Chapter 243

Harmonious Survival

When Mia and Keithwood got back to the beach with their haul of leaves and fruit, the food was already being cooked. A makeshift kitchen had been set up, with a wooden stand set up over a fire and a nice metal pot sitting on top. Inside, thick slices of fish, shellfish, and seaweed were cooked together to make a stew that was very rich in seafood.

“My! Stew!”

Mia gasped with joy at what she saw. She had given up on that dream because she thought that even if they caught a rabbit, they wouldn’t have a pot to cook it in.

Now, the door to some delicious rabbit stew was once again open. Again, the rabbits on the island were in danger of ending up in her stomach.

“Nice.” Keithwood was impressed and asked, “How did you find a pot?”

Nina answered in her usual calm and emotionless way.

“When it comes to food, our main goal is to make sure it is safe to eat. So, most things are fine as long as you heat them all the way through. Stewing or pan-broiling is the easiest way to cook, so I thought having a pot around would be helpful. Then I remembered that we had brought one with us and thought that a big pot that could serve a lot of people might not be so easily blown away. After a bit of searching, I was able to find it on a nearby branch.”

As she talked, Keithwood’s eyes got farther away from her.

“Yes... Priorities... Of course. What you say makes a lot of sense. It’s nice to know that our meals are being made by an experienced, smart cook like you,” he said with the relief of a lost soul who had found a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

Mia gave him a puzzled look, but the topic didn’t hold her attention for long, so she gave a “eh, whatever” shrug.

“Whatever the case, this is great news.

We can stew rabbit now that we have a pot, and we can even add mushrooms...”

Keithwood’s eyes got less happy, though, when Mia started naming all the tasty things she wanted to try. Even though the pot was big, her goals were even bigger.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

“But I have to say, seaweed is one thing, but how did you catch all of these fish? I don’t think we brought any fishing rods.”

“We found some sticks in the woods,” said Abel.

“About the string, I’m sorry to say that your attendant had to give up something important to us.”

“Huh? Wait, Anne?”

Mia looked at Anne and wondered what he meant by that.

She looked over the things Mia brought back with her lips together.

“I’ll pick these plants clean and put them in the stew. I think I can use the palm fruit juice as a seasoning. It might give it a little more flavour,” she said in a straightforward way.

Mia had heard that sound before. It was the tone of a woman who was accomplished and knew what she was doing.

She thought of herself as a pretty accomplished woman, so when she heard what it meant, her eyes grew wide.

“Wow, Nina, are you really saying that you can cook well under these conditions? I thought Esmeralda was just being herself.”

“I don’t think my simple skills can meet the high standards of royalty like you. I will try as hard as I can, but I’m sorry in advance if I’m not good enough.”

Nina bowed her head in shame, but Mia ignored her and turned her attention to the pot of stew.

“You’re not being fair to yourself. Really, you’ve done more than enough, especially considering what’s going on. Check out this stew. It smells great.”

“It sure does,” said Keithwood, who had missed the first part of getting ready and was watching with interest.

“What did you put on it to flavour it? Just salt?”

Nina gave a nod.

“I’ve made it a habit to carry magic powder with me so that milady Esmeralda can always have delicious meals.”

“M-Magic powder?” asked Mia, who didn’t understand.

Nina held up a bottle that was hanging around her neck.

“This bottle of spices comes from another country. One shake of this is enough to make almost any dish taste much better.”

“My! Are you serious! This?!”

Mia looked at the bottle, interested in what was inside.

Everyone in the group was in a good mood, and everyone shared in the laughter. Everyone except for a sad Esmeralda, who showed she was good at making her cheeks look like chipmunks.

There’s no need to point out how much she looks like Mia.