Chapter 355: Bread and Dagger (53)
Chapter 355: Bread and Dagger (53)
Life in the elf village was a novel experience.
Having lived my entire life as an Imperial noble, staying in the remote reaches of the North was bound to feel different. To top it off, my new neighbors were elves.
It was something I couldn't have imagined even a few days ago.
Through a series of unavoidable coincidences and twists of fate, I was now living among them.
Time flows like the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek.
When you keep your eyes on it, it doesn't seem to move, but the moment you look away, it has already crept up right beside you.
It was the same here in the elf village.
The past few days had been a whirlwind.
I had spent my time getting to know the dozen or so villagers, exchanging greetings, and struggling to adapt to a new way of life.
Before I knew it, several pages of the calendar had already turned.
During that time, I had come to realize a few things.
First, the food situation for the elves was far more dire than I had imagined.
It happened shortly after I arrived in the village.
I received an invitation from Uncle Dolph.
He had taken a particular liking to me during the banquet, and he went as far as to offer to treat me to an elven dinner.
I had no reason to refuse.
I was curious about the elven diet anyway. On the night I readily accepted his offer, I headed to Uncle Dolph’s house with Luguet.
It was a shabby hut.
I’d heard he was the village carpenter, but his own home was no different from those of the other elves. Considering their circumstances, it wasn't an incomprehensible sight.
Architecture is a culmination of many technologies.
From design to materials and processing, "construction" involves various complex issues. It was extremely difficult for an elf to receive professional training in such fields.
This was due to an infinite lack of resources.
Thus, to an elf, "carpenter" was usually just a term for someone who was handy. One couldn't expect the level of expertise the title usually implied.
Uncle Dolph’s hut was proof of that.
No carpenter would fail to put their heart and soul into building their own home. Yet, the result was barely different from what he built for others.
Of course, this was also a testament to Uncle Dolph’s character.
He was an unpretentious and honest elf, someone who did his best regardless of whether the task was for himself or another.
Furthermore, he was a kind-hearted neighbor with a strong sense of altruism—though he was said to have the flaws of being hot-tempered and somewhat ignorant when he drank.
That didn't apply to me yet, however.
I had never seen Uncle Dolph drunk.
These were elves who lacked even enough food for their daily meals. They rarely had the luxury to spare resources for making alcohol.
According to Luguet, a day where they could drink only came around once every few years.
It seemed unlikely I would ever see a drunken Uncle Dolph.
I entered the hut while chatting idly with Luguet.
Unlike its ragged exterior, the interior of the hut was cozy and warm. A fire blazed in the hearth-cum-fireplace in the center, radiating heat.
For a moment, the intense warmth felt like it was peeling the skin off my face.
Elves who had come up from the South were particularly sensitive to heating. They tended to use an almost excessive amount of wood, partly because timber was the one thing plentiful in the coniferous forests.
Every other resource was scarce. The only thing an elf could use lavishly to entertain a guest was firewood.
Not that it mattered much to me.
A body that has reached the level of an Expert forgets heat and cold. Even the biting chill of the North could not penetrate my skin.
However, it was only polite to repay hospitality with gratitude, so I bowed my head and offered a polite greeting.
"Thank you for inviting me today, Mr. Dolph... The room is very warm."
"Haha, I can't have a guest shivering in the cold! More importantly, you're all hungry, right?"
His voice was laced with a strange sense of anticipation.
Uncle Dolph was even rubbing his hands together. He looked like a child itching to show off a magnificent new toy.
It was a characteristic of elves.
Even after living for hundreds of years, they never lost their sense of wonder. To put it kindly, they were pure; to put it bluntly, they were naive. Perhaps that was the secret to their longevity.
It would be too agonizing to live for centuries with a heart that had grown jaded and worn.
One had to maintain an attitude of treating each day as a blessing, like a child.
I gave a faint smile at his reaction, but I couldn't hide my own rising expectations.
Just how wonderful was this food that he was so excited?
Luguet seemed to feel the same way. Unable to contain his curiosity, he finally asked Uncle Dolph.
"Come on, Uncle Dolph. What did you prepare for the menu today to act like this?"
"Hehe, you'll be surprised when you see it."
Uncle Dolph gave a meaningful smile at the question. Confidence radiated from that faint arc of his lips.
Only after seeing Luguet and me growing impatient did Uncle Dolph finally move, seemingly satisfied.
He headed toward the kitchen.
Our anticipation reached its peak.
Before long, Uncle Dolph returned carrying a large pot.
Hot steam was escaping through the gaps in the lid.
A peculiar scent of meat brushed against the tip of my nose. It was a smell I had never encountered in my life.
Was it a dish made from a creature that only lived in the North? I found it hard to hide my excitement.
It was then that Uncle Dolph removed the lid with his large, calloused hands.
Immediately, white steam blurred my vision, and then the hidden ingredients came into view.
Animals with their fur stripped away, revealing their reddish bare flesh.
They were rats.
I momentarily lost my words and shut my mouth.
I had thought I was being welcomed, but I began to wonder if I had been mistaken. It was a reality so hard to accept that I instinctively suspected it might be a malicious prank.
Of course, it didn't take long for that suspicion to crumble.
"It's rats... and two of them at that! Uncle Dolph, how did you catch them?"
"I tried making a trap as an experiment. You know how rats have a habit of gnawing with their front teeth? Just in case, I put a piece of wood in as bait... and look, these stupid rats got caught in the trap! Hahaha!"
Luguet let out an exclamation of awe, and Uncle Dolph began to brag with a triumphant look.
I silently looked down at the soup in the pot.
It was a dish that didn't even contain common vegetables. Aside from the rats, the only other contents were pieces of mysterious moss floating around.
Because no proper spices had been added, it gave off a nauseating stench.
It wasn't as if the rats in the soup were large, either. They were only about the size of a palm, and yet he was presenting two of them as a feast.
The pale broth looked like an attempt to increase the volume somehow. Even if I gulped it down, it would only taste of muddy moss and gamey meat.
Nevertheless, Luguet and Uncle Dolph looked more excited than ever.
I was deeply shocked by the sight.
"That's not the only surprising part. Look closely at this rat's belly..."
There was more to be surprised about?
My eyes blankly drifted toward the rat's carcass. Indeed, the belly of the rat floating on the soup looked bloated.
Before I could even raise a question.
Uncle Dolph pulled out the bloated rat with a pair of tongs. Then, with skillful knife work, he slit the rat's small belly, and translucent lumps of flesh spilled out.
They were rat fetuses.
I barely managed to suppress the urge to gag.
Luguet, on the other hand, grew even more excited and raised his voice.
"Wait, it's a pregnant rat! The fetuses are a real delicacy... You're incredibly lucky, Uncle!"
"Right? But I'll specially yield this delicacy to our precious human guest. Is he not the benefactor who treated us to bread?"
At Uncle Dolph’s gratified voice, Luguet nodded his head in agreement.
A smile overflowing with pure goodwill formed on his lips.
"Human, you're lucky. Finding a pregnant rat is like catching a star in the sky. Not only is the meat plump, but the soft texture of the fetuses is exquisite."
"Then what will you two eat?"
"Hahaha, don't worry! We still have one rat left."
Uncle Dolph burst into a hearty laugh.
He spoke as if he were hearing something absurd. As if a life where two adult men shared a single rat was perfectly natural.
My expression grew even darker.
Out of respect for their goodwill, I knew I had to taste it, but I couldn't bring myself to touch it. I might have been able to endure the rat meat, but the fetuses were too much.
In the end, I had to make a counter-proposal.
"Uncle Dolph, and Luguet. I have some ingredients that will make this wonderful dish shine even more. Would you let me take over for a moment?"
Uncle Dolph and Luguet blinked in surprise.
There was no reason for them to refuse. The elves were always living on the brink of starvation. They wouldn't turn down an offer to increase the amount of food.
I did my best with my mediocre cooking skills.
I added tomatoes, onions, and green onions, and simmered beef and spices into the mix. Dinner was delayed significantly, but it was worth it.
Luguet and Uncle Dolph shed a single tear.
"It's delicious... It's fatty and the savory flavor is incredible..."
While Luguet was exclaiming in awe, I was able to finish the meal safely without eating the rat meat. Even so, I was still reluctant to pick up my spoon.
It was a problem I would have to get used to gradually.
The meal ended like that.
Just before I left the hut, Uncle Dolph gave me a firm handshake. Wiping away the tears that had trickled out from emotion, he said:
"It's a shame the smell of the meat was reduced, but it was more delicious than anything."
I had intentionally tried to kill that gamey smell.
It seemed the elves accepted even that stench as a kind of flavor. They say tastes change according to the environment, and it was true.
In that case, would I have to get used to this diet as well?
If it were just rat meat, I felt like I could manage to eat it somehow.
With various stray thoughts, I spent another day in the elf village. And the next morning, my housemate Avian came to me with a meal.
It was a pale porridge. Between the thick broth, I could see things that looked like white threads.
Dumbfounded, I asked.
"What is this?"
"It's tree porridge. It's our staple food. We peel the bark and boil the soft inner part for a long time."
I couldn't even manage a hollow laugh.
I simply asked the question that immediately came to mind.
"Is there any nutrition in this?"
"It's rich in fiber."
"That... is indigestible."
In the end, Avian refused to answer further.
Judging by her reddened face, she seemed ashamed to testify to the dire lives of the elves. Even though it was a reality she couldn't hide from me now.
I sighed and attempted to eat.
As I stirred the porridge with a wooden spoon, the white fibers clung to it. After hesitating for a moment, I steeled myself and took a spoonful of the tree porridge.
The thin threads were bothersome. A raw, grassy smell filled my mouth to an unpleasant degree.
It was far too tasteless to be a staple food. Even the nutritional value was pathetic.
It was merely food meant to fill the stomach.
"If I dried this, I could probably use it as paper..."
Swallowing a hollow laugh, I made a decision.
I could not adapt to a life like this.
If so, there was only one answer: I had to improve the village's food situation with my own hands.
A few days later, I decided to go hunting myself.
Along with Old Man Pope, Isha, and Avian.