章 279: Skill books (1)
"As you might have gathered, neither Guy nor I come from particularly well-off backgrounds. And that is putting it lightly. We both struggled financially as were left on our own the moment we became adults.
"I had the small mercy that my family was living of a large garden that they sank all their free time into. Since I had grown up in that garden, I was a very efficient work force and they offered me some of their products in exchange for me helping out.
"Guy and I had met a couple of times and I wanted to get to know him better. So I invited him to my place, a crappy one bedroom apartment I could barely afford to pay rent for. I didn't really have much left in my fridge beside a leftover sausage and a pumpkin I had just gotten for working in the garden.
"With little choice of ingredients, I boiled the pumpkin down into a soup. It was bland when I tasted it and Guy who had just arrived suggested running to the store one street over and buying some cheap curry powder. Since he was paying, I accepted. That evening we found out that neither of us could handle spiciness.
"Guy ended up making another trip to the store to get some milk and we were finally able to eat the soup that was lukewarm by then. Still, as a dish both of us had put effort into, it tasted great!"
"Awww, that's so sweet. Young love at its best!"
Navi is positively swooning as she greedily gulps down every word that escapes Melody's lips like the finest tea. You can watch reality shows for this kind of stuff!
Navi gives me a withering glare and glances over at Melody. Ah, she can't answer my thoughts while Melody is here.
The conversation is interrupted when Pata serves both Melody and I a bowl of orange yellow soup. Unlike my usual practice of diving right into the food, I take a moment to observe the dish.
The bowl is shaped like a goblet that has been pressed down to widen the volume and thicken the base. At either side, there's a handle shaped like the head of a lion mid roar. My bowl is porcelain white while Melody's has the outside painted in a rich royal blue color. The white interior perfectly accentuates the vibrant color of the soup.
Based on the yellow hue that's mixed with the orange color of the pumpkin, I can tell that Pata added more than a dash of milk. The curry he added is probably adjusted to Darwin meaning it can burn me alive. Plenty of milk is much appreciated.
I grab the spoon that Pata has provided and give the soup a light stir. Countless slices of sausage come to the surface and a light aroma of curry assaults my nose.
My mouth waters at the speed of an opened flood gate. I scoop a spoon full of pumpkin curry soup with a few pieces of sausage onto my spoon and slowly bring it to my mouth.
I tip the spoon and the soup smoothly enters my mouth along with the pieces of sliced sausage. I bite down on one of the sausage slices and release the savory juices held inside. The savory juices mix with the pumpkin curry soup as I chew up the sausage slices and elevate my taste buds into delicacy heaven.
The delicate spiciness of the curry, mellowed by the milk and complemented by the savory sausage juices. Ah, together they create a symphony of contrasting flavors that culminate in just one word, delicious!
I once again enter a world that consists of only my bowl. A bowl that is soon empty as I quickly down all the soup and its contents.
The next bowl arrives before I can give Pata the word that my previous one is empty. This occurrence quickly turns into a reoccurring event until, after my fifth bowl, there is no new bowl replacing the old one.
I stare at the empty table surface before my eyes, feeling a deep sense of loss. Why isn't there a new one? I am not yet full, there's still room for more.
"You weren't kidding when you said that you guys have near bottomless appetites. I've never seen Guy eat that much in one sitting. Five bowls of soup, that's like twice what a normal person could possibly force themselves to eat. And how many of those baked apples did you eat, Navi? I lost count, but I'm sure there were at least a dozen."
Melody is concerned with far too mundane matters. What's important here is why I didn't get more soup!
"You might not believe me, but Guy is probably still wanting more of that soup. The reason he had to stop now, is that he needs to work on something this afternoon and can't enter a food coma. Right, Guy?"
I do remember that conversation but I do not agree with going on a forced diet. Is what I would like to say, but Melody is here so I don't want to throw a tantrum.
I give them an awkward smile and nod in defeat. I suppose I should curb my desire to have a few more bowls. Trying out my new skill is an important thing I should have done already.
I excuse myself as Melody watches Navi devour more baked apples. So, now that you can talk into my mind again, where will I be making these skill books? My room?
<No, your room isn't meant to be a work space. We have small office rooms reserved for the use of production skills. I'll guide you to one of them where everything you'll probably need has been prepared.>
Probably? You sound a bit uncertain.
<Sigh, you are an enigma to us at this point. Usually, the skill book creation skill is obtained by years of study and practice. Most who obtain it are high level magic users or a few elite teachers. Even then, there are still other obstacles to making a skill book. However, due to your instructing skill and the way you obtained that skill, we believe you will probably be able to use it. We just aren't sure about any of the specifics.>
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