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Catherine’s shock therapy, which was nothing short of an expression of affection, surprisingly worked wonders.

Far more than I had expected.

Unlike the first day when I was nervous about her hair getting tangled and pulled out, Karem had normalized enough to brush and braid it a few days later.

He’d properly learned how to control his strength.

He had eaten dragon tail meat, and his sense had returned.

Only then did Karem feel relieved and decided to let his guard down this time.

Thanks to that, Karem returned to his daily life with a light body.

And then, work came up.

The ingredients in the refrigerator and warehouse had been completely depleted.

But he didn’t waddle to the warehouse with Mary as before to pick up the ordered groceries.

When there were barely ten wizards trapped in the mage tower, a few trips back and forth with a cart was enough, but now there were dozens of them.

As a result, the front yard of the mage tower was bustling with servants unloading supplies from carts.

Of course, Mary was the one who organized everything alone. Utilizing teleportation, she swiftly moved the cargo to the warehouse as it was being unloaded.

“But why teleport outside the tower? What’s the point of going inside?”

“Because the range is limited to inside the mage tower, so you can’t use it outside.”

“It doesn’t matter when you’re coming out?”

“That’s correct.”

“Hmm.”

It seemed that Mary’s teleportation range didn’t reach the front yard of the mage tower. Karem learned something new.

While the servants looked at Mary with curiosity, Karem’s eyes were focused on something else.

Specifically, the groceries being unloaded from the cart.

Among them, the crabs were overwhelmingly represented.

In an open wooden barrel, there were at least ten squirming crabs tied tightly with coarse string, soaked in seawater.

There were dozen more barrels with the lids closed.

And the number of barrels kept increasing as the servants continued unloading from the carts.

It felt like something that could be ground into fertilizer, like the Native Americans used to do.

Of course, I wouldn’t be crazy enough to follow suit.

“But just how many crabs are there?”

“Hik! K-Karem, what is going on?”

Narque, who had just stepped outside the mage tower, was visibly startled.

“As you can see, it’s crabs.”

“No, I can see that. But isn’t there just too many?”

“Right? Well, I’m thrilled.”

Karem scooped one out of a barrel the worker had set down before Mary could grab it.

“This is…”

Karem hadn’t seen many crabs in his previous life, either indirectly or directly. Blue crabs, hairy crabs, soft-shell crabs, coconut crabs, king crabs, and treasure crabs were all he knew.

Yet the crab in his hand resembled none of them.

“Excuse me. What is this called?”

“Ship’s Claw Crab.”

A name so sinister it was chilling.

It took a moment to blink at the surprisingly lengthy name as Karem realized an important fact.

This squirming crab was not something to be trifled with.

To put it metaphorically, it was like a barnacle with the legs of a king crab and the claws of a blue crab, but with a rough shell typical of a snow crab. Its size rivaled that of a king crab, with claws as sharp as knives.

The combined hefty weight felt significant even in hands and arms enhanced by dragon meat and blessings.

The soul of his previous life, which could only be counted on one hand due to wallet constraints, stirred inside him.

Gulp—

Karem heard the sound of someone swallowing beside him.

Narque was standing nearby, her back straight and eyes sparkling as she stared intently at the crab.

Yeah, with so many crabs around…

Even though he had already eaten lunch and snacks, he couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

Karem quickly grabbed a small barrel and dashed away.

To soothe the soul of his previous life that hadn’t feasted on crustaceans.

Narque followed behind.

During the journey to the kitchen, countless crab dishes flitted through Karem’s mind.

Crab cakes, crab meat cream croquettes, chili crab, crab chowder, crab dumplings, seafood boil, padi pocha curry, crab soup and stews, etc.

However, there was only one dish he could prepare right away without further preparation.

As soon as he arrived at the kitchen, he cleaned the crab’s exterior thoroughly, made it spit out its waste, and then pierced its mouth with a knife to drain its blood.

Once done, he secured it with string and placed it in a pre-prepared steamer, covering it with the lid.

After a while, the kitchen, filled with various cooking utensils and spices, was enveloped in the hot heat and fresh scent of the sea.

It was a simple cooking method—just steam it.

He could always prepare the sauce later.

Now all that was left was to wait for the crab to finish steaming.

However, Karem didn’t just sit and wait.

The cooking range was already stuffed with the crabs steaming in the pot and steamer.

Thus, Karem prepared the next items to steam.

Rubbing the exterior, removing the waste, piercing the mouth to drain: repeated tasks.

Meanwhile.

Kuwong—

“It’s done steaming!”

“Ugh, uha!”

A gasp escaped Narque. Karem understood her feelings.

The sight of five crabs, each roughly the size of a king crab, crammed into a pot and placed on the table was a sight to behold!

“…I can’t take it anymore. I’m, I’m eating!”

It was said that to know a person’s nature, one should serve them crab.

Narque took one delicious-looking crustacean whole, adopting a posture completely unlike her usual demeanor.

‘No, that’s not the important thing right now.’

Karem grabbed a leg as long and thick as a king crab. It was freshly out of the pot—hot, but he didn’t care. He activated his divine power, twisted it off effortlessly, and brought it right to him.

“Yum! Eek!”

“Esucarna, here, use the scissors and skewer.”

“Huh? Not a knife and hammer?”

Scissors, wooden mallet, skewer.

Karem immediately demonstrated with the tools.

Crack! Crack! He twisted and removed the front and back joints, trimmed the ends, and neatly pulled out the tough tendons like plastic, pushing in the skewer.

The leg meat, thicker than a finger, glistened slickly, and clear broth dripped onto the plate.

The texture of that juicy crab meat, bouncy and plump.

He reflexively gulped.

Karem found his lost sanity and stuffed the heavy crab leg meat into his mouth whole.

Slurp!

Just one single leg of that ominous-named crab filled his mouth.

A rich, savory flavor along with a hint of sweet broth danced on his palate.

Such indulgence had been rarely experienced in his previous life.

Snow crabs? King crabs? Lobsters?

These were things he could scarcely eat once a year, making it too precious to devour quickly like fast food.

But today, this moment was different.

Crabs were piled high before him, in the steamer, and in the warehouse.

Like eating fried dumplings or hot bars, the leg meat was firm and pleasantly chewy, but with a little extra pressure, the scene changed.

The leg meat of the Ship’s Claw Crab seemed to surrender, bursting apart altogether.

It was like long-stewed chicken breast in Samgyetang but even more moist, tender, and bouncy.

Every bite of the protein-rich flesh released a burst of savory juiciness, brimming with the flavor of the sea.

The strong taste surprised his tongue, and suddenly a sweetness he had never felt in a crab spread from his taste buds to his entire mouth.

The mild sweetness, reminiscent of eating fresh shrimp, melded perfectly with the salty juices.

Gulp—

Karem swallowed reflexively and, a beat later, belatedly realized what he had just done.

No, my precious leg meat!

But it didn’t matter!

There were still plenty of crabs left!

“Uheuhe— Uheuhe—”

“There’s so much meat in the crab!”

“So, what exactly is happening here?”

At the suddenly uncomfortable voice, Narque flinched. Then the other two stopped, unsure who would react first.

Turning their heads, they found Catherine, leaning against the wall with one eyebrow raised.

“It’s called Ship’s Claw Crab.”

“Yeah. I can see that.”

“It’s a lot, so I was just tasting it for now.”

“You steamed five of this size just for a taste?”

“W-Well, it’s just a taste…!”

At Narque’s words, Catherine’s voice narrowed as if she’d seen something reprehensible. Was she sulking because she hadn’t been invited?

It indeed looked a bit odd. Viewed from a third party’s perspective, it appeared they were caught enjoying something tasty behind her back.

“Well then, let’s make room for you to sit down.”

“Yeah. So, Ship’s claw crab is just…?”

“Ah- please.”

“Huh? W-what?”

As Karem gestured, Catherine gingerly came over and sat down. Before the conversation could finish, she stuffed a chunk of the leg meat into her mouth.

Catherine’s sharp eyes, questioning what was happening all of a sudden, softened as the flavor and texture filled her mouth.

Munch-munch— gulp—

“Another bite?”

“…Sure.”

“Ah, how delightful.”

“Please keep your mouth shut, bystander.”

Karem lightly reproached Narque, then took the long crab meat he had picked out and fed it into Catherine’s opened mouth like a baby bird.

“Wow, to think a Ship’s Claw Crab would be this size…”

“It seems they are usually smaller?”

“Yeah— they’re the eternal enemy of sailors. And the ones from the cold places grow to these sizes—”

“Well, please eat.”

Karem interrupted Catherine’s words and calmly fed her the selected crab meat with his hands.

In that subtle yet natural atmosphere, Narque realized that the two were getting a bit closer.

However, she wasn’t sure how far things had progressed, but she had to inform everyone else about it later.

Regardless of that, Karem temporarily excused himself from Catherine and stood up.

“Suddenly saying something?”

“The sauce. The sauce.”

“Oh?”

“It’s not that complicated.”

Cajun butter sauce.

Though the name sounded grand, its recipe was fairly simple. Mix red pepper powder, paprika powder, melted butter, and the innards of the Ship’s Claw Crab.

Then add minced garlic, cumin, lemon juice, and parsley, and boil it. Even though Narque had rejected it for containing the innards, she soon dipped in with abandon, indulging in its deep and rich taste and aroma.

“Wow! I expected it to be greasy, but this flavor…!”

“Miss Catherine, you should take a bite too.”

Catherine looked at Karem’s outstretched piece of Ship’s Claw Crab leg for a moment.

Unlike the pure white flesh inside, the red outer part was stained with spices and slathered in butter, gleaming like a ruby.

Spicy, tangy, sour, yet above all, rich with a buttery aroma, Catherine devoured the crab meat without hesitation.

Munch-munch—

The leg meat of the Ship’s Claw Crab certainly had flavor.

But her taste leaned towards bold, rich dishes.

The thick, luscious butter sauce packed with various spices.

Moreover, it accentuated a much richer, more complex flavor of the innards combined with the sauce and crab meat.

“Hah, with something like this, I could eat for a week.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

“Ah— huh?”

Karem, who fed crab meat to Catherine, peeled the leg meat expertly and dipped it into the sauce.

“Looks like crabs could last a whole week.”

“…What on earth does that mean?”

“Didn’t Mary teleport it? There are probably at least hundreds in the warehouse!”

“What?”

Catherine blinked, looking dazed. Still, her mouth intact, she accepted the crab meat Karem offered her.

“There are that many?”

“Maybe even more than that.”

At least by the time Karem came up to the kitchen, the workers had been unloading barrels filled with Ship’s Claw Crabs.

Hearing Karem’s explanation, Catherine was dumbfounded.

Even rotten crabs are considered crabs. How could there be this many?

“Well, if there are many, that’s good. You said you wanted to eat all week.”

“No, that’s just what I said—”

“Don’t worry about recipes.”

Karem fed Catherine a crab leg dipped in sauce and wiped the sauce from her mouth.

 

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