As they approached the lake, it dazzled their eyes. The sunlight reflecting off it made it particularly glaring. It felt as if the sunlight was sparkling on jewels.
Sylvia, seeing the emerald lake blend with the light cream-colored grass, gasped in awe. It was incredibly beautiful. While the previous two lakes were also beautiful, this place had its own distinct charm.
“Wow, it’s really beautiful…”
Slowly approaching, Sylvia peered into the water. The refreshing color of the water made her feel refreshed as well.
“The lakes before were beautiful too… Each lake seems too beautiful.”
Felix nodded in agreement with her words. The forests he traversed during monster subjugations were nothing like this. The bizarre weather and dense forests had only stifled him.
Initially, the stench of monsters was so unbearable that he felt like dying, even though he had almost lost his sense of smell. When Sylvia vomited, he fully understood her. The unique smell of monsters and blood was intolerable even for him.
“Felix, come here!”
He moved towards her at her cheerful call. She was leaning so far over the lake that her hair almost dipped into the water.
Her teal hair cast over the emerald lake seemed as if it was absorbing the lake’s water. Hearing his footsteps, Sylvia turned her head and gestured towards him with a swift wave of her hand.
“Look here.”
He knelt beside her, peering into the lake like she did. Despite its vastness and depth, the lake was clear, and its bottom was fully visible, teeming with strange creatures.
“What are those?”
At first glance, the sight might have seemed repulsive. However, Sylvia’s voice was full of anticipation and excitement.
“By their looks, those are oysters and mussels! How can they be so large?”
Sylvia kept exclaiming in admiration. Then, she harvested them one by one using wind magic.
She salivated at the sight of the huge mussels and oysters, which required both hands to hold. She cracked open the shells, topping the mussels with plenty of cheese to bake and dousing the raw oysters with chopped pineapple, raw garlic, and generously sprinkling them with chojang and lemon juice.
Given their size, she attempted to pop a bite-sized piece of raw oyster into her mouth. That’s when Felix, as if he had been waiting, intercepted it using wind magic and popped the raw oyster into his mouth first.
The mushy texture wasn’t exactly pleasant. However, the follow-up taste of chojang, the zesty lemon juice, the sweet pineapple, and the slightly bitter raw garlic made it tolerably edible.
Especially the subtly fishy yet nutty taste of the raw oyster made Felix’s eyes widen increasingly.
“Hmm?”
Though she found his interception annoying, Sylvia was curious about his reaction and watched him expectantly.
“How does it taste?”
As Felix savored the quickly dissolving taste of the raw oyster in his mouth, blinking, he turned to face Sylvia and replied in a bewildered tone,
“It’s… tasty.”
It really was.
Initially, the texture had caused some aversion, but the overall harmony of flavors was excellent. Moreover, it was a food he had never eaten before. Of course, everything Sylvia had given him consisted of unfamiliar foods, but this was truly a first.
Sylvia burst into laughter at Felix’s reaction. She had never seen such raw food here before. She thought he would be incredibly confused, but to her surprise, his reaction wasn’t bad, raising her expectations.
‘Hmm, there’s a lot of rockfish caught from the pink lake… should we slice it for sashimi?’
Since it pleased even the most discerning Felix, the mercenary group would probably enjoy it too. While contemplating various menu items, she continued to eagerly eat the raw oysters.
Alternating between feeding Felix, who accepted the food like a baby bird, and herself, they quickly finished off the large raw oyster. Licking her lips in disappointment, she then stared intently at the mussels roasting nearby.
The vermilion flesh was obscured by cheese, but the faint scent rising was oceanic. Sylvia found this fascinating. Growing in a lake, why did it smell of the ocean?
Was it just her preconception? Or was the lake connected to the ocean somehow?
While she stared blankly at the juice oozing and pooling, Felix mumbled beside her,
“Isn’t it done?”
The edges of the cheese had browned nicely. Sylvia used wind magic to cut it into small pieces and levitated them into the air. She gave the steaming mussel to Felix first.
Hmm.
He exhaled the hot steam and moved his jaw.
“Hmm.”
Hearing his non-disappointing sigh, Sylvia’s eyes narrowed with pleasure. She rolled the cheese-stretched mussel flesh into her mouth.
“Yum! Delicious!”
The combination of cheese and the salty taste of the mussel was fantastic, and the flesh was chewier than any mussel she knew.
“So delicious!”
Sylvia beamed and shrugged her shoulders happily.
Felix kept up, eating the mussels at an unwavering pace. He wondered how such a flavor was possible. The raw oyster was uniquely delicious, but personally, the mussel fit his taste perfectly.
From coconut crab to oysters and mussels, they were busy devouring everything. Sitting on the cream-colored grass right beside the lake, Sylvia spotted a blue shell.
She sprang up and exclaimed,
“It’s a coconut crab! We need to catch it!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Felix channeled magic into a wind magic circle. After tasting coconut crab once, it no longer appeared as a monster but as a tempting source of food.
A whirlwind blew. All the coconut crabs near the lake were lifted into the air.
“Good job!”
Felix swelled with pride at Sylvia’s praise. He was inexplicably happy at her simple joy, finding her adorable.
Absently harboring a thought, his expression momentarily hardened. Then, he looked at her with black eyes that sparkled like obsidian. Staring intently at the small and slender figure counting the number of coconut crabs floating in the air, he slowly lowered and then raised his dark eyelashes.
At that moment, Sylvia turned her head to look at him. The corners of her mouth were deeply etched with satisfaction. Her turquoise eyes, sharp and alert like a cat’s, rounded with emotion.
The cream-colored grass, the emerald lake, and the turquoise Sylvia.
Felix blinked slowly again as he watched her laugh innocently. Then, very slowly, he pulled up the corners of his mouth. He mirrored the same smile that she wore while they laughed facing each other.
Feeling satisfied with the smile that seemed to become more alike, Felix found it very pleasing.
***
From coconut crabs to collecting oysters and mussels, they stuffed their subspace bags full. The two hurried towards the shack, worried about the delay and the meals of the mercenaries and the others.
Hubert hurried over when he saw Sylvia and Felix returning.
“Was there really a beast, Captain?”
He had heard stories from others during their absence and was worried. Not so much for Felix and Sylvia, but for the people who would have to settle and live here.
“It wasn’t a beast.”
Felix answered briefly and looked at Sylvia.
“Mr. Hubert, it’s not that it wasn’t a beast, but it’s not an easy creature to catch. I’m worried too.”
They could easily catch them with magic, but for ordinary people who couldn’t use magic, catching coconut crabs might not be so easy. Sylvia entered the shack first after finishing her response.
People made way for her and the mercenaries, though they still regarded them with caution, perhaps less so after seeing her interact with the children earlier.
“Kids, are you up?”
After a nap, their fever seemed to have subsided, and their complexions had improved significantly. Especially Noel, who had been delirious, was now looking up at Sylvia with his eyes open.
“Noel? Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?”
Sylvia stroked Noel’s hair and checked his forehead temperature. Noel opened his mouth slightly, looking at her. The unfamiliar hair color seemed to have sparked the child’s curiosity.
“Why, do you feel nauseous?”
Worried about the child’s condition, Sylvia gently asked while checking his temperature here and there.
“No, no.”
“That’s good then. Now, kids. Would you like to try this?”
Sylvia instantly grew mangosteens, peeled them nicely, and put them in a bowl. She handed one to each child while chatting away.
“We’ll eat this and then have some porridge. And then we’ll have more porridge. After that, I’ll cook some meat for you.”
The word ‘meat’ brought a glow to the children’s face.
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