LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 86
A few days after Catherine arrived in Fungusbee Village.
As predicted by Narque, the forest was constantly raided by the walnut-shaped Akusare Mushroom Golem group.
Over time, the number of golems only increased.
However, the village was actually safer than before because the subjugation team had been reinforced with supplies sent to Fungusbee Village, and adventurers who received hunting requests were arriving in real time.
Moreover, the adventurers of the subjugation team were energized with a capitalist-wide buff, allowing them to take all the loot from Catherine, and they eagerly led the subjugation efforts.
It seemed reckless at first glance, but it was actually perfectly reasonable.
Though they were called golems, they were ultimately just gigantic mushrooms.
Compared to golems made of water, fire, rock, or ice common in Iceland, the Mushroom Golem was in a situation where each blow could effectively deal damage.
Even the gigantic Akusare Mushroom Golem, tall enough to reach the barricade, was quickly subjugated when a few adventurer parties concentrated their attacks on it.
The defeated Mushroom Golems were left with their cores dug out, and the adventurers immediately headed into the forest.
The remnants of the now silent golems were left briefly in front of the barricade.
With cooperation from some adventurers, hired workers from the subjugation team, and the villagers, a massive pit was dug right in front of Fungusbee and all the remains were dumped in.
And then?
“Wow, it’s really burning bright.”
Karem looked down at the blazing pit from the command tower.
At first, it seemed like magic wouldn’t catch fire, but once it did, the remnants of the mushroom golems began to blaze to the point of being unrecognizable.
“Is it because the Akusare Mushroom is the original that it has this characteristic? It might be fine at first, but now it’s incredibly potent.”
“Well, golems tend to vary in characteristics depending on their base.”
“Hmm, but with that much fire, it’s going to be tough to use fire magic in the forest.”
Karem frowned at the heat rising with the wind.
“Hmm? There’s no specific reason why it can’t be used.”
“But look at the flames; it’s no joke.”
“Think about how long it took for that pit to catch fire.”
When Catherine lightly snapped her fingers, the heat that was even felt at the command tower vanished in an instant, replaced by a dry chill.
“Though it’s just about to be summer, it’s still so humid that it clings to you just walking, so unless it’s an extreme fire, we shouldn’t have to worry about a blaze.”
“It would definitely favor water and ice attributes.”
“On the other hand, their power could be a bit excessive—”
“Ah, Sir Atanitas. There you are.”
A slightly breathless and weak voice could be heard.
Narque was climbing the stairs of the command tower.
“Oh, Karem, you’re here too?”
“Yes. Lunchtime is approaching.”
“Lunchtime!”
Narque’s droopy ears perked up, and he looked at them with eager eyes.
To break that atmosphere, Catherine said,
“First, let’s wrap up work. You said to investigate the cause, so I assume you’ve reached a conclusion?”
“Um, you’re asking about the cause of the magical energy over-saturation, right?”
“I’m only asking what’s relevant right now. Is there anything else?”
Catherine walked over and sat at the command tower table, gesturing for them to sit down.
“Sit down.”
“Ah, this place is so dry and cool. Oh, that’s not it. The cause is as you suspected. Um, the oil from the Akusare Mushroom is the culprit.”
Glug, glug, glug—
Narque took a sip from the cup Karem handed him.
“Of all things, it’s the oil from the plentiful, multi-purpose Akusare Mushroom. This has been dumped into the forest for decades, if not more.”
“Until now, the increase in Akusare Mushrooms has just resulted in more harvests, but once it surpassed the threshold, magical energy became over-saturated, leading to the emergence of golems.”
“Yes, yes. That’s an accurate conclusion.”
Catherine reflexively scratched the back of her head.
It had crossed her mind a few days ago before dinner, and now it seemed true.
Just like how overeating can be poisonous, the oil from the Akusare Mushroom sprinkled in the forest had made the land rich and saturated with magical energy until it finally exploded.
“So, what’s the reason for the golems popping out of the forest? Is it due to the fury of mushrooms that had been robbed of their parents for decades?”
It sounded plausible at first.
Contrary to Karem’s expectations, Catherine shook her head.
“What? Golems? Surely that can’t be. They do look like that, but a mushroom golem is a golem at the end of the day. Have you ever seen a rock get angry just because you break it?”
“I grew up in a village surrounded by forests and grasslands—”
“I didn’t mean that at all! Unless there are spirits, I doubt it. Anyway.”
Having momentarily flared up, Catherine took a deep breath.
“Natural golems have no kinship awareness, just instincts to roam their territories and attack intruders. Unless the entire forest burns down.”
“So, something is stimulating the Mushroom Golems right now?”
It was like the sound of gunfire resonating through a quiet jungle, causing thousands of birds to take flight at once.
“Precisely. I suspect, with a high likelihood, that the undead are somehow involved.”
Suddenly, the undead?
Karem recalled Narque mentioning the energy of the undead.
But there didn’t seem to be any undead around the village visible to the naked eye.
“Oh, wait. Could it be that the mushrooms absorbed enough magical energy to become golems and then generated the undead?”
“Naturally occurring undead emerge from underground, and mushroom spores are in the ground too. There probably wasn’t enough chance for them to develop.”
Narque, the necromancer and undead expert, stated confidently.
In acknowledgment of that, Catherine nodded.
“First, I’ll steadily deploy adventurers, and they’ll quickly uncover what’s stimulating the Mushroom Golems. It’s not such a large forest after all.”
And that is when it would be time for Catherine to step in.
She had seen too many strange occurrences happen while dragging her feet. Once the cause was revealed, she needed to end it swiftly using her full strength.
Catherine clapped her hands.
“For the time being, we should conserve energy and magical power. In that sense—”
“Yes. I understand.”
Karem placed the basket he had set down on the floor onto the table.
Narque clapped his hands softly.
“Perfect timing. I’ve been hungry after using my brain since early morning.”
“Even if you’re pressed for time, you should’ve had breakfast.”
“Ugh.”
Narque couldn’t possibly say who was to blame.
The true culprit, with a lazy expression yet sharp eyes, was staring at her, seemingly waiting for her to say something.
Of course, that ended the moment Karem uncovered the contents of the basket, and the sweet and savory aroma filled the command tower.
“Such a delightful smell—”
For a brief moment, she admired the scent.
But then Catherine stretched her words, as if questioning if what she saw was correct.
The dish Karem took out of the basket was filled with chicken.
However, it was strikingly bright red, with something dark clumped together that gave off an unsettling vibe, despite not being exposed to sunlight.
Yet it had a shiny glimmer distinctly visible to her eyes, shining like gold or jewels untouched by light.
“K-Karem! What on earth did you do to the fried chicken?!”
“This is a spicy-sweet seasoned fried chicken based on the Fire Witch Finger.”
“Ev-everything looks too creepy though! Is it safe to eat?!”
“How do you see me? I naturally adjusted the spiciness to suit both your tastes.”
“B-but—”
“First, let go of your preconceived notions about the color and just smell it. What do you think?”
Despite the absurdity, Karem smiled subtly while boasting, and the aroma was indeed among the top five most tempting smells she had ever encountered.
Though he claimed it was spicy, the spicy scent didn’t particularly attack her nose.
Between the sweet aromas that seemed to envelop her senses, there was a tangy scent that replaced the spiciness.
As the sourness threatened to overwhelm her senses with the luscious sweetness, it came back to jolt her awake every time.
Catherine inhaled deeply.
The source of the honey-like sweetness was undoubtedly honey.
The source of the sour scent filled with acidity was resembling vinegar, yet Catherine couldn’t be sure. It was too diverse to merely be vinegar.
The only way to confirm all of this was, of course, to taste it.
But she hesitated.
“Per-haps it would be better if Sir Atanitas tried it first—”
Narque said in a tremulous voice to encourage Catherine.
But Catherine understood the underlying meaning of her words.
“Oh, you’re saying it looks delicious, but would appreciate it if I could confirm it first?”
“I didn’t quite say it that way?!”
“By that statement, isn’t it equivalent to you confessing that?”
“I would never have such insidious thoughts!”
Of course, Catherine didn’t believe that.
After all, she couldn’t meet her eyes while saying that, which made her true feelings all too transparent.
Yet, she let out a sigh.
“Kid, what are you doing?”
“I’m preparing the seasoned fried chicken for Sir Atanitas.”
“When did I say I would eat it?”
“Ah, don’t just look at the appearance; why not have a taste?”
Having finished setting up the plates and utensils, Karem skillfully maneuvered a fork and knife.
He swiftly cut the chicken, deboning it into bite-sized pieces faster than one could do it by hand, and brought it close to Catherine’s mouth.
Though the red hue was slightly deterring, the enticing aroma enveloped her senses.
The greasy, crispy batter hidden beneath the sauce, and the succulent, juicy chicken breast teased her defenses.
“Hah, if it weren’t for this wretched smell…”
Catherine, who had initially felt ambivalent, immediately devoured the chicken.
Crrnch!
It was a truly undeniable taste.
The batter was even crispier than the fried chicken she had had on her first night.
As the excellent crunch of the juicy skin crunched under her bite, it surrendered easily without resistance.
And the sweetness that felt as if it was lifted straight from the aroma surged forth, wrapping around her tongue and diving amidst the silky soft meat.
As the chicken’s fat and juices melded with the thick sweetness, her tongue felt no weariness whatsoever.
A complex array of flavors was felt, the mild acidity balancing out the stinging spiciness and the nutty scent stimulating her nose and tongue, canceling each other out.
“This is balsamic vinegar?”
“How is it? Does it please your palate?”
“W-Wonderful indeed.”
Karem let out a sigh of relief.
In traditional seasoned fried chicken sauce, ketchup and gochujang were almost always included; the only trace left of tomatoes was an afterthought, while the gochujang recipe eluded him altogether.
But in cooking, as long as you could piece together various similar ingredients and produce a somewhat decent result that tasted good, that was the essence of the craft.
Instead of ketchup, it was a sauce combining reduced caramel, sautéed Akusare Mushroom paste, and balsamic vinegar.
Instead of gochujang, it was made with roasted flour, garlic, honey, and a bit of fruit combined with red pepper powder.
Of course, the final product was nothing like the original, but Karem proudly praised himself.
He had achieved a faint silhouette of the dish, even seen from afar.
“Am I perhaps a genius?” Although he hadn’t genuinely pondered that.
But that sentiment was clearly expressed on Karem’s face.
Seeing this, Catherine felt an urge to smack him, yet she quickly restrained herself.
After all, he had presented such an exquisite dish; it was only fair to let that slide.
She wasn’t petty enough to hit him just for scowling.
The fried chicken she had first tasted was delicious beyond comparison.
With every bite, various crunches emanated from the crispy skin.
Each time she bit into the meat, a flood of savory juice and fat exploded in her mouth.
The soft, thread-like meat disintegrated without a hitch.
And the seasoned chicken before her leaped in a completely different manner from the fried chicken.
Due to the nature of frying, the increasingly greasy sensation that had been felt was completely masked by the sweet and slightly spicy sauce.
Catherine swallowed the food in her mouth and asked.
“Do you have any alcohol? Preferably a sparkling one. Eisenbaltsan beer would be perfect.”
“Do you really think there would be Eisenbalts beer in such a small village?”
“Ah, what a pity.”
Catherine didn’t bother hiding her disappointment and subtly shifted her gaze.
“Narque. Are you just going to stand there and watch?”