Anyway, Elysia had already become wary. From now on, she would definitely ask for details before deciding whether to take a bite of any dish Durandal made without supervision!
As for Mobius and Klein, who had just listened to Durandal's 'brilliant' cooking theories on the side, they were completely stunned.
Even Mobius, who had never personally cooked before, knew there was definitely something wrong with Durandal's culinary logic!
Now, truth be told, the average person's so-called "dark cuisine" usually isn't like what you see in some films or books—loaded with tons of salt and oil, or completely burnt, or undercooked.
Most people can manage to cook food until it's done properly.
What really counts as common dark cuisine…
Take, for example, Qingxin Herb stir-fried with Slime Condensate.
No matter if you're a master chef from Liyue or Mondstadt, that combination would just make anyone want to gag!
And Durandal clearly had the potential to invent such dark culinary recipes.
"Doctor, let's just go…"
Klein tugged at Mobius's sleeve and whispered.
Mobius nodded: "You're right. Let's head back. This time, I'm going to use a coordinate system to sketch something really cool for you to see~"
Klein: "…"
Whatever. If they stayed here any longer and accidentally learned more of their leader's embarrassing secrets, that would be bad.
It was rare to come across an organization like this, and Klein really didn't want to be kicked out for some bizarre reason—like stepping into the lab with her left foot first.
After Klein and Mobius had quietly slipped away, Durandal picked up an apple nearby and began peeling it while asking, "Elysia, why did you interrupt Klein and Mobius earlier?"
Elysia, busy cooking udon, thought for a moment and said, "Hmm, there's a serious answer and a not-so-serious one. Which one do you want to hear?"
Durandal was taken aback: "Shouldn't there only be one answer? Why separate them into serious and not serious?"
"Because there really are two answers! Come on, pick one!"
Elysia said with a hint of a coquettish tone.
"If I don't have to choose just one, then I'd like to hear both."
Durandal cut the peeled apple into small pieces, then picked up one and popped it into Elysia's mouth.
"Mmm~"
Elysia chewed the apple carefully, a satisfied look on her face.
After swallowing, she finally said, "Since you're being so considerate, I'll reluctantly share both answers with you~"
"The serious answer is, I had a feeling that if I hadn't interrupted just now, Klein's reply definitely wouldn't have been what Mobius wanted. Their relationship just isn't at that stage yet!"
"What do you mean?"
Durandal asked curiously.
"It's just a feeling, I guess. Maybe they really do have feelings for each other, but their dynamic isn't like ours was."
"How should I put it… You probably know Klein well enough—she's a total workaholic. And Mobius is all about her experiments.
"When they're together, it's mostly just doing experiments. There haven't been many intimate interactions to build an emotional foundation."
"At most, Mobius teases Klein like an immature little boy. In that kind of situation, if you were Klein, faced with Mobius's sudden and straightforward confession without any build-up, how would you respond?"
Elysia shared her thoughts.
Hearing this, Durandal thought it over carefully and actually saw the problem.
"So, you think what they should do now isn't to clarify their relationship directly, but to spend some time in this ambiguous state until the right moment naturally arrives?"
"Exactly?!"
Elysia gave an approving look.
Indeed, although Durandal could be a bit dense sometimes, that was mostly about her own feelings. When it came to analyzing others, she was quite sharp.
It was a bit like those so-called 'love experts' in class who'd never been in a relationship themselves, but anyone around them with emotional troubles could seek their advice and get some pretty reliable suggestions.
Of course, Durandal still fell a bit short—she needed someone to guide her along.
As for Elysia, if she were crowned a love expert, it would definitely be well-deserved.
"Then… what's the not-so-serious answer?"
Durandal fed another piece of apple into Elysia's mouth.
"Nom nom~"
After swallowing the apple, Elysia scooped out the cooked udon and placed it into a bowl that already had seasonings, boiling water, and prepared broth.
She pointed at the udon in the bowl and said, "The not-so-serious answer is, I was hungry."
"Alright."
Durandal nodded, feeling that this answer was solid enough to convince her.
Well, there might have been a tiny bit of playful revenge involved too, but Elysia didn't mention that part.
After all, if her analysis was correct, interrupting Klein and Mobius at that moment wasn't actually messing with their chance for a good thing—it might even have been a helping hand.
And so, Durandal and Elysia finished sharing the apple in the kitchen, each had a bowl of udon with a fried egg, and even drank some milk. A hearty breakfast was safely tucked away.
Fortunately, neither of them were ordinary girls, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to eat so much.
After washing the plates that Klein and Mobius had used earlier, Elysia suddenly asked, "Tonight's activity is a group barbecue, right?"
"Right. First night was hot springs, second night is barbecue and fireworks. That was the schedule set from the beginning."
Then Durandal hesitated a bit: "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Not at all. I just wanted to ask if we could go buy some ingredients during the day today?"
Elysia certainly had no issues with the activity schedule. She was just thinking about how to pass the time during the day.
Of course, even if she spent the whole day doing nothing with Durandal in their room, she'd be perfectly happy and wouldn't be bored.
But since they'd come all this way, wouldn't it be a waste of such a holiday if they didn't do something else?
"Ingredients?"
Durandal pointed at the food in the kitchen: "We already arranged this in advance with the Inn. All the ingredients here are ours for tonight, including a full set of barbecue equipment they're providing."
"Then let's go buy things that aren't already here!"
Elysia grabbed Durandal's hand, swinging it gently as she said, "I just want to go grocery shopping with you~ It feels like we're living our lives together?"
--+--