Savi and Cicely were patrolling in the forest. They were not trudging through weeds and bushes like human hunters but were elegantly moving between the trees. Sometimes they would use vines for support, and occasionally, they would climb trees to survey the distance.
The elves were tall and attractive, wearing clothes made from a unique soft and textured material. With bows and arrows on their backs, every move they made was graceful and comfortable.
Suddenly, Cicely's nostrils twitched, asking her companion, "Do you smell something?"
Savi nodded affirmatively, "It's the smell of meat, so fragrant. Is someone roasting deer meat in the forest?"
Under such circumstances, it was routine for Savi and Cicely to investigate.
The scent of roasting meat wouldn't just appear in the forest, because a running deer wouldn't spontaneously combust into a roasted deer. It was very likely that humans had appeared in the forest. The elves did not reject humans appearing on the outskirts of the forest, as long as they did not approach the Elven Court without permission or commit any misdeeds.
The elves believed themselves to be the children of the forest, not its masters. They would not arrogantly drive out other races.
Following the trail of this wonderful meaty smell, Savi and Cicely speculated that it might be a novice hunter who had entered the forest and, unable to resist the temptation of hot food, had started a fire. If that was the case, they would simply need to observe until the hunter completely extinguished the fire and then they could leave.
Another worst-case scenario would be encountering a human slaver team, who would lurk around the Elven Court, looking for opportunities to kidnap curious underage elves who had wandered out. If they encountered these people, Savi and Cicely would definitely make them pay.
They didn't expect anything new until they saw a young girl in a green dress sitting in a high silver-patterned treehouse, with a huge pot in front of her. The girl was stirring with a long-handled spoon from time to time, and the fragrance was indeed coming from this strange pot.
Savi suddenly thought of the forest witch in stories who would lure children with the scent of food.
For elves, climbing up to the treehouse was an easy task. They appeared outside the wooden house, and the keen-eyed Cicely noticed that there was a crooked sign on the door that read "Dragon Flame Restaurant."
She couldn't help but speak: "You're opening a restaurant here?" The astonishment in Cicely's voice was unmistakable. There were no humans nearby, so the future customers of this restaurant were elves? But why would elves come to such a restaurant?
"That's right," Ina didn't seem surprised by the sudden visit of the two elves. She was picking up roasted beef with a long chopstick while answering, "This is a restaurant. Want to try some beef?"
Savi and Cicely wanted to refuse, but they hadn't figured out what was going on yet. Was this a new trick by the slave hunters? Lure them in, trick them into eating food that would make them pass out, and then quietly transport them out of the forest? Elves are not greedy or alcoholic like dwarves!
As Ina scooped out the beef, the aroma spread throughout the small wooden house. The color of the beef was rich, and as Ina found a knife to cut the braised beef, the soup spread on the board with her movements, the cut surface was beautiful, showing a transparent sauce color.
Savi suddenly spoke: "You won't make any money by opening a restaurant here, we don't have human coins."
Hundreds of years ago, elves and humans still had some exchanges. At that time, some elves would exchange some human coins for use, but the communication between the two races had been cut off for a long time. The elves nowadays probably can't find anything that can be used to pay.
Ina replied casually: "No need for money, you can exchange with ingredients." The idea of making money was extinguished by her the moment she saw the silver-patterned leaves swaying. But trading with the elves is also nice. Silverleaf Forest has precious magical plants and rare ingredients that are not available elsewhere.
By this time, Ina had already cut the meat and wrapped it into two portions with clean leaves and handed them to Savi and Cicely. After smelling the meaty aroma in the house for a while, the two elves hesitated for a moment and still took the leaves. They didn't want to let their guard down, but the meat was really tempting.
Ina didn't mean to watch them eat here, she let the two of them leave with the meat. The elves are a promise-keeping race, and she will just wait here to see what they will bring as an exchange.
Savi and Cicely's steps to return were much faster. They wanted to know if there was any sedative in the meat they held, and they wanted to know what the tasted like. Finally, they returned to the living area of the elves, where there were elves with bows and arrows everywhere. They did not have to worry about being drugged and taken out of the forest.
Cicely's action of taking out the leaves could be described as eager. She took a small bite of the braised beef. The taste was rich and savory. The beef was well-marbled, tender, and mellow, spreading in the mouth with the rich meat juice. After eating a piece, Cicely savored it for a while and then reached out for the next piece.
Savi had been hungry smelling the aroma and immediately made a satisfying "hmm" sound when the beef entered his mouth.
Having eaten all the beef in their hands, the two elves looked at each other. They had originally intended to test whether there was any special anesthetic in this beef, but they didn't expect to eat all the beef in one breath.
It's clear that something special has been added to the beef, but it's not an anesthetic, but a spice that makes the beef more delicious.
"What should we bring to the restaurant owner in the afternoon?" Cicely did not forget her promise to return something to Ina.
An elf behind them patted his shoulder, looked at the silver-leaf tree leaves in their hands stained with oil spots, and wondered: "Why are you eating here? This aroma is making me hungry."
Savi stammered and explained: "We found a newly opened restaurant in the nearby forest, this is the food from the restaurant owner."
This is ridiculous. How could there be a restaurant around here? The elf looked at Savi, he was not deceived by his poor lie, shook his head, and walked away.
After eating Ina's beef, Savi and Cicely reciprocated and sent a few eggs before sunset.
These eggs present a dreamy light purple color, each of them is the size of a fist. According to Cicely, these eggs are from a beast called the Bule Hawk. This bird species will lay dozens of eggs at a time, but only up to three can successfully hatch. This is the method of reproduction and deception of the Bule Hawk species. Even if the eggs are eaten by predators, there is a high probability that the lost eggs will be the ones that cannot hatch.
But now there are few predators of Bule Hawks in Silverleaf Forest, all the eggs are preserved, but the Bule Hawks do not have the energy to hatch so many eggs. The elves have a strong sense of vitality, they help the anxious Bule Hawk mothers to select those eggs that cannot be hatched, and eat them with the permission of the Bule Hawk.
Ina made an omelet with an egg. The adjusted egg liquid was poured into the heated pan. With a "sizzle", the yellow egg liquid covered the bottom of the pan, and small bubbles came up. The aroma was coming. Ina used a spatula to slowly roll up the omelet, and it became an omelet.
This bird egg omelet is very tender, and delicious, and does not have a slight smell that is more or less present in egg products. Only salt and a little other seasoning are needed, it is already delicious.
There are treasures everywhere in this forest, Ina confirmed again. She likes Silverleaf Forest very much, whether it's the bustling 300 years ago or the quiet now.
The next day, another patrol team smelled a fragrance while traversing the forest. This is a very strong meat smell. It covers the fragrance of flowers and the freshness of vegetation and spreads in this verdant forest with the forest wind.
"What is this smell?" The same conversation as yesterday happened in this patrol team.
The difference is that Cicely is among them and she immediately started to explain.
"Opening a restaurant in Silverleaf Forest?" An adult elf blinked uncertainly, "I have lived for more than two hundred years, and I have never seen such a thing."
Elves are not vegetarians. They also hunt for survival. When the deer in the forest overflows due to a lack of predators, the elves will eat more deer meat. When rabbits gnaw grass leaves and roots crazily, they hunt more rabbits. The elves maintain the natural order of Silverleaf Forest, they are the eldest sons of the forest.
The patrol team unanimously agreed to take a look at the so-called restaurant.
"Cicely, since you have eaten the food there, did you buy it with money?"
"No," Cicely shook her head, "We exchanged some eggs of Bule Hawk. The boss there said that as long as it is food or medicinal materials that are not outside, she likes it very much."
Ina was stewing a pot of meat soup. Cooking a perfect pot of meat soup is not difficult, it only requires some patience and moderate heat.
The fragrant meat soup has been stewed for a long time, and the meat in it has become very tender, it will come out of the bone with a gentle bite. In order to make the taste more rich, some tomatoes and beans are also added to the soup. The subtle acidity can stimulate the taste buds. Ina also cut a potato into it. Because the stewing time is very long, the potato is soft and about to melt in the soup, adding a bit of heaviness and thickness to the flavor of the soup.
The restaurant once again welcomed a group of elf guests.
The elves took over the bowl that Ina had stuffed in a kind of dazed state. "Hold it well."
Almost the next second after hearing this sentence, they held the bowl in their hands properly, and some expectations quietly rose in their hearts. Ina skillfully wielded the soup spoon, sending the meat soup into each bowl held properly, without spilling a drop.
Next, each elf drinks the soup while watching Ina wrap the marinated fish fillet with egg liquid and breadcrumbs and send it into the hot oil pot.
The smell of fried fish fillets gradually spread with a lively sizzling sound. Ina fished out large pieces of fish fillet and cut them into small pieces. When the knife blade touched the crispy skin of the fish fillet, it made a small "crack" sound, then, the blade smoothly touched the board underneath, revealing the tempting cut surface of the fish fillet. The outside is a golden crispy shell, and the fresh fish inside is tender, when cut, you can feel the meat is soft and elastic. Next, Ina sprinkled dark sauce on the neatly arranged fish fillets and placed them on the Silverleaf leaves prepared aside.
An elf who had drunk the soup rolled his throat.
Ina gave them out one by one, feeling like a kindergarten teacher feeding children at lunchtime. The delicate and beautiful elves stood in a line consciously, squeezed into the narrow corner of the wooden house, and accepted the fried fish fillets wrapped in tree leaves.
On the way back, an elf named Agad asked Cicely, "The chef's cooking skills are so good, why open a restaurant in Silverleaf Forest? We don't even have a penny."
Before Cicely could speak, another older elf spoke, "This reminds me of a group of humans I met a long, long time ago. They were very good at cooking. When the food they made was welcomed, they would be happier than getting gold coins. At that time, the forest was very lively, not only with such taverns but also pharmacies, tailors, and equipment repair shops..."
The elves nearby were all born in the last few hundred years. They caught novel information and surrounded the older elf, chattering:
"Are there really friendly humans? I once met a few woodcutters, and they looked at us as if they had seen a ghost, even though we looked similar."
"Where did these humans and shops go afterward? I have never heard other elves talk about it. Is this a secret?"
"Is there any conspiracy happening? There are fewer and fewer elves born from the Elf Mother Tree. I saw the priest praying under the tree, saying something about 'sleep' and 'heading to destruction'?" The elves' ability to associate is no worse than any other race.
The older elf just shook his head: "There's no conspiracy, they just left."