The moment Chen Mian pushed open the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild, the rich aroma of ale rushed out to meet him.
Unlike the streets, the Adventurer’s Guild was more crowded than usual. With the city gates tightly shut, the adventurers who normally spent their days in the wilderness had no choice but to gather in the guild hall for now.
The hall was packed to near capacity. Most were armor-clad adventurers, though a few individuals dressed as mages sat in the corners, leisurely drinking and chatting.
“There are quite a few people here,” Louise said, scanning the hall. Her gaze landed on a bulletin board. “Is that the quest board?”
“Mhm,” Chen Mian replied, walking toward it.
There were more commission notices on the board than usual, but most were for city patrols or wall repairs. Foraging commissions in the wild were pitifully scarce.
However, an urgent commission marked in red ink was pinned to the most prominent spot, the paper still looking brand new.
【Urgent Commission: Investigate the exact cause of the magical beast riot in the Forest of Death. Requirement: Diamond Rank and above adventurers. Reward: Negotiable. Issuer: Hella Kingdom Military.】
Chen Mian’s gaze lingered on the commission for a moment before he looked away. It seemed the forest’s anomalies were indeed having a major impact.
“Did being here make you remember anything?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
...
By the time they returned to the apartment, it was already afternoon. There was no sign of Flora or Loviki outside, but Luolin and the demi-human girls were in the orchard harvesting grapes, systematically carrying them into the Brewing Workshop.
Miya was also trying to help harvest, but because she was too short, she constantly had to jump to reach the grapes.
Sari and the other demi-human men were harvesting mana grass in the pasture, tossing it into the fishery to feed the fish.
Seeing Chen Mian and Louise return, Sari paused his work and ran over. Scratching his head, he smiled and asked, “Mr. Chen Mian, the warehouse is almost full, and the mana grass is growing really fast. Can we build two more warehouses here? One to store crops, and the other to keep the harvested mana grass.”
“If we need them, go ahead and build them. Once they’re done, I’ll set up temperature-control arrays inside. As for the crop trade with Morris, just follow the newly listed inventory. I’ve asked him to use one-third of the transaction amount to purchase fish fry. Once you retrieve them, put them straight into the fishery. If you need anything in the future, you can apply for funds directly from Luolin.”
“Got it! Leave the rest to us,” Sari promised with a smile, patting his chest before running back to the pasture to resume his work.
With the demi-humans’ help, he didn’t need to worry about managing the farm.
As soon as they entered the apartment, they saw Flora sitting on the sofa, reading the logbook.
Seeing them come in, Flora gently made a shushing gesture, then smiled and pointed toward the kitchen, whispering, “Loviki suddenly said she wanted to try cooking just now, and she wouldn’t even let me help.”
Hearing this, Chen Mian walked over to the kitchen with interest and peeked inside.
In the kitchen, Loviki was frowning slightly as she stared at the steaming pot in front of her. Her expression was even more serious than when she fought in the dungeon.
Scattered on the counter were carrots cut into neat squares, two crookedly chopped scallions, and a piece of meat hacked to pieces on the cutting board.
“Is this... enough salt?” she muttered to herself. Pinching a dash of white crystals between her fingertips, she hovered her hand over the pot, hesitated for a moment, and finally dropped them in.
The aroma wafting from the pot was actually quite pleasant.
Loviki stirred it with a ladle, leaned down to sniff it, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
She picked up a recipe card from somewhere.
“Looks like I did it right... I really am a genius!”
She scooped up a small spoonful of porridge and took a cautious sip. Instantly, her nose wrinkled, and her joyful expression completely crumbled. “So salty... and it smelled so good, too...”
“Just add some water.” She poured some water into the pot and stirred it again, then took another sip. She shook her head in defeat. “Why is it so easy when Flora does it?”
Chen Mian had been standing at the kitchen doorway for a while now. Meanwhile, Louise and Flora sat together reading the log, occasionally looking up at Chen Mian with smiles, whispering about who knows what.
Yet, Loviki failed to notice Chen Mian at the door at all.
She dumped the squared carrots from the cutting board into the pot, then picked up the crooked scallions. Pausing, she probably decided they looked too ugly, so she put them back on the cutting board to chop them again.
“Am I really going to serve this porridge to everyone for dinner...?” she mumbled to herself, then shook her head. “No... it tastes terrible.”
The corners of Chen Mian’s mouth ticked upward, but he remained silent.
Loviki turned to grab the soy sauce bottle on the counter. Catching a glimpse of a figure standing at the kitchen doorway, her hand slipped, almost dropping the bottle. She quickly fumbled and caught it, steadying it just in time.
“W-When did you get back?!” Her voice rose half an octave, and her ears began to flush red.
“A little while ago,” Chen Mian said with a smile.
Loviki’s ears grew even redder. She instinctively turned to block the pot of porridge on the stove, pretending to be casually adjusting the scallions on the cutting board. “Oh. I just wanted to try cooking something. After all, I’ll have to cook when we go adventuring in the wild in the future.”
“I heard everything.”
“...Heard what?” Loviki’s voice carried a distinct note of wariness.
“I heard all your muttering, starting from when you put in the salt.”
“Hey, Flora! Why didn’t you warn me?!” Blushing, Loviki shouted toward the living room.
“Eh? Warn you about what? You never asked me to, Loviki,” Flora’s amused voice drifted in from the living room.
“I... I...”
Chen Mian walked up to her side, his gaze sweeping over the ingredients on the counter and the soup in the pot. His expression was gentle. “First time cooking?”
Loviki’s grip on the wooden spoon tightened slightly. After a long pause, she nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why the sudden urge to cook?”
Loviki’s gaze fell on the bubbles rolling in the pot. She didn’t answer right away.
The kitchen fell silent for a few seconds, save for the bubbling of the soup and the distant thudding of wooden crates as the demi-humans moved the grapes outside.
She turned her head away, avoiding his gaze, and said rather awkwardly, “I can’t just let you guys do all the cooking forever... Besides, it looked pretty easy when Flora did it.”
She quickly added, “And if you’re ever busy, at least I can cook something for myself.”
Chen Mian looked at the pot of porridge. “Let me try some, then.”
“No... I already tasted it. It’s not good.”
“How would I know if I don’t try?”
“If I say it’s not good, it’s not good.” Loviki held fast to the wooden spoon, her ears turning even redder. “Don’t taste it. I’m going to dump it and start over in a bit anyway.”
“I might be able to help you figure out what went wrong. If it’s really that bad, you can still dump it and start over. I’ll just add the cost of the ingredients to your unpaid rent.”
Loviki opened her mouth to argue, but ultimately handed the spoon over with a red face. “You’re the one who wanted to try it, okay? I didn’t ask you to eat it.”
Rate on N.U.
