"Do you understand that you could have hurt us really badly with what you did?" The words were stern, and Aditya could only nod his head in response, feeling sorry and guilty for his actions.
Right now, the ruler of Istarin was sitting quietly on the floor, surrounded by his partners. They were all pretty upset with him because of the chaos he had caused.
"What's your reason for doing something so risky?" Alicia asked, her arms crossed and her eyes expecting an answer. Her voice was very stern and she had a cold look on her face.
"I didn't realize my attack would cause so much harm to the land. I need to think more before I act," Aditya admitted, regret in his voice.
Lilith had to hold back a giggle when she saw Aditya being scolded, but she caught the disapproving looks from Sasha and Riya and decided it was better to keep quiet.
Once Aditya returned to the ship, he was forced to sit on the floor and listen to everyone's lecture for an hour.
"Okay, everyone, I think it's time we stop being mad at Aditya," Julia said to the group, hoping to ease the tension.
Sigh!!!
Alicia just touched her forehead and let out a long sigh. The cold and stern look on her face faded away. She blamed herself a little for falling for such a troublemaker in the first place.
They all loved him too much to stay mad at him for long.
"Get up, Aditya. But please, be more careful next time. We can't have you doing dangerous things like this again," Alicia said, her tone softer now.
"But how are we going to fix all this mess?" Riya wondered out loud as they all looked at the damaged land from the ship's deck. Aditya stood up and joined her to survey the aftermath.
Even after a full hour had gone by since the huge blast, there was still dark smoke going up into the sky. The air above them was filled with dark clouds that had come from the blast.
"I'm not sure what to do," Alicia said, feeling a headache coming on from all the stress.
In front of them, the desert had a huge hole, a crater that was 26 kilometers wide. It was so big and deep that they couldn't even see the bottom from where they were standing on the ship.
There was a bit of good news, though. The explosion had gotten rid of more than a hundred thousand of the nasty Imp monsters. They were all turned to dust by the explosion, and even that dust was gone, blown away by the force of the blast. Around the edges of the giant hole, there were tiny, sharp pieces of glass scattered around. They were made from the sand that melted because of the incredible heat from the red flames. The land around the crater was ruined, with nothing left alive for as far as the eye could see. It was a powerful reminder of just how much damage the explosion had done.
"We should just leave this alone and let the Earth heal itself with time," Aditya suggested.
Hearing his words, everyone agreed by nodding. This part of the desert didn't belong to anyone, so they didn't need to explain what happened to anyone else.
Aditya thought about the future of this place. "I think if those Imp monsters spawn again, they'll probably stay at the bottom of this big pit. It's so deep, I don't think any of them could climb out." Everyone nodded with him. Even if all the imp monsters had been defeated, the next night, another one hundred or more imp monsters would spawn again. This was an unknown phenomenon that no one in the Beast Continent has been able to explain.
"It seems like something good did come from the explosion, at least." Aditya almost wanted to let out a little smile, but he caught the serious looks from all the girls and decided it was better to stay quiet. He knew he had gone a bit too far this time.
"Is our desert ship still in good shape?" Sasha asked. It was important because if the ship was broken, they would have to walk the rest of their journey.
"I haven't seen any problems on the outside of the ship, but just to be sure, I'll go check everything," Aditya said, feeling it was his duty to make sure the ship was completely safe after the explosion.
"Okay," everyone agreed with his plan to inspect the ship.
Julia turned to Riya with a bit of worry, "Riya, would you be able to cook dinner for us tonight?" She felt a bit uncomfortable asking since Riya must be really tired.
"Absolutely! I was just about to go to the kitchen. You're all going to enjoy what I make!" Riya responded cheerfully. Instead of feeling reassured, the others felt a bit worried about her confidence in her cooking.
As Riya walked away from the deck, everyone watched her go until she was out of sight. Then Sasha turned to Aditya with a curious look. "Aditya, have you ever seen Riya cook before?"
"No, I've never seen her cook. But let's not worry too much. Her cooking can't be that bad. We should think positively," Aditya replied, trying to stay optimistic.
"I mean what could possibly go wrong."
Scene change____
"When I joked about what could go wrong, I didn't imagine our meal would turn out like this," Aditya said, staring at the strange dish in front of them. The rice was a deep, dark purple, and it was swimming in some kind of purple sauce. Even the steam rising from the hot meal was tinted purple.
Aditya turned his gaze from the odd-looking dinner to Riya, who was watching him with a big smile, clearly eager for him to try it. Her eyes were shining with excitement like she really couldn't wait to see what he thought.
Gulp!!!!
Aditya swallowed hard, feeling a bit scared to take the first bite. He glanced around the table. Everyone looked just as uneasy as he felt, eyeing the purple meal that Riya had put in front of them.
"Ri...Riya, can you tell me what we're having? Is it some kind of special dish from the elves?" Aditya tried to sound casual, even though he was really worried about eating the food. He had some immunity against poison, sure, but looking at the purple food, he felt like it might be the end of him.
"Oh, no, it's just rice and curry," Riya answered sweetly, not realizing everyone's concern.
"Got it," Aditya replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
Just then, Lilith put her hand on her head, pretending to feel dizzy. "I think I need to rest. My Mana is really low, so I should probably get some rest in my room. Riya, can you save my portion? I'll eat it later," She said quickly, then hurried out of the room before anyone could say anything.
Aditya's eye gave a little twitch as he watched her leave. He wished he could make a quick exit too, but Riya looked so happy and expectant that he couldn't bring himself to hurt her feelings. Walking away now would be like saying he didn't appreciate all the work she'd put into cooking for them. It would same as insulting the effort that she put into cooking this food for them.
Aditya thought to himself, 'Well, here goes nothing,' and bravely took a spoonful of the bright purple dish. Everyone around the table watched him with wide, anxious eyes. Julia was even on the edge of her seat, almost ready to leap forward and stop him, thinking that the intense purple color meant the food must be bad. But she was too late.
They all waited for Aditya to spit it out and start writhing in pain, but that moment never came. Instead, Aditya just chewed thoughtfully and then swallowed without any fuss.
"How does it taste?" Riya asked, her hands clasped together in anticipation.
"It's actually okay, but maybe try using a little less salt next time," Aditya suggested after he took another mouthful. Hearing this Riya was very happy.
Encouraged by Aditya's calm reaction, the rest of the group slowly began to try the food. Julia was very careful as she tasted it. A second later, her face showed surprise. The food wasn't as bad as she and others feared. It wasn't the most amazing meal, but it definitely wasn't terrible. It was a relief to find out that it wasn't poisoned and that they could actually eat it.
When Julia and Aditya started eating without any problem, Alicia decided to give it a try too. She put a small amount in her mouth and was hit by the overwhelming taste of salt. It felt like there were no other flavors, just salt upon salt. It was so salty she almost couldn't keep it in her mouth.
But she didn't want to hurt Riya's feelings, so she kept eating, just like Aditya and Julia had done. Sasha did the same, managing to eat without making any faces that would show how the food really tasted. Both Alicia and Sasha finished their portions quickly and then excused themselves to go to their rooms. Julia also left soon after, saying she was tired and needed to sleep.
With everyone else gone, Riya moved closer to Aditya, who was still eating but much more slowly now. "Tell me the truth... The food is really bad, isn't it?" she asked quietly, her head down, looking a little sad.
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