Chapter Thirty-One Dinner

  "I said, these ingredients were hard-earned by me, all given to you, what am I supposed to do?"

  "Anyway, you won't be using cooking skills, and these NPC maid's cooking skills aren't that high either. Putting them here is a pure waste, it's better to give them to me!"

  "What am I going to eat?"

  "Oh dear! Just be straightforward! Fine, I'll come here and cook in the future then! Is that okay?!"

  "What? You come here to cook?"

  "What should we do? So many S-class ingredients can't be wasted! Are you sure you can handle them perfectly?"

  "This...alright..."

  ……

  After much debate, Asuna finally came to her senses and realized that she had actually volunteered to go to a boy's house to cook for him!

  Ugh... How did it end up like this...

  Asuna was on the verge of tears, but looking at the precious S-class ingredients in Yui's backpack, Asuna couldn't bring herself to give up.

  Even she, who had learned cooking skills specifically to eat better, hadn't eaten S-class ingredients before!

  Looking at the seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression on Hachiguma's face, Asuna's mental table had already been overturned eighteen times.

  Lost face big time...

  The illustrious Asuna, vice commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, has actually sunk to the point of voluntarily asking to go to a boy's house to cook!

  "What? Changed your mind?"

  Baiyun Mo looked at Aisina's pale face and chuckled.

  "Who's backing out now!" Yasnac retorted immediately. "By the way, hurry up and trade over those ingredients already!"

  "Alright!"

  Baiyun Mo quickly traded some ingredients over to Asuna, who looked like she was about to blow her top.

  Asahina's complexion improved slightly as she received the ingredients from Hachiyu Moku, and after glaring at him for a moment, she said: "Hurry up and take me to the kitchen!"

  "Alright, let's go!"

  After bringing Asuna into the kitchen, the girl took down an apron hanging on the wall and tied it around her waist. She looked around the kitchen layout, then opened a nearby cabinet to take out gloves, various tools, and ingredients to start processing the ingredients.

  "In SAO, the cooking process is oversimplified, which loses some of the fun of cooking."

  Asuna lightly tapped the kitchen knife in her hand on a whole pork chop, and the pork chop turned into neat small pieces in a blue glow.

  "But relatively speaking, the taste of the dishes made with these ingredients is much more delicious than in reality!"

  Baiyun Mo stood at the kitchen door with her hands clasped together, gazing at Asuna's busy back, a gentle smile spreading across her face.

  This feeling... is so warm and fuzzy...

  It seems that Asuna sensed something unusual behind her and turned around to glare at Yui, "What are you staring at?"

  Baiyun Mo didn't respond, still maintaining that smile as he leaned against the door frame, watching the girl.

  Asya, who was seen by Yakumo Moku and felt a bit hot in the face, turned her head to continue processing the ingredients in front of her. However, although the girl tried her best to ignore Yakumo Moku behind her, her back still had a scorching feeling that made her feel uncomfortable all over.

  "Oh no! Why don't you go out first?"

  Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Asuna turned around and with her thickly gloved hands pushed Yui out of the kitchen.

  Yatsumori Sumi was pushed out by Asuna and smiled: "Alright alright, I'll go first, you take your time."

  After finishing speaking, Bachyun Mo turned around and left the kitchen.

  Yagumo Taku returned to the front yard and went under the cherry blossom tree, teasing Shiro. Before long, Asuna's voice came from the backyard: "Dinner is ready!"

  Just as the figure under the ink cloud had just stood up, three maids came to the front hall with tray after tray of steaming hot dishes that smelled delicious and placed them on the table.

  Ayase, who was following behind, had already untied the apron that was tied around her waist earlier and was about to eat when she suddenly thought of something. She turned her head to look at Yakumo Mukuro and asked, "Where is the place to change clothes here?"

  "Change clothes? What for?"

  "Ashina pointed at her own red and white knight armor, then pointed at Yakumo's heavenly fox long robe and said: 'Can't eat like this, can we?'"

  "What? What's wrong? I've always been like this!"

  Ayase suddenly stretched out her hand to cover her forehead and sighed: "Seriously... never mind, hurry up and change into a set of home clothes for me, and also prepare a place for me to change!"

  "Alright, alright, take her to the guest room."

  After instructing a maid to take Asuna to her guest room, Yui returned to her own bedroom.

  In SAO, changing clothes isn't as troublesome as in real life, just a click on the system panel is enough. However, when switching clothes, there's about a one-second delay where the player will be exposed in their underwear, which is why Asuna would ask to go to a room to change.

  Taking off her magnificent Tian Hu Chang Pao, and changing into a casual home outfit of an inch-cloth long pants after, Bayun Mo saw Aisena coming out of the guest room across from hers as soon as she stepped out of her own.

  Asuna, who had changed out of her original red and white Knights of the Blood guild uniform, looked even more lively and cute in a beige tank top and an ultra-short skirt.

  It was at this time that Asuna would let people notice that she was just a teenage girl after all.

  "Let's go."

  Baiyun Mo nodded slightly in front of Asuna.

  Ayase looked up at Yakumo Suke's appearance and was slightly taken aback.

  "Unexpectedly, you look quite like a stay-at-home dad after changing into casual clothes!"

  "Can I take this as some kind of hint?"

  Ayase glared at Yakumo for a moment, her face red with anger, and then silently walked to the front hall.

  Upon arriving at the front hall and kneeling down across from Asuna, Yui's eyes widened in admiration as she gazed at the colorful dishes on the table: "I didn't know your cooking skills were so high!"

  "It's just that the skill level is a bit higher, in reality if I really did it, I definitely wouldn't be able to do it to this extent." Asuna smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

  "I'm on my way!"

  After finishing this sentence, Bachiroku Moku picked up a small piece of fish meat with chopsticks and tasted it.

  "How is it?" Yashina asked with a hint of anxiety from across the way.

  Baiyun Mo's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. He didn't say anything praiseworthy, but the sound of "mmm" coming from one side while continuously moving his chopsticks on the other made Asuna smile in satisfaction.

  "Come on, don't be like a child, slow down!"

  Her face unwittingly wore a gentle smile, and Asuna also picked up her chopsticks.

  "I'm on my way!"

  A dinner was spent in this warm and cozy atmosphere.

  After dinner, Hachiroumei ordered the maids to clean up the various dishes and accompanied Asuna to the lake shore.

  The lake surface appears serene and mysterious under the moonlight.

  "I never thought I'd see the day, there's actually a life like this in SAO." Asuna stood beside Yui and adjusted her hair behind her ears, sighing with emotion.

  "You're just under too much pressure, shouldering too many things..."

  Baiyun Mo looked at the reflection of the bright moon on the lake surface and said softly.

  "Let go of the burdens in your heart and truly enjoy your days in SAO. You will find that this game is not as scary as you thought, on the contrary, it will become an unforgettable memory for a lifetime."

  Ayase stared blankly at the lake's surface, saying nothing.