I Became a Raid Boss

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“Hmm hmm~”

Da-eun hummed a tune.

Bubble bubble

Just hearing it made me feel good.

Every time the ladle moved, waves rippled through the red-tinted broth.

It looked pretty spicy, but—

“…Yum! Just right!”

A flush of delight spread across Da-eun’s face as she tasted it.

It was slightly spicy, but that was within the acceptable range.

A perfect balance of spiciness and deep savory flavor, with the subtle aroma of the broth wafting up.

“Perfect…”

Da-eun admired her skills.

“With this, I could totally go on a cooking show, right?”

She mumbled, recalling a cooking competition she had found impressive a while ago.

She had enjoyed it so much.

Since watching that show, she had drastically reduced her takeout orders.

Instead, she put on a white cooking uniform, whose origin was a mystery, and dubbed herself a chef as she cooked.

And surprisingly, it was more fun than she expected.

Preparing ingredients, doing the dishes, and cleaning up afterward?

Of course, it was a hassle.

But the reason Da-eun cooked was that the positives outweighed the annoyance.

The satisfaction of making her favorite dish herself, saving on food costs, reducing waste, feeling healthier…

Yet, even with all those benefits combined, there was one joy that couldn’t be surpassed.

“Kana would like this, right?”

It was the happiness that comes when a loved one enjoys the dish you made.

Suddenly, Da-eun let out a light laugh.

She never thought there would be someone other than family to associate with the term “love.”

No, wait.

She shook her head.

“It’s family.”

What was she saying to her precious sister?

Shaking off her thoughts, Da-eun focused on her cooking, wearing a smile that would make Kana think she was a bit silly.

As the broth simmered down, the delicious aroma rising from the bubbling pot intensified.

“Okay, this should be good!”

Da-eun checked the time after lowering the heat.

It was slightly late.

However, it wasn’t so late as to miss brunch.

Her movements, which had been leisurely until then, shifted to be a tiny bit, just slightly faster.

As she opened the door and stepped inside, a huge bed came into view.

It was something she’d regretted buying after the accident because it was too big, but now it had become the best choice.

Inside, she muttered how unexpected life can be as she carefully sat on the bed.

Poking out from the fluffy blanket was a tuft of pink hair.

“Isn’t it stuffy…?”

The blanket covered half her face, only her closed eyes were visible.

Watching the peaceful sight of her sister, who was soundly asleep with her eyes tightly shut, brought tranquility to Da-eun’s heart.

“Oh no! Get a grip!”

After staring blankly at Kana’s face for a while, Da-eun snapped back to reality as the scent of food wafted in through the open door.

“You’re trying to cozy me up with that sleeping face… What a scary little kid…”

Feigning a tremor and pulling the blanket down from her face, Kana scrunched her face slightly.

“Mmm…”

Kana whined softly, rolling over.

Was she dissatisfied that the cozy and warm blanket had disappeared? She wriggled back under the blanket, seeking warmth.

“…Ack!”

Heart, don’t act up…!

Da-eun gasped, clutching her chest.

Click!

Still, she didn’t forget to take a picture.

“I should’ve recorded it as a video.”

A moment of regret flashed by, but seeing her overflowing collection, it quickly faded.

“Kana, wake up.”

“…”

“Breakfast is ready. We need to eat, right?”

“Uh… I don’t want to eat…”

“No way.”

At first, Da-eun had been charmed by Kana’s almost-cute antics, but by now, how many times had she faced such a morning?

Forcing herself to stay strong, Da-eun gently yet firmly pushed back against Kana’s whining.

As her eyelids slowly rose, pink irises peeked out.

Maybe still dazed from sleep, her eyes looked hazy.

It wasn’t like she’d stayed up late; she must have slept way more than the recommended amount, so why was she still so tired?

“She really is a heavy sleeper.”

“Aaron’s right; Kana sleeps a lot.”

When she had first heard that, she didn’t quite understand what it meant, but now she got it fully.

Sometimes it worried her how much sleep she seemed to need—

“Kids do generally need lots of sleep.”

“…You’re thinking something odd again.”

“…No!”

When Kana, with her half-open eyes, probed her, Da-eun grinned widely.

Her reply came a little slow, but wasn’t it within the acceptable range?

Stretching ostentatiously, Da-eun pretended to act nonchalant.

“I’ll be waiting outside, so wake up and come out. Don’t take too long.”

Feeling a sharp glare aimed at her, Da-eun hurriedly exited the room.

Not long after she left, the door opened once more.

Kana approached the table, rubbing her half-awake eyes and staggering from sleepiness.

Looking at the empty dining table, she frowned.

“…You said it was all ready.”

“Almost ready. Just wait a bit longer.”

Da-eun returned the line her mother once used against her back in the day to Kana.

Though grumbling, Kana obediently sat in front of the table, soon starting to doze off.

Da-eun had called her out before setting the food just to see this sight—

“Whoops, that’s not it. I mean, no. I wanted to serve you early so it wouldn’t get cold. Plus, you need some time to wake up…”

A sense of unease washed over her as she found herself making excuses without knowing to whom she was talking.

Such behavior made her look all the more suspicious, but Kana, who was halfway to Dreamland, didn’t hear it.

“Okay, wake up, little Kana!”

Da-eun clapped her hands to wake Kana as she had finally set the table.

Eating meat right from breakfast and the broth slightly milder than the recipe were a bit out of Da-eun’s preferences.

“Good?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing the girl munching happily with her drowsiness vanished from her face made Da-eun feel that such things didn’t really matter.

It wasn’t tailored to her tastes, but it wasn’t disgusting or something she disliked.

As they chatted over breakfast, an unexpected silence fell without anyone having said to stop.

Watching the girl’s small mouth busily move, Da-eun set her chopsticks down.

“…If it weren’t for dimensional beings, this wouldn’t have happened, right?”

“…?”

Kana tilted her head, wondering what strange words she was saying.

In the midst of munching on a mouthful of meat, she looked like a squirrel with cheeks stuffed full of acorns.

“If it weren’t for the dimensional beings, Grasis wouldn’t have been destroyed, and if that happened, Kana wouldn’t have gotten stuck in that mountain, and then I wouldn’t have had to climb that mountain either…”

“If we follow that logic, it would never end.”

Kana replied after swallowing her mouthful of meat with finesse.

“And Grasis would have fallen even without the dimensional beings.”

“Really? I heard it would have lasted at least a few more decades.”

“A few decades, my foot.”

At that moment, Kana snickered cynically.

“If a kingdom lasted a few decades, it wouldn’t have died like that.”

“Wow… I can feel every time you say it, Kana really hates Grasis.”

“Why should I like it? Not everyone living here likes the country they’re in.”

“True. That’s right.”

Da-eun couldn’t argue against that.

Just browsing through internet communities for a moment reveals countless hateful posts.

Writings that mercilessly degrade the country they were born and raised in.

Some had credible reasons, while others just spewed hatred without cause—

‘…Let’s not think about it.’

Da-eun shook her head.

What she meant was that there were many such posts, and she didn’t need to recall specifics.

“Kana, you shouldn’t write things like that. If you get caught, I’ll have to punish you.”

“…W-Writing? …Punish?”

You can?

Kana’s gaze, with a fork in her mouth, looked like it questioned her, “Can you even do that?”

Determined to not back down, Da-eun spoke.

I’m Kana’s guardian, and I can’t just step back like this.

I need to be able to say when something is wrong.

“…Anyway, it’s true we met thanks to those dimensional beings, right?”

However, the words that actually slipped out of her mouth veered a good few steps away from the subject.

It was like turning back on a fork in the road and saying, “Oh, this wasn’t the way.”

“Did I call it a ‘thanks’ thing? …but the cause is accurate.”

This time, Kana nodded in agreement.

Moreover, for Kana, who had a secret she hadn’t shared with Da-eun, it was something she had no choice but to agree on.

The fact that Kana, who lived on Earth, was reincarnated in Silia was all due to the fight between Edel and the dimensional beings, after all.

“When I see this, it does seem like a twisted blessing in disguise. Ah…! But that’s not me defending the dimensional beings. It just struck me as ironic…”

“I know.”

Kana replied flatly as she poked at the meat with her fork.

“Da-eun’s a coward.”

“C-Coward?”

Since she couldn’t refute it because it was true, Da-eun let out a small whimper.

“…I am grateful for that, though.”

Kana muttered in a small voice without looking up, but Da-eun’s ears caught her words.

And since Kana’s head was bowed, she didn’t see the warm smile that appeared on Da-eun’s lips.

“But there are things you still have to do, so don’t worry.”

“…Hehe. I can trust you.”

It was genuinely a fleeting thought, and it wasn’t meant to worry.

Da-eun looked at Kana with a sense of pride.

And she silently wished.

‘I hope this kind of daily life continues…’