---

As soon as Mary returned to the Wizard’s Tower in Coldon, she immediately began moving and organizing the cargo piled high on the wagon and cart.

It consisted of the supplies she had been carrying along with the spoils of participating in the siege of Afterglow Fortress.

In addition, there were various byproducts, including a large amount of well-butchered mammoth meat.

Since the temperature had already dropped below freezing at the end of fall, there was no concern about the meat spoiling. The issue of it freezing, however, was beyond her control.

The bigger problem was that there was just so much stuff.

Of course, this was not an issue for Mary at all.

No, the more the better!

Swish, clack, swish, clack.

Mary, fully utilizing her magic as a House Fairy, flitted back and forth between the Wizard’s Tower and the wagon, and it didn’t take long for her to organize everything.

Without resting, she quickly finished cleaning the poorly maintained tower during her absence and immediately prepared and distributed the food for the wizards at lunchtime.

While attending to Catherine’s requests, Mary returned to the kitchen.

“Alright then.”

She placed several chunks piled high in her arms onto the table.

Thud!

The heavy weight shook the table.

“I wonder how to cook this?”

The identity of those chunks was none other than mammoth meat.

A portion belonging to Catherine and Karem.

Before she knew it, she had naturally blended into the tower’s members, but Gordon remained an outsider. Unless he directly asked, he shouldn’t just touch or use someone else’s belongings.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly exhaled while gazing at the pile of mammoth meat placed on the table.

Looking at it, it resembled a block of white stone, but after asking Narque to thaw it, she could cook it right away.

As she began unwrapping the cloth one by one, a much richer pink-colored meat than ordinary meat revealed itself.

“Hm? What is this smell?”

Mary paused as she removed the wrapping. A unique and intense aroma distinctly wafted through the air, even though she hadn’t gotten close yet.

It wasn’t the usual meat smell.

It was more like… cheese.

No, it was cheese itself.

The thicker fatty parts emitted a pungent yet rich Icelandic Dairy aroma, while the almost fatless parts bore a powerful yet soft Kingsland Somerset scent, and in areas where the white fat was distributed like a flowerbed, a subtle flavor reminiscent of the Servianus mozzarella emerged.

In fact, in some parts, a uniquely refreshing and tangy scent wafted up, completely different from any spoilage.

The numerous chunks of mammoth meat laid out on the table each emanated their appetizing fragrances.

If she closed her eyes, she could almost mistake the kitchen for a cheese cellar or a specialized cheese shop, given the diverse aromas.

No House Fairy could allow herself to be swayed by such enticing scents.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that meat could smell like this.”

Mary was flustered by the aroma that bore no resemblance to the knowledge she had only weakly acquired about mammoth meat.

No one from Afterglow Fortress, not even the renowned gourmet Elder Iona, nor Mary herself knew that the world possessed a maturing method called dry-aging.

In an environment with low temperatures, constant humidity, and ventilation, meat is artificially fermented to the point of being half-rotten like cheese.

She couldn’t know that in a place where abundantly consuming fresh meat is a privilege and a symbol of power, the tastiest meat is right before it spoils.

But wariness crept in.

“I heard it was safe, but…”

That was to be expected.

In a typical scenario, who would dare to attempt eating the Undead?

Of course, Mary hesitated, but the Undead-Aged meat lying before her was something that posed no problems for consumption.

Corpses do not rot in the cold, dry environments beyond the permafrost mountains.

Rather, the mammoth carcass, completely imbued with the cold properties of winter’s magic, had undergone a sudden necromancy that weakened it to a degree where it should have been decayed and thus aged.

However, it seemed even its duration as an Undead had been short.

Furthermore, thanks to the Holy Water and the priests, it had been thoroughly purified, eliminating any risk of food poisoning.

“…Okay. I’ve got assurance and guarantee, so it should be safe.”

So she swore by Titania’s name that she would not succumb to the seduction of the diverse cheese scents that had filled the kitchen.

Regardless, the conclusion was reached.

It was now time to taste.

For cooking, one had to taste the food itself.

And the most primal and certain way to sample how to cook meat was simple.

To taste it raw.

Mary raised her knife to check its sharpness.

Then, with just a glance, she inspected the meats one by one and chose her target.

The part with strong Somerset aroma and low-fat.

Given its total lack of fat, it must be tenderloin, right?

The ever-sharp knife swiftly pierced into the tenderloin.

Mary flinched.

The sensation that traveled through the knife felt different. Did it thaw unevenly? Yet the chewy sensation felt through the knife denied that idea.

Yes, it was similar to slicing slightly frozen butter.

The meat stuck tightly to the knife, showing through translucently on the opposite side. Mary raised the knife to her nose.

“…Definitely, the aroma of Somerset cheese is unmistakable—”

She couldn’t help it.

Mary bit the thin piece of meat clinging to the knife with her lips. In one swift motion, she placed it in her mouth.

Chomp, smack.

The moment it touched her tongue, the intense Somerset cheese aroma flooded her senses.

As if responding to the temperature of her tongue, the fragrance gradually intensified.

Yet amusingly, the softness increased as well.

The initial flavor was powerful, but it mellowed considerably in the following moments, blending wonderfully with the low-fat meat that retained a faint hint of meatiness.

Unable to resist the irresistible aroma, Mary instinctively moved her teeth again and was left in shock once more.

The raw meat, which under normal circumstances would be chewy even when cut thinly, tore apart gently and softly the instant her teeth connected.

And perhaps due to the friction of her teeth or the exposure of its insides, the meat’s flavor overwhelmed the cheese aroma.

Softer than beef yet undeniably stronger, with no hint of gaminess, the scent she had never experienced poured into her mouth alongside the cheese aroma.

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

“…My goodness.”

Before she knew it, the meat she had torn into pieces had vanished down her throat, leaving only a strong aroma behind.

Feeling oddly rushed, Mary quickly tried to cut the meat as thinly as before, but her gaze shifted to the side.

Salt and pepper.

The basic spices.

Mary retrieved the salt and pepper shakers from the spice shelf and sprinkled them like snow over the thin meat. Then she rolled it up and tossed it into her mouth.

The most primitive and original spice, salt, indeed flaunted its long history without shame.

The salty flavor began to spread rapidly as it melted on her tongue.

The sharpness jolted her tongue awake.

As the flavors of the two spices awakened her taste buds, she began to notice the rich and soft flavors hidden in the fibers of the meat.

The taste and aroma itself remained unchanged.

The beefy scent, the pork flavor, and the umami of Somerset cheese.

But due to the salt, the hidden potential that had long been concealed erupted forth, intensifying all of those flavors and aromas, swirling through her nose and mouth.

“This, this simply won’t do…”

Unconsciously, as she moved the knife for a third time, Mary slapped her own cheek to regain her wits.

At this rate, she wouldn’t merely taste, she would devour all the raw meat on the table.

To ignore the lingering sensations still present in her mouth, Mary reminded herself of her original goal.

‘This piece can be roasted in oil like tenderloin, and finishing it with butter would be perfect—’

Then, a dark desire that always lurked in a corner of Mary’s heart whispered.

If she wanted to taste meat, surely steak would be the answer, right?

Precisely.

Just then, Mary’s eyes caught a sizable chunk of ribeye, resembling a bed of flowers with its white fat beautifully distributed, waiting to be classified into the most suitable dish.

Gulp.

Mary instinctively swallowed.

Ribeye is a coveted cut everyone praises and desires, unless one has a peculiar taste. The only reason one wouldn’t eat it is the limited quantity available.

Even if a large cow is butchered, it yields only three portions.

Historically, even the Aurochs, a symbol of power and size, yields only ten portions.

Now, in front of those meat-loving enthusiasts, several chunks that seemed to account for dozens of portions lay before her.

‘…Still, to taste, it must surely be better as a steak than raw, right?’

Amidst an unwarranted guilt while being alone, Mary offered a slight excuse to the sinister longing rising within her heart as she picked up the knife again.

And she cut thickly.

At first, just a finger’s worth.

With the newly exposed surface of the meat, the gentle aroma of Servianus mozzarella wafted up, drawing a sense of regret.

If it were up to her, she would have wanted to saw off a thick chunk and grill it immediately.

However, she firmly held back her desire—this was merely a tasting, not a meal.

Unless she used the thawed meats to make a meal, her intent remained solely for tasting.

Thus, she could excuse herself for retrieving the frying pan and putting it over the stove, and dropping her precious mammoth butter into it.

Thud—Sizzle—

The whole mammoth butter plopped heavily into the pan and began to melt silently as the pan heated up.

Once the glorious butter melted into gold and smoke began to rise, Mary immediately added the mammoth ribeye.

Sizzle—Bubble, bubble, bubble—

The moment the ribeye made contact with the butter-coated pan, its surface began to sizzle as it slid and boiled.

The snowy-pink flesh with a floral pattern quickly faded from its original brightness, transforming into a dramatically appetizing brownish hue.

The melted fats from the mammoth ribeye and the butter began to react violently at the boundaries that directly contacted the pan.

A sour aroma, more reminiscent of yogurt or cheese than regular milk, surged upward, mingling with the deep meatiness and seared cheese crust drifting through the air.

Mary shuddered.

“Mammoth meat being rare is…”

She fully understood how to cook steak based on thickness.

The familiar wait always felt slow, but this moment was one hundred times slower.

Bubble, bubble, sizzle—Sizzle—

A change in the sounds began.

“Oh. Ooooh…”

Quickly flipping the ribeye, another shudder ran down her spine.

Sizzle—Squeak—

While the uncooked meat hid itself away, the fruits of her waiting, stored vividly in her eyes, delighted her ears and made her heart swell.

This sensation could only be felt when gazing upon desserts liberally layered with cream and custard.

However, the golden crust blanketing the ribeye sparkled as it caught the light from the ceiling, coated with the mammoth butter.

Gorgeous yet not gaudy.

Once more, the hellish wait returned.

Resting.

Once the resting phase was completed, Mary finally transferred the crispy mammoth ribeye steak, filled with juices, onto a cutting board with the utmost care.

“Calm down. Calm down. It’s just steak. Not custard cream or whipped cream.”

It’s not even the much-rumored delicacy, the nose; it’s just a portion of ribeye with a little meat.

Though there lay a neatly prepared chunk of nose among the piles of meat on the table, to be honest, she couldn’t even fathom how to handle that.

How on earth was she supposed to cook that?

Staring at the chunky triangular piece with two holes, Mary twirled the meat and refocused her gaze.

“No, that’s not it. Right now, the steak is more important.”

The mammoth nose can wait until she gets advice from Zigmeser, and she can cook it with Karem later, but at the moment, the steak in front of her was beginning to cool down.

Before it was too late, Mary picked up the knife.

Bang!

The swinging door swung open with a bang.

Tsk. Mary lightly clicked her tongue inside as she turned her head.

“Hm? Contractor? And, as I suspected, that outfit is—”

“What? Mary. It’s me.”

“Guest. It’s rude to meet someone for the first time in such a manner. I have never encountered someone so exotic in Winterhome.”

“Oh, I’m Karem. Karem.”

“Just kidding. Who do you think made those clothes you’re wearing?”

Mary, having flipped the steak, quickly scanned Karem as he entered along with Catherine and Olivier from behind the swinging door.

“I heard you, but it seems you’ve really grown.”

“Did you think I was lying?”

“You just suddenly came back and told me that Karem had grown a little too much, so give me those clothes right away; I think I could be a little suspicious.”

Catherine, who was fuming, couldn’t deny it and grumbled.

“Shut up. The little one needed food, and this is perfect timing.”

“How well done would you like it?”

“Just a bit more than what the mercenary eats. Include what we’ll eat as well.”

“Understood.”

While Mary prepared to grill an additional steak, Olivier wore a grin and nodded at Catherine, who leaned her staff against the wall.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself in trouble there, Kitty.”

“Don’t mess with me, Hih, Hehe- old fart.”

“Oh, do you think I would miss this opportunity? Though you should probably take your medicine and rest well first?”

“Shut up!”

Normally, if she had been in good shape, she wouldn’t have held back and would have blasted him with magic; but now, with no magic available, she had nothing she could do.

“Alright. Sir Atanitas. Let’s postpone your revenge until you’re back to full strength, shall we? For now, why don’t you take a seat?”

“Karem. Don’t you think this is a bit too harsh for an old man?”

“But you are Sir Atanitas, my employer.”

“Old men suffer too much in this world.”

Catherine, wearing an expression of resigned defeat, complied with Karem’s words.

After all, as he said, she could always take her revenge later.

 

---