Nights at the Twilight Manor were always loud.
As one of Orario's two strongest familias, the Loki Familia had more than a hundred members. The moment Loki declared "We're having a feast," the central hall instantly turned into a roaring ocean of celebration.
Long wooden tables were lined with massive barrels of alcohol. There were sizzling bone-in roasts, whole roasted chickens, and heaps of dark bread and fruit piled like small mountains.
"Drink up! Nobody goes to bed sober tonight!"
"To our newbie! He's only Level 1, but I heard he showed something special in front of Captain Finn!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Adventurers were simple.
Come back alive—then eat meat with both hands and drink until your face went numb.
Shirou sat in the corner with a cup of fruit wine, looking slightly stiff.
He was used to noisy homes—Taiga and Illya arguing counted as daily life—but this wild, tavern-like frenzy from another world was still new to him.
"What's wrong, Shirou?" Tiona appeared beside him with a plate almost as big as her face, cheeks stuffed with meat. "Not your taste? This is our familia's head chef's best dish! Roasted Minotaur tenderloin!"
"No, it's fine. It tastes good," Shirou replied with a polite smile.
He cut off a small piece and chewed.
The meat was dense—clearly high-quality.
But…
The seasoning was brutally crude.
Just salt and some kind of spicy plant powder. The heat was off too—charred outside, dry inside. For Shirou, who had spent years developing painfully careful "housewife skills" in the Emiya kitchen and even under the strict standards of temple meals, this wasn't cooking.
It was… wasting ingredients.
"That… what kind of face is that?"
An irritated voice broke in.
Bete sat across from him, legs crossed, staring with open contempt. "You've got that 'this tastes like trash' face. Hey, small fry—don't get picky just because you've got some weird ability. This food was paid for with lives."
"Bete!" Tione shot him a glare.
"No. He's right—this really is food earned with life," Shirou said, setting down his fork. His expression turned serious. "And precisely because it was earned with life, it deserves to be cooked properly—not just… made edible."
"Hah?" A vein jumped in Bete's forehead. "You picking a fight?"
"I'm saying everyone worked hard to come back from an expedition. You should be eating something better."
Shirou rose, rolling up his sleeves and revealing a lean, firm forearm.
"Captain Finn—can I borrow the kitchen?"
…
Ten minutes later—Twilight Manor, back kitchen.
The dwarf cooks responsible for the meal were staring at the red-haired newcomer like they'd been hit with a curse.
"Oi, oi… what's with that knife work?"
"He's too fast! I can't even see the blade!"
In front of the stove, Shirou looked like a completely different person.
He didn't use Projection Magecraft. Cooking didn't need magic—it needed intent.
Still, to speed things up, he murmured under his breath:
"Trace on."
Not to create weapons—just to reinforce the cheap kitchen knife in his hand.
By "reading" the grain of the ingredients through analysis, he avoided every tendon cleanly, turning rough monster meat into something that would melt on the tongue.
"Tonight's main dish is hamburg steak. Sides—mixed tempura. And for soup…" Shirou muttered while working, flipping the pan with practiced ease. "A thick miso-style broth with what we have on hand."
Flames rose in the pan.
Oil and meat aromas exploded instantly, mixing with the sweetness of onions and the rich scent of sauce—slipping through the kitchen door and flooding the hall.
…
In the hall, the adventurers who had been competing in drinking began to fall silent.
"What… is that smell?"
"So good… what is that?"
"It's meat—yeah, but not that burnt roast stench. It's… richer. More addictive."
Gulp.
Someone swallowed audibly. In the sudden quiet, it sounded absurdly loud.
Then the kitchen doors opened.
Shirou pushed out a serving cart, wearing a confident smile.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Emiya-style—no, Loki Familia special dinner. Please enjoy."
On the cart: neatly plated thick patties drenched in deep brown sauce, golden crispy fried bites on the side, plus fresh salad to cut through the richness.
"Is this… meat?" Tiona lunged first, completely ignoring the heat. She speared a piece and stuffed it into her mouth.
The next second—
The endlessly energetic Amazon girl froze solid.
"Mmm—!!!"
She clapped both hands over her cheeks, trembling like she'd taken a critical hit. "W-what is this?! The moment I bite down, the juices explode in my mouth! It's soft! Tender! And this sauce—sweet and tangy—blends perfectly with the meat!"
"No way…" Tione took a bite too, and her expression immediately melted into bliss. "It's real… a hundred times better than that rock-hard roast we always eat. So this is… 'cooking'?"
With the twins leading the charge, the rest of the familia piled in.
"Gods above! What's this golden thing?! It's crunchy—crack-crack—but inside it's sweet and fresh!"
"This soup… one sip and my soul feels healed!"
"More! Rice—give me rice!"
The hall instantly transformed from a drinking contest into a battlefield for seconds.
At the head table—
Loki looked down at the set meal in front of her. Her half-lidded eyes opened just a fraction as she elegantly cut a small piece of hamburg steak and placed it on her tongue.
"…"
Three seconds of silence.
Then Loki slammed the table, sprang to her feet, and pointed at Shirou.
"EMIYA! Starting today, you're my personal chef! Anyone who objects gets thrown out of the familia!"
"Rejected."
A cool voice spoke beside her.
Everyone turned.
Ais—normally quiet—was annihilating her plate at terrifying speed. Cheeks puffed out like a hamster, but her hands never slowed.
"Ais?" Loki blinked. "What did you just say?"
Ais swallowed, lifted her head, and stared at Shirou—no, at the ladle in his hand—with absolute seriousness.
"I reject Loki's exclusivity claim."
Her tone was flat, but the conviction was steel. "Emiya belongs to everyone. His food also belongs to everyone."
Then she extended her empty plate toward Shirou. In her eyes—usually calm and empty—two words were practically written in bold:
Want more.
Shirou couldn't help laughing at the contrast: the cold, terrifying Sword Princess reduced to pure honesty by a good meal.
"Alright," he said, taking her plate. "You'll be full."
He scooped her a generous serving, drowning the meat in sauce.
"Thank you." Ais accepted it, and it honestly looked like little flowers might bloom over her head.
Shirou had no system message.
No voice.
But he was oddly certain he'd just seen something like—
[Ais Wallenstein Affection Increased.]
[Current Status: Stomach Conquered (10%).]
…Probably his imagination.
"Tch… stupid."
In the corner, Bete watched his comrades devour the food with open disdain. But a full plate sat in front of him too.
He stared at the patty, hesitated, then finally stabbed a piece with his fork and tried it.
"…"
His chewing slowed.
Then—without saying anything—he quietly sped up.
"Hey, Bete," Shirou's voice came from beside him.
Bete stiffened.
Shirou had somehow walked over with a bottle of alcohol in hand, smiling warmly.
"So? Does the small fry's food suit your taste?"
"…Tch."
Bete turned his head away. He didn't spit venom like usual—only muttered, barely audible:
"It's… edible. Just normal quality, that's all."
Then he scraped the last drop of sauce off the plate.
An unbelievably easy-to-read tsundere, Shirou thought, amused.
"Emiya."
Finn and Riveria approached.
Finn held a glass of red wine, smiling with clear approval. "Looks like you're not just talented in combat—you're an expert in daily-life skills too. Honestly, after this meal, I'm worried about future expeditions. If you're not there, the team might riot."
"Then take me with you," Shirou replied naturally. "I'm only Level 1 right now, but I'll get strong fast. At the very least… I won't be a burden."
"Not just 'not a burden,'" Riveria said, watching him with a deeper, measuring look. "That Projection Magecraft… and your insight into 'structure' when you prepared ingredients—Emiya, your talent may be far more frightening than you think."
As Orario's greatest mage, Riveria could see what the others couldn't.
That micron-level control wasn't something an ordinary person possessed.
"But don't worry about that tonight," Riveria added, and her expression softened into something gently maternal. "You've joined the Loki Familia now. This is your home. Welcome home, Emiya."
Shirou froze for a heartbeat.
Then warmth rose in his chest.
Home…?
He was an outsider in this world, yes—
but being accepted like this…
wasn't bad.
"Yes." Shirou nodded firmly. "I'm home."
That night, Twilight Manor blazed with light.
And the name Shirou Emiya spread through the familia in the most unexpected way:
"The man who conquered the strongest familia's stomachs."
Of course—
this was only the beginning.
Because tomorrow, when he truly stepped into the Dungeon and showed the gods the fangs called Unlimited Blade Works…
Orario would finally understand what kind of era was about to begin.
-------
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