LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 410
Pock! Pock pock! Kaga-gagak-!
With a single slice, the head was severed.
The belly was split open, innards spread out.
In a flash, the bones and flesh were scraped clean.
Mary’s steady hands skillfully prepared the hammerhead shark, showcasing the confidence that only comes from decades of experience in the industry.
“You could sell this,” she said.
“Basic as a house fairy,” came the reply.
“Well, since you seem unwilling to share the prep work, I’ll just focus on making the sauce.”
Karem shrugged and immediately pulled a pot from his spatial expansion pouch.
Mary glanced at him as she was cleaning the innards.
“Uh… aren’t you using the wok pot?”
“It’s the only one I’ve got. The sauce takes a while to cook and frying it makes it inconvenient.”
“I don’t mind, though.”
“Me neither, but Catherine might take issue with it.”
Mary couldn’t deny the irritation on her face.
Having grown tired of lounging around, Catherine took out a Servian-style sofa from the spatial expansion pouch and walked over.
“Ah, wait. Don’t throw away the head, fins, and bones. Set them aside for me.”
“? Planning to make stock later?”
“Nope. Something better.”
While Mary focused again on cleaning the fish, Karem began to take out other ingredients to prepare the campfire.
“Hold on.”
Catherine, draped in a blanket she didn’t fold away, reached into the spatial expansion pouch.
“Try this out.”
“Huh? Oh…”
Karem flinched when he received what Catherine presented to him.
‘What is this? An out-of-place artifact?’
It was a familiar shape—specifically, a gas burner.
Its weight felt similar too.
Everything else about it, however, was different.
It was decorated in the ancient Servianus style and had the luxurious and antiquated feel of marble rather than metal.
“It seems a bit too much like an ornate relic to call a gas stove,” Karem commented.
“This is a portable magic stone stove that was gathering dust in the storeroom of supply requests. The magic stone in the center has been replaced, so you can adjust the flame using that button-like handle.”
The instructions he heard were quite similar to those of a gas burner.
Karem swiftly placed the pot on the magic stone stove.
As I said earlier, it was not difficult.
The essence of sweet and sour fish stems from sweet and sour pork.
It may seem impressive at first glance, but fundamentally, it’s the same.
The sauce can practically be considered identical.
He tossed chopped carrots and onions into the pot along with water, followed by sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup.
While waiting, he made a starch solution using Earth Apple starch, and at that moment, a sour smell started to waft about.
He poured the starch solution into the boiling pot and mixed it well.
‘It’s my first time making a large quantity, but whatever.’
Each time he stirred with the spatula, the starch dissolved, transforming into a familiar texture and consistency of sauce.
This was the entirety of that expensive sweet and sour fish sauce.
Karem momentarily took the now-finished sauce off the portable stove, moving it nearby to prevent it from cooling completely and looked towards Mary.
It seemed she had finished cleaning, for the spot where the large hammerhead shark had been was now piled high with cubed white fish flesh.
Beside her, Mary was coating the fish in batter.
“Already? Is that all the sauce?” Karem inquired.
“Yes. That’s all there is to the sauce. Just like sweet and sour pork.”
“Sauces are usually the visions that chefs would fight to protect.”
Though becoming more accustomed to it than before, Catherine still found the scene absurd.
“I’m amazed you can whip up sauce so quickly.”
“You make potions in a flash too, Catherine.”
“Those can’t possibly be the same.”
“They are similar in that you mix ingredients to create a result. Anyway.”
Karem moved the pot aside, filled the wok with oil, and cranked the handle to the maximum. The heat from the flames was far beyond what any gas burner would produce back in his previous life.
“Wow, this is impressive.”
There was no longer any hesitation.
Fwoosh—bubbling hot oil—
As the moisture in the starch batter began to intensify and boil violently, the fragrant scent of mushrooms mingled softly with the oil—
“Wait, why does it smell like nothing?”
“Oh, I forgot.”
As Catherine snapped her fingers, the paralysis magic was dispelled.
The foul stench of rotting undead and the fishy smell of the sea began to invade.
But only for a moment.
Karem could detect the fragrance of mushrooms gently layered on the oil overpowering all those odors.
*
*
*
As the golden fish flesh fried to a crisp, it piled high enough to bury Princess Alicia.
There was only one task remaining.
Add the sauce and stir-fry.
However, Karem honestly felt unsure this time.
He wasn’t terrible at stir-frying, but he wasn’t confident he could handle this large amount without spilling.
“In that case, could you please do it for me?” he asked.
“That’s unexpected… but fine, if you insist, I’ll stir-fry it for you.”
“Forget that. I’ll just do it myself—”
“You can’t take back what you’ve already said.”
Before Karem could do anything, Mary was already in motion.
Using her prowess in softening rigidity, she deftly snatched the wok handle from Karem’s grasp and shoved him aside with her hip.
“Thump—!”
“Wait—oh!?”
“So, Karem, you’re to stay quietly aside and flirt with the contractor. I’ll take care of the finishing touches.”
“How can you say that when you don’t even know the exact recipe…!”
“If you can’t deduce that much, how can you call yourself a house fairy?”
Oblivious to the parricidal nature that undermined the roots of most house fairies, Mary turned on the previously turned-off magic stone stove.
She poured all the sauce into the pot and added the towering pile of fried hammerhead shark.
At that, the fried pieces formed a small mountain atop the wok.
If even a minor mistake occurred, it threatened to collapse like an avalanche.
“By the way, what about the mackerel and trout?”
“I think that’s enough with just this. I stored them once they were cleaned.”
They had time for light chatter.
Mary, unfazed, began to move the wok.
Sizzle—!
The giant golden mound of fried fish began to churn like waves.
Each fried piece flew through the air in a perfect arc, accompanied by the sauce that was bubbling beneath.
Just before the flame surged, threatening to engulf both the fried fish and the sauce, everything returned to its original place after a brief moment.
Sizzle—
The sauce and fried fish returned to the wok.
Whoosh—
The flames settled back to where they had been.
Yet the waves in the wok continued to flow relentlessly, much like the sea waves crashing ashore.
The indirect heat was so intense that snow falling from above wouldn’t dare approach and began to melt away.
As the waves rolled, repeatedly rising and crashing down, the flames that had previously been contained within the sauce began to spread wider.
A brief flicker of flames caused a tangy aroma from the evaporating sauce to tease the nose, a strangely addictive scent.
Sizzle—!
Sizzle—!
Sizzle—!
Sizzle—!
Similar sounds, yet distinctly different.
As the snowfall gradually lessened, the surface of the golden fried fish became covered in glossy sauce, while the abandoned pier filled with a zesty fragrance.
“Wow… it smells even better than the stew Grandma makes. I dislike vinegar, but this smell is actually quite nice.”
“I know! This is frying. Mom used to bring a bucket home and fry it on special days! Crunchy and savory.”
“Isn’t it amazing? It feels like it might fall, yet it never does.”
Even in the busiest of times, there are always those who dawdle about.
Some children who had skedaddled from the village found themselves gathered in a small group, staring with sparkling eyes like birds drawn to feed, maintaining a cautious distance.
Commoners, not to mention orphans, rarely encountered such an enticing scene.
Exceptions might arise during village festivals or celebrations, but such events have been absent in Border Edge for the past year.
Thus, whether orphaned or not, the children had not experienced such greasy and enticing aromas for at least a year.
If Mary hadn’t shot them a warning glance, they would have already approached, drooling.
“Mary. They’re just kids.”
“That’s not something I should concern myself with.”
“Come on, it’s obvious they’re drawn to the enticing scent. You can tell from the way they look, can’t you? Given the circumstances, it’s clear they haven’t eaten enough.”
Karem retrieved some tableware from the spatial expansion pouch.
Ultimately, the decision lay in one person’s hands.
“Catherine. What do you think? Should we let the kids have some to eat?”
“Well, since it’s lunch, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to share a light meal. It would be wasteful to leave any behind.”
“How coy of you. Just say what you mean.”
“…What did you just say? You brat.”
“Hey, you little ones! Don’t just stare; come over! This pretty lady here says it’s okay to have a little bite!”
“W-what? Lady!?”
Catherine froze, her brain short-circuiting from those two words.
In the meantime, the kids who had looked at each other in response to Karem’s proclamation were now carefully approaching, their eyes sparkling.
And then—
“Sour… no, sweet! Wow, what is this!?”
“Are you an idiot? It’s delicious!”
“This is the best fried food I’ve ever had! Grandma, I’m sorry, but this is way better!”
“Hey now! You should be thanking first! Really. Kids these days just can’t be tamed.”
The moment they bit into the food, their exclamations erupted.
Just as expected.
The children quickly devoured the fried pieces they were given and only after receiving two more servings did they start to chatter among themselves while savoring it slowly.
Despite generously sharing, the volume of the sweet and sour fish was so great that it didn’t leave Catherine’s attendants wanting.
Crispy—
“Wow, fried food. Though I’ve never eaten like this before.”
Catherine couldn’t help but admit, relishing the crispy batter soaked in tangy sauce and the tender, soft flesh of the fish.
“Indeed, this is far superior to sweet and sour pork.”
“The high-quality ingredients made all the difference, I think.”
Honestly, Karem couldn’t help but be amazed as well.
After all, he had never tasted such luxurious sweet and sour fish in his previous life.
It was likely that if a similar-sized fish were prepared at a high-end Chinese restaurant, it would cost several hundred thousand won for just a single plate.
What if it wasn’t just large, but also matched that size with flavor?
During the frying process, the flesh, from merely its own moisture, became tender enough to be noticeably chewy, for a fish.
And perhaps it was due to its size, but the distinct taste and texture differed depending on the part.
Whether it was rich in oil, unexpectedly tender, heavily scented, or even pleasantly firm, there were many variations.
Of course, there were also commonalities. Just as one typically eats shellfish and mollusks, that unique sweetness tinged with rich, clear juice could be felt with every bite of their flesh.
That balance, created after overpowering the taste of the batter covered in sauce, was incredibly delightful.
“Truly, this hammerhead shark deserves its reputation.”
Every time she took a bite to feed Catherine, Mary couldn’t hide her admiration as she popped three pieces in one go.
“The taste and texture are indeed nothing less than exceptional. Sweet and sour fish. Did you expect it to taste like this?”
“No, honestly, I didn’t think it would taste better than land animals. I just went with the bulk of it.”
“You mentioned you saved the head, right? It would be great to use some of that head meat for steak.”
The sweet and sour fish was undoubtedly shockingly delicious.
However, people tend to think of dinner as they eat lunch.
Mary was already well aware of that.
“I knew you would say that, so I set aside some for steak.”
“Oh, then may I have a little too? The steak cut.”
Karem was not a fan of most fish, only tolerating squid or salmon.
Yet there was one type of sashimi he would gladly eat without hesitation. One he doesn’t seek out.
“Huh? What’s that?”
What Karem saw was something that disrupted his focus.
From beyond the horizon, something was kicking up a spray of water as it rushed towards the north.
“Hmm?”
Catherine, sensing something unusual, paused her eating and looked through the frame she made with her thumb and index finger.
The lens formed by her concentrated magic gathered the details.
The source of the water spray came into view for Catherine.
“…Unicorns?”
“Excuse me? Unicorns?”
“And not just one or two. There seem to be about six of them?”
For others, encountering just one unicorn in their lifetime could be rare, yet here they were, seven visible across two seasons.
“However, I might be mistaken.”
Having turned back towards the water spray, Mary felt puzzled.
“One of the sprays seems to be approaching us.”
The instinct of a house fairy to protect its contractor screamed.
That presence was now becoming hostile toward them.
“Learning of the filthy non-virgin and the man being near a virgin! I cannot let this pass! For an even more beautiful world!!!”
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