The man’s expression was unreadable, a mix of joy and sorrow. “Prince Dukar of the Scorching Sun Kingdom has slain a high-level demonic beast. His Majesty is currently at the royal palace commending his heroic deeds.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun’s anger flared. He thought to himself, *This fame-seeking imposter! He’ll have to answer to me later.*
“Is there anything else?”
Seeing that Xiao Xun had fallen into thought, the royal minister inquired.
Xiao Xun waved his hand. “No, you may attend to your duties!”
The royal minister found Xiao Xun extremely impolite, but out of respect for the Queen, he didn’t press the matter and turned to leave.
Xiao Xun pondered whether he should confront the prince directly at the Fire Shield God King’s palace or let it go, as it wouldn’t affect him personally.
As he was contemplating, the castle gates opened, and Sailer Pais walked in slowly. Several maids began to remove the Queen’s heavy attire.
Seeing Xiao Xun standing there, she said, “Make me something to eat. I’m hungry.”
Xiao Xun agreed, turned, and headed back to the dining hall, then proceeded to the kitchens.
Slaves were cleaning up leftover food in the kitchen, while the head chef was still engrossed in developing new dishes.
Xiao Xun looked around and spotted a large, thick raw piece of meat on the butcher’s block, still dripping with blood. It seemed to have been recently slaughtered.
“What kind of meat is this?”
The head chef quickly rose and approached Xiao Xun upon being asked.
Looking at the leg, he introduced it to Xiao Xun, “This is the thigh of a marsh monster. Because of its incredible speed and its constant running in the marshes, the meat is exceptionally good and very chewy. It will be tomorrow’s main dish.”
Xiao Xun gestured with his finger at the thigh on the block. “Slice a thick steak from here, horizontally.”
The head chef gave a signal to the butcher. The butcher raised a massive cleaver with both hands, his arm muscles bulging and veins popping out as he brought it down forcefully.
The cleaver met the butcher’s block without a sound. Not even a trace of a cut appeared on the wooden board.
It wasn’t that the wood was hard, but rather that the butcher’s mastery of force was so refined.
Xiao Xun couldn’t help but admire it, clapping his hands in praise.
This, in turn, made the butcher scratch his head sheepishly, despite being bald.
After a moment, he picked up the steak Xiao Xun had requested from the block. “Sir, is this acceptable?”
Xiao Xun walked over and observed that the break on the bone was incredibly smooth, as if cut by a highly skilled surgeon.
To achieve such precision with a heavy cleaver, Xiao Xun was truly impressed. It was no wonder they were royal chefs; even the top chefs in his own world might not possess such skill.
“Yes, it’s quite acceptable.”
Upon hearing Xiao Xun’s praise, the butcher became even more bashful, his previously stern demeanor gone.
Xiao Xun placed the piece of meat into a basin large enough to hold it, adding salt and a local condiment to remove any gamey odor.
“Do you have butter here?”
The head chef shook his head. “What is butter?”
Xiao Xun thought for a moment. “Do you have milk?”
Everyone nodded. “Yes.”
“And you don’t have butter?”
The head chef suddenly remembered something. “You mean milk fat?”
Xiao Xun wasn’t sure if that was what he was looking for. “Bring it over, let me see.”
Before the head chef could respond, a slave ran over with a small bucket.
Xiao Xun lifted the lid. “That’s right, this is it.”
Later, he found an iron plate, placed it over the fire, put a piece of butter on it, and then added the marinated meat.
Before long, the meat began to sizzle.
Xiao Xun held a roasting fork in his left hand and tongs in his right to flip the steak. When it was about seven-tenths cooked, he cracked an egg onto the iron plate and added two small, red tomatoes to roast alongside.
After plating, he even wiped the edge of the plate with a white kitchen towel.
He hadn’t learned Western cuisine; it was all from television. He wasn’t sure if it would taste good.
When he served it to Mu Jiahe, her eyes widened in shock. “What kind of meat is this?”
Xiao Xun scratched his head. “I forgot. I just remember it was caught in the marsh.”
Mu Jiahe’s eyes lit up. “Could it be marsh monster?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Mu Jiahe cut a small piece along the grain with her steak knife and tasted it.
“Ptooey!”
Not only did she spit out the meat unceremoniously, but her face contorted in pain. “Didn’t you taste it after you made it?”
Xiao Xun picked up a knife and fork, cut a piece, and the taste aside, the texture was like chewing on a shoe sole that had been worn for ten years.
“Shall I prepare something else for you then?”
Mu Jiahe waved her hand. “Forget it! I’ve lost my appetite for anything now. I’ll eat back at my place.”
With that, she casually picked up the glass of water on the table and drank it dry.
“That’s good. I’m quite tired from running around all day.”
Mu Jiahe recalled Xiao Xun’s competition that day. “Right, you were there today. How exactly did that Dukar beat that demonic beast? He didn’t seem like a formidable character to me!”
Xiao Xun’s anger surged upon hearing this. “Of course, he didn’t seem like one. Do you know what he was doing when I saw him?”
He pointed to his head. “His cloak was pierced by the demonic beast’s horn, and he was hanging from the horn of that mountain-like creature. If it weren’t for me, he would have surely ended up as a meal for that beast.”
Mu Jiahe looked at Xiao Xun in astonishment. “So, you beheaded the demonic beast?”
“Not exactly, but I did scare it to death.”
Mu Jiahe raised an eyebrow. “Scared to death?”
“Indeed. When I first arrived at the foot of the mountain today, I was preparing to chop a path with my axe. Then, guess what happened? The axe bounced off a rock and flew into the river. Then, an old man emerged from the river.
I thought this was the test you had set up, as you mentioned it was an open-book exam. But the fellow didn’t play by the rules. He held my axe and asked if it was mine. Being such an honest child, I naturally admitted it. I didn’t expect him to directly charge at me with a trident.
Mu Jiahe burst into laughter at this point. Seeing Xiao Xun’s indignant expression, she grabbed his arm and asked, “And then?”
Xiao Xun suddenly looked wronged. “Then what? Seeing the old man catching up to me, I raised my hands to protect my handsome face. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be illusion magic cast by another contestant. I absorbed all of their magic. By noon, you guys weren’t providing food, so I went to the river to catch fish. Who would have thought these ‘begging freeloaders’ would smell it and come over, insisting on trading their competition axes for my fish? Could I refuse?”
He then took out a cloth bundle from his embrace and opened it to show Mu Jiahe. “I traded them for these items.”
Mu Jiahe casually picked up one. “As expected of princes and nobles from various countries, their generosity is immense. A high-level magic ring for just a few fish.”
Xiao Xun looked at the ring in Mu Jiahe’s hand. “A few? It was only two. He initially wanted three, and I haggled with him.”
He then took the ring from Mu Jiahe’s hand and examined it. “Is this a loss, or a profit?”
Mu Jiahe pointed to the items in the bag. “Let me put it this way. Even one item from this bag, in the current inflated prices of the capital city of Saint Roman, could be traded for a large cartload of fish.”
Xiao Xun’s eyes sparkled. “These spendthrifts, they’re too extravagant!”