Cutting of small slices of the meat and composing them with the salad and fried potatoes was what I thought to be the best way of eating this dish considering how well they worked together to bring the most out of this meal, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't try every piece separately.
Taking the meat for example, without anything to absorb the juices that instantly squeezed out of it, I could feel my palate being overwhelmed by a sudden injection of insane if not perfect taste and a huge load of energy. While the potatoes and salad didn't taste bad by themselves, it was the mean that elevated the entire dish to a higher tier!
As we kept slowly savouring small piece by piece from this enormous plate, I started wondering about one thing. With how full of energy that dish was, why didn't I see any notifications? Consuming blood tonic instantly rewarded me with at least some attribute points, but this meal could only be used to regenerate my lost energy, which made it rather useless in a situation like this, where I didn't expend any of it at all.
But even if one thought about it, this food was still more than worth its price. Spirit stones that provided similar effect just on a greater scale, cost about one hundred fifty coins, while this entire meal that could amount to about one-tenth of the spirit stone in terms of energy potential cost only a single arena coin!
While the disparity of pricing was great, it took me only a moment to realise where did it come from. Using spirit stone took just a moment of absorbing its energy to regenerate almost an entire pool of spirit attainment cultivator like Eve, and I was able to regenerate my entire reservoir with just two of them. That made them far more useful in dire situations that just sitting down and swallowing ten of those steaks!
"Excuse me, would you be so kind as to tell me where does this meat originate? I have never eaten something so tasty, so even considering enormous cooking skill that it takes to prepare it, I doubt its just some random animal that it came from!"
Using the opportunity as one of the restaurant clerks was passing by the table we were sitting at, I asked what was puzzling me. If one was able to make such use of some demonic beast that I would be able to take down myself, I could consider investing my points in cooking ability!
"We are supplying this meat from our private farm, where Hikkerien Cows are feeding on various valuable herbs. A lot of our competitors tried to replicate our meat, but thanks to a specific mixture of various spices that those cows are fed, only we are able to bring the most out of their meat!"
Seeing my earnest expression, the clerk didn't hold back the overall information. While the parts about herbs mixture were included to probably deter me from trying to set up my own restaurant that would potentially cause them losses, I received the part that actually interested me.
From what I remembered from the guide book, Hikkarien Cows were, in fact, a subspecies of Hikkarien Cervens, bull-like magical creatures around the development core level. I guess feeding them some valuable herbs could increase the amount of energy contained within their meat, but that would also explain the exorbitant price for this food!
While replicating the success of this restaurant was obviously not something that I would even consider, the fact that I could earn quite a sum from basically any ability that I invest my attribute points allowed me to open my mind to the vast number of ways to make a fortune for myself!
It's not that I was greedy or wanted to live in luxury. Contrary to most of the people, all I wanted was to live my life with Eve on my side without worrying about putting something on the table for the rest of our life! The only reason that any way to claim riches had any place in my heart was simply logical thinking!
Cultivating required resources. That was true in every book and manga that I swallowed back on earth, and so it was in this world. Spirit stones, ancient techniques, private pointers from stronger cultivators… all of that cost money. While I could get by thanks to my system, if I wanted to let Eve keep up with my growth, I had to make sure that she would never experience any lack of resources required for her cultivation!
"Sorry for taking your time, but could you please provide us with some kind of package for the rest of the food? I didn't expect for the portions to be so large, and the aroma that spread around your place was simply too strong for me to ask for it before ordering. If you would mind telling me, why are the portions so big in the first place? Considering how great it tastes, I wouldn't find it surprising if they were just a tenth of their actual size!"
Putting my thoughts about the money aside, I used the chance that the clerk didn't manage to leave our proximity to ask for a package. With how great this food was, there was no way that I would leave it after eating my full! With all due respect, even Eve's cooking didn't reach such heights of tastefulness!
"Didn't you see the name of this restaurant sir? This place is actually for entire groups of people! Preparing the meat properly requires it to be at least that big, otherwise, part of the taste would be lost, that's why we are usually aiming to provide for larger groups of people. As for the packaging, just give me a moment and I will be right back!"
Noticing that Eve wasn't able to swallow even a single bit more, I thanked the clerk and cleaned up the food, scattered all over the plate. Just a moment later, the same clerk came with a strange ball-like object, placed it on top of the meals and left. A few seconds later, the balls swiftly dissolved into a strange liquid, that covered the entire plate. As soon as it stabilised itself, the cover turned dim, hiding the content that it hid from the view.
Reaching for the wrapped food with hesitation, I realised that it was actually quite durable! Just by touching it I could feel a strange pull towards my storage ring! Allowing this sensation to steer my actions, I suddenly saw that the entire content of the plate transported to my storage space while leaving the plate clean!
"That is quite a novelty!"
Unable to hold myself from exclaiming in amazement, I looked at Eve and seeing her nod, raised myself from the table. With my beloved repeating the action of storing the leftovers in her own spatial ring, we left the restaurant after sending a small nod of respect towards the kitchen.
With our bellies full, we slowly strolled through the city, while marking down any interesting place in our memory with the intention to visit it at a later date. With how much I still have to do before I could call it a day, I was looking for some kind wood workshop, where I could either buy or at least order the handles to be made. With how big the entire city was, I didn't need to worry that someone would connect my order with the appearance of those handles on the auction later on.
"How about going in there?"
With my eyes focused on the small stalls around the streets, I would miss a huge building with open front if not for Eve's keen observation skills. Maybe it was caused by my tunnel vision, but she actually found a proper smithy!
But why did they operate right on the street? With how much smoke all the chimneys and forges would produce, I could bet that every single of their neighbours would complain about them!
"Sure, why not."
With an approving nod, I redirected my steeps toward the building that Eve found. Despite busying myself with smithing for quite a while already, I have yet to see anyone else working on their own wares. While I doubted that I could learn anything useful, knowing the standard procedures could allow me to at least hide my own unorthodox approach to the whole topic!
Chapter end
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