Volume 8 Chapter 20: Where’s That Pride?!

"Phew! This is incredible!" Keith grinned as he glanced at the entire field that was tilled and filled with seeds. That was only a quarter of the garden! There was enough space for him to plant even more if he wanted!

That was when Melor questioned, "Keith, when will they be finished?"

Slap!

"How could you say that?! There's a thing called patience!" Herrick scoffed.

"..." Everyone looked at him with the cat face.

"What?"

"...Did that really come out of your mouth?" Scarlet muttered.

"What? It's a normal thing, am I right, Master Fira?" Herrick turned to Fira.

"Mmhmm, Mmhmm!"

"..." Oh yeah, how can we forget about that? Herrick had a strange obsession with plants. And that came from Keith. They kept forgetting that he had taken care of a flower. That chilled out his aggression for the most part. But not all of it, but there would be stints like this.

Keith laughed. There were times when Herrick would be watering the plants with the little spirit.

"The trees would take a few days. However, the vegetables will be ripe in a day or two." Diana grinned. With the help of the great spirit, then everything would be instant.

"That's great." Hearing how fast it was, the others were keen. All that work was worth it!

"Also, it would taste different from Udine." Keith grinned. There was something he realized. The spirit water assisted in making the vegetables more juicy.

"I should get prepared for dinner." Keith rolled up his sleeves. It was time for him to put in the work.

"Are you going to use the mangos for it?"

"Of course. But be prepared! It's going to be mango-themed for the next couple of days." Since they had grown so many mangos, it was time to use them in their food!

"Yippe!" Nephele jumped up in joy!

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"But you sure you can do that? Like fruit and meat together?"

"Why couldn't I do it? I did it with the lemon before?" He made lemon pepper chicken before.

"But I feel that using mangos isn't a good idea," Herrick muttered. His sixth sense was telling him mangos and meat don't work well. But it was Keith as well.

"True. But it's worth giving it a try." Keith grinned. What can you know if you don't try? Heading for the kitchen, everything was prepped out for him.

"Hmm, how should I pair this up?" Now that he thought about it, if he was going to use the mangos, he would need to pair it with something to offset the sweetness from the mango. Chicken would be a good choice as the meat. The tanginess from the mangoes would be a nice pairing with the chicken.

The ember chicken tasted nice, but smoking it enchanted its smoky flavor even more. It was time to make a stir-fry. Onions and peppers were great vegetables. Seeing them cooked, LY mangos were tossed into the vegetable mix. Slowly, the juices from the mango seeped out into the vegetables.

It's really overpowering. From the smell alone, it was overpowering the vegetables with a sweetness. That was why he added other herbs into the mix; he needed something to offset the flavor. Sipping on it, Keith nodded.

Seeing the sauce slowly form, it was time to add the honey to pair up. Mango had an overpowering sweetness, while honey had a subtle and gentle sweetness.

Last came the chicken as he tossed it in; it would be a light fry.

"Master Fira is so excited."

"Of course, when you think about it, Fira likes the mangoes." Surprisingly, the mangoes were a hit to the little spirit. For Keith to say something like that made her eager.

As the group continued to talk,

"Is Keith here?!" Cadmus came rushing in!

"…" Krystal, the only one completely out of the loop, tilted her head. Principal, why are you acting like this?

"Didn't I say that I would gut you if I see you again?" That cold voice came from none other than Diana! Krystal was startled by the sudden voice. Diana, the incarnation of kindness, was going to throw this guy out the window!

"Hmpf! The kid is here! Do you think you can do that?!"

"Why are you hiding behind us?" Sohma and Aidiun were being used as meat shields.

"You guys are on my side!"

"No, we're not!" "Don't drag us." This was not their fault; this was all of his! There was no way they would be meat shields for him!

"Let's step outside." Diana wasn't going to get the children into the crossfire.

"Nope." Cadmus knew and wasn't planning to go anywhere.

"…" We're being used as meat shields. That's what the others had realized as well.

"Grrr." A menacing sound came from Diana's mouth as she stared at the dragon. But that dragon continued to have a regular expression. Can't make a move because Keith is here?

Heh, I win!

"Dinner is served!" Keith shouted. That was when the boy realized something was up with Diana, "Diana, is something the matter?"

"Nothing, Keith. There's nothing wrong."

"Did Grandpa Cadmus annoy you again?"

"I did nothing."

"When you say it like that, you did something." Keith could tell from a mile away that he did something terrible.

“…”

"Apologize to Diana."

"What? I would rather die!"

"Then you don't get to eat with us."

"I'm sorry!" Cadmus immediately bowed his head.

“…” Where was this pride you speak of?! How could he have given up in an instant?

"Fine, I forgive you this time." Diana didn't look at him as she sat down. She had a content look, while Cadmus just didn't care as he asked, "What have you prepared for us this time?"

"A lot of them come with mangoes. I went with a honey mango chicken, and I have a meatballs with mango sauce."

"Yippe! Meat!"

As the group ate their meals, "When will you start on the pergola?"