ARE YOU A CHEF?!(2)
While Syton was contemplating how much time they've wasted, Kaleigh went where Stalane was, to ask her where the fishes they've caught were.
"Are you hungry, already? Wait for a bit until Blaze and Kerin arrive. I'll cook the fish with the other meat that they'll find" Stalane said as she was busy bringing out the ingredients or spices she's gonna use for cooking later.
"You know how to cook?" Kaleigh asked in surprise.
Stalane lazily looked at him, feeling insulted by his words. "That's quite rude" she commented.
But Kaleigh didn't heard Stalane words, so he couldn't take the hint from it.
"That's unexpected, as far as I recall...hmm, maybe it's..."
Stalane couldn't hear properly what Kaleigh was mumbling at but she was sure that it was not about something good.
Kaleigh shook his head and put all those thoughts on the back of his mind. Since he asked Stalane about the fish for a different purpose.
"Then, leave some fish. Those fish are essential for your quest after all"
Stalane tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
"If those fish got cooked, it may considered as prince fish. But of course, it depends how you're gonna cook it. You could just ask a real chef to cook it for you"
"..."
Kaleigh received the same reaction from Stalane as he did from Syton. He sighed.
It's a normal response since they didn't know about it anyway.
"We'll see if your cooking is enough for it to be considered as prince fish. If its not, I could cook it instead" Kaleigh continued.
Syton just finished regretting the times they've wasted, when he heard what Kaleigh said as he was walking where they were.
"You know how to cook?" Syton asked.
This time, Stalane giggled at Syton's question. Kaleigh noticed this, but he just smirked at the both of them.
A moment later, it was time for everyone to eat dinner. Syton and Stalane was waiting for Kaleigh to taste the fish that Stalane cooked. On the other hand, Blaze and Kerin was confused on what's going on.
Kaleigh somehow felt awkward by being stared by 4 people. He coughed once, before putting the fish inside his mouth. His eyes widened when the taste of the cooked fish that Stalane cooked touched his tongue.
It was surprisingly delicious.
"How was it?" Stalane casually asked.
Kaleigh stared at Stalane's eyes for a second. He doesn't know what answer is appropriate to tell her, since he doesn't want to hurt her. Nevertheless, he decided to tell the truth.
"It's good, but it's not enough to be considered as a prince fish"
"I see. Then, you may start cooking" Stalane said.
Kaleigh did not say anything more. He proceeded to cook the fish to make it as a prince fish. Several minutes have passed before he finished. Syton and Stalane didn't hesitate to taste it.
"Are you a chef?!" Syton exclaimed when he tasted how godly the fish taste was like. It was something that could not compare to any fish that he have eaten before.
Kaleigh took a glance at Stalane, he noticed that she was silently enjoying the fish that he have cooked.
Stalane felt that someone was looking at her so she turned her head to find out who it was. There, she met the eyes of Kaleigh and saw how there's a satisfied smile on his face.
"It's good" She commented.
Blaze and Kerin got curious, so they also took a bite. Just like what Syton and Stalane said, it was indeed one of a kind.
"What's this? It's so good!" Blaze asked as he kept eating.
"It's the fish that you've caught for a couple of days. I cooked it and it become as a prince fish" Kaleigh answered.
"Huh? If cooking those fish is the answer for it to be a prince fish, then could an ordinary fish be also considered as prince fish?" Kerin asked in confusion.
"No. Only fish that came from this place could become as prince fish. It's not only how you cook the fish but also where the fish comes from. Since the fishes that lives here in Astro's Labyrinth is a complete different species than the rest"
Syton licked his finger when he finished his part. "Now that we've collected all the three ingredients, all we have to do is give it to Bell"
Stalane nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you just give those three ingredients to these two and collect the gem from that Bell you guys were talking about? With that, you could already start collecting the last gem that is inside of a dungeon"
With Kaleigh's suggestion, he managed to get the four's attention.
"Dungeon?" Syton asked in excitement. It made him recall the times where he was still playing with his friends to raid several dungeons and domain in a game before.
"I don't think, we could do that" Stalane said in response to Kaleigh's suggestion.
Syton misunderstood her words. "What? Why? He said that the last gem is inside the dungeon!"
"I still don't trust these two. It's better to give the three ingredients on our own. Besides, we accepted Bell's request on our own, so it's just right to see it through the end by ourselves" Stalane continued, ignoring how Syton misunderstood her.
Kaleigh nodded to Stalane's reasoning. "That's true. But, I think you don't have enough time left, right? The dungeon is far from here. If you're gonna travel from here to where Bell is then travel back to the dungeon, it'll accumulate too much time, don't you think so?"
Stalane knows what Kaleigh is trying to say. Even so, she doesn't want to give the rest of the quest to a random person she doesn't even trust.
"Then, I'll go with them. How's that sound?" Kaleigh suggested.
Stalane gave him a look, which gives an impression of "are you serious?".
"Do you think that would change anything? If I don't trust those two, then much less if its you" Stalane said in a calm yet cold voice.
"Pft." Syton hold his laughter on the side.
The four of them looked at Syton, when they heard him chuckle as Kaleigh and Stalane was talking about something serious.
"What's funny?" Stalane coldly asked.
"It's nothing. But, don't worry too much about us Kaleigh. We could handle it by ourselves. As you can see, Stalane is quite stubborn. If you want to be on her good side, you have to be as good as me! I'm the only person she trust, you see?" Syton said as he put his arms around Stalane's shoulder.
Stalane rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Syton."