Chapter 9: Genius Younger Sisters -4-

The next morning.

A heavy, humid silence hung over the cabin.

In the center of the room sat a bed. Upon it lay ten-year-old Kay, his body swathed in bandages, moaning and tossing in the grip of a fever.

The impact from the Royal Wyvern's tail had rattled his very bones, and the jagged wounds had brought on a searing fever that lasted throughout the night.

"Kay... I fear I spoke too hastily. A man must grow strong, yes, but I shouldn't have pushed you so."

Ector beat his chest as he looked upon his son's pale face. His ten-year-old son had fought that massive magical beast to protect their home, and this was the result.

Because a man had to be strong, Ector had shared stories of his own childhood to instill courage in the boy, but a father is a father, after all.

Seeing his only child in such a state left his heart heavy with guilt.

"I’ll go to the village healer and fetch some potions. I can’t afford to miss work today, so... just rest until I return."

With heavy steps, Ector grabbed his hammer and stepped out of the house.

Creak—thud.

The moment the door closed, the atmosphere inside the cabin shifted violently.

Eight five-year-old little ladies.

As if by silent accord, they flocked around Kay's bed. The usual playful sparkle in their eyes was gone, replaced by a look of grim determination.

"Make way. I shall go first."

Artoria stepped forward with a dignified expression.

"I must change big brother’s towel. As the eldest, it is only right that I do it."

"Don't be ridiculous. You can’t control your strength; you'll probably leave a bruise on Kay's forehead."

Artoria Alter shoved Artoria aside with her hip and cut in.

"I'll do it. I am the delicate one."

"Oh my, Alter is 'delicate' now? Who was it that smashed the door yesterday?"

Lily grinned, delivering a stinging blow of truth. She already held a damp cloth in her hand.

"I'll do it. I know a little bit of healing magic, after all."

"Healing magic? You almost turned a 'heal' into a 'kill' last time. It's too dangerous."

Artoria Caster blocked Lily's path with her staff.

In an instant, the bedside became a scene of absolute carnage.

"Get back!"

"I'm doing it!"

"Big brother is mine!"

The first "catfight" erupted as they pushed and pulled, each desperate to be the one to place the towel on Kay’s forehead and wipe away his sweat.

"Ugh... girls..."

Kay, who had been groaning as if suffering from sleep paralysis, barely managed to open his eyes. His head felt as if it were splitting open, and before him, eight little sisters were fighting, pinching each other's cheeks.

"Please... just let me rest..."

At Kay’s frail voice, the eight of them froze simultaneously.

Artoria, on the verge of tears, grabbed Kay's hand.

"W-we're sorry, big brother. We were being too noisy..."

"Water... give me some water..."

Artoria X dashed forward at lightning speed, bringing a cup to Kay's lips. However, in her haste, she spilled half of it right on him.

"Gack! *Cough, cough!*"

"Aaaah! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Clatter! Crash!

Kay began to wonder if he was being nursed or tortured.

Once the commotion died down and Kay drifted back to sleep, the children gathered in the kitchen for an emergency meeting.

"Big brother collapsed because he lacks energy," Artoria Lancer analyzed seriously, folding her arms.

"Then it's meat. He needs meat to regain his strength," Artoria Lancer Alter declared.

Lily, however, thought that was a bit much.

"But chunks of meat are too heavy for a patient. We have to give him something easy to digest."

"Then... porridge? Meat porridge?"

At Artoria Caster's suggestion, they all agreed and sprang into action.

The menu: a highly nutritious meat and barley porridge.

Naturally, there was no rice; barley was the only edible grain available. They set out to make a British-style meat kykeon.

The problem was that not a single one of them had ever actually cooked. They had always just eaten the meals Kay prepared; these were five-year-olds who had never even held a kitchen knife.

However, they possessed a boundless, baseless confidence.

*We're geniuses. Cooking is simple; we can figure it out just by looking, right?*

Perhaps because Merlin constantly droned on about their genius, their confidence had long since evolved into arrogance.

And so, "Operation Kitchen Takeover" began.

"I'll handle the fire!"

Artoria Caster, the magical prodigy, brandished her staff with confidence. She tossed firewood into the hearth and chanted an incantation.

Kuo-o-o-o-o~!!

It wasn't a simple flame. A furnace-like inferno surged backward, erupting out of the hearth.

"Kyaaa! It's too strong!"

Lily screamed and scrambled back. Caster began to panic, realizing something had gone horribly wrong.

"You idiot! Are you trying to burn the house down?!"

Artoria Alter hurriedly tried to suppress the fire with a burst of mana, but the resulting wind only fanned the flames, making them grow larger.

Eventually, Artoria X had to run outside, bring back a bucket of water, and douse the fire to finally put it out. The kitchen was instantly covered in black soot.

"I will slice the meat."

Artoria gripped the kitchen knife with solemn resolve. It was a knife Kay had intentionally dulled so the children wouldn't hurt themselves.

Placing the wild boar meat on the cutting board, she steadied her breathing like a knight preparing for battle.

"Hah!"

Crunch!

The knife didn't slice the meat; it crushed it. Furthermore, the cutting board snapped clean in half. The meat was reduced to an unrecognizable pulp.

"...The knife is too dull."

"Let's just say it's been finely minced for easier chewing."

At Artoria's excuse, Artoria X Alter shrugged and let it slide.

Next, they poured water into a pot and dumped in the crushed meat and barley.

However, the water ratio became an issue.

"Isn't there too little water?"

"You think so?"

At Lily's word, Artoria X poured in another whole ladle of water. The pot began to slosh over the rim.

"Too much! This is just soup!"

When Artoria Lancer Alter complained, Artoria Caster offered a "brilliant" solution.

"Then we just add more barley."

Caster tilted the entire sack of barley into the pot.

Now it was half barley and half water; the pot was at absolute maximum capacity.

The pot of hell began to boil. The smell was peculiar—a mix of fishy odors and raw grass.

Just then, Artoria X Alter, who had been quiet in the corner, pulled something from her pocket.

"...It looks tasteless."

"Do you have something good?"

"These are emergency rations big brother gave me for when things get tough."

What she produced were sugar lumps and cacao beans that Kay had secretly crafted—his precious, primitive chocolate.

There was no need to wonder why cacao existed in Britain. In a world where potatoes existed in 5th-century Britain, the Mystic Albion—the navel of the earth—was a magical realm where common sense did not apply.

Their logic was simple: a patient needs sugar.

"Put it in! Sweet things taste better!"

At Artoria Lancer Alter's urging, they immediately added the chocolate.

Plop.

The dark chocolate and sugar vanished into the pot.

Then, Artoria X decided it needed "cosmic flavor" and sprinkled in a mysterious powder—one of the seasonings Kay had worked hard to create.

Bubble... gurgle...

The color of the porridge changed. What should have been a golden barley porridge transformed into a viscous, dark purple lava.

The bottom was charred and burnt, the top was undercooked, and the scent of chocolate and meat clashed in a chaotic mess.

"...Why is the color like this?"

Artoria Alter broke into a cold sweat, sensing a disaster.

"It's probably because we added soy sauce... maybe."

As Artoria avoided eye contact, denying reality, Artoria Lancer asked,

"Anyone... want to taste it?"

Silence fell. Their genius instincts were screaming that this was dangerous to consume.

But they had neither the ingredients nor the time to start over.

"Big brother is strong... he'll be fine."

And so, the irresponsible "monstrosity" of five-year-olds was completed.

Thirty minutes later, in the bedroom.

Kay forced himself to sit up.

The door opened, and the eight sisters entered with solemn expressions.

In Artoria's hands was a steaming bowl.

"Big brother, please eat."

Kay looked down at the bowl.

It wasn't porridge.

It was the abyss.

A deep purple, almost black. Unidentifiable lumps floated on the surface, and the smell... a bizarre mixture of burnt sugar and char.

"...What is this?"

"It's meat barley porridge!"

Lily said with a bright smile. She truly believed that because they used high-quality ingredients, it must taste good regardless of its appearance.

"We... worked really hard on it."

Conversely, Artoria X Alter, realizing it was a culinary disaster, spoke in a timid voice.

Eight pairs of eyes stared at Kay, as if piercing through him.

Kay swallowed hard. Cold sweat trickled down his skin.

His survival instincts—honed over five years of hunting bears and identifying poisonous herbs in the wild—were screaming a warning.

But then he saw those tiny, fern-like hands and their soot-smudged faces.

He could vividly imagine the chaos they must have caused in the kitchen just for him.

*Right... at worst, I'll just die. They made this for me.*

With trembling hands, Kay lifted the spoon.

He scooped up a generous portion of the black lava.

Then, closing his eyes tight, he put it in his mouth.

"...!!"

A Big Bang occurred in his mouth.

Undercooked barley crunched like sand, a burnt taste slammed into his tongue, and then a sudden, jarring sweetness of chocolate surged upward. Finally, a fishy meat scent pierced his nostrils.

This wasn't cooking. This was a penalty game.

"B... big brother?"

"Is it... not tasty?"

Artoria Lancer and Artoria Lancer Alter asked.

Just as the children's expressions began to darken,

Kay forced his throat open and swallowed the horrific substance.

Then, utilizing the greatest acting skills of his ten-year life, he beamed a bright smile.

"...It's delicious."

Silence.

The children's eyes widened.

"R-really?"

"You're not lying?"

"I'm serious. The seasoning is perfect. And the burnt taste... well, it's like it's smoked, so I actually like it."

Kay didn't stop; he continued to eat. Tears pricked his eyes, but he wiped them away, pretending they were tears of emotion. It was the grueling effort of a young provider.

"This is the first meal you've ever made for me. Of everything I've eaten in my life... this is the tastiest, and the warmest."

That part was true. The taste was the worst, but the warmth reaching his heart was real.

The heart they showed—struggling to save a brother who wasn't even related by blood—was beautiful and precious.

"Waaah! Big brother!!"

Lily burst into tears first and threw herself into Kay's arms.

Following her lead, the other children tumbled onto the bed in a heap.

On the narrow bed,

A bandaged patient and eight little girls.

Kay felt as if he might be crushed to death under their weight, but he didn't push them away. Their body heat seemed to heal his wounds faster than any medicine.

"Thank you, girls. Truly."

Kay stroked their heads and patted their backs.

Receiving his touch, the girls looked at one another and shared a silent vow.

*We will protect big brother.*

*And... we really need to practice cooking.*

Outside the window, a crimson sunset was fading.

Burnt-tasting porridge and the sound of boisterous laughter.

It was a small, ordinary, yet precious piece of happiness enjoyed by the king and knights who would one day shoulder the future of Britain.

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