Egyptian Local Specialties

"Mmm! Delicious!"

"Mmm!! This one’s delicious too!"

"Mmm—"

"If you keep going ‘mmm,’ I’ll finish the rest myself."

Adam looked speechlessly at Uther, who held lamb, chicken legs, and pork belly in his left hand, steamed buns, rice cakes, and enoki mushrooms in his right, his mouth glistening with grease.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

Uther hurriedly lowered his head and focused on eating.

Perhaps because one’s mouth simply could not stay idle while eating barbecue, Uther raised his head again before long.

"Adam, why don’t you sell this at school? I think this barbecue tastes every bit as good as your desserts!"

Humanity’s love for sugar and fat was rooted in their genes. Skewers sizzling with oil on the grill, topped with a sprinkle of cumin, were no less tempting than the sweet fragrance drifting from a dessert shop.

"Because it’s too troublesome, and I can barely keep up with dessert orders as it is."

Come on, barbecue had to be eaten fresh. He could not simply make it with the Sweet Card, and using the Twin Card to duplicate it would be far too obvious. It was fine for the few of them to eat, but how could he possibly sell it?

Besides, Adam was already more than busy enough with the dessert shop. Once school started, he planned to leave it to Bernard and the others to manage. Expanding into a new business was out of the question.

Uther could only sigh for the other Hufflepuff students. They would not get to enjoy such a treat.

"Ah! Adam, you’re eating without me!"

A shriek rang out, and a golden ball dropped from the sky, nearly plunging headfirst into the charcoal brazier. Fortunately, Adam reacted quickly.

"Careful—"

"You’re such an idiot. The moment you see food, your IQ drops below zero!"

Suppi fluttered down on butterfly wings, gave Kero a speechless glance, then turned sparkling eyes toward Adam.

"Adam, I want some too!"

"Sure~ I’m grilling it now. You can eat the food on the plate first."

Upon hearing that, Suppi ran over to Adam’s plate and used his claws to pick up a shiitake mushroom drenched in sauce.

"Ooh—huff, huff, huff! So hot!"

This time, Adam did not use the Illusion Card or Voice Card’s magic to conceal them. Uther stared at the two remarkable creatures, his mouth slowly falling open… before snapping shut again.

That had been close. The pork belly had nearly fallen out of his mouth…

After quickly chewing and swallowing the meat in his mouth, Uther looked at Adam.

"Adam, they…?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is Kero, and this is Suppi. You’ve known each other for two years."

"How are they…? It’s the Illusion Card!"

Realization dawned on Uther, followed by a flood of past memories.

"So when you talked to them before, you really were talking to them!"

"That’s right!"

Kero hugged a piece of grilled fish tofu and waved at Uther.

"Hello!"

"Uh… hello?"

Uther hesitated for a moment before he could not help asking,

"What kind of animals are you?"

"We aren’t animals. We’re Sealed Beasts."

"Sealed Beasts?"

"You can think of us as a special kind of magical creature."

Suppi grabbed the foil cup beneath the finished mushroom and flipped it over Kero’s head, cutting off his explanation.

"Oh…"

Uther nodded, only half understanding.

"Anyone want chicken cartilage?"

"Me!" x3

After answering at lightning speed, one human and two beasts began wondering: what was chicken cartilage?

Since Uther also liked cats, he had already gotten along well with Kero and Suppi. After sharing a barbecue meal and getting acquainted again, the human and two beasts became even closer.

"Seeing how well you get along puts me at ease. For the next month, they’ll take turns being your roommate."

"Roommate?"

Uther, who had been gnawing on a boneless grilled chicken foot, froze. The chicken foot fell straight onto the table, but he did not notice, only staring at Adam in astonishment.

"That’s right. The safe house protected by the Fidelius Charm is unusual. We can’t establish quick, effective communication with you, and living here alone, you’re bound to get lonely."

"We can provide pillow services too!"

Kero struck a cool pose, though in his compact form, any pose that was meant to look cool only came across as adorable.

"A pillow?"

Uther looked Kero up and down.

"Such a small pillow…"

With a poof, Kero returned to his true form.

"Wow!"

Uther’s eyes immediately lit up.

"That’s awesome!"

Before Uther could finish admiring him, Kero switched back into compact mode.

"Wait, I didn’t get a good look… Why do you usually turn into such small forms?"

"Of course, it’s more convenient for eating~"

"Convenient?"

Uther picked up the boneless chicken foot that had fallen onto the table and compared it to Kero.

"It takes you ages to gnaw through even one chicken foot. Isn’t that less convenient?"

"If one chicken foot can last half a day, isn’t that enjoyment?"

Faced with Kero’s soul-searching question, Uther stared at the boneless chicken foot in his hand and fell into deep thought.

After the late-night snack, Uther’s first day in Britain slowly came to an end.

"Um, Adam…"

"Hmm?"

"…Never mind."

Adam turned around and saw Uther hesitating, wanting to speak but holding back, his hands nearly twisting the blanket into a flower. Adam sighed.

"Sigh~ Fine, I’ll go back and get a blanket, then let my parents know…"

After returning home, Adam told Mr. Reed and Madam Li that he would be staying out for the night.

"…"

Mr. Reed and Madam Li exchanged a glance before carefully choosing their words.

"Adam, actually, if there’s someone you like, no matter what kind of person they are, you can bring them home."

"Huh?"

"Yes, we’re very open-minded parents, and we believe you’re capable of taking responsibility for your own feelings."

"Well, actually…"

"We don’t mean anything by it. We’re just a little curious about your future partner…"

"Stop, stop, stop! Uther and I really are just roommates and good friends!"

Adam’s face darkened. Please do not use your open-mindedness in such a strange direction!

Then Adam sighed and lowered his voice.

"I didn’t explain everything before. Uther went through a series of unfortunate events. He only just escaped danger, and he also lost his father. So much happened today. He must be in a lot of pain right now."

Mr. Reed and Madam Li exchanged another glance. Their earlier thoughts vanished, replaced by concern.

"Then did you encounter danger today too?"

"Uh…"

Seeing their expressions, Adam paused and touched his neck.

"Though it might not sound very nice to say this, I don’t think any of that really counted as danger for me? I even brought back some Egyptian local specialties. I’ll cook them for you another day."

The Jackal Head, full and warm beneath its blanket, suddenly shivered and sat up, warily looking around.

The Runespoor on its left slept soundly under the basilisk’s intimidation—perhaps it had fainted? The Scorpiontail on its right was rather lively, dancing in the moonlight.

The glass jars were lined up on a shelf on the first floor of the safe house. The Jackal Head could not see its more distant neighbors, so after finding nothing, it could only scratch its head, lie back down, and pull its little blanket tighter around itself.

"Urgh…"

In the darkness, Uther clutched his arm, his face twisted with pain. He bit his lip and forced himself not to make a sound, unaware that a pair of eyes watched him silently from the darkness.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Uther hurriedly resumed a normal posture, and before long Adam pushed open the door, carrying a blanket and pillow.

"Move over!"

Uther gathered his blanket onto his own side, then watched with a smile as Adam placed his blanket and pillow on the bed.

"Have some milk before sleeping."

Adam snapped his fingers, and the bedside cup filled with slightly sweet hot milk. Uther reached out and accepted it. At the same time, Suppi jumped onto the bed and lay down beside Adam’s pillow.

After each of them finished a cup of milk, Adam turned off the light.

"Good night!"

"Good night~"

In the darkness, Adam moved his fingers slightly, and dust from the Sleep Card soothed Uther’s chaotic thoughts. His faintly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and in the blink of an eye, he fell into a deep sleep.

A black tail swished before his eyes. Adam looked toward Suppi beside the pillow, who seemed to have something to say.

"Adam, just now I saw…"