An uncomfortable expression appeared on Skinny Yan's face as if he doesn't like talking about his ring. But since Rezen asked him about it, he does not have a choice but to give even just a bit of an answer
"This ring is nothing special, just something that is symbolically passed down to the Chief of our— my previous tribe" Skinny Yan answered without giving much information about the ring. He even placed his hands behind him as if he was hiding the ring
"Ohh, I see. It looks really beautiful" Rezen tactfully said. Inquiring about the ring would possibly incur the discomfort or even anger of this Junior Mage
Even with the help of Ogrehorn Nuts, Rezen is no match for a Junior Mage and he doesn't plan on annoying anyone of them
However, just because Rezen cannot deal with a Junior Mage in a frontal confrontation doesn't mean he couldn't do it sneakily. After all, he is someone that is not against using underhanded methods. He is willing to use any method possible to achieve what he wants
The ring of Skinny Yan is crucial for Rezen's development and he has to have it by hook or by crook!
Rezen concealed the sly glint in his eyes as he continue to converse with the old man
——-
"Thank you for the potatoes, Treen" Rezen said as he took the beast skin filled with potatoes from Treen's hand
"It's nothing. As you can see, I'm still wounded, and hunting magic beasts is too dangerous. I had plenty of time and I dug a lot of potatoes" Treen replied casually
His injuries wouldn't heal in a day or two and it would require a long recovery time. If not for Rezen teaching the tribe about the wonders of the potatoes, Treen would have been forced to hunt magic beasts without waiting for his shoulder to recover
"Don't over-exert yourself, resting is a necessary thing for bodily injuries to recover" Rezen said sternly and Treen nodded his head in understanding
"But why do you need this many potatoes? Hehehe, is there someone in the tribe you fancy and you want to gift these to them?" Treen said with a teasing smile and Rezen chuckled at him
"What are you saying? I'm already busy enough, I don't have time for something like that! These potatoes are for the new members of our tribe. You have seen their faces, right? While they try to be cheerful, you could see that they are still grieving. They lost their homes and families overnight after all. Since they are now a part of our tribe, I want to cheer them up" Rezen said righteously as if he didn't have any ulterior motive
"Ohh!! Wow, you really are kind! I just ignored them since in time, they will become like any other member of the tribe but you were thinking about them all this time. I have a lot to learn from you!"
Treen was once again amazed at Rezen that seems to have buried his guilt in the deepest parts of hell
While Rezen wouldn't say that he is completely evil, he is also not as kind as Treen is thinking. But for the sake of self-benefits, Rezen doesn't mind being viewed as a Saint
"Do you want to help me? I promise that the potatoes would taste better and I'll give you some!"
Rezen has seasonings now and he doesn't need to eat bland boiled or roasted potatoes anymore
"Since you say they would taste great, I naturally trust you! I'll help!"
"Alright, start by washing the dirt from the potatoes. Make sure that they are clean!"
"No problem!"
With the help of Treen's magic, they had access to water that they used to wash the potatoes
Since one of Treen's shoulders is still broken and it was tied with a beast skin, Rezen did most of the work since the other man could only use one hand
After making sure that the potatoes are sparkling clean, Rezen grabbed his knife made from a hard wood
While the knife might not be effective against magic beasts, against mere potatoes, it was more than sharp enough to do the job!
Rezen already had a complete set of utensils and all of them are made from wood and he grabbed the chopping board
He placed a potato on top of the chopping board before using the wooden knife to thinly slice the potato
While the wooden knife is not extremely sharp, it was still thinned considerably and with its durability, it was able to do the job albeit Rezen has to exert more effort than usual
"Why are you cutting them like that?" Treen asks curiously and Rezen grinned at him
"You will thank me later" Rezen replied making Treen look forward to what would happen to the potatoes even more
"Let me help"
"I can do this one, you could only use one hand after all"
"Heh... don't underestimate a man from Waterside Tribe!"
Treen grabbed the wooden knife from Rezen's hand with a toothy grin
"Place the potatoes!" He asked and Rezen placed three potatoes on the chopping board
"Haiyaaa!!"
Tak! Tak! Tak!
Rezen felt as if he was watching Master's Chef as Treen effortlessly cut the potatoes into thin strips despite only using one hand
"Clap! Clap! Clap! Wow, you're great! You could become a professional chef with that level of skill!" Rezen praised while clapping his hands together
"Profe— what? What's that?"
"No, nothing, never mind. Here, more potatoes!"
Rezen placed more potatoes on the chopping board and Treen acted as if he was a child as he loudly cut the potatoes into thin strips
Even Rezen was caught in the atmosphere and he tossed several potatoes in the air. But even then, with a knife in one hand, Treen effortlessly and beautifully cut the potatoes
"Hahahaha!"
The two laughed together and in a short period of time, they were able to cut around twenty potatoes in total which is a lot
Maybe because there is no concept of industrial farming in this world and the soil is still healthy and full of nutrients but the potatoes in this realm are bigger than usual
With Treen's help, Rezen now has fries and all he has to do was season them
He grabbed one of his pots with blades of grass growing on it
"What is that?" Treen asked curiously and Rezen answered him
"Salty grass. It could be substituted for salt!"
"What?! Salt?! Are you saying the truth? The tribe doesn't have a lot of salt since no merchant would bother coming here and salt mostly came from the Junior Mages that are on a mission to provide the tribe with Resonance Gems! If we have salt, we could sell them and we would be rich!" Treen said excitedly with a dreamy face as if he could already see himself turning into a rich guy
Unfortunately, Rezen shook his head. "Salty Grass does not provide real salt. Aside from making food taste better, it could not substitute real salt"
Humans needed salt to survive. Without salt, their bodies wouldn't function properly and they would die
Unfortunately, the Salty Grass could only provide the taste of salt but not its benefits
"Is that so..." Treen muttered in low spirits and Rezen could only shake his head
Rezen continued with his work as he placed a few blades of grass on a cup of water to give the water a salty taste. The water was then used to give flavor to the fries. Times like this made Rezen miss having rock salt, a common and cheap condiment from his previous realm
In this realm, he doesn't have a choice but to use substitute salt in a liquid form
After seasoning the fries with liquid salt, Rezen grabbed what he could consider a pan which was just a circular shape wood just like most of the utensils he has
Rezen after all doesn't have the luxury of owning metal utensils and the only material available was wood
He was also the one that started a fire using sticks that he learned after entering this realm
If it was in the past, he could simply snap his fingers and cast a simple fireball spell to use magic. But here, he has to use both hands to rub sticks together to create fire
After creating a fire, Rezen placed the pan on top before using magic beast fat as oil since he also don't have access to other kinds of oil
Because of the tribe's diet, it was easy for Rezen to store animal fat and he was generous with it
"Is it done? Is it done?" Treen asked impatiently and Rezen almost rolled his eyes
"I haven't even started frying the fries! This would take some time!"
Wood is not as great as a conductor of heat like metals. It'll take more time to even just heat up the oil unlike when Rezen used metal pans in the past
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