Chapter 20: No, No, No!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yesterday, after the Ice Elemental and Lightning Elemental had finished scouting the merchant vessel, they could not be recalled by Zhang Yun as they were too far. As they also had a "cannot be discovered" command, they looked for a small hole and hid inside.
The hole was very small, and its location was also quite hidden. Therefore, Zhang Yun did not pay them any attention once they were on the ship. Instead, they had them hide inside the hole for a night.
Otherwise, if he recalled them out in the open, it would be unfortunate if he was discovered by others.
"Ice Elemental, come back. Lightning Elemental, continue to stay inside and wait for my orders."
After Zhang Yun had finished, the Ice Elemental was then recalled into his Followers' Pocket Dimension. He stood back up, and leaned against the railings, pretending that nothing had happened.
At this time, Zhang Yun had a new plan.
That mysterious man called Euden was very troublesome. His information could not be solely his to have, and meanwhile, he knew nothing about him.
Therefore, Zhang Yun had decided to find a chance to discover where Euden was staying, then send the Ice Elemental to sneak in, monitoring his movements.
If Euden had discovered the Ice Elemental, he should be able to kill the Ice Elemental in one hit. At that time, he would need to take the opportunity to observe his actions and weapons, and then judge his strength and class abilities.
If it was not discovered, that would be even better. He could observe from the dark, and spy on his every action.
Since he knew nothing about him and was interested in Brother Mikoto to the point where his eyes almost beamed in excitement. He believed that he was the type of person that would cause something problematic.
Therefore, he needed to have a defense against him, and make the necessary preparations beforehand…
After he had taken in the breeze, Zhang Yun returned to the dining hall and noticed that the mysterious man called Euden was no longer there.
'He went back?
'Hm, it's fine. I still have another chance tonight.'
After that passing thought, Zhang Yun went to work together with Brother Mikoto. He first cleaned up the plates and bowls, and then washed the dishes, afterward it was wiping the tables, sweeping the floor, mopping the floor… He felt like he was a waiter on the Brandy.
Zhang Yun did not feel anything was wrong with that since he was "saved" by his kindness. He ought to help him do some work.
Not to mention, compared to losing Diamonds and Resurrection Tokens, it benefited him more by doing these chores.
As for Brother Mikoto, there was a difference between reality and his background story. As a hero follower summoned from another world, he would absolutely obey all normal commands of his summoner. Even if that were to ask the heroes to put down their weapons and serve others tea.
Of course, certain special commands could not be used on the heroes…
Time went by very quickly. After a busy afternoon, it was time for the passengers to have their dinner. Zhang Yun met up with Euden once again.
"Good evening, sirs," Euden had taken the initiative to greet them.
"You as well," Zhang Yun deliberately used a special phrase.
When he heard the phrase, Euden was not surprised as well and it did not raise any suspicion. Instead, he naturally started a conversation and asked, "I heard from the boss that the cook will use magical beasts as ingredients for our meal tonight. I wonder, have you ever had them before?"
"Magical beast meat?"
Zhang Yun wanted to say yes, but he then gave it a good thought. If magical beasts were something that could be easily eaten, he should not be asking him such a weird question. It made him sound like a refugee that could not afford meat…
"That's right. It's the Plated Groundhog. The meat of this magical beast is very tender, unlike the tough meat of other magical beasts. But compared to other magical beasts, it was quite hard to clean it. It also needed much more preparation time."
Euden said with a faint smile, "It looks like we are quite lucky to be able to encounter a cook so talented, knowing how to make such an uncommon dish."
'Ho!
'You're quite good too!
'To know such an uncommon thing!'
Zhang Yun rolled his eyes in his mind, but his expression remained unchanged, and slowly asked, "I have never had that. What does it taste like? Mind telling me in detail?"
Euden then replied, "It melts as soon as it enters your mouth, and its flesh is tender and sweet. As the Plated Groundhog likes to eat strawberries, their meat would have a faint strawberry taste. However, it wouldn't affect the taste of the meat itself. Instead, they blend perfectly with each other, forming a unique flavor."
"How does it compare to the Rock Island Rabbit?"
Euden was stunned and asked, "Hm? Rock Island Rabbit? You had eaten one before?"
'Huh?
'Yeah, I did!
'Not only did I eat it, but I had also finished one whole pot of it, and I even prepared another pot. If you want to have a taste, I can take it out for you now…'
Zhang Yun coughed, "I was lucky to have tried it."
Euden then said, "Then you must be really lucky!"
Zhang Yun asked curiously, "Why?"
Euden then explained, "These rabbits only live on islands, and they have a hard time surviving on land. They also couldn't be moved to other islands as they can easily become seasick. And because of stress, they would die of sickness in the end.
"The quality of their meat changes extremely quickly after death. They need to be cooked on the spot to guarantee their taste.
"Also, their meat is very tough. As they drink a lot of seawater, it's also very salty. If it wasn't processed properly, it would be so salty that it couldn't be eaten.
"So, if you want to eat the Rock Island Rabbit, you need to go to an island where they live and encounter a skilled enough chef. Only then will you be able to truly have a taste."
'Huh? That complicated? I remembered that all I did was put them into the pot, and then sprinkled the seasonings the Tome of Gourmet summoned and that was it?
'I didn't think that it was salty?
'Er…
'Alright…
'The Tome of Gourmet is too good…'
Euden then suddenly asked, "Huh? You didn't know any of this? Didn't the chef that cooked it tell you anything?"
Zhang Yun quickly said, "I think he did? I don't remember exactly. Because when he was talking with my uncle, all I cared about was eating. I didn't pay attention to what they were talking about."
'Hehe, anything that I can't explain, just push it to my uncle! A perfect excuse~'
Euden then said, "Oh, I see. And here I thought that the chef didn't care much about reputation, and didn't want to say anything to help spread his fame…'
Zhang Yun asked curiously, "Huh? Spread his fame? Is the Rock Island Rabbit honestly that hard an ingredient to use?"
'No, No, No? The Tome of Gourmet is seriously epic?'
Euden nodded and said, "Of course. All the chefs recognize it as one of the hardest magical beasts to use as a cooking ingredient since ancient times.
"Due to the difficulty in handling it as well as its special requirement, normal chefs would never have the time and opportunity to study it. This made it harder to cook when compared to other magical beasts.
"Some people even believed that the Rock Island Rabbit's meat cannot be eaten.
"Only the masters that had lost interest in wealth and had set their eyes on making the most delicious food would spend lots of money and time to study how to cook the Rock Island Meat, and then found out the way to maintain the freshness of the meat by luck."
When he heard that, Zhang Yun had also become curious and asked, "Then, why didn't the chef that managed to find that out pass down the knowledge? And let the other chefs copy… Oh, my apologies, it was an accident. What I meant was why didn't he let the other chefs make the Rock Island Rabbit dish using the way that he had discovered?"
Euden then answered, "That was because every chef had different methods and habits. Even if they were to copy what they did, there would still be minute differences.
"And these differences, even if the heat of the flame was several degrees higher, or the wind blew it for a second, would cause the Rock Island Rabbit's meat to lose its original taste.
"Even the masters that managed to successfully create the Rock Island Rabbit could not guarantee that they could create the same dishes using the rabbit meat. Or even make an edible dish using the rabbit meat…
"Therefore, Rock Island Rabbit wouldn't count as just a gourmet dish. It was the ultimate aim of all chefs as a way to prove themselves.
"Similarly, it wasn't important whether the masters passed down the recipes. What was important was if the ones that came after them could create their own Rock Island Rabbit dish as a way to prove their faith in their cooking."
Zhang Yun then finally understood its significance and exclaimed, "Ah! I see!"
'I think…
'I know why the Tome of Gourmet has a rarity of five-star…'
Afterward, the two chatted about knowledge of food and interesting facts about cooks.
Because they had chatted a lot and seemed to be able to converse really well, their tones were not as distant as before. They became much more casual as if they were friends that knew each other from long ago.
However, Zhang Yun was not affected by this friendly mood and forgot his original plan.
He found an opportunity and guided Euden to return to his room and he had followed him, pretending that he was having fun with the conversation, and wanted to talk with Euden through the night.
In truth, he had quietly released the Ice Elemental into Euden's room, and let it hide in a hidden corner where it had a good line of sight to spy on him.
After he had finished all of it, Zhang Yun then used an excuse to leave Euden's room and returned to the ship hold where he slept.
After cleaning himself up, he then slept on the simple wooden bed. He switched to the Ice Elemental vision and began to observe Euden.
At this time, Euden was sitting in front of a wooden desk brightened by an oil lamp. He was holding a thick, ancient book, and both his eyes were focused on the contents of the book. He was completely oblivious to the Ice Elemental that was floating in the corner.
"Damn!
"He actually is a reader?
"Is it possible that he really didn't have any hostility? And everything he said wasn't trying to get me to say my origins… but it was merely because he read a lot, and subconsciously liked to show off what he had learned?
"Er, no, no. Not showing off. From the way that he was talking with me, he must have felt that we had an affinity for each other and wanted to share the interest that he knew.
"If he wanted to show off, his tone wouldn't be so calm. Not to mention, there were more than forty people on the ship, there was no need for him to speak to me only…
"Then why was he so interested in Brother Mikoto? The ship had so many people with classes, but I didn't see him staring at others with so much interest?
"Maybe he saw some special details from Brother Mikoto?
"Possible!
"The amount of knowledge that he possesses is quite terrifying. And he is very perceptive as well. Not to mention all his stats were question marks. As the Poor Man's God of War, it would be strange if he wasn't interested in him…"
He then stopped for a while, and withdrew himself from the Ice Elemental's vision. He mumbled to himself, "Hm, no need to rush. I will reach Rolo Island tomorrow, and all I need to do is to switch ship afterward to shake him off me. I don't think he will follow me!
"If he followed me? Then I'm sorry, but I'm not that easily handled either…"
Correct. While Zhang Yun was quite curious about Euden's situation with the question marks, he did not want to know so much about him. He did not want to have anything to do with him. He only wanted to get away from him quickly, so he would not get into trouble.
Especially when Zhang Yun's objective in this other world was to have fun in this world. He would have a taste of good food, look at the good beautiful landscape, level up, and probably do a few quests here and there. And maybe mine the Diamond mine that might exist in this world and then complete the "King of Hoarders" quest.
All the fighting, conquering the world, becoming the emperor… He was not interested. He had absolutely no interest at all.
Not to mention encountering people that he did not know and being forced into some unknown events.
Even if it was someone interesting.
Who knew if he would have to waste any resources for Euden. Summoning Scrolls and Resurrection Tokens were much more valuable than a man with question marks…
However, if he met someone like Euden, he did not have to avoid them.
He still had to do what he had to do.
At least, he needed to first find out more about this world and increase his Legacy level. Once he knew where he came from and his secrets, he would only consider those things then.
Since…
Zhang Yun knew the things he wanted most.
He also knew what he needed to do.
Correct!
To obtain the title of "The King of Hamsters!"
Therefore, he had to root out anything that would force him to use Diamonds. He could not allow any reason to use the Dragon Diamonds!
…
The next day, the sea was calm and the wind speed was stable. There was neither ambush from magical beasts, nor harassment from pirates. The Brandy went full speed ahead and reached the place called Rolo Island in the afternoon.
When he had reached his destination, Zhang Yun looked for a chance to recall the Ice Elemental hiding in Euden's room and the Lightning Elemental that was hiding in the hole. He said his farewell to Robert and the other passengers, as well as Euden.
Euden did not ask Zhang Yun to stay, and he did not ask him where was going. He simply said "Hope we will meet again" in a pitiful tone and returned to his room.
'Um…
'Looks like I had mistaken his intention…
'He simply wanted to talk with someone…'
However, they had only met by chance. They would never meet each other again, so there was no need for him to feel embarrassed about it. He needed to quickly read some books instead.
With that, Zhang Yun happily left the Brandy and entered the city on Rolo Island.
Rolo Island was a city built on the ocean and was the supply and resting stop for the merchant ships. Therefore, its streets were filled with people as well as shops selling various items. They had everything, ranging from food and drinks to entertainment.
"Speaking of which.
"They do have a library in this place, right?"
On the other side, as they needed to replenish their magic stones and other supplies, the Brandy needed to dock at the shipyard for a night. They would only disembark and leave for Pantasona after everything they needed to set sail was prepared on the next day.
As Zhang Yun had left and he did not fit with the others on the ship, Euden sat alone in his room and read his books relaxingly.
Only when night had descended, a blue seagull the size of a cat landed on the ship gliding on the winds at night. It avoided all the sailors, and easily found its way to Euden's room, and landed on his books.
At that point, Euden closed the books with a sigh. He then put on the jacket that was on the back of his chair and stood up.
"They were even on this island…"
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