Was Lancer file interesting?
At least in Honest's opinion, it was.
First, the other party's appearance was extremely abrupt. Although he was now serving the Empire, no one could find where his 'hometown' was, which meant that there was room for manipulation. If he could make the other party take the blame... heh heh~!
At this time, Honest's face showed a 'pleased' expression, but then, he eagerly looked through the other files again. Maybe he could find some other interesting targets~
On the other side, Lancer had no idea that while he was calculating others, he was also being calculated. At this time, he was shopping with Leone. Of course, it was more like he was giving suggestions and the other party was nodding.
It has to be said that the entire trip was extremely awkward. Lancer had originally thought that he could ease the relationship with the other party, but unfortunately, once a crack appears, it's not so easy to mend. At least in Lancer opinion, he had gained nothing during this afternoon.
But when the two of them returned to the villa, they happened to run into Najenda, who was also returning home. And when she saw Leone with a collar on her neck behind Lancer, her originally serious expression immediately turned icy.
Although as an Imperial person, she wasn't unable to understand the existence of slavery, as a woman, and a strong woman at that, she instinctively hated these things.
"Lieutenant Colonel Najenda, would you like to stay for dinner?"
Lancer original intention was to communicate with the other party. No matter how you looked at it, this woman, who would one day be the female boss of Night Raid and was now an Imperial officer, was someone he could win over and cooperate with. The only problem was that for some reason, the other party seemed to be unhappy with him. Was it because of his reputation?
If it was because of that, then there was nothing he could do. After all, there was nothing he could say about that matter. No matter what the reason was, thousands of people had indeed died at his hands or by his command.
But to his surprise, the other party looked at Leone behind Lancer and then nodded. This made Lancer curious as well as surprised.
'Could it be that Najenda and Leone already knew each other before she invited Leone to join Night Raid?'
After 'ordering' Leone to stay in the living room with Najenda, Lancer walked into the kitchen alone, and then... he took out a small horn.
"Ooh~ ooh~"
Along with a muffled horn sound, the bushes outside the villa's kitchen suddenly shook twice, and then... an orange cat's head poked out.
"Meow~!!"
With a familiar sound, 'Tigre' leaped in through the window, and Lancer naturally embraced the other party with open arms.
"Sorry~ sorry~ I've been a bit busy recently and didn't have time to call you guys~ Here are some prepared dried fish~ They're made from this world's unique fish-type Dangerous Beasts~"
In reality, after coming to this world, Lancer hadn't summoned the three cats many times. After all, he was working in the border army during that time, and his main enemies were foreign races. Since the cats would not participate in battles with humans, he simply didn't summon them. As for today?
"Tigre, can I leave dinner to you?"
"Meow meow?! Meow!!"
It seemed that he was unhappy about being looked down on by Lancer, and Tigre patted his fluffy chest and then showed a proud expression.
That's right, Lancer couldn't cook.
Or rather, he could cook, but it was limited to things like 'instant noodles' or 'frozen dumplings'. He was far from being able to cook a meal for a guest.
But sometimes, Lancer would console himself.
'It must be because that 'Lancer Fate' passive skill took away all my other talents. Otherwise, maybe I would have had a chance to make glowing... no, medicated dishes!'
But no matter what he thought, it couldn't change the fact that he was clumsy, so he could only stand to the side and watch as Tigre, who was holding a spatula with both hands, showed off his skills.
On the other side, although she was 'ordered' by Lancer to stay with Najenda, Leone seemed a bit at a loss. After all, Najenda also looked like a high-ranking officer, and she had no idea how to 'entertain' the other party.
But it was obvious that Najenda misinterpreted Leone awkwardness as 'fear'.
"What's your name?"
"Leone!"
The two were not very far apart in age, but the completely different attitudes of the two at this time made the situation seem very strange. However, it seemed that the two people present didn't feel strange at all. On the contrary, the expression on Najenda's face became gentler.
"No need to be nervous. I'm just here for a simple meal..."
If Lancer position in the army was that of a 'vanguard' who always fought on the front lines of the battlefield, then Najenda was a 'commander'. Not only did she have an outstanding mind, but she was also good at mobilizing the soldiers she led. So, under her deliberate control, Leone quickly relaxed. She even stopped calling her 'Miss Najenda' and started calling her 'Sister Najenda' at Najenda's strong request.
On the other side, Najenda also learned some basic information about Leone from her, such as being born in the slums, and the reason she became a slave was because Lancer had caught her and taken her to the guardhouse...
Looking at Leone face, which was cuter than that of an ordinary girl, she instantly imagined that someone had set up a trap to go after her because he was lusting after her. But when she heard that Lancer hadn't done anything to the other party, she was completely bewildered. She felt that she couldn't figure out what kind of person this man was; his actions always seemed to be full of contradictions.
Of course, if Najenda had told Lancer her thoughts at this time, Lancer would definitely have given her a thumbs-up and praised her for her good eyesight. He was indeed in an extremely conflicted state.
Although he had been single for more than twenty years, the temptations had recently increased sharply, coupled with the pressure from facing his biggest problem, which led to him being in an unstable state. This was why he had almost made a move on Leone before. But the only thing to be thankful for was that he still retained his last bit of rationality.
But just as Najenda was continuously criticizing Lancer in her mind, the kitchen door was pushed open, and then they saw Lancer walking toward them, holding a large platter that was almost a meter long.
If it were just that, she would at most be curious, but what she found unbelievable was that a cat wearing a chef's hat was following behind Lancer. It was also holding a platter...
A Dangerous Beast?
"Colonel Lancer, this is..."
"My friend, and also the head chef for tonight's dinner... Don't look at me like that; I'm not crazy. Tigre's cooking is top-notch~!"
Najenda had originally thought that Lancer had gone to supervise the chef's work after he left alone, but she didn't expect the 'chef' to be a cat? Could it be delicious?