Elder brother's garrison

Page 1321

The goddess of the hearth held two plates of steaks, her mouth slightly open, her head bowed, staring intently at the steak on the hot plate, which was about half the size of a washbasin.

"Beef...steak...it's...it's meat...it smells so good..." The female Kitchen Goddess's mouth was drooling so much that she began to mumble incoherently, "Meat...meat...it smells so good...can I...no...no, this is for two people...I can't eat it all by myself...I've already eaten the scallion pancake, I can manage this little thing...I...I can definitely do it..."

The female cook struggled to hold the iron plate, staring intently at the sizzling steak on it. Every sizzle of oil seemed like torture, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably and her lips to fall silent.

Finally, the agonizing wait that felt like it had lasted for centuries was over.

A few seconds later, Yubari moved the large table used for dining and gatherings from the balcony into the living room.

"Oh ho~ Thanks a lot—wait, what's wrong with you? Why do you seem to be sweating so much?" Yubari took the sizzling steak and placed it on the table. Just as he was about to thank the goddess of the hearth, he saw her sitting back on the sofa, covered in sweat, staring blankly at the table.

"When... will we eat?" The female hearth goddess did not reply to Yubari's words, but stared blankly at the table, asking as if talking to herself.

"If you're hungry, Miss Stove Goddess, you can eat first, okay?" Xiao Bai said to the Stove Goddess.

"No...no need! I'll wait for you all..." The female hearth goddess swallowed hard, her legs tightly clamping her hands as she spoke with difficulty on the sofa.

"……"noob.

The Vess is quite a polite ship girl.

Tirpitz should really learn from this.

Xiao Bai looked at the female Kitchen Goddess, who was sitting on the sofa without taking a bite, even though she was incredibly hungry and her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. He couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Xiao Bai got up and went to the kitchen to meet Chang Chun. Together, they carried the remaining three sizzling steaks back to the living room.

"Thank you for your hard work, Changchun." Sitting at the table, Xiaobai thanked Changchun.

"It's not hard work, Admiral—well, this is my first time doing this too, I hope you won't mind..." Changchun sat next to Xiaobai, taking off his apron as he shyly spoke to everyone.

"Then I'll try it first." Yubari picked up his fork, skillfully cut off a piece of steak, and put it in his mouth, chewing it with relish. "Mmm—mmm! One bite, and the oil splatters everywhere, so succulent!"

"Mmm, it's delicious!" Xiaobai cut a piece of beef and put it in his mouth, giving Changchun a thumbs up as he chewed. "As expected of Changchun!"

"Thank you, Admiral!" Changchun seemed encouraged, his cheeks flushed with excitement. "I... I will work even harder!"

"Miss Stove Goddess? Aren't you going to eat?" Xiaobai looked at the Stove Goddess and found that she had been sitting stiffly at the table until now.

"Huh?" Hearing Xiaobai's call, the goddess of the hearth looked up in confusion. "Is it ready to eat already?"

"...That's fine now."

"Don't we all need to put our hands together and say things like 'Let's eat!' Don't we all need to bow our heads and pray for God to give us abundant food?" The female hearth goddess stared blankly at Little White.

“…We don’t have this custom in our garrison…just relax a bit.” Xiaobai said to the female stove god.

The female hearth goddess stared blankly at Xiaobai's face for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, picked up her knife and fork, lowered her head, and began to slicing the steak on the hot plate. She picked up a piece of beef, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed it earnestly.

"Mmm... Mmm?! Mmm!!!" The female hearth goddess's eyes widened, her gaze shifting from surprise and shock to a look of intoxication and enjoyment. "It's...it's so delicious...Is there anything in the world that tastes this good...it's so delicious!"

The goddess of the hearth let out a blissful scream, her fork swiftly and smoothly slicing through the steak, like a machine on a factory assembly line, before stuffing it into her mouth.

This self-taught knife and fork skill is truly enviable for someone like me who has used chopsticks since childhood and is still not used to knives and forks.

"That's great... Miss Stove Goddess seems to really like the steak made in Changchun." Xiaobai exclaimed.

"Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!" The female kitchen god ate with her mouth full of oil, and nodded frantically at Xiaobai after Xiaobai asked her a question.

"Speaking of which, Admiral, shouldn't you tell us about your relationship with Vestal?" As dinner began and conversation time officially started, Yubari finally found the time and opportunity to ask Shiro about Vestal.

“Ah… is that what it is…” Shiro had been waiting for Yubari’s question for a long time. She put down her knife and fork, thought for a moment, and then explained to Yubari, “It all started yesterday when I went to your lab to get the key.”

Xiaobai meticulously recounted to Yubari everything that had happened the previous night: when she went to Yubari's lab to retrieve the key, she was mistaken for a thief and questioned by the passing female hearth goddess, and the entire sequence of events leading up to tonight, including the introduction of herself that she had heard from the female hearth goddess.

At first, Yubari was sipping her fork, listening intently to Shiro's story about her encounter with the goddess of the hearth. However, Yubari's relaxed expression turned slightly serious when Shiro mentioned that the goddess of the hearth worked as a security guard at the ship equipment research center, earning a meager salary and barely able to make ends meet. Yubari put down her fork, rested her chin on her hands, and listened to Shiro's words with a slight frown.

Within a few minutes, Shiro told Yubari everything.

"...In short, that's the story between me and the female Stove Goddess." Shiro summarized to Yubari, "Because of that fifty-yen scallion pancake, I was able to invite Miss Stove Goddess to stay at our house for two days."

"Oh..." Yubari frowned after hearing Shiro's words, looking somewhat absent-minded.

"Yubari? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Uh... It's nothing, it's nothing..." Yubari was taken aback, and she quickly waved her hand, "Hmm... Admiral, your encounter with Vestal Goddess is really quite lucky!"

"Yes, yes, very lucky." Xiaobai nodded with deep feeling, looking at the female hearth goddess.

Coincidentally.

At this moment, the goddess of the hearth had finished her steak and was looking at the empty plate with a pitiful expression, as if she hadn't had enough.

“…Miss Goddess of the Hearth, if you don’t mind, would you like to have my portion?” Xiao Bai pushed his steak toward the Goddess of the Hearth.

"Eh? Is that okay?"

"Sure, it's getting a bit late... I'm not very hungry."

"Thanks……"

"Ah! If you don't mind, you can have mine too!" Yubari pushed his steak, which had only been cut once, to the goddess of the hearth. "The steak is good, but it's too greasy for me to eat too much of."

"Thank you, thank you!" The goddess of the hearth's eyes lit up with excitement as she quickly picked up her knife and fork and began cutting into the steak on the hot plate.

Yubari watched the female hearth goddess happily eating with a smile, then glanced at Shiro silently, gave Shiro a wink, and quietly got up and walked towards his bedroom.

Xiaobai was stunned. She stared at Yubari's back and subconsciously got up and followed Yubari out of the living room.

"Yubari, were you just calling me... Huh?"

Shiro caught up with Yubari and was about to ask her if she had just called him out when Yubari swiftly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her bedroom, then pushed the door shut behind him.

Xiaobai felt a blur before his eyes, and then he was pulled into Yubari's bedroom, where Yubari pushed him against the wall.

With two sharp slaps, Yubari placed her hands on either side of Shiro's head. With a whoosh, Yubari's head was right in front of Shiro's eyes, separated by only a thin line.

"Huh? Yubari??"

"Shh." Yubari covered Shiro's mouth, leaned close to Shiro, and whispered, "Admiral, keep it down."

Yubari's hands were cool and soft, and it felt very comfortable to press them against Shiro's lips.

However, because Shiro had just finished eating steak and hadn't had time to wipe his mouth, his lips were still full of beef juice. It felt a bit strange that Yubari slapped him in the palm of his hand like that.

However, Yubari seemed completely oblivious to this strange feeling.

"Admiral, something's not right." Yubari stared intently into Shiro's eyes and whispered to him.

Chapter 1693 The Hidden Truth

"Admiral, something's wrong." Yubari covered Shiro's mouth and leaned close to him, speaking in a low, very serious voice, "Something's really wrong!"

This was the first time Shiro had ever seen Yubari look so serious.

Something's wrong?

Why did Yubari call me to her room so mysteriously? Was she going to tell me that something was wrong with the female hearth goddess?

"Um... umm." Xiaobai hesitated for a moment, then nodded to Yubari, indicating that she understood what Yubari meant, and patted the back of Yubari's hand that was covering her mouth.

Yubari slowly lowered his hand.

Xiao Bai's glossy lips were exposed to the air.

"Phew..." Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief. She wiped the oil off her lips and subconsciously looked back at the wall behind her.

The house in Yubari is separated from the living room by only one wall.

Behind this solid, snow-white wall, the Kitchen Goddess and Changchun were currently in the living room.

"Yubari, what you just said doesn't sound right. Are you referring to the goddess of the hearth?" Shiro turned around and asked Yubari in a low voice, trying to keep her voice down.

"Hmm." Yubari nodded seriously. "Just now at the dinner table, I heard you, Admiral, mention that Vestal seemed to have worked as a security guard at the Ship Equipment Research Center for twenty years, right?"

"Yes."

“According to what you said, Admiral, for the past twenty years, the goddess of the hearth has been working diligently, conscientiously, and responsibly. However, due to her meager salary, her quality of life has always been very low. Her monthly salary is so little that she can barely afford the rent, right?” Yubari said to Shiro.

"Yes, that's right." Shiro nodded to Yubari.

"This is it! Something's not right here!" Yubari frowned instantly, gently patted the wall, and spoke earnestly to Shiro.

"Huh? Is there something wrong with my description?" Xiaobai was taken aback.

"No... Admiral, your description should be correct... However, the way you described Vestal's living conditions is very strange." Yubari shook her head and said to Shiro, "I know that the security guards and waiters in the Ship Equipment Research Center are not included in the center's staff, and their monthly salaries are much lower than those of us researchers. They also don't have any benefits—but no matter what, the treatment our Ship Equipment Research Center gives to security personnel cannot be so poor that it can't even maintain the minimum standard of living! Admiral, you have to understand that security guards are all humans. Vestal is only able to get used to this kind of life of eating only two or three times a week because of her ship girl physique. If it were a healthy human, this kind of life would drain and ruin their body in just a few weeks, let alone do it for twenty years! This is simply not scientific!"

"Ah...right, right..." Shiro only realized it after being reminded by Yubari.

Correct……

The goddess of the hearth told Xiaobai that her life was so arduous... to the point of being dramatic. Such a harsh life could never be replicated in humans.

Xiao Bai quickly recalled that when he went to the security room of the ship equipment research center earlier that day to inquire about the location of the Goddess of the Hearth, the two security guards who were very enthusiastic towards him—those two security guards, full of energy, holding teapots, sitting in the security room chatting and enjoying life, looked much more comfortable than the lonely Goddess of the Hearth.

"Then... Yubari, do you mean that Lady Vesta is lying to us?" Shiro asked Yubari with some concern.

“Hmm…maybe…” Yubari was also unsure. She twitched her fingers and thought for a while. “It’s possible that the goddess of the hearth is hiding something from you, Admiral…but it’s also possible that she isn’t hiding anything, but that there are other special circumstances.”

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's true, as she said, that she's barely managing to pay her rent. I could tell from the way she ate those two plates of steak. Her life is really miserable," Yubari said solemnly to Shiro. "However... I'm certain that the reason Vestal is living such a miserable life isn't because of the low pay at the Ship Equipment Research Center! There must be another reason why she's fallen to this state!"

“Other reasons…” Xiaobai pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement, but was still somewhat puzzled, “Then… why didn’t Miss Stove Goddess tell me that reason? Was it inconvenient for her?”

“There are two possibilities.” Yubari held up two fingers and pressed down one in front of Shiro. “One possibility is that the goddess of the hearth has something she doesn’t want to tell you, Admiral.”

"What about the other one?"

“Another thing is… even she herself might be kept in the dark right now,” Yubari said seriously.

"……"noob.

Even the goddess of the hearth was kept in the dark...

What exactly is the reason?

"I just secretly called you over, Admiral, to talk to you about this. Actually, it's because I'm not sure if the Vessalis has something she can't say or if she's being kept in the dark. Anyway, I don't want to alert her, so I'm talking to you about this alone, Admiral." Yubari said earnestly to Shiro. "Admiral... you want to take the Vessalis back to the naval base, right?"

"……Um."

"Then I think you should take this matter seriously, Admiral... I have a strange feeling that this matter might be the key turning point in whether you can bring the Vesla back to the naval base!"

Shiro stared blankly at Yubari.

Yubari stared intently at Shiro.

After a while.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief and gave Yubari a grateful smile.

"Hmm... I see... I understand." Shiro smiled sincerely at Yubari. "I will take this matter seriously."

"Admiral, what are you planning to do?"

"Well... anyway, it's not convenient for me to tell Ms. Vestal about this right now... how about we pretend we don't know anything for the next couple of days, have some fun with Ms. Vestal, and then when she goes to work, I'll accompany her to the Ship Equipment Research Center to find out about her work environment, ask around the people around her, and maybe even investigate her salary... and so on." Shiro paused slightly, looking at Yubari with a pleading expression, "Is that alright?"

"Okay, sure!" Yubari breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Shiro. "I'm pretty well-known in the Ship Equipment Research Center. If you need me to come, Admiral, just call me."

"I will."

"Alright, that's enough of that. It'll seem strange to others if we leave the living room for so long. It's time to go back." Yubari relaxed, and her expression returned to its usual gentle demeanor.

As if after the tension eased, Yubari suddenly felt an itch in his palm. He raised his hand and looked at the palm that had just covered Shiro's lips, only to find a shiny, oily lip stain on his palm that smelled strongly of steak.

"Ah... this is what I just..." Xiaobai saw the lipstick mark on Yuzuriha's palm and her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly turned around and rummaged in her pocket. "Yuzuriha, wait a moment, I'll get you some tissues..."

"It's nothing, no need for that." Yubari shrugged, watching Shiro's flustered state. "It's just a little bit of oil stains."

"But..." Xiaobai was about to explain.

Sudden.

Right under Xiaobai's watchful eye.

Yubari simply raised her hand, brought her palm to her mouth, and then stuck out her nimble pink tongue to casually lick the palm with white lip marks, licking all the oil off her palm into her mouth. Then she rubbed her saliva-covered palm against the slightly protruding part of her chest.

"See, it's gone now." After completing this series of actions, Yubari smiled at Shiro without a care in the world.

"……"noob.

"Admiral? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing... Let's go back to the living room..."

"Oh, good, good!"

With mixed feelings, Shiro and Yubari left the bedroom and returned to the living room.