Chapter Eighty-Eight: A Culinary Journey, Part One

This is the real issue, all right?!

The moment Catherine heard the news, she was instantly energized. She hurriedly asked Ling Mo, “Master, do you mean I won’t have to eat raw meat anymore? I can roast those demonic beasts before eating them, right?”

No wonder she was so eager. If it were only a day or two of raw food, she could endure it. If it were a month or two, she could barely bear it. But the thought of spending years and years eating nothing but raw flesh and blood, living like a savage, made her feel as though hope itself had drained out of life. For someone who loved food, being denied fine cuisine was no less than the harshest punishment. Now that dawn had suddenly broken through the clouds, she was naturally full of anticipation.

Ling Mo thought about it and said, “You could say that. But you still need to watch the energy cost. After all, this flame also consumes your own power. Roasting demonic beasts of your own level is manageable enough, but if they’re much weaker, it becomes a bit of a loss.”

“I see...” Catherine was a little disappointed, but she soon brightened again. “It’s fine. Roasting one demonic beast the size of a sheep would be enough to eat for several days, and if I sometimes run into fruits or vegetables rich in energy, that’s still pretty worthwhile.”

“That’s true,” Ling Mo nodded. Then, suddenly donning a genial smile, he said kindly, “Good disciple, your master has a small favor to ask.”

“...Please go ahead.” Whenever her master called her his dear disciple, it never boded well. Catherine shot Ling Mo a wary look.

“Right now you can’t do it yet, but when you advance to the rank of Great Martial Master, I want you to help me roast something. I hear it’s extremely delicious!”

“No!” Hearing this request, Catherine turned her head away. “Village chief, I’ve only known you for four days. We’re not close at all, okay?”

“I’ll give you one quarter.”

“Deal!” Catherine immediately turned back, beaming from ear to ear. “Master, can you tell me what you want to roast?”

“Balrog.”

“Huh?!”

“Balrog. Haven’t you heard of it? Also called a Balor, a demonic fire fiend. You know, the great demon with a pair of wings and a pair of goat horns. I’ve heard its sharp claws and massive wings are both delicious, but according to an old friend of mine, only bumpkins eat the wings and claws... Hmm? What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Catherine wore a strange expression. “I... in all sorts of literature and ancient legends, fire fiends are the kind of beings that eat people, right? Such terrifying demons, and now when I hear you talking about them, Master, it sounds like you’re discussing a chicken...”

Ling Mo nodded. “Ah, that. Since you’ve already set foot on the path of martial cultivation, you’d do well to learn this habit of mine: remember what tastes good and what tastes terrible. We’re not ascetics. When we have a choice, of course we should improve our quality of life. I once ate a vicious poison slime, and the texture and taste were hardly any better than chewing on the dirtiest filth imaginable.”

Catherine nodded in speechless resignation.

Ling Mo then continued, “According to my old friend, she once accidentally discovered that the most delicious, most essential part of a Balrog is actually the whip it carries in its hand. If cooked properly, it becomes so tasty you’d want to swallow your own tongue...”

“The whip?!” Catherine froze, then gestured vaguely with her hand. “You mean that flaming whip all fire fiends are holding? I saw an introduction to it on the Central Channel’s Demonic Beast World program. Isn’t that a weapon? You can eat it?”

“Not only can you eat it, but apparently it’s extremely delicious! My old friend would never lie. If she says it’s tasty, then it must be exceptionally good!”

“...Pardon me for asking, Master, but this old friend you mentioned this time... she wouldn’t happen to be another one like Anton, would she?”

“She isn’t.” Ling Mo smiled, a trace of nostalgia in his voice. “Not a demonic beast. She was a very beautiful girl. She was... an old flame of mine, you could say.”

“An old flame?!” Catherine’s voice shot up an octave.

“Mm? What’s wrong? Has that term fallen out of use on this continent? Then to put it in a more fashionable way, she’d be my ex-girlfriend. Hmm? Why are you looking at me strangely again?”

“No, I know what an old flame is...” Catherine swallowed with difficulty. Glancing at Ling Mo’s immensely powerful muscles, her expression became a little complicated. “I’m just curious what kind of woman could possibly be your girlfriend, Master, with such a manly man as you.”

“She...” Ling Mo had only spoken two words when he fell into memory. Seeing the faint smile on his face, Catherine suddenly felt uncomfortable. With a strained smile, she said:

“Actually, I don’t want to know anymore. As a disciple, I really shouldn’t pry too much into my master’s private life. Besides, I’m suddenly getting hungry, so Master, let’s hurry up and go hunting!”

“Hungry?” Ling Mo snapped out of his recollection and looked at Catherine in confusion. “That shouldn’t be possible. You drank so much of Anton’s source water that your energy should be quite abundant by now.”

“W-well...” Catherine hesitated before saying, “The energy is indeed plentiful, but my stomach is empty. There’s just this hollow feeling, like how you feel after getting a huge bottle of nutrient solution at the hospital.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” Ling Mo said with a nod. “Perfect, then. There’s a local specialty on the outskirts of Anton’s Black Mist region, and it’s absolutely delicious. You can only eat it here. We’ll set out at once. On the way, we can soak in a hot spring too—killing two birds with one stone.”

“A hot spring?” Catherine’s eyes lit up at once. Since falling ill that morning, her body had felt uncomfortable all along. On top of that, she had been sweating heavily, leaving her feeling sticky and clammy. Although she had soaked briefly in Anton’s source lake, that wasn’t water at all, so it naturally did nothing to cleanse her body.

She immediately followed after Ling Mo and broke into a run, asking as she went, “What kind of delicious thing is it? Is the hot spring water good? Is the temperature pleasant? Is it good for the skin?”

“Don’t ask so many questions,” Ling Mo said, waving a hand without looking back. “You’ll know when you see it. The journey’s not far. We’ll be there soon.”

Catherine fell silent. She began to consciously regulate the heat within her body. At first she had no idea how, but before long she was able to let a faint layer of flame cling to her back. In this way, she could dissipate heat without making her body too uncomfortable. From afar, the rapidly moving figure seemed to trail a faint afterimage, while a streak of dying embers streamed behind her, tinting the blur a pale gold-red with dazzling flair.

The two of them had been running for less than twenty minutes when their destination began to appear vaguely before Catherine. The closer they got, the more her face twitched, because she could clearly see that the so-called hot spring ahead—a large oval pool—was bubbling like a pot of boiling water. The bubbles themselves carried a slight yellow tinge, clearly saturated with all manner of poisonous substances such as sulfides. And looking down through the pool’s clear surface, she could see a great many creatures that looked remarkably like turtles crossed with crabs, leisurely stuffing something into their mouths at the bottom of the pool!

A note from the author: after posting this chapter, I’ll have no stockpiled chapters left. Tomorrow is still Monday. I am anxious.