Chapter 21: The Harvest of Hope

[[Cooking Mastery Manual] – Chicken Porridge completed!]

All stats increase by 2 each.

[The power of the [Cooking Mastery Manual] dwells within the dish!]

< Chicken Porridge >

Grade: Magic

Description: Chicken porridge made by simmering Blade-beak meat with various medicinal herbs and vegetables. The best restorative dish, capable of overcoming even intense heat!

Ability: Fire Resistance +10%, Health Recovery Rate +10% for one day.

‘The stats that increase differ depending on the type of dish.’

All stats increased by 2, meaning a total increase of 10 stat points.

It was the highest stat increase among the dishes I had made so far.

It seemed to be affected by the difficulty and care put into the dish.

When I made boiled eggs or fried eggs, only one stat had increased.

“Try this leg! It’s so tender. It just melts in your mouth!”

“Who knew chicken breast could be this tender!”

“Ah! Drinking the broth with salt makes me feel so warm inside!”

Fortunately, all the villagers were enjoying the chicken porridge I had made.

I had used magic consecutively and maintained Chorong, so my satiety had also dropped considerably.

I took a whole, well-cooked chicken and began to tear it apart.

– I wonder which part our master will eat first!

“That’s obvious. The drumstick.”

– Hoo, predict~able!

Pop!

The meat was so tender that when I held the end of the leg and gently pulled, the joint came out with a small sound.

I dipped the steaming drumstick in salt and took a big bite.

“Ah!”

– Hot, isn’t it? That heat is part of its charm!

“It’s so tender!”

– Hmph! It was made with this body’s recipe, so of course!

The drumstick meat was so tender that it truly melted in my mouth.

Even the part often called the dry breast went down smoothly.

As the meat went down my throat, the rich flavor of the chicken broth remained, providing a lingering savoriness.

– Kkyuu!

“Here. You worked hard.”

– Kkyukkyu!

Whoosh!

As expected of a fire spirit, Chorong put the hot chicken porridge into its mouth without hesitation.

It hopped around with wide eyes at the texture it was experiencing for the first time.

The more I looked at it, the more adorable it was.

“Alchemist. No, Mage… Ahem, I’m not sure what to call you.”

“My name is Lee Chang. Please call me comfortably.”

“Haha, thank you.”

As I was savoring the tender chicken porridge with Chorong, Daden approached me.

His mouth was covered in oil, showing he had already eaten his fill.

“Do you see them?”

“The children?”

“They’re my children. Cute, aren’t they? Haha.”

Daden pointed to three young children, each holding a drumstick and eating slowly.

Their faces were brighter than any expression I had seen since arriving in this village.

Seeing the children laughing brightly with oil all over their hands and mouths made me smile as well.

“If it weren’t for you, Mr. Lee Chang, they would have gone hungry again today. It doesn’t matter if I starve, but seeing children go hungry was truly painful.”

This was a father’s heart.

Even if he couldn’t eat, he probably gave as much food as possible to the children.

When even that ran out, he must have been filled with guilt.

“Thanks to you, everyone has regained their happiness.”

“Haha, you’re embarrassing me.”

“Looking at the field, it seems the potatoes will be fully grown by tomorrow.”

“It’s thanks to everyone’s help. If I had to gather the alchemy materials alone, it would have taken quite a long time.”

“Haha, you are truly humble.”

As I shared small talk with Daden, the villagers began to approach one by one.

The innkeeper, the vigilantes, even the children.

Each came to thank me, expressing their gratitude.

Each time, I just smiled and scratched the back of my head, feeling shy.

Finally, an elderly man with an impressive white beard approached.

He was the village chief of Dever Village.

“Saint, thank you.”

“A saint? No, I’m not.”

“Hoho, from our perspective, you are no different from a saint. Once again, on behalf of the village, I thank you.”

[Class Quest ‘Will of Gatros’ completed.]

A linked quest for the class quest Will of Gatros has been created.

The quest completed simultaneously with the village chief’s greeting.

I was curious, but decided to check the quest details when I left the village tomorrow.

For now, I wanted to hold onto this warmth a little longer.

As I was conversing with the village chief,

a child’s voice came from the center of the village where the pot had been boiling.

It was clearly Daden’s children.

“Mother, I want more!”

“You’ve already eaten a lot. The meat is all gone now.”

“Really? I could still eat more…”

Seeing this, the village chief spoke first.

“Daden, when will the potato field be ready for harvest?”

“Thanks to Mr. Lee Chang, I think we can harvest as early as tomorrow.”

Hearing Daden’s answer, the village chief’s eyes softened even more.

Then he stood up and addressed the villagers.

“Since we can harvest the potatoes tomorrow, I’ll release some of the glutinous rice from the storage.”

“Village chief, really?”

“Of course. But instead, everyone must help with the field work tomorrow. Understood?”

“Haha, of course!”

Soon, some sturdy village men carried a sack of glutinous rice from the storage.

Seeing it, the manual was the first to shout.

– Glutinous rice! If you boil it with the chicken broth to make chicken porridge, it’s amazing!

“Alright. Can you tell me the recipe?”

– Sure!

Fwoosh—!

The pages of the [Cooking Mastery Manual] flipped rapidly.

I approached the child who was licking the chicken oil off his fingers.

“I’m going to make chicken porridge. Can you eat more?”

“Yes!”

“Child, use polite speech! And thank the Saint!”

“Yes! No, yes! Thank you, Saint!”

“Haha.”

With the savory scent of chicken porridge, the day in Dever Village drew to a close.

***

[Connecting to Unreal World.]

[Whatever you desire.]

[Welcome.]

“Mr. Lee Chang, you’re here! Please, come this way!”

“Huh?”

After a warm evening in Unreal World, the next day arrived.

As soon as I logged in, Daden urgently called my name and came to find me.

His expression was nothing but bright.

Following behind him, I could see the vibrant scenery of the village.

“Hey, John! We’ve finished digging here too! Hurry and take it!”

“The size of these is no joke! I’ve never seen potatoes this big in my life!”

“Mother, I want to eat steamed potatoes!”

“Wait a little longer. We have plenty of potatoes.”

“Really? Can we eat lots of potatoes now?”

“Yes, yes. It’s all thanks to the Saint. Oh? Saint!”

When I first arrived at Dever Village yesterday, the villagers had looked like corpses.

They had seemed weak and emaciated, moving like zombies.

But now, it was completely different.

In just one day, everyone’s eyes were full of life.

The children, full of energy, were helping move the potatoes, covered in dirt.

As I admired this amazing scene, several villagers approached me.

“Thanks to you, Saint, we were able to harvest this many potatoes. We’re truly grateful.”

“Saint! Thank you! Have some potatoes! Hehe.”

“Haha, please call me comfortably. I’m not such a grand person as a saint.”

“From our perspective, Mr. Lee Chang is exactly a saint. Haha!”

As they said, the potatoes were very large.

Everyone was harvesting the well-grown potatoes and planting new seed potatoes underneath.

A single potato root had over ten large potatoes hanging from it.

Watching it made me feel abundant too.

“Everyone, have a snack break! Saint, please come and eat with us!”

“Are you sure it’s alright?”

“Of course! Haha.”

“Wow, you’re really fast, Henry’s mother!”

When everyone gathered, the snack covered with a thin cloth was revealed.

Steamed potatoes, steaming as if freshly cooked.

And also some well-made potato pancakes.

Though simple, they looked incredibly delicious.

– Wow, those potato pancakes are really well-made! That woman, I recognize her cooking skills!

“Hehe, thank you. Living at the inn, I’m confident about one thing, and that’s my cooking.”

Munch!

I carefully peeled the skin off a hot steamed potato and took a big bite.

The light flavor of the potato filled my mouth.

“Wow, you don’t even need to dip this in anything!”

“Haha! Henry’s mother’s cooking is indeed amazing!”

Having added salt and sugar while steaming the potatoes, I could taste the sweetness of sugar and the savoriness of salt alongside the potato’s light flavor.

Thanks to that, everyone was eating the potatoes in one hand without any seasoning.

“Try these potato pancakes too. They turned out very well, perhaps because the potatoes are good.”

“Alright, I’ll enjoy them.”

Potato pancakes made purely from potatoes, without any other ingredients.

Seeing them golden and steaming already made my mouth water.

I tore a large piece of potato pancake with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.

Crunch!

“Ooh!”

“How is it?”

“It’s really delicious!”

The edges of the potato pancake were crispy.

After that, the soft texture of the potato filled my mouth with a lightness different from steamed potatoes.

“Chorong, do you want to try some?”

– Kkyu, kkyuu!

I didn’t forget to share the steamed potatoes and potato pancakes with Chorong.

As expected, it was overjoyed.

[Due to successful fulfillment of the contract, your fire spirit Chorong is satisfied.]

[Spirit Summoning’s skill level increases.]

[Chorong’s unique level increases.]

Along with the skill level, Chorong’s level increased.

And so, the joyful snack time ended.

Everyone moved to continue harvesting potatoes.

Then, Daden approached me again.

“Mr. Lee Chang, how about staying in our village? It’s just that we don’t have much to repay you with right away.”

“It’s alright. I have things to do too.”

It was nice being with the people of Dever Village, but settling here wasn’t feasible.

I had things to take care of in the major city, and I needed to acquire Gatros’s equipment.

It was a shame, but I planned to leave Dever Village today.

“Then, please do visit again sometime. We’ll be sure to repay you properly.”

“Haha, it’s fine.”

“Ah, and. John! Bring some of those potatoes! We can’t let the Saint leave empty-handed!”

“What? The Saint is leaving? No!”

Soon, the villagers brought a large amount of carefully selected potatoes.

So many that an ordinary person couldn’t possibly carry them.

But these people had all seen me take chicken meat out of my subspace when I cooked yesterday.

They knew I could easily take this much.

“Saint, it’s so sad you’re leaving already. I could have made you so many more delicious dishes!”

“Hey, the Saint has work to do. We shouldn’t be a bother.”

“Ah, and if it’s alright, please take these too!”

Next to the fresh potatoes, the innkeeper had placed a pile of warm steamed potatoes and potato pancakes.

They weren’t leftovers from earlier, but freshly made for me.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”

“Thank you? This is all thanks to you, Saint! Please, do visit again!”

“Haha, of course.”

And so, after all the farewells,

I immediately stepped outside Dever Village.

If I stayed any longer, I’d get too attached to the people and find it hard to leave.

From afar, I could hear the children’s voices: “Saint, go safely! Thank you!”

Heh—.

– Come to think of it, our master resembles my previous master quite a lot.

Watching my receding figure, the manual murmured quietly.

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