Of All The Stars

4. The Envoy

I sighed, reaching the main building.

Up till now, I had been going around with Rimuru just so he could get me to the meeting point as soon as possible.

Currently, though, we were at the main building to get lunch.

"Oh, good afternoon." Benimaru said, noticing us as we walked in, causing me to wave to him.

Souei simply bowed his head in greeting, to which I returned.

"Ah, Lord Rimuru and Aria. Here for lunch, I take it?"

"Yep. Shion said she made me a special meal, and I'm dying to try it." Rimuru said as I nodded. Noticing the tension upon those words, I began to worry.

As soon as Shion put Rimuru down, I looked at everyone's faces.

"Are you going to join us?" Rimuru asked.

"Um, you know, I'm actually not that hungry." Benimaru said awkwardly, causing me to raise a brow at him.

"Right, we just came here for tea." Hakurou said with an uncharacteristic smile.

Souei pushed out his chair.

"I'll pass. Excuse me, I should really scout the area." He said, making body doubles before vanishing.

"I'll go and fetch your lunch!" Shion said with a smile.

"Uh, okay..." Rimuru said.

"Shion, may I come with you?" I asked her as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Sure!" She said with a smile.

Benimaru watched in horror as I went back with her.

Following after her, I looked at the food in disgust.

"Shion, what exactly did you make?" I asked.

"It's a bulldeer stew! I made it using leftovers from yesterday's hunt." She said, causing me to nod.

"And what herbs did you put in it?" I asked, leaning over the bowl to smell it, immediately regretting my decision as my eyes watered.

"Herbs? I didn't use any. Did I need to?" She asked.

"Meaty stews technically do. Especially ones with a main ingredient being meat." I said, earning a nod.

"It helps balance the flavor of the overall dish if you use the right ones." I said as she began to cry.

"Ah, don't cry, Shion! You can still fix it since the one I recommend doesn't need to be cooked!" I said in a panic.

She immediately brightened up as I handed her the herb.

In truth, it was an antidotal herb I had found the other day and had Shuna identity for me.

Hopefully, Rimuru would survive with this small amount of help. 

If not, I could always use my Transmute skill...

Heading out of the kitchen, I sighed after noticing that Rimuru had finally figured it out.

'Rimuru.' I thought to him.

'Huh, Aria? Since when did you know thought communication?' Rimuru thought back.

'Doesn't matter. I convinced Shion to add antidotal herbs to it as a last-minute addition. It should help, but if not, try to distract her, and I can take care of it.' I thought as I eyed the dish.

"Hope you're hungry! Feel free to dig in!"

'You're a life saver, Aria...' Rimuru thought before he looked down.