Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 339 My God, he's practically a gourmet!

Ethan has a sensitive stomach.

Eating too much raw blood can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Blood used as a beverage also has extremely high quality requirements: type O blood, age not exceeding 21 years, time since blood collection not exceeding 3 days, and must be stored with ice.

The meat must have a body fat percentage between 18% and 25%, neither too fat nor too lean. The meat must be from a family that has been exercising to improve the texture of the muscle. The chef is a retired royal chef who only uses the belly and shank meat, which are then slowly stewed and served with cherry sauce. This is what a banquet should look like.

Moreover, Ethan himself is a gourmet, and his hobby in his spare time is cooking. He has a very deep understanding of various parts of the body.

At first, all the red-eyed ghouls present were skeptical, but as Ethan described in detail, his artistic cooking techniques came to life before their eyes. They could almost see Ethan wearing a white apron in a luxurious manor in the capital city late at night, cutting up the high-quality ingredients and placing them on a plate, then methodically marinating them, before lighting a fire and pouring olive oil into the pot.

Ethan selected a volunteer from among those whose heads were covered by linen bags. His hands roamed over every part of the volunteer's body, explaining to the ghouls in detail how to cook each part and what precautions to take.

The ghouls could even hear the sizzling sound of marinated meat being put into the pot, a symphony that struck their very souls, and the air itself seemed to be filled with the aroma of frying meat.

They couldn't remember the last time they had eaten cooked food.

Their ghoul identity had initially made them disdainful of cooked food, but as Ethan explained, saliva involuntarily dripped from their mouths.

Their impression of Ethan also changed dramatically.

He transformed from an arrogant, rude, and troublesome lord of the capital into a true gourmet.

After meeting Ethan, they realized their own insignificance. Compared to Ethan, they were like a group of primitive people who didn't even know how to use tools.

"As far as I know, in the Empire, cannibalism is one of the most heinous crimes."

After Ethan finished explaining how to cook liver, the noblewoman said with a forced smile, "This is genuine evil god worship, no, it's far worse than ordinary sacrificial practices. I never imagined you could do this from those fanatical followers of the goddess of life."

Her questioning was subtle, but it temporarily brought the red-eyed ghouls back to reality from the culinary world Ethan had painted for them, and they also looked at Ethan with questioning eyes.

They found it hard to imagine anyone being able to conduct such "culinary explorations" so brazenly in the heart of the Church of Life.

"How long has it been since you last visited the capital?"

This question struck everyone like a hammer blow. A casual question revealed the insurmountable gap between people. They had never been to the heart of the empire, and all their knowledge of that city came from imagination.

Only the noblewoman spoke up, saying, "The last time I went there, Pope Julius issued indulgences."

"Then you should know what kind of place it is. As long as you have enough money to bribe some necessary people, you will become a legal citizen recognized by the church. Every penny you pay them will become your protective umbrella. As for a few more missing persons in the city—that's not a big deal at all."

Ethan said, "There, I could eat whatever I wanted, and her full name was Ivy Margaret."

"To!"

Ivy was listening intently when Ethan suddenly mentioned her name, so she immediately straightened up and put her legs together.

"Margaret!?"

"Could they be relatives of Queen Margaret?"

The red-eyed ghouls were buzzing with discussion, and even the noblewoman was taken aback by the name Ethan had given them.

"By the way, Ivy's favorite food is slow-roasted belly with melon and caviar—she's a new member of the gourmet club, but she's not very adaptable and has ended up looking like this."

Ethan shook his head helplessly.

This sigh caused an uproar among the red-eyed ghouls.

They had always considered themselves one in a million, and only those who retained their subconscious after being infected with the ghoul plague were qualified to become a mother's child. However, in the eyes of the "white eyes," Ivy was just a product of a failed transformation!

This is what "white eyes" means, is this... the Emperor of the Capital?
"In that case, please demonstrate your skills to us."

The noblewoman wavered. In her mind, the capital was indeed a place that looked glamorous on the outside but was rotten to the core. Upon closer reflection, she realized that things more outrageous than cannibalism happened there all the time.

"them?"

Ethan retorted, turning to the shivering people with linen sacks over their heads, "These? These are just garbage, not worth cooking at all. You have a ranch, yet you don't know how to manage it."

As he spoke, he lifted the emaciated arm of the volunteer girl in front of all the red-eyed ghouls, “Even the best cooks can’t handle ingredients like this. It will ruin everything. If you want them to be served on the table, they need to be aged for at least ten days.”

"We can wait."

Before the lady could speak, a red-eyed man eagerly said that they were completely bewitched by Ethan and desperately wanted to taste the delicacies he had described to them.

Ethan didn't answer immediately, but looked at the lady and said, "If I take over these ingredients, you are not allowed to get close to them for the next ten days. I need to make the most thorough preparations, and that will only meet the minimum standards for them to be served on the table."

"Just do as you say."

The lady finally relented, saying, "You can stay here in the meantime." She somewhat believed Ethan's story, because a human who had never eaten a human could not possibly describe the cooking methods for every part of the human body so clearly and accurately. If he were to make things up, he would be exposed instantly in front of a real ghoul. And Ethan?
He appears to have eaten the food of at least a hundred people, perhaps even he himself can't remember the exact number.

Just like when they were still human, they never remembered how many chickens or cows they had eaten.

This explanation, which treats the human body as ordinary food, makes him stand out even among ghouls.

……

The banquet ended abruptly due to Ethan's culinary lecture. The unfortunate humans were then properly housed in several luxurious rooms, as Ethan had instructed, because he had shared one of the secrets to delicious food: ensuring they were in a good mood before they sat down at the table.

They don't eat people with depression.

In addition, they must be provided with good food and drink, especially ensuring that fruit is provided for all three meals a day, so that it can be infused with flavor in advance.

This made Ivy feel even heavier. Ethan's detailed and vivid speech not only impressed the lady, but also made her uneasy.

After the red-eyed ghoul who had led the way left, she spoke with mixed feelings, "Ethan, I have a question for you, and you must answer me truthfully."

"Ok?"

"You can keep it as a secret between us; I will absolutely not tell anyone."

"What exactly do you want to ask?"

How many people have you eaten with?

Ivy's gaze was deep. "Is there any possibility that someone else has discovered it?"

As the Prime Minister of the new cabinet and the author of "Imperial Truth," it would be devastating to his image and the stability of the empire if the imperial citizens who believe in Ethan were to learn about this unknown side of him.

"No, how come you believed that?"

There's no one else here.

Ivy's eyes were very serious, and the golden hair on her head stood up as she listened intently. "You can't know those details just by thinking about them."

A friend told me.

"Is this friend you're talking about yourself?"

His name is Hannibal.

When Ethan was teaching the ghouls cooking techniques, he put himself in Hannibal's shoes. If ghouls existed in that world, Mr. Hannibal would undoubtedly be at the top of the food chain.

"Hannibal..."

Ivy frowned. "Never heard of it. He's also an ancient god?"

"You can think so."

Ethan didn't want to dwell on these minor details. Things were moving in a positive direction, and he had successfully bought ten days for the unfortunate souls captured by the ghouls. For the next ten days, they would no longer be locked in dark cells but would be treated like real people.

He convinced the red-eyed ghouls that this would make them tastier.

They will have to find Valerie in the next ten days. According to the timeline provided by the Witcher Van Fleet, she has been missing for more than a year. There must be some unknown reason why the noblewoman kept her.

"Thump thump thump, thump thump thump—!"

Before the two could exchange more than a few words, the knocking on the door started again.

"Mr. Ethan, is Mr. Ethan here?"

It was a young voice. Ethan thought of the youngest red-eyed ghoul in the banquet hall, who was also the most excited during his narration, drooling all over the place.

"It may be a bit presumptuous of me, but I would like to invite you to visit our ranch!"

"Just come."

Ethan gave a helpless reply.

Before they could meet Valerie, they also needed to maintain good relations with the red-eyed people here.

Ivy gave him a reassuring look. Since arriving here, the pain from the ghoul plague had completely disappeared, and the mist had actually boosted her energy.

"You go and keep them calm, I'll go and find out where Professor Valerie is."

(End of this chapter)