Chapter 22

There was hard liquor too, but drinking too much could lead to mistakes. The Mercenary Corps had a rule: absolutely no hard liquor while on a mission. Ale and stout, on the other hand, were practically soft drinks and wouldn't cause trouble.

She could experiment another time. For now, she would leave it at that. Those spices hadn't been particularly reliable to begin with. The aroma was powerful now, but it all came from the spices; the Magic Beast meat's own flavor barely came through.

She wasn't confident she could work any miracles with it, but compared with plain roasted meat, at least this was something different.

For the sake of a bite, Ed stubbornly crouched beside the campfire. He had barely spoken to Ye Chuqi lately, but he often watched her, as though trying to figure out what kind of person she was—and how she had escaped his capture.

He was curious about her strength. How had she survived alone deep in the deserted Ashen Wasteland? He could tell she hadn't even used all her strength when they fought. It left him deeply frustrated. He had thought he was already exceptional. If he couldn't match the others in the elite squad yet, that was only because he was young. Give him a few years, and he would surely surpass them.

But now someone younger than him had appeared, someone who might even be stronger. Of course he had to take a closer look.

And this little shrimp apparently knew how to cook—

"You seem pretty good at cooking?" Ed said stiffly, trying to strike up a conversation with Ye Chuqi.

Ye Chuqi gave an equally stiff "Mm."

Ed knew Ye Chuqi had only just begun learning to speak. Her vocabulary was limited, and most of the time she managed only a few words at once. He understood. "Is that meat soup you're stewing?"

Coke often made meat soup too. Eating nothing but roasted meat got tiresome, after all. But Ed had never smelled an aroma this overpowering, not even in the most famous restaurants in the Imperial Capital.

Ye Chuqi shook her head. It was about time to reduce the sauce. She set up another large iron pot and tipped all the Red-Braised Pork from the jar into it.

Sssizzle—

The aroma, already enough to steal souls, swept through the entire camp with overwhelming force. Even Coke was moved.

"I'm going over to take a look." Coke dropped the ladle in his hand. "Help yourselves."

The others, who had been holding out their bowls for Coke to serve them soup, froze. They couldn't help themselves. They wanted to go look too.

Before long, quite a few people were crouched around Ye Chuqi's campfire, drinking soup while watching the little girl deftly stir-fry something in the big iron pot. Coke stared, wide-eyed and astonished. "This is the Red-Braised Pork you mentioned? You made it from that piece of Magic Beast meat? That isn't just the smell of spices. What else did you add?"

Without a trace of expression, Xiya said, "Seven-fragrance leaves, eight-star powder, nine—"

Before Xiya could finish, everyone around her burst out laughing, almost in unison. Ye Chuqi had clearly taken quite a few things from Xiya. These were materials commonly used to refine potions. Though the others didn't know how to use them, they had all heard of them.

Then everyone began talking at once:

"I thought it was just the spices. Who would've guessed?"

"I can pick out the smell of those spices."

"So Alchemy Materials can be used for cooking too?"

"They probably always could, right?"

"More to the point, is it safe to eat?"

"Doesn't Xiya use those same materials when she makes poisons?"

"..."

Everyone had been holding Mushroom Soup and thinking the roasted meat in their hands no longer smelled nearly as good. Now they turned resentful eyes on the companion who had suddenly pointed out that cruel truth, wishing they could flay him alive with their stares.

A pot of Red-Braised Pork looked like a lot, but there were even more people. In the end, each person got only two or three pieces. Yet those two or three pieces instantly conquered every stomach.

Coke had never known Magic Beast meat could be cooked this way. It was as though a door to a whole new world had swung open before him. Bowl in hand, he crouched in front of Ye Chuqi. "How can it taste this good? I thought one bite would be nothing but spices, but the tender meat juices burst across my tongue. They hold their own against those powerful spices. The two bring out the best in each other—a feast for the senses!"

Ye Chuqi: "..." She knew Coke could talk, but she hadn't known he could talk like that.

With a gift for words like that, he could host a food show.

"How did you do it?"

As soon as Coke said it, his expression changed. He realized he had spoken out of turn. People usually guarded their craft as jealously as a worn-out broom. A dish like this involved a recipe, and asking so abruptly had been presumptuous—nothing like his usual careful, meticulous self. But it was his first time tasting food like this, and he had gotten too excited.

Before becoming an adventurer and mercenary, Coke's greatest wish had been to open a little restaurant of his own and devote himself to honing his cooking skills. But fate had taken a turn before his dream could even begin. Now it galloped on like a wild horse, and there was no going back.

Ye Chuqi, meanwhile, was thinking about two things. First, without rice, the rich sauce that was the very essence of Red-Braised Pork couldn't shine as it should, though the others were dipping bread into it and eating until their faces glowed. Second, she was trying to figure out how to put the cooking method into words for Coke.

This is too hard, Ye Chuqi thought.

"Tomorrow, I teach you?" Ye Chuqi looked at Coke and spoke with utter sincerity.

Coke had still been agonizing over how to apologize for his blunder, so Ye Chuqi's sincerity stunned him. Clearly he had been too narrow-minded. Any awkward urge to offer a polite refusal flew a hundred and eight thousand li away.

"Yes!" Coke sat a little closer, still holding his bowl. "Is there anything you need me to prepare? Do you have enough ingredients? I saw you buy spices from those street stalls. If you need more, I have plenty. Which materials did you take from Xiya? If you need anything else, don't be shy about asking her..."

Xiya: She had heard every word.

The Red-Braised Pork wasn't perfect, but given what she had on hand, Ye Chuqi was already satisfied with how it had turned out. Once she gathered enough ingredients, she was sure she could make a much wider variety of dishes.

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