DanMachi: Cheat? What's a Cheat?

Chapter 15: Soup and Dishwater

Time crawled by while I waited on the old sofa that lost its cushiness like five years ago. The afternoon sunlight slowly dimmed, sneaking in through the church's grimy windows.

Looks like the moon's gonna be shining soon.

I stared at the ceiling, watching the spider web in the corner and wondering if I should clean it tomorrow morning.

Speaking of spiders, it reminded me of some bad memories about the last time I swept spider webs.

That's 'cause when I was cleaning the spider web, it suddenly jumped at me and bit me.

Made me lie in bed for a whole week, made me wonder if I'd go back to earth or end up in some new world.

Luckily I didn't go to another world again. Just thinking about spiders gives me the creeps—clearly I'm traumatized.

The creatures in this world are super dangerous, even spiders are poisonous and almost killed me.

If that spider turned me into Spider-Man, that wouldn't be a problem compared to the spider dragging me to a new world.

While I was daydreaming, the sound of little footsteps echoed from the kitchen direction.

"Kaen-kun! I brought the food!"

I straightened up and looked over.

Goddess Hestia with a bright expression and hands trembling slightly from the weight appeared from the kitchen carrying a huge pot.

A pot, not a bowl. Not a serving dish.

A pot.

Hot steam rose from it, filling the room with the aroma of... something. I couldn't name the smell exactly.

A mix of boiled meat, potatoes, and... what was that?

"Soup!" she said proudly, her eyes sparkling like a kid who just finished a difficult puzzle.

"Only one menu tonight, but it's special!"

She stood in front of the pot with a proud expression like a professional chef waiting for a five-star review.

Her watermelon-sized chest puffed out, her wide smile showing rows of white teeth, and her hands on her hips in a pose that seemed to say: Come on, praise my masterpiece!

I looked at the pot for a moment then smiled.

"Looks amazing, Goddess."

Though honestly... I wasn't sure yet.

But, hey. I'm a country kid. I grew up on food that even chickens would reject.

If the chickens in his village heard his thoughts they'd probably get mad and say: hey, we're not picky.

I used to eat boiled cassava and salt for a whole week straight. So Goddess's soup? Whatever it tastes like, I'll eat it happily.

And most importantly: this was made specially for me.

By my own goddess.

And hey, if I die from food poisoning, at least I'll die loved. Not everyone can say that.

Goddess Hestia almost jumped with joy hearing my response.

"Right?! I knew it'd be delicious!" she exclaimed, then did a little spin with the pot still in her hands.

"Come sit! I'll get bowls and spoons!"

She dashed back to the small kitchen with enthusiasm that made the wooden floor creak.

The sound of metal and dishes clinking went on for quite a while, interrupted by "Oops!" and "Where is it?"

until she finally appeared again with two bowls and two slightly dented spoons.

"Sorry it took a while," she said while arranging the eating utensils.

"The spoon wandered behind the stove."

With excessive care, she poured the pot's contents into my bowl.

Steam rose slowly as the pale brown liquid flowed, covering chunks of meat and vegetables that... the pieces weren't consistently sized.

There was one potato as big as a rubber ball, one carrot shaped like a broken boomerang, and several pieces of meat that looked like they were cut with eyes closed.

The aroma was... weird but tempting. Kind of like boiled meat smell that wasn't sure of its identity, a mix between home cooking and... the scent of hope.

But somehow, when she placed that bowl in front of me with eyes sparkling with hope, my chest felt warm.

I don't know why an aroma like 'potato' could feel touching. But that's how it was.

"Let's eat, Kaen-kun!" she said, sitting across from me, watching me hopefully.

Her eyes followed my every movement, like an artist waiting for reactions to their artwork.

With full enthusiasm, Hestia took the bowl and spoon for me.

She even ladled the soup into my bowl with such careful movements, as if afraid to spill even a drop.

Seeing Hestia's expression so enthusiastic and caring, somehow I felt... weird.

Happy? Warm? Because someone cared about me like this?

During my life in the village, no one ever treated me like this.

No one ever cooked specially for me.

No one ever waited for my reaction with sparkling eyes.

Impatiently, and under Hestia's hopeful gaze,

I took the spoon, blew on it briefly, then scooped up the soup made by this adorable goddess.

The first spoonful entered my mouth.

I... froze.

How do I explain this?

Sometimes it was bland. Like dishwater from pots.

Sometimes salty. Like seawater that forgot it wasn't sauce.

Sometimes... weird. Like a combination of both in one spoon.

Hard to explain what it tasted like.

But... still. I chewed and swallowed.

Because, once again: this was made by my own goddess.

A goddess making me food was clearly an honor for me, an ordinary human.

And if I'm alive tomorrow morning without coughing up blood, that's a bonus.

And for a country kid like me, this was still tastier than the food I brought during my journey to Orario.

At least this was warm and had meat in it.

And most importantly, this was protein!

My thoughts were full of protein, protein, protein.

With hands slightly trembling from nerves, I scooped again.

This time a piece of unevenly sized potato.

Bland. But the texture was... adequate.

My face probably couldn't hide everything.

Sometimes frowning.

Sometimes squinting.

Sometimes holding my breath.

Sometimes looking satisfied.

But I ate. With full enthusiasm.

And Hestia... watched me like a child seeing their first fireworks.

She was glowing.

Seeing me eat heartily, despite the weird changing expressions, she seemed more and more confident.

"Looks delicious, right?" she asked hopefully.

I nodded while chewing a piece of meat that was kinda tough.

"Delicious, Goddess. Really... warming."

Why did I say that? Shouldn't I have said the food made by the goddess was very delicious?

But whatever, I don't care.

And it wasn't a lie. This soup was indeed warming, in every sense.

I don't know if godly instincts can detect lies like Ouranos, but I know I don't need to lie. Because I'm truly grateful.

Hestia grinned widely and started pouring soup into her own bowl.

"Then I wanna try my masterpiece too!" she exclaimed proudly.

She scooped a piece of meat that was also unevenly sized, blew on it gently, and put it in her mouth with an enthusiastic expression.

And the next second...

"PFFFFT—!!"

The soup sprayed from her mouth.