LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 6
Karem trembled in fear over the shocking prices.
Catherine’s words, saying there was no need to wash things for Gordon, who was trembling in fear as well, ultimately led them to be responsible for their three meals, as he had mentioned himself.
It had already been a few days since Karem took charge of their meals, but now it felt like a new revelation.
Considering Gordon had been a mercenary from the outset, he swallowed down even the most tasteless meals with his eyes tightly closed.
Catherine enjoyed fine dining, but she was accustomed to choosing the time, place, and situation, so she wasn’t expecting much from their current circumstances.
And the two of them had long since been betrayed in a good way regarding their expectations.
Karem was making every effort to serve different dishes at every meal using whatever ingredients were available.
This time, he prepared cabbage rolls for lunch.
He sautéed the softened cabbage in butter, mixed in seasoned vegetables and minced sausage, and rolled it up like spring rolls.
Next, he seasoned the gravy sauce made with butter and flour from the drippings and oil stuck to the pan, adding the cabbage rolls and allowing them to simmer on low heat.
Though it deviated from the original recipe, it was a product of Karem striving to prove his talents and worth.
And that product was a success.
As Karem brought out the pot filled with cabbage rolls drenched in sticky gravy, Gordon and Catherine approached as if they had been waiting.
However, Karem, who had prepared the cabbage rolls, was filled with disappointment.
“If only I had some tomatoes, I could have made something more appealing.”
Thinking of tomatoes made Karem’s mouth water.
Known as one of the representative cheat keys in the culinary world, it had only spread from its origin in America less than 500 years ago.
If only he had tomatoes, the variety of dishes he could make would drastically change, but when he asked Gordon and Catherine, they had no knowledge of them.
Ultimately, Karem had no choice but to give up and look for substitutes.
“Karem, why did you suddenly stop feeding me?”
“Oh, my apologies. Here you go.”
“Hmm, I didn’t expect cabbage to be treated with such care. It’s a new sensation.”
Gordon agreed with Catherine.
“I never imagined we could eat such a common vegetable like this.”
“Then how do you eat it?”
“I boil it in soup, just cook it, or eat it raw.”
How could cabbage, which is often thrown into all sorts of dishes along with onions, be prepared so terribly?
Catherine felt offended by Gordon’s hasty generalization and frowned deeply.
“Hey there, kid. Don’t misunderstand. It’s just the Kingdom of Seophone that eats like that.”
“Sir Atanitas, how could they eat like that?”
“The Kingdom of Seophone is famously known for having the worst food in the continent of Europa.”
“No, we have plenty of delicious food in our kingdom!”
“Huh? Besides breakfast?”
“Well, I guess there are at least ten foods I don’t know about.”
Karem, who had merely thought of his homeland as a medieval fantasy similar to Europe, began to get a vague grasp finally.
So Europa was pretty much Europe and the Kingdom of Seophone was like medieval England, is that it?
Thinking that allowed many of Karem’s previous assumptions to dissolve.
No matter how poor it was, unless there was a festival, the food they always ate was a mess.
Even the food provided by the village chief and the priestess, who were said to live the best in Moston Village, was always a disaster.
For Karem, England was akin to a magical term.
“How many dishes would remain if we excluded the pies from there?”
“I’d bet none.”
In a half-joking rebuttal, Gordon quickly folded his words, busying himself trashing his hometown, much like Englishmen who fumed about their national jokes.
And despite that playful attitude, Gordon’s demeanor was deadly serious.
Naturally, given he had traveled across the continent of Europa working as a mercenary sampling various cuisines, it made sense.
“Sir Atanitas, the Kingdom of Seophone is quite famous for having terrible food, huh?”
“Ha, just think of the noble families rushing to import chefs from abroad. It’s only natural.”
“Huh, you mean it’s to that extent?”
“Karem, you’d think the chefs pouring out of the ship where you docked would make you wonder.”
“Oh, indeed, that was quite a sight.”
“And those who can actually cook? They all leave for foreign lands. Gourmet culture cannot survive in this land.”
Gordon quickly agreed with Catherine as he recalled the scenes he had seen a few times before. Honestly, it was a funny sight he could never get tired of.
Suddenly, as they unanimously agreed on how terrible the food in the Kingdom of Seophone was, the pot brimming with cabbage rolls revealed the ciabatta sauce stuck to the bottom.
Thanks to Karem’s efforts to manage a different dish for three people at every meal, he felt his own skills noticeably improving.
What shall I cook next? While Karem washed the pot during the two’s break, he rummaged through the bag.
“Oh no. This is bad.”
“Um, I definitely heard something that should never happen in the laboratory.”
Suddenly hearing something ominous, Catherine stood up and asked, “Karem, what exactly is the big deal?”
“I think seeing it firsthand might be faster.”
Karem hardened his expression as he peered into the bag.
The backpack, once plump and bright from sunlight just a few days ago, now looked thin and sparsely filled.
Well, it wasn’t entirely bare.
While the space occupied by the hefty cabbage had vanished, he could see the other vegetables and ingredients that had been concealed beneath it.
However, it was clearly diminished compared to when they had left the griffin ambush site.
“It’s a miracle that we still have this much left after ten days.”
“If we finish those too, we’ll have to settle for hardtack and jerky.”
“Ugh, hardtack and jerky, you say?”
Catherine reacted disgustedly to Gordon’s words.
No matter how long she had lived, hardtack, which was harder than a rock, and jerky, which had reached the toughness of a stone, was hard to adapt to.
“Sir Atanitas, should we go back and come again? The ingredients left in the cart—”
“That’s unlikely. By now, wild animals or monsters have probably devoured everything.”
“Tsk, so it would be hardtack and jerky if we make a detour.”
Catherine always chose to skip meals when traveling long distances to pack emergency rations.
She would rather go hungry than endure hardtack and jerky. A mage at the level of fire had committed an outrageous act to reach such a state. Once she started fasting, it wasn’t particularly hard to endure until food was put in her mouth.
But if the ingredients ran out, there was nothing to be done. No matter how powerful a fire mage was, they couldn’t create something from nothing.
“Oh, if I had known this would happen, I would have brought a space-expanding pouch!”
“Ah, Mage. Wasn’t that what I mentioned a few days ago? You finally understand my sentiment.”
“Shut it. Who would have known that a family of griffins would attack out of nowhere!”
No matter how Karem ruminated, he examined the bags lying on the ground. With proper menu planning, he had enough to prepare meals for two days.
“Unless we manage to hunt, which is uncertain, we only have two days—”
“Ah, right. The answer was simple.”
“What? The answer?”
“You just said it. Hunting!”
Catherine spoke boldly of an absurdity and lightly tapped Karem’s shoulder as he organized his belongings.
“I was thinking too complicated. Of course, we should just hunt.”
“Uh, can you just say we will hunt? Can you carry that out right now?”
People often easily thought of hunting, but if that were the case, the profession of a hunter wouldn’t exist. Finding prey and tracking it would take several hours, if not days.
“Could it be that you, Gordon, know how to hunt?”
“I know how to hunt, but what do I use without a bow or arrows? Plus, how long does it take to start now?”
“Then it comes down to Sir Atanitas.”
“Indeed.”
What exactly were they planning? As the two’s puzzled gazes fell upon one spot, Catherine raised a hand prominently.
With a strong flick of her finger, a sound like breaking glass or a clear chain echoed lightly, “Alright, I dispelled the barrier we set up while camping.”
“Excuse me? When did you start using such things, or magic?”
“Naturally, from the very start when we were moving in fewer numbers. If we were to fill the forest with the smell of food with this few people, troublesome things would surely come.”
“Mercenary, you start the fire again. Kid, get out the remaining sausages.”
Though her attitude allowed no dissent, Catherine’s purpose soon became clear.
The current season was summer just beginning to fade into autumn, as monsters and animals would be getting active to prepare for winter.
Naturally, there were animals or monsters who were exceptionally diligent at preparing for winter, and they wouldn’t overlook the smell of sizzling sausages wafting from the fire.
“But if we’re in the forest, wouldn’t the smell carry much further? Isn’t that revealing our position?”
“You worry too much. With a Grand Wizard and not to mention a knight-level mercenary at our side, there won’t be a problem with mere monsters from the woods just days from a village.”
Karem still couldn’t shake his slight unease at Catherine’s boldly spoken words.
Sure, she was a magician, but obviously, he had never had direct proof of her capabilities.
Wondering if this was okay, Karem glanced at Gordon.
Gordon’s demeanor was indeed one of confidence, as he proclaimed to be knight-level.
“No, Mage. Even I think it’s dangerous if monsters gather.”
“Shut up. Are you saying your claim of being a knight-level mercenary with a salary of crowns is a lie?”
“Of course, that’s true, but—”
“If it’s the truth, then there’s not a problem at all. Now, Karem, hurry and put the sausages on the fire.”
Pressured by Catherine’s words, Karem had no choice but to submit.
“Sigh, I don’t know anymore. But the smell of sausages is indeed amazing.”
Like a blade of grass blown by the wind, the life of a serf was fickle. As the thinly sliced sausages hit the hot frying pan, they began to sizzle and bubble in a delectable manner.
The rich flavor and fat melting on the heated metal began wafting into the forest with the refreshing breeze that blew.
By the time the sun, which had begun to rise in the east, had notably risen higher, and after swapping the sausage pieces for the fifth time, guests finally began to arrive.
“Although the response was slower than I thought, it’s a success after all.”
Catherine smiled as she spotted a wild boar drawn by the scent of sausages pushing through the thick brush, snapping her fingers to set the barrier back up to keep away any unwanted guests.
Snap—
As the moss and mushrooms that had grown all over the wild boar wobbled with its movements, every time it snuffled and moved its head, its white tusks glimmered in the sunlight seeping through the foliage, appearing threatening.
Seeing the wild boar approach with its button-like black eyes gleaming, Gordon whistled and marveled.
“Ah, it’s a mossy wild boar?”
“Gordon, is that wild boar a monster too?”
“No, it’s not a monster, though its appearance is unusual. It belongs to the animal category. Those guys never venture beyond the forest. If it’s come here close to Iceland, it might be driven out by a territorial dispute.”