Boom...
A muffled sound erupted at the entrance of the territory's dining hall.
An old man and a young girl, both with soot-blackened faces, sat at the door of the stone house, which was still emitting black smoke, staring at each other.
"Aren't you the best blacksmith around? It's bad enough that you can't cook, but how did you even manage to blow up a fire?" The red-haired girl, her face darkened by smoke, remarked disdainfully, revealing a set of white teeth.
"Heh heh, well, it's just that…" The old blacksmith, face covered in soot, chuckled awkwardly, showing his yellowed teeth. "I used some material to get the fire going, but didn't control the amount…"
"Material? What kind of material?" Usually, fire-starting materials include anything that aids combustion or something with high flammability, like a substance rich in oils.
The old man took out a small pouch and poured out some irregularly shaped yellowish granules, looking like small stones. "It's a material that comes with red iron crystal ore, lights up easily," he explained, putting the granules back in the bag and handing it to the girl with a grin. "It's something extra you dig out with the ore; here, have a bag to play with. I still have more…"
The girl took the small pouch, made from rough, animal hide, and, despite its crude craftsmanship, seemed to like it.
"Hmph, how are we supposed to make a fantastic meal with this?" she said, hands on her hips in frustration. "Don't you dare drag me down!"
"Understood, understood, no holding you back," the blacksmith assured, grinning widely.
The girl, Udo, was an orphan the old blacksmith had picked up while wandering long ago. Strangely, she was always lively and acted as the leader among the other kids. Recently, she had even learned a recipe from their new leader.
Standing before a stove taller than herself, Udo glanced around thoughtfully.
She eyed the large chunk of wild buffalo meat on the floor. The leader sure was generous, providing so much meat for everyone's meal. A small wooden basket of sour-sweet wild fruits, given by Old Graybeard, lay nearby.
And this huge pot in front of her, with a perfectly rounded bottom… could it really be called a pot? It was practically big enough to cook an entire buffalo!
Her eyes darted around as if looking for something.
"Old man!" Udo shouted.
"Coming, coming!" The old blacksmith rushed in. "What's up, brat?"
"Where's that thing?" Udo gestured with her hands in the air.
"Thing? What thing?" The blacksmith looked puzzled.
"The tool for flipping the meat in the pot!" she exclaimed.
"Ah? I think I saw it somewhere…" He glanced down by her feet. "Oh, is it this?"
Following his gaze, Udo looked down and saw a black iron handle sticking out from the stove beneath the pot.
She crouched, grabbed it, and pulled out a black-handled iron spatula.
"Old man, this is for cooking! Why did you stick it in the stove?" she questioned.
"Oh? Was it? I was lighting the fire earlier…"
"..."
"Don't cry over such a small thing! I'll make you an even better one, alright?"
"Then go do it."
"Alright!"
Moments later, the sound of a bellows and then a loud boom came from the nearby forge.
After a while, the blacksmith's voice drifted over faintly. "Damn, put too much kindling again…"
…
As the sun dipped below the mountain, a rich aroma began to waft over the hillside.
Graybeard appeared first. Lifting his nose to sniff the air, he trotted over, carrying two bags of wine.
"Heard from the leader that Udo is preparing a surprise tonight? Smells incredible; she learned to cook, huh?" He held up the wine bags for the blacksmith to see. "The leader sent this over; think that's generous enough?"
"Oh, he's always good to me," the blacksmith laughed, taking the wine bags.
"Hey, what happened to your face?" Graybeard widened his eyes.
"Oh, helping in the kitchen, smoked a bit… You know, the leader's cooking techniques are very demanding, especially with the fire control," he explained, rubbing his face.
"I get it, I get it," Graybeard nodded, then stood beside the blacksmith, craning his neck to sniff the aroma coming from inside.
"Is that the leader cooking himself?" Another voice sounded from afar. "Graybeard, sneaking food without us!"
"Passing by, alright? Just passing by!" Graybeard emphasized the words, eyeing the wine bags.
"Why do I smell wine too?"
"It's from the leader, not to be shared," the blacksmith replied, hugging the wine bags close.
"Oh, who's greedy for your wine? What's cooking in there to smell this good?" the newcomer laughed, joining the group outside.
"What smells so good…" another voice called from the distance.
...
Inside, Udo was ignoring the chatter outside. She stood on a block of wood in front of the huge pot, using two long wooden sticks as chopsticks to carefully pick up a piece of buffalo meat.
The rich aroma hit her nose, and the tender meat melted in her mouth, with a hint of sweetness.
"The leader is truly amazing… to make such delicious braised beef brisket. Where did he learn this?"
This buffalo meat from the Blackwood Forest had distinct muscle fibers and evenly distributed fat, forming delicate patterns, which is why many hunters would often eat it with salt directly.
In the past, they had only known to roast or dry it with salt.
Now, the leader had taught them something new.
Kent, who had been busy studying blueprints, received an unexpected system notification.
Satisfaction from Udo, +80.
Kent shook his head. Recently, mysterious satisfaction points had been accumulating in the system, and he still didn't know why.
Inside the kitchen, Udo gazed contentedly at the massive pot of broth.
She had smashed open the buffalo leg bones to extract the marrow. She cut the beef brisket into chunks, fried them with buffalo fat to lock in flavor, then boiled the bone marrow to create a milky broth. Lastly, she added a dozen of the sour-sweet wild fruits for extra flavor.
The pot of soup was finally ready for everyone to enjoy tonight.
"Old man, it's done!" Udo shouted from her block of wood, hands on her hips.
Boom—
The wooden door at the entrance burst open.
Udo gaped at the hilarious scene before her.
Four or five elderly men were stuck in the door frame, with the blacksmith trapped at the bottom, clutching the wine bags tightly. He pressed his hand to the ground, trying to lift his head.
Graybeard and the other old men squeezed together, faces poking through, drooling as they tried to peer through the gaps.
The blacksmith's face was still black from the smoke, but his grin was visible.
"Brat, they insist on trying it first…"
He was groveling.