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Great Ancient Mage, Acknowledged (4)
Following the orders of Maybell, who had taken on the role of the owner of the Brotherhood Skewers in preparing the dragon meat, Evan and Fayna bustled about to prepare the barbecue. There was enough leftover meat to make up an entire animal, and there was no way the portions could be finished in one sitting. Still, Evan decided to marinate it all and store the rest.
“Guess we won’t have to worry about meat for a while.”
“It’s such a blessing that we’re able to eat dragon meat whenever we want!”
[I think not, in so many ways.]
Fayna rarely came back with such a cold retort. Still, because of the special circumstances of the dragon barbecue party, nobody noticed her tone.
“Ze…Zero. I’m done washing.”
Mirole appeared, looking radiant, just as the gigantic mound of meat was nearly prepped and seasoned. She was dressed in loose and casual elf clothing instead of armor, her cheeks tinged with a lovely glow, perhaps from the bath.
“It would have been nice if you could take a dip in the hot spring, too, Zero.”
“I didn’t train enough. I’ll go later.”
“Later. I see.”
Mirole’s eyes seemed to twinkle at Evan’s reply.
“You do know you can’t peek, right?”
“You should be one to talk.”
Evan responded in disbelief at the defensive quip his ex-stalker Maybell threw at his current stalker, Mirole. He decided to pretend not to notice Mirole’s visible embarrassment as she averted her eyes.
“I guess everyone else might finish their bath soon. Right, then let’s get started.”
“I’ll start grilling, Master.”
“I’ll help!”
Maybell chanted her spells while Mirole conjured the spirits. Flames burst from thin air. In a split second, Evan placed about ten kilograms of dragon meat on the massive grill.
“Follow my lead!”
“I will, Maybell!”
Maybell’s flames guided Mirole’s spirits as they skimmed the top of the meat. The dragon meat instantly began to sizzle. Maybell was well aware that the key to a good barbecue wasn’t the meat or seasoning but the fire.
“Cook everything, but not too much! Oh, you need to be careful with the temperature. You can’t cook dragon meat at higher than 30,000 degrees!”
“Got it!”
[Zero, are we eating lava today?]
“Lava isn’t that hot, Fayna.”
[So, you’re saying we’re eating something even hotter than lava.]
Fayna was nervous at the thought that Evan might be testing her, but there was no need to be. Dragon meat simply wouldn’t cook at lower heat temperatures. Besides, cooking it too long would activate unnecessary mana and sometimes even trigger magic attacks conjured from the dragon’s memory. This was precious information that the owner of the Brotherhood Skewers learned the hard way.
“Luckily, the owner didn’t die…”
[When, where, and what on earth happened to this stranger…?]
“Anyway, only the cooking is done at high temperature. Once it’s cooked, it’ll be kept at just the right temperature, so don’t worry. I guess you’ve never tried dragon meat before, huh?”
[I have no idea how I’d even come across a chance to eat dragon meat…so, Zero, does this mean you’ve tried it before?]
“I actually have memory loss, so I can’t really remember.”
Evan bashfully stuck his tongue out, making his excuse. It was incredibly annoying. Even more so because it suited his handsome face so well.
[I’m reading a bluff, but I just can’t seem to dig further…urgh…!]
“Master, the meat is all cooked!”
“Great, let’s slice it up!”
Maybell called for Evan at just the right timing; slicing the meat was Evan’s job. It was no secret that cutting cooked dragon meat was an immensely difficult task. Well-cooked dragon meat boasted a bouncy texture that also melted in your mouth once you started to chew, earning its reputation as phenomenal meat. Still, because of its magical properties, it was extremely tough and difficult to slice unless it was already divided into smaller pieces.
It was the field of magic, not physics, trying to restore the meat to its original form—a field that needed to be broken with a powerful force. On the other hand, if the meat were sliced up before it was cooked, it would melt and disappear into the fire. Countless failures, anguish, perseverance, and tenacity, was what gave birth to the perfect dragon barbecue recipe!
“Many thanks to the owner, who couldn’t join us today…”
Evan held up his hands with the edges upright. At that moment, purplish-black blades formed above his hands, causing Fayna to panic.
[An aura…!?”]
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
It was actually a much bigger deal.
“Hyah!”
Once known as the vision of Ella, the Dwarf and passed down as the skill recipe for the most powerful blade, the Skin Blade had evolved into Heaven’s Blade…and then evolved once more into the Annihilation-enhanced blade that emitted light. The all-powerful blade sliced through the dragon meat as if it were paper and cut it up into perfect bite-sized pieces.
Evan always claimed to have poor swordsmanship, but the fact that he had perfectly divided ten kilograms of meat in less than a second suggested otherwise. Of course, for him, it was just another combat technique.
“But Master, didn’t you say the blade was poisonous?”
“If you can’t control your weapon, it’s not a weapon; it’s a disaster. I haven’t released the poison, so don’t worry.”
“You’re treating your skill as a weapon…”
“Whaaaaa!”
It was at that moment. The dwarf Eihamo, who had just appeared after soaking in the hot spring, ran up to him with eyes wide open as if he couldn’t believe what he had seen.
“What was that? Did you just make blades from your hands?”
“Oh, this?”
Evan produced a blade with one hand to show him. Suddenly, he realized a very high chance that this skill could be related to unique weaponry. He was surprised he had forgotten all this time. Now that it had come back to him, he supposed it was all thanks to the dragon meat.
“I can’t believe this! This weapon is good enough for the demon battles…you did this with your own magic, right? You collected the energy flowing through your body into a single point and sharpened it into this…so now the question is how you could link other materials with your soul. The mold is already in place! Amazing!”
He mumbled to himself without warning, then held his hand out to Evan.
“The Soul Observer! Kindly show it to me!”
“Uh, sure.”
A soul-measuring demon tool used to create weapons linked to the soul, Eihamo took the cylindrical tool and walked into the tent without another word. While everyone was staring at the back of his head, dumbstruck, Eihamo’s younger sister shyly approached Evan.
“Sorry, but could you fix up something to eat? I don’t think that guy’s coming out today.”
“Of course, it’s the least I can do for his efforts.”
“Ah, I need to eat, too…I’m going to stay by his side and help.”
“What a good sister.”
Evan packed about two kilograms of meat. Watching her enter the tent, Evan thought this day might turn out to be a historical one.
“Master, people are gathering! I’ll hand out the food, starting with the ones who came early.”
“Ah, yes. Make sure to wait in order, you guys! You need to eat this even if you don’t like meat!”
No one in the forest hated meat, and everyone walked like zombies toward the enticing fragrance of the dragon barbecue. Maybell and Mirole stoked the fire while Evan maniacally sliced and served the meat. He had flown in as an angel without the opportunity to spread his wings (though this could also be said for his Sherden days). Still, today, his blades magnificently embroidered the air!
“What is this? I feel like my power is surging!”
“This isn’t a delusion. It definitely feels like better stamina to me.”
“It even feels like my sexual energy is growing, too, useless as it is…that’s just how it feels!”
Perhaps it was due to the intense training, but many felt elevated status provided by the dragon meat. Evan was relieved he was able to replicate the owner’s recipe, however clumsy it was. It was, in fact, the combined efforts of Maybell’s magic, Mirole’s spirits, and Evan’s powers. Still, Evan never gave thought to the possibility that the recipe itself was special.
“Master, how do you feel now?”
Having finished cooking enough dragon meat to go around, Even had just taken his own first bite when Maybell crept up to him and asked. Evan chuckled and touched her cheek as he answered.
“I’m much better now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re doing everything we can, so there’s no need to lose sleep over it. We’ll know if the demons are good or bad once we meet them. It’s obviously not their first fight with humans.”
“That’s true. You’ve always worried when you never need to. Most of the time, you’d solve everything on your own, anyway.”
“Don’t bring up the past. It’s embarrassing.”
Thinking of his past life made him flustered, unnecessarily defensive, obsessive over his power, and afraid to build relationships with other people. Looking back, they were all embarrassing memories. He was young. Even if they were decades of memories from his past life, he was young. He could accept that now.
“Zero, what you are talking about?”
“Oh, Mirole. It’s nothing.”
“Grr…”
His claim to have memory loss meant that he couldn’t tell her about his past with Maybell. For some reason, Mirole seemed unhappy with his response, her cheeks puffed in annoyance.
“Geez, Mirole, have some sense.”
Seeing Evan unnerved by Mirole’s reaction, Maybell came to the rescue.
“We were just discussing how he could release all that energy built up from the dragon meat.”
“…”
“Ow!”
Evan silently knuckled Maybell’s head.
‘How are you always coming up with such useless things to say?’
‘Mirole’s face is burning red now; I’d have nothing to say in the present day if she accused me of sexual harassment…’
“Me…me, too.”
Mirole squeezed out what little confidence she had to speak up, her two eyes dewy, her neck flushed, her ears fluttering. Her lips, which she licked several times in hesitation, looked sensual.
“I want to help, too. To help him…release…you know.”
“No.”
Evan laid down all his hopes and dreams of the elf race and replied in an instant.
“Why not!?”
Mirole’s eyes filled with tears at his abrupt rejection. Knowing he’d die of embarrassment, however, he responded, Evan cowardly and wisely kept his mouth shut. Maybell came forth instead and whispered in her ear.
“You know that Master is not from this world. That’s why he refuses to connect with you.”
“Really, but it doesn’t matter to me at all!”
It should have mattered since she was a princess. Still, the benevolent Maybell was considerate enough to handle her with tact.
“If you really want to succeed with him, I can help you.”
“Hey, Maybell.”
“How? What do I have to do?”
“I’ll tell you later. I promise.”
“You promised!”
The Succubus and the High Elf made a deal. Mirole wasn’t aware of it, but this was actually her second deal.
“Ah… I miss Lua so much…”
Evan listened to the whispers of the two endearing yet difficult women as he played over the name of an entirely different woman in his head. He was still too young to realize that true darkness was hidden beneath the dazzling light. The next day, Evan presented the dragon corpse to the dwarves and requested equipment for all allied forces.
The festival of dwarves was just beginning.