Free Web NovelChapter 577: The Stew
In the end, Elaina has to head to the Dungeon farm to harvest a few of the crops after running out of the necessary crops she had to get, as she has shipped most of them completely without resupplying the majority of them. Since most of the crops that they needed are common and vital crops, she ended up selling most of them. Thankfully, with the dungeon farm, Elaina does not harvest most of the crops there, considering that crops growing there don’t rot easily, and to also avoid replanting again, which will cause the barrier to weaken slightly while the crops are growing.
Once Elaina gathered the needed haul, she returned home and headed back to the kitchen in a hurry, where Julia was already in the middle of cooking the stew that needed the corn and tomatoes.
"Did you find the needed amount of corn and tomatoes?" Elaina asked as she put down the basket with the harvest inside.
"Although I managed to grab a few that are hidden, I needed a bit more to complete it. Thankfully, you arrived in time, Sis. I just started cooking it. Would it be alright if we swap roles for now? I will be the one cooking for a bit while you prepare them," Julia answered while her eyes were still focused on the stew.
"Alright. Let me get these ingredients done in a flash, and we should be good to go," Elaina accepted the swap and carried the basket to the sink so that she could wash off the dirt on the corn and the excess corn silk that was not initially removed upon harvest.
"Is this stew only for Grandpa Rakkan and Grandma Liliana? Are we not going to serve stew to the other guests?"
"Not necessarily, but it is best if we cook an additional stew aside from this, as there is a tendency that Grandpa gets a bit ravenous and would clean up a whole pot of stew all by himself. Best to keep a spare in case we run out pretty quick."
"Is Grandpa Rakkan really that much of a glutton? Never seen him eat that much to what I have seen in the past, though?" Julia tried recalling Rakkan’s actions during the past birthdays or celebrations where they managed to attend, and she doesn’t remember the guy eating more than she remembered.
"Oh, that only happens if Grandpa eats stew. Other dishes, his appetite doesn’t work much, but with stew, for some reason, he becomes a glutton. Grandma couldn’t understand how Grandpa could change quickly in a small matter of time by just eating.
"So the reason we are cooking stew right now..."
"Since they have achieved a difficult work and emerged successful, it is only best to serve them that much. He can indulge in what he wanted to eat for once. Besides, Grandma also likes stew...just not in the same extent as Grandpa," Elaina smiled.
"If that is the case, then I will make sure this stew suits both Grandma and Grandpa’s palate. I won’t let you down, Sis!"
"Sounds promising! Let’s get this done with!"
The two then started cooking with fervor. And by the time lunch arrived, all of the dishes that Elaina and Julia created had already. Right on time, Rakkan and Liliana arrived first after they finished cooking.
"Oh? I am smelling something great, right on time when you are hungry!" Rakkan smiled as soon as he entered the doorway.
"Seriously, Rakkan. We have just eaten, and yet you wanted to eat again so quickly?" Liliana could only sigh and shake her head.
Elaina smiled and put the pot of Stew on the counter. "Good timing, Grandma, Grandpa. I can tell you guys are both famished. Let’s get you all set up to eat as we cooked stew especially for the two of you."
Hearing Elaina say stew, Rakkan quickly grabbed a seat, a plate, and a spoon and grinned. "I won’t say no to that. After all, that is my favorite!"
Liliana also grabbed a seat for herself and awkwardly smiled at Elaina. "Apologies about this, dear. I hope it is alright if we eat first, considering your Grandpa seems more adamant to eat than to celebrate his great-grandchildren’s birthdays."
Rakkan frowned. "Hey, it’s not like we will leave after eating. We still celebrate their birthdays like normal. We will just be eating first before we celebrate!"
Elaina chuckled at Rakkan’s comment. "That’s alright, Grandma. Besides, the kids are still not home, so you can just wait for them to arrive. The celebration officially begins this afternoon anyway, but there is no harm in eating food early on like this. Anyway, give me your plates, and I will serve you two some beef stew."
The aroma of the stew wafts around the kitchen, and Rakkan is already showing signs of drooling after just smelling it. His favorite food is being served, and her grandchild cooked it specially for them.
"Here you go, you two. Enjoy the meal and just say the word if you want seconds." Elaina hands them a plate of steaming beef stew.
"Hoho, this smells amazing, Elaina. I will be surely satisified after eating this. Time to dig in!" Rakkan started to gobble the food before him without hesitation.
"Slow down, Rakkan. Geez, we are no longer kids for you to act like this, seriously," Liliana shook her head and also started eating. As soon as her spoon reached her mouth, Liliana let out an audible gasp.
"Wow, I know it looks and smells good, but tasting it amplifies it more. The thickness of the soup, the crunchy texture of corn, and the meat are totally amazing."
"You should thank Julia for that. She took over cooking while I prepared the ingredients since we ran out earlier. The corn we added there is recently harvested, so they are totally fresh from the source." freewebnovel.cσ๓
"Ah, no wonder they are still very sweet and tasty!" Liliana started enjoying the food while Rakkan silently devoured the food before him without saying anything. His attention was fully committed to the food in front of him.
Elaina and Julia started cleaning up the mess and the pile of dishes they had to wash for later so that they would have less work once the celebration officially began. Elaina had yet to begin cleaning the table when Rakkan happily shouted. "One more, Elaina! This is the real deal indeed!"
Hearing that, Elaina was happy that it seemed that the beef stew is totally great and a successful dish. She was about to take the plate from Rakkan’s hands when Elaina realized something strange. The person before her is Rakkan indeed...however, he is no longer the same old man she remembers.
"What’s wrong? You looked like you have seen a ghost," Rakkan frowned and even looked behind him just to make sure.
"Grandpa...your face..." Elaina didn’t expect what she was seeing.
"What about my face?" Rakkan touched his face and frowned.
"Perhaps you have some sauce on your face? I told you to slow down eating, you know?" Liliana chuckles.
Elaina also took a look at Liliana, and just like Rakkan, it seemed Liliana is affected as well.
Seeing the changes, Elaina quickly opened the fridge and frantically looked at the certain vegetables she hid behind the water pitchers only to find them missing.
"Julia, did you use the corn and tomatoes with odd colors hidden behind the water pitchers?" Elaina asked.
"You mean those leftover vegetables? I did, and I used them to cook since they are showing discoloration. I tested them with magic, and they are not yet in bad shape, so I have decided to include them to avoid them from spoiling. What about it?"
Elaina facepalmed herself after realizing her mistake. "Well, I hid that on purpose, and they are not discolored. It was their normal color...the reason for that...well, you can see for yourself and look at both Grandma and Grandpa yourself."
Julia couldn’t understand what Elaina was talking about, so she turned to look at them, only for her to be surprised.
"What the? How come they have turned younger like teenagers?!"
The two adults, who had no idea that their bodies had changed, exchanged looks with one another, only for them to get startled seeing each other’s faces.
"What the! What sorcery is this?!"
The two shouted in unison, leaving Elaina to shake her head. It seems hiding something precious and important inside the refrigerator is a big mistake for her. And the worst thing is, the effects have once again reappeared, and this time, the two seem to be more affected compared to the Grand Sage, who has turned young indeed, but still an adult.
On the other hand, the two old heroes who are considered to be quite old already are looking like teenagers again. They have regressed their age far enough that they don’t look like they have lived for almost a century now.
