Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Two: Pot-au-feu with Wine and Root Vegetables
“Don’t let anyone stray. As long as you stay within my sight and Miss Alchemist’s, we’ll be able to overturn any accusations that come our way later.”
“Yes, sir!”
As the sun sank toward the horizon over the plain, Gottfried issued instructions to the knights who were briskly setting up camp. Karen, who had been included in those instructions without anyone asking her, wore a sullen expression as she stirred the contents of her orichalcum alchemical cauldron with her World Tree ladle.
“Smells incredible. What kind of soup is that?”
“Just a pot-au-feu, Uncle Sepl.”
It was an autumn root vegetable pot-au-feu—carrots, potatoes, onions, and lotus root. Some of the ingredients Sepl and Urte retrieved from the luggage left behind near the tents, dodging monsters that had poured in, while others had been gathered from the edge of the Great Forest.
The horde of monsters that appeared had reportedly been subdued by the nobles present. The damage was said to be minor, but since the monsters had appeared close to the tent area, Helfried had issued an order for everyone to spend the night even further from the forest than usual.
Karen had tried to return to Helfried’s group, but Gottfried had held her back—and so here she was, apart from the place where most of the nobles had clustered together. It was so that, no matter what happened, she would not be involved—and could serve as a witness.
Licht had stepped away to gather more details about the monster incident, and both Petra and Rosine had gone back to check on their respective relatives.
The knights who had ventured deep into the forest for a multi-day hunt had not returned. Whether they were unaware of the disturbance or simply too far in, Karen couldn’t say. Julius was one of them. She had channeled magical power into the earring, and yet he still hadn’t come back. He must have ventured very deep into the forest indeed.
Karen found herself staring at the orichalcum ring on her left ring finger before she even realized it, and shook her head vigorously.
“Still, it’s strange. Finding such perfect vegetables growing wild like this…”
Muttering to herself to keep her mind from wandering, Karen stirred the large-cut ingredients as they bubbled away. In addition to the vegetables, she used wine and chunky bacon provided by the knights, cutting them into pieces and stewing everything together.
When she tasted it, the aroma of the wine was remarkably fine. Seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper, and bay leaves, the sweet fat of the thick-cut bacon from some bovine-type monster had melted together with the wholesome depth of the root vegetables, creating a savory taste that warms you to the core.
“It’s true—finding good ingredients that fast, and not even in a dungeon. You’ve got a real knack for it, Little Karen.”
“It’s not really a knack. They’re definitely appearing because I want them.”
“Appearing?”
Sepl tilted his head with a puzzled look. Karen, for her part, found herself equally puzzled by his reaction.
“Like, when you’re looking for an ingredient or a material, doesn’t it just… turn up, as if it suddenly materialized right in front of you?”
“If you’re searching, it’s normal to find them, isn’t it? And there are plenty of times when you don’t find them at all.”
Urte chimed in, blinking in genuine bewilderment. Karen looked up at her with a confused expression.
“Well… but sometimes things appear out of nowhere that shouldn’t be there at all, right?”
“Things that shouldn’t be there—what do you mean by that?”
Urte and Sepl gazed down at her with curious eyes, and Karen drew a sharp breath before her expression shifted to one of quiet contemplation.
“Right… if you grew up with this as your normal, of course, it would just seem normal…”
In a dungeon, for instance, in any environment where plants grew, you could generally find whatever plant you were looking for. Season meant nothing—in the same forest, on the same day, you could pick spring rapeseed blossoms and autumn sweet potatoes side by side. Any herb you could think of was findable if you searched, even if some were harder to come by than others.
Dungeons were places where strange things happened, so she had always let it pass as "just how things are." But if the same held true in forests outside dungeons, then perhaps this world itself was simply built that way.
Perhaps only Karen, having known a different world, could recognize how deeply wrong it all was.
“And once again, it’s become a potion. Honestly, your ability is astonishing every time.”
Urte peered through her appraisal mirror as she spoke. It was the same magnifying-glass type as the one Karen carried.
The hunting festival was noble territory, and up until now, Urte and Sepl had held back at a respectful distance, just as servants would—but given what was happening, of course, they had taken their place at Karen’s side.
“What’s the effect?”
“It says ‘strengthens the body.’ Does that mean eating this will make you stronger in the arms?”
“Strengthens… Oh, maybe it boosts immunity?”
Karen took out her own appraisal mirror from her pouch and had a look. Sure enough, the effect that came up was “boosts immune function”, exactly as she had expected. Through Urte’s mirror, it had apparently come through as the vaguer “strengthens the body.”
“It means it strengthens the body’s ability to ward off things like colds—so no, it won’t increase your arm strength, Ms. Urte.”
“Ward off colds… well, in a situation like this, the last thing any of us needs is to fall ill.”
Root vegetables were rich in Vitamin C, which helped build up the immune system. Given the circumstances, it was true that she had chosen the ingredients partly with that effect in mind.
“Come to think of it, it’s almost like the knights are here as your personal guard.”
“Oh, now there’s an idea. If we had said we came to escort Miss Alchemist, do you think we’d have been welcomed with open arms?”
Catching Urte’s whisper, Gottfried jokingly played along. If that had been their stated reason during this incident, Karen wouldn’t have been able to brush them off. But in truth, they were only sticking close to Karen to prove their own innocence.
“Well, telling lies doesn’t sit right with me. If it ever came to light, it would damage trust.”
As he spoke, Gottfried leaned over and peered into the orichalcum alchemical cauldron with a series of approving nods. Karen looked up at him.
“Knight Captain, I don’t mind being caught up in your affairs, but I have a condition.”
“Oh, so you’ve finally come around. What condition?”
“If Mr. Julius doesn’t return, please help me go look for him.”
She wanted to go herself if she could, but in a place where monsters appeared, Karen was helpless. She couldn’t ask too much of Sepl and Urte—they were there to protect her, not to risk their lives for her sake.
Karen gripped the World Tree ladle tightly as she spoke, and Gottfried tilted his head.
“Hmm.”
“Please. If Mr. Julius doesn’t come back by the day he’s expected, then…”
“Now, hold on. Master Julius is my grand-nephew. If he doesn’t return, I’ll go after him myself, whether you ask or not. Why not think of a different condition?”
“Huh?”
At Gottfried’s unexpectedly decent reply, Karen raised her head, which she had begun to bow, and blinked at him.
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