Yanagi sat diagonally across from Makoto, her eyes fixed on the white wolf meat soup on the table. Her lips pressed together again and again. She swallowed her saliva many times but was too embarrassed to reach out.
Makoto reached over and turned the soup toward her. "Eat."
Yanagi's head jerked up. Her thick bangs covered her eyes, but the corner of her mouth curved into a crescent moon. "Thank you, brother-in-law!"
Hana's face instantly turned as red as a boiled crab. "Yanagi! What are you saying, you girl—!"
"Huh?"
Yanagi tilted her head, her expression naturally blank. "I thought that's what Onee-chan wanted me to call you."
"Who likes that—!"Hana's voice rose even higher, drawing sidelong glances from a few adventurers at the next table.
"So, Onee-chan, you don't want to at all, right?" Yanagi tilted her head, a little demon's smile surfacing at the corner of her mouth.
Hana opened her mouth, her throat emitting an 'I' sound, and then nothing else followed.
After 'I, I, I' several times, she bounced up from her chair and lunged at her sister. "I'll fight you to the death!"
"Stop it, stop it, the soup is going to spill."
Yanagi held the bowl of meat soup, leaned her body to the side, and dodged her sister's clutches.
Tsuki sat diagonally across, watching the scene with a smile.
To be honest, as a mother, of course she didn't want her daughter's spouse to have so many opposite-sex partners.
But after this journey through another world, she also found that the old views on choosing a partner were no longer applicable in this day and age.
Powerful people can have many partners.
Besides, they were currently benefitting from his kindness.
The Miyano sisters, Kazuha, and Mrs. Shizuka, sitting on the other side of the table, were in a rather awkward position.
They weren't familiar with Makoto, nor were they as thick-skinned as Aqua. Faced with a table full of dishes, they were really too embarrassed to eat.
Aqua, on the other hand, was the first to pick up her utensils... no, she didn't even use utensils.
Before the dishes were even all served, she just used her hands, grabbing a piece of meat and stuffing it into her mouth, chewing until her lips were shiny with oil, then wiping her fingers on her clothes and grabbing another piece.
Shiho's eye-roll nearly reached the back of her head, 'Truly, the person who has no face is invincible.'
"Hey! Who do you think you are? That's my meat!"
Kazuma leaned across the table, his chopsticks pointing at Aqua's hand, his voice full of dissatisfaction.
Aqua swallowed the meat in her mouth, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said righteously, "I am a goddess! You should be honored that I'm eating your food!"
"Bullshit goddess!"
Kazuma cursed loudly. "What kind of goddess grabs food with her hands and has a greasy mouth like you? If I were the Heavenly God, I'd fire you on the spot!"
Aqua's cheeks puffed up like an angry pufferfish. "You—!"
Makoto watched this scene, finding it quite amusing. Dinner came with entertainment.
Makoto chewed on a frog leg, his gaze moving away from Kazuma and Aqua and landing on Mrs. Shizuka.
This noble lady, although over forty, looked barely over thirty at first glance.
"Did you also reincarnate into this world after dying?"
Hearing Makoto's question, Mrs. Shizuka's body stiffened slightly.
Although she tried hard to maintain a calm attitude, the moment she thought of her deceased son and husband, her breathing still quickened uncontrollably.
Yu sat next to Makoto, holding a glass of bubbly beer, his eyes narrowing.
'This woman was not right.'
"I reincarnated after dying."
Akemi's voice came from across the table, just pulling everyone's attention away. "Shiho and the others were chosen by a strange game and were transported to this world."
Makoto immediately became interested. "Tell me more."
Akemi briefly explained the situation of their team.
Only she had died and been chosen by Aqua to descend into this world as a 'Brave Hero'.
Shiho, Kazuha, Mrs. Shizuka, and the three Uzaki women were all chosen by the Reincarnation Game to come here.
After listening to Akemi's account, Makoto asked again:
"So how did you die?"
Akemi's fingers curled slightly. "Th-that... the US military's bombing."
Makoto chuckled. "Indeed, if you were in Japan at that time, that was basically the outcome."
Most of his wives had survived because they were attending the Totsuki Academy's Moon Banquet Festival, but Akemi, with her mind full of how to leave the organization with her sister, had no leisure to attend any school festival.
Her death, in Makoto's view, was certain.
Makoto then turned to look at Mrs. Shizuka and Kazuha. "It's quite surprising that you two didn't die. At that time, in the country—"
The two women's bodies trembled simultaneously.
Mrs. Shizuka took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, took another deep breath, and barely managed to conjure a smile.
"I was preparing to take Kazuha to the Totsuki Academy's Moon Banquet Festival, so we escaped the disaster... We were really lucky."
Makoto stared at her smile for a while, then suddenly pointed at Mrs. Shizuka and said:
"You're lying."
Mrs. Shizuka's shoulders jerked violently. The smile on her face shattered into panic.
Makoto pinched his chin, mimicking the gesture of a certain detective with glasses. "Who goes out without bringing their own son?"
Mrs. Shizuka's face turned completely white. Her lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.
Yu slowly put down his fork.
Beam placed his hand on Samehada's handle.
The Four Gay Bros also cast hostile glances.
"Don't be so excited."
Makoto raised his hand to stop his subordinates, then slowly turned his gaze to Kazuha. "That dark-skinned childhood friend of yours is dead, isn't he?"
Kazuha bit her lip hard, her lips white, and said, "So what?"
Makoto looked at her with a smile. "He probably died in that bombing too. I suppose I had a hand in that. You must want to kill me right now, to get revenge for him, right?"
The killing intent from Yu and the others surged forward like a tidal wave.
Kazuha forgot to breathe. Her pupils dilated. Her whole body, as if an invisible hand were squeezing her throat, swayed dangerously in her chair, nearly passing out.
Mrs. Shizuka immediately pulled Kazuha into her arms, covered her eyes with her hand, and said in a hurried, trembling voice, "Commander, Kazuha didn't mean that."
"It wouldn't matter if she did."
Makoto also picked up a glass of Axel's specialty sparkling wine and downed it in one go. "But it's best to make your move when you're sure you can win. Otherwise, I'll just counter-kill you."
Seeing that Makoto genuinely didn't care, Yu and the others reluctantly withdrew their killing intent and continued eating.
"Another serving of fried toad leg set meal—!" Aqua raised her hand high and shouted to Luna.
"Hey, aren't you pushing it, you woman?"
Kazuma's eyes widened, his voice rising several octaves.
He himself didn't know why. This blue-haired woman was quite good-looking, so supposedly he should have felt some goodwill toward her. But for some reason, the moment he saw her, he inexplicably felt irritated.
Makoto nodded to Luna. "Then bring another serving."
Luna glanced at Makoto, then at Aqua, nodded, and turned to walk to the kitchen.
Aqua proudly raised an eyebrow at Kazuma. "See? Your master doesn't have a problem with it. What are you, his dog, barking about?"
Kazuma's face flushed red.
He turned his head to look at Makoto, his eyes full of confusion.
'Had this man taken a liking to this blue-haired idiot woman?'
He then glanced at the three Uzaki women and Yunyun sitting on Makoto's other side, thinking that didn't make sense.
'He had so many beautiful women around him. Why would he fall for this retard?'
Makoto looked at Aqua with a smile. "I'll make you repay this favor later, Miss Goddess."
Aqua waved her hand, still chewing on a piece of meat, and said indistinctly, "No problem, no problem. Don't worry. This goddess always repays her debts."
Then she lowered her head again to grab the meat on her plate.
Kazuma watched Aqua's matter-of-fact table manners, the corner of his mouth twitching several times.
'What an annoying woman.' Kazuma never wanted to have anything to do with her in this life.
Another round of dishes was served.
All kinds of aromas interwove into a thick fog above the table, drilling into their nostrils.
Shiho's stomach let out a low 'growl—'
She quickly covered her lower belly, her face slightly flushed.
Akemi beside her, though silent, unconsciously twisted her skirt with her fingers resting on her knees.
Kazuha and Mrs. Shizuka next to them had similar expressions.
Several pairs of eyes looked at the steaming dishes on the table and then looked away simultaneously.
But Aqua drank her wine, and Megumin gnawed on her meat. The two of them completely failed to notice their companions' predicament.