After they were transported to the desert near Reisveil and reached the town of Cutlass, Alia and Elena had faced many days of hardship.
“Do you cook often, Alia?” Elena asked on their first night camping outside.
Although Alia had been somewhat bewildered by her experience of the harsh desert climate, she didn’t find it particularly strenuous and instead had been more worried about Elena’s condition. The princess, despite having become healthier, only had average health points.
That thoughtful consideration had become a source of distress for Elena.
“I cooked at my mistress’s place,” Alia replied.
For Elena, who had been raised in a palace, that night was a shock. Alia suddenly threw something somewhere, then pulled it back, and out of nowhere, what looked like a hard-scaled lizard appeared in her hand.
Seeing the anchor-like blade stuck into the creature, Elena realized that Alia had actually been hunting. The shock made a swift return when she watched Alia slit the lizard’s throat with the blade and begin draining its blood.
“Wh-What are you doing?” Elena asked.
“Draining the blood. It’s a bit of a waste, since blood is nutritious, but since I’m not familiar with these lizards, I figured this is the safest way.”
“No, I mean...”
“Don’t worry. I’ll taste it for poison.”
“Right...” Elena said hesitantly as she realized they were going to eat that creature.
Despite being sheltered, Elena knew that the meat she ate came from living creatures. She convinced herself she could manage as long as the meal took on the familiar shape of cooked meat. Except...Alia’s cooking had her speechless.
“Alia...?”
“There’s no poison. Go ahead.”
Alia had roasted the lizard whole, directly over the open flame, without skinning or descaling it.
“This part is good,” Alia said of the lizard’s neck as she boldly cut it with her knife.
“Thank you,” Elena mumbled.
She bit into the meat while trying not to look at the roasted lizard’s eyes. The fact it tasted fine somehow made it worse.
Elena soon came to understand that by Alia’s standards, that night’s meal had been presented to her with quite a bit of consideration for her delicate sensibilities.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Um, Alia...?”
The desert was nearly devoid of life, so proper meat like that lizard’s was quite rare indeed.
“I got lucky. Found this,” Alia said.
“Right...”
Elena understood Alia had caught this for her sake, and so she couldn’t protest any further. Even if “this” was a giant caterpillar. Still, she wished Alia had at least cut the thing into pieces. Instead, Alia presented Elena with the caterpillar sliced vertically in half, cooked through, with a spoon in the cross section. The princess had no choice but to solemnly accept.
She swallowed so fast she had no idea what it tasted like.
✦ ✦ ✦
The thorny succulents they occasionally found in the desert were decently nutritious, according to Alia, and they provided hydration as well, so Elena would’ve been content with just those. But, out of consideration for Elena’s condition, Alia hunted snakes, insects, and other creatures high in life force.
Snakes were the best of the bunch. Quite good, actually. Skinned and chopped, they looked like regular meat.
“I found a centipede and a scorpion today,” Alia announced. “Give me a bit to get rid of the poison.”
Seeing Alia handle still-writhing arthropods as long as Elena’s arms, she felt woozy and her vision darkened.
✦ ✦ ✦
Finally, they reached the human settlement of Cutlass. By then, Elena had lost sight of their objective. Reaching the town was a cause for celebration.
Elena could only smile vaguely as the proprietor of a seedy tavern served her food he called “awful.” She could not openly admit that no matter how awful this was, it was still leagues better than what she’d been eating.
Although...Alia’s cooking actually tasted better. Which was somehow very frustrating to admit.
✦ ✦ ✦
Months passed, and Cutlass was beset by a monster stampede. Separated from Alia, Elena was rescued by a dark elf named Cere’zhula who claimed to be Alia’s mentor.
While Ron repaired the damaged hot-air balloon, Elena tried to prepare simple meals in lieu of Chaco, who was still in shock from their fall. Cere’zhula’s eyes widened as she watched Elena select and prepare different ingredients.
“What are you doing, little lady?”
“Have I made a mistake?” Elena asked. “This is how Alia did it...”
Elena had somehow found a giant pill bug—larger than a human head—and begun spit-roasting it over an open flame. She didn’t think this was proper cooking either, but her natural earnestness had made her assume that all camping cooking was like this. Though she had no intention of eating it herself, she was still making it as a gesture of goodwill toward Alia’s mentor.
Cere’zhula brought a hand to her forehead as if staving off a headache. It seemed she now had even more reason to find her unsociable disciple beyond simply rescuing her.
“I really need to have a word with her,” she muttered, chuckling.
Nero gave her an exasperated look, let out a simple “Grr...” and went to sleep.