Ch.171Ancient ruins? No, it’s a pension.

I woke up as the sun was setting and shared with everyone what Anastasia had told me before dinner.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the news that we wouldn’t need to return to Riverside to deliver the memoirs. Jessica gave a bitter smile when I mentioned how the cornered Grand Sage had desperately pleaded with Anastasia.

The pathetic yet human anecdote about Grand Sage Deidric Asmad, whom she had idolized as her lifelong goal, seemed to have shocked her considerably.

“So even someone called a Grand Sage is just a weak-hearted human being when you strip away the facade.”

“Are you disappointed that your illusion was shattered?”

“Not exactly… well, maybe. But it’s not a bad feeling. Rather, I’m reassured that Deidric Asmad and his achievements aren’t just exaggerations, but a reality that’s definitely within reach.”

Grand Sage Deidric Asmad.

The originator of numerous magical arts discovered by the pioneers, the hero who saved the ancient people of Grantis, and possibly someone involved in the creation of artifacts.

His achievements, which had been revered beyond legendary status to almost godlike proportions, were in fact the result of countless failures, trial and error, and desperate struggles that barely culminated in glory at the edge of a cliff.

Ironically, this adds a sense of reality to the legend of the Grand Sage.

“When we submit the Grand Sage’s memoirs to the Pioneer Bureau, all the contents will be disclosed without omission. I hope this won’t cause any trouble for Anastasia?”

“I think it should be fine. It’s not like her full name was written in the memoirs, and how many people would imagine that the Grand Sage’s wife was a succubus?”

“I still can’t believe that Anastasia, the queen of the succubi, was responsible for the Grand Sage’s health…”

“Hahaha… I know, right?”

I agree with Phyllis’s opinion.

If he had a succubus—and their queen at that—as his wife, I would have thought his health would deteriorate rather than improve, with his life force being drained away.

“By the way, how are these succubus monsters viewed by the people of Grantis? Since they evacuated before being consumed by the black magic, they must have been out of contact for a very long time, but it didn’t seem like people were completely unaware of their existence.”

“From an elven perspective, they’re like rare creatures whose existence isn’t doubted but can no longer be found. They frequently appear as villains who seduce young men in old tales.”

“So they’re treated like extinct animals… What about among the pioneers?”

“Basically not much different from the natives’ perception. But since the characteristic of being a sexy female monster is popular among men, they often appear in novels and movies.”

“Men are the same regardless of species…”

Mina shakes her head and sighs.

Actually, I was one of those “men obsessed with succubi” back on Earth… but let’s not delve too deeply into that.

It would be troublesome if I were accused of having feelings for Anastasia.

“If that’s the case, we should avoid any situation where Anastasia’s identity as a succubus might be revealed.”

“Of course. It would be a big deal if people found out that an ancient monster had casually infiltrated the western city.”

“Indeed. The conflicts with the Aqua tribe and the Felinoid tribe haven’t even been fully resolved yet.”

“But wouldn’t it make a difference if we revealed that she was the Grand Sage’s wife? She’s a living witness to the history that pioneers are so eager to learn about.”

“There’s no way to prove that she was Deidric Asmad’s spouse. Even if there were, it wouldn’t change the fact that she’s a monster.”

“An ancient monster thought to be extinct, and one that wasn’t corrupted by black magic… No, this won’t end well no matter how I look at it.”

Whether it’s biological experiments under the guise of research, or persecution based on claims that lustful demons must be eradicated…

Conversely, it would also be problematic if men flocked to her shouting, “Woohoo! The legendary sexy older sister!”

In a world where even native Felinoids are bought and sold as slaves, it would be even worse for a succubus.

“Let’s hand over the Grand Sage’s memoirs to the Pioneer Bureau and feign ignorance about Anastasia. That seems like the safest approach.”

“I think that’s best. And let’s also pretend we don’t know why this ruin turned into a brick house.”

“Yeah. It’s all the orcs’ fault. We’re innocent.”

“I don’t think revealing the true nature of an ancient ruin would be a crime… but I agree that keeping it secret is the better option.”

“Great. Then let’s wrap up this conversation and have dinner!”

“I second that~”

There seem to be remaining issues to consider, like the Grand Sage’s research achievements not written in the memoirs, or the existence of the miracle tower that temporarily halted the spread of black magic.

But honestly, my brain is at capacity right now.

Let’s spend the remaining time enjoying a delicious dinner and dessert.

Now that we’ve decided, it’s time to prepare dinner.

We should use up the vegetables in the carriage before they spoil, and since we bought quality flour and baking soda from the hop farm, I might prepare something a bit special.

The crafting tablet should be sufficient for the cooking itself.

“Good. The flour tortillas are coming out perfectly.”

“Oh, are you making that quesadilla thing from before?”

“Similar but different. Instead of cheese, I’ll use this.”

“Red sauce?”

“…with a slightly spicy smell.”

Today’s menu is fajitas, one of my favorite Tex-Mex dishes. It’s like Mexican meat wraps.

The ingredients are almost the same as quesadillas, but here you place meat and vegetables on a flat tortilla, roll it up, and take hearty bites—the texture is exquisite.

The red sauce in the bottle is salsa I made after accidentally producing apple vinegar when my alcohol brewing failed.

It would be better with guacamole and sour cream, but salsa alone does a great job of cutting through the richness.

“Is there anything we can help with?”

“Then please prepare small bowls for the sauce and plates to serve the meat and vegetables separately. And Mina, could you make some metal utensils that can safely come in contact with food?”

“Metal utensils safe for food… cooking tools?”

“Something like that. We’ll use them for dessert, so let’s eat dinner first.”

Once I can successfully produce flour tortillas, the rest is just a matter of stir-frying the ingredients.

The wild boar meat has already been smoked once, so it just needs to be warmed up.

With the crafting tablet, fajitas can be made faster than instant ramen.

The reason I came to love Mexican food was entirely due to Americans’ rich and greasy diet.

Searching for Korean restaurants or buying expensive imported kimchi works for a while, but to settle and live in America, I needed to adapt to affordable local food.

That’s when a colleague introduced me to a Tex-Mex restaurant, and I fell in love. I started making it myself to save on food expenses.

Even in a shabby apartment on the outskirts, rent near New York was no joke.

“Here. Put as much meat and vegetables as you want, add a little sauce, and roll it up like a cylinder.”

“How much sauce should I use?”

“Start with a little and taste it. If you like it, you can gradually add more.”

The fajitas with salsa were a huge hit with all four of us.

Mina preferred hers spicy with plenty of sauce, Seti and Jessica liked a moderate amount, and Phyllis, seemingly unaccustomed to spicy food, enjoyed hers with just meat and vegetables.

Next time, I’ll prepare sour cream using milk, and as for guacamole… I wonder if we can find avocados.

After filling our stomachs with pork barbecue fajitas, I prepare a special treat.

First, I soothe our salsa-stimulated taste buds with a sherbet made from apple juice and ice using the crafting tablet. I ask Mina to prepare a metal ladle, a flat press, a metal rack, and shape molds.

…When I asked for “heat-conductive, non-toxic metal,” I was slightly surprised when she unhesitatingly produced a brass-mythril alloy.

“Now, let’s move on to today’s main dessert.”

“I’m excited.”

I light the magical work lamp, fill the metal ladle about 1/3 with sugar, and add a tiny amount of baking soda.

I heat it over the lamp, constantly stirring with mythril alloy chopsticks (…) to prevent burning and sticking.

As the sugar melts into a light brown caramel with a sweet aroma, I pour it onto the metal rack, flatten it with the press, and before it completely hardens, I stamp it with a triangular mold—completing the Korean sugar candy, dalgona, that took the world by storm.

“Hmm… sugar candy. What’s this triangle for?”

“Good question, Jessica. This is a very famous snack from my homeland. The rule was that if you could successfully cut around the stamped shape without breaking it, you’d get another one for free.”

“That seems really easy. Let me try. I’ll start from the edge without the pattern…”

*Crack*

“Oops.”

The dalgona breaks in half as soon as Mina bites one end.

This is the challenge of dalgona—if you don’t control your strength properly, it shatters all at once.

“See? It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“Interesting. I’ll try next.”

“I want to try too.”

“We have plenty of ingredients, so feel free to try as much as you want. I’ll offer a special service to whoever succeeds.”

“Special service?”

“Remember the slime mucus we bought at Paracelsus Workshop? I’ll give you a genuine leg massage with it.”

Everyone can try as many times as they want.

However, if you break your dalgona, you must eat it all before trying again.

With these conditions understood, the women’s eyes sparkled with determination as they eagerly began demolishing the dalgona.

…Wait, where’s my portion?