“Really? I think . . .” Raphtalia started, looking at me with a concerned face. It’s fine, I told her with my eyes. This was going to be something we needed going forward.

“Filo, no need to worry. I’ll cook for you every day going forward,” I said.

“Really?! Yay!” Filo replied, starting to get all excited. In the corner of my eye, I saw Raphtalia tilting her head. She was likely surprised by this sudden generosity, considering she knew how aggravated I generally got when it came to cooking. Without any other reason, I normally just told them to let the state chefs feed them.

“I mean, a lot happened, but everyone did their best. That’s worth a reward,” I said.

“It feels like you have another reason,” Raphtalia said.

“You noticed,” I replied.

“I’ve been around you for quite some time now, Mr. Naofumi,” she responded. That was true. A fair amount of time had passed since I was summoned as the shield hero. It really felt like I’d been fighting for years, but in actual time, it hadn’t been that long. It did feel good to have allies who understood how I felt.

“It’s related to the mirror vassal weapon’s power-up method. Let’s eat and I’ll explain everything. This will be worth it, so you come too, L’Arc,” I said. I heard from Albert’s women—the previous mirror vassal weapon holder—that Albert hadn’t shared the mirror power-up method or any other details with anyone else. I thought this power-up method was a pretty easy one to spot . . . Maybe he had just thought it was simply the hero’s protection. I’d experienced something like that in the past myself.

“Your handmade cooking, kiddo? That’s the best! I definitely want some of that,” L’Arc said.

“Yeah, make sure you come and get some,” I replied.

I proceeded to the castle kitchen and started to cook using the castle’s ingredients.

“Here you go, Glass. Have another helping. Eat up!” I said. Glass was also joining in with the meal, taking a break from treating Kizuna. I’d made a big pile of rice, and I heaped some onto Glass’s plate now.

“Whoa . . . Naofumi, I’ve had enough. Let someone else get in on this,” she said.

“What are you talking about? You need to eat to get stronger. Look at Filo!” I said. We both turned to see her gobbling her way through even more than I’d just given Glass.

“This is great! Can I have some more?!” she said, mouth full.