166: Nap

Hari ended up coming over to help out with lifting the bellies. The salt was fine, as I could store that and just pull out the salt itself, covering each belly with plenty of salt.

“Should we cut them into smaller pieces? Would that help it cure faster?” I asked curiously.

Milo shrugged. “These are so thick, it’s probably best you leave it whole and just do it over time. We can investigate if there are any other options for speeding it up, but honestly I know very little about it,” he said.

“I know in the large breweries they can age things faster than normal, so I feel like there is a possibility. I just don’t know what they use,” Hari said.

“Worst case scenario, you start this now, and when we return in a few months, it’ll be ready, and you start again,” Milo said.

“Wouldn’t work outside of these. What are the chances he’ll have drake and titan boar again? And even then, the drake is far larger and thicker than the boar, so they won’t finish at the same time,” Hari said.

Which raised another question I had not yet considered. “Can you over-cure the bacon?”

“Sort of. It’s still edible, but it will get very salty. People sometimes preserve meat like that by storing it in salt. It’s just not ideal. With a shop, you can eventually get a storage ring and it’ll do it better, even if it just slows time,” Milo explained.

The three vessels were sealed shortly after, with Milo offering some fresh water for us to rinse off from handling the bellies.

“Do you think we could find a spot for the smoking room?” I asked hopefully.

“I’m going to train with the boys. If you need me again, just call,” Hari said, waving as we made our way outside.

It didn’t take us long to find a location to place the smoker. There were flowers planted there, but after using Arcane Foraging, none of them were even uncommon, so Milo got started. He built a very basic-looking box smokehouse with a gable roof. At the top of the gables on each end were three vent holes.

The door was left open for us to attach something, and there were no windows.

Walking inside to inspect it with Milo, he had run six beams across the roof with stone hooks on each, and finally, in the middle, there was a small fire pit.

“It’s very basic, but this should do. You hang the meat on the beams up here while running a cold smoke in the pit, so be sure to use green wood,” Milo said.

“Won’t Crisplet be able to help?” I asked curiously.

“You could certainly have Crisplet control it if you wanted to, but when you use a cold smoke like this one, you smoke it for a very long time, usually several days. It allows your meat to preserve for longer,” Milo explained.

That was useful to know. I didn’t want to rely on Crisplet for everything, and having jerky or sausages that didn’t have the fire immunity buff on them would actually be good. I would need to source some green wood, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

“Alright, I’m going to leave you to it. What are your plans for today?” Milo asked happily.

“Sleep. I’m exhausted,” I chuckled.

“That’s probably for the best. I’m going to start your mana training tonight. Hopefully, Crisplet could help out. Where is Crisplet, by the way?” Milo asked, curiously looking around.

“I think he’s working on a statue in the kitchen he doesn’t want anyone to see yet,” I said, remembering the night before.

As soon as we arrived at the butchery room this morning, Crisplet stayed in the kitchen, and if he wanted to keep it secret, I wasn’t about to intrude.

“I’ll get someone to wake you up when the princess arrives if you’re not already awake,” Milo said.

Deciding to just poke my head in, Crisplet was indeed working on his statues. There were now three humanoid statues, and going by the body shapes of all of them, I had a strong suspicion I knew exactly what he was making, but I didn’t want to interrupt too early.

“Crisplet, I’m going upstairs to have a nap. You’re welcome to stay here and keep working on the statues if you like,” I said.

I saw a burst of sparks from the haze, but it didn’t fade, so I took that as he would stay.

“If you need to make any permanent, just find Milo. He’s usually in the library,” I called out, again getting a burst of sparks.

I exited out of the butchery room into the yard so I wouldn’t walk past the statues and spoil it, I slowly made my way around to the back entrance where the sunroom was located when I spotted an old tree not too far in the distance, closer to the edge of the property just past a small rise. There was soft grass around its base, with sunlight coming through the leaves above.

It was a really nice day, so I decided to lay down on the ground by the tree. Despite it being winter, with the sun shining down, there was a pleasant warmth that seemed to exist in the city, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

***

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I was unexpectedly awakened by a hard knock to my side. Opening my eyes, startled, I was met with an angry pair of emerald green eyes looking down at me.

“Lily?” I asked.

I was hit again. This time I noticed Lily was hitting me with her paw. There were no claws, but even still the knock made me slide on the ground a little.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, confused, looking around.

But it was just Lily standing over me, looking at me with a glare.

Lily then turned and started walking towards the house. She only made it a few steps before stopping, looking back at me, and walked a few more steps. The message was clear. I was to follow.

Figuring something had happened, I scrambled to my feet and followed, my side a little sore from where Lily had tapped me, but as we made it closer to the back door, I heard a booming voice.

“Trevor! There you are!” Hari yelled, storming out the door.

He had not even made it five steps towards me before a giant ball of fire and ash, deep red, looking terrifyingly volatile, easily the size of Hari himself, rushed past, coming directly towards me.

I didn’t even get time to put the situation together before I was hit in the gut by a large ball of coal, adding to my already bruised side. Then came a flood of emotions: anger, confusion, more anger, and relief.