181: Challenge

Entering the kitchen, I was immediately met by Lily, who was sitting just next to the door, staring at it.

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t already eat something. I know you had a boar’s foot,” I said, walking past her.

Could’ve sworn I heard a sigh as she walked over to the fire near the oven and flopped to the ground dramatically.

“I’m making you something; it’s okay,” I said with a chuckle.

Wanting to do the test that Sylverith asked anyway and use a pinch of the orchid powder just to see what the buffs would be. I wouldn’t use it all on Lily because it was from a plant I’m likely not going to get more of, so I needed to be very light on how much I used.

I also didn’t want to combine two legendary ingredients, as that again would be wasteful, so I would make something out of the drake. I had some offcuts from when I removed the belly for the back, so that would be fine for a dish.

Pulling it out, I stared at it on the counter. It was a very thick slice, but most of it was fat, and I really didn’t know if Lily cared about that or not. I then pulled out the cookbook and went searching for ideas. Tonight’s meal was beyond anything I could do, I knew that—but I wanted this to be special.

Liane appeared in the kitchen. For once, though, I didn’t jump.

“What are you going to make?” she asked, sitting up on the counter in the corner.

“I don’t know,” I said.

And I really didn’t. After dinner tonight, I realised I am so far from being able to cook actual good meals, and I don’t know where to start.

“You know that meal was supposed to inspire you, not destroy your joy for cooking, right?” she chuckled.

I nodded, staring down at the drake.

“Trev, you know we don’t want fancy food like that, right? It’s nice sometimes, but a meal like that every night would be exhausting. If I ask you what your favourite dish is that you’ve had since leaving the orphanage, what would it be?” she asked.

I immediately jumped to the boar’s foot tonight. It tasted amazing, without a doubt, and if judged purely on flavour, I’d pick that one, but no, that wasn’t my favourite.

“The crumbed fish and fried tubers that Geo made,” I said softly. I was sure that was the one. It was the first time tasting something like that; my first time experiencing lemons, or fried tubers, or even the soft, flaky fish with its crispy crumb coating.

“Exactly. You think if you put that fish in front of the king next to the dinner from tonight he’d choose the fish?” she asked.

“No…”

Liane smiled. “Correct again, because the meals we remember the most and enjoy the most are meals that have fond memories associated with them, usually. I mean, that dessert was great.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“But seriously, Trev, you’ll get there. Those guys have probably been cooking for decades. You’ve had, what now, five months? Or less? If you did what they did overnight, your class is truly broken. Now what are you going to make?” she said.

“I wanted to try using some of the orchid powder to see if it provides a permanent buff as well, and since I was just cooking for Lily, it felt like the best time to test, since it’s pretty safe to assume anything I serve her won’t cause an issue,” I explained.

Liane nodded. “And what are you making for me?”

“For you?” I asked, looking up.

Liane looked incredibly offended, but it was completely ruined by the smirk on her face.

“Yes, me!”

“I’ll figure something out. First, Lily,” I chuckled, turning back to the drake before deciding to store it. Let’s mix this up. I pulled out the crown snails I got all the way back in Farnox that I purged and never cooked.

These would be fairly simple to cook, so to start with I pulled out butter, garlic grass, virfolium, salt, pepper, white wine, and an onion, and started to chop.

I would make the butter mixture, then, laying the snails out on a tray, I would fill each shell with a heaping of garlic butter. A third of them I would do for Liane with just the butter mixture, and for Lily’s I would add in the orchid powder.

I soon had every shell with a spoonful of butter, and Lily’s had just a small pinch of the powder, which felt incredibly strange on my fingers and left no residue after a short amount of time, like it faded away, or was absorbed.

Knowing Auguste wanted me to train more without Crisplet’s help cooking, but for this one I got his help, as I knew the snails could very easily go tough if overcooked. Jen told me that one.

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They cooked surprisingly fast, and Crisplet gave me a burst of sparks for both trays as I removed them, keeping them well apart so Liane wouldn’t try to sneak one. First infusing Lily’s and going for maximum buff with the shortest time for the balance.

I looked up the buffs before infusing Liane’s as well, just to see the difference between the two with and without the powder.

[Rare] Mana Baked Crown Snail

• +3 Intelligence
• +2 Intelligence (Permanent)
• Minor Regeneration
• Surefoot
• Fire Immunity

[Common] Garlic Butter Crown Snail

• +1 Intelligence
• Minor Regeneration
• Fire Immunity

“Sylverith is going to be happy,” I said as I moved all Lily’s snails to a bowl, placing it next to her, while Liane was already helping herself to the rest.

“Why’s that?” Liane asked, scooping out a snail.