NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17 - Resolving the Issue - Part 1
Chapter 17: Resolving the Issue – Part 1
[Translation By Divinity]
Longbiart seemed unfamiliar with the term “rice porridge.” Lee Han thought for a moment and then spoke.
“It’s a type of porridge that’s easy to digest and eat. It can be made with straw, cabbage, radishes, and grains like rice or wheat…”
“There’s something like that, nya?”
“I’ve made it a few times on Earth. They might like it. How about we try making some?”
“Oh~! Can I ask you to do that?”
Longbiart also seemed quite concerned about the children in the village. Lee Han nodded to him and called Barganthus.
“Do you need anything?!”
“I need to go back to my base. There are things I need to bring from there.”
“Alright! Let’s go right away!”
Barganthus immediately put Lee Han on the cart and ran. Arriving at the base, Lee Han grabbed the Blessed Cauldron, Gaia’s Sickle, some sweet radishes, and the Jar of Purification.
“I saw some Vitality Cabbage in the village earlier. Can I use that?”
“No problem!”
“Then the rest is…”
“What’s that?!”
“It’s called wheat.”
“We have that in our village too!!”
“Oh? Really?”
“It’s among the things we brought back from our recent hunt! It would be better to use that if you need it!”
“That’s great. Let’s go then.”
‘Let’s use this wheat for regular farming.’
Lee Han put the bag of wheat on the ground and climbed onto the cart. Barganthus started running again, and as soon as they arrived at the village, he shouted.
“Bring me some of that grass you brought back this time!!”
“Moo~! Are you talking about this?! Mooo?!”
It seemed some were already eating it. They brought the straw with wheat grains attached, and Lee Han took a piece of wood, made a flail, and spread a large leather sheet on the ground.
“Let’s thresh.”
After gathering the threshed wheat grains separately, Lee Han sighed lightly. Now the real work began.
“I’ll make it right away.”
He cut the wheat straw and boiled it in the cauldron with purified water. He then added sliced Vitality Cabbage and Sweet Radishes, ground the wheat grains to remove the outer husk, added the flour to the pot, and started boiling it.
Bubble bubble…
“It smells nutty!”
“What’s that?!”
The minotaur beastfolk enjoying the festival started to gather one by one. Lee Han ignored them and focused on making the porridge.
[Delicious Rice Porridge]
[Porridge made by boiling straw, cabbage, radish, and wheat. It’s good for herbivores.]
[Delicious effect: Increases Stamina upon consumption.]
[Delicious effect: Grants the ‘Vitality’ status effect upon consumption.]
[Crafting Difficulty: ☆☆☆]
Perhaps because he used the Blessed Cauldron or because he was skilled, he made ‘Delicious’ Rice Porridge. Everyone stared at the porridge with wide eyes. Under their gaze, Lee Han filled an earthenware bowl with porridge and offered it to the thinnest-looking minotaur beastfolk child.
“Can you eat this?”
“It looks delicious!”
The child, who usually didn’t eat well, took a bite and started eating voraciously, as if it suited their taste. After that child, other children also started eating the porridge enthusiastically.
As Lee Han watched them and sighed, another young minotaur beastfolk next to him spoke.
“Can you share some with us too?!”
“Why not.”
He had made plenty, so it should be fine. Lee Han left some for the children and shared the rice porridge with the minotaur beastfolk. It wasn’t enough for everyone, so he had to make more porridge a few times.
“This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever had!”
“My fatigue is completely gone!”
“I feel my strength returning!!”
It seemed like not only the children but also the adults were satisfied with the taste. Lee Han smiled at their reactions and pointed to the remaining wheat grains.
“Can I take the rest of this?”
“Do as you please!!”
Everyone was engrossed in the rice porridge. Even Longbiart had his head buried in the bowl, unable to lift it. Lee Han approached the children who seemed to have eaten their fill and spoke with a smile.
“Feeling a bit better now?”
“Yes!!!”
“Amazing!!!”
The children’s sparkling eyes were a bit overwhelming, but not unpleasant. Lee Han smiled and stroked their heads, and they, enjoying his touch, rushed towards him, vying for his attention.
“Popular, nya!”
“Not bad. By the way, is the festival still going on?”
“How can we not have a festival after eating something this delicious?! Lee Han! Enjoy yourself too!!”
“Lee Han, you are truly an amazing human. Haha. This is the most enjoyable festival ever.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve always been helping us. It doesn’t feel right to consider you a guest anymore… From now on, I want to recognize Lee Han as a friend of the minotaur beastfolk! What do you all think?!”
Longbiart shouted loudly, striking his staff on the ground. All the minotaur beastfolk nodded happily at his words.
“That’s great, nya! It’s not easy for other races to become friends with beastfolk, nya!”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It is, nya! It means anyone who messes with you will be considered an enemy of the minotaur beastfolk, nya! It also means you can take anything you want, nya!”
“That’s right! If you need anything in the future, feel free to ask! We’ll do our best to get it for you!”
“Haha… Thank you.”
Lee Han smiled and nodded at Barganthus’s sincere words.
☆
A few days had passed since the minotaur beastfolk village’s festival. Lee Han, thinking it was time to start preparing the wheat field, grabbed a stone hoe and headed towards the field.
“Hey! Lee Han!”
It was none other than Shredder running towards him from afar. He hadn’t been seen since their trade the other day. Wondering if something had happened, Lee Han approached him, and Shredder’s expression was serious.
“What’s going on?”
“Have any elves come this way?”
Elves? Puzzled, Lee Han looked at Seolmyeong. But Seolmyeong just yawned widely, seemingly unaware of anything.
“What do you mean?”
“It seems like some noble elf kids have caused trouble!”
What could it be? Lee Han kept his mouth shut and continued to listen to his story.
“I just found out, but it seems like some elf nobles have entered the Great Forest.”
“Oh, that’s a big problem. I hope they didn’t get attacked by the undead.”
“I checked, and it doesn’t seem like that’s the case. Besides, those noble kids are quite skilled, so I doubt they’d be easily defeated by the undead.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is they crossed the cursed land. The monsters here are stronger than those outside the Great Forest. They might be in danger.”
“Oh dear.”
It was indeed a serious situation. Lee Han clicked his tongue, and Shredder frowned and gritted his teeth.
“I heard those idiots are headed towards the forest. It’ll be troublesome if they provoke the monsters and cause problems.”
“What should we do? Should I help you find them?”
“Hmm. No. I’ve asked other beastfolk for help, so if they come this way, please make sure they don’t go any further.”
“Alright.”
Shredder patted Lee Han’s shoulder and started running again. Lee Han watched him disappear in an instant and then gripped his hoe.
“There are troublemakers everywhere.”
“Nya nya. What a nuisance, nya. So? Are you just going to stay here, nya?”
“Well… there’s nothing I can do about it right now. Shredder said he asked other beastfolk for help, so there’s no need for me to get involved.”
But if they came this way, he would at least try to stop them. Lee Han spoke nonchalantly and started tilling the field.
How much time had passed?
It was around midday when the sun was high in the sky.
“…Lee Han, be careful, nya. Something’s approaching, nya.”
At Seolmyeong’s warning, Lee Han looked around and grabbed Gaia’s Sickle tucked in his waist. Thinking he might have to fight, he tightened his grip, and at that moment, the bushes rustled.
“Huff… huff…”
And from the bushes emerged three elves.
“Help… Help us…”
A male elf, carrying two seemingly unconscious elves on his shoulders, finally collapsed.
Lee Han, watching this, sheathed his sickle and approached them.
“What’s this?”
“It looks like they were bitten by a Free Mine, nya!”
“Free Mine?”
“It’s a spider-shaped monster with ten legs, nya! Once bitten, it causes poisoning symptoms with a high fever, nya! And if not treated within a day…”
“If not?”
“They die, nya.”
A simple answer, but also a dangerous one. Lee Han placed the collapsed elves onto the cart.
“I can’t just leave them to die.”
Returning to the base with the cart, Lee Han examined the poisoned elves. Two of them were poisoned and sweating profusely from the high fever. Lee Han opened their mouths and poured a little water from the Detoxification Jar into each of their mouths.
Was it because of the jar’s ability to detoxify all poisons? Just drinking a little of the water seemed to improve the expressions of the two poisoned elves.
“The poison is gone, but they’ve lost a lot of stamina, nya!”
“Then we need to feed them something.”
Lee Han put the meat the minotaur beastfolk had sent him yesterday into a large pot. He filled the pot with water from the Detoxification Jar and added a few herbs for flavor. While boiling it, he picked up some Vitality Cabbage.
“What are you going to do, nya?”
“I’m going to make Vitality Cabbage Kimchi.”
He prepared the Vitality Cabbage, sliced it diagonally, and salted it with ground rock salt. Meanwhile, he made a seasoning paste with red pepper powder, salt, pepper, Elvenstock, sunchoke mushroom extract, and a few other spices he had found. Just as he was about to mix the salted cabbage with the seasoning paste, he heard a groan.
“Ugh… uh…”
“Looks like he’s awake. Are you alright?”
“Where am I…?”
Lee Han looked at the weakly responding male elf, tore off a piece of salted cabbage, coated it with the seasoning paste, and offered it to him.
“Try this. It’ll give you some strength.”
“…Oh…”
Perhaps because of the red seasoning, he looked a bit hesitant, but when Lee Han offered it again, he finally took it with his hand and put it in his mouth.
The crunchy cabbage and the sweet and spicy seasoning were a perfect match.
While the male elf savored the taste and felt a bit of vitality returning, Lee Han finished cooking.
[Delicious Boiled Bristleboar and Vitality Cabbage Kimchi]
[A dish made with well-boiled Bristleboar and Vitality Cabbage. The savory and sweet & spicy flavors harmonize well.]
[Delicious effect: Grants the ‘Vitality’ status effect.]
[Delicious effect: Increases all stats for one day.]
[Delicious effect: Increases all skill levels for one day.]
[One-time only: Permanently increases Willpower by 1.]
[Crafting Difficulty: ☆☆☆]
“It’s done.”
Lee Han took the meat out of the pot, sliced it, and placed it on a plate.
“Here. Eat up.”