The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 129 Cooking

"Ah...delicious."

"Is this our tea?"

"Hmm, I'm starting to like the taste of these teas."

The three of them drank tea in the plantation, looking relaxed and carefree.

"I'm so tired after traveling for so long."

"I'm too tired to move while drinking tea... but I still have to drill holes next."

"Let's have lunch first. You must be hungry too. You need to be well-fed to have the energy to work. Your rock-crushing rats might be hungry too."

"Then... let's have lunch first!"

Hyacinth's eyes changed from hesitation to determination. Although she didn't love to eat as much as Yanami, Hyacinth was still a person who enjoyed food.

"Let's see how the mushrooms we caught taste."

"Agreed."

"I want to eat it too. It seems like the toxic effects of the spores have worn off, and I don't feel so averse to it now."

Yanami couldn't wait to take out the pots she had bought. She had bought several kinds of pots, including round-bottomed pots and frying pans, to try different cooking methods.

In addition, there were other kitchen utensils, pots, pans and bowls, all available. To satisfy Yanami, Klein allowed her to buy everything she wanted.

"I'll help! Where do we start a fire?"

"There."

Yanami pointed to the specially cleared space where Klein's vines were not present, and she could start a fire there as she pleased.

She then went to the bound walking mushrooms and, to avoid being contaminated by the spores, simply dragged the vines to an open area.

But holding a kitchen knife in her hand, and looking at the walking mushroom struggling on the ground, Yanami suddenly fell into confusion.

"But... what should we do with this thing?"

Yanami asked her two mouse friends for their opinions. Hyacinth helplessly shrugged, while Daisy watched from the side.

"We don't know either, are we going to grill it?"

"That won't do! I've already taken out the kitchen utensils; wouldn't it be a waste of time to bake it?"

"Huh...we're not good at cooking either. It would be great if we had a cookbook."

"Oh, I do have some, but I bought them from you guys."

"Come to think of it, I did take you shopping. We bought so much that I've completely forgotten about it."

Yanami quickly took out the Rat Clan Cookbook and carefully searched for cooking methods for Walking Mushrooms in the table of contents.

"Hmm...it looks good. Oh, and this is edible too...it looks good, it should be fine to use it as a substitute, right...?"

Yanami murmured to herself as she looked at the cookbook, nodding thoughtfully as she did so.

"Is there?"

"Yes, leave it to me. The book has detailed cooking steps."

Yanami curled the corners of her lips into a confident smile, then turned back to looking at the cookbook.

"Hmm...we need to knock the walking mushroom unconscious first. Oh, not killing it directly will ensure the texture."

"Let me do it. Can I use the scabbard to knock it down?"

Hyacinth took on the task and removed the scabbard from her waist.

"It should be fine. Ah, one is enough, there are only three of us."

The walking mushrooms are quite large, enough for three people to eat their fill.

"Daisy, could you help me boil a pot or two of water?"

"No, no problem."

"Cook one pot slowly, and cook the other quickly."

After giving instructions to Daisy, Yanami looked back at the cookbook.

"Also, the book says that the mushroom stems must be kept intact; if you smash them, they'll lose their flavor, so knock some air on your head."

"Is this... the head?"

Hyacinth pointed to the cap of the mushroom.

"I think so."

Bang, bang!

Hyacinth tapped the cap of the walking mushroom twice with its scabbard. The whole mushroom swayed, and its stem was still twitching unconsciously, like the tentacles of a dying octopus.

Seeing that it was still moving, the hyacinth tapped it again.

"Perfect."

Hyacinth got up from the ground, with a little red stain on her clothes. It was from when she was hit on the head, and it looked like blood had splattered.

"Leave the rest to me."

Yanami took the knife, rolled up her sleeves, and squatted down next to the Walking Mushroom, ready to start processing it; Hyacinth squatted down beside her like an apprentice, watching intently.

"I'll try learning it too; maybe I'll be able to use it someday."

First, Yanami moved the Walking Mushroom onto some of the large leaves provided by Klein, because it was too dirty on the ground.

"Let me see... First, you need to remove the outer skin of the cap, as it's covered in spores and can't be eaten. Also, there's a edible part inside the cap, so you need to cut it carefully with a knife. Okay, I understand."

With a firm grip on the knife, Yanami's hand was steady, showing she had used it many times. Following the description in the book, Yanami began the process.

Cut along the edge of the cap with the knife, peeling off the outer layer of red skin, which is nearly three fingers thick, to reveal the ivory-white flesh inside.

Its texture is firm yet elastic, and it makes a slight squeaking sound when the blade is pressed down, like cutting into a piece of fine fish.

"This mushroom looks delicious. It's the first time I've ever seen a mushroom dissected."

"This is my first time doing this too."

Yanami didn't look up and continued processing the fungus. She turned it over and chopped off the soil-covered base.

Then came the really delicate work—he used the tip of his knife to carefully remove the short, thick legs one by one, along the joints of the mushroom feet, and set them aside separately.

"The book says these are the essentials."

"It seems perfect for a barbecue."

After Yanami finished speaking, Hyacinth nodded in agreement.

The mushroom stems, already cut, trembled slightly on the cutting board, emitting an aroma completely different from the main mushroom.

"It smells so good, completely different from those weird spores."

"It tastes like mushrooms."

"It was originally a mushroom, wasn't it?"

Yanami finds it hard to describe the flavor; it's a concentrated, rich mushroom aroma, like the flavor of matsutake mushrooms after they've been sun-dried for a day, carrying the most hidden sweetness from the depths of the earth.

Hyacinth took a deep breath, her expression one of enjoyment.

"The remaining white mushroom stalks are all edible."

After saying that, Yanami took the fungal stem and foot and washed them. They were covered with a lot of dust and red spores. After washing them clean, they revealed pure white.

"Next, we need to slice it."

Yanami had a cutting board she had made herself from a wooden stake. She placed the whole mushroom stem on the cutting board, cut the large pieces of stem into thick slices, and then the mushroom feet. To distinguish them, Yanami cut the mushroom feet lengthwise into long strips and placed them together with the mushroom flesh.

"The water is boiling."

Daisy boiled two large pots of water. One pot was slowly simmering over ordinary firewood, so it remained calm. She used simple fire magic to speed up the process in the other pot, so the water quickly began to boil.

"Okay, now we can put that in."

"that……?"

Daisy and Hyacinth were a little confused, wondering what Yanami was talking about.

"Hyacinth, take your sword and come with me."

"Oh... okay."

Hyacinth nodded, stood up with Yanami, and walked to the carriage parked to the side, which contained the corpse of the dissolving centipede.

"Hyacinth, did you know that the flesh of the centipede is actually edible?"

"Huh? Does this mean... we have to eat this?!"

Hyacinth looked at the centipede corpse in the car in shock, then at Yanami who was smiling, and she nodded meaningfully.