After Master Cuiseohl said his part, he didn’t pay attention to the group any longer. In large strides he walked towards a stove not far away, scolding the chef working there for burning the food. Dark Hamr stared at the master’s back as Serena quickly pulled her away. The four won approached a working station at the back of the building.
Even though everyone was busy, the working station was still empty. This was because it was reserved for players. But only with Master Cuiseohl’s permission could this working station be used. This permission was usually only granted to players on a quest. Around the group were a few similar working stations occupied by other players. After a short round of silent greetings no one cared about Serena’s group as they focused on their own work.
“Sparkle, can we see your notes?”
Red Sparkle nodded. She spread her notes on the counter. Serena and Dark Hamr craned their necks pondering over the task. anwhile Riala grabbed the recipe book ntioned by Master Cuiseohl from a shelf and placed it in front of the three young girls.
“That Moon Archivist could have just given us the nas of so dishes. Why make a puzzle out of it?”, asked Dark Hamr in annoyance as she randomly flipped through the recipe book.
“If we knew the nas it would be too easy. Surely not a major event quest.”, analysed Red Sparkle.
“Can I?”
“Go ahead.”
Seeing Serena reach for the recipe book, Dark Hamr pushed it over and the little chef began to browse through it while speaking:
“The first dish needs to be soft and sweet. That sounds like a pastry. Are we supposed to bake sothing?”
“There is a section for pastries in the recipe book. Here.”
Dark Hamr pointed at a section of the book with red edges. Serena flipped towards it and began sorting through the recipes.
“Hmm, there are a few that sound suitable. Here, this Moon Cake looks tasty.”
“No, look. It’s written here that Moon Cake adheres to the water elent. But we need sothing of the earth elent.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Hehe. As expected of you, Sparkle. But that does make things easier. There are only two recipes left adhering to the earth elent. Which one should we choose?”
“Let’s go with the easier one. We don’t have that much ti.”
“Alright. So, Dark Carrot Cookies it is then!”
“Hehe, we’re so good!”
Dark Hamr raised her hand with a smile. Serena and Red Sparkle understood. Light clapping sounded as the three girls high-fived each other. But then a gentle cough interrupted them, coming from behind their backs:
“Girls, I really don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm but aren’t you forgetting sothing?”
“Riala? What do you an?”
“Perhaps you should read Red Sparkle’s notes again.”
Serena wrinkled her brows. She turned back towards the notes, reading them out loud. She quickly realized sothing:
“Are you talking about the revitalizing effect that’s ntioned here?”
“Yes.”
“Is that important? I only thought it was a random description.”
“If I’m not wrong the revitalizing effect is hinting at the effect the finished product is supposed to have. Revitalizing usually ans restoring HP and mana.”
After all, Riala was also an interdiate chef. She already had so ideas while listening to the Moon Archivist earlier. But her words startled the three little girls. Dark Hamr was sowhat dejected as she said:
“Then the Dark Carrot Cookies are not suitable. Pity, I was already looking forward to the taste. Now we can only go with this Jaded Tree Cake…”
Dark Hamr turned the page towards the Jaded Tree Cake. The recipe clearly stated that the Jaded Tree Cake could restore HP and Mana after eating. It was most likely the recipe hinted at by the quest. But its taste was described as the taste of a leaf of the Jaded Tree. How could this compare to a delicious cookie?
Seeing her friend’s expression Serena had a thoughtful look. She knew that Dark Hamr wasn’t allowed to eat a lot of sweets at ho. Therefore, she was always craving them in the ga. Thus, Serena carefully suggested:
“Maybe we can still make the Dark Carrot Cookies.”
Dark Hamr imdiately perked up.
“Really? Can we make them for ourselves? You’re the best Serena! But… didn’t you get into trouble last ti for wasting ingredients?”
“We don’t need to waste ingredients. We can make the Dark Carrot Cookies but use the Revitalising Water from the guild. Do you think this could work, Riala?”
Riala smiled as Serena turned towards her. She was pleasantly surprised by the child’s clever suggestion. Indeed, it was no fluke that Serena could beco an interdiate chef. But before Riala could nod, soone else had an objection:
“Serena! We have to follow the recipe. You can’t just change ingredients at will.”
“Of course you can. How else would you be able to create new dishes?”
“Well…”
Red Sparkle was stumped. She was soone with a ticulous character. Especially in her profession as a scribe each stroke had to be accurate. Sothing like spontaneously diverting from the recipe would never co to her mind. But at that mont Riala spoke up, agreeing with Serena.
“Great! So, dish number one is decided! We’re making cookies!”
“Yay!”
“Sure…”
Afterwards the three girls moved on. With the experience from the first dish, they didn’t skip any part of the notes again as they flipped through the recipe book. Only the part about being helpful against back pain confused them for a while. However, with Riala’s help they ca to the conclusion that the food had to have the effect of cleansing negative effects. Thus, they soon found sothing suitable among the main dishes. Red Fla Mutton with citrus sauce.
In great spirits they moved on to the third dish. But even after browsing the recipe book for a while they ca up with nothing. The three girls all frowned as they went through Red Sparkle’s notes again.
“Everything else is alright, but none of the crispy food gives movent speed…”
“Do you think we misinterpreted sothing?”, suggested Red Sparkle.
“No. Riala is so smart. She wouldn’t make a mistake.”
Hearing Dark Hamr’s praise Riala responded with an embarrassed tone:
“I’m not perfect. Of course I can also make mistakes.”
anwhile Serena pondered with a finger on her chin. Out of ideas, she decided to take a look at the ingredients first to see if she could co up with sothing. Behind the group there were a few chests which contained a wide variety of ingredients. Those could be freely used by everyone who got the permission to use one of the workstations. Serena turned towards the chests but before she could take a look inside, she suddenly noticed sothing else. There was a shelf on the wall above the chests with a few thinner recipe books.
“Oh, we’re stupid! The last recipe must be here!”
Serena’s exclamations startled the others who swiftly turned around as well. They imdiately spotted the other recipe books.
“How could we miss those?”
“Ah, so much ti wasted.”
Red Sparkle and Dark Hamr threw their hands up. anwhile Riala could only smile wryly. It was alright for the children not to notice sothing like that, but for her as the adult to miss these recipe books was quite embarrassing. Riala stepped forward to help Serena who was studying the nas of the recipe books. Suddenly the latter perked up as if a lightbulb flashed above her head:
“I got it! Here, it’s this one!”
Serena did a little jump and pulled out a recipe book, showing it towards her friends.
“Snacks? Hehe, sounds good.”
Dark Hamr wasn’t sure why Serena would choose a recipe book for snacks, but she was already rubbing her hands in anticipation.
“Of course it’s snacks. The description was about being crispy and salty. What does this remind you of?”
The others thought for a mont before Riala was the first to answer:
“Are you thinking of chips? Potato chips?”
“Exactly!”
“That makes sense! You can be so clever when it cos to food Serena.”
“Hey, I’m always clever!”
“Don’t argue, hurry up! I want to eat chips!”
The three girls fooled around until Serena placed the recipe book on the counter and began flipping through it. A few seconds later they indeed found a recipe for salty chips with the effect of increasing movent speed. However, surprisingly the chips didn’t align with any elent.
Red Sparkle appeared baffled. Serena turned to her with a smile, saying:
“See, they clearly want us to innovate! We need to add another ingredient which aligns with the wind elent.”
Red Sparkle was not convinced. There were still more recipe books they hadn’t checked yet. However, realizing that both her friends were fixated on the idea of making chips she decided not to argue.
But the friends were still left with the question which additional ingredient to add. Even Riala didn’t have an answer imdiately. Thus, the group could only look through the provided ingredients for anything suitable. Luckily, they soon found sothing. It was a liquid called Four Breeze Vinegar.
Therefore, the choice for the last dish was also made. Salt and vinegar chips.
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