—–
The powder even had information through a Status, and it was clearly some sort of material for alchemy or cooking. As I have Cooking Skills, I can see through an item and what they could make with it… I have yet to learn Alchemy from Emeraldine, so we have to get back to the lab and make some potions myself this time around to learn it… but that’s not the point right now, but the Bahu!
—–
[Roasted Bahu Seed Powder (D-Rank)]
A seed discovered by a tribe of Tanuki-kin over a thousand years ago is roasted and then powdered into a special bitter powder. When warm water is added alongside sugar, it becomes a delicious bitter drink that fills a person with energy and heat, especially good for winter and cold areas where people require to keep themselves warm over time.
Enhances the mind when digesting it through caffeine, a highly addictive substance.
—–
So it pretty much is coffee but renamed? I guess it might be a completely new plant altogether, but the parallelism is big in this one. At the very least, I know that it gives people a lot of energy when digesting it.
“Brown powder? What’s this?” asked Partner.
“It is a special brown powder specially made for people to drink. By drinking this, they can recover their senses and more. It is pretty good. You should try it out.” I said.
“We could drink this to warm ourselves… Well, me. You Undead don’t really need it, don’t you?” asked Emeraldine.
“Yeah, not really.” Said Partner.
“Hm, but we’ll make for everyone nonetheless… We’ll also make some other warm food. How about baked potatoes?” I suggested.
“Sounds good! With lots of butter!” said Takeshi.
“I want fish…” said Laura.
“Fish is too rare, and we don’t have it for now, so baked potatoes with butter it is,” I said.
“Yaaaay!” cried Takeshi.
Like that, we ended up boiling a lot of water, and we made a lot of Bahu, or well, let’s call it coffee for now because that’s literally it anyways. I tried it out myself, and because I am not alive nor do I have a body to absorb nutrients, I didn’t feel any caffeine, but the thing that I felt was the delicious bitter, warm, and sweet flavors combining together.
This is really like coffee! Well, a very bitter coffee, but very delicious nonetheless.
After that, we quickly began to share it with everyone, and then we realized that we had already reached halfway through the route. Only a kilometer or so was left before we could reach our destination.
We sat down around a phantasmal flame made by Silvio as we began to eat baked potatoes with butter and drink coffee. It was a nice evening.
“Lucifer! Come down and eat with us!” I said, using a little snake ghost to annoy him.
However, he seemed too fixated on our objective.
“Sorry, maybe later…” he said.
“Geez… What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” I asked.
“I just want to get there quickly…” he said.
“Okay… I get it. Fine, I am going to coil around your neck and stay with you through this little snake.” I said.
“I appreciate it…” he said faintly.
Meanwhile, down there, Emeraldine, Partner, Takeshi, and Laura were all cuddling with me while we rested over several cushions. There were at least three blankets over our legs to warm up the three living beings with us, Emeraldine and the twins.
Even Partner was getting warmer. I guess, now that she had evolved into this length, she was beginning to gain a few living traits that true vampires develop. If she evolves some more, she might regain them completely or something.
I was the only one that was cold! Although I discovered that my materialized body could change temperatures depending on the environment, thanks to everyone around me, I was slowly growing warmer.
Resting in here below the blankets with everyone really makes me want to take a nap with everyone…
“The potatoes are so good… I was so cold before, but now I feel warm…” said Takeshi.
“This drink is just like coffee…” said Laura.
“It is, isn’t it? And the potatoes go pretty good with it, right, Takeshi?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah! Can I get another potato?” asked Takeshi.
“You’ve already eaten three, Takeshi. Calm down with your eating habits. You’re only a little boy!” said Emeraldine, reprimanding the boy.
“Oh…” sighed Takeshi.
“Potatoes are good… But I prefer blood. Some warm blood could warm me up easily.” Said Partner as she looked down at the kids in front of us while licking her lips mischievously.
The two kids suddenly felt the presence of a predator behind them, as they slowly looked behind them as if their necks were cracking in fear and horror, like their bodies were stiff as a log!
“Hmm… Fresh… warm blood would be good…” said Partner.
What is she up to? Is this her Vampiric trait triggering out? We got vampires here, but they’re all dead, so they don’t get affected by such thirst as before. Is this what Partner might truly become?! I have to stop her! No drinking kids’ blood. That’s prohibited by the law of these lands!
“Partner, don’t think that! Calm down your Vampiric thirst!” I said.
Partner quickly woke up from her daze as she waved her head and giggled innocently a little bit…
“I-It is just a joke! A joke!” she said.
I know she wasn’t pretending; she was talking seriously back then.
“It was pretty obvious you were a bit serious there, but you should calm down and assess your vampiric lust.” Said Emeraldine.
“Y-Yes…” sighed Partner.
“You’ve drunk blood, right? We have given you fresh blood from whatever we hunt, and the reserves of the Blood from the other humans we killed ran out by now….” I said.
“Yes, I am fine… I just… humanoid blood is always more appetizing.” She said.
“Hm, must be part of the curse of being a Vampire…” said Emeraldine.
“It is indeed quite problematic….” I said.
—