"If you stay here at night, will you be able to make it in time for tomorrow morning?" Catherine, dressed in a one-piece floral dress and her hair tied in a ponytail, sat cross-legged on the ground like Maggie, holding a large crockpot in her arms, stirring something vigorously in the crockpot.

At the foot of Hot Spring Mountain, more than 100 years ago, two business-minded young people jointly built a hot spring hotel. They went to great lengths to draw a hot spring from underneath, and then built a dozen or so buildings around the hot spring pool as a hostel, attracting tourists who came here to soak in the hot springs to stay overnight. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night in the western wilderness, even in the middle of summer, it can become a little cold soon after the sun sets, so soaking in the hot springs and watching the stars on a cold night has become a great pleasure for visitors. As time passed, the number of tourists coming and going to the hotel increased, but the hotel did not expand commensurately, and even now it has only expanded to more than 20 loess houses. The owner of the inn seems to be satisfied with the status quo at hand, and has maintained the quaint charm of more than 100 years without any changes. Now everyone is in this hot spring hotel, sitting in front of the room they rented, watching the sunset in the distance.

"No problem, no problem. Maggie looked at the mouth of the crockpot, pouted dissatisfied, and continued to put her hand into the crockpot and continued to stir it with a wooden stick: "My own words are often like this, tomorrow morning from here at six o'clock, the hotel has a special rental carriage to return to Sennaia, almost nine o'clock to arrive, you can't miss the floating boat at ten o'clock at noon, don't worry." ”

"I don't care about that. Pannis was also holding a crockpot, and then he pulled out of the crockpot, and put a little green paste on his fingers, put it in his mouth and tasted it, and pouted: "I care about when this thing will be eaten, and whether it is really as delicious as you say." ”

"Of course it's delicious, so I'm not going to lie to anyone. Maggie stuck out her tongue and grimaced, and said dissatisfiedly, "This is the best food in the Western Wastelands, but unfortunately no restaurant is willing to prepare this dish, so even the locals may not be able to eat it if they want to." ”

"So you just instructed us to climb that high mountain, and then fight that, just for this dish?" said Pannis, sneering, "I've been here twice before, and I've never heard of this dish you talked about. ”

"It's because the ingredients are so troublesome that the restaurant won't prepare this dish, and fewer and fewer people know about it. Maggie explained, "What you have picked up from the mountains is cliff moss, a very scarce food. ”

"Well, that's the cliff moss. Vivien was looking down to record the phenomenon of the wall of memories she saw in the afternoon, when she suddenly raised her head and said: "A bryophyte that only grows on a two-thousand-meter-high cliff, which can be eaten as food, and is often accompanied by wild steel flowers, but unfortunately I didn't see wild steel flowers just now, and that kind of alchemy material is rare." ”

"Yes, you can only see the two-thousand-meter cliff, and if it were me, it would definitely not be possible to pick it up, and only you professionals can pick up that much in an hour. ”

"I climbed up and down by myself. Pannis pointed to his nose and said, "Look at me so hard, shouldn't I be rewarded?" ”

"Thank you, Mr. Pannis. Maggie looked up and said, "What reward do you want?"

"Hmm, let me think about it. Pannis continued to point to himself, thought for a few seconds, and said, "Call Brother to listen." ”

"Idiot. Lina, who lowered her head and stirred, looked blank and snorted coldly and said, "Standard idiot." ”

Maggie smiled sweetly and exclaimed, "Brother Pennis." ”

"It's so sweet. Pannis's face was intoxicated, his eyes lit up, and he jumped up after a moment of reminiscence, and said excitedly: "I feel that my whole body is full of strength, let's say, there is still something missing, I will go to pick it immediately." ”

"Bang. Catherine's face was exactly the same as Lina's, but the sound of the sword unsheathed suddenly sounded. Pannis's body stiffened, and he quickly sat down cross-legged again, his back straight, his eyelids drooping, and he assumed a deep meditative posture as if nothing had happened just now.

Vivien's face was also blank, and she casually scattered the fire elemental at her fingertips and asked, "What about the kind of demonic beast that was killed later?"

"That's the rock shrimp, a very peculiar magical beast. Lina casually flipped through the Demonic Beast Illustrated Book beside her, and said while continuing to stir: "The Adventurer's Guild classifies them as Gold-level Demonic Beasts, but they are marked as harmless Demonic Beasts. Rock shrimp feed on minerals and stones, are larger than a human, covered with a thick, hard rock shell, and when they are full, they will shrink into a rock to sleep, and when attacked, they will attack enemies with a pair of giant crab-like pincers, and their strength can even crush steel. However, although these magical beasts only have a gold-level evaluation, they don't have any weaknesses in themselves, and they can only be killed by breaking their shells, which is very difficult, and they have no value in themselves, so it is not recommended to attack them. ”

"Yes, rock shrimp. Maggie happily explained, "There is not as much rock shrimp meat as expected, and one of the biggest flaws is that there is an unacceptable sourness in their flesh, which cannot be swallowed at all. However, only locals know that when you mix grilled rock prawn meat with cliff moss, it creates a subtle twist that makes the rock prawn meat even more delicate and delicious than real crab and lobster meat. So people developed this dish, rock shrimp meat roll moss cake. The thick cliff moss is ground into a sauce, a small portion is used to process the rock shrimp meat, and the rest is mixed with flour and water to make a paste, and then fried on a pan to form a pancake. The shrimp meat is marinated in a sauce made of cliff moss, grilled over low heat, and eaten in pancakes. The pancake is a mixture of vegetables and grains, and when it is served with tender rock shrimp meat, my saliva is already flowing out. Ah, and most importantly, both must be consumed within six hours of acquisition, otherwise they will quickly lose their original flavor and become indistinguishable from ordinary ingredients. ”

"Is it really that delicious?" the girls looked at each other, and Catherine asked uncertainly, "It sounds very good, and I am looking forward to what you said, this batter can be stirred to this extent." ”

"I'll see, well, Sister Catherine, yours are all right, I'll look at Mr. Pennis's, Mr. Pannis?" Maggie called softly, "Mr. Pennis, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh, nothing. Pannis withdrew his gaze from the crowd of tourists not far away with a puzzled expression, and said hesitantly: "It seems that I saw a back, I seem to have seen it somewhere before, and I have some familiar feelings." ”

"Someone you know?" Catherine had already trusted Pannis's perception unconditionally: "Former friends?"

"No, not to that familiarity, but I think I've definitely seen it. Pannis shook his head vigorously and said no longer concerned: "It's okay, it's probably because I saw the back once before, it won't be a very important thing, I don't have a premonition of crisis." ”

"That's right. Catherine was still a little hesitant, but seeing Pannis's determined expression, she still nodded and said: "It's okay, call us at any time if you have a problem, don't look at the way we dress now, but we can fight at any time, even when you soak in the hot springs." ”

"I have a deep understanding. "Thinking of the tragedy of the afternoon, it is hard not to think of two girls wrapped in bath towels, in the fierce ...... Well, the kind of fragrance and charm that is inevitably revealed in the beating. For a moment, Pannis seemed to be back a few hours ago, reminiscing about the good times when happiness and pain were intertwined, and for a moment he couldn't help but be distracted.

"Qiang", the sound of drawing the sword made Pannis quickly put away the lewd expression on his face and the saliva at the corner of his mouth, stirred the crockpot in his arms with a focused expression, and said to Maggie with an unprecedented serious demeanor: "I think I have stirred enough here." ”

"No, I can't. Maggie snickered and shook her head, her eyes smiling into a pair of crooked crescents: "Yours and Sister Freya's are not enough, keep up the good work, Uncle Pannis~Uncle~." ”

"Hey, why did you become an uncle, you can't be so cruel. Pannis screamed, glaring at a smiling Maggie.

"Hey, stupid. Lina pushed her glasses and stood up with a crockpot: "Sister, Vivian, let's go bake cakes, he will be infected and stupid here." ”

"Let's go. Catherine picked up her and Vivien's crockpots: "You two hurry up, when we finish baking and you don't come back, we'll eat all the rock shrimp." ”

"Really, don't rob me of my food. Pannis's agitation quickened significantly: "That's more important than my life." ”

"Mr. Pannis, did you notice?" was left with Pennis and Freya, and there was an eerie silence. Silence brewed for a while, and Freya suddenly spoke, her voice quiet and melodious, as amazing as when they first met in the carriage: "Compared to when I first met them two years ago, they have become quite dependent on you. ”

"I don't know what they were like, I can't find out. Pannis's hand moved, and he said in a muffled voice: "It's you who surprised me, how did you suddenly become so ......." ”

"No matter what I become, I still have a girl's delicate heart. Freya looked up at the rising moon in the sky and stretched out her hand as if she were picking up a handful of moonlight. For a moment, Pannis felt as if he had an illusion, as if he had seen the slender and beautiful, gentle and quiet girl he had never seen before in Freya, bathed in the moonlight like water, and silently confiding in the moon. Freya smiled softly, her sparkling eyes lingering on Pannis's face: "In such moonlight, do you have to pretend to be stupid and say that you didn't find out?"

"I've changed and become quite dependent on them. Pannis looked into the distance: "Am I becoming weak, I really don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing." ”

"The communication between people's hearts and minds is always interdependent. Freya's voice was gentle, like a lullaby in the middle of the night: "Having someone to rely on is a good thing anyway." ”

"Maybe. Pannis looked into the distance, seemingly distracted.

"Mr. Pannis, Mr. Pannis. Freya reminded softly, "What's wrong with you?

"Yes. Pannis came back to his senses, smiled apologetically, and said, "It's mixed in the crowd again, and you can't find it in a flash." It's weird, even though I don't have a sense of urgency or crisis, I always feel like it's not a good thing. ”

"Or ...... Let's take a look?" Freya asked.

"No need. Pannis shook his head and said, "The person has already left, and it is useless to go." I'm just wondering, who is it that makes me feel this way?" )