“How long?” The empress asked Leo looking at the turtle shell complacently.
“Two … two days.” Leo answered trying to sound as confident as possible.
“Good!” She nodded. Then looked around and shouted, “Alright, everyone! We have two days time! Now, gather around the dragon’s head. I’ll complete the Holy ritual.”
Apparently Leo was the only one who didn’t know what the ‘holy ritual’ was, because the guards and members of the council with stern faces surrounded the turtle’s head, but while guards turned away to warily observe the surroundings supposedly protecting the group from sudden attacks, the council members took spots at the empress’s sides as if guarding her. Meanwhile Leo stood ‘outside the perimeter’ and observed the proceedings.
As next her imperial majesty sat down right next to the turtle’s head, took off the crown and put in on her lap. Afterwards she closed her eyes and performed few simple breathing exercises. To his great surprise Leo realized they were similar to what beginner cultivators practiced, but what happened next made him almost faint.
After the last long exhale the empress opened eyes and from bosom fished out a fist sized pouch. Then for few moments she mumbled something under her nose, probably some kind of a prayer, opened the pouch and fished out an item not bigger than a walnut. It shone in bright red color and Leo immediately recognized the dark-crimson horned beetle he was sent to Dreadlands to look for!
Unfortunately it was not meant for him to get a hold of it, because the next moment the empress put it in her mouth, chewed few times and swallowed it down. Her face immediately blushed red as if she was becoming increasingly hot, but her expression didn’t change. She stood up while holding the crown in both hands, placed it on the turtle’s head and held it tightly close to it while mumbling something again and a split moment later the head that was larger than a cow disappeared.
Apparently the exercise, or rather – the Holy ritual of storing something in the spacial storage item took a toll on the empress, because she was still blushed red and panting, almost as if she just ran a few miles at her fastest pace. Leo, of course, had seen multiple times how George Cilin and Fan Lia took out and put in items in their spacial treasures without batting an eye, although none of the items were as large as the turtle’s head. Judging from the empress’s countenance it was clear that the amount of Qi she just consumed was substantial, but not only she was not a cultivator – there was no noteworthy amount of Qi anywhere in Dreadlands!
‘So that’s why!’ Leo suddenly realized, ‘For some reason those damn bugs contain large amount of Qi and it has some kind of peculiar properties. That is why after eating only one the empress has these strange side effects. Good thing she does not experience Qi deprivation … is it because she had never practiced Qi before? I wonder what …’
But Leo’s next thought was interrupted by the empress’s stare right in his eyes. For some reason her own were bloodshot and Leo could swear her look resembled that of the ape patriarch when he was about to hump one of his wives.
Realizing what was about to happen, Leo bowed and respectfully said, “That was incredible, your majesty! The Holy power within you is strong! Please rest! I’ll go gather some more ingredients to make sure the dragon meat is delicious!”
Then without looking back he ran off like a rabbit chased by a hungry wolf and began to gather more herbs till it was dark.
Two days passed by in an iffy. Leo continued to gather herbs and berries and add them to the marinade while trying to avoid the empress at all costs. The side effects of consuming the dark-crimson horned beetle were most likely gone, but he was not willing to take any chances, just in case.
On the morning of the third day the empress commanded the guards to ‘finally light the thing up’ and under terrified eyes of the male-slave they began to gather and put wood under the turtle shell. Apparently the guards were as excited about the upcoming meal as the empress and few moments later a large bonfire burned around the turtle shell.
“So, do you need to stir the stew? How are you going to do that?” The empress asked Leo, but the latter looked back at her trying to suppress the urge to kick her in the face.
‘Stir your mama! We were supposed to roast the meat!’ He wanted to scream, but swallowed the words.
The plan was to climb on the shell, fish out pieces of meat one by one and create large skewers. Afterwards each expedition member could roast their own lunch and not only they would’ve been responsible for their own food, at the same time it would’ve been an entertaining event they could tell about their granddaughters – not every day one can roast a dragon by themselves.
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Now, on the other hand, not only the whole process was Leo’s responsibility – he didn’t have any control of the proceedings! What if the meat in the marinade has gone bad? What if it needed to be washed first? What if the turtle shell broke apart from the heat?
With a sad sigh Leo pushed aside the burning wood at one spot, climbed up on top of the shell while trying to not choke on the smoke and poured the last reserves of the salt he had on him. The amount of stew the empress intended to cook was mind blowing and if it didn’t turn out good he would surely get executed thus there was no need to hold back.
Afterwards with a long branch he stirred the contents few times, then sighed again and jumped down. He had no clue when the meat will be ready or what will the result be like, but this was the best he could do.
Unsurprisingly it took over half a day for the content of the turtle shell to start to boil. The whole time the guards kept cutting nearby trees and bring more and more wood until suddenly like with a wave of a hand the surroundings were filled with incredible aroma. It was fruity, but at the same time slightly bitter and faintly sweet.
Sounds of gulping filled the camp, but Leo kept ignoring the questioning gazes thrown his way. He knew the amount of time needed to cook stag, pig and even bear meat, but this was his first attempt to make a turtle stew. And the worst thing – he had only one chance, therefore he didn’t intend to waste it.
Leo’s main idea was that it was almost impossible to overcook the meat under the current circumstances. He only needed to wait as long as possible and then serve the food with a straight face.
Sadly the moment to do it for him came too early, although the rest of the group thought it was long overdue. When the empress grew too restless, Leo put out the fire, slanted a tree trunk on the turtle shell and used it to climb up.
There he filled the bowl he had in his hand and asked, “Who want’s to taste it first?”
Under normal circumstances this would’ve been incredibly impolite question, since he should’ve served the empress without asking. But this time the dish was new and no one knew of its effects. And while none of the present thought Leo would try to harm the empress, there was still a theoretical risk of that happening.
“Alright, I’ll check myself.” Leo said understanding the hesitation.
He blew few times at the bowl in hand, trying to cool down the content and then took a mouthful, then another and then despite it being boiling hot drank the rest in one go.
Only after letting out a satisfied burp Leo realized where he was and who was waiting, but he did his best to keep a straight face and said, “It’s not bad. Pass me your bowls!”
One of the guards began running up and down the tree trunk, bringing the filled up bowls to the empress and the rest while Leo was trying to think of ways how to leave the contents of the humongous stew pot to himself.
What he just ate was the tastiest thing he had ever eaten and that included Jamie’s dishes in the King’s kitchen! The tender texture of the meat and the nutty, but at the same time slightly fruity and fresh taste was something he was ready to eat over and over for the rest of his life, but the liquid part of the stew was even more delicious.
Leo was confused. He had no idea what was the reason for the remarkable result, because all they did was to cook meat in the marinade made of random herbs and loads of alcohol. He already guessed that all the ‘good stuff’ from the alcohol evaporated during the cooking process and no one got drunk no matter how much they ate thus it shouldn’t be it.
But then he remembered how he feasted on the giant chicken for months and that was only plainly burnt flesh in the lightning waters. What if he had properly cooked it? The taste probably would’ve been similarly good.
And then Leo realized the common factor – both beasts were of unbelievable size! It meant – the bigger the beast, the tastier the meat! And what if the meat of these old, huge monsters had actual beneficial characteristics?
With this thought Leo began to stealthily empty one bowl of stew after another. Of course, the rest of the group, especially the empress, similarly loved it and ordered more, but the turtle shell was so big it took the whole day of joint efforts to barely empty half of it.
When the dusk fell, most of the group lie with protruded bellies, suffering from overeating, but at the same time wanting more. Everyone, including the empress, looked like they were five months pregnant, but Leo had no strength to think about that. He had eaten much more than the rest and the moment people stopped ordering extras, he passed out while still sitting on top of the turtle shell. He woke up around the midnight though, ate few more bowls of stew and then passed out again, and before the sun came up repeated it two more times.
Who knows how long Leo would’ve continued like that, but during the next couple of days the whole expedition joined their efforts and to empty the turtle shell, feasting on the unique delicacy. Strangely enough even after cooling down the stew was delectable and some claimed it tasted even better this way.
“Alright! Now we have to figure out how to get this thing back home.” Empress said after everyone realized there was nothing left to do in the swamp.
The expressions of the guards instantly turned ugly realizing that they were the ones who’ll have to do the dirty work, but then the imperial majesty continued, “You two – go and find more people. Two more, you and you, will stay and guard this place. The rest – let’s move out!”
As expected it took over two days to get out the swamp, obviously because of the slow male-slave again. This time though everyone except for annoyed Dalina and her three guards didn’t wait for him and rushed away. Leo, on the other hand, once again experienced the horrible nightmare of walking through the swamp with an overweight weapon on his back.
He was slightly surprised that the Cleaver felt somewhat lighter, but there was no way he would show it to Dalina. If anything, his experience told he’ll have to pick up the pace and that would be for the rest of the time in Dreadlands … or until he died … which was basically the same.