Lancelot quickly scampered to his feet, heading inside the house. On his face was a large grin, excited to return the necklace to Sarah.
In the entire world, the person who mattered to him the most, equal to himself and Ddraig, was Sarah. She would always stand up for him when he felt oppressed, always try to protect him if he got in trouble, and always cared for him.
Sarah was, and will always be, his older sister.
Lancelot leisurely walked towards the living room, nose twitching as he smelt a disgusting aroma.
"Hm? Sarah's already started on dinner..?"
Lancelot's heart dropped.
Sarah was a terrible cook!
"Ugh, If she's already started, there's no point stopping her now." Lancelot thought with a resigned sigh, feeling bad for the two merchants who she invited over.
Eventually, he reached the end of the hallway, twisting the bronze knob of the door and entering the living room.
Inside the room were three people- two dressed in expensive silk clothes, wearing extravagant over garments with intricate patterns who sat on chairs, whilst the other person was dressed in a pristine black hooded robe, completely covering their facial features save for their smirk as they leaned against a wall. Additionally, at their waist was a sword, sheathed.
"Hehe, Lancelot, my boy! How are you doing?" One of the merchants, a portly man, chuckled. He stood up and pulled Lancelot into a hug. The smile on his face pronounced the wrinkles around his mouth.
"Hehe, I'm doing alright, Uncle Shen." Lancelot grinned back, patting his shoulder.
"You've grown so much since last year!" The other merchant, a skinny gentleman, exclaimed, laughing. He stroked his white beard as he looked at Lancelot with bright eyes.
"Only a few centimeters, Uncle Ken." Lancelot kept a polite smile on his face as he pulled away, Uncle Shen and him sitting down on chairs.
These two people were merchants that would come once a year to do business. They would stay at the village for a few days to rest before heading towards the city not that far off. Because of their travels, they had many delicacies and materials not available to the village people.
They were quite good friends with Sarah's father before his.. unfortunate demise. Consequently, this meant that they saw Sarah and Lancelot as their 'niece' and 'nephew', having a close relationship with each other even if they only met once a year.
"Um, and who might you be, sir?" Lancelot asked, facing the hooded person.
At this question, the smirk on their face turned into an amused grin.
"Oh? And what makes you think I'm a 'sir'?" The hooded person, now revealed to be a woman, laughed, a delicate and pleasing sound that exposed her femininity.
Lancelot chuckled awkwardly, apologising profusely.
"It's fine, the name's Sancho." She waved her hand, the action causing her hood to ride up slightly and reveal the curve of her cheek and a sliver of her red iris. "A mercenary for hire, acting as these two's bodyguards."
"Mhm. She's been really, really helpful so far. An absolutely vital part of our journey." Uncle Ken praised.
"I have no doubt about Miss Sancho's abilities. Now, I have to go give something to Sarah.." Lancelot stood up, intending to walk towards the kitchen.
"Wait!" Uncle Shen called out, grabbing his arm in a firm grip.
"Don't disturb her, we- she's working on a perfect meal." Uncle Shen smiled.
Lancelot raised an eyebrow, but dropped the matter, not wanting to upset Uncle Shen.
"I'll just give it to her at dinner." Lancelot thought, sighing internally. "She'll have to thank me in front of everyone, hehe, maybe I'll get her to do something embarrassing."
A smile played on his lips at the thought.
After a few more minutes of idle chatter, mostly about how life has been so far and the scenery at different places in the Solar Kingdom, a maid walked into the room.
Since the house was so big, it would be a hassle to clean it themselves, so Sarah and Lancelot had hired maids to help out.
"Sir, Miss Sarah has had to tend to an urgent matter. She will not be present for dinner today." The maid informed, bowing.
Lancelot frowned.
"I'll have to delay it even longer.." He thought, disappointed at not being able to embarrass Sarah.
Such occurrences were common, with Sarah having various responsibilities as the village chief.
"We'll bring out the meal shortly, it has already been prepared." With a final bow, the maid left the room.
Lancelot sat at the head of the dinner table, with Uncle Shen on his right and Uncle Ken on his left. Sancho, on the other hand, sat at the other end of the table.
Each of them had a set of cutlery- forks, spoons and knives. They waited expectantly as two maids entered, holding a large pot of steaming food and starting to set the bowls.
Lancelot licked his lips as they set the pot on the table, a rich and fragrant aroma enveloping the room.
Inside the metal pot was a stew. It had a reddish-brown colour, with pieces of brown meat circling inside it, pieces of boiled potatoes accompanying them, its insides a mouth-watering yellow. Because of the heat, the broth had small bubbles appearing and popping on its surface.
Lancelot was shocked as he took a spoonful of the stew into his mouth. It was a combination of meat and potato, a savory and slightly sweet taste that dripped with flavour.
He slowly chewed on the meat, savoring the juiciness of the meat and how well the soft, mushy potato complimented its texture. He even caught a hint of zest, most likely from a lemon.
"Did.. Did Sarah actually make this..?" Lancelot asked incredulously, quickly taking seconds.
"Yes." Everyone in the room replied.
"Huh..?" Lancelot looked around the room in confusion and surprise, a smile tugging at his lips at the absurdity of the situation.
Uncle Ken coughed, "Yeah, you could say that."
Lancelot simply shrugged, finishing the morsel in his mouth. His eyebrows furrowed when, wanting to eat more, his spoon lamely hit the bottom of the wooden bowl. He, himself, was surprised at how fast he had eaten, he had even finished the second serving he had asked for!
"Damn.. Ddraig, is this meal made using magecraft? Did Sarah awaken a cooking Emblem?" Lancelot asked seriously.
"..No.." Ddraig answered, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"This improvement in cooking, in such little time.. It's god given talent! She must've been a late bloomer.." Lancelot scratched his chin, thinking wisely.
"This meat.. what is it? It tastes like pork.." He asked the room, having already started on his third serving.
Looking around, he noticed nobody else had touched their food.
"It's Sarah." Uncle Ken said, a smile on his face.
"Hm? What?" Lancelot raised an eyebrow in confusion, head jerking up to look at Uncle Ken as he chewed on the meat in his mouth.
"The meat. It's Sarah."