The Antagonist's Full Moon

25. Fish Satay

Dean carried a wicker basket filled with fish to the front of the campfire. Frode helped find the branches, then cleaned them. The old elf thrust each one of the twigs into the fish's mouth, before being stuck to the ground, facing towards the fire.

The dinner menu this time was grilled fish. Frode and Liv ate their part of the fish, while Dean just twirled the wooden stalk of the fish, looking unfeeling. He never ate a dish that was only burned and without the slightest spice like that.

I can die first before reaching the Great Temple, because food is not as good as this.

"Sir, didn't you bring peanut sauce seasoning ingredients in your cart?" dean asked Frode, pointing at the wagon. The two oxins carrying the wagon were currently eating grass around.

Frode thought for a moment, trying to remember what he had brought. "That's all the ingredients for a cooking demo in front of a fellow trader I told you about yesterday."

Dean thought for a moment. Alternately he stared between the grilled fish in Frode's hand and cart. Finally he decided and said, "Take a little. If it's just grilled fish like this I don't taste."

"But, later---"

"Taken a little won't matter!" cut Dean. "Oh yes, do not forget the equipment to prepare it. You brought it too, right?"

Not wanting to argue any longer with Dean, Frode said. After all, Dean was indeed the owner of the idea of peanut sauce that made Frode able to live comfortably at this time.

The old man went to the wagon and opened the boxes on the wagon. He took down cooking utensils such as stoves, pans, and ulekan from the top of the cart.

"What do you want? Until you tell Uncle like that!" Liv protests Dean for again doing something that breaks the rules.

"Don't bring! Just look what I'm gonna do!" exclaim Dean.

Frode brought the things Dean asked for, a bowl of peanuts, and some other ingredients such as salt and sugar. Dean also did the action, to make a typical peanut sauce that began to gain popularity among our mother's middle district.

"Oh, this is that chocolate sauce that's popular?!" ask Liv to make sure. Dean didn't budge, he kept concentrating.

Frode responded to Liv's words. "Miss knows?"

Liv nodded quickly. "A few times, the waiter delivered me food with this sauce. But I didn't eat it."

Dean cringing. "Why?"

"The color and texture are strange. Is this really eaten?"

"Of course!" sahut Dean while continuing to crush the peanuts with a swab. " This is the cuisine of the earth, the recipe of my father. Definitely delicious. Everyone I know praises his delicacy!"

Furthermore, Liv involuntarily watched Dean skillfully pound the peanuts by hand, as if she was used to cooking everyday.

Liv never went into the kitchen to do anything, except take the food that was already there. She was not allowed to touch any items outside her own room, as Olrun forbade her. Her father restricted Liv's interaction space to whatever objects were in Themaris' house.

Once enough was felt, Dean chopped up his grilled fish, removed the thorns, then brushed the meat with peanut sauce dough. Liv frowned in disdain, as soon as she saw the brown bean sauce smearing the white flesh of the fish.

"That's the look, the color and texture is weird like mud--hmphhh!"

Before Liv finished her sentence, Dean had already fed her mouth with a piece of fish covered in peanut sauce. Liv looked wide-eyed. The girl's still gaping mouth was closed by Dean with her hands.

"Try it, just commented! Here, eat!"

"Ymm! Ack!" liv said, her mouth was still busy chewing.

Frode was curious, so he took a piece of fish covered in peanut sauce and devoured it.

"This ... Fish satay? Why haven't you told me about this recipe before?" asked Frode enthusiastically.

"The most famous one in my world is meat satay. Actually, all edible animals can be made into satay like this."

Dean hands out pieces of fish covered in peanut sauce to Liv and Frode. In fact, fearing that he was not yet full, Frode caught the new fish in the river in the same way Dean did, using nets.

"Uncle!" Liv screamed at what Frode was doing.

The old man laughed in response. "I have to eat a lot, because I have to drive all day tomorrow!"

Liv doesn't protest anymore. The elf girl chose to keep her mouth shut now. Dean, seeing this, tries to calm Liv down. "Just calm. The fish in the river will not run out. Eat something quiet without worrying."

Dean thrust a serving of fish grilled with peanut sauce in front of Liv. The girl received her food and said, "Alright. I can't waste any food."

After everything was ready, the three of them returned to eating their respective food with a more cheerful face than before. Liv finished the peanut sauce on her plate until it was left unnoticed.

"You're good at cooking, huh?" ask Liv. Dean finished the fish in his mouth before replying, "Not really. I only know a few recipes."

"Your father taught you?" Liv asked again, referring to Dean's previous words. Dean nodded.

"Well, he sure does cook you good food every day, huh?"

This time, Dean did not answer. He stared at the plate in front of him. Dean did not respond, until after all the fish was eaten and the dishes were washed. Frode was determined to sleep first in the tent, as he had to get up early to feed the oxins before continuing on.

Dean decided to stay up late, sitting close to the campfire, there might be a wild animal approaching.

"You're not sleeping?" ask Liv.

Dean shakes. "Not sleepy yet, so I'd better be on my guard. You alone?"

Liv shook. "Not sleepy either. You want some tea? My brother slipped the mashed tea leaves ready to brew in my bag. Last time Uncle also said that he was carrying a teapot and a wooden glass."

"All right," Dean said. Liv took out her bag and pulled out a pinch of dried tea leaves. Liv also picked up a teapot and two wooden glasses belonging to Frode on the wagon.

After cooking the water and brewing the tea, Liv gives Dean a glass. Liv sat back by the campfire. The elf girl peeked at Dean from behind her glass. The man seemed to be enjoying his tea.

"You haven't answered my question about your father. Are you angry?" ask Liv scared.

Dean glanced at Liv for a moment, then sighed. Tidying the firewood to the center with a twig, the man replied, "My father has been dead since I was a child."

***