Chapter 68
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Abavis Fritters
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On the road leaving Riyaya toward Kapindo, the Butchery Team gathered heaps of Nepeta flowers and leaves by the roadside at River's request.
The plan was to dry them and use them as herbs.
Unable to hunt any monsters, they collected whatever they could get their hands on. Bankers stretched his back, speaking up after a long while.
“This takes quite a bit of effort too. Now I'm even hungrier.”
The sun was already high in the sky, but only then did they remember they hadn't eaten anything yet. Luckily, they had something to eat: the Abaris flower stems and petals.
The Butchery Team discussed the ingredients.
Bankers swung a roughly 2-meter flower stem with force.
“This flower stem has some nice springiness to it.”
Even when Dane had struck a Gurbabanan with full power, it hadn't broken. It was sturdy enough to use as a weapon.
River said,
“The inside is hollow. Probably the vascular tissue for spraying sleep secretions.”
She glanced at the petals as she spoke.
They were shaped like thinly sliced, spread-out meat. The difference was the thick, sticky mucus coating the surface. And the strong, distinctive smell.
River mentally assembled and disassembled various recipes before reaching a conclusion.
“Let's fry them.”
She explained the plan to Dane and asked him to prepare the flower stems and petals.
-Chop! Chop! Chop! Chop! Chop!
-Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice!
He cut the flower stems into palm-sized pieces, then scored the surfaces in X shapes several times.
-Chopchopchopchopchop!
The meaty petals were minced small using two cleavers. The speed was incredible, and the petals gradually lost their shape.
River kept sprinkling Nepeta flowers and leaves onto the cutting board as the meat minced. The ingredients quickly clumped together in the meat's sticky mucus.
As the knife work sped up, sweet, cool, tangy, and musky scents from the different petals filled the carriage.
“Heh heh, this is oddly appetite-inducing.”
River seasoned the minced meat with various spices and urged her comrades to help stuff the flower stems.
They sat in a circle, pressing the filling firmly into the hollows of the flower stems. Dane felt a strange intimacy, like making dumplings with his family.
“Alright, here we go.” River dropped the flower stems one by one into the hot oil.
-Sizzle!
The sound of heavy rain filled the carriage. Just hearing it made it sound delicious. It naturally brought thoughts of liquor.
Bankers marveled.
“It's so hot and humid outside, and we're doing fried food. Good thing we paneled the carriage roof with Yadus ore.”
Covering the roof with Yadus ore for mobile butchery had proven effective once again. Even the heat from frying couldn't warm the interior.
While the flower stems fried, River prepared the dipping sauce.
She finely chopped garlic, peppers, and green onions, then quickly stir-fried Nepeta flowers in Rudelver-style soy sauce. As the sauce finished, the fried flower stems began floating to the top of the oil.
Scooping them out and drizzling the sauce completed the dish.
“All done!”
[Nepeta Flowers and Leaves with Abaris Flower Stem - Petal Fritters]
Dane picked up a piece first and popped it into his mouth.
-Crunch!
The texture was unexpected. Heating it made it soften just enough to chew lightly. Despite being fried, it absorbed the sauce so quickly that it wasn't crispy—instead, it had a pleasant, meaty chew.
‘Like eggplant or bamboo shoots. This has a weirdly intriguing flavor.’
As his teeth pierced the stem's surface and sank into the filling, the petal meat swirled around, getting chewed up. He ground the escaping bits with his molars. Juices burst forth.
A whirlwind of flavors danced. The Nepeta flowers and leaves tamed any off-flavors, filling his mouth with only pleasant tastes.
“Whew...!”
He just sighed in admiration and gestured for the others to dig in.
“Whoa, hot, huff huff...” Though it scorched their mouths, the comrades laughed ha-ha ho-ho as they enjoyed the food. They regretted not bringing more Abaris petals.
All three sets of eyes turned to the young Abaris planted in the wooden tub.
Priscilla paused mid-chew, her cheeks puffed out, and shook her head vigorously.
She swallowed everything in her mouth before speaking curtly.
“Too precious.”
Everyone found that Priscilla adorable. They refrained from adding that they'd raise it bigger and open it up when the insides were well-formed.
Bankers nodded, saying,
“If we raise them well and propagate more, that'd be great. It's a surprisingly excellent ingredient. Unlike Krekator, it's not hard to prepare, so if we had plenty, we'd never worry about food again.”
“Raising them won't be easy. If it were, Riyaya wouldn't be in that state.”
Dane agreed with River. He looked at Priscilla and said,
“Still, you're elves who manage the World Tree, so you'll raise this one well too. Do your best.”
Priscilla shyly bowed her head a little.
* * *
When the Butchery Team returned to Kapindo, it caused quite a stir. No one had ever seen anyone come back from Riyaya.
The Kapindo branch manager wiped his usual grim expression away and asked repeatedly what had happened.
“Kreya headquarters instructed us to search if you didn't return today.”
Dane had River write a letter to send directly to headquarters.
She briefly noted what happened in Riyaya and mentioned the potential for it to become a monster meat supplier in the future.
“Add that they have excellent butchering and deboning skills, so they should make contact soon.”
River finished the letter, folded it small, and tucked it into the delivery pouch on the Leighton peregrine falcon.
Bankers said,
“Come to think of it, the Riyayans are practically pioneers who've been deboning and eating monster meat.”
“Exactly. It got corrupted for power maintenance, but they developed those skills trying all sorts of methods to survive.”
River chimed in agreement.
In that harsh natural environment short on food, coexisting with plant-type monsters that attracted beasts had forced them to eat monster meat, driving the evolution of their deboning techniques.
They might not realize it, but if monster meat ever fully established itself as food, the Riyayans could claim a big share.
“In the end, they were practically parasitic on the monster plants.”
Dane shook his head at Bankers' words.
“In my view, there's not much difference. The elves are practically parasitic on the World Tree too. No, most species are like that.”
It sounded like criticism of the elves at first glance, but Priscilla was alone in a quiet spot far from her comrades and didn't hear.
She spun around with arms outstretched, dancing for a long time. Her movements stayed steady without a hint of dizziness.
Soon after, pollen arrived on a cool west wind. It swirled around her body, dancing together for a long while.
Only when the pollen scattered back into the air did Priscilla stop.
* * *
In the Foldtown Administrative Office, Tebier's office.
Sunlight streaming through the window was as bright as Tebier's expression. Illein didn't know which part of her report amused him.
Tebier tapped the desk and said,
“A significant number of Conwell villagers have entered Foldtown...”
“Yes. They're going through relocation procedures. Movements are starting from the outer zones too.”
That meant the Root Villages were vanishing rapidly.
“Can Foldtown handle it?”
“So far, yes, but if it reaches Zone 1, we'll exceed capacity.”
Tebier nodded and changed the subject.
“I heard another interesting story. They say a saintess with a mace saved a village?”
“Half-elf or not, the elves' influence reaching the zones is positive.”
“What's the Inspectorate's reaction?”
Illein chose her words carefully before answering.
“They seem to have already grasped the activities in Conwell. However... they weren't pleased with Priscilla's report. I went to some trouble to obtain and check it—inside the letter was just a lone drawing of a Krekator.”
“Hahaha!”
Tebier laughed long and hard.
Priscilla had only followed Tebier's instructions. He enjoyed imagining Vigdis's baffled face upon seeing the letter.
“And the elders?”
“For now, the Butchery Team and Priscilla aren't drawing attention, so no particular complaints. They're wary of monster hunting and meat-eating spreading across the Fold zones.”
“Good. The Butchery Team is still in the eastern delta?”
“We'll likely hear when they enter the Morf zone.”
“Excellent. Let's wait for more interesting news.”
After Illein left the office, Tebier pondered deeply for a long time.
He mulled over how the activities of Dane's Butchery Team, Kreya Company, and Harac Bar would affect his plans.
He hadn't anticipated they'd use Yadus ore that way. Whether the Root Villages vanished first or the Butchery Team changed them first would be key, he concluded.
Tebier thought he should soon visit Hedonis and check directly how much the capital had grasped of the situation. That was as far as his thoughts went.
Faintly drifting pollen caught his eye.
Sparkling in the sunlight, it scattered about before quickly depicting the message Priscilla had sent.
[It's Priscilla.]
[I ate Krekator.]
[Soy-braised is a delicacy.]
[Boiled is tasty too.]
[Ate aquatic monsters.]
[River cooked them deliciously.]
[Abaris attracts monsters.]
[Fried the Abaris.]
[Raising a baby Abaris.]
[Named it Bay.]
[Heading to Galrack now.]
The pollen drew no more letters. Instead, it scattered widely up and down before regathering.
‘Abaris, huh...’ Tebier regretted the lack of drawings of the aquatic monsters.
* * *
After the Butchery Team rested a full day, the Kreya merchant ship set sail again after a long while.
The crew and passengers, grounded in Kapindo all that time, brimmed with energy.
The Butchery Team endured endless questions about Riyaya, hunted and ate aquatic monsters, then arrived at their third stop, the village of Telrung.
The Kreya Telrung branch manager was a gaunt man with a sinister air.
Dressed in a suit to greet the Butchery Team, he didn't loosen his shirt collar button despite the heat.
The branch manager said,
“You're doing Yuka River tours and hunting. Headquarters mentioned you're heading into Galrack. That's the only place to hunt around here.”
“What about ways to get to Galrack?”
Dane asked.
“Impossible by land route. You have to go via the Yuka River tributary, but it's too narrow for merchant ships.”
“So we need a boat?”
“Yes. Galrack used to allow almost no outsiders, but lately, a Telrung specialty has become popular there, leading to discreet trades. Of course, Kreya Company monopolizes them.”
Dane asked Bankers,
“What's Galrack like? Know anything?”
“It's where catmen—cat beastkin—and cats live together. A nation of natural hunters. That's all I know.”
Come to think of it, touring Foldtown, the zones, and the delta, they'd met various beastkin, but never cat beastkin. Not even regular cats.
‘Lived 19 years without seeing a cat, yet never found it strange.’
They'd seen monsters, beastkin, dragons, elves, dwarves. Now, ordinary animals felt rare.
Dane asked the branch manager again,
“What's this specialty?”
“See for yourself.”
The branch manager fetched two boxes from the warehouse and opened them one by one. The Butchery Team peered inside, then exchanged glances.
The boxes were filled with familiar dried leaves and small-cut twigs.
Dane tilted his head.
“Why trade this... discreetly?”
“Nepeta—catnip leaves—and silvervine.”
The branch manager grinned slyly as he added,
“With these, the catmen and cats make their favorite drug.