The crimson princess

Pov Dia,

Shion: "Well then, I'll go prepare the meal."

Everyone: "NOOOOOO!"

We all reacted at the same time because none of us wanted another catastrophe to emerge from the abyss that Shion called cooking.

Rimuru also gave me a mouthful for a month because she had to give up so that she could eat the meal. According to her analysis, the dish was so terrible it could be classified as one of the deadliest poisons in the world.

Dia: "What we mean is, we don't want you to worry about cooking when you've already been practicing so much."

Shion: "But I'll wash up and cook myself!"

Dia: "The problem is, I'm very hungry, and the meal has already been ordered, so it would be pointless to cook anything right now."

She looked sad but reluctantly agreed, saying she would cook next time. Why does she insist on cooking so much? Can't she taste her own meals or something?

Dia: "I love your enthusiasm, Shion, but I wouldn't want my cooks to feel like their work isn't valued. So, it would be better if you didn't cook."

She seemed very sad and on the verge of tears. Having already seen her like this before and knowing the damage it could cause, I decided to act.

Dia: "But you can prepare extraordinary meals for us on one condition: you have to eat what you make before serving it to us."

Shion: "But why should I eat something that I'm preparing?"

Ah, so that's why she never realized her abominations were so disgusting.

Dia: "First, because you need to check if the meal is properly seasoned. Second, the meal must be special—something we don't cook or eat often—so you'll need to test the taste to make sure it's prepared well."

I really hope she listens and gives up on this relentless desire to cook because, frankly, I don't know what else to do except force her to eat everything she makes.

Dia: "Also, if there's a recipe for the meal you want to make, follow it to the letter. Don't skip any steps or make changes until you've mastered the original version, so at least you'll get the intended appearance and taste before any modifications."

I'm sure that with Shion's three connected neurons, she wouldn't have bothered tasting the original dish and would have made it based solely on her whims.

Just seeing the kitchen after she had been there, we couldn't help but wonder if a battle had taken place. We later discovered that the great sword I had given her was being used as a knife. When I told her to use actual knives, she refused, saying she wouldn't betray her sword.

What can I say? She really does only have three neurons.

She didn't seem happy about my complaints, but it was either that or I banned her from the kitchen altogether. After all, I couldn't risk my future daughters eating her food and dying from it.

Of course, I would have ensured they developed resistance to poison by giving them small doses over time. But if they ever ate Shion's meals, they'd face the ultimate antagonist of poison before achieving immunity. At least then, they'd never have to worry about possible toxins in any other meal.

Looking around at the others, I could see they all wanted to serve Shion the meal she had prepared for us—purely out of revenge for their suffering.

This was childish behavior, though. Only Benimaru, Souei, and Shuna lacked the skills to discreetly avoid eating the food. Rimuru had to save them by urgently using three Phoenix Tears from our stock.