Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Skullius and Yuyui entered into an eatery with the latter having a big smile on her face.

She looked at the immaculate arrangement of hardwood tables where many people sitting in twos, threes and fours were dining on a variety of dishes from expensive to cheap.

Yuyui couldn't help but lick her lips.

She couldn't wait!

She hadn't eaten anything except for perhaps the many fruits from the trees in the forest in Fortune which had peculiar tastes that she wasn't used to.

This was evidently different though.

She had the opportunity to eat her fill without pause and to entertain NONE of the vegetable and fruit crap.

This wasn't about nutrition!

This was about living to eat!

As the two entered, a man approached them with an amiable smile but Skullius hurriedly pushed Yuyui to the front.

The lime haired already knew why.

"Hello my dear guests, would you like to dine in the Grubby Hands this afternoon?" the man asked as his eyes alternated their focus between Skullius and Yuyui.

He was evidently a waiter.

The Pinnacle Occuluthon smiled deeply and took a step forward as she answered.

"Yes we would."

"For you and your..." the man said, glancing at Skullius who didn't spare him even his blank gaze.

"Yes. For me and my... friend," Yuyui said as she made sure she was in the waiter's line of sight, blocking the view of Skullius.

"Right away," the man said as he briskly turned and motioned for the two to follow him. He showed the duo to a free table and waited for them to sit down.

"What would you like to eat?" the man naturally asked the most vibrant of the two, Yuyui.

"Ummm....what do you have when it comes to your meats?" Yuyui asked enthusiastically while clapping her hands.

The waiter stated all the various meats they had according to their pricing per apportionment, with each statement he said, Yuyui's eye darting over to Skullius who didn't seem to be focusing on the interaction at all.

She wanted to know whether money really wasn't an object but given how Skullius had already confirmed that he would spoil her for her 'service', she loosened up... and ordered.

"Can we have a full portion of every type of meat you have?"

The waiter stiffened.

What now?

A full portion of... every meat?

That was...

"Is this to carry back home? We have packages designated for that sor—"

"No. I.. ahem... we need to eat it all now," Yuyui said, correcting herself.

The waiter tried to stir his mind, thinking that perhaps there was something he was missing but, that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"But... some of these...portions may not even fit at the table..."

"Oh. Then bring the portions that can fit in as many plates as the table can hold. Oh! We can even borrow another table!"

The waiter's brow started to pump out sweat as he could only relent. Yuyui ironed out some of the more intricate details with him as she placed a few more orders for drinks as well.

The man walked away as he went to bring the orders.

Thankfully, no one had heard the discussion here or at least no one who could hear it paid it any mind. This wasn't a fancy establishment after all, so strange fetishes were acceptable.

Skullius didn't show any reaction to the scene that had been happening before him.

At this moment, he had [Koten Machi] active as he searched for that dangerous presence once again but a portion of his focus remained on all the details of the Guilds Association that he had chosen not to indulge in for now.

His mind had been so set on taking on the missions he had chosen that he didn't bother with most of the other details. At least for now.

He hadn't even bothered to ask who that sharply dressed man was as soon after Alaris had been tasked with having him choose anything he wanted from the first treasury, such thoughts had been packed to the back of his mind.

With only two days, excluding this one, remaining before the Premium Age Royale began, Skullius wanted every assurance he could get from any kind of situation he was going to get himself involved in during this event.

Enough strength for flexibility.

He could check everything else he had left behind later.

At this moment, he wanted to kill two birds with one stone, feeding his glutton while searching for this individual he was drawn to. He didn't have much hope but it was worth a try.

"Master, the food is here!" Yuyui said as she tapped Skullius' forehead while leaning over the table.

'That's bold,' Skullius thought while reeling in his mind from the several facets it was sinking itself into.

Several individuals brought about multiple plates chock full of nothing but meat!

Braised, roasted, stewed, grilled...

Bitter smiles could be seen over the individuals serving this food.

Some of them had been under the impression that perhaps a rather large noble had suddenly emerged to try their cuisine but.. all they could see was a twig with colourful hair and an attractive man who betrayed their expectations with how gluttonous he seemed to be.

The drinks were served later, the idea of taking another table to accommodate all the dishes having firmly been denied by the owner of the eatery who peeked at these customers from a distance.

As the servers departed, Skullius confirmed with the waiter who had come before that yes... yes, he could pay for all of this.

"I have full faith that you'll want to eat somewhere else after this so do make it quick," Skullius said as he only took something to drink from the food pile.

Yuyui smiled as she dug in.

It made her feel much better to know that Skullius understood her very well.

Her body digested food at an atrocious rate. It was as if it was trying to compensate for that century and some of starvation!

It wasn't that she wouldn't get full after this meal.

She would but she could eat more!

Yuyui began to eat, her rate of swallowing... no, devouring everything in the dozens of plates causing a spectacle that drew the attention of everyone in the eatery.

Skullius ground his teeth.

He didn't think there would be eyes on him as well, some of them clearly asking for him to stop Yuyui. To save this poor girl before she killed herself!

Yet he completely ignored.

After six minutes and forty-three seconds, the final bone struck the plate as nothing that could be called flesh remained.

Skullius immediately stood up as Yuyui was clearing her mouth.

He called for the waiter who remained dazed for a few moments before answering his call, bringing the bill which Skullius swiftly paid with the gold coins he had looted from some of the bandits he came across.

He wouldn't use Plasma coins for this.

The two left the joint under perplexed and horrified eyes, Skullius leading the enthusiastic glutton down the street as he searched for the powerful presence again.

After ten minutes, he went with Yuyui into another eatery, one that specialised in baked goods. Confectioneries.

The lime haired girl walked with a skip in her step as she placed another dreadful order that made the servers turn pale.

Another cycle of food mowing ensued along with a flabbergasted audience who watched it all happen.

This cycle kept going on for two hours, with Yuyui continuously finding something new to sink her teeth into while Skullius was left to sigh as he couldn't find what he wanted.

Seeing that time was running out as he wanted to get on with his missions starting today, Skullius only allowed Yuyui one more stop. He intended to have her go back to the mansion as right now, she wasn't that useful.

As they sat down, Yuyui didn't ask for another outrageous amount of food. She asked for a somewhat normal portion that she sat down to.

She had begun to eat when Skullius asked her a question.

"Do you have an other goals besides stuffing your face?"

The lime haired girl who shockingly looked the same despite eating hundreds of people worth of feed, looked into Skullius' blank eyes and puckered her lips.

"Well..." she replied. "I don't really remember what I wanted to do before I got trapped but now... I did develop three simple dreams in that horrible place."

"What are those?" Skullius asked with a brow raised. Did this meathead actually have an honourable set of ideals and goals?

"Instead of dying of hunger, I...I want to die from eating too much!

Instead of living in that stale... maddening silence and loneliness, I want to die by laughing too hard because I'm happy!

Instead of feeling so scared that I can't even close my eyes, I want to find so much comfort that I will... I will sleep to death!

These are my dreams Master!"

Yuyui said them with firm resolve, her serious face only being distorted by the swelling of her cheek as she chewed the food from her plate.

Skullius was stunned.

He couldn't really call her dreams stupid.

He could identify with her loneliness at least.

It was like having a different variant of the conversation he had had with the dolphin Fuwin.

The Hybrid Luman folded his arms.

"It's fine to want to explore pleasure but do you have to do while dying?" Skullius said with the 34th sigh of the day. "It's not the time to be too relaxed. There's danger everywhere. For someone like you, it's best to grow your strength first."

Yuyui shrank a bit.

Skullius wasn't wrong.

She didn't know much about what was happening in the world so she tended to relax because everything was spoon-fed to her by Skullius.

Instruction.

Food.

But...

His words...

'There's danger everywhere....it's best to grow your strength first...

'There's danger everywhere...it's best to grow...'

These words...

They were oddly familiar...

Someone in her past that was unclear had said something like this...

What was it...?

A not-so-distant memory was pulled from her mind because of Skullius' words, a memory from a dangerous time...