Chapter 745
Fried Food Welcome Dinner
Chapter 745 Fried Food Welcome Dinner
"Miss Philweis, if there's a chance in the future, how about we team up again to go to the dungeon?"
Faced with the elven girl's invitation, Phil Weiss felt a mix of emotions, but she still smiled and replied with an "okay."
"Then I'll head back now. I need to tell Miss Ais and the others that I've learned how to chant in parallel, and I won't be a burden to the party anymore!"
Rafia waved goodbye to her.
"You were never a burden..."
Philweis murmured to herself, raising her hand to bid farewell to the elven girl as she watched Lefia run away like a fawn.
At the street corner, the elven girl suddenly stopped and turned from the direction of North Street towards West Street.
Lefia subconsciously headed towards the Familia's residence at the Twilight Mansion, but fortunately she realized in time that she would be temporarily staying at the Hearth Mansion from today onwards, so she didn't take a wrong turn.
She skipped happily toward the Hearth Hall. Night was falling, and the Hephaestus Familia's construction team responsible for the expansion had already finished work.
Passing through the stone and timber materials dismantled from the surrounding buildings that had not yet been transported away, the elven girl arrived in front of the Hearth Hall.
“Miss Ais, Mr. Broly, I’m back.”
The door to the Hearth Hall was unlocked, and the elven girl pushed it open and entered, calling out to those inside as she went.
"Lefia, you're back just in time. Come and help us out."
Ais's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying, and she said this to her.
"Um, Miss Ais, are you chopping onions?"
Lefia approached and smelled the pungent odor of the white, granular substances on the cutting board in front of the swordswoman. She frowned slightly and asked instinctively.
"Hmm, it stings my eyes a little..."
Ais nodded in response.
"Then why don't you cut the onions from a distance?"
Lefia was a little confused, wondering why someone was sitting while chopping onions.
"Ais is training her qi attachment while doing so."
Tiona stood by and helped explain, her hands still busy chopping the meatball in front of her with a cleaver as she spoke.
"The attachment of qi?"
“After you left this morning, Broly taught us how to manipulate air energy, but it will take some time to adapt and practice before we can use it skillfully.”
Ais explained that the air clinging to the eyes is a form of adaptation to exercise.
However, her attachment seems to have failed somewhat.
The chopped onion was now making her tears flow constantly from the fumes.
"Give."
Liu walked over and handed her a wet towel.
"Thank you, Ryu, but could you please wipe this for me?"
Ais thanked them, sat down in the chair, and looked up at the tavern elf.
"Ok."
Without hesitation, Liu took a damp towel and began wiping Ais's eyes, her movements very gentle, like an adult wiping a child's face.
"Lefia, here you go."
The scene before her seemed normal, but Lefia felt something was slightly off. Before she could figure out what was wrong, Tiona shoved an iron basin into her hand.
"We're making onion meat patties. Besides chopping the meat into small pieces, we also need to pound it to get a gel-like texture. This job is yours."
Some were chopping onions into small pieces, others were mincing meat into balls, and still others, upon returning home, were given an iron basin and forced to roll up their sleeves and start smashing meat...
Inside and outside the kitchen, everyone has a different role.
"These garlic chicken wings are ready, Broly, take them over to the table."
The loli goddess, wearing an apron and holding long chopsticks, was overseeing the frying work in front of the stove.
After frying a plate of garlic-marinated chicken wings, she let the Saiyan boy take them away.
Then, he called over the tavern sprite to bring over the other ingredients that needed to be fried.
"The shrimp veins have all been removed. Do I need to peel the shells?"
After Lily Luca finished removing the shrimp veins, she looked at the unpeeled shrimp in front of her and asked a question.
"No need to peel it. Tempura is fried with the shell on."
Ryu answered her question.
"Is there anything else I need to do?"
Lily Luca found herself with nothing to do, but in this situation, she felt she couldn't just sit idle, so she asked.
"We're running low on batter. If Miss Lily has a moment, could you help me mix some more?"
"Okay, but what about the proportions?"
"Mix half a pound of low-gluten flour, four ounces of cornstarch, one ounce of buckwheat flour, one egg, and an appropriate amount of ice water until it forms a yogurt-like consistency that can be stretched without breaking."
Ryu revealed the batter ratio, which was the batter recipe for tempura at the Abundant Mistress Tavern. Food fried with this recipe would have an extremely crispy outer batter.
"So, are we making dinner tonight?"
Looking at the busy people, Lefia, who had already started pounding the meatball, belatedly asked a question.
"Hey, is that even a question?"
Hestia turned her head to look at him, somewhat puzzled.
“Our family-run communities all have canteens, and the meals are basically prepared by professional chefs.”
Lefia answered instinctively.
"I'm really sorry, but our clan is too small, with only three people in total. We don't have a dedicated dining hall or a chef, so guests who come to stay with us for a while will have to cook their own meals!"
"Ah, Lady Hestia, that's not what I meant."
Sensing the displeasure in the Loli Goddess's tone, Lefia quickly offered an explanation.
"It's just that Mr. Broly always takes you and Miss Lily to the Abundant Mistress's Tavern for meals. I was a little surprised because I thought you wouldn't cook at the camp."
With Broly being a regular patron, the bountiful hostess's tavern has almost become the Hestia Familia's private dining hall.
"Expanding the base cost a lot of money, and eating out all the time is taking a toll on our wallets. So naturally we have to cook for ourselves."
Hestia replied, but that wasn't the real reason for not going to the Feast Mistress's Tavern.
"The most important thing in relationships is creating shared memories. And compared to simple memories like eating out together that don't require any investment other than money, the memories of cooking together and then sitting at the same table to eat are much more meaningful..."
This is what Hestia, the goddess of the hearth who has read many books, said when Broly went to pick her up from get off work in the afternoon and told her about the group of Ais and others who had moved into her residence that day.
"Let's take them to buy ingredients, and we'll cook at the camp tonight."
Everyone who was supposed to come, except for the girl who was supposed to work at the tavern, did come.
Judging from how they get along, they seem to have a harmonious relationship.
"So, tonight's tempura feast is a celebration of your move to the Kitchen Fire House and your new life living with us!"
After they finished cooking dinner together, Hestia, who was sitting at the head of the table, raised her glass of juice and, as the highest-ranking lady of the Hearth House, welcomed Ais and the others to their new home.
"I hope that from now on, everyone will respect me as the supreme deity and get along well with my Broly," the loli goddess said, subtly hinting at her own agenda.
"Oh~"
Ais, Tiona, and the others were unaware of the hidden meaning in the Loli Goddess's words and subconsciously responded with a sound.
"Ryu, try this onion meat patty..."
Tiona serves food to the tavern elf.
"Liu, these chicken wings taste really good, with a very strong garlic flavor."
Ais also put a chicken wing on the tavern elf's plate.
Ryu couldn't refuse their kindness and could only thank them and accept their thanks.
It was only then that Lefia suddenly realized what was wrong.
Miss Ais and Tiona seem to have become a little too close to Miss Ryu since I returned.
Whether it's the change in how they address each other or the way they interact, things are different from before I left.
What exactly happened when I went to Miss Philweis for parallel chanting training?
Thinking this to herself, Lefia quickly followed suit after seeing Ais give Ryu something again.
"Miss Ais, please try this hash brown."
She took the initiative to reach out and grab something from the swordswoman.
"Yes, thank you, Rafia."
Ais accepted the gift, thanked her, and then made no further comment.
"Cough cough..."
The elven girl had to cough twice as a reminder.
"Lefia, is your throat sore?"
Then, she received a puzzled look and questions from the swordswoman.
"If that's the case, it's best to eat less fried food, as it will make your throat feel even more congested."
Tiona said something from the side.
Fried meat is very delicious to her.
With the refreshing sweet and sour fruit juice, she felt she could eat a whole plateful.
Lefia: "..."
"Uh, I think Lefia probably wants this."
Broly stood up from his chair, supporting himself on the table with one hand, and placed a piece of boneless fried cod in the bowl of the elven girl sitting opposite him.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Lefia thanked him, but her feelings were a little complicated. Someone had noticed her need, but the first person to notice her need was not Miss Ais, but Mr. Broly.
"Uh, sorry, Rafia, what would you like to eat? I'll get it for you."
Ais was a little slow to realize, but once she realized that she might have neglected the elf girl, she immediately offered to make it up to her.
The belated serving of food... well, it still smells delicious. Having regained the attention of the swordswoman, Lefia was easily satisfied.
“Miss Ais, I have learned to chant in parallel.”
The elven girl shared her good news.
"Ah, congratulations, Lefia~"
The swordswoman's lips curled slightly into a faint smile, but her smile was genuine, a smile of joy at the elf girl's growth.
"This is all thanks to Miss Philweis's meticulous guidance and Mr. Broly's previous training on my fighting mentality..."
Lefia thanked the Saiyan boy and then asked, "By the way, are we going to the dungeon tomorrow? If possible, I would like to invite Miss Philvis to come with us."
"That might not work; I have something to do tomorrow."
"Ais and Tiona are coming with us tomorrow to Daedalus Street to help Broly distribute free fried food to the children at the orphanage there."
The loli goddess stood by and helped explain.
This is actually what Bell wanted to do. His girlfriend lives on Daedalus Street. When the white-haired boy went on his date today, he met a group of children from an orphanage who were eyeing the fries in his hand. After learning about the children's situation, the boy took pity on them and wanted to treat them to some delicious fries.
Of course, not wanting to let the good stuff go to outsiders, Bell approached his own god and proposed to pay for Hestia's potato ball stall for the entire day the next day.
After hearing the boy's motivation, Hestia was moved by his kindness. As a goddess who had been lifted up by her other child and was no longer a goddess of poverty, Hestia naturally felt empathy and patted her chest to express her willingness to do her part.
As for why Ais and the others were involved, it was for the same reason as cooking together; it was just a coincidence.
"So, the reason why everything tonight is fried food?"
"This is practice for frying food for the children at the orphanage on Daedalus Street tomorrow."
The loli goddess answered matter-of-factly.
"For the children over there, oil and fat are very important, so..."
That's why tonight's celebration dinner consists entirely of fried foods.
"Miss Rafia, will you be coming to help out tomorrow, like tonight?"
Hestia asked.
"Ah, okay."
The elven girl nodded quickly, and then asked another question.
"Can I bring one more person with me?"
"Is this Miss Phil Weiss?"
"Ah."
"If Miss Phil Weiss is willing to help, that would be great. The more people there are, the more food we can make and share with more people."
Bell started the idea of providing fried food for the children in the orphanage, Hestia added her own twist, Broly would later pay for the project, and Ais and the others were simply brought in to create a wonderful memory called "Everyone Doing Charity Together".
Kindness is considered a plus in the world's popular standards for choosing a partner, regardless of gender.
"Hiccup~"
A deep-fried dinner left the women burping with satisfaction.
"Lefia, do you want to try your luck too?"
When asked by the Saiyan boy, Lefia, who already knew that Ais and Tiona had learned new abilities from Mr. Broly while she was away, nodded without hesitation, indicating that she also wanted to keep up with her companions.
then……
"Oh, Mr. Broly, what are you doing here?"
"Don't be nervous, this is just a normal process of letting you feel the energy in your body."
"Eh?!"
After hearing that Ais, Tiona, and even the tavern elf girl who was of her own kind had all been helped by boys and subsequently sensed the so-called Qi energy, Lefia suppressed her shyness and discomfort and gestured for Broly to continue.
(End of this chapter)