Chapter 31 : Making heart-pounding dumplings (1)

“Dumplings? What are dumplings?”

“What on earth does Maeve know?”

How can you not know what dumplings are?

“Dumplings… Hmm, of course, we know how to make dumplings, but.”

Gergalo said with a look full of anxiety.

“Believe in Purpure.”

There was no need to talk about old stories in detail.

Unless the ancestors of the Flame Tribe were fools, there’s no way they gave 20 human heads every month.

Conversely, there’s no way the harpies brought enough fish for twenty people to eat.

“Mr. Gergalo’s ancestors made delicious dumplings in exchange for fish to get along with the harpies.
04.”

“Certainly, since long ago, our tribe has had a custom of making dumplings, but…”

Gergalo was anxious even though he had ordered people to get the ingredients for the dumplings as I requested.

“Harpies aren’t so foolish as to confuse human heads with dumplings.”

• Whoosh!

Before Gergalo could finish speaking, the Harpy Queen landed sharply in front of me.

Her claws were holding a large, freshly caught mullet.

“Gergalo said it well! We harpies aren’t that stupid. We’re not fools who don’t know dumplings!”

“But you know that dumplings are delicious.”

“That… Ha! I just know it because I’ve stolen and eaten it a few times!”

Even though the Harpy Queen was being irritable, she put the mullet on the cutting board as I pointed.

“You can look forward to it.”

“If it weren’t for the Great Demon Lord, I wouldn’t have listened to this request. You suddenly told me to catch fish…”

I patted the Harpy Queen’s chin with my palm, who was clicking her tongue.

“Ugh…!”

“You did well. You can rest now, Harpy Queen.”

The Harpy Queen stepped back, startled.

“Maeve! Help Purpure.”

“Okay. What should I do? You told Dominicus to bring Chomp Chomp and Legnyong, right?”

“Maeve will prepare the fish from now on.”

I pointed to the fish’s tail and head.

“I’ll take out the guts, so hold it.”

“Okay! This is easy!”

As soon as Maeve grabbed the fish, I took out a kitchen knife and cut open the belly of the mullet.

It was easy to clean up the guts.

“Now it’s Maeve’s turn. Fillet the fish.”

“Fillet…?”

“Think of it as slicing the meat thinly.”

Maeve thought for a moment, then grabbed the kitchen knife and cut the mullet in half coolly.

“And remove the skin too.”

“Is this how you do it?”

Like a hero, Maeve neatly separated the flesh and skin of the large mullet.

It’s convenient to have a lot of strength in this situation.

“You did well! Then, fillet it as I said.”

“Hmm! What thickness should I slice it?”

“It’s enough if it feels like the flesh will be fully chewed when Maeve eats it.”

“I get it!”

Maeve put strength into it and started filleting the mullet’s flesh, making a square sound.

“It’s too thick! It should be thinner than that!”

“How about this?”

“You did well!”

Before I could even show a test, Maeve quickly filleted it into a good size.

“I brought Legnyong and Chomp Chomp. Great Demon Lord.”

As requested, Dominicus brought the two who were playing in the field.

“Legnyooong!”

“Chomp chomp, chomp! Chomp chomp!”

You brought the ones in the best and most beautiful condition.

Maybe Dominicus really has an eye for monsters.

“I’m going to make the filling for the dumplings from now on.”

I pointed to the lamb that had been prepared in advance in a wooden bowl.

Chomp Chomp nodded excitedly.

He immediately started operating the saw on his head, making a buzzing sound.

“As expected of the Hero, you’re very skilled.”

In front of the admiring Gergalo, I thinly sliced the mushrooms with a knife and lightly stir-fried them on the frying pan.

As the mushrooms and vegetables cooked, a sweet and savory aroma spread around. Even Maeve, who was filleting, couldn’t resist this smell and swallowed her saliva loudly.

Since there were plenty of seasonings, including soy sauce, adjusting the seasoning was really easy.

“Purpure is really good at cooking!”

“If Maeve has finished filleting, sprinkle salt and flour on it.”

Since Maeve could make a mistake, I showed her a light demonstration.

I sprinkled a pinch of salt on the white flesh of the fish like the first snow, and I sprinkled flour more generously than that.

“It looks a little different from what I know?”

The Harpy Queen, who had been watching us for a while, leaned forward and said.

“That’s right. It’s completely different from the dumplings that Gergalo or the Harpy Queen knows.”

“The filling is the same, but… That’s right? Aren’t you going to prepare the dumpling wrappers?”

I nodded and sprinkled various seasonings, starting with ginger juice, on the lamb that Chomp Chomp had finely minced.

It can’t smell bad!

“You don’t need that for these dumplings.”

“Ha, then it’s not dumplings.”

“It is dumplings.”

I put the prepared filling on the frying pan again and stir-fried it until it made a sizzling sound.

The savory smell of oil and the aroma of the ingredients cooking were so delicious that my stomach rumbled loudly.

“Mr. Gergalo’s ancestors wanted to eat delicious fish. But they can’t always go to the river to eat fish.”

“That’s right. We live a life of wandering around this Great Plains. Sometimes we live close to the river… Sometimes we live far away.”

“And it’s a chance for the harpies to eat delicious food made by humans.”

The Harpy Queen had a sullen expression, but she didn’t deny it.

Monsters know how to eat delicious food. They just don’t know how to cook, and they instinctively dislike such trouble.

“The filling for the dumplings is ready, so I’ll make the dumplings from now on.”

I brought the large fish fillet that Maeve had filleted onto my soft palm.

And I put the filling made of stir-fried and mixed mushrooms, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and lamb on top of it.

“Awawa…”

Of course, the flesh of the fish was more difficult to shape than the dumpling skin made of flour.

But it wasn’t impossible, so I neatly made the dumplings in a triangular shape, like wrapping lettuce wraps.

“Now I’ll steam this deliciously!”

“Are you saying this dish is dumplings?”

“It’s a guy called fish dumplings. But it will taste different yet familiar from the dumplings that Gergalo and the Harpy Queen have tasted.”

I held out the fish dumpling, which was larger than my palm, which hadn’t even been steamed yet, and showed it.

“It looks incredibly delicious? I like fish better than tasteless flour.”

“That’s right. And you’ll like what’s inside too.”

“Hmph… There’s no need for us, who rule the sky, to go to the trouble of obtaining grass that grows on the ground!”

It means you eat it.

“I never thought there was such a dish… I certainly have a memory of tasting it.”

“Oh, really? Didn’t you say it was strange earlier?”

“It’s a dish I tasted when I was the same age as Nana…”

Gergalo said as if he was in trouble, but he was smiling.

“Come here, Legnyong.”

I stroked the head of the large Lego toy-like Legnyong once and fed him a stone.

“From now on, Legnyong will hold this steamer in his mouth and steam it!”

“Legnyooong!”

Legnyong, who once breathed hot fire, nodded.

“Maeve and I have to make more, but… Since I have to show you the 모습, I’ll just steam about 2!”

I quickly made another fish dumpling, put it in the steamer, and put the steamer in Legnyong’s mouth.

“Legnyong!”

Legnyong properly held the large steamer with his large snout and steamed it, emitting white steam. He made clacking sounds and moved his Lego block-like body,
but he was holding the steamer tightly.

This guy is so convenient because of this.

If he just listens well, there’s no need to make a fire!

“Hmph… I’ll admit that the Great Demon Lord is good at cooking. But I’m still not convinced.”

The Harpy Queen said, looking down at Legnyong as if she were about to drool.

“20 human heads… There’s no way we confused heads with dumplings.”

“But Harpy Queen also knows.”

Looking at the white steam bubbling out of Legnyong’s mouth, I said.

“The large fish dumplings look enough like heads.”

“There’s no way! A human head doesn’t look like this! If you say it’s the head of a fish…”

The Harpy Queen was speaking, but I took the
dumplings out of the steamer and she
bit her lip.

White steam rose from the fish dumplings placed on a wooden bowl.

The flesh of the fish was cooked translucent, and the ingredients inside were faintly visible, and the greasy aroma of mushrooms and lamb spread through the steam.

The triangular shape really looked like a small fish head. If you add a sense here, you can make it look more like a head by slightly burning the outer part using Legnyong’s flames!

That’s right. Because it was made in a triangular shape, in a way, it looks like a fish head.”

“It wasn’t a human head from the beginning?”

“Think about it. The Queen who receives a lot of delicious fish and the Queen who receives 20 inedible heads!”

The Harpy Queen had a frustrated expression.

“Tsk… Of course, it’s delicious fish. Fish, the head is the most delicious in the first place. If the queen who rules the sky receives heads that are strangely
delicious from humans… It’s a deal worth making.”

“It seems that the words to fill the insides of 20 people meant the number of dumplings we had to serve.”

The Harpy Queen and Gergalo looked down at the deliciously steamed fish dumplings with dazed expressions.

“We gave and received ingredients for food that we couldn’t get right away, and made delicious dishes as proof of friendship.”

I raised the wooden bowl with both hands and spoke.

“Confusing human heads with dumplings… Hmm, today, I have to shut up even if you call me a bird brain.”

The Harpy Queen was embarrassed, but she couldn’t resist her appetite, so she pointed to the fish dumpling with her hand.

“I’m so curious about what it tastes like, so quickly! Let me eat it quickly!! I’ll properly apologize for playing with the sheep!”