CH 27

Chapter 27: Boiled crab claws

Translator: yuzu

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Luya’s anxiety wasn’t completely baseless, and she had another strange dream.

Almost as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw those incredible and unfathomable pictures again.

All kinds of monsters were gathered together, speaking the same language. They debated whether the human livestock that the dragon asked for should be released from the ranch.

“It’s just human meat. It doesn’t matter if you give it to the dragon as long as it satisfies him. Avoiding trouble is the most important thing.”

“I don’t think we should set this precedent. If we do this once, there will be a second time. Dragons should not interfere with our business, and Archbishop Godot will not allow it.”

“I heard Farus the Red Dragon has been absurd lately. He’s become obsessed over this little human girl, and even brought her into the Dark City Dünbruck…”

“No way, Lord Gudius would never allow it…?”

“Gudius was merely respecting Farus’s honor1. However, Farus is a little too indulgent towards humans, and that is not a good sign…”

The conversation was extremely heated, and those harsh ear-splitting voices made Luya’s head hurt. She failed to see the outcome of the monsters’ debate, and woke up with her head completely dizzy.

She wasn’t totally sure if the pictures she saw were just dreams or events that happened in reality.

If they were real, that would be incredible, right? In either case, they weren’t her memories, so perhaps it was some kind of visionary foresight?

…That would be awesome.

Although she didn’t really believe that she could predict the future.

But just in case, Luya decided to tell the red dragon about her dreams.

“…Farus, do you think those guys will change their minds? Or maybe try some sort of evil ploy, like tying bombs on the hostage when they deliver him…”

She spoke uncomfortably, imagining a series of worst-case scenarios. In her final analysis, she still worried whether everything would go smoothly.

After listening to Luya’s words, the red dragon didn’t respond.

“Even if they considered it, they still wouldn’t try it, so don’t worry.”

His answer was very calm, as if he didn’t care about this at all.

“Is it because they’re afraid?”

Luya carefully looked at the red dragon, and then realized that she had asked a stupid question.

Of course they didn’t dare. In the end, dragons were a terrifying existence that struck fear into all creatures.

Even if the monsters held a big meeting, they couldn’t change this fact. It was just like how nobody would risk voting to attack the United States of America…

Over these three days, all the monsters could do was deliberate with each other. Even if you were unhappy, what can you do?

So Luya felt a little relieved, and then decided to get up to have breakfast.

After washing her face and leaving the dragon’s lair, she saw that the piglet was already wandering around outside.

Luya didn’t allow it to rest inside the dragon’s nest, and of course it didn’t have the courage to enter. It spent all night outside after building a fire.

Surprisingly, it didn’t run away overnight. He seemed to have really given up on his father, and had no desire to leave. Early in the morning, he was working hard to chop wood and burn charcoal, and he appeared to have finished cooking his own breakfast.

Every time she saw this guy, Luya would always subconsciously think of Inosuke2. Unfortunately, his pighead wasn’t just a mask, and he wouldn’t turn into a bishounen.

Even though Luya was a demihuman enthusiast3, pigmen were the only race that she was disinterested in. Of course, birdpeople were also no good.

Dragons, on the other hand, were amazing. What kind of girl didn’t want to have their own real dragon? Ah, she really liked the red dragon…

After venting her affection for the red dragon, she walked over to the boiling pot to see what the piglet was cooking.

There were a few blue crab claws submerged in the pot. The shells were already cracked and the white meat had been removed. The piglet stared intently at the boiling pot, his drool dripping.

Luya remembered what she had told him yesterday.

“I won’t give you food, so you’ll have to find your own things to eat.”

She thought that this piglet would steal her apples or dig some bugs from the ground to eat. Unexpectedly, he found a big crab on his first day? Was this for real?

“So what’s cooking?” Luya pretended to ask casually.

“It’s the claws of the swamp crab! My favorite food! Oink!” The piglet replied.

“Where is its body? Why are there only claws?” Luya asked again.

“You don’t even understand this? Humans are really stupid.”

The piglet looked at Luya contemptuously, and then proudly explained to her: “Because of their living environment, the roe of the swamp crab is poisonous, so their bodies can’t be eaten. However, the crab claws are absolutely delicious and rich in protein, oink.”

“Is it that good? Lemme have a taste.”

“Whaa oink?!”

Without waiting for the piglet’s consent, Luya immediately snatched a crab claw out from the boiling water and stuffed it in her mouth.

Ever since receiving the dragon’s blood, she was no longer afraid of heat. In order to confirm her guess, she had even tried to put her hand into the flame while she was cooking, and she wasn’t burned at all. It only felt like being surrounded by warmth.

But this wasn’t the important point.

This swamp crab claw tasted just like Shanghai crab4!

But it was even bigger, and tasted even better!

“It’s delicious! Give me another piece.”

“No way! That’s mine! Oink!”

The piglet stood in front of the pot defensively, and he angrily glared at Luya. “It took me a lot of effort to catch this! Oink!”

“So stingy. It’s just one piece~”

Luya felt like her sense of gluttony had been enticed. When she thought about all the things she had been eating this entire time, this crab was a real delicacy. Even without using any seasoning, its fresh flavor could be brought out simply by boiling the ingredient.

Since the piglet could obtain it, it must be a resource on this mountain…

So she asked: “Where’d you catch this thing?”

“It’s a swamp crab. Of course you’ll find it near the swamp! Why are you so dumb oink?!”

The piglet glared at her unhappily and spoke, “Yesterday, I risked being chased by the undead in the middle of the night, and I finally caught two of them. You owe me a piece, oink!”

Swamp? She remembered seeing a swamp when she was chasing the runaway Lu Dahuang. However, it was fairly far from the dragon’s lair, so it was really impressive that he ran all the way over there.

More impressively, he even ran all the way back. It seemed like he really didn’t want to leave…

“I want to eat this today, so show me the way there. I’ll catch some and return a piece to you.”

Luya immediately made her decision. She took her weapon and backpack, turned back to Ludding, and said, “I’m going to grab some ingredients. Take care of yourself, Uncle Ludding. If those goblins get restless, you can hide in the cave. Normally, they won’t approach the dragon’s nest.”

“Okay… I know. Make sure you stay safe, Eve.”

Ludding knew that the girl in front of him was totally different from the weak girl that he once knew. She was now strong and powerful, so Ludding nodded and asked her to be careful. Then he continued to go back to work on the farm.

The responsibility for all the farm work had been left to him. Today, he planned to grind the wheat that Luya had tossed aside, make flour, and then bake it into bread.

Luya climbed onto the red dragon’s back, and Lu Dahuang climbed aboard familiarly.

She didn’t know why this dog was obsessed with following her outside. Was it a dog’s nature to enjoy going on walks? Fortunately, this dog never seemed to get lost, so Luya decided to bring it along. Perhaps it could help her find some good things.

The red dragon naturally wouldn’t let the piglet climb on, so the piglet had to run down by himself.

Pigmen were a subspecies of beastmen, and their physical strength and endurance far exceeded humans. Luya rode the dragon in the sky as the piglet ran for around ten minutes, at which point he was panting and breathless.

This time when they passed the abandoned mansion that had been occupied by killer ants, Luya saw that a majority of it had been dismantled. The rubble from the roof was piled up on the ground. Soon, her own house would be built using these materials.

No long after, they finally arrived in front of the swamp that they had seen last time. The red dragon slowly descended on a huge rock.

“It’s right here. Those swamp crabs like to hide in the mud, so you’ll have to look carefully. If you see some breathing holes, you can dig, and there’ll definitely be something inside. Oink.

As the piglet said this, he sniffed at the mud underneath his feet. Then he dug a few times with his front hooves, and sure enough, a black swamp crab covered with mud popped out.

He stepped on the crab’s body expertly, grabbed its two large claws and wrenched. The crab claws snapped with a clean crack. The piglet quickly put the claws in his back and then threw the crab’s body back into the swamp.

After demonstrating the process, the piglet reminded Luya again.

“Remember to throw away the body. The crab roe is poisonous, and there isn’t much meat on its legs. Only the claws are edible, oink.”

“Not bad. It can be boiled, marinated, or spiced5. If we had some white wine, we could make some drunken crab6…”

Luya couldn’t help but start planning various ways that crab could be eaten. However, it was really difficult to obtain something like white wine.

Aside from the long time it would take to brew, there were huge differences between Maotai and Erguotou7.

Furthermore it seemed like this world had a Western style. Nearly everyone was Caucasian with high brows and large eyes. Even the pure black hair and black eyes of her own body weren’t precisely oriental.

Everyone knows that grape wine is popular in the West, but at least in the memories of this body, she had never encountered white wine. Perhaps the eastern continent of this world had it, but no one had ever visited the East.

Luya decided to try brewing it herself. However, she couldn’t distill the alcohol. Without the right equipment, she could only steam the fermented grain. Maybe she could try to make sticky rice or Kaoliang.

She found a tree branch and mimicked the piglet as she searched for holes in the mud. However, she quickly discovered that her dog found them faster than her, and she only needed to dig at the spots the dog was staring at.

Whenever Lu Dahuang barked, she would run over to dig, and their accuracy was near perfect. Very quickly, she dug out four or five crabs. She broke off the crab claws with satisfaction and threw them into her bag. Amidst the piglet’s unhappy glare, she took out a piece and returned it to him.

Before they had a chance to be satisfied about themselves, the clear sky suddenly changed color. Dark clouds quickly covered the sun, and soon thereafter, the skies turned blood red.

Luya was stunned, and she spotted the piglet trembling all over. He stammered nonstop, “N-Not good…”

The red dragon looked a little alert, and Luya suddenly realized that something bad was about to happen. She came to the piglet’s side and looked up at the ominous skies, muttering uncomfortably, “Could that thing be coming…?”

The demonic world eye. Would it appear right here?

Translator’s notes:

Not much author’s notes today; Sayuko makes a recommendation for her friend’s novel: “审神者之刃” and thanks the readers as usual.