Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: Omen of Disaster? (2)
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-Crackle, crackle...
The sound of the campfire burning peacefully filled the air. Legion had devoured the entire pot of deer meat cream stew I'd made, then lounged around lazily, chomping on a whole roasted leg with crunchy bites. Given its massive size, the huge red stag had vanished in no time.
Because of that, I was casually tossing sweet potatoes harvested by the Phus into the gentle campfire and roasting them.
"Theo. Need help? Legion?"
"No. It's fine."
"Theo. Too slow."
Legion wagged its tail with a dissatisfied flick. I grinned and turned to look at it.
"Of course. Roasted sweet potatoes are supposed to be done slowly to taste good."
Simple, but nothing beat it. Low heat, slow roasting, taking your time. That was one of the most important keys to perfect roasted sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes that were perfectly ripe—bright yellow inside with honey pooling—tasted great raw, steamed, or fried, but the absolute best way was always roasting them.
To roast sweet potatoes right, you needed a low fire first. Very, very low and gentle heat. Around 100 degrees Celsius was plenty. Roast them at that low temperature for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once or twice. The reason for this initial low-heat par-roast was for ultra-fast 'aging.'
"Here we go."
-Rumble~!
-Crackle! Pop! Crackle!
I added more firewood to the campfire and turned up the heat. With the low-temp ultra-aging done, it was time for the real high-heat roast. Once the fire grew strong enough, I poked around the sweet potatoes and repositioned them. From here on, it was 15 minutes at over 180 degrees. Flip each one once or twice to ensure even cooking. That was key.
-Pop, crackle! Crackle!
"Mmm, smells good."
Sniff sniff. Legion seemed to catch the sweet, savory aroma too, sniffing for a moment before licking its chops. Yeah, one deer clearly wasn't enough.
"Just a bit longer."
I tossed a word to Legion, who was staring at me with eager, pleading eyes, then flipped the sweet potatoes one last time. They’d be tasty right now, but hold out just five more minutes for even better ones. The final five minutes at max heat! After those eternal five minutes, you'd get honey-dripping perfection.
"Ow, hot!"
I started pulling the sweet potatoes from the fire and loading them into a basket. Steam rose in wisps from the roasted ones, honey seeping out and leaving faint caramelized marks on the skins. Those scorch marks! Proof of deliciousness. Traces of the honey caramelizing.
"Theo! Good! Smell!"
"Yeah. Has to be. It's roasted sweet potato."
"Theo! Sweet potato! Theo! Sweet potato!"
"Eating it now will make it way tastier. Roasted sweet potatoes are best when they're still warm."
Perfect with milk, but I'd used it all for the cream stew. Too bad. One hot bite of roasted sweet potato, chased with cold milk!
-Gulp.
My mouth was watering. The smell was heavenly. Come to think of it, I'd eaten plenty of potatoes but not much sweet potato...
"Hoo..."
I picked the plumpest one from the full basket and started peeling it. Thanks to the Phus growing them well, every single one was as thick as an adult's forearm. A bit big for humans, maybe, but perfect for a dragon.
Perfectly roasted sweet potatoes peeled easily. Inside the shed skin: bright yellow, moist flesh! Honey-packed, it looked as soft as mousse. Some spots golden-brown, the rest sticky with honey glaze—utterly mouthwatering.
I blew on the peeled roasted sweet potato to cool it, then tossed it toward Legion. It opened its mouth with a thud and caught it. Wasn't it hot? That worry faded fast. Of course not. It was a dragon, born cradling fire.
"Kal. Over here."
"...Yes, Lord Theodore."
Callisto glanced warily at Legion before approaching cautiously. Legion growled briefly at the movement but turned away with a huff when I stopped it.
I handed Callisto a basket full of roasted sweet potatoes.
"This is..."
"Peel."
"...Pardon?"
"Peel the skins."
Exactly. Why else call Callisto? I couldn't peel all these alone. Callisto hesitated a moment, then took the basket meekly and started peeling.
"Doing this one by one..."
"Peel them? Obviously. It's for the kid."
"...Kid..."
Callisto looked startled at "kid." Fair enough. Legion was a massively huge dragon. But it was just a big body with a kid's heart—kid. Of course it needed peeled sweet potatoes. I casually peeled away as I said it.
"Peel diligently. Might cheer Legion up after."
"...Yes, Lord Theodore."
Callisto peeled diligently. Hmm, using such high-class help for sweet potato peeling felt a tad guilty. But what could I do? This was the disaster Callisto had brought on itself. Peeling hundreds of them.
I tossed peeled sweet potatoes straight into Legion's mouth one after another. It snapped them up like peeled candies, pop pop, and seemed pleased—its tail swaying slowly side to side. Didn't like veggies, but roasted sweet potatoes were a hit.
"Theo. Mmm... Fireball. Sweet."
"Not fireball. Sweet potato. Sweet potato."
"Sweeto po?"
"Sweet potato."
"Sweetato po?"
"Sweet potato."
"Sweet-po-ta-to."
"Sweet. Po-ta-to."
"Theo. Hard."
Legion cutely tilted its head this way and that, then gaped its mouth wide. I tossed another sweet potato, then looked at Callisto. True to its elven excellence, it'd nearly finished a whole basket. I handed it a fresh one, pulled out a small knife, and halved a peeled sweet potato.
"Theo?"
Legion called curiously as no sweet potato came straight to its mouth. I ignored it and split the potato. Then, between the halves...
-Slip...
I sliced a piece of cold, fresh butter from my subspace ring and sandwiched it in like a sandwich. The cold butter hit the hot sweet potato and started melting with a delicious aroma. Before it fully melted, I tossed it to Legion. Hup! It caught it flawlessly again, then thrashed its tail wildly, eyes sparkling brighter than before.
"Theo! Delicious!"
Heh. Knew it'd work. Butter with sweet potato, butter. Bite into well-roasted, tender sweet potato with cold butter sandwiched in... felt like hot ice cream. Butter doubled the nuttiness and deepened the sweetness. For a twist, a tiny pinch of salt.
Legion loved the butter-filled ones. I mechanically sliced butter, sandwiched it in roasted sweet potatoes, and tossed them over and over. Until my arm went numb.
"Ugh, tiring."
"Theo. More. Sweeto po. More."
"This is the last."
I tossed the final butter-sandwiched one, then tidied the empty baskets. Let's see, one, two, three, four, five. Five whole baskets gone. But it wouldn't last. I'd feed it plenty on the way back. Growing phase and all.
"Callisto."
I called to Callisto, who was picking sticky sweet potato skin bits from its fingers. I tossed it one of the two small leftover sweet potatoes, saving one.
"We should eat too."
"...Thank you."
Peeling must've been tough labor; it gave a faint smile and peeled it. Looking drained. Callisto bit into the roasted sweet potato listlessly...
"...!"
Its eyes lit up like Legion's. Of course. How could it resist my secret recipe roast? I grinned and offered butter.
"A little on top brings out the flavor."
"Delicious. Maximizes the ingredient's natural taste... Impressive."
"Just a sweet potato."
I sat beside Callisto, watched Legion, and started eating. Sweet. Literally honey-sweet.
"Callisto."
"Yes, Lord Theodore."
"Thanks for worrying."
"...No need. I should've prioritized your words above all, but I was rash."
"Nah. You judged it warranted action."
"..."
"Thought about it. Felt reassuring. Having someone worry about me."
"Grateful you see it that way."
Its overly polite response made me burst out laughing unwittingly. Guess Callisto's master-servant attitude toward me wouldn't change easily. Better for me to adapt.
All said and done, having a companion was great.
Legion soaked up enough moonlight until dawn hid it. Its obsidian scales, sparkling before, now gleamed green in the dawn light. Beautiful growth. All the sticky fatigue gone, it flew lightly around the lakeside, then leaped into my arms. Massive wingbeats whipped up wind, and soon a small lizard settled on my shoulder. I carefully tucked it into my inner pocket.
"Good work, Legion. Rest well."
Time to head back. We left Sequoia Forest.
* * *
Sequoia Forest's lake shone more brilliantly than the day before. Not mere sunlight glitter. Something more iridescent. Yes, a 'crystal'-like sparkle!
-Sparkle
-Sparkle
The dragon's shed skin at the lake bottom had crystallized like crystal, turning the whole lake into a Milky Way glow. That sparkle spread from the lake into Sequoia Forest. Scattered lights lit the woods like stars. Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle...
[The Goddess of Luck Riadel gazes at Sequoia Forest's lake.]
This sparkling lake would later be called the 'Lake of the Lucky Dragon.' But that's a story for a bit later.