The three-day border patrol mission finally ended. The Asgard and its escort ships slowly sailed into Schicksal Headquarters' spaceport.
When the battleship was steady, the gangway lowered, and after confirming that Bishop Otto had indeed left early due to "urgent matters," Kael stood at the bridge exit and let out a long, almost exhausted sigh of relief.
These three days were even more tiring than all the tough battles he had fought in the past three years! It wasn't physical exhaustion, but rather intense mental stress and an omnipresent, eerie pressure.
He desperately needed to return to his dorm, lock the door, sleep for twenty-four hours straight, and ideally forget completely about the Bishop's "splendid" facial expressions, which ranged from majestic to cheerful, narcissistic to terrifying.
However, just as he stepped off the gangway, before his feet had even firmly touched the ground—
"Kael—!!!"
A mournful cry, filled with infinite grievance, longing, and the indignant sorrow of "Grandma is a devil," swept towards him like a white whirlwind, growing louder and closer!
Kael felt a blur before his eyes as a heavy "human cannonball," carrying the familiar bitter scent of bitter melon, accurately struck his chest. The immense impact made him stumble back several steps, nearly landing him on his backside!
"Waaah! Kael! I missed you so much! Helheim isn't fun at all! That captain is so rigid! And he wouldn't let me communicate freely! Grandma is too much! She confiscated my bitter melon! She's definitely jealous! Jealous that I get to see you every day!"
Theresa clung to Kael like a koala, rubbing her head against his chest, her voice tearful and incoherent as she accused them of the "inhumane treatment" she had endured for the past three days.
Kael's chest felt tight from the impact, and he struggled to regain his balance. Feeling the real warmth of the girl in his arms and her familiar, vibrant (though now resentful) aura, the nerves that had been taut for three days strangely relaxed.
He sighed helplessly, gently patted her back, his tone a mix of indulgence and weariness that he himself hadn't noticed: "Alright, alright, didn't I come back...? You should get down first, a lot of people are watching."
The surrounding officers and ground crew disembarking the ship stifled their laughter, pretending not to notice the scene of their respected Captain being "assaulted" by an S-Rank Valkyrie in public.
Theresa didn't care what others thought. After a few more rubs, she reluctantly slid down from Kael, but her hands still clung tightly to his arm, as if afraid he would run away. She looked up at him with teary red eyes: "Kael, you've gotten thinner! Did Grandma bully you on the ship? Did she force you to listen to her recite poetry again? Or ask you those weird questions?"
Kael: "..."
In a way, Theresa's guess was spot on. He rubbed his temples, deciding to skip the topic: "It was just a mission. What about you, didn't you cause any trouble on Helheim?"
"Of course not! I was very well-behaved!" Theresa immediately puffed out her chest, then her face fell. "It's just that without bitter melon to eat, I feel like life has lost its color..."
Seeing her miserable expression, Kael couldn't help but smile: "Alright, I'll make it up to you when we get back. Cecilia just messaged, saying to have dinner at her place tonight to welcome us back."
"Really? Yay!" Theresa immediately perked up. Although the quality of food at the Kaslana Family was concerning, the main point was being able to eat with Kael! And she could also see her "good" niece... Hmm, that was barely acceptable!
In the evening, an indescribable smell wafted from the Kaslana Family... like something burnt, mixed with an overly strong spice aroma.
When Kael and Theresa walked into the dining room, Cecilia was coming out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of strangely colored soup, with a gentle but slightly guilty smile on her face: "Welcome back! Come, sit, sit. I tried a few new dishes today."
Siegfried sat at the dining table, a glass of water in front of him, his expression one of his usual resignation to fate.
Kael: Why does Siegfried look like he's lost all his color??
Little Kiana, meanwhile, was firmly secured in her high chair, waving a spoon and babbling at a plate of dark, unidentifiable objects.
Theresa's mouth twitched as she looked at the table full of "delicacies," and she instinctively shrunk back behind Kael.
Kael steeled himself and sat down, his gaze sweeping over the table, finally settling on the most suspiciously colored soup.
Some unidentifiable ingredients floated on the surface of the soup, which was a murky gray-green overall.
"What kind of soup is this...?" Kael asked cautiously.
"It's cream of vegetable soup!" Cecilia introduced enthusiastically. "I added lots of nutritious vegetables and special spices!"
Kael picked up a spoon, and with a sense of impending doom, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and put it into his mouth—
The next second, his movements froze.
An intensely bitter salty taste instantly bombed his taste buds! This wasn't soup at all! This was a concentrated seawater solution! No, it was even saltier than seawater!
His face visibly changed, becoming a kaleidoscope of expressions, and he barely managed not to lose composure and spit it out on the spot.
He swallowed the mouthful of soup with difficulty, trying to appear nonchalant, feeling his throat and stomach protest.
"How is it? Does it taste alright?" Cecilia looked at him expectantly.
Kael took a deep breath, forcing out an expression that was barely a smile: "...The taste...is very unique." He decided to switch targets, reaching his chopsticks towards a plate of stir-fried vegetables that looked relatively normal.
However, just as his chopsticks were about to touch the vegetables, his gaze was drawn to a large, white, irregularly shaped, unknown solid at the bottom of the soup bowl.
What was that? Potato? Radish? Why was it so big?
Out of a strong curiosity (or perhaps a death wish), Kael changed the direction of his chopsticks, carefully delving into the bottom of the soup and clamping onto the white solid. It felt heavy in his hand and was hard in texture.
He slowly pulled it out.
The object still had murky soup clinging to its surface, but it was a translucent white, even reflecting light under the illumination.
Everyone at the table looked curiously at the object in his hand.
Kael brought it closer to his eyes, examined it carefully, then gently tapped it with his chopsticks—it made a crisp "clack clack" sound.
Theresa also leaned in, wrinkling her small nose and sniffing: "What is this? Cecilia, did you put a rock in the soup?"
Cecilia looked bewildered: "No? I only put in ingredients..."
A ridiculous thought rose in Kael's mind. He hesitated, then extended the tip of his tongue, very quickly and lightly touching the surface of the white solid—
"Hiss—!"
An extreme salty taste instantly stung the tip of his tongue! This taste... this texture... He scraped the surface hard with his chopsticks again, in disbelief, scraping off a tiny bit of powder to confirm.
Finally, he looked up at Cecilia, his expression incredibly solemn, his voice trembling slightly: "Cecilia... when you were making the soup... did you... throw an entire can of salt... can and all... into it?"
This huge, hard, bitterly salty white unknown solid was simply undissolved, clumped-together salt!
Or rather, the salt content in the soup was so saturated that it could no longer dissolve, and had directly crystallized out! (OS: Saturated salt solution)
Cecilia: "...Huh?"
Siegfried covered his face.
Theresa burst into an unreserved laugh: "Pfft-hahaha! Salt King! Cecilia, you really are the reincarnation of the Salt King!"
In the midst of this chaos, Kiana in her high chair saw Kael and immediately waved her little hands excitedly. Somehow, she managed to unbuckle her safety harness, jumped out of the chair like a little cannonball, giggling as she rushed towards Kael: "Uncle Kael! Hug!"
Kael was still reeling from the shock of the "salt ore." Caught off guard, he was directly hugged by Kiana from the side, around his thigh. He lost his grip on his chopsticks, which clattered onto the table, and the "salt ore" rolled to the floor, making a crisp sound.
Theresa's laughter abruptly stopped. Looking at Kiana clinging to Kael's leg, jealousy instantly surged within her: "Hey! Little brat! Let go! Kael is mine!"
Kiana didn't care, hugging him even tighter, and looked up with her little face: "Uncle! Kiana's!"
Kael looked down at the "attachment" on his leg, then at the dishes on the table that were practically biochemical weapons, then thought of the elusive Bishop who had just left, and finally felt Theresa's impending burst of jealousy beside him... He suddenly felt that perhaps Bishop Otto's "supervision" wasn't the worst situation.
At least, on the battleship, he didn't have to worry about being salted to death, or being torn apart by two white-haired "attachments" on the spot.
This Captain, who had just undergone "mental torment," was now plunged into another kind of sweet yet chaotic "daily torment."
He sighed resignedly, bent down to pick up Kiana, and at the same time grabbed the back of Theresa's collar, who was about to pounce and "snatch him."
"Alright, stop messing around," he said weakly. "It seems tonight's welcome dinner... I'll have to cook myself."
Cecilia smiled sheepishly, and Siegfried looked as if he had been granted a great pardon, his entire being filled with color again.
Theresa cheered, and Kiana, though she didn't understand, also giggled along.
💎 Power Stone Bonus: Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter
🌟 5-Star Review Bonus: Every 5 (5-Star) Reviews = +2 Extra Chapters
💬 Comment Speed-Up: If any chapter reaches +10 Comments = The Next Chapter Will Be Released Faster!
🔥 Want to Read Ahead? If you want to read advanced chapters, check out my buymeacoffee(.)com/02netnovel