"Hmm~~~"
When sunlight filtered through the gaps between the dense leaves into the forest, it meant that the adventurers had safely passed another dangerous night in the wild and welcomed the morning of the next day.
Similarly, Fern was no exception. She woke up following the sunlight.
Whenever this time came, the diligent and capable Fern would leave her bed and thoughtfully prepare breakfast for everyone.
Today's Fern, as always, stretched lazily. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, pulled off the blanket wrapped around her, and slowly walked to the campfire to set up the cooking utensils again.
Gurgle... gurgle...
A rice fragrance wafted into Fern's nasal cavity. Following the sound, Fern saw that a small pot had already been set up over the campfire, with boiling rice porridge rolling inside.
"Um... Has Lady Alicia woken up yet?" Fern slightly furrowed her brows, looked around left and right, and muttered uncertainly. "Since Lady Alicia has already prepared breakfast, then I'll go wake up Lady Frieren and Lady Mabel."
Fern perked up, preparing to proceed with the second daily must-do item: waking up Frieren and Mabel.
As she got closer to Frieren's tent, Fern vaguely heard sounds similar to fabric friction and hair-combing.
"...Mmm... So sleepy..."
Frieren's sleepy voice came from inside the tent, entering Fern's mind word for word.
F... Frieren-sama has woken up early!
And from the sound, she's even tidying up her bedding herself and tying her own hair!
The sleepiness in Fern's mind instantly disappeared, leaving only shock in her heart and the thought of properly praising Lady Frieren next.
Subsequently, Fern opened Frieren's tent and said softly: "Lady Frieren, you've already woken up..."
Thus, Fern came face to face with Diego, who was combing Frieren's hair.
In her line of sight, Frieren was wearing pajamas, her eyes still tightly closed, kneeling defenselessly in Diego's arms. Her little head repeatedly lowered and lifted in the process.
Diego had a calm expression, lightly holding Frieren's white hair in his hand. The wooden comb smoothed out the tangled, sticking-up strands.
"The early bird gets the worm, and in another world's mythology, the Titan god Prometheus was chained and pecked daily by an eagle for stealing heavenly fire..." Diego paused, noticing Fern's intrusion. His eyes, turned pure black from the spirit summoning technique, lifted and met Fern's gaze. He slightly opened his mouth. "In other words, what you get by waking up early isn't necessarily a worm, it could also be a deity."
"Yo, Fern. Good morning."
"Ah... Good morning, Diego-sama..."
Perhaps not expecting Diego to appear here and even be tying Frieren's hair, Fern responded somewhat flustered. Then she remembered something and asked casually: "Is it okay for you to use your precious time here?"
Fern was referring to the spirit summoning technique time.
"Completely fine!" Diego tied Frieren's twin tails and even specially added a small bow. His eyes showed a nostalgic expression. "On the contrary, this reminds me of past times... Hmph! Anyway, it feels surprisingly good for kono Dio."
Fern nodded blankly and asked again: "Then what are you planning to do next?"
"Isn't that obvious? Change clothes for this lazy, good-for-nothing elf." Diego pointed at Frieren, who was only wearing pajamas, with a matter-of-fact expression.
Frieren, still half-asleep, protested softly: "Ya... yamete yo. Fern will help me..."
"...It should be me after all. Lady Frieren's daily activities have always been my responsibility." Fern extended both arms toward Diego, preparing to take Frieren.
However, Diego not only didn't hand Frieren over but instead—
Hugged her tightly!
And while baring his fangs, he was also huffing!
The determination on his face was just like a child protecting his beloved toy, absolutely not yielding!
"You're making things difficult for me, Diego-sama." Seeing she couldn't pull Frieren away, Fern puffed up her cheeks and struggled to snatch Frieren from Diego's arms. She said seriously, "You heard it, right? Lady Frieren told me to help her change clothes."
"Fern, changing clothes is such an intimate thing. Generally, it's the boyfriend's duty..." Feeling Fern's strange gaze, Diego narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous light, and pulled Frieren back into his arms again. "You need to be a good child who can understand others wanting to spend time alone as a couple.."
But soon, Diego couldn't hold his expression and burst out laughing with a "pfft". His mouth twisted into a smile. "Not only that, feeding her, bathing her, braiding her hair... are all kono Dio's patents! You've crossed the line."
"Don't do that. It's too embarrassing..." The lazy elf was still drowsy.
"Are you serious..."
Fern asked in disbelief. The expression on her face gradually disappeared.
My daily routine has been taken away by Diego-sama!
Although Lady Frieren is indeed a good-for-nothing in daily life, she's also a good-for-nothing that I personally raised since I was little!
Fern felt very uncomfortable for a moment.
"In that case, I'll go wake up Lady Mabel. After all, Lady Mabel sleeps until two in the afternoon every day."
After thinking for a long time, Fern gave in.
Hearing this, Diego was first stunned, then the corners of his mouth stretched wider and wider. He turned around and revealed Mabel hanging on his back.
Subsequently, Diego walked to Fern's side, patted her shoulder, and said in a low, chilly voice: "Forgot to tell you. Until she wakes up, Mabel thinks the one waking her is you. She's even murmuring that she likes little Fern the most and begging to sleep a bit more..."
Holy shit, how can Diego-sama be so bad!
Such a bad taste, such a childish person!!!
Fern activated her big mushroom mode and left the tent full of resentment, muttering things like "Diego-sama is a bad person".
Watching Fern's departing back, Diego revealed a triumphant smile and turned to rummage for clothes in the luggage.
"Hmm... Is a nun's outfit not suitable for Frieren?"
Diego looked at the clothes in his hand and fell into thought. (This guy grabbed the wrong luggage.)
"Forget it. As long as I, Dio, like it, I'll go with this..."
...
A few days later...
The suddenly appearing desserts disrupted everyone's advancing steps.
Cake, cookies, tiramisu... and soft little bread.
"Eh, Dio, you made these?" Mabel asked in surprise while picking up a cookie.
"Long live Master! Finally, food other than dry bread!" Stark cheered and eagerly threw himself into the desserts' embrace.
Alicia picked up a piece of cake and took a small bite, praising: "The taste is really good.."
"Hey, Dio. Why is only my cake shaped so strangely?"
Unlike the happy group, Frieren had a strange look in her eyes. She carefully poked the cake in front of her, which was indistinguishable from a mimic, with a fork.
She then complained: "You definitely did it on purpose, right? Everyone else's cakes are normal, but mine is made into a mimic!
"Moreover, it's way too realistic. It even made the exposed teeth and sticking-out tongue..."
"Um, I want to eat yours!"
The sharp-eyed Frieren noticed Diego's untouched dessert and quickly swapped her cake with Diego's.
"I don't mind, but don't you want to try what a mimic tastes like?" Diego smiled, supporting his cheek with one hand and quietly watching this scene. "After being eaten so many times, it's time for you to eat a mimic once."
"I don't want to!" Frieren crossed her palms in front of her chest and firmly refused the proposal. "This is weird, okay? Just looking at it makes my scalp tingle."
"Eh~~~, really? I think it would be fun." Diego continued to tease.
"This is definitely weird. You think so too, right, Fern?" Seeing the argument at a stalemate, Frieren turned to ask for Fern's opinion.
"Mm... It is indeed weird." Fern nodded and put down the cake in her hand.
After Frieren showed an "as expected" expression, Fern continued to add.
"It's just that it's not the cake that's weird, but the dessert is weird."
Frieren asked in surprise: "Why do you say that? Did Dio put onions in it?!"
"That's not it. How should I put it..." Fern waved her hand and pondered.
"Because baking desserts takes a long time. 20 minutes obviously isn't enough to make them." Mabel interjected at this moment, smiling and elbowing Diego's back. "You bought these, right?"
"I didn't say all of these were made by me." Diego turned his head away, essentially admitting it. "Time was limited, so I only made that mimic. It's a pity someone isn't willing to eat it. Hmph, if you don't want to eat it, forget it..."
Sensing Diego's downcast mood, Mabel chuckled softly. She leaned her whole body onto Diego's head, wrapped both arms around Diego's neck, and spoke like coaxing a child: "Hehe, don't be angry. If Frieren won't eat it, I'll eat it~"
"..."
Thud!
The expected reply didn't come. Diego fell straight to the ground and soon reverted to his little dinosaur form.
Since she was leaning on Diego, Mabel also fell with him. She put on the hood of her beast robe, got up from the ground, and sighed: "Ah, he's gone back again!"
Subsequently, she stared with dead fish eyes, tossed the mimic cake high into the air, and caught it in her mouth.
(Munch munch munch)...
Seeing this, Frieren asked curiously: "Does the mimic taste good?"
"(Munch munch)... Wow, it's really bad. As expected, it's made by Dio!" Mabel swallowed the cake and playfully shook her head, sticking out her little tongue. "It's all burnt."
"After all, there were only 20 minutes." Alicia also smiled along.
Frieren blinked and said while pinching her chin: "Hearing Mabel say that, I'm actually curious about what it tastes like. It's the first time I've heard you say something Dio made tastes bad."
"Next time, let Dio make one for you to eat."
"Mm, next time..."
...
It's just that none of us expected that this would be the last time we saw Diego in his spirit summoning form.
——Northern Plateau, Vize Region——
"Master is missing!!!"
The next morning, Frieren was woken up by Stark's loud voice. She walked out of the tent and saw Stark holding his battle axe, anxiously searching for something everywhere.
"So noisy, Stark..." Frieren rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned, complaining dissatisfiedly. "Aaaah~~ That guy Dio probably went to find breakfast ingredients again. These past few days he's been competing with Fern to cook, and I don't know why..."
Fern interrupted Frieren's words. She pointed at the extinguished campfire and said anxiously: "Lady Frieren! Diego-sama didn't go looking for ingredients today. In the past, Diego-sama would always tell me in advance, but today when I woke up, Diego-sama was already gone."
After a moment of silence, Frieren asked again: "...How long has he been gone?"
"Already more than an hour without coming back..." Stark held up one index finger, cold sweat appearing on his face. "I've searched all around and didn't see Master."
"An hour... Dio wouldn't make that kind of time error." Frieren shook her head, feeling a vague unease in her heart. "Anyway, let's go look for him first."
"Maybe that idiot fainted somewhere..."