Lucia and Maria Try to Cook

We made it to the base of Shnoh Mountain that day, just as Miss Maria had wanted. It was actually quite far past Eres, so we made good progress by skipping it.

“I would like to stop here for tonight. Please wait here while we pitch the tents,” Commander Agliardi called out.

“Ah, let me help!” I said.

“I’m gonna help too,” Miss Maria replied.

Surprisingly, even she wanted to help. While Commander Agliardi might have been used to me saying it, he was shocked by Miss Maria’s offer.

“What’s with that look, Fer? I can help too. Probably...” she said with a pout.

“But your dress will get dirty.”

“We’ve got Lucia’s Soap for that.”

The Commander looked uncomfortable at her pressing the issue. As to not deter the set up, I offered an alternative, “Miss Maria, would you like to help me make dinner?”

“Yes, that’s a wonderful idea.” Commander Agliardi beamed. “But please, be careful of the fire.”

“Okaaay.”

Leaving the heavy lifting to the men, we set out to do another necessary job. Together, we headed towards the fire that Eric had already lit. Luckily for us, the pot was already set up. I poured water into it from the jug fitted with a water crystal.

“It’s like cooking class, huh?” Miss Maria said as she peered into the pot excitedly when it started to boil.

“Cooking class?”

“Yeah. We had cooking classes in school. I was actually pretty good.”

Miss Maria was gifted enough to go to school? Amazing! In our country, anyone smart enough to become a scholar went to the Tower of Learning in Dal Canto, while people with talents in magic studied at the Academy in Banfield. School was a very special place. I wonder if it’s the same in her world?

“What are we gonna make today, Lucia?”

We chatted while getting things ready.

“We can only make what we have the ingredients for already, and we don’t have an oven, so we can’t make anything elaborate...”

While I was peeling some onions, Eric came up to us holding several fish. “Hey, hey, I caught some fish. Cook them!”

“Where’d you catch those?” I asked.

“There’s a river close by, so I dropped a lightning bolt on it.”

“You could have electrocuted yourself!” Miss Maria scolded him. “Why didn’t you just fish like a normal person!?”

“It’s a pain to actually fish. I’m a mage, you know!” Eric pouted.

“If there was anyone in the water, you would’ve killed them!”

“All I did was catch the fish that the lightning bolt hit. No one was there. Sometimes I don’t get anything when I try it.”

“That’s an awful way to do it,” Miss Maria reproached, looking away.

“It’s a logical way to do it. You get more fish than you would waiting around for them to bite.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s dangerous. And I’m not touching those. I can’t debone fish either.” She crossed her arms indignantly.

Eric then turned to me, giving me those puppy dog eyes as he held his fish out towards me. “Hey, Lucia, can you do it? It’s been so long since I’ve had fish. All you have to do is salt and cook them!”

“Eri-kun, can’t you just cook it with your magic? Isn’t fire magic your specialty?”

“If I tried cooking it with my magic it’d just burn it to a crisp. Actually, it might not even leave that.”

“How can you call fire magic your specialty when you can’t even control the strength of it?”

“I’ve never heard of anyone cooking with magic before. Hmm, but that’d be new.” Eric mumbled as he tilted his head. “I’ve always practiced making my magic stronger, so it might be nice to try the opposite. It might be fun to verify it once I get back to the Academy... Wait, you distracted me! Fish! Cook me my fish!”

“Ah, okay.”

Eric argued so vehemently that I just took the fish without thinking. I had planned to make pasta today, but maybe I could cut the fish open and fry it coated in breadcrumbs. We could eat it differently if we had tomatoes, but unfortunately, we didn’t.

“Would it be okay if I fried them in breadcrumbs?”

“Anything is fine as long as I get to eat fish! Ah, but don’t put carrots or beans in it!”

Sir Celes might have loved beans, but it seemed that Eric didn’t share that fondness.

“I can’t do fish, so I’ll work on the pasta.” Announcing that, Miss Maria started chopping the onions.

I thought it a little odd that Miss Maria could cook, seeing as how nobles usually didn’t... Things must be different in her world. They had cooking classes, after all. It’s so fun thinking about how different the culture is in other worlds!