CH986

<Alright, they’re ready and expecting you whenever you want to head over.>

Making my way now. Ben answered as he walked into the world’s gate network, passing through to reach his ultimate destination of the siren’s capital and the main church of their god where three individuals were waiting as he arrived, sitting in the yard.

One was Woszan, the high priestess of Telenen who Ben had met a few times by that point, the woman giving an air of comfort to the other beside her as she spoke to Mirrian, the mother of one of the world’s few natural demigods and victim of the god she’d loved, leaving her stranded on that alien world.

The demigod in question, Kalley, looked like she was just waking up from a nap on her mother’s lap, rubbing at her eyes and scratching at some of the feathers along her arms before she noticed him walking over, silently nudging her mother to draw her attention as the two older women noticed him as well.

“Mirrian, Kalley, Woszan, so nice to see all of you again,” he greeted as warmly as he could, but still saw the youngest girl flinch away. Even with the system, he couldn’t help but look strange and alien to her eyes, which he couldn’t deny that he was. His facial features were just different enough from a siren’s for a child who wasn’t used to it to not be completely comfortable, and he was more muscular than most members of that species too. Add in the fact that he had no feathers of his own and he had to have looked almost plucked to the child, but he hadn’t come unprepared, even if he gave the others a chance to speak first.

“Ben, thank you so much for coming,” Woszan greeted, genuinely meaning it too, while Mirrian was a bit more subdued.

“Hello again.”

Kalley said nothing but he’d expected as much and with the mother seeming withdrawn as well, he decided to lead things. “I’m not sure if you’ve all eaten yet, but I’ve prepared lunch. Why don’t we snack and talk a bit? Not to toot my own horn but I am one of the better cooks in the world. I think you’d enjoy it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” Mirrian tried to start, losing that chance as Ben pulled out a fully set table from one of his rings, the food he’d prepared the night before already on it.

“It’s no trouble. Please, help yourselves. I think you’re going to like it.”

With both older women starting to eat. To Woszan, it seemed nothing more than an excellent meal but as for Mirrian, the small gleam of recognition she felt upon seeing the meal was rewarded with the taste, matching the foods of her lost homeworld with flavours he’d pulled from their memories when he’d first met them, a single word on her lips as tears started falling from her eyes.

“How?”

“Like I said, I’m an excellent cook on top of being an excellent mage,” he explained as he materialized a cookbook before their eyes, handing it off to Woszan and explaining as he did. “It’s full of recipes from the old siren homeworld, recreated with the ingredients of this one as best as I was able to match both the flavour and appearance. Just in case you want to talk to your gods about maybe trying to open a restaurant in the city that matches the classic flavour or if you just want to have someone learn how to cook it for these two.”

“Oh, of course, thank you,” the other woman said, taking it with her own interest considering that those would be the tastes of her people’s lost homeworld, with even Kalley seeming a bit more interested once she started eating, looking Ben’s way and getting a wink.

“I made dessert too,” he whispered her way like he was sharing a secret and finally got a small smile as the child remembered the cookies he’d already shared, letting them eat together and chat as they did, even if Ben did his best to keep the conversation light. There were topics that he was sure Mirrian wanted to discuss, but not in front of her daughter, and as the meal came to an end and dessert was eaten, Woszan stood up.

“Kalley, what do you say you play with me for a little bit? I think your mom would like a minute.”

As wordlessly as she ever was, the girl looked at her mother for a moment, seeming hesitant before giving in, looking more weary at Ben once more now that the treats were finished, that he had another trick to help with.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“And take this while you do,” he told her, seeing her eyes light up as he handed over a freshly materialized doll that perfectly matched the one the girl had on her old world, lost so many thousands of years ago.

Woszan might not have noticed the significance of it, but Mirrian certainly did, looking at Ben in shock as the other two walked away.

“How did you get that?”

“I made it,” he said, switching to her native tongue. “Before being a master mage, I consider myself a master craftsman. Something like that is nothing.”

“Master craftsman, master mage, is there anything you can’t do?” She asked, switching to her original language as well, and looked grateful for the chance to speak it.

“It feels like there’s too much, if I’m being honest,” he laughed. “What matters is working around those weaknesses though. Still, if there’s anything else I can make you from your homeland that might leave you more comfortable, I’d be happy to help.”