60 – The Ordinary Meal of the Gag Resident
Angsho, he was a kind man to the slaves. To the point where people would wonder, “To this extent?” Many slaves were wary or moved by his affectionate words and laughter, which were rare to see in the arena.
Even those who were wary of him gradually opened their hearts to Angsho and wanted to give him everything they had. Around that time, Angsho would start his work.
He would put his opponent on the palm of his hand with ambiguous words and slowly brainwash them. Isn’t the person you love suspicious? Isn’t that person the beginning of all your misfortunes?
The slaves were already humans who had fallen into despair. That’s what they believed, that they were the most unfortunate people.
So, Ansho’s temptation worked like a charm. Ansho would place the foolish slaves on the palm of his hand and enjoy watching their downfall as if he were a god.
Only when a slave who had destroyed something precious begged Ansho for redemption, hanging onto him, would he realize that everything he had said was a lie and that he himself was a murderer who had killed someone precious.
The slaves who had experienced such things would often end up committing suicide, and Ansho’s bad reputation did not spread easily.
Ansho, the scum of the century who had played with dozens, hundreds of slaves.
Even Lian, who was a master at playing with slaves, had never encountered someone like Totojen.
“If you want, you can take the food with you when you leave.”
“Thank you!”
Lian responded to kindness with kindness and laughter with laughter. It was a straightforward demeanor that couldn’t be seen in the slave arena. Ansho immediately noticed why Totojen and Bansuk were fixated on Lian.
‘It’s hard to find something like this.’
Slaves who had fallen into the abyss were often mentally broken. There was no interesting response to be gained from tormenting such individuals; they would only wriggle like living corpses.
The more intact a slave’s mind was, the more fun it was to break it. That’s why Totojen liked those with clear minds, and Bansuk liked those with strong mental endurance who could be played with for a long time.
Lian satisfied both conditions.
“Ah, this is going to be really fun.”
Ansho expected it to be easy to manipulate Lian’s simple demeanor, but upon careful consideration, he realized that the level of manipulation might be higher than that of other slaves.
“They need to have some holes in their minds to dig into.”
One’s mind had to be somewhat healthy to accept his gentle approach. However, if it was too healthy, it would block out all of his whispers. A man who seemed easy but was actually difficult.
Ansho concluded that Lian was like that.
Regardless of what Ansho was thinking, Lian had no interest whatsoever.
“I wonder what Iris likes?”
That was the only thought in Lian’s mind about the packaged food.
“Should I just leave it here since I can eat it later? Oh, is it difficult to carry?”
First impressions are crucial. The impression that is engraved in one’s mind at first does not easily change unless it is shaken by a shocking stimulus. That’s why Angsho prepared a meal that was as impressive as a noble household, as if the stairs were about to break.
The table was filled with splendid dishes to the point of overwhelming the slaves. But for Lian, it was just a delicious meal.
In the world of comedy, if you roll up your sleeves and get to work, you can easily prepare a meal like this.
The meal, accompanied by completely different thoughts, came to an end when the plates were empty.
“Huh?”
Angsho let out a short sigh as she looked at the table. The splendid food that had piled up like a mountain had all disappeared. What was even more terrifying was Lian’s appearance.
“Burp, it was delicious.”
Lian sat halfway down on the chair with a satisfied expression, showing off a belly that had swollen bigger than her body.
“What, what is that? Could it be that she’s not human? A chimera?”
In the surreal scene, Angsho looked at Lian’s belly with a dumbfounded expression, failing to even control her facial expression. Lian patted her belly and spoke.
“I really enjoyed it.”
“How did you…?”
“It was so delicious that I ate it all without realizing.”
Lian shyly smiled and scratched the back of her head. Angsho shrank her body in fear at the sight of Lian’s strangely swollen and round belly.
“How did she gain weight in such a short time?”
There was no answer to the question. Just as Angsho was about to ask, “What happened to that belly?”…
“Here, I packed it for you.”
“Oh! Thank you!”
Angsho’s maid appeared and handed Lian seven lunch boxes. It was a long-standing rule for a slave to hand over the requested food immediately after the meal.
If he gave the overstuffed slave a gift right away, he would easily gain favor.
“Well, can I leave now?”
“Ah, yes. Y-You can go.”
In response to Lian’s question, Ansho reflexively answered and said. After the first meal, he had sent the slave away without any requests, as if it were a habit, and he unknowingly said that.
“I really enjoyed the meal!”
“Goodbye.”
Lian pressed his larger-than-the-entrance belly firmly and pushed it in. His massive body compressed so well that he passed through the door.
Alone in the empty restaurant, Ansho slumped in his chair like a robot with a loose screw and let out a sigh, “Hoo…” He made a dazed expression for a while, but soon straightened himself up.
Ansho abandoned his light-hearted thoughts and brought Togen and Bansuk to mind.
“To be honest, their tastes are unpleasant, but… it’s not that their abilities are lacking.”
If their abilities were lacking, he wouldn’t have bothered to think about them.
“If those two have failed so many times, there must be a reason.”
Ansho muttered with a stern face.
“I need to… find some information.”
While Ansho was struggling to torment Lian, Lian arrived at the elevator with a lunchbox in hand.
***
“Ugh…? What should I do…”
Because he had gained so much weight, his voice came out dull. Unable to enter the elevator because of my belly, I sighed, took a deep breath, and exhaled long.
“Huuu! Ah, never mind.”
The bloated body returned to its original state in an instant. After smoothing his belly a few times, he got on the elevator.
“I hope Iris will like it.”
As I hummed a tune in my mind, the elevator arrived. I carefully held the lunchbox and headed towards the room where Iris was waiting.
Thump.
“Iris! I’m here!”
With a bright smile, Iris ran towards me and embraced me. She held up the lunchbox she had in her hand, protecting it. Iris gently pressed her soft cheek against my chest.
“Are you hungry?”
“…I’m starving.”
Perhaps the smell of the lunchbox was overwhelming, as Iris murmured with a slightly reddened cheek. I smiled brightly and headed to the living room with Iris.
I unfolded the seven-layered lunchbox on the coffee table and handed a fork to Iris.
“Go ahead, have your meal.”
“…What about…Lian…Oppa?”
My heart almost skipped a beat without me realizing it. Since I came back all soaked in blood, Iris had been calling me “Oppa” every time, without fail.
I felt like shouting to the whole neighborhood, “Our child has grown up!”
“I already ate, so eat a lot.”
“…”
I had eaten so much that my stomach felt bloated. Iris hesitated as if she had something to say, and finally replied in a small voice, “Okay.”
Iris picked up a piece of seasoned meat that looked delicious with her fork and brought it to her lips.
“…!”
Her eyes widened like a startled rabbit, and her lips curved into a smile, etched into her pupils.
“Aw, how cute!”
Just like the reaction of a baby tasting a sweet dessert for the first time, laughter naturally erupted at the intense change in expression.
“Slow down.”
Before, the little one would only eat what I fed them, but now, seeing them awkwardly handling the fork and eating their meal, my heart ached. Feeling the moisture in the corners of my eyes, I wiped away a tear as Iris became absorbed in the food.
“Oppa…”
“Yeah?”
Iris, who had been eating absentmindedly, suddenly stopped and stared at me intently.
Thunk.
Iris forcefully stabbed the soft meat with her fork and swiftly brought it to my lips.
“It’s delicious. Eat it.”
“No, it’s okay.”
I waved my hand vigorously, as if one more bite would make me burst into rainbows. But Iris, seemingly determined, extended the fork even further.
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“Ah!”
Unable to produce rainbows, I snatched Iris’s fork away. Since Iris was still inexperienced in holding the fork, it was easy to take it from her. I grabbed the handle of the fork and, in my surprise, placed the meat in Iris’s open mouth.
“Huh?”
Iris reflexively chewed with a puzzled expression and widened her eyes.
“Just watching Iris eat makes me full.”
Upon hearing those words, Iris stared at my face, then slowly lowered her head.
“Oh… Was that too embarrassing of a thing to say?”