The blond man stood blankly in place, clutching those brand-new silver coins, seemingly not knowing what to do.
His towering, mountain-like physique made the originally spacious kitchen seem somewhat cramped by comparison.
But under this contrast, his bewildered and helpless posture appeared even more comical.
Su Cheng said, "It looks amazing!"
The pie in the white porcelain plate had a beautiful golden-brown crust, slightly puffed up with a crispy outer shell.
She used her right hand to take a knife and cut a small piece. The deep red cherry filling was thick like magma, overflowing through the cracks and flowing onto the plate.
Su Cheng quickly forked it up and took a bite straight away.
The blond man was startled, "... Careful, it's hot!"
Su Cheng looked at him with bulging cheeks, mumbling indistinctly, "Thank you, I'm fine, and this is just too delicious!"
The crust melted between her lips and teeth, and the aroma of butter and milk spread out. The scalding hot jam and honey flowed over her tongue, sweet but not overly cloying.
Su Cheng felt like she was going to melt too. At a loss for words and not knowing how else to praise it, she could only desperately give a thumbs up.
The blond man stared at her blankly. A slight blush quietly appeared on his handsome and rugged face. "... There are more in the oven."
He seemed a little annoyed after saying this.
Because the portion of those pies actually exceeded what most customers could eat alone.
However, the girl in front of him had bright eyes. While stuffing the remaining half of the cherry pie into her mouth, she nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes!"
The way she ate was not elegant, nor was it rough, but it would definitely make most chefs feel satisfied.
It was a pure joy immersed in a wonderful taste experience.
She looked as if she had forgotten all worldly troubles.
The blond man's expression softened a bit, and he lowered his head to take out more pies from the oven nearby.
Su Cheng didn't even have time to carry them out and sit down. She just stood in the kitchen, turning around to avoid the cooking counter with ingredients to make sure she wouldn't get crumbs on it, and she was too lazy to take a knife to cut them open one by one, directly using a fork to stab and eat wildly.
The crust at the edge of the pie was slightly hard, but the inner layer was tough and pliable due to steaming and baking, and sugar threads could be pulled out when bitten open.
These jams were obviously carefully prepared.
Although they were all sweet, their tastes were also different.
The sweetness of the cherry was the most intense, with a slight sourness in the aftertaste, but it was not astringent, and the taste was incredibly mellow.
The apple was simmered softly with honey and cinnamon, and the flavor spread out in threads, giving a fermented feeling of sweet rice wine.
The sweetness of the mango was even more unrestrained, with a milky fragrance in the fresh sweetness, like the hot wind and sunshine of summer.
A few crushed cardamom seeds were hidden in the pear filling, which would suddenly release a little spicy fragrance in the gentle and soft juice.
Su Cheng quickly devoured a plate of pies, and the chef gave her another plate, asking if she wanted to eat more.
She indicated that the second plate was enough. The blond man nodded silently, rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands, scooped half a spoonful of syrup from an oak barrel, and opened a bottle of mead.
He crushed two wild berries and then made her a drink. The bottom layer was amber honey, the middle was a blue-purple syrup cloud, and the top layer was bright red berry juice.
Those rough fingers with large joints gently picked up a mint leaf, flicked the leaf surface, and then placed it in the wine glass.
The green leaf swayed gently on the juice like a small boat.
Su Cheng observed from the side.
Seeing the person from the story for the first time felt a little subtle, but he actually didn't seem to fit the kind of terrifying legend at all.
"For you."
The blond man said in a muffled voice.
"Wow—"
Su Cheng took it happily.
She took a sip, and the mixture of honey and fruity aroma exploded on the tip of her tongue. Traces of crimson swayed in the glass, and the berry juice was like the sunset melting into the waves.
"My goodness," Su Cheng couldn't help but praise, "It's so delicious, and so pretty. You are not only good at seasoning, but your color matching is also amazing! Oh right..."
She was about to take out money again.
"No need!"
The blond man immediately got a headache, "What you gave earlier is completely enough—"
As he spoke, he subconsciously reached out to stop her.
The man's palm was broad and thick. With a stretch of his purlicue, he almost circled the young girl's entire wrist, and his thumb tip almost touched her beating blood vessel.
The calluses on the edge of his palm scraped across her thin skin, bringing a subtle tingling sensation.
Those were the marks left by kneading dough. Whether it was the thick joints or the hard calluses, they made those hands look full of weather-beaten traces and also had a wild sense of power.
His body temperature was very high, and his fingertips were burning hot on the inside of her wrist, like the touch left by a branding iron.
"... Sorry."
The blond man withdrew his hand somewhat in a panic, like a bear that accidentally touched a honeycomb.
Su Cheng saw veins popping out on the back of his pale hand. His rolled-up cuffs revealed a section of a sturdy forearm, and the bulging muscles stretched the linen fabric.
"I mean," the chef lowered his head awkwardly, "You don't need to give me any more money."
As he spoke, he glanced at her again, and his gaze couldn't help but pause on her face, as if he had never seen a creature like her before.
Although in a sense, Su Cheng could understand.
After all, this small town was not a prosperous place.
"Alright," Su Cheng nodded, "I just wanted to say, your craftsmanship is very good. Thank you for your hospitality, Mr.—"
The blond man lowered his eyes to look at her, his lips moved, and he reported his name in a low voice, "... Grutnis."
Sure enough.
Su Cheng sighed in her heart.
It really was exactly the same as in that fairy tale.
Whether it was this tavern or this pastry chef himself.
Su Cheng smiled at him, "Nice to meet you. Besides—"
She tried to say some topics related to rabbits, such as beating around the bush to ask if the other party kept pets, etc., but found that she couldn't say it at all.
Was this some kind of restriction on transmigrators?
But in the previous timeline, there didn't seem to be such a situation?
Su Cheng couldn't help but feel a little confused.
The chef in front of her was still waiting for her to speak.
What to do?
If she wanted that crazy tragedy not to happen again, was the only way to guard the Holloway family, monitor them day and night, and save the rabbit at the critical moment?
Su Cheng, "... Besides, I'd like to know, if I pack it to go and leave it for a period of time, will the taste change?"
He nodded gently, "If it's kept overnight, the skin might become hard, but if it can be sealed, the flavors of the filling will blend even better."
Su Cheng nodded thoughtfully, pretending that she was considering this issue.
The blond man looked at her, and a little flush appeared on his face again, "Forgive my presumption, are you a passing mercenary?"
Su Cheng thought this identity was pretty good, "Yes, I am. I got separated from the people in my team because of an accident, and I want to find them."
Grutnis seemed a little flustered again, as if afraid of poking at her personal matters, but seeing no gloominess on the young girl's face, he relaxed slightly.
"Anyway," Su Cheng thought for a moment, "Besides the pies, is there anything else to eat? Assuming it is still your working hours right now?"
He nodded and shook his head. "Well, I mean, there is—"
The chef's expression froze for a moment.
Su Cheng looked at him in feigned confusion.
If it was consistent with what the book said, then this guy seemed to refuse to cook meat.
And given her current identity, very few mercenaries didn't eat meat.
Unless they were some high elves, who, due to their living environment, might have grown up accustomed to eating fruits and vegetables and had little interest in meat.
"I mean," Su Cheng thought for a moment, "do you only make sweet pies? Are there any savory ones? I like potatoes and beans, and mushrooms are nice too."
The blonde man seemed to relax again and nodded silently.
The kitchen had a full range of ingredients, and he simply remixed some fillings. The process was fast and skilled, and he didn't even use a scale.
It seemed that to him, those proportions were already ingrained in his mind, and he could measure them accurately just by using a spoon or his hands.
"...Do you want anything else?"
The blonde man said in a low voice, "Cream mushroom rolls, layered potatoes, garlic white bean risotto—"
"I want to try your pie first."
"...Okay."
Before long, Su Cheng was eating a new flavor of pie.
The flaky pastry wrapped around peas, carrots, and turnips stewed until soft and sticky, mixed with thick mashed potatoes and some savory mushroom sauce.
Su Cheng ate two in a row. Meanwhile, Grutnis also made some fried potato balls, the breadcrumbs golden and shiny, served with a dish of sour cream and a dish of dill sauce.
He seemed to want to make something else and went to the side to peel fruit.
Su Cheng hurriedly indicated that she was almost full after eating these.
"It's fine," the blonde man glanced at her and said dully, "I can eat the rest."
Su Cheng: "..."
So Su Cheng watched him make roasted pumpkin, brushed with honey and rosemary, and arranged in a blooming shape on the plate.
He also hollowed out the caps of some plump wild mushrooms, filled them with minced garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs, and baked them until the mushroom juice boiled.
The kitchen was full of fragrance.
He directly cleared a table, and it was fully packed with various large plates and dipping sauce dishes. The various stews, roasts, and salt-baked dishes were colorful and very pretty.
"Do you want to eat meat?"
After a few seconds, the blonde man said in a low voice.
"Huh?" Su Cheng was taken aback for a moment. "I saw you only making vegetables and fruits, so I thought you didn't like cooking meat."
"...But I can." He looked at her. "If you want to eat it, anyway—"
He said as he swept his gaze over some raw meat hanging on the other side of the kitchen, "...They're already dead."
"Oh, no need," Su Cheng could hear the stifled feeling in his tone. "I can't eat anymore. In fact, I can only eat a small half of this table at most..."
The pies were very high in calories, and she had eaten about four or five people's portions.
If it weren't for that dragon trial, she might have eaten herself to death by now.
Grutnis nodded, brought out a large pile of pies and placed them to the side, then ran to stand in front of the copper pot next to him.
Fruit and syrup were boiling inside, bubbling away. He constantly skimmed off the foam, drawing out sticky colored threads as he stirred with a wooden spoon.
Su Cheng watched his focused profile while eating.
He was very absorbed in making the jam and didn't seem to notice anything. It wasn't until she completely stopped eating that he came over and sat next to her.
Then he devoured all the food on the table like a whirlwind, including the mountain of vegetable pies and several cheeses larger than a washbasin.
Su Cheng: "..."
It was hard to imagine a normal human having a bigger appetite than hers.
He ate very intently and very quickly, as if he was just grabbing everything and stuffing it into his mouth.
She watched quietly for a while. "By the way, if I said I had some talent for prophecy and could see the terrible things that would happen to you, and I swore I wouldn't ask you for any form of reward, would you believe what I said?"
Grutnis looked up at her. "What is it?"
Su Cheng couldn't give any specific warnings at all. "...The people familiar to you are not to be trusted."
The blonde man looked at her quietly, his ice-blue eyes seemingly surging with some emotion. "Hmm."
Su Cheng met his gaze for two seconds. "Is it too vague?"
He shook his head slightly. "Thank you."
Su Cheng was stunned. "Seriously? You know what I mean?"
Those quiet blue eyes were still staring at her. "No, but you can only say this much, right?"
...
At the entrance of the Church's temple in western Yasuo.
In the mansion of the Weiss family, several young people were gathering on the terrace, with expensive magical plant drinks on the table.
"So, Arthos," one of them suddenly spoke up, "how is the progress of your research? The dean said before that he's looking forward to your work the most."
"The testing has already begun," a blonde young man said with a smile. "I think it should be finishing soon."
Seeing this, the others began to flatter him.
"Those few magic spells you improved before are so useful..."
"Ah, a genius is a genius. Among Dean Toller's students, you're the youngest, and you're the only one who can create universal elemental magic. Last time they even said that in history, those who could achieve this were at least Grand Magisters..."
"By the way, why didn't I see your annoying younger brother today?"
Someone turned their head to look, with a bit more disgust on their face. "Always having a stinking face all day long, as if others owe him money. Oh right, I heard he dropped out of school? Truly mud that can't be plastered on a wall. If I had a brother as amazing as you..."
"Don't say that," the blonde young man smiled and shook his head, his expression very gentle. "Gerald is actually very good. He's still young, and sometimes he might be a bit impatient."
"What do you mean? He's just naturally vicious. Didn't you guys hear? He chopped off Henry's arm at the night market that day—"
"Oh, I heard that too..."
"I heard Henry's godfather is a cleric of the Church..."
"But aren't his parents both in prison? The people of the Church are probably eager to distance themselves from their family, right?"
"That's hard to say..."
The group discussed for a while, and suddenly someone patted Arthos. "Oh right, that beautiful magician we saw on the bridge that day—"
"What beautiful magician?"
The sliding door of the terrace was pulled open, and a blonde, green-eyed youth stood there. There was no smile on his cold, pale face, and his gloomy eyes stared straight at them.
"Gerald," Arthos sat up. "You're back?"
The blonde youth completely ignored him, just looking at the person who had just spoken. "What beautiful magician?"
That person gave him a baffled look. "Uh, I don't know that person, I just felt she was very powerful, and very beautiful..."
"What did she look like?"
"She looked about your age, maybe a bit older, average height, a bit thin, black hair, light-colored eyes..."
"Hmm," Gerald's face was gloomy. "What about her?"
"She was on the boat," another man couldn't help but chime in. "We were passing over Martin Bridge, and she kept staring at Arthos. Of course, a lot of people do that—"
He trailed off mid-sentence.
Gerald's expression was simply too terrifying. His dark green eyes were clouded with a deadly gloom, making him look like a venomous snake ready to strike.
