Jin returned to his home, and the first thing he saw was Lynn already preparing the meal for the table. “Ah, Jin?” Lynn did not seem too surprised to see Jin finally back at home. For the past few days, all he had taken were snacks and coffee, so she figured that he probably craved some delicious food as part of the celebration for opening the Tree Mall.
Even Jin was kind of startled by the amount of food that was placed on the table. It sorta felt like some welcoming back feast. (Well thinking about it he did kind of lock himself up in the dungeon maker for ages.)
Qiu Yue was at the side of the table nearly drooling at the sight of Lynn’s creations, along with Milk and Peppers waiting patiently for Lynn to finish cooking up the last few final dishes. Jin kind of figured the occasion and sat at the far end of the table. (None of them dared to try and ‘help out’. Lynn had made it painfully clear that only her and her Peggies were allowed to do so.)
Yet, it didn’t take long for the Penguin Chef to have all the dishes placed on the table. Some of which looked so good in the presentation that both Qiu Yue and Jin believed themselves to be in some five star restaurant.
Before partaking the food, whenever Milk was present, she would ask Jin for permission to say Grace for the lord. Even though Jin was never much of a believer in religion, (especially after learning about gods, demons and other fantasies he was exposed to) he permitted Milk to lead the whole group for a small little prayer of thanks.
“Thank you Lord, for the food and bless this small family of ours to survive the trials set by Lord thyself. May we get stronger through the hurdles of life and always support each other in times of need. And as I pray, Father, keep me in your presence. Amen,” As Milk finished speaking they could feel a light enveloped the food, and the first to open their eyes was Peppers.
“Let’s DIG IN!!!” Peppers shouted enthusiastically. She immediately grabbed the grilled chicken drumstick at the centre of the table. The rest shook their heads at the childish behaviour of little Peppers and began to pick the savoury food on the table in a more civilised manner.
Jin enjoyed the two new dishes that were on the table and Lynn told him that those came were part of the latest spoils from the Giant World. Specifically, the Horned Chicken and the Four Clawed Scorpion they killed. “My Sub System had given me recipes on how to create Horned Grilled Chicken which used the horn as a spice condiment… Though I had to grind the horn to obtain it.”
“Ohh so that’s where the slightly spicy but at the same time peppery kind of taste comes from?” Jin asked, and Lynn nodded her head.
“As for the Four Clawed Sautéed Meat, it comes primarily from the claws themselves rather than the body. Hence I left the part of the large claws as part of the presentation decoration for the dish.” Lynn described as she introduced the dishes.
“I loved it a lot! It tasted a little beefy, and its juicy parts are very satisfying, it’s guaranteed to be a hit.” Qiu Yue commented, and suddenly a teleport appeared right in front of them. Kraft sauntered through the portal and greeted Jin with a dish as well.
“Whew~! Just in time for dinner! Lucky me. I have something for all of you, take it as apologies for not being around for quite some time. Being a…leader in the underworld sure has been trying.” Kraft half smiled as he placed the dish on the table and opened the lid for them to smell.
“It’s rare for you to be so busy with a task, that you even sent a message not to be disturbed. What exactly have you been up to?” Jin asked as he stood up for a while to peer through the new dish that was on the table.
It looked like a mish mash of vegetables in the pot together. The soup was piping warm, and Kraft also figured that Jin would at least come down for dinner with the whole gang after the opening ceremony.
“Oh, you know nothing too special. Checked out the other gangs, infiltrated some of their headquarters and branch location, just to see what we were up against. But more importantly, I’ve been making friends with the Drows.”
“They are a surprisingly close knitted community. Had a very warm welcome and I never expect for such an isolated village to be so hospitable. We could learn a thing or two from the dark elves.” Kraft replied and explained that the vegetable soup was a traditional delicacy of theirs, promoting vitality and rich in antioxidants.
Lynn took a sip of it and found it delightfully light and pleasant that she asked if Kraft could scoop a bowl for her to drink.
“With pleasure, Chef Lynn. I can even do you one better as I’ve brought along the recipe and the vegetables needed if you wish to recreate or improve on it. Here you go! I never wish to miss any of your meals if possible. To be able to serve you with some good quality food for a change is my honour.” Kraft smile rather genuinely for a change and subsequently helped the rest to get a portion of the soup. After which, he too had started digging in the sumptuous feast.
As Kraft was about to start, he spoke out that Zeru seemed to be missing…only to coincide his findings with another Portal appearing from the backyard. Zeru came back with a large bag alongside him. It was not some luggage bag but a body bag…with someone still screaming inside.
When the portal closed, Zeru went to the side of the bag and used his hand to knock the person unconscious, causing the muffled screaming to be reduced to silence. He then opened the bag and left him at the backyard for a moment.
“Erm… Welcome back, Zeru.” Jin greeted his master, who also had something else on his hands. It was Japanese Takoyaki.
“Mixed flavours. There’s octopus, chicken, squid and cheese. It’s slightly late but congratulations to you Jin for successfully opening the Tree Mall.” Zeru said as he took out the delicious smelling meatballs on the table.
“Please dig in,” Jin said even though he was worried about the unconscious human that was placed in the body bag. He figured that if that human had incurred any injuries, Zeru would have asked Milk to do something about it.
“Sorry about the unwarranted visitor, the System told me that you came for dinner, so I had to improvise a little,” Zeru said as he thanked Lynn for the food.
“Good thing I made extra. Please enjoy!” Lynn said casually as they started to discuss the things they needed to address while enjoying their meal as one big family. And yeah, the first thing on the agenda was the elephant in the room.
That body bag.
