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Luyaâs anxiety wasnât 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.
âItâs just human meat. It doesnât matter if you give it to the dragon as long as it satisfies him. Avoiding trouble is the most important thing.â
âI donât 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.â
âI heard Farus the Red Dragon has been absurd lately. Heâs become obsessed over this little human girl, and even brought her into the Dark City DĂŒnbruckâŠâ
âNo way, Lord Gudius would never allow itâŠ?â
âGudius was merely respecting Farusâs honor1. However, Farus is a little too indulgent towards humans, and that is not a good signâŠâ
The conversation was extremely heated, and those harsh ear-splitting voices made Luyaâs head hurt. She failed to see the outcome of the monstersâ debate, and woke up with her head completely dizzy.
She wasnât 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 werenât her memories, so perhaps it was some kind of visionary foresight?
âŠThat would be awesome.
Although she didnât really believe that she could predict the future.
But just in case, Luya decided to tell the red dragon about her dreams.
ââŠFarus, 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 himâŠâ
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 Luyaâs words, the red dragon didnât respond.
âEven if they considered it, they still wouldnât try it, so donât worry.â
His answer was very calm, as if he didnât care about this at all.
âIs it because theyâre afraid?â
Luya carefully looked at the red dragon, and then realized that she had asked a stupid question.
Of course they didnât dare. In the end, dragons were a terrifying existence that struck fear into all creatures.
Even if the monsters held a big meeting, they couldnât change this fact. It was just like how nobody would risk voting to attack the United States of AmericaâŠ
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 dragonâs lair, she saw that the piglet was already wandering around outside.
Luya didnât allow it to rest inside the dragonâs nest, and of course it didnât have the courage to enter. It spent all night outside after building a fire.
Surprisingly, it didnât 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 wasnât just a mask, and he wouldnât 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 didnât want to have their own real dragon? Ah, she really liked the red dragonâŠ
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.
âI wonât give you food, so youâll have to find your own things to eat.â
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?
âSo whatâs cooking?â Luya pretended to ask casually.
âItâs the claws of the swamp crab! My favorite food! Oink!â The piglet replied.
âWhere is its body? Why are there only claws?â Luya asked again.
âYou donât even understand this? Humans are really stupid.â
The piglet looked at Luya contemptuously, and then proudly explained to her: âBecause of their living environment, the roe of the swamp crab is poisonous, so their bodies canât be eaten. However, the crab claws are absolutely delicious and rich in protein, oink.â
âIs it that good? Lemme have a taste.â
âWhaa oink?!â
Without waiting for the pigletâs consent, Luya immediately snatched a crab claw out from the boiling water and stuffed it in her mouth.
Ever since receiving the dragonâs 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 wasnât burned at all. It only felt like being surrounded by warmth.
But this wasnât the important point.
This swamp crab claw tasted just like Shanghai crab4!
But it was even bigger, and tasted even better!
âItâs delicious! Give me another piece.â
âNo way! Thatâs mine! Oink!â
The piglet stood in front of the pot defensively, and he angrily glared at Luya. âIt took me a lot of effort to catch this! Oink!â
âSo stingy. Itâs just one piece~â
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 mountainâŠ
So she asked: âWhereâd you catch this thing?â
âItâs a swamp crab. Of course youâll find it near the swamp! Why are you so dumb oink?!â
The piglet glared at her unhappily and spoke, âYesterday, 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!â
Swamp? She remembered seeing a swamp when she was chasing the runaway Lu Dahuang. However, it was fairly far from the dragonâs 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 didnât want to leaveâŠ
âI want to eat this today, so show me the way there. Iâll catch some and return a piece to you.â
Luya immediately made her decision. She took her weapon and backpack, turned back to Ludding, and said, âIâm going to grab some ingredients. Take care of yourself, Uncle Ludding. If those goblins get restless, you can hide in the cave. Normally, they wonât approach the dragonâs nest.â
âOkay⊠I know. Make sure you stay safe, Eve.â
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 dragonâs back, and Lu Dahuang climbed aboard familiarly.
She didnât know why this dog was obsessed with following her outside. Was it a dogâs 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 wouldnât 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.
âItâs right here. Those swamp crabs like to hide in the mud, so youâll have to look carefully. If you see some breathing holes, you can dig, and thereâll 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 crabâs 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 crabâs body back into the swamp.
After demonstrating the process, the piglet reminded Luya again.
âRemember to throw away the body. The crab roe is poisonous, and there isnât much meat on its legs. Only the claws are edible, oink.â
âNot bad. It can be boiled, marinated, or spiced5. If we had some white wine, we could make some drunken crab6âŠâ
Luya couldnât 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 werenât 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 couldnât 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 pigletâs 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, âN-Not goodâŠâ
The red dragon looked a little alert, and Luya suddenly realized that something bad was about to happen. She came to the pigletâs side and looked up at the ominous skies, muttering uncomfortably, âCould that thing be comingâŠ?â
The demonic world eye. Would it appear right here?
Translatorâs notes :
Respect honor (ç»éąć) : Literally, âgive faceâ. This is a common expression in Chinese. Inosuke : This is referring to Inosuke Hashibira, a character in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime. Demi-human enthusiast (äșșć€æ§) : Literally, âdemi-human-conâ, just like âsis-conâ. Shanghai crab (性éžèč) : Chinese mitten crab, also known as âShanghai hairy crabâ, a famous food in Shanghaiâs local cuisine. Spiced (éș»èŸŁ) : Literally, âMalaâ, which is a unique Chinese spicy flavor that has a numbing taste. Drunken crab : Crab marinated in wine. Maotai and Erguotou : These are two famous varieties of Chinese baijiu (âwhite wineâ), which are more vodka-like than actual wines. They contain 35-60% alcohol and are usually fermented from rice. Kaoliang : Another variety of alcohol fermented from sorghum.
Not much authorâs notes today; Sayuko makes a recommendation for her friendâs novel: â查ç„è äčćâ and thanks the readers as usual.