Survival Cooking
The cooking process wasn't all that difficult. Coniglio alla Cacciatora was originally a dish hunters whipped up to simply eat their catch, and the recipe from my memories wasn't complicated either.
"Mari, you can use basic magic, right?"
"Y-Yes? Of course! Anyone who can handle mana knows basic spells as a fundamental skill."
"Then could you make us some simple bowls and a pot?"
"Bowls and a pot...? Sure, that's not hard."
A proper expedition team would usually carry basic cooking tools anyway, and I had some camping gear in my cube. But to impress the instructor, this seemed like a much better approach.
Mari started digging into the ground in an instant, pulled out some clay from deep below, shaped it into bowls, and fired it at high heat in a flash.
"...Magic sure is convenient."
"You're an aura user, right, Eugene? Well, some world-class heroes use both aura and mana, so maybe you'll awaken to mana someday too?"
"Could be."
I had no idea if Eugene had any talent for magic. But I had my own thoughts on the matter anyway.
"Oh, can you handle prepping ingredients?"
"Um... basic stuff, yeah?"
"Then could you wash the veggies and do a simple chop?"
"...Sure!"
While she cleaned and prepped the vegetables with magic, I decided to handle the rabbit.
It was my first time butchering one, but was it because the smart lens displayed the steps right in front of me? Or had I just done so many random things lately? Either way, I managed to process the Lucky-foot Rabbit smoothly without any hitches.
...It definitely had that luck-boosting effect on its feet, right?
I cut off both feet, stashed one in my cube, and handed the other to Mari.
"Huh? What's th— Kyaaah! What is this?!"
"Rabbit foot."
"I can see it's a foot!! Why the hell are you throwing it at me?!"
She teared up, shocked by the foot that suddenly dropped in front of her, and yelled at me accusingly.
"...It's a lucky item?"
"Huh? Lucky item... Oh, you mean the whole 'rabbit's foot brings good luck' thing?"
I nodded, and she bit her lip, glaring at me.
"Still... at least wipe off the blood first. You scared me tossing it like that!"
"Ah... sorry."
Yeah, anyone would freak out if you chucked a bloody rabbit foot at them. I'd been around so few normal people lately that I'd forgotten basic common sense.
"Seriously, be more careful next time."
I nodded apologetically as she wiped her tears with her uniform sleeve.
Sea-a would've asked how much it cost. Haru would've thanked me for the valuable gift.
Hmm... It felt kinda surreal seeing a normal reaction after so long.
...Yeah, that's the normal one, right?
I focused back on the cooking.
I blanched the prepped rabbit in boiling water for about a minute, then crushed the rock salt and pepper the rats had brought and rubbed it in as a marinade.
Next, sear it golden brown and stew it in wine with the veggies using the fat... but since we couldn't use wine, I substituted water.
The result?
"It... it looks delicious?"
"Right?"
Not just some steamed rabbit roast, but proper Coniglio alla Cacciatora was complete.
"Now we just take this and go."
"Yeah. We went pretty deep chasing the Lucky-foot Rabbit, but heading down should be quick."
I stored the food in my cube for preservation as I said it.
"Shall we head down then?"
"Y-Yeah!"
Mari summoned a golem again for smooth travel. As we descended chatting about this and that, a sudden curiosity hit me.
"By the way, mind if I ask why you suggested teaming up with me today? I've never seen you approach someone first like that."
"Huh? Oh? Ah, that...? Y-Yeah?"
She panicked noticeably, even though it wasn't a heavy question.
"W-Well... um...!"
No fear in her eyes, so it wasn't like she was busted for lying or anything.
"I... Your speech during assembly really moved me. It felt like my eyes were opened to something. I got interested in getting closer to you. Y'know, something like that!"
Ah, got it.
Mari Nate's event unlock first stage—high affinity—was already cleared thanks to my 【Bad Boy】 trait. And she got moved by my speech on top of that?
Obvious from there.
"You wanna get closer. Something like that, huh."
"...Yeah?"
I hadn't seen her chatting much with classmates. At most, fiddling with her doll's hand while on her phone.
She probably never felt the need for friends until this sparked it.
"Your speech moved you, so you wanna be friends. Right?"
"Y-Yeah! Th-That...! You're pretty sharp, huh, Eugene?"
"As vice class rep, keeping an eye on everyone is just part of the job."
Doesn't that make me a stellar vice rep?
As I thought that, we were nearing the rendezvous point where the instructor waited.
"Mari, hold up."
"Huh?"
I stepped in front of her and signaled to keep quiet.
"Something's around."
"Around us? But I don't sense—"
────Rustle!
"Kyaaak!"
Suddenly, someone dropped from above us.
"Don't move! We're the Verdant Forest Cult— Boss?"
"...Jinwoo? What're you doing here."
"Huh? Uh... cooking activity?"
No, what kind of cooking activity has you dropping from the sky yelling "Verdant Forest Cult"?
"No, dude! I said come with me— Huh? Eugene?"
"Sea-a?"
The two from what I thought was the strongest duo in class appeared. But they both looked ridiculously anxious.
"Um... Aren't these Eugene's clubmates?"
"Yeah, but what the...?"
Hold on. Verdant Forest? Cooking "activity"? Don't tell me...
"You two weren't cooking. You planned to steal someone else's, right?"
My hunch voiced aloud made Jinwoo flinch and avert his eyes.
"St-Steal? Boss, what're you talking about? R-Right, Sea-a?"
"Why ask me? You're the one who didn't bring ingredients while hyping up snatching food!"
"Who knew she'd say she couldn't cook without a recipe book!"
...The picture was coming together.
Jinwoo figured Sea-a could scout and cook, so he begged to team up. But she's the type who can't improvise without a recipe.
End result: nothing done till crunch time, so they planned to use her powers to steal someone else's food.
"...Kinda suits you, in a twisted way."
"Hehe, right?"
I wasn't praising him, but he scratched his head grinning anyway. Mari eyed him weirdly at the disconnect.
"Stealing someone else's food to submit... won't that deduct points? Doesn't seem like a great plan."
"Nah, think about it—it's the most rational approach."
"Huh?!"
She jumped, shocked I'd say that.
"It's a survival cooking class, after all. In a real survival scenario, snatching someone else's food to eat is part of surviving. The instructor would acknowledge that."
"O-Oh! I-I mean, right? Knew you'd get my plan, Boss!"
No one'd buy that reaction now...
But now that we'd met, no helping it.
"So you wanna take ours? We'd fight back full force, though."
I cracked my neck and knuckles. Jinwoo waved frantically, backing off.
"No no, what're you saying? Starting a fight with you in survival class ain't survival—it's suicide!"
...Fair.
"We'll head out then. No way we could snatch from your group anyway..."
"Agreed. Better to grab mountain berries or wild greens for points than fight Eugene's team."
Sea-a shook her head, no fight in her, and turned to Jinwoo.
"Let's hit someone else."
"...Yeah. Who though?"
"Well... I sense Youngje's mana that way?"
"Glasses' mana? Stealing nerd food would be hilarious. What do ya think?"
"Even if we can't eat it, gotta do it. Can't take the deduction! I'd die of injustice!"
I pitied Youngje, imagining his impending ambush as they vanished chatting.
He'd block if he could, but... an assassin and space mage in the mountains? I'd run if I were him.
"Let's go."
"Ah... okay."
I snapped spaced-out Mari out of staring after them, and we continued down.
Wonder what Youngje's group made. Now I was curious what Jinwoo and Sea-a would bring back.
* * *
"Mmmi!!! Perfect!! So good!"
The instructor who first tasted our dish teared up and hopped in joy.
"Sourcing wild ingredients like these and cooking such high quality in the wilderness! God, is this even possible?!"
Then he grabbed a rabbit leg bare-handed and thrust it skyward.
"This familiar heft... No way, you caught and cooked a Lucky-foot Rabbit?! That legendary ingredient!!!"
So that's why he raised it to the sky—to gauge the weight.
"Correct."
He didn't hesitate, ripping into the leg.
"Hoooh! Hefty weight and chewiness, with perfect snap and bursting juices! Full marks! Han Eugene, Mari Nate! Perfect scooore!"
Has the instructor's character flipped too much...?
Anyway.
──We got the high score we earned.
Meanwhile, the two who tried stealing...
"Jinwoo Bivalt. And Kim Sea-a. Is... this food?"
Their submission was unrecognizable mush—like trampling abyss fruits and mixing in mud.
Looked like it got wrecked fighting Youngje's group.
"T-Tastes good though, right?"
Jinwoo cautiously protested. The instructor sighed, setting down the mud ball.
"Looks like poisonous fruits got mixed in with the edible ones. That's... a deduction."
"P-Poison?"
"...Youngje put poison in his food as a trap."
...Who'd have guessed.
Youngje prepped anti-raid trap food.
"Ahh, from Lucky-foot Rabbit bliss to this crash. And my tongue's numb—no more tasting. ...Jinwoo Bivalt! Kim Sea-a! Lowest score!!!"
"You damn idiot, Jinwoo!!!"
"...Ha. Haha. Hahahaha."
In the end, they got their karma and wrapped up the class.