Chapter 141: Night of the Eighth Day

In truth, Yousen wasn’t even sure if what he felt for Duoya was really that kind of “liking.” But after all, she had saved his life—twice, in fact—so it was only natural that she held a special place in his heart…

After getting a general sense of the situation, Su You cleared her throat to remind them of her presence. Before the two could say anything, she handed Yousen the batch of basic growth fertilizer she’d prepared earlier.

“This is basic growth fertilizer. You’ve farmed before, so you should know what this is. I’ll leave these with you.” With that, Su You didn’t give them a chance to react and headed straight to the tavern to get dinner.

…

Maybe because it was dinnertime, the tavern was bustling. Dolly, the Lyle brothers, Buguo, and Yue were all there, and the members of the merchant caravan had also come for their last meal…

Here, “last” meant they’d be leaving Sunset Territory early the next morning, so there’d be no chance for a second dinner here—unless they returned someday, but who could say if that would ever happen.

The once-empty tavern was now packed, to the point that there weren’t enough tables and chairs to go around. Fortunately, Su You had prepared for this and brought out several brand-new sets from the storeroom.

“Braised sand snails? Starweed meat soup? What are these?” Merchant A stared in surprise at several new wooden boards hanging on the wall—these were Meike’s handiwork.

The boards were about the size and thickness of a smartphone, each with a hole and string for hanging, listing the names and prices of the tavern’s dishes.

They were hung on the stone-needle wall, serving as the menu.

Actually, Meike had put up these boards ever since he became the tavern’s manager, so what surprised everyone wasn’t the boards themselves, but the increased number and the new dishes listed.

Originally, there were eleven boards, divided into three categories based on ingredients:

The first type used only berries: roasted berries, berry juice, dried berries.

The second type used only meat: small roast, large roast, meat soup, small jerky, large jerky.

The third type combined berries and meat: berry roast, deluxe roast, berry meat soup.

Su You herself didn’t think it was necessary to be so detailed, but Meike liked it that way, so she let him be—she couldn’t be bothered to argue with his stubbornness over such trivial matters.

There had been eleven boards, but now there were five more—meaning five new dishes: braised sand snails, starweed meat soup, cold starweed salad, stir-fried vine hemp greens, and stir-fried green silks.

For now, the price was set at 1 copper coin = 10 hunger points. The previous rate of 1 copper = 20 hunger points only applied to territory residents; for outsiders, the price was doubled.

Of course, this was just a temporary pricing scheme. Once the territory opened up, such a blatant price difference wouldn’t be possible. Otherwise, if residents couldn’t resist the temptation to buy food for outsiders and make a profit, it could become a serious problem.

Hearing Merchant A’s question, Meike pointed to the freshly cooked new dishes and explained, “These are all new ingredients the lord found this afternoon. There isn’t much of each, so if you want to try them, you’d better order quickly.”

Meike wasn’t exaggerating about the limited quantities—there were only three servings of braised sand snails left, though the other four dishes still had plenty of ingredients.

Whether it was trust in Meike as a mage or faith in his cooking over the past two days, everyone was eager to give face and at least try one of the new dishes.

Braised sand snails, being the most limited, sold out first. Most people figured they’d just try something else if they missed out, but when the aroma of the braised sand snails wafted through the tavern, regret was inevitable.

Of the three servings, Dolly snagged one, and when Buguo came in right after, Dolly called her over to eat together.

Buguo was a bit reluctant—not because she disliked Dolly (in fact, she had a good impression of her). When Su You had told Buguo to collect clothes and bedding from Dolly, Dolly had even helped carry them to Buguo’s house, worried she couldn’t manage alone.

Buguo’s reluctance was just because she was used to being alone and wasn’t comfortable socializing with strangers… but in the end, Dolly managed to pull her over.

The other two servings went to a traveler and a merchant, respectively.

The rest could only swallow their saliva at the mouthwatering aroma.

Fortunately, with Yue’s help, everyone’s other orders soon arrived, so at least they had something to eat and didn’t have to just watch others enjoy their food.

Thanks to the braised sand snails’ stellar performance, everyone’s expectations for the other four new dishes rose as well.

A few people who’d planned to just get some roast meat decided to splurge and order more dishes after some hesitation.

For a while, the tavern was filled with a chorus of praise.

Meike basked in the compliments, tossing coins into the cash box as he secretly stir-fried the leftover sand snails—too little for a full serving—for himself.

But the aroma was so strong that his “sneaky” act was quickly discovered by the others. Still, everyone was busy eating, and since Meike was a mage, they just shot him a few glances and let it go.

In this cheerful atmosphere, Su You enjoyed her dinner.

…

After dinner, Su You went to the bounty board to adjust some of the mission details.

As for territory tasks, although Su You had told everyone to pick according to their own situation, they’d developed a basic sense of teamwork: they generally avoided taking the same missions as others.

With so few people, division of labor was essential to ensure no resource ran short. If everyone did the same task and gathered the same materials, other supplies would quickly run out, which was unacceptable.

The current arrangement was working well—

Lyle chopped wood. Only when there was too much wood and nowhere to store it would he consider other tasks.

(End of chapter)"