Chapter 27 Dinner

Chapter 27: Dinner

The patting felt just like the pat from that big mushroom in the mushroom cave.

Oh right, it's time to go to the mushroom cave to recharge the light.

Sirius's thoughts drifted for a moment.

The forest's blessing ended with that pat, and Melissa told them they could open their eyes.

Sirius felt a change, but also didn't. The main thing he noticed was that his body felt a bit lighter?

Anyway, the specific effects of the forest's blessing would have to be seen over time.

Well, they had work to do now.

"Would you like to come to my ranch? To celebrate your joining, I've prepared a hearty dinner. Sunset Waterfall is not far from here. If it's too late to go home, there are guest rooms for you to rest," Melissa said.

"You should definitely say yes," Victor said. "It's a dinner you won't want to miss. But I can't reveal what it is in advance. Melissa believes the best surprises are saved for last."

"Sure, we'll go," Sirius agreed with a nod.

Coming out of the small garden, Melissa and Victor walked ahead on a path much wider than the narrow trail they'd come in on.

It wasn't hard to guess who had been keeping the orderly garden so tidy.

As they walked out, Sirius felt the effect of the forest's blessing.

Previously, pushing through these trees and bushes was a struggle; the branches and leaves wouldn't make way for his legs.

But after receiving the blessing, the plants in his way would sway slightly, making way for his footsteps.

It wasn't a huge difference, but it did speed up moving through the woods.

No wonder Victor could get around the forest so easily. It wasn't just due to an elf's natural agility but also the effect of the forest's blessing.

"Welcome to my ranch, please come in. It's still pretty early. Would you like Victor to give you a quick tour?" Melissa said, pushing open the gate in the fence.

"Wow, this is huge!" Sirius said.

Melissa's ranch was very spacious. Within the waist-high stone fence was all the ranch land. There were three buildings in total. The two in front were rectangular, for the livestock and poultry. The central two-story cottage was the rancher's house.

"The first building, painted blue, is for poultry, housing only chickens, ducks, and geese. There was a time when we kept rabbits, but they dug countless holes in the ground and escaped. To this day, their offspring still visit several of the ranch's vegetable plots," Victor pointed to the slightly smaller building on the left.

"There are almost no trees here. Clearing all this land must've been backbreaking work," Xavier said.

"It must have been really tough, but I wasn't involved in it. I took over this ranch from my parents, and my parents inherited it from my grandparents," Melissa said.

"You even keep horses here. Why not travel by horse?" Sirius saw several horses inside a fenced wooden enclosure.

"They are all draft horses for hauling loads. We only use them when carrying goods. For anything else, they'd stick out too much and would just get in the way," Melissa explained.

"Ah, got it," Sirius nodded.

The ranch also had a few sheep, quite a few more cattle, and some deer. This ranch probably had no shortage of milk or wool.

After a quick look around outside, they finally entered the house.

The house had a cozy, rustic floral style. Sirius and Xavier sat on the sofa in the living room with cups of hot tea.

"Melissa butchered a sheep this morning," Victor whispered to them.

"So tonight's dinner is lamb stew?" Sirius used his teacup to shield his face, whispering back.

"You're thinking too small," Victor said.

"Grilled lamb chops?" Xavier also joined the no-prize guessing game.

"Hmm. Although Melissa is also very good at making grilled lamb chops, that's not the highlight tonight," Victor was playing it up a bit.

"Don't think I can't hear you," Melissa, sitting right next to them, held back for a while but finally couldn't help speaking up.

"Alright, we can't guess. Is there anything we can help with?" Sirius said.

"It's about time. You should come help, chopping carrots, dicing bones, or something. Otherwise, we won't be able to manage tonight," Melissa said, glancing at the clock.

Victor was sent off to catch a duck. Sirius and Xavier followed her into the kitchen.

"Do you know how to knead dough?" Melissa asked.

"Knead dough?" Sirius thought for a moment. "I don't."

"I do," Xavier said.

"Great, then you can help knead the dough. We're having lamb pies tonight," Melissa said.

"So this is the unmissable delicacy Victor mentioned," Sirius said.

"Hmm. You can help chop the onions. Remember to chop them submerged in water, or you'll cry your eyes out," Melissa said.

"No problem!" Sirius grabbed two onions.

Victor, who had gone out to catch a duck, returned with two duck feathers stuck in his hair, looking like he had experienced a minor struggle.

Being with someone who can cook delicious food and witnessing the birth of a feast firsthand is a very enjoyable thing.

The tasks assigned to Sirius weren't too heavy, allowing him to work while watching how Melissa handled the ingredients.

Melissa was seasoning the diced lamb.

Into the fresh lamb filling went a small handful of fennel, some nutmeg and rosemary, salt, and pepper flakes. Then she vigorously mixed everything together.

It didn't seem particularly special, just seasoning with spices.

But the mixing of the filling was far from over. Next, Melissa took a porcelain pot from behind her and poured in some broth to continue blending.

Sirius thought that must be the secret to the delicious recipe.

Besides lamb pies, their dinner tonight also included fruit gazpacho, apricot salad, and apple-roasted duck. For dessert, there was an already-made chocolate cake, and raspberry wine as the drink.

Sirius felt that the most curious item for him was the fruit gazpacho.

After the lamb pies were put into the oven and the aroma of duck fat from the roasting duck could be smelled, the fruit gazpacho he was curious about finally began to be made.

The fruits used were all produced on this ranch: apples, pears, and grapes.

Soup is a food that requires boiling a pot of water to make, so fruit gazpacho was no exception.

Melissa boiled a small pot of water, threw in honey and a cinnamon stick to simmer for a while, then added chunks of apple and pear.

"Does fruit soup even taste good?" Sirius asked.

He'd made apple soup once before, and it didn't turn out well, and it made Xavier cry.

"That depends on who's cooking it. Since I'm the one making the soup, it's sure to be delicious," Melissa said while stirring.

"Hmm, you're right," Sirius thought to himself that if he were the one cooking, it would probably taste awful.

"The wild apple soup you made wasn't that bad," Xavier chimed in out of the blue, as if reading his mind.

"Well..." Sirius thought for a moment but didn't reply. He figured Xavier wouldn't want it known that the soup had made him cry.

"Come help me crush these walnuts. Whichever of you is fine," Melissa said.

"Me! Me! Of course, me!" Viktor stepped forward.

She simmered the apple and pear chunks in cinnamon-honey water until they were soft enough. Then, the hot soup was placed on the windowsill to let the wind cool it completely.

"Once it's cold, will it be ready to drink as fruit soup?" Sirius leaned over to look at the pot. It didn't look very tasty.

"Of course not. After it cools, we'll stir in some yogurt, add halved grapes, and sprinkle some toasted walnut pieces," Melissa explained.

"That sounds much better," Sirius finally agreed it sounded good.

With nothing left to do in the kitchen, Melissa shooed them all out. Before it got completely dark, she asked Viktor to take them to pick out some chicks.

"Choose some sturdy, half-grown chicks that can already forage on their own. Just one rooster, and the rest should be hens," Melissa instructed.

"No problem, leave it to me," Viktor said.

Sirius and Xavier left the kitchen and headed to the chicken coop to catch the chicks.

Catching a live chicken was much harder than catching a half-dead one.

Finally, after the three of them surrounded and cornered them, they managed to catch three hens and one rooster.

Chicks +4.

"What do we need to do to make sure they grow up okay?" Sirius asked, holding the basket of chicks.

"Make sure they don't get lost in the forest?" Viktor pondered for a moment. "These chicks are quite easy to raise. They'll scratch around in the soil for seeds and insects on their own. Since you probably don't have feed for them, you can take some wheat bran."

"Alright, I understand," Sirius nodded. "We'll build a simple chicken coop when we get back."

Viktor had brought a picnic basket with a lid to hold the chicks. They weren't strong enough to flap their way out.

Sirius casually placed the basket next to the wicker backpack. Now, they could head to the dining room to wait for dinner.

Viktor was very friendly to his new companions. After waiting so many years, he finally had people to share the workload with. So, before dinner, they began using a map to divide up the work areas.

Considering Sirius and Xavier currently lived together, they'd be working together. They were assigned the upper half of the Misty Forest, closer to the hollow tree area where they lived.

As for the lower half, closer to the Sunset Waterfall, that would be Viktor's responsibility.

Melissa wasn't in charge of patrols. She only stepped in when it was necessary to separate animals and people or when new fusions were needed.

Patrols were scheduled every five days, covering the entire assigned area. The forest's original inhabitants didn't need to be managed—the focus was on checking for any new outsiders to keep an eye on.

Hearing this, Sirius felt that a magical teleportation circle to travel everywhere would be incredibly useful right now.

Viktor also shared some work experience with them.

He advised Sirius and Xavier to move through the trees like he did. Many animals and outsiders in the forest rarely noticed movements overhead, making it easy to catch someone off guard.

Sirius said, "It certainly worked. You jumped us from above, and we couldn't catch up at all."

Viktor chuckled awkwardly. "It proves that starting from above is indeed practical."

Xavier said, "For elves, moving through trees is easier than on the ground. But for Sirius, it wouldn't be so easy. Your method is good, but parts of it don't quite apply to us."

Viktor glanced at Sirius and suddenly slapped his forehead. "Right, you're not an elf. You can't easily jump between trees—you'd break the branches."

Sirius said, "Thanks for reminding me I'm heavy. Even though I can't jump easily in the trees, I think Xavier in the trees and me on the ground can still work together just fine."

Viktor looked at them and sighed. "I think the three of us could actually work together, but then my workload wouldn't get any lighter."

Sirius wanted to say something comforting, but before he could think of anything, Melissa shouted from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready! Come help me serve the dishes!"

"Coming, coming!"

Melissa did most of the work, but they'd all helped out a lot. In any case, both the aroma and presentation shouted that dinner was a hit.

The chilled fruit soup Sirius had been curious about finally revealed its complete form on the table. The softened apples and pears had settled to the bottom of the bowl, topped with a thick layer of yogurt, sprinkled with halved green grapes and crunchy browned walnuts.

It looked delicious!

"Don't be shy. Help yourselves to whatever you want. I'm not going to cut the pie or carve the duck for you," Melissa said.

Sirius took the signal to start eating. His eager spoon finally dove into the bowl of fruit soup. He stirred it a few times before scooping up yogurt with grape flesh and walnut pieces into his mouth.

So refreshing!

The yogurt was cool, with a hint of apple and pear flavor. The cinnamon was rich, with that unique spice flavor. Sweet, sour, and perfect for a hot day.

Sirius memorized the recipe for chilled fruit soup. As long as they could make yogurt, they could try cooking it themselves.

Melissa's lamb pie and roast duck with apples were also incredibly delicious.

The lamb pie was mixed with onions sautéed in olive oil. The meat wasn't minced too finely, giving it a richer texture. Thanks to the added broth, the tender lamb pieces were juicy and aromatic, almost like a stew.

The duck skin was crispy. With one bite, the lips would gleam with duck fat. The sweetness of the apples reduced the gaminess of the duck, allowing the spices' aftertaste to shine through.

It was a wonderful dinner. Eating like this every day would be a dream.

Sirius cherished every bite, cleaning his plate thoroughly. Who knew when they'd get to enjoy such a lavish meal again?

Beyond the delicious dinner, the ranch's bathroom was another treat.

While they were eating, a large pot of hot water had been boiling in the kitchen. After dinner and some casual conversation, they could take a hot bath to relax before bedtime.

Sirius hadn't had a proper hot bath in a long time. Soaking in hot water and scrubbing with fragrant soap bubbles felt heavenly.

Building a proper bathroom instead of bathing outdoors was now a top priority.

After the bath, it was time to rest. Melissa had put them in the same guest room with two small beds side by side.

After saying goodnight, Sirius fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, after bidding farewell to Melissa and Viktor, they set off on their way home.

The rest of the day was spent building an outdoor chicken coop next to the simple deer pen. Like the pen, it was a crude, square wooden box, but surrounded by tall wooden fencing to keep predators out.

They hadn't seen the fawn for a day, and it had already finished the grass leaves they'd left. When it saw them, it started bleating softly for food.

Sirius, feeling guilty, fed the fawn two soft peaches as compensation.

On the third day, Sirius and Xavier finally set off on their journey to the mushroom cave.

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Author’s note: Goodnight, goodnight. [Calico cat]