The snow had stopped.
With the disappearance of the [Sanctuary], the magic wolves gathered outside the village were gone as well.
The tightly shut gates of the Sword Village finally opened, and life in the village began returning to normal.
"[To reward the heroes who destroyed the monsters, we must offer them the fattest pig in the village.] Those were the final words of my grandmother, the village chief before the last one."
The little girl village chief led a group of villagers over, bringing Shane and the others a large white pig.
Shane stared at the pig tied to the flatbed cart, still squealing nonstop, and was left rather dumbfounded.
"Did your grandmother leave any last words about killing the pig first and preparing the at before sending it over?"
"Well..."
The little girl tilted her head and thought for a mont.
"It's fine. I can handle it. Kraft taught how to butcher boars before."
As he spoke, Stark stepped forward to take over.
After drinking the herbs Frieren had boiled for her, Fern's condition had clearly improved. At that mont, she was standing at the doorway with a crutch. When she heard Stark's words, she said in a gloomy voice, "Can you really do that, Stark?"
Hiss!
Stark shuddered.
He did not dare turn his head at all and instead looked to Shane beside him for help.
Shane rubbed his nose and hoped [Great Luck] would do its job, keeping Fern from noticing him.
During the next few days, the villagers continued sending over a lot of food as thanks.
Considering Fern needed to rest and recover properly, they simply stayed for a while.
Stark began his daily routine of "Little Stark Helps Out," running outside every morning and only returning after it was completely dark.
In just a few days, he had beco familiar with more than half the village. Every morning, children would appear at the door right on ti and call him out to play.
Shane stuffed so candy and nuts into his pocket. This silly boy did not even know to prepare a few "tools" when playing with children.
Fern spent each day slowly doing recovery exercises with the help of the elderly priest. Although her bones were not injured, the ankle was still a fragile joint and had to be treated carefully.
The priest also told her so knowledge about herbal dicine, and Fern listened very seriously.
The way the two of them got along sohow gave off a Heiter-like feeling.
Shane secretly observed them. The little girl seed to be in a much better mood now, not as angry as she had been over the past few days.
Frieren, who was standing nearby, remarked, "Aren't you usually afraid of nothing?"
"You don't understand the heart of a doting father."
"?"
Ahem.
Shane cleared his throat lightly.
"Speaking of which, why aren't you reading your grimoire today? Why have you been rummaging through your boxes?"
"I'm looking for sothing."
"What are you looking for?"
Shane walked over curiously.
Frieren's box was an absolute ss, filled with all kinds of magical materials and unknown magical tools. He could even see a living giant snail inside.
He could not help clicking his tongue.
Young lady, you have once again refreshed my understanding of mages.
"Ah, found it."
Frieren raised her head from the pile of junk, holding up a piece of note paper.
"This is the [Super-Sized Hamburger Steak] recipe Eisen gave . Since the village chief happened to send us pork, I wanted to make it for those two to try."
Super-Sized Hamburger Steak...
Shane rembered it being an absurdly huge at patty, even bigger than Eisen's head.
It was a custom from a warrior village in the Central Lands, usually prepared as a gift to reward warriors who had given their all. It was a kind of honor.
Only then did Shane rember that Stark and Fern's birthdays were both coming up soon.
"It will still take so ti to cross the Schwer Mountains. After we leave the Sword Village, there won't be any more villages, so I want to celebrate for them in advance."
Shane nodded. That made sense.
The two kids had suffered quite a lot on this journey. They deserved a proper reward.
"Then you make the hamburger steaks. I'll make mushroom soup. Fern likes mushroom soup the most."
"Okay."
"Then I'll go gather mushrooms now."
When he had gone out gathering herbs before, he had discovered several caves nearby. According to the villagers, mushrooms grew inside them.
Once they decided, they got to work.
"You're both back. The food is ready at just the right ti."
Shane put down the soup and called the two youngsters over to sit down.
Frieren also carried two huge plates out of the kitchen. The at patties on the plates were still sizzling with oil, clearly fresh from the pan.
Stark was a little surprised.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, you two have both been doing very well recently, so we're rewarding you with a [Delicious Dinner]."
Fern glanced at Shane suspiciously.
"So, did you make all of this?"
"I made the soup. Frieren made the at patties."
"Whoa! It's [Super-Sized Hamburger Steak]!" Stark pulled out a chair and plopped down, his eyes shining with surprise. But then he imdiately looked a little confused. "Isn't this the unbeatable delicacy you only get to eat on your birthday? But how do you know how to make it?"
"Your master copied the recipe for ."
As she spoke, Frieren handed everyone knives and forks.
"It will still take so ti to cross the Schwer Mountains. To make sure we don't miss your birthdays, we're celebrating them together now."
"Huh? Is my birthday coming up?"
Stark wore a completely indifferent expression, as if he had never rembered the actual date of his birthday in the first place.
Fern looked at the food on the table, and warmth rose in her heart.
In all the years they had traveled together, Shane and Frieren had never once forgotten her birthday.
"Here, try it. This is your favorite mushroom soup."
Of course.
That warmth lasted only one minute.
Looking at the mushroom soup Shane handed her, Fern's pretty eyebrows instantly twisted together.
"Are you sure this mushroom soup is drinkable?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course it is!"
Shane lifted his chin confidently.
Fern still looked doubtful.
Stark, anwhile, had been eating until his mouth was covered in grease. He grabbed the bowl of soup in front of him and said, "I like mushroom soup too. I'll try it."
Fern was a little shocked. "Stark, wait—"
Unfortunately, the warrior's movents were quite decisive.
Gulp, gulp.
The entire bowl of cream mushroom soup went down in two mouthfuls.
"It's good."
Stark praised it aloud.
Then, under everyone's shocked gazes, two streams of blood flowed from his nose...
"I'll go find the priest grandpa."
Fern sighed and calmly got up to leave.
"I'll go get the Holy Scripture. It may not be much use, but I should at least cast a healing spell on you first."
Frieren sighed as well and got up to leave.
She truly had not expected Shane's cooking skills to be so consistent. After all these years, he had not improved even a little.
Sure enough, she should have listened to Fern: Shane must be banned from the kitchen.
Stark wiped the blood beneath his nose in complete confusion, swayed twice, then collapsed face-first onto the table and lost consciousness.
Shane looked at the mushroom soup in front of him and fell into deep thought.
That shouldn't be right...
This ti, he had checked every single mushroom. He had picked through them one by one exactly as Fern had taught him.
There were no poisonous mushrooms!
Not even one!
"It must be undercooked..."
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