Chapter 18: A Quest Beyond Cooking

“This is insane! He looks like a complete newbie straight out of the training ground! Why is he so strong?”

“And that’s a spirit! What kind of newbie has a spirit?”

“Sob, thank you so much.”

Subduing the two users didn’t take long.

If I had my way, I would have drained their health and logged them out entirely, but with witnesses around, I settled for restraining them.

Soon after, several people who appeared to be vigilantes showed up.

“Mr. Daden! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine… All thanks to this young man. If it weren’t for him, they would have stolen our food.”

“We arrived too late. Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing. More importantly, take care of these two.”

“Ah, of course.”

The vigilantes didn’t look very strong either.

They were armed to some extent, but they also looked malnourished, their frames too slight.

“No! Anything but prison!”

“If we go to prison, we can’t get out for at least five days!”

Punishments for committing crimes in Unreal World were quite severe.

Ah, of course, compared to real-world punishments, it was nothing, but compared to typical game penalties, it was harsh.

Even for causing a disturbance like this, you’d be locked up for at least five days.

Of course, if the crime was more severe, like murder, the time increased.

In the most extreme cases, I’d heard there was a ‘death penalty’ that resulted in character deletion.

“We’ll take these two away. On behalf of Dever Village, I thank you again.”

“It’s nothing. It was only natural.”

[Quest ‘Dever Restaurant Commotion’ completed.]

Affinity with Dever Village residents slightly increased.

Honestly, there wasn’t much benefit to gaining favor in this small village I was planning to leave soon.

It was just satisfying to have served some justice to those two unpleasant users.

Once the vigilantes safely took the two users away,

the restaurant owner straightened his disheveled clothes and approached, bowing again.

“I’m sorry. I’d like to give you something as thanks, but things are difficult…”

“It’s fine. But how did this happen?”

“Well, we don’t really know ourselves.”

“Huh?”

“In our village, we primarily harvest potatoes for food. But this year, for some reason, none of the potatoes grew properly…”

Hearing the situation, I roughly understood.

And though he said he didn’t know the reason, I actually had a guess.

Just as I was about to ask if I could go take a look at the fields, the [Cooking Mastery Manual], which had emerged from my inventory on its own, began to shine brilliantly.

Fwoosh—!

“Wh-what’s that?”

“Why is it doing that?”

Even the manual’s ego, which usually chattered so much, was silent.

As the light grew uncontrollably bright, a majestic voice emanated from the [Cooking Mastery Manual].

You who inherit my will.

“Lord Gatros?”

I’d never heard the voice before, but I was certain.

The only one who could deliver such lines through the [Cooking Mastery Manual] was its original owner.

This is my first request to you, who inherit my will.

[Class Quest ‘Will of Gatros’ has been created.]

Quest Rank: Unique

Description: Following the will of the Great Hero Gatros, restore happiness and hope to the residents of Dever Village.

Reward: Hint to the location of Gatros’s equipment.

Failure: Loss of qualification for the [Cooking Mastery Manual].

Please, bring hope and happiness to those who hunger.

***

The reward was a hint to the location of Gatros’s equipment.

As a Great Hero, the equipment he used would surely be at least Unique-grade.

And aside from that, failure meant losing the [Cooking Mastery Manual].

Having obtained the manual with some difficulty, I had no intention of giving it up so easily.

“It’s here. But why the sudden interest in the fields…”

“There’s something I want to check.”

Daden, the restaurant owner, had witnessed the light from the [Cooking Mastery Manual] with me, but it seemed only I had heard Gatros’s voice.

So I made a simple excuse and headed for the fields.

“It’s truly desolate.”

“Hic, yes. This precious field always gave us so many potatoes…”

The field was like a wasteland.

Only the remnants of plants that had died without even budding remained, barely holding their shape.

Perhaps someone had tried to revive it, as the ground was still moist, but when I touched it, the soil crumbled weakly, as if it had already lost its life.

“The land is dead.”

“Huh? D-dead? What do you mean?”

Currently, the farming methods in the Unreal World were inadequate.

Over the next ten years, users would evolve them in various ways to become more efficient.

But now was the early days, not long after the game’s launch.

“What kind of care did you give the field?”

“Well, I watered it diligently…”

Daden’s voice trailed off.

As expected, all he’d done was water it.

Even in this era, most people knew about using fertilizer.

But perhaps because it was a small village, even basic knowledge was lacking.

“All the nutrients in the soil have been depleted. If left like this, you probably won’t be able to grow anything for years.”

“Oh dear, that’s terrible! It’s already this bad this year. If it gets worse…”

The village itself would likely decline.

“I’ll help.”

“Thank you so much! How can I ever repay this kindness!”

“It’s fine.”

After all, I wasn’t helping empty-handed.

This was a quest involving Gatros’s equipment.

If it wasn’t bound to me, at current market prices, I could resell it for anywhere from thousands to hundreds of millions.

Of course, I had no intention of selling it.

“Ah, is it alright if I disturb the field?”

“You’d need to ask the village chief, but it should be fine. Everyone was about to give up anyway.”

“Then.”

Right before Daden’s eyes, I began to recite a first-circle spell.

To have to recite such a long incantation for a mere first-circle spell…

It was a bit pathetic, but after the spell had been turned into a skill, the incantation length had shortened a little.

Soon, mana rapidly drained from my body, and the spell activated.

“Dig.”

Shff!

“M-magic!”

A portion of the field’s soil heaved all at once.

Then, the moist soil that had been underneath rose to the surface.

I had pushed the dead, nutrient-depleted soil down and brought up the soil that had preserved its vitality beneath.

It was one of the simplest ways to revive dead land.

“Amazing! Seeing how you defeated those ruffians, I thought you were a swordsman!”

Since the field was large, it took some time to churn up the entire field with my mana.

But compared to if the villagers had done it with shovels, it was instantaneous.

Soon, I had turned over the entire field.

“Th-then, can we plant potatoes now? Can we grow potatoes again?”

“Hmm…”

Probably.

But this was still a little insufficient.

Even if they planted now, it would take considerable time for the potatoes to grow.

That meant I could provide ‘hope’ as Gatros requested, but not immediate ‘happiness’.

Since the quest’s objective was vague to begin with, I needed to accomplish it clearly.

“No, not yet.”

“Why…”

“I still need something. I’ll go outside the village for a bit.”

***

To completely solve the quest, I needed quite a lot of materials.

I had already asked Daden to request the simpler items from the villagers.

I had come out separately to gather what I needed myself.

“It should be around here…”

Dever Village was on the route to the major city.

As such, there were various beginner hunting grounds nearby.

Where I was now was no exception.

As I was diligently searching the ground,

I finally found it.

“Oh, this is it!”

< Blade-beak Egg >

Grade: Normal

Description: A fresh egg laid by a Blade-beak. The quality is excellent, but it is known to be difficult to obtain due to the Blade-beak’s ferocity.

– Oh! It’s an egg! Good fried, or boiled and dipped in sugar! It looks very fresh, master?

It was what I had been looking for.

No, more precisely, the eggs and what was abundant around the nest.

< Blade-beak Droppings >

Grade: Normal

Description: Droppings dried well in the sun. There is almost no smell.

Droppings.

One of the materials needed to revive the field was bird droppings, so this place was perfect.

“Cluck! Cluck-cluck-cluck!”

As I was collecting the droppings on the eggs, it appeared, as expected.

A bird with a blade-like beak and blade-like feathers embedded all over its body.

No, since it couldn’t even fly, calling it a bird was ambiguous.

Due to its appearance and behavior, users commonly called this monster a ‘Blade Chicken’.

– It’s a chicken! Master, you’re going to catch that, right? Wow! Do you know how many dishes you can make with chicken? I’m already excited!

Did the manual just see it as ordinary chicken meat?

Even though the Blade-beak was glinting its sharp beak, it seemed completely unconcerned about its master.

Well, I wasn’t worried about a monster like this either.

“Chicken is good, but I need more droppings, so I’ll have to catch it, I suppose?”

Since the field was large, I needed quite a lot of droppings to use as material.

If I couldn’t catch this Blade-beak, which was already charging with its sharp feathers raised, I wouldn’t be able to continue my work.

– Chicken! Chicken nuggets! Samgyetang! Braised spicy chicken! Chicken porridge! Kyah!

Shing—.

I raised my sword toward the chicken—no, the Blade-beak.

It was nearly the size of a wolf, with a beak and feathers sharp enough to rival a blade.

Moreover, its attack patterns were much more erratic than those in the training ground hunting area.

That was why it was a monster that beginners often underestimated and fell victim to.

But that only applied to beginners.

In terms of stats, skills, and experience, I had already surpassed the beginner level.

“Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1: Fowl Preparation – Plucking Feathers.”

Flutter flutter!!

“Clawkk?!”

My blade swept quickly across the Blade-beak’s body.

The creature, which had been charging with its blade-like feathers raised, stopped in surprise.

But nothing seemed to have happened.

“Cluck! Cluck-cluck!”

As if mocking me, it let out a strange cry and turned toward me.

And then,

a cool breeze swept down from the mountain, blowing briefly.

Flutter, flutter—.

“Squawk?! Cluck-cluck!”

The Blade-beak’s red feathers scattered pathetically, carried away by the wind.

Suddenly stripped bare, the Blade-beak frantically tried to gather its feathers, but feathers once plucked didn’t come back.

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