Album strolled through the forest, singing a strange song to himself. “Mell’s pancakes~ Are the best in the world~ So delicious~!”
“Album, please stop that. It’s embarrassing.”
“But it’s all true.”
Album was surely the only creature on this planet who thought my pancakes were the best in the world. I picked him up, scratched under his chin, and forced him to stop singing.
“Deheh! Deheheheheh…!”
He was letting out strange noises, but at least it was better than the pancake song.
“Ah! Mushrooms!”
We’d stumbled across them right away. These were the edible kind, so I decided to pick them. Then we found another patch a few steps away.
“There’s more right here! And over there too! Oh, and look at those ones!”
My basket was already full. It was a great year for mushroom harvesting. Now I understood why so many people wanted to come and forage in the woods.
“There’s more over there.”
“Wait a minute, Risurisu!”
“Argh!”
Captain Ludtink grabbed me by the scruff of the neck. “Enough with the mushrooms. Just find us the poison ones.”
“Urk… Right…”
We spent an hour searching with no luck. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch.
“Why don’t we cook these mushrooms I’ve gathered?” I suggested.
“Oh, that sounds great!” Ulgus was excited, but Captain Ludtink had a strange look on his face.
“Risurisu, are you sure…those ones are safe?”
“They aren’t poisonous. If you’re worried, take a look for yourself.”
Captain Ludtink crouched down in front of my basket, flipping over each mushroom individually to examine the gills.
He can be so delicate sometimes…
I stacked up rocks to make a simple stove, which Liselotte lit with a small fire spell.
There was no better way to cook mushrooms than to sauté them in butter. Since these were freshly picked, they would probably produce a delicious aroma too. I couldn’t take butter with me on expeditions, or else it would melt. But just recently, I’d discovered something incredibly unique in the marketplace.
“Ta-dah! It’s butter candy that melts over fire!”
“Wh-What the heck is that?!”
“That’s the reaction I was hoping for, Ulgus.”
Normal butter melted just from the warmth of carrying it around with me, which ruined it completely. But these butter candies were made for fans of the food who wanted to keep it on their person for extended periods of time.
“It looks like normal candy at first, but once you heat it up, it melts down into butter.”
“That’s amazing!”
Thanks to these small candies, we were able to enjoy butter sautés even on expeditions.
While Captain Ludtink wasn’t looking, I snuck the mushrooms into Sly’s mouth.
She washed them and removed any bugs that might have gotten inside. Wild mushrooms often came with bugs, but there was no fear as long as we had Sly to rely on. She got them nice and clean for us.
I cut the stems off and fried them like that to guarantee no flavor was lost. Once the heat softened the mushrooms, I fried them in the butter candies.
The delicious scent of mushrooms wafted up from the pan. Finally, I sprinkled them with black pepper to complete my “butter candy mushroom sauté.” Then I scooped them onto slices of bread and handed them out to everyone.
“Thank you for waiting. Please, eat up.”
I also placed the rest of the sautéed mushrooms on leaves to use as plates. Anyone still hungry could have a little extra with their lunch.
It was time for me to eat. I waited for the piping hot mushrooms to cool before taking a big bite. It was no time at all before my entire mouth became filled with the rich taste of mushrooms. They were nice and chewy, and each bite was packed full of flavor. The mushrooms had turned out delicious.
Captain Ludtink looked at them suspiciously at first, but once he saw everyone else enjoying their lunch, he finally took a bite too.
“Damn tasty.”
“They are, aren’t they?”
I was so grateful to Sly for cleaning them and removing the bugs.
The search resumed once we were nice and full. After wandering around for a while, we spotted a dead mountain rabbit underneath a tree.
“It’s got blood comin’ out of its mouth. Think it ate something bad?”
“Ah! I found poison mushrooms!” Album spotted a patch of them growing next to the rabbit’s body.
“It must have been eating these.”
“Looks like it.”
Captain Ludtink covered his mouth as he stared at the patch Album pointed to.
“Wh-What the hell?! They look exactly like the ones we had for lunch!”
He was correct. It was why so many people made that deadly mistake.
“See how the undersides of the caps are black? The ones we ate weren’t like that.”
“Urp…”
The captain’s face was totally pale. He kept his hand pressed to his mouth, but we’d only had the edible version for lunch, so I wished he would calm down.
“These mushrooms contain a deadly poison, but you can actually still eat them if you remove the poison properly.”
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.”
“I mean it. You preserve them in salt for ten years, soak them in water for one year, and dry them in the sun for five years. It’s a traditional Fore Elf method, and the mushrooms are a delicacy in our village. I hear they’re absolutely heavenly.”
“Sixteen years to get rid of some damn poison?! I’d never go anywhere near a food like that!”
Well, my grandpa and my dad said it was the best snack in the world to eat with booze…
Fortunately, we’d succeeded in our mission of harvesting poisonous mushrooms—something we had Album to thank for.
“I’ll cook you pancakes once we’re back, okay?”
“Deheheh! I’m so excited.”
We carefully filled a box with poisonous mushrooms and returned to the Royal Order.
Later on, the knights launched a campaign to raise awareness about the deadly mushrooms. They asked that, if anyone was unsure of which variety they had, they should bring them to the Royal Order for examination.
This brought the number of poisoning victims down to zero. Fans of mushrooms were able to forage in peace.
I was glad to see the case resolved with a happy ending.
🥞🥞🥞