"So why are you here, Lord Kael?"Old Maela questioned curiously.
"We need your help."
And this ti, the one who answered her question was Lavinia.
"My help...?"
Maela blinked, a little taken aback.
"Only if you agree, of course. We are not here to force you."
Lavinia spoke politely.
"How can I help a God...?"
Maela questioned innocently.
"We heard you are one of the finest cooks in the Heights."
"That is an overstatent."
Maela’s answer was quick.
Sure, when she was younger, many people ca to her with their rations, wanting her to cook for them, but that was quite a long ti ago. Most of those people were dead, and those who were still alive...
Well, do not co here anymore.
Maela knew it was probably because they were worried about her health and her overdoing herself but... it still felt sowhat lonely.
Of course, both Kael and Lavinia knew about this. It was sothing Imperia’s ants heard when the matter regarding the corrupt Provisioners spread. When people learned that Maela was one of the people who was targeted, those who knew her began talking about her to themselves.
There were even quite a few people, mostly the children of those whom Maela used to cook for, who ca to visit Maela afterwards.
This was also the reason Maela seed a little exhausted.
"Now you are the one being humble."
Lavinia smiled.
"We heard people talking about how your food was once every single Velmourn’s favourite."
"That was a long ti ago, and it was never on a scale as grand as what you heard. I only cooked for about a hundred people. That too, when I wasn’t too tired after work."
Maela told the truth and Lavinia nodded.
"That is more than enough to prove your skills."
"I do not understand...? What does Lady Lavinia need from ...?"
Maela questioned in a low voice and Lavinia opened her Sanctuary, taking out the food items that the Mornlts handed to her.
"These are a few of the edible items that we found. They are nutritious, healthy, fresh, and safe—this, we can assure you—but...
They are not the most... delicious things we have eaten.
Actually, so of it tastes quite bad and we need your help to make them... edible."
Lavinia shared the problem.
Honestly, it wasn’t as big of a problem as Lavinia was making it out to be. These things were edible; sure, they might not be delicious, but this was the Heights. People here didn’t even have spices to enhance their food’s flavour; they could eat raw at, vegetables, and everything else and never complain about the taste.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that their taste buds had long died; they would never care about the ’taste’ of the rations handed to them.
Not just that, if Kael and Lavinia actually cared about the taste, then instead of Maela, they would have gone to Morvain or Aelindra; the two of them would definitely have higher chances of finding a better cook.
But still, the two of them chose Maela.
Why?
Because the old needed purpose.
It was a problem that Kael realized—the old were targeted because they were no longer useful in the Velmourns’ eyes, which was, at so level, true.
Of course, Kael understood that the old were no longer able enough to work; the decision of them not working was good for them.
But...
It wasn’t as good for them as the Velmourns believed.
The old were lonely.
The conditions of their bodies, because they weren’t moving, were deteriorating with ti. Not to ntion these people had next to zero social interactions. Honestly, from what the ants told him,
The old were simply waiting to die.
This was also the reason they never complained about receiving less food; they actually thought this would bring their death quicker, ending their misery.
Yes, their situation was that bad.
And Kael wanted to do sothing about it—so he decided to give them purpose.
Through Maela, he was planning to recruit other elders who felt lonely and start a big kitchen that would feed people.
The work wouldn’t be as taxing as other work; it would give them enough excuse to move their bodies and get so sort of exercise in. This would also give the old a place where they could not only interact with each other, but with other Velmourns as well.
And last but not least, they would also get enough food that they would no longer have to worry about hunger anymore.
This was Kael’s plan.
"What... are these? I have never seen them."
Maela spoke in an uncertain voice as she looked at the food items in Lavinia’s hands.
There were a total of four items. Lavinia first grabbed a pale blue mushroom with glowing veins and passed it to Maela—
"This is Frostcap Mushroom; it is good for muscle building and gives one’s body the energy to move."
The Mage explained.
Maela carefully held the mushroom with a curious look on her face. Lavinia then passed the second item, a greenish-white mat of moss that was compressed into a block.
"This is Ice Moss Loaf; it helps with digestion and keeping the body healthy."
After the loaf, she passed a translucent blue jelly that glowed faintly.
"Gel Ration. This is also a source of energy and other essentials that the body needs; it is sweet and can be eaten without any preparation. It is the only thing here that actually tastes good."
Maela held the gel; this was her first ti seeing a jelly-like substance, so she was being extra careful with it.
"And this is the Fungal Biscuit."
Lavinia spoke, handing the last item to Maela—hard, round, stone-baked biscuits made of compressed fungal spores.
"This is a pure source of energy that only has one role: to keep the belly full and the body functioning. Even when these are not stored in a Sanctuary, they can last for months. They are best as Ergency Rations and siege supplies."
*Picture of all the Items*
"As I said before, with your skills, we need you to make them edible."
"I-I do not think I can do it, Lady Lavinia. I have never seen these items before. I don’t know the way to cook them—"
"This is why we ca to you."
Before Old Maela could say more, Lavinia interrupted.
"These items are not from here; no one in the Heights would know how to cook them, so we were expecting you to do sothing about it."
"But I do not know how they taste either."
"That is an easily solvable problem, now isn’t it?"
Lavinia chuckled as she gestured at the items in Maela’s hands.
"Taste them."
"I... can eat them?"
Maela blinked, staring at the items in her hands. Just from looking at them, these items looked far more precious than the rations they had. Heck, she wouldn’t be surprised if this was what the Drakthar royalty ate on a regular basis, and now... the Dragonborn princess wants her to eat them...?
"Of course."
Lavinia nodded as if it were obvious.
"As I said before, these are completely safe; this we assure you. If you want, we can eat them before you to prove—"
"N-No, that is not what I am talking about!"
Maela quickly shook her head, a little panicked.
"Then what is it?"
Lavinia tilted her head in confusion. Maela didn’t know how to say what she was thinking, so in the end—
"N-Nothing..."
She just shook her head.
"I-I’ll taste them."
She spoke in a low voice.
"Good."
Lavinia nodded with a smile. After this, Maela began tasting all the items she was given one by one. Like other Velmourns, ’taste’ wasn’t her priority, so the pretty much tasteless loaves or sowhat bitter mushrooms didn’t make her feel much.
And although there was a slight reaction when she ate the biscuits that had a strange taste, her biggest reaction was the face she made while consuming the gel; her eyes were opened wide by how delicious it was.
For a mont, she stared at Lavinia, barely holding herself back. Lavinia chuckled at that sight,
"Please, eat more if you wish."
"I-I can’t possibl—"
"You need to taste it more than once if you are going to make delicious food using them, so please, don’t hold back; get a proper taste of whatever you desire."
"B-But if I eat too much, there won’t be any left for you..."
Maela spoke in a low, uncertain voice and Lavinia just smiled.
"You don’t have to worry about that."
The Mage waved her hand and about a hundred items fell on the floor that she had already cleaned using Wind and Water Magic.
"We have more than enough."
Lavinia spoke and Maela stared at the sight in front of her with wide eyes.
"Eat as much as you want, whatever you want."
The Mage smiled.
"I-I can eat as much as I want...?"
"Think of it as a gift from your God, if that makes you more comfortable."
Lavinia turned towards Kael when she said those words and Kael gently picked a few gels that Maela liked and handed them to her,
"Please eat, Grandma Maela."
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