Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 22.4

Well, I was about to.

“Senes. Thank y-”

“If you understand my efforts, eat quietly without complaining.”

Since he praised his own efforts himself, I was left speechless. I just ate quietly as requested.

“Wow! It’s delicious.”

“Of course it is. Who do you think made it?”

It went down smoothly, making my earlier worries about not being able to eat properly due to lack of appetite and hunger seem unfounded.

Maybe I was hungry, but I hadn’t recognized it because I was mentally overwhelmed.

Senes sat across from me, resting his chin on his hand, quietly watching me eat. The chair he was sitting on looked pitiful because he was so big, but it’s not my concern if the main palace’s chairs break.

[Senes] has cast [Skill: Heal by Feeding!] on you.

A familiar system message popped up. Just from how perfectly it suited my taste, I knew it was really a dish Senes had made himself. As I was about to minimize the window while gulping down the blended vegetable juice, a phrase suddenly caught my eye.

[You are freed from the status effects of Poison, Curse, and Fear.]

Come to think of it, Dienes was under the ‘Curse’ status effect. I’m in a party with Dienes, and Senes came on an invitation from the command center. That means the three of us are all in the same party.

‘If we feed Senes’ cooking to Dienes, wouldn’t the curse be lifted?’

Maybe Dienes’ incomprehensible and crazy behavior is due to the status effect. The name ‘curse’ itself sounds ominous, and if it’s removed, maybe his attitude would change a little.

I moved one of the untouched white buns to an empty plate.

“What are you doing, Ju-in?”

“Oh, um… I’m saving it for later.”

I made up an excuse, thinking he might dislike it if I said I was giving the leftover food to Dienes, but Senes reached out to clear away the plate.

“It won’t taste good if it gets cold. I’ll make more for you next time, so give me the leftovers.”

“Ah, no!”

“Ju-in, move your hand.”

“I’ll eat it later! Senes’ cooking is delicious even when it’s cold!”

“How can you say such nonsense when you’ve never eaten it cold before? I guess you want to share it with someone?”

I choked on my saliva, hit right on the mark.

‘What’s this, Senes. Are you really not a shaman?’

It seems like you should be setting up a fortune-telling booth instead of hunting.

While thinking that internally, Senes looked down at me, coughing with disdain.

“I didn’t make it to feed someone else. If that’s the case, just throw it away.”

“You’ll be punished if you throw away food!”

“For me, seeing someone else eat my cooking is the punishment.”

Senes was genuinely showing an unpleasant expression, which made me feel a pang of guilt and sorry, but I still didn’t let go of the plate even as my shoulders twitched.

‘Can’t we just share a little? Why is he so narrow-minded?’

Of course, since Senes was the one who made it, I’m not in a position to say anything about him not wanting to feed others.

“Senes. Are you on bad terms with the castle soldiers?”

“Who would be on good terms with those shameless, thick-skinned bastards?”

Well, they were indeed shameless perverts. Even I don’t want to get close to that kind of people.

Although Senes walks around with his front exposed, he modestly covers up in crowded places. He’s far from being an exhibitionist or a pervert.

“Then why did you accept the command center’s invitation? You said it wasn’t for money or women.”

“You.”

“Don’t give me that strange answer about coming, thinking I wouldn’t be here. I still don’t understand your purpose?”

“…If you’re not going to believe me, don’t ask, Ju-in.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have never lied to you.”

“Really?”

I quietly used my Insight skill.

There is no lie in this statement.

‘Oh. This is truly surprising.’

It’s more surprising that it wasn’t just an excuse. I can’t understand how the cause and effect work here.

If I had to guess, Senes had some purpose for entering the castle, and he hoped I wouldn’t be here because I might interfere with that task, but I don’t know what it is.

‘Was he trying to destroy the castle and massacre the people? Senes might speak harshly, but he’s not a psychopath.’

If thinking doesn’t yield an answer, the only thing left is the Insight skill. It’s not like I’m saving it to make soup later; I should use the skills I have.

‘System, tell me Senes’ purpose for visiting the castle!’

As I widened my eyes, a blue-green window appeared, and unknown characters were listed with a rattling sound. Just as the code-like text was being organized into characters I could recognize.

Ding!

A red window popped up with a warning sound.

[Insight Failed!]

The target individual has rejected mental interference.

Your Insight skill level is insufficient to break through the barrier and access the information.

So Insight can fail too. A barrier? Does this mean Senes has a skill to defend against Insight? I looked at Senes with surprised eyes.

“What’s wrong, Ju-in?”

Senes doesn’t know about the system. He can’t notice that I used the Insight skill, so he didn’t refuse intentionally.

That means Senes has a higher-level skill that defends against information access than my Insight.

Since the lie detection just now was successful, the ‘barrier’ mentioned in this failure message must automatically activate when Senes doesn’t want me to know his true intentions.

“Senes. You have many talents.”

“Well, more than you, I suppose.”

I’m not sure if he’s just picking a fight or if there’s a hidden meaning in his words.

“Do you know what abilities I have?”

“Previously─.”

“Outsiders cannot enter the main palace.”

A voice like a cold blade. Feeling a chill down my neck, I turned my head to see Dienes standing at the doorway.

He was wearing a slightly more elaborate uniform than usual. The white uniform that fit his body perfectly was the same as I remembered, but he had a red cape draped over his left shoulder and more gold accessories attached, which was different.

He had his right hair swept back to reveal half of his forehead while leaving the left side as it was, giving him a neat yet more arrogant image. Did he just come from giving a speech to calm the crowd gathered in front of the castle gate?

“How did you get in, hunter?”

“How? I walked in. I don’t have wings, did you think I flew in?”

“Then if I cut off your ankles so you can’t walk, you won’t be able to come in so freely anymore.”

Dienes put his hand on the sword at his waist.

‘This lunatic. He really means it when he says it!’

I quickly got up and blocked Dienes’ path.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing!”