Chapter 105: The Destructive Power of Natural Ingredients
“Damn it! What the hell is that guy doing?!”
“Ughhh, I just ate, and now I’m getting hungry again!”
“Gugogyyurururu~”
As I was cooking, I could hear groans coming from around me. The last one felt more like a stomach growl than a voice, but whatever.
“Hey, hey, bringing that up here…”
“In a way, it’s torture.”
“Oh my, that looks incredibly delicious.”
While setting up the stove, I recalled the Heavenly Wolf Mushroom I had eaten on the way to Fenrir’s village. I thought it would be fine to just roast it, but I might have messed it up.
“I see… Drizzling it with fruit juice is quite an innovative discovery.”
When I poured some citrus juice that tasted like lemon over it, Fleur was taken aback.
“I think there are combinations that work and those that don’t, but it might be worth trying various fruit juices.”
Rio was also pouring juice while engaging Fleur in a lively cooking discussion.
“Um, um… We’ll pay, so could you share some with us?”
As I stirred the pot beside the roasting Heavenly Wolf Mushroom, Alissa approached me with a request. Since I had plenty, it wasn’t a problem. But which one should I offer?
“I have both the natural and the regular ones. Which would you prefer?”
“The one you’re roasting is the natural one. Given its size and aroma, it should be around twenty thousand Fron each.”
Fleur gave me a price from a merchant’s perspective. I had no idea how much it would sell for, so her expertise was appreciated.
“Tw-twenty thousand?!”
“It was a natural one…?”
“Oh my.”
Twenty thousand Fron was about the reward for a single C Rank quest. For those at C Rank, it wasn’t an impossible amount to pay, but whether to spend that much for a single meal’s worth of mushroom was a different story. Alissa, resting her chin on her hand in thought, soon smiled and made her decision.
“Then I’ll go with the regular one.”
“Understood.”
Though the stock of regular Heavenly Wolf Mushrooms was lower, it was fine by me.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
After Fleur assessed the price and we completed the transaction, Alissa and her companions happily began to roast their Heavenly Wolf Mushrooms over the campfire.
“By the way, your use of Earth Magic is impressive.”
I thought Fleur was seriously observing me when I started setting up the stove, and it seemed that was what she meant.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I thought it might serve as a reference for making magic flasks, but I couldn’t grasp it at all.”
“Ahaha.”
I had been giving direct lectures to the craftsmen, but it seemed making magic flasks was quite challenging. It was just a matter of making the walls thicker and creating a vacuum inside. However, if you aimed for lightness, you had to make the walls thinner, which increased the difficulty. But since it was the first product, there was no need to go for a high-end approach.
In any case, I quickly made the stove without much time to spare. There might not have been anything particularly useful to reference.
“Well then, the pot is ready, so shall we eat?”
“Yes. …Let’s dig in.”
Rio ladled some from the pot and handed it to Fleur. In the end, we decided on a hot pot. Just throwing in ingredients randomly usually results in a delicious dish.
“Thank you.”
After passing it to Ramber, it finally came to me.
“Thanks.”
I placed another large pot I had prepared in front of Nil, who started devouring it with impressive speed. As usual, his appetite was astonishing. He had his face buried in the pot, but I wondered if it was too hot for him.
“As a guard, we need to take turns keeping watch at night. This is a disadvantage for a small party.”
After creating a simple hut with Earth Magic without setting up the camping house, I spoke with Alissa about night watch duties while keeping an eye out. Nil was beside us, and I continued to stroke his back. Fluffiness is the best.
“Oh, then that’s fine. When we camped in the Forest of Enchantment, Rio and I took turns keeping watch.”
“The Forest of Enchantment…? Did I mishear…? Well, whatever. While we need to be cautious of monsters during our watch, we also have to be wary of approaching humans.”
“Humans, you say?”
There might be bandits around, but among adventurers, there are those who would rob their fellow comrades. Not to mention the merchants who engage in scams.
“Well, you can never trust a stranger. Be sure to be vigilant.”
“Understood.”
There are indeed people who approach with ill intentions, and I had just fallen victim to a scam as soon as I entered the commercial nation. I would need to be careful about that.
“Well… with that tamed monster around, it’s unlikely that any humans would approach carelessly…”
As I watched Nil yawning and lying down, Alissa sighed in an exasperated tone.
“Plus, as I heard from the Guild, you all are quite capable. You quickly noticed the animals that appeared by the roadside during the day, so there was hardly anything I needed to teach you.”
Alissa shrugged as she spoke, but her insights were not entirely unhelpful.
“There were plenty of useful tips, so we appreciate it.”
“Is that so?”
In the end, we decided not to set up the camping house today. I had made a simple bed and roof with Earth Magic, which surprised Alissa and the others. Now, even while sleeping, my Presence Detection would do its job, so we no longer needed to take turns keeping watch unless something significant happened. However, I thought I should still keep watch when on guard duty.