Chapter 1526 – The Curse of Inaction

Morrelia felt like she was going crazy, and it wasn’t just because of her current company.

“Is everything alright?” Isaac asked, stroking his moustache with one hand as he tried to execute a graceful lean on the wall beside her.

She could only roll her eyes at the display. No matter how she tried to communicate that this sort of behavior made her uncomfortable, Isaac didn’t seem to be capable of receiving the message. It wasn’t as if he was being deliberately annoying, or trying to get on her nerves, she genuinely thought he was just stupid.

Which didn’t make him any less irritating.

“I’m bored,” she stated.

“Oh,” Isaac blinked.

He stared, then blinked again, then panicked. He’d finally gotten Morrelia to go somewhere with him, and now she was bored? This was a disaster! All of his meticulous planning! Moustache preparation alone had taken five precious hours, time that could only be spared by cutting back on sleep.

Severely sleep deprived he may be, but he looked fine, if he did say so himself.

“Of course, this is just the mess, our next stop will be… much more entertaining!”

All he had to do now was think about another possible destination… quick! She’d agreed to have a meal with him, so of course they were in the mess hall allocated to the militia, because where else were they going to eat in the fortress?

Having said that, the food was quite good. Isaac hurriedly took his seat and began to divide up the cake he’d ordered for them. Someone had told the ants how to make cheesecake, and now they were experimenting. This particular offering was a triple-layered chocolate cheesecake with a particularly thick, crumbly/chewy base he just couldn’t get enough of.

He passed Morrelia her slice, smiling with what he hoped was just the right amount of masculine bravado mixed with gentlemanly debonair. In the Legionary’s eyes, he looked incontinent.

“Thank you,” she said, and took a bite, eyes widening at the burst of flavour.

Why the heck were the ants so good at baking? It didn’t make any sense! Well… they did have quite the sweet tooth… not that they had teeth… but this was excessive.

“I didn’t mean bored about being here,” she clarified, “I’m bored because we haven’t been allowed to do any fighting. The Colony has kept us wrapped up in wool since the wave started. Every day is drills and gear maintenance from morning till night, all the while everyone else in the fortress has been fighting monsters. You’ve been out there too, haven’t you, Isaac?”

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He was relieved to hear she wasn’t bored with his company, so relieved he felt weak at the knees, and yet…

“I’ve been out there,” he said quietly, the flavour of the cake turning to ash in his mouth. He grimaced and put down his fork. “It’s… rough.”