Chapter 142: Spicy

"It’s not done yet, don’t rush." He shooed them to the side before anyone burned themselves.

After a short while, the roasted meat was ready, Ethan placed it onto plates and served. "Eat up, if it’s not enough, I’ll roast more."

"Wow, it’s so spicy."

"Just meat is too rich — eat some vegetables and fruit too, Liora, if it’s too spicy, eat less."

"It’s okay, it’sh delicioush, phew, phew, it is a bit shpicy, but it’sh really delicioush." Ethan had already reduced the chili for Liora’s sake, still, ever since they’d planted the Flame Fruit Trees, her spice tolerance had improved quite a bit, watching her eat with such relish, Ethan nodded in satisfaction.

"It smells so good — where is this fragrance coming from?" A melodious voice drifted in from the sea.

"Pardon me, we’re in the middle of eating... May I ask who you are?"

"I smelled the fragrance and came to take a look. I wonder if I could..." As she spoke, a beautiful woman rose from the water, she had the upper body of a human, wearing something resembling a swimsuit, while her lower half was a massive fish tail.

She caught sight of Ethan and paused. "May I ask, are you..."

A massive tail broke the surface behind her.

"Are you a mermaid?"

"Yes... May I ask who you are?"

The mermaid leaped from the water, she spun gracefully through the air a few times before landing on a reef by the shore.

"Wow, that’s amazing."

"I didn’t expect she could jump this high, meow~"

"Doesn’t it hurt?"

The mermaid brushed back her wet hair and smiled. "It doesn’t hurt, this is just a piece of cake for us merfolk."

"That’s truly incredible, by the way, would you like to eat something with us?"

"Sure." The mermaid happily agreed. Zharok immediately and enthusiastically picked up a piece of roasted meat and handed it to her, however, as if suddenly remembering something, he quickly asked.

"Oh right, this meat is a bit spicy, can you handle spicy food?"

"It’s fine, I’m very good at eating spicy food." The mermaid spoke with full confidence.

Zharok nodded and handed over the meat, the mermaid took it and swallowed it in one bite.

The originally blissful expression on the mermaid’s face turned bright red, she stuck her tongue out, panting from the heat, completely at a loss for what to do.

Seeing this, Ethan hurriedly scooped a spoonful of honey and offered it to her.

"Phew... So sweet." The Fire Spirit honey neutralized the burn, panting, the mermaid looked at Ethan with sparkling eyes.

"This meat is really delicious, I want another piece."

"Don’t rush, eat slowly. Ah, right — can you not come onto land?"

"Yeah, I can’t leave the water for too long."

"Is that so? Zharok, lend a hand." There was plenty of food; adding one more person to the meal just meant setting an extra pair of chopsticks. Ethan and Zharok worked together to carry the mermaid over to the fire.

"Is it okay for your fish tail to be out of the water?"

"It’s fine, I can last a whole day!"

’That’s good.’ Ethan handed her a bowl and chopsticks.

"By the way, we still don’t know your name. I’m Ethan."

"My name is Mira."

"I’m Zharok."

"I’m Liora."

"I’m Pearl, meow~"

After brief introductions, Ethan began roasting more meat, although Mira claimed she could handle spicy food, she was constantly drinking water — it seemed it was still a bit much for her, seeing this, Ethan added some extra honey to the marinade before continuing to roast the meat.

While roasting the meat, he asked Mira, "How did you end up coming here?"

"Mhm, mhm, so delicious, it’s like this — my Queen has been cursed..." While taking huge bites of roasted meat, Mira recounted the story to Ethan.

It turned out that the Mermaid Queen had been cursed, and the herbs capable of alleviating the pain of the curse could only be found along the coast, that was why Mira had braved the long and dangerous journey here to search for the herbs.

"Then is it okay for you to be eating here right now?"

"I’ve already found the herbs, so I have a little time left." Mira smiled, then curiously observed Ethan and the others, she realized that these people were not residents of the coast.

"You guys aren’t from around here, are you? And, this gentleman here, aren’t you..."

Mira looked at Ethan in surprise, seeming to recognize his identity.

"We are here looking for the Water Spirit Tree." Ethan did not hide his purpose.

"The Water Spirit Tree? Hmm..."

"Do you know the Water Spirit Tree?"

"I do, but what do you want it for? Aside from looking pretty and bearing Water Spirit Fruits, it doesn’t really have any other use."

"Water Spirit Fruits? What are those? Are they like Flame Fruits?" Hearing this unfamiliar name, both Zharok and Pearl revealed curious expressions.

Mira pulled a fruit from the bag she carried and hurled it far out onto the surface of the sea.

BANG!

The small fruit erupted with a massive torrent of water, instantly dyeing the surrounding sea a pale blue.

"How magical."

"This single fruit contains that much water, meow, could it possess spatial folding? That’s unbelievable, meow~"

"Like our cabin and the refrigerator?"

"Exactly, meow, but strictly speaking, the cabin and the refrigerator were modified by the Hammer of Gaia — they’re artificially created spatial folds, meow, this fruit formed naturally, it violates the laws of magic, meow~"

"...Is there a problem with that?" Ethan, Zharok, and Liora were not mages, Pearl’s excitement sailed clean over their heads.

Pearl sighed helplessly and explained, "From a magical perspective, this is a phenomenon that shouldn’t exist, meow... I’m not too clear on the specifics either, you can ask Lady Witch when you see her next, meow, she should be able to give you a reasonable explanation, meow~"

Anyway, they would figure out the mystery of the Water Spirit Tree later.

Ethan took the fruit Mira offered and examined it closely, only the size of a walnut, pale blue skin, clear liquid sloshing inside, if this tiny thing truly contained that much water, it could solve the problem of droughts entirely.

"Does the Water Spirit Tree only grow in water?"

"Not necessarily, I heard that a long time ago, someone planted a Water Spirit Tree on land."

Good news, if it could survive on land, planting it near the cabin was entirely possible, Ethan tapped the skin and found it unusually hard. "How long can this be stored?"

"I picked this one last year and have carried it ever since, if you run into danger in the water, you can throw it to drive away monsters."

’A fruit that can drive away water monsters?’ Ethan told the others to continue eating, he then took the Water Spirit Fruit, walked over to the sea, and tried to crush it.

Crack!

The skin shattered, a stream of clear water gushed out, he caught a cupful and took a sip.

To his surprise, it was freshwater.

’A tree that grows in seawater bears fruit containing freshwater? That’s almost too good to be real.’