Epic of Caterpillar

258 Forsaken Labyrinth Conquest 50/69; Heartwarming Morning

The scent of grilled meat, alongside their spices, filled the floor with an alluring fragrance, even when I didn\'t have any hunger after drinking so much blood, my stomach quickly growled once again, demanding the delicious food in front of me. Not only big chunks of grilled meat like legs or paws but also fillets made from their torso or back. Their meat was pinkish and had a peculiar phantasmagoric presence to it, it was also incredibly soft when cooked, and when seasoned correctly, its flavor would explode, even more, the warm flavorful juices would fill one\'s mouth and I couldn\'t stop but eat and eat.

There were also different types of soups accompanying the grilled pieces of meat, made with the beast\'s bones alongside their organs and vegetables and mushrooms. Seasoned with spicy sauces, the soups were both comforting and delicious, and the spiciness made them addictive. Even the bones of these Foxes held incredible amounts of Mana, making all of their preparations make whoever ate them filled with energy and magic essence. I drank several plates of soup in one go as if it were a delicious liquor. And talking about liquor, the sweet Wine of Walking Cactus was both refreshing and cool, going perfectly with the spicy seasoned soup and grilled meat.

After eating for an hour, Rimuru, Adelle and Mady brought even more preparations, now bringing different dishes made with the meat, minced and made into fried delicacies. Fried meatballs seasoned to perfection, hamburgers filled with finely chopped vegetables and light spices, croquettes of various sizes, fried into the perfect crunchiness.

When there is good food, people will be naturally happy, and when there is good liquor as well, people will make a feast and celebrate, even when there isn\'t anything important to celebrate, happiness filled the eerie atmosphere, leaving some spells that illuminated the place, the mist surrounding us fly away and the monsters didn\'t dare to approach us, we continued our feast through the whole night. Leaving the eight bosses for tomorrow, I indulged in the warm atmosphere that my loved ones created. Even in such a deadly place like Dungeon, I felt at home when I was together with my family.

[Kireina] learned the following Skills]

[Bloodthirsty Phantasmagoric Crimson Domain]

[Twelve Spectral Scarlet Blooded Tails Creation]

[Lineage of Ancient Spectral Beasts; Nine-Tailed Phantom Fox Bloodline]

[Day 172]

When I woke up, I felt my body very relaxed… Almost as if I didn\'t have a defined physical form…

Huh? Why am I a Red Slime? Ah!

Hm, alright, I can do this…

I slowly moved through the bed, sliding through with my watery body. And... There! I managed to get off, but my slimy body feels… stiff? I don\'t feel tired, but I feel some annoyance that I cannot describe very well…

I used my senses to inspect my body, and suddenly realized what was going on… Rimuru was stick to my body, on her bluish slime form. She was too mixed with me, and it felt quite weird. I gently woke her up, she was surprised as I was and slowly separated herself with me. Thankfully we didn\'t fuse together or something, it would have been strange, but I wondered if it would boost our strength like in that anime in Earth. Is there any Skill that would allow two beings to fuse like this?

While wondering these pointless thoughts, I slowly went back to my original fairy form, while Rimuru did the same, going back to her beautiful humanoid form, which was that of an enchanting maiden with pale blue skin, azure and silky hair and rainbow eyes. She wore a charming blue dress as well, which would only be seen being worn by damsels of the highest social status.

"Sorry, Masta, guu…"

Seeing the apologetic expression of Rimuru\'s face, I couldn\'t help but pat her adorable head.

"Don\'t worry, it doesn\'t matter much… Maybe we went too far last night…"

"Haah~ I-It was truly wonderful Masta, guu"

"I-I see, that\'s good"

Rimuru approached me with an adorable and blushed smile, giving me a lovely yet short kiss.

"Good morning, Masta"

"Good morning, Rimuru… Hm? Where is Ailine?"

"Because of last night, little Ailine must have slept with her siblings in another portable house…"

Rimuru and I were only awake, all of my wives were still soundly asleep. We decided to prepare breakfast for everyone, so we went outside. Using my Item Box, I took off various dishes, and portable kitchens made with magic technology made in the Aquaria Kingdom, they use Magic Cores and Spirit Stones to work and are rather efficient.

My children woke up not long after us, greeting me with happy smiles and sleepy eyes. Amiphossia had been sleeping with her Wolf, Fox, and Geraldine, so she had her own bed now… Ryo slept alone as well, while Valentia liked to snuggle with Aarae and Vudia and Ailine liked to sleep in the same bed, sometimes, they would go to Ryo\'s bed, and because the two little girls are too adorable, even the serious Ryo let them sleep on his bed.

Ailine jumped over her mother first, kissing her on her cheeks with a lot of energy, Rimuru also loves Ailine dearly, caressing her own cheeks with her, while giving her lots of small pecks. Vudia hugged Rimuru too, even if she wasn\'t her mother, Vudia was loved by everyone, and so she loves everyone as well, Rimuru also raised her with her arm and gave her some snuggle and small pecks on her golden cheeks.

"Such lovely children, guu~"

"H-Hey, when is it my turn? I also want to hold my daughters…"

"Oh, sorry Masta, guu~!"

Rimuru gave a small chuckle as she let go of the two dazzling princesses, Vudia and Ailine then flew over my arms.

"Mama, good morning! Will we eat delicious food today as well?" (Ailine)

"Mommy, I want a cupcake!" (Vudia)

Ailine\'s shining rainbow eyes shined with innocence yet a lot of intelligence, wondering what will we eat, while Vudia\'s golden eye shined with innocence and enthusiasm, immediately asking me for her favorite breakfast meal, cupcakes.

"Fufufu, if such a beautiful little princess is asking me for cupcakes, I will have to obey her commands~ Oh! And the other little princess, will she be fine with cupcakes as well?"

Vudia yelled with a loud "yaaay~!" while her golden eye shined brightly, while Ailine thought for a moment but then nodded in affirmation.

"Cupcakes are fine as well, mama. I like blue cupcakes!"

"Ooh~! And the dazzling golden princess here, which cupcake color does she prefer~?"

Vudia suddenly changed her innocent and enthusiastic smile, now becoming more serious, while thinking intensively as if the color of her cupcakes was something incredibly important.

"Hmm~"

Vudia then glared at her golden skin and came with an idea.

"Golden…!"

"G-Golden? Hm, Rimuru, is there such edible color?"

"Muh… I think I could make it off with my own body, I just need to concentrate Thunder, Light and Holy attributes into a small portion of my slime, then I combine it with cream and it should be golden, guu!" (Rimuru)

"Eh? Is your body edible?!" (Kireina)

"Yeah, as long as I take off the enzymes that consume food, guu… Oh and all of the citric things… And acid, but I\'ve done it plenty of times before, most cupcakes are colored by my slime, after all, ~" (Rimuru)

"R-Really…? Well, what does Vudia think about it?" (Kireina)

"Oh! Yes, golden cupcake!" (Vudia)

"I guess that settles it…" (Kireina)

I honestly did not know about this small secret! This must be why Rimuru\'s cupcakes are always so radiant in colors, she uses her own body to color the cream, natural colors are limited, so for more extravagant colors like golden, she would use her body. I wonder if I can do something similar to that.

And so, we spent the next minutes cooking the dough, the cream, and the fillings for our cupcakes. Amiphossia, Ryo, Valentia, and Aarae also liked cupcakes, and my little Aarae joined me as well.

"Mother… I want an azure cupcake… Please…"

"Oh?! Of course, my precious boy~!"

Haah! My little boy is so adorable, I can\'t help but obey his command, does he have some skill that forces me to do his bidding?! Or I just a very spoiling mother…?

Before Aarae could say anything else, I gave him various kisses on his cheeks and forehead, while snuggling him for being so cute and lovable. Aarae did no resist but hugged me back, kissing my cheeks as well, his lips are so soft and warm, such a wonderful son he is…

"M-Masta, you must continue mixing the cream or it will become slimy!"

"Ah! R-Right, my son, wanna see mommy cooking?"

Aarae nodded as his aquamarine eyes shined in bright azure light.

"I do!"

And like this, Aarae joined in the cooking, while Amiphossia, Ryo, and Valentia sparred in the sides, waiting for the food to be ready. I also left several of my Slime Clones cooking, while my Scarlet Fox Clones transformed into ghosts and scouted the floor, making sure that nothing menacing appears, I also extended my domain so anything that would try to attack us would get instantly eaten by it. If its some Mini-Boss, I can just add the Attribute it is weak to, and generate a blast of that element with my Aura domain, vaporizing the annoying monster.

Perhaps I was being too cautious, but this actually happened six times while I was cooking, six Mini-Bosses had spawned and tried to ruin our fun, but my Aura entangled them, killed them, vaporized them or ate them alive. They may be a "Mini-Boss", but they\'re just small fries.

My Slime Clones had already prepared some dishes so my children immediately began to feast on, the delicious scent of the food woke up the rest of my wives, who took a quick bath and came rushing for a meal. The cupcakes were all done and they only needed some minutes of baking for them to be ready to spread the different colored creams over them. Ailine and Vudia were eating their food in the table, but they are waiting for the cupcakes as well. With voracious yet adorable glares.

Most of my wives joined me on the kitchen, while the rest started to do their own daily routines, Brontes would begin her blacksmithing practice to increase her mastery and Lilith accompanied her this time, the two were getting along quite well, the same for Charlotte, who was now accompanied by Nanako and Ismena. Kaguya joined Alice, Altani, and Acelina into the sparring sessions.

Nesiphae, Zehe, Nixephine, Gaby, Mady, and Adelle were helping us out with the cooking. My giant wives, being Nesiphae and Nixephine, were preparing the grilled meat that they would eat. Thankfully, I already prepared breakfast for my children separately, as they are usually more voracious than my wives.

Ding!

The small oven made with magic technology ringed with a sharp and funny sound, the cupcakes were ready. Rimuru took the outside and released a small cold breeze with her mouth, the cupcakes immediately stopped boiling and were ready for them to get dressed in colorful creams. Rimuru asked me to bring the candies I had on my Item Box, which were of various shapes and colors, she could always put one on top of every cupcake, giving them the last touch.

The delicious smell of baked cupcakes and the sweetness of the cream-filled the floor for a moment, everyone was spectating of the delicious pastries. Even some of my wives loved them, like Adelle, Lilith, Acelina, Ismena, and Gaby. This is why we immediately put another thirty cupcakes on the oven to get ready whenever these thirty here are completely devastated…

Which didn\'t take much longer as my children rushed towards the cupcakes, proclaiming various as theirs, then, my wives also swiftly released their techniques, grabbing two to three each! Rimuru and I weren\'t even able to eat any, but we were having fun anyway.

In the next batch, we were able to eat four each, and then, because everyone wanted more, we prepared a third and then the fourth batch, ending in the seventh batch of cupcakes after only half an hour. This morning, we ended up baking 210 cupcakes, and every single one was eaten, leaving no crumbs behind.

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