Seafood Feast in the Castle

After returning to the castle with a haul of seafood, Liszt did not immediately have the kitchen prepare it.

These sea creatures were indeed very similar to those in his memories, but whether they were edible or poisonous required verification. The verification process was simple: Marcus took a few of the town's few hunters to set traps on the outskirts of Thorn Ridge, capturing several wolves, wild cats, and other carnivorous beasts.

The wolves and wild cats locked in the cages were ravenous.

The seafood was tossed in and immediately devoured by the beasts. Then, they fed cooked seafood to another batch of animals. After waiting for a day, the next morning, aside from two beasts that had died after eating a certain type of sea urchin, the others were still lively and showed no signs of poisoning.

"This proves that the flavors from the sea are actually quite similar to the seafood on Earth, with the exception of the sea urchin. We shall exclude the sea urchins, and for the remaining edible seafood, have someone create specimens so the farmers gathering at the shore can use them for reference."

After some thought, Liszt was in no hurry to send people out to forage.

He needed to make others understand that seafood was a delicacy, not something unpalatable.

Many types of seafood could be eaten raw, but Liszt did not recommend it; he always felt that eating too much raw seafood made one susceptible to parasites.

With no medical facilities available, contracting parasites would be a death sentence.

Therefore, he summoned the cook, Abby Spoon. "Mrs. Abby, I will teach you how to prepare seafood. See these crabs? Use a brush to scrub them clean, then simply steam them. As for these mantis shrimp, scrub them clean as well, then boil them—just plain boiled in water."

"Look at these clams; you can use them to make soup or stir-fry them directly. And these oyster meats can actually be eaten raw, but I don't care for raw seafood. You must boil or stir-fry them. We have plenty of these oyster meats here—I call them 'oysters.' Whatever we can't finish, we can dry in the sun. If you boil down the dried oysters, you can obtain oyster sauce."

The oyster, also known as the rock oyster, was a type of shellfish.

It was a prized ingredient.

Back home, Liszt had been very fond of eating oysters because they were rich in zinc—a mineral that played a significant role in the development of human secondary sexual characteristics. Having a trace amount of zinc in the blood kept one full of vigor...

Therefore.

Oysters were destined to become an indispensable delicacy on the Baron's dining table.

Fortunately, Flower Town bordered the sea and had not been subjected to excessive artificial harvesting; the ocean was densely packed with oysters, so there was no need to worry about a zinc deficiency.

At sixteen years old, Liszt was still in a period of rapid growth; he needed to eat well to become stronger.

After teaching Abby Spoon how to cook the seafood, Liszt did not expect this to be his first time eating seafood in this world—or rather, he had already eaten it before. At Long-Yam Castle, fishermen had once collected rock lobsters from the sea.

As an archipelago nation, the Sapphire Grand Duchy had no shortage of fishermen.

Serfs, driven by poverty to seek change, would naturally go to the sea to forage and discover the deliciousness of seafood. It was just that transportation was inconvenient and information was isolated, making it impossible to pass on the methods of preparing seafood between the various islands. On Coral Island, the Tulip Family had not yet finished reclaiming the wasteland, so there was simply no motivation to develop the sea.

Thus, for ten or twenty years, the residents of Flower Town had never thought of fishing for seafood.

Mrs. Abby is making seafood for the first time; I'm afraid she won't even be able to steam a crab properly. I can only let her keep exploring how to cook it to the best flavor and slowly improve her culinary skills.

Sure enough.

At noon, on the castle's dining table, Liszt ate the familiar seafood, but he could not find the familiar taste.

The steamed crab was too tough, the mantis shrimp were boiled until mushy, the stir-fried oysters were too rubbery, and the clam soup was full of sand. However, he still ate with great relish; it was much better than the usual bread and roasted meat.

Marcus, Gortai, Isaiah, and Blair accompanied Liszt to enjoy the seafood feast.

"Delicious!" Marcus gave a simple evaluation before burying his head in the mantis shrimp and crabs.

Isaiah smiled. "Exquisite!"

Blair gave a thumbs-up. "A rare delicacy!"

The most exaggerated reaction came from Gortai. At first, he had been put off by the ugly appearance of the oyster meat and couldn't bring himself to eat it. But once he tasted it, he couldn't stop; he wiped the plate in front of him clean and even asked for two more servings.

He took a sip of beer with hops, ate an oyster, and his wrinkled face was filled with bliss. "I remember, I remember now."

"Remember what?" Liszt skillfully cracked open a crab shell.

"When I was young, I traveled to a small island called Flying Fish Island. At a local islander's home, I ate this... oyster. I was drunk at the time, ate a whole pile of them, and spent a wonderful night. After I sobered up and left Flying Fish Island, I never found that delicacy again. I didn't expect to find it again now."

"Then eat more. Perhaps something wonderful will happen tonight as well," Liszt said with a cryptic smile.

He already knew that Gortai had found a young girl in town, only sixteen or seventeen years old—if it weren't for the fact that she was following Gortai of her own volition, Liszt would definitely have stopped this "old ox eating tender grass" behavior.

Gortai laughed heartily. "Who knows? Regardless, I have already fallen in love with oysters."

Isaiah and Blair exchanged knowing laughs.

They were all adults; they understood the implication.

Even in Marcus's eyes, a look of anticipation appeared, and he began to turn his attention to the oysters.

In the living room upstairs, the nobles and knights were happily enjoying the seafood, while in the kitchen downstairs, the servants were likewise enjoying the joy brought by the seafood.

"This mantis shrimp is really delicious. If I hadn't tasted it myself, who would have thought such an ugly bug could be so tasty?" Irene Four-Fingers gorged herself.

Abby said with dissatisfaction, "Young girl, don't eat so crudely. You're practically like a boy."

"I'm just a kitchen maid; why can't I eat like this? I ate like this at home, too. Mr. Carter never said anything to me."

Carter was elegantly cutting an oyster. As a butler, he always strove to ensure all his actions conformed to the temperament a noble's butler should have, including dining.

He also required other servants to lean toward noble etiquette as much as possible.

Hearing this, he said, "Irene, you have seen Miss Lvera's personal maid; perhaps you should learn how she eats."

"I don't want to learn from her. Pinching her fingers and using a small knife—if you didn't know better, you'd think she was some noble lady. Sister Maisie's manners have even been praised by the Master, but Sister Maisie doesn't eat like that."

Maisie laughed. "I grew up in a village; no one taught me how to dine elegantly. However, I am learning from Mrs. Morson. She worked at Tulip Castle, where the maids understand noble etiquette better than many noble ladies."

Mrs. Morson pinched the head of a mantis shrimp, squeezing hard to push the meat out. "That is because nobles have the right to break the rules, while we servants must strictly abide by them, or we will face reprimand and punishment."

Irene suddenly shouted, "The Master would never punish the servants! Tom broke a vase in the castle yesterday, and the Master didn't even scold him."

"The Master is benevolent. I will definitely not break anything next time," Tom said with a look of respect on his face.

Thomas ate an oyster he had pried open himself and sneered with disdain. "That's not necessarily true. Clumsy Tom, breaking the vase is just the beginning. You'll break more things in the future; the Master really should forbid you from going upstairs."