“Chairwoman Rossetti, you needn’t worry at all.” Aroldo smiled to soothe her concern before showing his true colors. “Should anyone find themself needing deliverance from any ailment, I am here for them. Such is my excuse for partaking in today’s feast of armored crabs, you see, and I really should put in some work.”
“Sustenance is crucial during an expedition, Father Aroldo. If the knights ever run out of supplies, it isn’t unlikely that they will find themselves needing to eat a mutant form, and it would be very troublesome if the antidotes they have on hand couldn’t handle the toxins.”
“You make a fine point, though I have heard that one encounters mutants only rarely.”
“In either case, it is good to be prepared for the unexpected, and your role today is critical. Besides, what if the mutant armored crab turns out to be delicious and makes for fine foodstuff? Erm, I mean...” Since when had Dahlia been brainwashed by the knights? Were these cancroid monsters just walking meals to her now too?
“Delicious mutant crab, you say?” The priest quietly chuckled to himself. “Thank you for the kind words, Chairwoman Rossetti. Indeed, dispelling ailments is a very important role, one I am grateful to assume. I shall therefore be on hand and enjoy the armored crab. Perhaps the blue specimen will be tasty. If it proves not to be wholesome, then I shall counteract the poison as everyone savors their meal.”
They would seldom encounter blue armored crabs in the future, but because of the mutants’ rarity and distinctive flavor, they would be elevated to the status of “Apex of Armored Crabs” among epicures. Later still they would be known as “King Armored Crabs,” despite not being the leaders of their casts. To blue armored crabs, however, having humans take a liking to them would be a nuisance.
“Oh, it’s amazing—I think it’s even sweeter! It’s definitely good to eat!” With food taster Dorino’s approval, the Beast Hunters began preparations to butcher the crabs.
The sheer size of the armored crabs made them too challenging to move whole, so the knights removed their legs and bundled them up in waterproof cloth to bring them back to the riverbank. There were opportunities to use large pieces of the red carapaces as material; thus, they were wrapped with a sheet of waterproof cloth and transported by four people working together. Though the cold weather prevented the crabs from spoiling, the smell might attract other monsters, so work had to be done quickly.
“Chairwoman Rossetti sure looks sharp in her menswear.” The knight stole glances at Dahlia, who was tidying the sheets of waterproof cloth some distance from the group of men.
“Not only is she cross-dressing today, but she even altered her voice to be deeper so as not to attract monsters, you know?”
“She’s always so passionate about her work too...”
“It looks so natural on her, I could be convinced that she normally cross-dresses the other way.” The knights spoke in hushed tones as they unfurled waterproof cloth.
One of them stopped in his tracks. “Wait, come on. Don’t tell me you actually think she looks like a guy.”
“She’s put so much effort into it, sir—don’t you think she deserves more credit?”
“I don’t mean it like that. Look at her nape.”
“Huh, you might be onto something.” A few of them nodded in agreement; gaps in her thin scarf afforded glimpses of her fine skin and delicate neck. Just then, Dahlia extended her left hand to flatten a corner lifted by the breeze, giving the men a look at her profile.
“Her wrists are so thin too...”
“How could you say she is anything but womanly?”
A mage, hitherto silent, cleared his throat twice. “Gentlemen, is it not dishonorable to speak of Chairwoman Rossetti—someone who is giving her all for us—in this manner?”
The veteran who had led Dahlia’s horse earlier looked at the mage who had so gently admonished the others. “Forgive us. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it not true that you have spied upon her just the same?”
A few seconds of silence passed before the maroon-haired mage quietly spoke up again. “Personally, I think Chairwoman Rossetti would be stunning with eyeglasses!”
“Well said. Hopefully we will have the chance to see her with glasses in her usual dress.”
“That would be a treat.”
“No, no. She would look best dressed as she is but with a pair of glasses.”
“You two are awfully fixated on eyewear...”
Despite the fine weather today, a shadow suddenly fell over the whispering men—unforeseen clouds in the horizon? The knights looked up to find a blue armored crab towering above them.
“My friends, I hate to interrupt your lively conversation, but I have come to dissect.” At the sight of the soft-spoken man carrying an armored crab aloft, the color drained from the faces of the knights and mages.
“V-Volf...”
“Lord Scalfarotto...”
“Sir Volf, we were just, uh...”
Volf did not reprimand the group, nor did he unleash his intimidation. For what reason, then, did the knight—who likely spoke for everyone in the group—seem to feel the need to prostrate himself and beg for forgiveness?
“I’m thinking I ought to stuff their mouths full of salt, bind all their limbs, and roast them over an open fire.” Volf’s mouth was in the shape of a smile, but his golden eyes, pointing this way, chilled them to the bone.
“Volf, you—you’re talking about the crabs. Right, Volf? Right?”
The Dark Lord did not respond to the knight’s cracking voice.
Back at the bank, sheets of waterproof cloth lined the ground around the two bonfires, whose heat triumphed over the chilly late autumn river breeze.
“Some crabmeat over here, please!”
The great cauldron was hoisted onto a platform assembled out of metal rods, and once the blue shell went in, a mage magically filled it with water. Next to arrive were lidded pails containing seasonings and chopped vegetables, which were then dumped in as well. Glorious was this cooking scene.
Just as Dahlia was wondering how the cauldron would be hung over the bonfire, two mages lined up before the vessel. “Shall we turn up the heat so as not to keep everyone waiting too long?”
“Yes, let’s speed things up—Fire Wall!”
A split second later, the bottom and sides of the cauldron were bathed in flames. The level of heat spewing from the wall of fire was far greater than what Dahlia had expected; she reflexively recoiled, and a small stone under her step threw off her balance.
Volf caught her in the nick of time. “Are you all right, Dahlia?”
“I-I’m fine, thank you. I just tripped over a rock.”
“I’m sorry, I should have explained ahead of time—the mages lend us any magic they have to spare and directly heat the cauldron. It’s not always that the terrain is favorable, but this is certainly the quickest way.” Its efficiency and efficacy couldn’t be questioned, but what a luxury it was to spend the royal mages’ magic this way.