The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin - Chapter 16.2: Why Do I, As A Potato, Still Have To Study?

“Ugh, ptooey…” Girunini spat out the seaberry she had just put in her mouth and grimaced. “It’s so sour and bitter…”

Despite saying that, she stuffed the spat-on seaberry on her hand back into her mouth. This was the Desert of Burials, where even the nastiest of food was a precious survival resource, too valuable to waste.

Calidora watched her do this, truly feeling pity.

She took out her water skin from inside her robes and checked it thoroughly, just as she had checked countless times before; it was already empty.

“Girunini, give me your water skin.” Calidora reached out her hand.

“Oh.” Girunini pulled out a similar water skin from her own robes and handed it over.

Calidora opened up both water skins, picked up her staff, and started chanting an incantation.

Gradually, during the incantation, a small droplet of water materialized out of thin air, growing and expanding until it was a sphere of transparent water the size of a basketball.

This was a spell to condense the water element, and it was practically the only source of drinking water for the two in the desert.

However, the desert was so dry that vapor was scarce to the extreme. It was often only near trees that Calidora could condense such a sphere of clean water.

With a gentle wave of her staff, she carefully funneled the water into the two water skins.

“Here, drink while you are eating.” Calidora handed one of the water skins to Girunini. “Let’s rest a bit longer; we should be able to refill the water once more.”

“Really? That’s wonderful.” A slight smile finally appeared on Girunni’s face. Being able to drink an entire bag of water in this sort of place was truly a blessing.

Calidora sighed softly and took a sip from her own water skin. Then, she also popped a small cluster of seaberries into her mouth, enduring the sourness as she chewed slowly.

As she chewed, she pulled out a small disc. This was an ancient disc that looked like it was the lid of a certain something.

Calidora gently caressed the disc, then imbued some magic into it.

The disc lit up. However, it only glowed for a moment before flickering out again.

It’s still not working? Calidora was disappointed, slumping back against the trunk of the seaberry tree. Mervant, are you still safe right now… You, who don’t know magic, better not die of thirst in this desert…

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“Bear and mushroom soup, roasted bear with potatoes, stir-fried wild vegetables with bear, grilled bear with wild peppers, and a mixed stir-fry of wild vegetables. A total of four dishes and one soup, please enjoy.” Liu Ji spread his arms, displaying the full table of his labor and smiling warmly as he introduced the dishes to the trio.

Of course, they didn’t understand a word. But that wasn’t important; this was merely a ceremonial aspect.

“This lad, even though he’s a potato, his cooking skills are quite impressive,” Mervant muttered in surprise after seeing the dishes on the table. “These dishes almost rival those made by Cali.”

“Can’t you leave out the ‘even though he’s a potato’ part?” Yaine gave him a pointed look while casually slapping away Osar’s hand that was sneakily reaching out for the food.

Osar scratched his head in frustration, glanced at the chopsticks Yaine held, sighed, and picked up his own chopsticks to start learning how to use them.

He had no choice. He wouldn’t get to eat if he didn’t learn.

They had survived on sour fruits in the desert for days, and now with such a lavish meal laid out, Osar was not about to just sit there and watch.

And as Yaine had said, as an elite martial artist skilled in various hand techniques and grappling, Osar’s finger dexterity was naturally much higher than average, so learning to use chopsticks wasn’t really a challenge for him.

The same was true for Mervant, a swordsman.

It didn’t take long for these two to grasp the usage of this new utensil, and they thoroughly enjoyed the feast thereafter.

Culinary culture is complex, with every region in the world having its own, often influenced by a multitude of factors, resulting in differences with each other.

And the greater the regional discrepancies, the greater the difference. As the discrepancy being a whole other world…

Neither Mervant nor Osar had ever tasted dishes prepared with these cooking techniques before. Of course, given the limited conditions and condiments, the food might have been considered mediocre to any random takeout place in Liu Ji’s former world.

But for this bunch, who had just emerged from an arduous journey two days ago, this meal was absolutely delightful.

It was the same for Liu Ji. He didn’t know how many years he had gone without food for, and while preparing the dishes, he couldn’t help sneaking a few bites. Now that he could eat freely, he certainly wasn’t going to hold back.

And with his experience and skill with chopsticks, he was the most proficient at the table; it would be rather embarrassing if he couldn’t beat the others in snagging meat.

Like a whirlwind sweeping through the table, the four of them had cleaned up the hearty spread of four dishes and one soup in just 20 minutes, with not even a single drop of soup left.

“Ah… satisfying,” Osar exhaled, slumping into his chair and contentedly rubbing his slightly bloated stomach. “This lad’s cooking is really good. Looks like we won’t have to worry about Yaine’s dark cuisine anymore.” [TL note: Dark cuisine is a neologism for bizarre and weird food or combinations that sound bizarre or disgusting but are often tastier than anticipated.]

“I apologize that I can only make ‘dark cuisine.'” Yaine’s lips twitched. “Unlike a certain two who can only boil and roast awkwardly. I wonder where they get the confidence to criticize others.”

“Hey, hey, I didn’t say anything. Don’t drag me into it.” Mervant rapped his fist on the table in protest.

Watching the three bickering back and forth, Liu Ji felt envious. They were all sitting at the same table, yet he was the only one who couldn’t understand the others. This made him feel as though he belonged under the table, and it didn’t feel good.

“I really need to learn the language first…” Liu Ji looked at Yaine, wanting to express his eagerness to study hard, but even after pondering, he didn’t know how to convey his sentiment.

But soon, Liu Ji realized his dilemma was unnecessary.

Yaine had already packed his schedule full without him having to say a word. Seeing the dense list of incantations he needed to memorize, Liu Ji felt as if he had returned to his previous life, back to the days of studying for language proficiency tests.