Chapter 133: Dinner With New Friends

The boys came out much faster than the girls, unsurprisingly, though Durgan didn’t seem like he wanted to go out while Marcus was still ready for a fight.

Finn couldn’t help but look at the group. Now that they were cleaned up, he continued with the food that needed another hour or so to finish up.

He asked them to relax. They can wait in their rooms, on the sofa, or roam around in the forests or gardens outside. He thought they’d take a nap, considering all their stamina was probably a single digit by now, or less than 20 at best, but they were too curious about the place to actually lie down.

Fortunately for them, the inn itself also had some regenerating functions. It just didn’t stack with the room effects, considering they were not inside their rooms

Well, that didn’t matter. They’d be eating a lot of essence food anyway.

…

While the guests went around, Finn and the goblins prepared the food. The goblins’ productivity would sometimes be hindered when they end up watching Finn, however.

“Do that again Inn-master!” Ranran said. Tumble nodded several times in a second.

“Yes, yes, do it again!”

Finn blinked, as if not sure what they were talking about. “This?” he asked, though the knife was already rolling on his hand, as if he had a pivot they couldn’t see.

Swish, Whoosh, Swish~

“Yayy! Yayy!” the green ones cheered, amazed.

He chuckled. These chonky goblins…

“Anyway, focus! We have a feast to make!”

…

At this time, the guests were using the comfortable lounge chairs at the garden side, surrounded by plants and fruits.

When Marcus tried to pick some though, he received a warning in the form of floating text, and this was followed by a glare courtesy of the odd-but-adorable animal that was Finn’s pet.

“…”

Was he being warned off? Was he?

Durgan chuckled. “Didn’t you read the rules? We’re not supposed to take anything within the territory.”

Marcus blinked and then walked several meters forward. The monsters were already taken care of by them, and they hadn’t really fought monsters from this side, so he was unclear about where the delineation was. He should tell Finn to add signs or something.

A few meters forward, he tried to pick a new plant, and the bear-thing appeared next to him, still glaring.

“…”

So, still within the inn’s premises.

That said, they were surprised by the size of it. It was larger than they thought.

“But I’m hungry…” he told it, but it opened its mouth, but no intelligible words came out. Just cute squeaky sounds which made him want to hug it, but he had a feeling he’d be in for a world of pain if he did so.

He had no idea why he felt this way, though.

Marcus had no idea his dog-like instincts really saved him from a lot of pain.

Fortunately, it was this time that the goblins came out, calling for them. “Time to eat, time to eat!” they announced, going straight to the guest to escort them back.

Nona looked at the green things. “I didn’t know goblins could be cute.”

“Inn-master says that we can be cute as long as we are well-fed,” Ranran demurely answered their question. Quite cute.

Normally, goblins would not dare look at humans in the eye, but now they do, and Nona and the others could feel purity behind the beaded eyes. It felt quite…new, to say the least.

Anyway, they were led back to the inn and were greeted with a delicious smell and the glorious sight of the table filled with food as soon as they passed the threshold.

The inn had some insulating properties, so the scent didn’t escape outside, even if the windows were open, so they were really in for a surprise.

There were several big plates there. It seemed like there were at least two main dishes, salad, scratch, and dessert.

The food looked decadent and beautiful, and obviously, the presentation was well thought-out! Was that a flower? No, that was a thornroot carved like a flower!

This was all done in an hour?!

Finn smiled at their reaction, and asked them to sit while he introduced the food to them. They definitely hadn’t eaten them before, so he ought to give them an overview.

“I will start with the salad,” he smiled, showing the plate of greens that was colored by various fruits like berries as well as the vibrant matis plant. “This is a refreshing salad with sunberry-pear marmalade vinaigrette,” he said. It was inspired by the berry honey vinaigrette back home, though naturally with many differences.

The point was that it was sweet, tangy, fragrant, and would add texture to boring greens. When they take a few bites, they would feel its crunchiness and freshness, coated by this unique dressing…ah, so nice.

Then he introduced the first meat dish, which was his classic and go-to grilled brindlejaw dish. It was relatively fast to cook but deep in flavor, especially with his added sauces and spice mixes.

He introduced a sauce in this meal, and they were also on the table as sauce (he took away the muscle-softening sap in the mixture, of course).

This was the matis ember sauce, which was like smoky harissa or spicy roasted tomato paste on Earth, except with a bit more sweetness. This added a bold flavor, adding texture that made people think that the fire kissed the meat. It was also rich in umami with a spicy and earthy depth.

It was great to slather over grilled meat, stir into stews, or even spread onto thornroot flatbreads.

It was a very versatile sauce and was guaranteed to be addictive!

The meat dish was also an E-class essence dish.

It fit well with the salad, as well as the first starch, which was baked thornroot. The root crop was baked until fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. He filled it with sour sauce, beans, and a bit of meat. This was an F-class essence dish.

The second meat dish was stewed gugu bird, which was gugu bird stewed in matis sauce, along with stonebulb (the alternative to garlic and onion). It also had some diced thornroots poured in.

It was a simmering stew that brought together the comforting richness of the tender gugu bird, as well as the tangy sweetness of matis fruit. This was another E-class dish.

The second starch was fried thornroot sliced like fries. It added a fresh, salty crunch every so often.

As for the sauce, he made a ketchup alternative using the matis fruit, and frankly, he ended up liking the taste of this ketchup. It was rich and sweet.

Finally, they had a sunsweet-pear medley as dessert. It was hydrating, calming, and perfectly refreshing!

Finn watched as his guests enjoyed the meal, moaning here and there, shutting their eyes as if they internalized the taste.

He held back a chuckle, knowing that’d embarrass them. “Well, since we’re celebrating, I thought I’d offer a few dishes. Of course, normally, there’d only be the basic meat dishes with sides every meal~”

At this, Marcus, Leiah, and Nona looked at Durgan, who was happily eating his second plate.

If he accepted the offer, then that old man would be so happy, right?

They were suddenly envious, damnit!

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