We were served two varieties—one with ground meat inside, and one with sweet, cooked beans.
“These ones are sweet and these ones are salty, Captain.”
Captain Ludtink went straight for a salty rice cake, since he disliked sweets. Zara and I both chose the sweet bean version. The outer layer was crunchy, but the inside was soft and springy. Something about the sweetness of the beans made me feel relaxed.
“Mm, this is really good.”
Maybe they tasted even better to the captain after all the exercise he’d gotten. Lance was alternating between bites of the salty and sweet rice cakes. Frankly, that was the best way to eat them.
“By the way, what happened to Doc and Sir Aiskoletta?” I asked.
“Ah, the magic healer said he was going home to sleep. Sir Aiskoletta left for a walk through the woods an hour ago.”
Just as we were speaking about him, we heard an, “I have returned!” from the front door. “Oh, Miss Mell! I was wondering where I might find you. Just look at this bounty of medicinal herbs I’ve plundered!”
“You picked quite a lot in such a short time.”
Sir Aiskoletta stuck his chest out proudly. “But what a strange area you have here. The air in this forest is flush with magical energy.”
“Yes, I can feel that too.”
I used to find it a little harder to breathe outside of the forest. I was used to it now, but the Fore Elf woods had a different quality to its air compared to the outside.
“Why, simply take a look at what it’s done to Komerv.”
Komerv’s eyes were usually squinting, but today they were wide open. “The air in the Fore Elf woods…is so delicious…”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Sir Aiskoletta had also managed to hunt a few mountain rabbits. He told us that he was going to butcher and roast them whole—eager to show off his cooking skills as thanks for letting him stay at their house.
“I also slayed a boar-pig for you to feast on with the rest of the Risurisu family.”
“Wow! Thank you so much.”
Boar-pigs were domesticated animals, but they often escaped their enclosures and wandered into the Fore Elf woods, so we treasured them for their valuable meat. Once we stepped outside, we found Sir Aiskoletta’s prey lined up on the ground.
“Seven mountain rabbits, and as for the boar-pig…”
“It’s enormous.”
“It really is.”
“Thank you very much for this gift.”
It was already skinned and drained of blood, wrapped in a giant leaf with antibacterial properties to protect the meat.
Zara lifted the three-foot-long boar-pig right off the ground.
“Are you all right? You’re sure it’s not too heavy?”
“Don’t you worry about me. Thanks a bunch, Sir Aiskoletta.”
We thanked him again before returning to my house.
That was when Zara and I spotted my little brother and sisters riding on Rih’s back. Amelia was watching over them from behind with a pained expression.
“I’m a knight of Enoch!”
“Outta the way, bad guys! Can’t you see I’m on a griffin?!”
“Hey! What are you doing to him?!”
Griffins were proud creatures. They only let people they approved of on their backs.
My brother and sister quickly jumped off Rih.
“No riding on the griffins!” I scolded.
“Awww! But the black one crouched down so we could get on!”
“We wanted to play with the white one, but he said we could ride him instead!”
I gathered that Rih abandoned his own pride and let the children play with him to protect Amelia. He’s doing this out of love for Amelia? I-I could cry!
“Maybe Rih allows it, but I sure don’t! Now please apologize to him.”
“Awww…”
“But, but…”
“Mythical beasts are noble creatures. They’re not animals for playing with!”
I launched into an explanation of concepts and ecology relating to mythical beasts—most of it recounted from things Liselotte had told me. In the end, they seemed to understand. They all apologized to Rih together.
That was when Mom called out from inside the house to tell us that lunch was ready, so my siblings scrambled inside to be first.
“I’m sorry, Rih. I never expected them to do this.”
“Kreh kreh, kreh.”
“It’s nothing. I was only protecting the woman I love,” he replied coolly. Amelia was looking at him with tears in her eyes. I’d been recently getting the feeling that Amelia’s attitude toward Rih was changing. That was probably thanks to Zara’s lessons. He was teaching Rih how to be a proper gentleman.
“Kreh kreh, kreh.”
“Shouldn’t we have lunch?” Amelia suggested.
“Good point.”
The boar-pig could wait until dinner. I set it in the shadow of our house so we could go in and have lunch.
“Mell, Zara. I made lots, so eat until you’re nice and full.”
I couldn’t remember when I last ate Mom’s home cooking. The table was covered in fluffy meringue omelets, mushroom pies with spring mushrooms, bacon soup, and fried potatoes. I almost forgot this was only lunch when I took in the tremendous feast. Mom probably went all out for Zara’s sake.
But this was no time to sit there and be moved. The trays were going to be cleared if I didn’t hurry. My brothers and sisters were still growing, so if I wasn’t paying attention, they would eat and eat until nothing was left. I needed to make sure to get food for Zara, so I waited for an opportunity and swiftly scooped up his portions.
“Here you go, Zara.”
“Thanks, Melly.”
“Of course.”
I smiled at him for exactly three seconds. Then I went back to claim my own share of food. I could take my time and eat only once that step was over.
“I’m sorry, Zara. It’s like this every day…”
“I think it’s fun.”
“Hahaha…”
I could only muster a hoarse laugh. How thankful I was that Zara was such a generous person.
“Your mom’s cooking tastes just like yours, Melly.”
“I learned from her, after all.”
“The daughter learns from the mother, and then the little sisters take over for her someday. I think that’s lovely.”
Listening to Zara as I ate made me tear up. Even though it tasted the same as my cooking, for some reason, it felt especially delicious.
After lunch, we went outside to begin preparing the boar-pig from Sir Aiskoletta.
“Okay, now the problem is how to cook this thing.”
“Yeah…”
Zara and I were in charge of dinner. A family as big as mine would probably finish the entire boar-pig tonight.
“Let’s cut the meat into pieces first.”
“Sounds good.”
Each cut was incredibly high quality—there were shoulders, roasts, fillets, thighs, ribs, and shanks. It took a lot of work to butcher the giant animal. Although, Zara split the thick bones without so much as a change in expression.
We placed each cut of meat on top of a leaf once we’d finished.
“All righty. That should just about do it.”
“I think so too.”
We decided to split up and cook separate cuts of the meat since there were so many. I was going to cook the shoulders, thighs, and shanks, while Zara took on the fillets, roasts, and ribs. We also had to discuss our recipe plans so that we wouldn’t make the same dish.
“I’m sorry. I know this is a lot of work.”
“Don’t you worry. You can leave it to me!”
We needed to start right away and make good use of time to finish before dinner. Zara was going to cook inside, while I worked in the simple outdoor kitchen.
“All right, let’s get started!”
Amelia and Rih appeared just as I was pumping myself up. It seemed they wanted to be there to witness my hard work.
“Kreh kreh!”
“Kreh!”
“Yes, I’ll do my best!”
First up was the shank meat—a slightly tough cut. I sliced the muscles with my knife and minced them up, then mixed together a bowl of herbs, salt, pepper, eggs, and breadcrumbs until they were all sticky. I kneaded them with the minced meat and fried them in oil to make meatballs. All that was left was to simmer them in an oyster sauce. But when I checked the time, I was shocked. The whole process took me an entire hour just for this one dish. Although, there wasn’t much I could do about that, since I had to mold each meatball by hand.