Wow, the smell on this is actually good. A plate of some meat in a sauce with a side of fluffy difris roots and veg is placed in front of each of us. It seems the orders outside have halted for now, so we get some at last.

It's basically a Sunday roast dinner.

I don't know if it's Sunday any more, I lost track of the days, but did you know this is a very traditionally British thing to eat on such a day?

I take the fork and knife and get stuck in, carving off some of the meat and savouring its juiciness and flavour. It's got a funny rough texture, but is soft, and the rich sauce complements its natural savoury flavour.

I chew and swallow without delay. Good stuff.

I realise that Kiku was watching me intensely at that point, so I nod and smile.

"Great! Did you make this?"

She looks relieved and smiles with a blush.

"Ngh... um... I did. Celia-shishou liked Megarum meat dishes, but I prefer using Katfabeast!" She grins, patting her chest.

"You're totally bonkers mad, by the way, girl." Violet notes, bringing her own plate to sit down.

She wastes no time in wolfing down some meat.

"Is this not common?" I query, after eating some crunchy veg I don't know.

"Fucking hell, what insane backwater is your boy from?" Violet exclaims.

"I'm from another world. I'm an Etranger." I answer nonchalantly.

"Ah..." Violet stops. I think it’s the first time I've ever seen her surprised.

I notice Aria is basically inhaling her food at this point, with a vicious glint in her eyes. So is Kali actually. They're both big eaters it seems. Makes sense. They're both bakas and growing girls and... both lacking in table manners as well, haha.

"Mmm... the boy has some gaps in his knowledge as usual. The Kaftabeast is actually quite common here in the south. It herds around beaches and sucks up holewasp nests it finds in cliffs with a large long snout. It has a very tough hide to resist being stung. Hide we are now eating. It's normally used in leather, to be honest."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"I only kept a few joints to boil to make gravy. But serving the actual meat? Never heard of it." Violet shrugs.

"Um... I spent a year figuring it out. Celia was surprised too! Nii then described a 'Sunn-daye Dyn-nah' to me one time and I thought it would work together."

I did? Oh... maybe I did back when we had the gratin at Seria's. Well no wonder it resembles one. But Kiku's ability to craft it just after hearing about it once is pretty crazy.

"I... um... didn't use gravy though. Kaftabeast needs a sauce with a different strong flavour!"

Kiku looks up from explaining.

"Ah! Um... do I pass?" She asks, steepling her fingers.

Violet scowls.

"Fuck my dry pussy." She rubs her nose. "Well, I was gonna turn you down regardless of what you did. Your basics need work. You don't strip a joint properly. You waste oil. You went for a stunt rather than trying to show me something standard. You're too arrogant. All of Celia's fucking mistakes are there."

Kiku quivers and looks sad. Violet sighs, putting her hand on her temple.

"But I have to concede you're the most creative and determined little bitch I ever did see. Hahhh... I'm too fucking old for this. But what the fuck ever... I'll teach you some shit."

Kiku jumps up in joy. She looks like she'll whoop and scream.

"Sit the fuck down before I carve your legs off and boil them."

Kiku sits back down.

"Fucking youths. All bouncy. I'm seventy-nine and teaching a student? I must be fucking senile." Violet grumbles.

The whole table laughs, including Kiku.

....

....

....

"So, there's Megarum, Fark, and Muxon?" I ask.

"Um... that's right, Nii. These three meats are most common."

After the food, Kiku is explaining meats to me like she did with fruits that one time.

It seems Megarum is a poultry white meat, stringy, sounds like Turkey, but the flightless bird hisses rather than gobbles and can climb trees to eat fruit. Fark is a two-headed hog that is basically very fatty pork, but it's a darker meat, making weird grey bacon and ham. Muxon is a somewhat tasteless but hearty staple, coming from a bison type creature that is easy to herd and very docile, so its common and easily available to even the poorest, which makes it a frequent stew filler.

I've eaten Fark already. That stuff that I thought was 'ham' in the cheese toasties. Muxon too.

Funnily enough, none of the poultry yet though. Well... not properly. I had some dried and smoked Megarum the very first time we camped... the stuff with Kiku's Mizris sauce that I felt was somewhat like lemon chicken.

I ruffle Kiku on the head and she chitters.

Again, the treaty is in tatters, but it seems Aria is out cold with an inflated stomach, drooling on the table adorably. She ended up having three plates, and I'm not sure if she slept properly earlier.

I guess it’s her own fault for continually accepting Kiku's offer of more plates.

Hmmm... I wonder if this was actually a cunning plan from Kiku?

She cocks her head quizzically from me squinting at her.

Surely not from these big innocent green eyes?

Right?