Chapter 19: Miss River Snail

Chapter 19: Miss Snail

The teaching results were quite good.

The little witches, who previously had no idea where to start when faced with a room full of ingredients, now had a bit of a clue regarding the two dishes: pan-seared steak and vegetable salad.

Regardless of how their independent practice went once they returned home, at least by the time Moran and Ais finished the lesson, every little witch could explain the cooking process for these two dishes flawlessly.

They were already giants in theory.

The rest would depend on their own tinkering once they got back.

Even Moran and Ais could only demonstrate and answer questions; they couldn't actually go into every single little witch's kitchen to teach them hands-on how to cook the dishes perfectly.

However, this was already enough.

Carrying their steaks, fruits, vegetables, and sauces, the little witches headed home to make dinner, brimming with confidence.

Moran was about to call for Sylph, but she saw her standing outside the ingredient distribution area, staring blankly at the distant farmland. "Sylph?"

"Moran, you go back first!" Sylph said. "I want to go find Beryl."

She wanted to tell Beryl that it was okay even if she didn't want to sign a contract; she would still come to tell her stories whenever she had free time.

Seeing her serious expression, and noting that it was still quite early, Moran nodded.

Sylph's affection for fairies was much greater than hers; it was only natural that she hadn't given up yet.

Moran left alone, carrying her basket.

With a basket of heavy ingredients, she walked and rested, taking twice as long to reach the dormitory as she had on her way there.

Upon entering the courtyard, she noticed some residual water stains on the small path.

She had fetched water in the morning.

The climate in this demi-plane where the Witch Academy was located was pleasant, but this afternoon was also a bright, sunny day.

Water from the morning shouldn't have remained unevaporated until this time.

A thought struck Moran. She set the vegetable basket down at the dormitory entrance and followed the water stains, which indeed led her to the water tower in the backyard.

After climbing up, she found that the water tower, which had taken her so much effort to fill halfway, was already full.

It couldn't be that the kind upperclasswomen helped her because they saw her struggling with the water, could it?

After all, this morning, the upperclasswomen had collectively and leisurely filled their water while watching the show!

As for the first-year students, they had all gone to the ingredient distribution area at some point this afternoon, either early or late, and had all learned to cook from her and Ais. There was only one little witch who was an exception.

Moran went out to the entrance of Sylph's dormitory and indeed saw the residual water stains.

Case closed: "Only she has the strength to do that—Miss Vasida Snail!"

She hadn't expected that even after refusing Vasida's help this morning, she had still taken advantage of the time when Moran and Sylph were out to fill their water tower.

If it weren't for the residual water stains betraying her, Moran would probably have spent the next few days wondering why the water in the tower didn't seem to decrease much even after using half of it!

Moran looked at the closed door of Dormitory No. 70 and smiled helplessly.

Forget it, she was the only one who hadn't gone to the ingredient distribution area today.

If she remembered correctly, Vasida was also not good at cooking.

With a stomach like that, it was quite convenient to just stuff food directly into it.

But she couldn't solve everything by eating breadfruit alone.

The sensory enjoyment brought by gourmet food was secondary; even just in terms of filling her stomach, Vasida's need for cooking was greater than any other little witch.

After all, once she graduated, there wouldn't be such a vast grove of breadfruit trees for her to pick from.

Other little witches who couldn't cook could still earn money to buy food, but with Vasida's appetite, buying food would likely bankrupt her.

Anyway, Moran had to make dinner too.

Moran walked to the door of Dormitory No. 70.

In this dilapidated courtyard, there was no need to knock; she just shouted, "Vasida!"

"Aye!"

A moment later, Vasida emerged clutching a breadfruit; in the time it took to step outside, she had already stuffed the breadfruit into her stomach.

Seeing this, Moran asked, "Are you hungry again?"

"No, no! I just felt like my stomach could hold a bit more, and since I had nothing else to do, I went to pick some more breadfruit," Vasida said with a grin.

Only then did Moran feel relieved. If eating that many breadfruits last night only sustained her for one day, then the side effects of this Devouring Stomach were far too extreme.

"You're back from collecting ingredients. How was it over there?" Vasida asked curiously.

"Not bad, the ingredients are quite abundant," Moran said. "Ais and I just taught everyone two simple dishes in the small kitchen at the distribution area. You were the only one missing. Since I'm about to make dinner, do you want to come over to my place, learn a bit, and taste my cooking? Even if breadfruit is filling, you can't just eat that and nothing else, right?"

She didn't mention the water in the tower.

It was better to keep it in mind; mentioning it now would feel a bit too much like she was trying to repay a favor too quickly.

"Great, great!" Vasida followed Moran back, trotting happily.

She had been worrying as well. She had taken a stroll through the breadfruit grove this afternoon, and there was certainly enough breadfruit to go around.

But having awakened a talent like the Devouring Stomach meant she naturally wouldn't be indifferent to gourmet food.

Her mouth felt bland; she had just been thinking about gnawing on another breadfruit to taste that sour flavor.

Moran first taught her how to identify the ingredients.

Then they prepared the food together.

However, unlike the simple meal class this afternoon, Moran felt that egg fried rice—which was large in portion, filling, delicious, and not greasy, yet quick and easy to make—was very suitable for Vasida.

She would just have to learn how to steam rice first, which wasn't difficult.

Once learned, it would be useful; if she were starving, she could eat rice quickly to get full.

So, on top of the pan-seared steak and vegetable salad, she added egg fried rice.

Moran increased the portions, using up all the usable ingredients she had brought back. Besides demonstrating, she also let Vasida try her hand at it.

She taught even more meticulously than she had during the afternoon class.

Vasida's comprehension was excellent; she basically learned everything instantly, performing better than the little witches from this afternoon.

This eased much of Moran's worry regarding Vasida: "Your talent for cooking should be quite good. Once you learn cooking magic later, filling your stomach won't be a difficult task."

Cooking by hand to fill a super glutton is not easy, but cooking with magic is just a matter of waving a wand. As long as one has enough mana, making hundreds of portions alone wouldn't be a problem.

"Really?" Vasida was overjoyed.

"Of course!" Moran said with certainty. "You'll know once you taste the portions you made yourself."

"Mhm!" Vasida secretly swallowed her saliva. It smelled so good!

A bowl of vegetable salad, a large plate of piled-high pan-seared steak, and a bowl of egg fried rice.

The three dishes filled the table to capacity.

Today, Vasida ate much more politely than she had last night, taking slow, deliberate bites.

She was actually almost excessively polite; for every two bites Moran took, she only took one.

Seeing this, Moran began to doubt her own cooking: "What? Is it not to your taste?"

(End of Chapter)