Finding the camp [Cook] turned out to be as easy as following the largest plume of smoke. The growing scent of grilled meat helped as well. It was the familiar smell of cooked [Vinesnake].

Emm was glad he didn't have to wait for her to get up. There weren't many people from Earth awake yet.

Emm spotted Bo training at the target dummies across the clearing and they exchanged a slightly awkward wave, but the interaction ended at that. The blonde continued swiping at the stationary pieces of wood with his dagger. He was too far away and Emm was busy; he decided to talk to Bo later. Or, well, "talk" to him.

Emm wasn't too confident in his ability to parse vague hand symbols and improvised gestures. He didn't know any sign language, either. But they'd figure something out eventually.

Paper would be a savior. Or a way of sending messages through the [System]. Maybe like a "party" chat, if a feature like that existed.

Emm stepped closer to the hut. A thick plume of dark smoke rose through a hole in the wall, the building had no other windows. The whole thing was the size of a single small room, which made it less impressive than the [Shopkeeper]'s home. It looked barely tall enough to stand in. Like most other structures around, its roof consisted of a mix of furs and tree branches, rich in leaves. This one even had heaps of dried grass thrown on top.

It was a fire hazard if Emm had even seen one. Cooking inside a place like that sounded suicidal to him.

They have the [Water Mage] on hand, I guess. He'd be able to hose it down.

He walked around it, finding the entrance on the other side. He could hear a fire loudly crackling in combination with the noises of bubbles popping.

There were several tree stumps on the ground in front of the entrance, serving as makeshift chairs. Emm didn't see a door, the hut was open to anyone.

He knocked on the wall, poked his head in, then cleared his throat.

"Good morning. Smells good," he said. He wasn't lying, the smell was much more enticing than when they were just savagely roasted over a fire.

The inside had a big black cauldron taking up a great deal of room, suspended over a large fire. Emm could feel the heat even while standing outside. The cauldron's contents were boiling, large bubbles floating to the surface only to pop.

The [Cook] was stirring it with a ladle. She was short and on the chubby side, wearing a near-black apron covered in stains. But Emm thought she was surprisingly pretty nonetheless. She was the first "local" that actually looked to be younger than him. Her hair was dark red, and cut shorter than even his was. Emm wondered if it was natural or dyed. On Earth, he'd be sure it was dyed, but he wasn't so confident the same was true in a fantasy world.

Stirring the cauldron like that, in combination with the dark clothes immediately reminded Emm of witches.

She looked up at him. Her eyes looked to be red, too.

"Good morning, young man," the woman replied cheerfully. As Emm was taken aback by the "young man"– she couldn't have been any older than he was– she proceeded to point at the wall. Emm entered the brightly lit building and took a look. The place had two large tables full of ingredients and [Vinesnakes] meat, a mess of knives and spices, and dozens of wooden bowls. The walls were covered with shelves full of even more colorful jars, bags and bottles. And in the corner was a nest of furry blankets.

Emm found what she was pointing at. A sign on the wall that had poorly drawn images of meals on it. A menu.

But the "menu" had nothing on it except three identical sketches of bowls filled with swirls of green and purple. Each one had a single ugly skull symbol next to it.

It looked like a kid had drawn it with crayons.

She continued, "A serving of our delicacy, the purple stew costs one skull. I recommend you have some, it's nearly ready. I'm quite satisfied with this batch!"

Emm took another look around. Interestingly, there was no wood anywhere. He hadn't seen a pile of it outside either, unless he counted the thick stump chairs. The fire looked to be burning out of nothing, but it was too bright for him to be sure what it used as fuel.

He had hoped to sell wood to her, but it looked like that wouldn't work.

She stopped stirring, then brought some of the broth to her mouth with the ladle. She blew on it gently before tasting it. It made her smile and moan in delight.

Emm smiled politely, but there was no way he'd buy it even if he had the money. The price was way too steep. From the size of those bowls, Emm guessed a single snake was enough for at least ten of them, if not way more. Her profit margins were insane.

"Maybe later, but I'm here for something else. I don't think we've had a chance to meet. Emmanuel."

"Donna. What could you possibly be here for, if not to eat? This is a restaurant, you know."

Emm pulled out his mushroom and showed it to her. Her eyes went wide, and she walked closer to get a better look. Her smile highlighted her perfect white teeth.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"I found this interesting mushroom in the woods and was wondering what it was," Emm said.

Donna reached out to grab it. Emm quickly pulled it up and away where she couldn't get to it.

Good, she wants it. I just need to bait her into giving me a good price.

"Not so quick," he said, "give me a price."

"I need to touch it to analyze it first."

She jumped out to take it, but Emm only raised it up higher. He pretended to consider her proposal for another few seconds. Delaying it would make her want it even more. Finally, he nodded, and handed it over.

That was also a deliberate choice on Emm's part. Instead of just having her touch it to use her [Skill], letting her hold it in her hands would only ingrain the idea of owning it into her mind. If it was worth anything, losing it after would stoke her desire of the product.

She turned it over a few times, inspecting it, then took a deep sniff. She poked it with her finger.

"[Identify Ingredient]," she whispered.

The mushroom started to glow even brighter and Donna stared at the air in front of her, eyes moving. She must have gotten an information screen from her [System]. Emm payed careful attention to her face and body language. For a brief moment, her eyebrows twitched up.

Her expression turned sour.

"Ah, it's nothing special after all," she said. She wasn't making eye contact with him. "A [Level] 2 mushroom with weak healing properties as the primary effect, and some lightning damage resistance as a secondary. Common rarity. I guess I could give you a skull for it, since you brought me a new ingredient I haven't seen before, but if you bring me more of them the price is going to have to be lower. A skull for a dozen of them."

Yeah, no.

Emm wasn't buying it. He was sure there was something special about it, and Donna wasn't giving him honest vibes. She was trying to swindle him.

If she'd only give him a single skull for it, he could just eat it himself. If it were poisonous after all, she would have mentioned it to lower its value. Emm was confident it was edible, and nearly as confident she was trying to underpay him.

He made a disappointed face and sighed, then took the mushroom back.

"Ah, that's too bad," he sighed, "but I won't sell it for so cheap. I wonder what the [Shopkeeper] would offer me for it."

He slowly turned away and stepped out of the kitchen–

"Wait!" Donna yelled after him.

Bingo.

She hurried over and clutched at his shirt, making him turn around.

"Two skulls, then. It would be a fine addition to the stew. That old hag doesn't buy ingredients anyway, I'm the only one you can sell it to." She was speaking in a hurry and looked nervous.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Emm had done the math in his head before. If most of the others ate at her place once or twice a day, she was making at least around 30 skulls a day off them. And that wasn't even taking into account the other locals, who might have been paying more for the higher mana foods. Long story short, she was loaded.

Knowing this, two skulls were also too little. She already showed him she was perfectly willing to double her initial offer. She definitely valued it even higher.

"Five skulls," Emm said calmly. He hid the magic ingredient behind his back.

She gulped. "No way, are you out of your mind? I'm not giving you more than three!"

Donna held three fingers up. Emm pretended to consider her offer. He was pretty sure he could get at least four, but he decided there was something else that would be more useful to him than an extra skull.

What he needed hadn't changed from the moment he appeared in this world. Information.

"Fine, I guess. Three skulls. But under the condition, you tell me what the mushroom actually does. We have a deal?"

Reluctantly, Donna nodded and whistled. She took out a jingling pouch of coins from her pocket, untied it, and started to take coins out of it. Emm was following her every move.

Finally.

His ears picked up a weird trudging sound from behind. Getting closer. Emm turned–

A snow-white baby goat was charging at him at full speed, teeth bared. Its eyes glowed red. The beast was already only a few feet away from him, they were about to collide. It all happened so fast Emm didn't have time to think, he was too confused by the situation. Was it a monster? It had weird growths on its back.

It leaped forward and Emm tightened the grip on his spear, preparing to defend himself.

He only realized his mistake after it snatched the mushroom out of his other hand, fast as a viper. It pivoted on its feet and changed direction. It was trying to run away.

Emm stabbed his weapon forwards as quickly as he could. The goat wasn't even looking at him and still it jumped over the thrust, dodging it.

You're not getting away so easily.

Emm was too angry to quit. He swiped sideways with the spear, catching the thieving animal's hind legs. It messed up its balance.

It tried to keep running but tumbled onto the ground.

Emm let go of his weapon and immediately threw himself on top of the goat, wrestling it down in a frenzy. The bastard was slippery. From close-up, he saw that it had small wings growing out of its back. But Emm didn't care about that, his sole focus was on recovering his prized mushroom.

He pulled on it but the monster wouldn't let go.

So he punched it in the head with his fist. When it didn't react, he punched again. It was desperately trying to wiggle away from him. Emm did his best to hold it still.

Emm could faintly hear Donna scream, "No, Harry! Bad!"

Harry?

He ignored her. The third punch was enough to provoke the mutant goat to try and bite him, letting go of the mushroom between its teeth in the process.

Emm grabbed it with both of his hands and shielded it with his body. This let the goat squirm free, but Emm was fine with that. Killing monsters would get him into trouble anyways. Pets too, for that matter.

It ran away in a mad dash and was soon out of their sights. Emm sat on the ground, recovering his breath. His heart beat like crazy.

He looked back to the [Cook], who was smiling sheepishly.

"Care to explain?" he asked.