—–
So, time to make a tasty stew for the folks!
I opened my inventory and took out a sack of salt, potatoes mixed with other things such as carrots and radish, a few large chunks of dried meat, spices, and even some monster bones that could make a good broth, alongside a lot of hydra meat we have lying around; I bet it could taste nice.
I checked if it had poison or something, and it didn’t. It was just very high-quality meat! Lucifer and Partner had been eating it up, but it was a gigantic beast, so there’s a lot lying around even now.
And because my Inventory doesn’t let food spoil, it is the perfect place to store stuff without worrying about it rotting away.
The Goblins here were very cooperative, as they began to help me cut the meat and vegetables and boil them in freshwater that they took from a nearby lake.
The Hydra meat was actually quite tasty when boiled in salt and made an amazing broth if we added some bones into it…
Oho! The bones richness is slowly boiled into the flavors of the soup…
Oh my, oh my! It’s looking delish! Finally, some decent food! Salt, how much I’ve missed you!
Now that I can materialize, I can eat food and even slowly convert it into mana through a similar thing as digesting, but I don’t have to go to the bathroom anymore.
Yeah! It feels honestly normal at this point because I got used to it, but not needing to do both is a bit strange when you think about it…
Anyways, I better not talk about that in the middle of the food, though!
I left Lucifer and Partner to roast the meat.
They added some spices and salt too and were quite cooperative. I am guessing that Lucifer was also hungry for some tastier food than just raw monster meat, but he was hiding it because he’s a prideful and grumpy old dragon.
And Partner… well, she inherited my licking for tasty food, so she wanted to try out some salt on her meat.
In addition, Kuro went into the lake and began to hunt fish. He brought them back with his mouth and even ended- EH?!
SPLASH!
“GLUOP! GLUOP! GLUOP!”
A giant three-meter-tall catfish was suddenly thrown out of the lake!
“W-What?!”
“A giant catfish!”
“It has been ages since we had one….”
“Amazing!”
“Hurray for Kuro!”
The goblins began to praise my cat as he jumped out of the lake.
He hunted quite a big game for us.
We decided to save it for later though, as we don’t have to eat everything, and we have already made around six pots filled with stew, which should be more than enough for the goblins.
They have small stomachs, and there are less than 40, so it should be feasible to feed everyone.
I also cut down the bread into slices and distributed it with the stew. And in an instant, everyone began to dig in. Family, friends, and the young ones. It was a pleasant sight.
We sat down at a table with Lucifer, Partner, the Chief, and Gufumin. Meanwhile, Kuro was snacking on a meter big catfish, which was probably a smaller version of the giant he got.
The sun is bright today… Uwah, this was really a nice day to just relax.
“Been a while since we truly relaxed for once, huh?” I said.
“Indeed. It has truly been a while… Though we have been camping around, being with the living really does make things livelier. You’ve been taking good care of your people,” Lucifer said to the chief.
“A-Ah, we are doing what we can, sir. But even then, many… well, many died in that raid, so we ended up becoming even less… Many hunters died there, so we now have way more women and children compared to adult hunters,” Said the chief.
“Do women do not hunt?” I asked.
“It’s not that they’re weaker or something, but they’re taking care of the kids. They’re better at that than we are… a thing of culture you see….” The Goblin replied.
“Oh… I see.”
“There are a few ladies that hunt. They’re strong on their own, but they also got kids and don’t want to stay away from them for too long. We are trying to make up for the losses of the past years by having more kids to fill up our ranks, but it’s gonna take a while…” Sighed the Goblin.
“Can I get seconds?” Gofumin asked me as she showed me her clean plate.
Her face was a bit nasty with stew.
“You really liked it, didn’t you?” I asked while petting her.
“I loved it! I’ve never eaten something so yummy before!” she said.
Aww…
“Gofumin, don’t be rude asking for more food. We have already been helped so much! Be more mindful, will you? The rest of the food is for the rest of the people, too,” Said the chief.
“I want some more…” Gofumin sighed.
I served her some more while also adding a slice of bread.
“Here, dearie! You’re so young. You need to eat a lot to grow strong like your mama,” I said.
“Ooh! Thank you!”
“L-Lady Maria, if you begin giving her seconds, then everyone will think you’re using favoritism. It is not a good thing, even less as the daughter of the chief….” Sighed the chief.
“Well, why should I care? If they want seconds, they can come. First come, first serve! Don’t complain if you didn’t get seconds!”
As I roared, the goblin village exploded, and everyone came rushing for seconds.
There were enough seconds for everyone, but I served them less than before… fufu…
“Lady Maria is quite… something,” Said the chief.
“She’s like that. You’ll get used to her, chief,” Lucifer added.
“I want thirds!” Partner shouted.
“There’s no more!” I replied.
“Muuhh…”
Partner got a bit angry, hitting the floor with her foot and pouting.
“I am still hungry…” She sighed.
“B-But there’s no more…” I said.
“I want more!”
“Fweh?!”
Partner began to grab my breasts and annoyingly play with them until I was to give her what she wanted!
“Aaah! S-Stop!” I said, as I hit her head with a book I had in hand.
SMACK!
“Gueh…!”
“How very rude! You don’t go treating me like that, young lady!” I said.
“Buhh… Sorry…” She apologized.
Aw, how can I get angry with those puppy eyes?
I opened my inventory and gave her a large hydra leg.
“This should do, dearie, don’t get so desperate,” I sighed.
“Ooh, meat!”
And the problem was solved.
Ugh, I think I might be too forgiving.
—–