Chapter 456 Cooking's Mystical Effects

With his Lv.5 Strength and fine control over his body, plus two lifetimes of accumulated kitchen skill and the boost from his newly acquired Development Ability Cooking, every ingredient that passed through his hands seemed to be given new life. His work flowed smoothly, neat and clean, and was a pleasure to watch. Maybe it was his imagination, but even the freshness of the ingredients seemed to have gone up a notch.

"This Cooking ability... the effects are that mystical?"

Looking at the various ingredients stacked neatly and prepped beside him, Leon fell briefly into thought.

"In that case..."

"Next, let me try what it does with boiling, pan-frying and stewing."

He set the cast-iron stew pot over the campfire, tossed a few pieces of charcoal into the flames, threw in some butter, added the seasonings he'd prepared in advance, then poured in the big pile of chopped ingredients, added the right amount of water and put the lid on. After that he wrapped a few potatoes in wet leaves and buried them in the embers at the edge of the fire. That way the stew and the roast potatoes would finish at the same time.

The rest was slow simmering, left to time.

He didn't sit idle, though. He turned and went right on preparing the other dishes.

"Hmm... let me think."

Tossing a few brightly colored berries up and down in his palm, Leon's mouth curved. He had an idea.

"Let's add a desert-style berry and vegetable salad."

"As for the sand thorn... juice it. Who'd have thought Goddess Demeter's latest research result came out of Sand Land."

Muttering to himself, he was already moving briskly.

...

In a corner of the desert, in a shelter formed by two dunes, the black night held nothing but the crackle of the campfire woven together with the rhythm of the stew bubbling in the pot.

Warm light filled the tent pitched nearby, throwing swaying silhouettes against the cloth, and soft laughter and chatter from the women drifted out now and then.

This was the depths of the Dungeon, danger on every side, and yet the air was filled with a rare and precious quiet.

...

Nearly an hour slipped by in that calm.

A lavish dinner, brimming with the flavor of the Dungeon's desert, was finally ready.

"Dinner!"

At Leon's call, the women, having recovered a little, pushed aside the tent flap and came out with sleepy eyes.

"Mm... what's this?"

"It smells amazing!"

"Sand thorn special drink, butter-roasted bread, Melen seafood risotto, desert-style stew, special desert berry salad, pan-seared steak..."

Leon looked around at everyone sitting on the ground, flicked out a towel and smiled.

"Sorry for the humble spread!"

"Beautiful ladies, please enjoy."

On the red-and-blue checkered picnic cloth, besides the neatly arranged bottles, jars of sauce, utensils and cups, dish after steaming dish gave off an inviting aroma. That rich, warm smell of food had everyone sitting around it swallowing at the same time.

Down here in the depths of the Dungeon, to sit together and eat freshly cooked hot food, most Adventurers wouldn't even dare imagine it. Forget hot food, being able to gnaw on dry rations was already doing well.

That dry, flavorless experience, like eating animal feed...

Even a dog would turn up its nose.

"Th, then I won't hold back!"

Laurier swallowed hard and grabbed the bread, crisp on the outside, soft inside, glossy with caramel, and took an enormous bite.

"Mmmph..."

The sweetness of the caramel went off in her mouth like a bomb, dopamine flooding up into her brain.

Happiness filled her whole body.

"Sho good~~~~"

After that muffled cry of delight, Laurier said nothing more and buried her head in the food.

"Slow down, nobody's going to take it from you."

Rose patted her on the back, amused, worried she'd choke eating that fast.

At the same time, everyone else, starving after a day of hard fighting, had their appetites roused by the steaming food and dug in without hesitation.

Cups clinked, laughter rose, and the mood around the campfire livened up.

"Sho good! Sho good! This one's good too!"

Sincere praise from the diners is the highest recognition a cook can get, and Leon's mouth curved up as he listened.

Rose sat cross-legged by his leg, grabbed hold of him and said with a bright smile, "Leon, stop standing around, come eat with us!"

"Coming!"

...

Leon held a big bowl and shoveled food down with his head lowered.

That hearty, unrestrained way of eating would make even someone with no appetite put away two extra bowls.

"Phew... I have to say, food you cook yourself does taste different."

"So good!"

Aura, leaning back beside him, rubbed her slightly rounded stomach and looked at Leon with envy written all over her small face. She puffed out her cheeks, looking torn.

"If only I had an appetite like Mr. Leon's, then my stamina wouldn't hold everyone back."

"But... if I ate as much as he does, would I put on weight?"

"If I ended up with a build like Royman's, I'd rather die..."

"Ugh, this is hard..."

Leon had no way of knowing the girl's troubles.

Still, if not for that one exception in Orario, he'd have assumed elves were a race that simply couldn't get fat.

Because as far as he could recall, apart from that pig Royman, he'd swear he had never seen a second fat elf with a big belly.

Especially not a female elf.

...

A warm dinner washed away the whole day's exhaustion.

Everyone lay sprawled lazily on the sand, looking up at the deep vault above, enjoying the hard-won peace.

Then Iri sighed softly.

"A cold shower right about now would make this perfect."

Her words struck a chord with several of the women present at once.

Margaret shook her head with some regret.

"A shame. In a place like Sand Land, forget water to bathe in, even drinking water... if we didn't have the Wonder Pack, we'd probably have to ration it strictly."

Persephone pushed up her glasses, her gaze passing thoughtfully over a certain figure who'd eaten his fill and already started to doze, and said quietly, "If we had a Mage with water magic on the team, we wouldn't have to suffer like this."

Jeanne and Rose exchanged a look.

"A water Mage, huh..."

...

Just then, a dull, heavy boom came faintly from the floor passage not far off.

The sand beneath them trembled with it.

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