Chapter 124: Chapter Coincidence or Deliberate Plan?

Gauss and Arya exchanged a glance, as if unaware of the strangeness in her gaze.

They lowered their heads, their eyes burning as they fell upon the giant frog corpse.

「It’s been a while since our last meal anyway.」Gauss nodded to himself.「It’s rare to come across such an edible magical creature. Not dealing with it would be a waste—」

Arya instinctively took a deep breath and looked down at the massive amphibian beneath her.

Even though it was already completely dead, the sticky saliva oozing from its gaping mouth dripped onto the grass, still emitting a faint

「...」

hiss, as wisps of white smoke rose, instantly withering and blackening the contacted blades of grass, leaving behind a scorched mark.

Was this really edible?

She knew that some magical creatures had certain parts that were consumable, but she had never cooked them herself.

A monster whose saliva could burn through grass? Eating something like that—could one’s stomach really handle it?

She felt a little worried.

But just as she was still hesitating, Gauss had already started moving.

He didn’t hesitate in the slightest, drawing a Dagger from his waist.

Seeing this, Arya swallowed her words of caution. She didn’t want to spoil his enthusiasm, or perhaps, even though she herself probably wouldn’t eat it, she was still a bit curious.

Gauss controlled the Dagger carefully, avoiding the mucus as he made a precise, long vertical incision along the belly, extending from the Rust Frog’s jaw down to its tail.

Then, following this longitudinal cut, he slowly peeled off its mottled grey-green skin.

The peeling process went much more smoothly than expected.

Once the outer skin was completely removed, the tender pink frog flesh was laid bare before Gauss’s eyes.

He pulled out the heavy Complete Ingredient Guide Around the Emerald Forest from his 【Small Storage Bag】 and quickly flipped to the page marked “Rust Frog.”

On the yellowed paper, a dissection diagram was vividly presented—relatively large and flat head, short front limbs, and extremely developed, muscular hind legs—almost identical to the skinned specimen before them.

「Mm, the mucus glands and the surrounding contaminated muscle tissue absolutely must not be touched.」Gauss’s fingertip traced the red warning marks on the diagram.「As for the essence, naturally, it lies in the thigh meat. The cut should start here.」

Gauss precisely placed the Dagger at the root joint connecting the frog’s hind leg to its torso. The thigh below the joint was full and bulging, the pink muscle fibers clearly visible, the tender flesh looking rather enticing.

「Crack, crack!」

The Dagger came down steadily, following the joint seam, cleanly severing the entire plump hind leg.

Gauss weighed it in his hands.

A single frog leg weighed at least six pounds, making the pair a little over ten.

According to the book, removing the bones, inedible connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves, and residual skin left more than half as usable meat.

Conservatively estimating, each frog could yield five pounds of thigh meat.

With twenty-five frogs before them, that totaled roughly a hundred pounds of meat...

Gauss drew in a sharp breath.

Still, he hadn’t yet decided whether it was worth the time to process all the frog corpses.

Though the book stated the thigh meat was edible, was that truly the case?

Gauss felt it was best to see the results of actual cooking.

Arya and Ulfen came over.

Ulfen stuck out his tongue to lick, but Arya silently pressed her hand against his wolf muzzle.

Gauss, meanwhile, crouched on the ground and, following the guidebook’s illustrated instructions, began preparing the frog legs.

His movements were a bit clumsy at first.

He gingerly used the tip of the Dagger to separate the pink muscle bundles, peeling off the clearly textured meat strands one by one from the thick thigh bones and placing them into a nearby bag.

One strand, two strands...

The bag gradually filled with those sturdy, muscular fibers.

As the peeling progressed, Gauss’s movements became visibly more fluid and precise.

Deboning, separating tendons, avoiding small blood vessels—

Later on, his hand moved with such practiced ease that he exuded a faint air of professionalism.

Two legs, yielding five pounds of meat—when Gauss finished processing, a small mountain had formed in the bag.

「For those with little cooking experience, it’s best to stew this type of ingredient on the first attempt.」Gauss softly recited the advice on the book’s page,

his eyes scanning the list of required ingredients.

「Ginger, garlic, fruit wine, salt, dried herbs, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, carrots.」

「The specific method is...」

After confirming a few details, he began preparing the ingredients, repeatedly kneading and rinsing the frog meat in clean water to remove residual blood and odor until the flesh turned a pure, spotless pink-white, then carefully draining the water.

Next, Gauss naturally retrieved from his 【Small Storage Bag】 a chunk of ginger, garlic cloves, a small sealed jar of poor-quality fruit wine, coarse salt, cloth bags containing dried thyme and bay leaves, and a few plump potatoes and carrots.

Beside him, Arya stood with her hands on her knees, eyes closely following his movements. She glanced down at the open page on the grass, then back at the precisely matched ingredients Gauss had retrieved...

「？」

She subconsciously frowned, pondering.

Something felt... off?

Why did the 【Small Storage Bag】 just so happen to contain the exact same ingredients listed in the book?

She opened her mouth, about to ask—

But Gauss happened to call her over for help.

「Arya, help gather some firewood. We need to make a fire and set up the pot. Thanks.」

So she temporarily set aside her doubts and turned to collect dry branches and dead leaves.

By the time Arya had used stones to construct a simple stove and placed the cast iron pot on top, Gauss had finished preparing all the ingredients and materials.

「Sizzle!」

A piece of milky white animal fat was thrown into the pot, rapidly melting at the bottom and releasing sizzling sounds.

Then he added the ginger chunks and garlic cloves, letting the fat release a rich aroma.

The potato and carrot chunks followed, stir-fried briefly until coated in a golden crust, then the drained frog meat was added.

He poured in the fruit wine, added water, sprinkled in the remaining herbs, and covered the pot with a wooden lid.

Gauss’s eyes were sharp.

「Simmer for twenty minutes, and it should be ready.」

In his previous life, he had often cooked for himself. While not a master chef, he wasn’t completely inexperienced either.

Arya sat by the fire with her knees hugged to her chest. Looking at the steaming iron pot, she hesitated for a moment before finally asking the question that had long been circling her mind in a low voice.

「Gauss...... you actually planned to cook the Rust Frog from the start, didn’t you?」

Otherwise, how could he explain such perfect preparation?

Gauss’s hand paused almost imperceptibly. After a brief silence, he slowly revealed an obviously embarrassed smile.

「Haha.....」

Their gazes met in the air.

Without words, the message had already been conveyed.

「Forget it......」Arya lowered her head and added a bit more firewood to the flames.

While Gauss waited for the dish to finish simmering, sounds came from nearby.

The young people they had saved earlier were peeking and hesitating, slowly inching their way over.

They had wanted to come thank them sooner—after all, Gauss and Arya had saved them from the frogs.

But having witnessed Gauss’s fluid butchering, deboning, and even stewing of the corrosive giant frog...

Their hearts quivered. They couldn’t help but feel that this spellcaster was rather odd.

Now, mustering their courage, they finally stepped forward.

「Th-thank you, Adventurers—」their eyes lingered on the dark blue Identity Badges hanging from the two’s chests, their expressions filled with understanding, envy, and awe.

「Th-thank you so much for saving us!」

「Oh, it was nothing.」Gauss looked up and waved nonchalantly.

Their original target had been the Rust Frog anyway, and these folks had unintentionally lured the creature over. Moreover, during the crisis, they’d shouted for Gauss and Arya to flee—not completely selfish at least. If it came down to running, he and Arya would have outrun them easily.

They just hadn’t needed to run.

「Are you Villagers from nearby?」Gauss asked casually.

「N-no.....」the leading youth looked at Gauss’s youthful, handsome face, his cheeks flushing, voice even softer.「We’re a newly formed Adventurer Small Team—got lost and accidentally stumbled into the frogs’ nest.」

「Oh, glad you’re okay. Be more careful in the future.」Gauss nodded in understanding—so they were rookies.

Judging by their crude gear, it was indeed hard to tell at first glance.

「Want to stay and have a meal?」Gauss asked out of courtesy, gesturing to the bubbling iron pot.

「No, no thank you, sir!」they chorused almost in unison, shaking their heads like rattles.

Their eyes quickly scanned the bloody frog skins beside Gauss’s feet, the faintly acidic pits on the ground, and they swallowed hard.

「We won’t disturb your meal, thank you again for saving us!」

After expressing their thanks once more, they quickly turned and left.

「Was it really that scary?」

Gauss watched their departing backs, a puzzled look on his face. He leaned closer to the pot, gently fanning the steam with his hand and sniffing.

This smelled... absolutely delicious!

Gauss licked his lips.

Smelling the cooking Rust Frog, he felt his appetite stronger than usual. His Energy Storage Gland also seemed unusually active.

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