When all the prepared ingredients had finally been turned into delicious cooked dishes, Leon took off his apron. While plating the last dish—a simple stir-fried cauliflower—he gestured for Emily to call the girls over for dinner.
Aside from the six dishes Leon had prepared, Emily had also baked a batch of egg tarts and small cakes as the main course while Leon was busy.
Since Stardew Valley followed the custom of individual servings, everyone would use a serving spoon to take what they wanted from the platters and put it onto their own plates before eating.
Given that Leon’s stir-fry portions were generous and the serving platters had to be large, by the time he brought everything to the table, Emily’s big dining table was almost half-filled.
Looking at the spread, Leon couldn’t help frowning. He worried there might be too much food, and that it would go to waste.
While cooking, he hadn’t paid much attention to portion control. Now, looking at it, the combined amount could easily feed eight people. But among the five here, four were young women—chances were high they wouldn’t finish it.
If it came to that, Leon thought he’d just shamelessly pack the leftovers to take home. Sure, doing that in front of the girls might make him look stingy or as if he were taking advantage, but compared to letting good food go to waste, his pride wasn’t worth much.
After setting the dishes on the table, Leon also placed matching knives, forks, spoons, plates, and serving spoons for each person. Just then, the four girls came into the dining room together. Seeing the table already perfectly set so that they could start eating right away, Emily spoke with a trace of guilt.
“Sorry to trouble you again.”
“It’s fine. It was no trouble at all. Come, sit down and eat,” Leon replied with a smile, assuring her it was no problem, then invited everyone to take their seats.
“This is clearly Haley’s house, but you act like you’re the host,” Abigail muttered under her breath as she naturally took the seat beside Leon.
Leon pretended not to hear. With comments like that, whatever he said would be meaningless. Better to ignore it—rumors die out on their own if you don’t feed them.
He was a bit uneasy before they started eating, but as the meal went on and he saw the girls chatting happily, laughing, and complimenting the food, Leon finally relaxed. Letting out a small breath of relief, he encouraged them to eat more.
“Didn’t think you could cook, but this is pretty good,” Sophia said, clearly fond of the sweet-and-sour pork Leon had made. She seemed to have a particular fondness for sweet-and-sour flavors.
“I’m still a bit behind Gus, but as long as you like it,” Leon replied modestly.
“Mhm. Uncle Gus is a professional chef, but even compared to some of the fancy restaurants I’ve been to, I think you’re on par with their head chefs. That’s already amazing,” Sophia said seriously.
“If you like it, have more,” Leon shrugged. He wanted to tease Sophia for her overly generous praise, but since she was being kind, he couldn’t just brush it off.
At first, Leon had been worried about leftovers, but whether it was because the food was genuinely tasty or because everyone was hungrier than usual, the portions that should have been enough for eight were nearly gone.
The cost, however, was that all five of them leaned back in their chairs afterward, too full to move.
After resting for about ten minutes, Emily started clearing the table. Leon had planned to help, but Haley pushed him back into his chair and took the initiative to help Emily instead.
Even Abigail and Sophia joined in, and with the four of them working together, the table was quickly cleared. Then Haley went to her room and brought out a board game, marking the start of the most important part of the gathering—the post-meal game.
The game was a mix between Monopoly, Ludo, and a touch of Dungeons & Dragons. It supported multiple players, was interactive and fun, and though the rules were a bit complex, Leon quickly got the hang of it with the four experienced players explaining.
For some reason, Leon felt he was being treated with extremes. Emily was helping him, but Haley and Abigail relentlessly targeted him, using any negative cards or items on him without hesitation. Meanwhile, Sophia played quietly and ended up being the first to complete a lap.
Leon thought Abigail’s competitive streak would eventually make her target Sophia instead, but no—Abigail was dead set on sabotaging him, and Haley was the same. Even though Emily occasionally used items to help Leon fight back against them, two hands couldn’t beat four.
After an entire afternoon of play, Leon hadn’t even completed a single lap. Emily had finished two, Abigail and Haley had finished five, and Sophia had completed twelve laps—owning more property and assets than the other four combined.
Yet despite dominating the game, Sophia didn’t feel happy. She felt like an outsider, as though she wasn’t even playing the same game as the rest, with no real sense of participation.
After thinking for a moment, Sophia decided to help Leon. With her accumulated resources and items, her support crushed Abigail and Haley, finally giving Leon a chance to make progress.
But since he had been targeted so heavily early on, by the time he could play freely, there were no unclaimed properties or treasure spaces left. In the end, Leon still finished last.
“All right, game over! According to the rules, the last player gets a penalty. All the punishment cards are here, Leon—pick one yourself.”
When everyone was feeling a bit tired, Haley—being the one who’d suggested the game—declared it was over. Just as Leon was about to celebrate surviving the ordeal, Haley’s words sent him straight from heaven into hell.
“There’s a rule this mean?!” Leon didn’t believe it. He was sure Haley had set this up just to trap him.
But his protest got him nowhere. The others were all watching with eager, amused expressions—only Emily kindly explained, “It’s real, Leon. Otherwise, Abigail and Haley wouldn’t have been so determined to target you.”
Ignorance isn’t a crime, Leon thought. “I protest! As a beginner, I think I deserve a one-time exemption.”
“Rejected! Come on, Leon—accept your fate,” Abigail declared with arms crossed.
Haley, grinning in satisfaction, spread out the stack of punishment cards in front of him and made a “please” gesture.
…
I know it feels like I’ve been padding things a bit lately, but that’s unavoidable. I was stuck on the plot before, but last night I figured out the direction for the next storyline. I’ll be speeding up the main plot from here.
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