding the blonde girl.
She felt like an emotionless doll, cold and unsettling.
Keeping his distance, he glanced down and realized that the potato ball on his plate was gone.
"You ate Syr's cooking? I'm sorry, I accidentally left it there."
Bell hurriedly apologized.
Ais might not have noticed that the potato ball had already been bitten into.
Or maybe she did notice, but didn't care since it was Bell.
She had quietly eaten the potato ball, only to be met with a flavor that could only be described as dark cuisine.
It was food she had been looking forward to, so Ais must have felt betrayed.
At least, that was what Bell thought.
But the situation seemed even worse than that.
Ais stood there motionless, her eyes half-open and unfocused.
She gave no response at all to Bell's apology.
This wasn't the behavior of a normally airheaded girl.
Judging by the atmosphere alone, it felt as though Ais had become an entirely different person.
"Ais-san… just ate your potato ball?!"
Lefiya's expression immediately turned grim.
She had gone out of her way to stop Heith, yet never imagined that Ais would suddenly show up here of all times.
"Of all people, it had to be Ais-san… you perpetually horny rabbit!"
Lefiya puffed out her cheeks and shouted the accusation.
Because of Ryuu and Heith going out of control, the other two potato balls had already been completely wiped out.
Only the one in front of the boy had been left behind.
And it had been "luckily" eaten by Ais in secret?!
There was no way Lefiya could accept something like that.
"Unforgivable… I'll burn you!!"
Lefiya raised her wand, black mist seeming to coil around her body.
"I didn't do anything!"
Bell hurriedly defended his innocence.
"You deliberately didn't eat the potato ball, just waiting for Ais-san to show up, weren't you?!"
Lefiya demanded sharply.
"No! I had no idea Ais-san would come here, and what would I even gain from that?"
Bell explained calmly and logically.
It was all just a coincidence.
If not for Syr's mischief, Ais wouldn't have had the chance to secretly eat the potato ball in the first place.
"Th-then… then it must be an indi—"
Lefiya's face flushed bright red as she trailed off, unable to finish.
"An indi… what?"
Bell pressed.
"An indirect kiss, you idiot!"
Lefiya clenched her wand tightly, her painfully embarrassing words echoing through the empty hall.
"....."
Bell had thought Lefiya was about to explain the reason behind Ais's strange condition. He never expected that to be her answer.
More importantly, helping Ais was what mattered right now.
Just as Bell was about to explain that—
Ais, who had been standing completely still, seemed to react to the words "indirect kiss."
She swayed slightly and took a step forward.
Then, she charged straight toward Bell.