Mrs. Martha’s enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming for Celia.
“Elent has never been good at taking care of himself since he was little. It’s such a relief to know he has a friend like you looking after him on the road.”
Celia maintained a polite smile.
Clearly, this lady had misunderstood.
Celia caught sight of Elent’s face, red all the way down to his neck, and felt nothing in particular. In fact, she almost wanted to laugh.
This sort of matchmaking scene, orchestrated by elders, really couldn’t faze someone who’d lived nearly forty years over two lifetimes.
A partner? The very thought was a headache.
Two people living together meant constant adjustments, providing emotional support, dealing with countless chores beyond the daily necessities—exhausting.
Her last life had been drained by work. In this life, she only wanted to tend her own little patch of land and recite scriptures in peace.
Being alone was simply the most comfortable way to live.
“You flatter me. Mr. Elent has helped me quite a bit as well.” Celia responded politely. At least when it came to farming, that much was true.
“Oh, don’t call him ‘Mister,’ that’s so distant.” Mrs. Martha smiled so hard her eyes nearly disappeared.
“Mother!” Elent protested from the side, his blush spreading to his ears, as if he wished the ground would swallow him up.
“Miss Celia is a Priestess—a very capable one! Please don’t say such things.”
“What did I say?” Mrs. Martha shot her son a glare.
“The young lady hasn’t said a word, but here you are, chattering away.”
Watching the mother and son, Celia found herself amused. She cleared her throat, deciding to steer the conversation back on track.
“Mrs. Martha, it’s my first visit, so I’ve brought a small token of respect.”
As she spoke, Celia exchanged a glance with Elent. He caught on immediately and placed the bundle he’d been carrying at his feet onto the table.
Half of a gigantic carrot—taking up half the table—was revealed, and for a moment, the air in the room seemed to freeze.
“Th-this is?!” Mrs. Martha’s eyes widened. She’d lived most of her life and had never seen a carrot of this size.
“This is the Blessing of Divine Light.”
“Elent protected the Church, so this gift is rightfully his. It’s also a token of our gratitude to you.”
Celia delivered this half-truth with a straight face.
Mrs. Martha looked up at Celia, reverence shining in her clouded eyes.
She was just an ordinary old woman, but her husband had once been an Adventurer, and her son was a Hero Candidate.
Their understanding of miracles ran deeper than most.
“You mean…?”
“Mhm.” Celia nodded, without elaborating. Sometimes, a little mystery was more convincing.
After a brief shock, Mrs. Martha became even more enthusiastic.
She insisted on having Celia stay for dinner and wanted to personally cook a signature dish using the divine carrot.
This was exactly what Celia had hoped for.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Mrs. Martha.”
“It’s no trouble, no trouble at all!”
Saying this, Mrs. Martha bustled off to the kitchen, with Elent following to help.
Celia thought for a moment, then got up to join them.
Mrs. Martha worked quickly, cutting a small piece from the gigantic carrot, wrapping up the rest, all the while muttering, “This is a Relic, we have to use it sparingly.”
Celia watched her movements and casually asked, “Mrs. Martha, last time Elent made a stew that tasted wonderful. Did you teach him how to cook?”
“That boy? All his cooking skills come from tinkering with that Recipe Book his father left behind. I certainly didn’t teach him.”
There it was.
Celia’s interest was piqued, and her expression turned curious:
“A Recipe Book? That must be a precious inheritance.”
“Precious isn’t the word for it. It’s just a memento.”
At the mention of her husband, Mrs. Martha’s eyes dimmed for a moment, but she quickly recovered.
“He loved wandering around when he was young and brought home all sorts of strange things. That Recipe Book was something he brought back from a faraway place—the writing and pictures inside are all very odd.”
“Oh? How odd is it?”
“I can’t really say, just that it feels mysterious.” Mrs. Martha wiped her hands and turned to fetch a box from a locked cabinet.
Inside was a thick notebook. The cover was made of some unknown leather, and the pages had yellowed from countless turns.
“This is it.” Mrs. Martha handed the Recipe Book to Celia and sighed,
“That boy is clumsy in everything but this—just like his father, he’s talented when it comes to food.”
Celia accepted the Recipe Book and opened it.
Inside were drawings explaining basic knife techniques and cooking methods—like frying, stir-frying, steaming, and deep-frying—complete with illustrations, but the text was written in twisted symbols she’d never seen before. Most of the later pages were blank.
“?”
Mrs. Martha noticed her confusion and explained,
“There’s magic on this Recipe Book. The recipes need to be unlocked to be read. I don’t really know how it works, though.”
“That really is amazing.” Celia quickly flipped through, finally spotting the dish Elent had made last time in the notebook.
[Universal Hotpot Recipe]
Below the title, the ingredients listed: [Salt, sugar, scallions, ginger, garlic…]
All right. That clinched it. This was a Chinese recipe, through and through. The author of this Recipe Book definitely had a story.
Could it be, like her, the author wasn’t a local?
“By the way, Mrs. Martha, do you know who wrote this book?”
“I don’t.” Mrs. Martha’s answer was unsurprising.
“My mother still has some time left before dinner,” Elent interjected, “Miss Celia, have you been to Baker City before? Would you like to take a walk? I need to go to the Adventurer’s Guild to submit a request.”
“Oh?” Celia could feel Mrs. Martha looking at her more and more as if she were some kind of exhibit, so she decided at once, “I’ll go with you.”
……
Baker City at dusk was full of energy. People bustled in the streets; caravans and Adventurers came and went.
Elent brought Celia to the Adventurer’s Guild, then went to the counter to submit his request, while Celia wandered over to the request board to take a look.
[Fierce Battle! Dragon’s Claw, 1 out of 5 missing]
[D-Rank Adventuring Party Red Fang recruiting, D-Rank and above preferred, teamwork spirit required]
[Missing Cat Notice: My Cat Mi is lost—black and white, very timid, reward: ten copper coins]
[Urgent Request: Escort a caravan to the Capital, long journey, generous payment]
[Love Letter Writing Services—guaranteed eloquence, win her heart.]
The requests were all over the place—from slaying dragons to searching for lost cats, and even writing love letters.
This really fit Celia’s image of an Adventurer’s life.
Take on anything, do anything, no job refused.
……
When the two returned, dinner was already set on the table.
After finishing the meal, Mrs. Martha brought out the Recipe Book again, and the three of them gathered around the table to study it.
They puzzled over the blank pages for quite a while but got nowhere.
“Elent’s father studied it for years, too. He always said this book was picky—it only reacted when he brought back some rare things from outside and put them near it.”
Mrs. Martha reminisced.
Picky? Rare things?
Celia’s mind raced. She picked up a cup of water and set it next to the Recipe Book.
No reaction.
She grabbed a handful of vegetables and set them nearby, but the Recipe Book remained unchanged.
Rare things…
Celia’s gaze fell on the gigantic carrot.
That counted as rare, didn’t it?
Worth a try.
She stood up, went over to the carrot, sliced off a piece with a small knife, and placed it on the Recipe Book.
The next second, magic was triggered.
A gentle light shone from the spot where the carrot touched the page, and lines of twisted symbols and intricate illustrations quickly appeared on the blank paper.
When the light faded, a brand new recipe was clearly displayed before the three of them.
[Holy Carrot Cake]
Mrs. Martha watched, then smacked her thigh as realization dawned.
“Heavens, so that’s what he meant by the book being picky!”
“Elent’s father once told me, every time he unlocked a new recipe, if you made it exactly as described, the first person who ate it would get stronger! But it only works once.”
“Huh?”
Celia was stunned.
Eating something for a buff? That sounded like a game mechanic. But this was real life—a world of swords and magic, not a game.
Then again, in this world there was such a thing as a ‘blessing,’ which made even less sense, so eating for stat boosts didn’t seem so impossible.
If it was a rare dish, surely it would taste amazing!
Food was the foundation of life. For Celia now, delicious meals were the best way to liven up her retirement.
“Let’s not worry about anything else for now. This carrot cake recipe looks delicious. Mrs. Martha, shall we try making it right away?”
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I hate carrot cake.