Chapter 23: Butter-Roasted Victory

“Haha. You were truly amazing!”

“The moment at the end when you cracked the egg like crack! That was a real highlight!”

“Exactly! From that moment, the bandits all fell into panic and floundered, so the battle ended easily!”

“Haha, it was thanks to everyone’s efforts.”

The bandits were all securely tied up.

Since it wasn’t far to the city, they said they’d hand the bandits over to the Benes guard.

Though I’d fought without much thought, it turned out these guys were a well-known bandit group active recently.

As such, handing them over to the Benes guard would also earn a bounty.

“Wow. Mister, you’re really amazing.”

“I know! It’s hard to believe you’re a fellow beginner!”

As everyone was enjoying the victory, people who appeared to be merchants began inspecting the carriages.

They were checking if anything had been damaged in the bandits’ attack.

Then, having found some issue, the merchants gathered around one carriage, murmuring.

“Oh dear, we can’t sell these?”

“The marketability is too low. It’s not a huge problem, but it’s such a waste.”

It seemed the bandits’ attack had caused some damage to the goods.

Looking closely, several long arrows were embedded in the carriage wall.

The goods loaded there were probably damaged.

But for some reason, the manual reacted to this.

– Sniff sniff! This soft yet rich aroma! Master, master!

“What’s wrong?”

– Go over there! Over there!

What the manual pointed to was where the merchants were gathered.

From experience, ignoring the manual’s words meant enduring an ear-piercing racket.

So I reluctantly moved toward the merchants.

“Excuse me, is there a problem?”

“Ah, traveler. We saw you fighting for us. We’ll give you a generous reward as soon as we arrive.”

“We’ll split the bounty on the bandits fairly too, so don’t worry.”

Perhaps because I had contributed quite a bit to the battle against the bandits, as soon as I approached, the merchants welcomed me amicably.

As I got closer, I understood why the manual had been sniffing around.

“Is this butter?”

Butter with its packaging torn by an arrow.

Also, there were many that had tumbled and hit the floor, losing their shape.

Seeing that, I understood why the merchants had said ‘marketability is too low.’

“Yes. Well, the product itself is fine, but when it’s dented like this, it’s hard to get a proper price.”

“We were just considering selling them cheap to restaurants or inns. Haha.”

“Don’t worry. This level of loss is no problem for us.”

Looking at them, a good idea came to mind.

“Then, could I buy these?”

“Huh? You, traveler?”

“Yes. You can just deduct it from the reward I’ll receive.”

“Well, we don’t mind, but what are you going to do with all this butter…”

I moved closer and checked the butter laid out before me.

< Atlenn Butter >

Grade: Normal

Description: Butter made in the village of Atlenn. As the most commonly used butter in Benes, its flavor is mild. (Damaged)

As a Normal-grade item, it was an ordinary ingredient with no special abilities.

But the reason I insisted on buying it was because of what the manual had been chattering about since earlier.

– There’s so much you can do with butter! Toast, grilled squid with butter, pasta! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

Indeed, as the manual said, butter could be used in so many ways.

Even if not the main ingredient, using it in a dish could enrich the flavor.

Besides, I had one dish in mind right away.

“If it’s alright, may I make something with this?”

***

Whoosh!

“Good, the fire is about right.”

With many watching eyes, especially users, I didn’t summon Chorong.

I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention and cause a commotion.

“Next, the potatoes.”

I selected the smaller ones from the potatoes I brought from Dever Village.

For what I was about to make, smaller sizes were easier to eat and tasted better.

First, I washed the potatoes clean and peeled them with a peeler.

Next, with the manual’s help, I added an appropriate amount of sugar, salt, and water and boiled them thoroughly.

– I got it! Kya, that’s my master. Great idea!

“As expected, you’re quick?”

– I’m the [Cooking Mastery Manual]! I’ll give you the perfect recipe, so just follow me!

I poked a chopstick into the well-cooked potato.

Stab!

– Now! Perfect!

The chopstick went in smoothly, so it was clearly cooked through.

So far, it was the same as making steamed potatoes.

But the real part was about to begin.

“Could I have some butter?”

“Here it is! But what are you trying to make with this…”

I cut an appropriate amount of butter and placed it in the dented frying pan.

As the temperature rose, the rich, sweet aroma unique to butter spread around the carriage.

“Oh, butter smell!”

“What dish is he going to make? Potatoes and butter? Ah, could it be!”

“That’s it! That’s it!”

Once the butter had completely melted, I lowered the heat to medium-low.

I placed a pre-made steamed potato on top and gently moved the pan around.

Sizzle!

“Wow, this smell! Crazy!”

“This is exactly like a rest stop snack!”

The potato’s surface was coated with butter as it cooked gently.

The once pale steamed potatoes took on the butter, their surfaces starting to turn golden as they cooked.

– Master! Can’t you ask that mister if he has something like parsley powder?

Since leaving the training ground, the manual had been keeping itself hidden from people as much as possible.

A book floating in the air and talking could cause a huge commotion.

Fortunately, the manual had the ability to conceal itself from people other than me.

So now, even its voice was audible only to me.

“Excuse me, could I borrow some parsley powder?”

“Of course! You’re even making us this food with your own hands. Here you are!”

I sprinkled parsley powder over the nearly finished baby potatoes.

The parsley powder clinging to the surface of the plain baby potatoes made them look even more delicious.

Some of them had slightly burnt edges.

‘That’s part of the charm of this dish.’

Overall, they looked perfect.

As I placed the finished dish on a large platter, the system window chimed as if it had been waiting.

[[Cooking Mastery Manual] – Butter-Roasted Baby Potatoes completed!]

Vitality and Wisdom stats each increase by 1.

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

< Butter-Roasted Baby Potatoes >

Grade: Normal

Description: A dish made by steaming freshly harvested potatoes from Dever Village and roasting them with quality butter.

Ability: Mana Recovery Rate +5% for one day.

“Alright, everyone, come and try them!”

At my satisfied call, people flocked around the platter as if they had been waiting.

The first to appear were the mercenaries.

“Oh! Roasting baby potatoes with butter! A combination that couldn’t be more perfect!”

“Munch! Hot! It’s hot! But it’s so delicious I can’t stop!”

Next came the merchants who had provided the butter.

“Such flavor! We’re so grateful, traveler, for using the items we were going to sell off cheaply like this.”

“It’s our butter, but it truly has an excellent flavor! Haha!”

Lastly, the users who had been watching from a distance approached.

They had already filled their satiety with the steamed potatoes I’d given them, so they had just been watching.

But seeing the NPCs’ reactions and drawn by the butter’s aroma, they came over.

“This brings back memories! I always bought these whenever I stopped at a rest stop!”

“Here, the slightly burnt part at the end. I think that’s the most delicious!”

“Me too, me too!”

I too bit into a golden baby potato.

The first thing I felt was the sweet, rich flavor of butter filling my mouth.

Next was the slightly firm texture of the surface, completely different from steamed potatoes.

‘I need to save some of these for Chorong later.’

It tasted like the rest stop food I used to buy during elementary school field trips.

Most of the users seemed to be reminiscing about their childhood memories.

As everyone held a baby potato with their chopsticks, I started preparing another dish.

“Huh? Are you cleaning up already? I could still eat more…”

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll make something even more delicious.”

I pressed down on the remaining baby potatoes with a wooden spatula, crushing them finely.

Then I added a little more butter and seasoning on top and placed them over low heat.

The butter was gently absorbed between the finely crushed potatoes.

I stirred a bit with the spatula to mix the butter and seasoning well with the potatoes.

“Here, it’s mashed potatoes with plenty of butter!”

“This is crazy! This is a revolution!”

“I think today might be the best outdoor meal of my mercenary career! Haha!”

“Wow. This is pure nostalgia, really.”

Though I had made a large quantity, the mashed potatoes disappeared quickly.

Compared to the users who were savoring the taste slowly as they recalled memories, the mercenaries were devouring the potatoes eagerly, enjoying the rich flavor hard to get in the wild.

Of course, I didn’t mind that either.

Rather, seeing them enjoy my cooking so much made me proud.

[Many people are enjoying your cooking. Cooking proficiency increases rapidly.]

[Cooking skill level increased.]

‘So skill level increases this way too.’

I thought Cooking skill level would only increase through the act of cooking itself.

But I didn’t know proficiency could also increase from people eating the food.

The more people enjoyed my cooking,

the faster Cooking skill proficiency increased.

Just as all the mashed potatoes disappeared,

a few mercenaries approached me hesitantly.

“Ahem. Excuse me, traveler.”

“Yes?”

They had rather solemn expressions.

As if they had made some great resolve.

But what came out of his mouth was completely unexpected.

“When we get into Benes, we’ll pay you. Could you make us some more of what you just made?”

Pfft.

At the unexpected request, I almost laughed out loud.

I tilted my head slightly and saw, over his shoulder, the other mercenaries watching me with sparkling eyes.

“Don’t worry. I still have plenty of potatoes. Haha.”

“Don’t worry about deducting the butter used here from the reward, traveler. Use as much as you like.”

“Really? Then I’ll use the butter without worry!”

“Yahoo!”

That day, our merchant group arrived in Benes several hours later than scheduled.

Of course, everyone who arrived in the city had their bellies comfortably full.

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