ARIFURETA: Cooking to be the Strongest?

Shin had just asked the girl what she planned to do now that she was free.

As he waited for her answer, he sat down in front of her and took out two pieces of jerky and his water pouch, which contained the precious ambrosia.

He bit into one piece of jerky, then extended the other one and the pouch towards the girl.

The girl seemed absent-minded, staring blankly at the jerky and pouch in Shin's hand, still clutching the coat he'd placed around herself.

"Mnnn," she murmured softly, as if giving up on a tangled thought.

Her hand slowly reached out, not for the offered food or water, but to delicately clasp Shin's hand instead.

"Mnn, it's warm," she whispered, her voice still fragile.

Then, her crimson eyes, though tired, gained a flicker of directness.

"Name. What is your name?" she asked, her grip on his hand firm.

Shin was a little surprised by her action, tilting his head slightly, but he responded in his usual calm tone. "It's Shin, Takagi Shin."

"Shin..., Shin. Shin. Shin," the girl repeated his name, a soft chant, as if trying to burn it into her memory, to truly make it hers.

Shin nibbled on his jerky, then asked in return, "What's your name?"

The girl didn't respond immediately.

"Did you forget your name?" Shin prompted, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"I do not need that name anymore!" Yue declared, her voice surprisingly loud, cutting through the quiet.

Her ruby-red eyes gleamed with an unexpected expectation.

"Shin, please give me a new name."

Shin frowned slightly, troubled by her sudden intensity.

"What do you mean you don't need it anymore?" he puzzled, genuinely perplexed by her statement.

"Please, any name will do, as long as Shin gives it to me," she pleaded, her grip on his hand becoming firmer with each word.

The girl's pleading gaze resembled that of one of Shin's younger siblings at the orphanage, and he sighed in resignation.

"Okay, okay, just let me think a bit."

The girl's face broke into a happy smile at Shin's agreement, her eyes gleaming with pure bliss.

Shin gently tried to pull his hand away, urging her,

"Let go of my hand and drink some water."

But the girl adamantly refused, holding his hand even tighter, determined not to release him until he granted her a new name.

Shin sighed again, letting her have her way.

He looked at the girl, truly taking her in. A beautiful girl, most would say, with long, golden-blonde hair and striking ruby eyes.

Gold, huh, Shin muttered to himself.

Gold, like the golden moon.

His mind drifted to the one he saw in his dreams.

Tsuki? No. Moon? No, not that one either. Aizere? I don't know why it feels like a bad idea to give that.

Shin, deciding to keep it simple, finally settled on a name.

"Then how does Yue sound to you?"

"Yue?" The girl blinked, letting the unfamiliar sound roll off her tongue.

"It means 'moon' in my homeland. Your ruby eyes gleam like stars in the night, and your golden hair reminds me of the one in my dreams—a large, golden moon, shining beautifully and magnificently."

Hearing those words, the girl felt something deep within her resonate. "Yue, Mmmn! From now on, I will be called Yue!"

Yue smiled radiantly and, in a sudden burst of emotion, hugged Shin tightly. "Thank you, Shin!"

"Umm, no problem?"

Shin was momentarily bewildered by her uninhibited action.

But quickly putting himself in her circumstances—betrayed, sealed, and alone for far longer than even he had been—he understood.

He simply let her embrace him, raising a hand to gently pat her head.

"You've done your best," Shin murmured, continuing to comfort her with soft pats.

Yue, feeling a close human warmth after an unfathomable amount of time, could no longer hold back her tears.

Everyone had betrayed her, sealed her away and left her utterly alone. Now, this unexpected boy had freed her and even given her a name.

She cried, burying her face into Shin's shoulder, and Shin, still patting her head, continued his soothing, "Yoshi, yoshi."

The room filled with the cries of a girl and a boy's voice comforting her.

********

Yue gradually calmed, her sobs subsiding into quiet sniffles.

She sat on the cold stone floor,draped in Shin's coat, taking hesitant sips from the water pouch filled with ambrosia.

The mystical liquid, tasting unlike anything she had ever known, slowly began to soothe her parched throat and bring a subtle warmth to her chilled body.

She seemed to pay no mind to the jerky Shin had offered; Shin simply shrugged, returning the uneaten piece to his pouch.

"So," Shin began again, his voice even, "now that you're free, what are you going to do?"

Yue lowered the pouch, her crimson eyes fixed on his.

"I will go wherever Shin goes," she stated, her tone firm despite her earlier uncertainty.

Shin raised an eyebrow, seeking confirmation. "Are you sure?"

Yue nodded adamantly, a resolute determination now clear on her face.

"Yes. That is what I will do."

Shin considered this.

Having a companion in the Abyss wasn't something he'd planned, but he didn't particularly mind it. A new variable, perhaps an asset. He just let it be.

A comfortable silence settled between them for a moment, broken only by the faint sounds of the Abyss beyond the chamber.

Then, they began to speak, delving into Yue's full story.

Yue spoke, her voice gaining strength as she recounted her forgotten past.

She was of a royal lineage, a princess in a world long gone.

From birth, she had been a prodigy, her strength and talents surpassing all others of her kind. 

Her race, she explained, was called Vampire, though she was special even among them.

Unlike most, she could directly cast magic without any incantation or aria, her will alone bending the arcane energies, much like the monstrous creatures of the Abyss.

But her most profound gift, or perhaps curse, was a special constitution that rendered her effectively immortal.

She could not be killed by conventional means, nor could she die of old age; a boundless existence that had ultimately led to her torment.

Her kingdom, a place that had known peace for generations, eventually succumbed to fear.

The elders, overwhelmed by the sheer, unkillable power she wielded, saw her not as a protector, but as a potential threat.

To prevent her power from ever being "misused"—or perhaps, simply out of their own fear of the unknown—they made a chilling decision. They sealed her away, here in the very depths of the Abyss, deliberately stripping her of her magic as part of the sealing process.

Her endless imprisonment had been a calculated act to neutralize an immortal, unmanageable force.

Shin listened, a rare frown creasing his brow.

The sheer "dumbness" of her people, to seal away such an extraordinary being out of fear, struck him as incredibly short-sighted.

He observed Yue's current, weakened state, recognizing it as a peculiar, almost positive mutation or evolution of her race.

An immortal vampire princess who can command magic at will, he thought, filing the information away.

In his mind, he labeled her a "template character," a term from the games he knew. But with these insane abilities, she transcended even that.

He quickly re-categorized her: a "super cheat template character." If his friends were "cheats," then Yue was the one who surpassed them all.

Once Yue had finished recounting her tragic history, she turned her crimson gaze back to Shin.

"And you, Shin? Why are you here? How did you... come to this place?"

Shin, with a sigh, began to explain his own extraordinary circumstances.

He told her how he and his classmates had been summoned as "heroes" to another world, forced into a war they didn't understand.

He described his terrifying fall into the Abyss, a consequence of some "trash's" jealousy and malicious intent, an act that had nearly killed him and his friend.

He spoke of the brutal survival, the monsters, the constant struggle, and his relentless journey through the labyrinth, a path that had ultimately led him to her.

Yue listened, her initial shock quickly transforming into a quiet anger directed at the unknown "trash" Shin spoke of.

But as Shin continued, detailing his solitary battles and his unwavering resolve, she listened with a growing, almost gleeful fascination, captivated by the tale of the silver-haired boy who had carved a path through the very abyss that had held her captive for a long time.

*********

Shin, having finished his tale, decided it was time to move out from this place and return to his base.

He prompted Yue to stand up, but she responded, "I'm still weak."

Shin's eyes twitched.

That was an obvious lie.

The ambrosia should have already restored her basic strength.

Yet, Yue refused to get up. She pouted, then lifted her hands to Shin, openly asking to be carried.

Yue was acting like a child, but Shin just sighed and lifted her onto his back in a piggyback position.

Yue pouted a little, clearly wanting a princess carry, but Shin argued,

"I can't have my hands occupied when traversing the Abyss."

Yue then gave up, satisfied with her current situation as she clung to Shin's back. Being of small stature, Shin was not burdened carrying her.

But before they left the room, the entire place shook.

Shin frowned at this sudden action, then he sensed a powerful presence suddenly appearing.

Then, large, sharp spikes came flying at them from the direction of the door.

"Shin!" Yue cried from his back.

"Tch, sneaky bastards. They really don't intend to let Yue escape this place," Shin muttered.

He summoned his wooden sword and effortlessly swatted the incoming spikes aside.

Then, the room outside trembled violently.

A huge BANG echoed, covering the outside chamber in a thick cloud of smoke and dust.

From the swirling obscuration emerged a massive monster: a gigantic scorpion beast, its multiple eyes gleaming with killing intent, clearly targeting the intruders in this sacred place.

Shin intended to let go of Yue, but the monster again shot a volley of spikes in Shin's direction. 

Shin, still carrying Yue on his back, dodged those attacks instead of confronting them directly. 

Then, the colossal monster lunged at them with incredible speed, betraying its immense size.

"Tch," Shin grunted.

The scorpion monster chased Shin and Yue, its enormous bulk surprisingly agile.

With each attack, Shin jumped, dodged, and ran, prioritizing gathering intelligence on the monster's attack patterns.

After a relentless chase, Shin managed to create some distance and hide behind one of the massive pillars.

The monster, losing track of the two, began frantically searching, smashing other pillars in its fury.

Shin asked Yue to get down and hide for a bit.

Yue wanted to protest, but seeing that she might become a burden, she just nodded and let go, sliding to the floor behind the pillar.

Seeing her worried face, Shin patted her head and said it would be okay.

The monster continued its search, then located Shin walking slowly, deliberately, closer to it. 

When the distance seemed sufficient, Shin pounced, brandishing his wooden sword at the scorpion monster.

Then, a loud BANG echoed through out the large room.