Fulilian: Becomes a disciple of Celia at the beginning

The sound of rain outside gradually grew louder, but the atmosphere inside the house was extremely warm.

Holding the bowl of hot fish soup and looking at the mountains outside the window wet by the sudden rain, Gut felt that the rain was quite sensible.

After all, only on rainy days can you fully appreciate how happy it is to drink fish soup around a campfire.

If it were a hot summer day with the sun shining directly down, the atmosphere would be completely gone, and even the most delicious fish soup would lose its flavor due to the heat.

"Teacher, this rain doesn't show any signs of stopping. Let's stay here and rest today."

Gut chewed the crispy fish meat that was fried into small pieces in the fish soup and spoke to Celie beside him.

“Woo—woo—”

Gently biting into the shiitake mushrooms that had been cooked in fish soup until they were round and plump, the rich fish soup mixed with the sweetness of the mushrooms bursting out in the mouth. Only after swallowing it whole did Celie have time to answer the disciple's suggestion.

"Okay." Celia nodded and agreed to her disciple's suggestion.

"Traveling in the rain is not very efficient, and the remaining distance cannot be completed in one day."

"Our travel arrangements aren't that stressful, though, as we'd risk getting sick while traveling in the heavy rain and then having to spend the night in the wet conditions after the rain."

"Stay here and rest until the weather gets better."

After Celie finished speaking, her eyes unconsciously turned to the half-full river fish still left in the bucket.

The thought of being able to eat a few more meals of such delicious fish dishes made my already good mood even better.

After the meal, Gut washed the pots and dishes and put the remaining grilled fish skewers from lunch into a clean plate.

However, facing the fact that most of the fish, fungi and vegetables were left in the bucket, Gut was a little troubled for a moment.

Fungi and vegetables are fine, just store them outside and there will be no problem for a day and a night.

However, preserved fish are more difficult to store, as they will spoil after 6-8 hours at room temperature.

So we have to think of some way to deal with it first.

Roast them all?

This is indeed a good idea, but it’s a pity that if you want to drink fish soup tomorrow morning, there will be no fresh fish available.

Salt the fish?

The preservation time of this method is long enough, but it is somewhat exaggerated.

Our group will not be staying here for a long time, but we can salt some of the fish, string them on the fireplace with a rope, and make them into dried fish to leave for the next guest.

Just as Gut was getting worried, Celia, who had just folded the quilt, came over and saw the trouble his disciple was in at a glance.

"fool."

After saying that, Celie waved her hand, and several ice cubes appeared out of thin air and fell into the bucket containing the fish.

After doing all this, Celie pulled out a fish from under the bucket, and with a slight movement of her wrist, the fish was frozen solid.

Celia poked her disciple with the frozen fish and said.

"As a magician, when you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether it can be solved through magical means."

Chapter 48: An old man with thinning blue hair

[Xinshiji - 21 BC]

[Northern Kingdoms, Earldom of Gulanat]

The dim sunlight of the evening poured down, illuminating this most populous city in the southernmost part of the northern countries with a golden hue.

In an open-air cafe next to a hostel in the city, the master and disciple, who had just put down their luggage, sat face to face at a round table, enjoying the dessert brought by the waiter.

Two days have passed since we stayed in the mountain cabin in the [Tick region] that day.

After camping out all night, the master and disciple finally arrived at the Earldom of Gulanat, a human gathering place, this evening.

If Celia hadn't tempted her disciples with creamy ice cream and desserts, Gut would have slept in the comfortable big bed in the hotel until tomorrow morning.

On the dining table, Gut scooped a piece of cake with a spoon and put it into his mouth. The sweet cream and soft cake base fully demonstrated the charm of the dessert.

The cream ice cream on the side is equally delicious, with an extremely rich milky flavor beneath the cool texture.

“Hmph—hmph—”

Across the round table, Celie couldn't help but hum with pride as she looked at her disciple's satisfied expression.

She had been to this dessert shop next to the hotel thirty years ago, and the excellent flavor left a deep impression on Celie at that time.

Using a spoon, Celie scooped out a ball of ice cream with pistachio kernels in front of her and put it into her mouth.

Suddenly, a delicious taste identical to that in my memory lingered on my tongue, the aroma of milk filled my mouth, and when I chewed it gently, I could feel the rich fat from the nuts.

While enjoying the food, Celie glanced at the owner.

A kind old lady was chatting with a customer with a smile. After confirming the customer's request, she skillfully scooped the ice cream in the box with a hemispherical spoon. The next moment, a round ball of ice cream was scooped out and placed in a cup and handed to the customer.

The movements and tone of voice vaguely matched the appearance of the "big sister" in Celia's memory.

just.

I'm afraid I won't be able to taste this flavor next time I come here.

It's a bit of a pity.

Thinking of this, Celie gently waved to the waiter, signaling him to come over.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help you?"

"Please give me one of every flavor of ice cream in your store."

"what?"

The waiter was stunned for a moment, "Are you sure? The ice cream in our store melts very quickly."

"That's right." Celie laughed self-deprecatingly. "Then could you please give me a copy every once in a while?"

"No problem, miss."

The waiter nodded slightly, wrote down the customer's order and needs in the small notebook in his hand, and handed it to the old lady in the store.

"Teacher, do you like ice cream?"

Looking at how many ice cream balls Seria ordered at once, Gut asked curiously while marveling at the elf's sturdy stomach.

"so so."

Celia explained, "No one would hate dessert. I don't really like it, I just suddenly got interested in it."

"Is it really just a sudden interest?"

Looking at the teacher who was devouring the pistachio ice cream bite by bite without stopping, Gut couldn't help but smile.

By now, he had roughly understood some of Celia's "duplicity".

What a dishonest elf.

However, since the teacher chose to use "tsundere" as the answer, Gut did not intend to continue to delve into this topic, but instead asked the teacher another question.

"Teacher, on our way to the Earldom, we didn't encounter any attacks from demons along the way."

"I know this could be explained by either being lucky or the demons sensing the terrifying magical power within you, Teacher, and fleeing."

"But when I was still some distance away from the town, I unleashed my full magical power and used it extensively to explore, but I couldn't find even a single trace of the demons."

Celia's eyes flickered with interest.

"So this is why you used your magic to explore the suburbs."

"Interesting, tell me your guess."

Gut put his hand on his chin and said after a moment of analysis.

"After the Demon King was eliminated, the morale of the demons was indeed greatly reduced."

"But outside of human cities, especially in the northern kingdoms closest to the Demon King's City, there are still many demons active outside the suburbs of towns."

"They either harassed merchants and travelers along the way, disrupting the flow of goods between different human cities; or they attacked and massacred villages in the suburbs, creating panic and restricting the expansion of towns."

"Even a powerful human force like the Empire was still forcibly isolated from the human world by the demons using this method about fifty years ago."

"If it weren't for the Empire's profound foundation and the people's unity, coupled with the fact that the brave warriors successfully defeated the Demon King and suppressed the demons' morale, it remains to be seen whether the Empire could have successfully broken through."

"The demon clan's strategy is effective and will not stop for any reason."

"Furthermore, the Seventh Collapse Sage of the Demon Clan stationed here is [Guillotine Aura], which has the ability to transform the defeated into its own army."

"Logically, after all her forces were decimated by the brave warriors, she should be eager to gather more troops by attacking humans. Why would she lie dormant peacefully?"

"The silence outside the [County of Gulanat] is so eerie."

"I suspect the demons are planning something big."

"Pah-ta-"

After Gut finished speaking, before Teacher Celiai, who was sitting opposite him, could say anything, an elderly man with white hair at the next table was so distracted by what he heard that he even lost his grip on the knife and fork in his hand and dropped them to the ground.

This commotion immediately attracted the attention of the diners around. After the white-haired uncle apologized one by one, he picked up the knife and fork again, but did not return to his own table. Instead, he pulled his chair over to Gut's table.

"Sir, Miss, I'm sorry to bother you."

"I'll be paying for all the meals at this table. Could you please allow me to join your chat?"

Gut frowned slightly and was about to refuse.

He didn't lack the money, so he wouldn't affect the conversation between teachers and students just for a free meal.

However, just as Gut was about to refuse, he saw that teacher Celia was staring at the white-haired uncle's chest.

Is there anything there?

Gut also looked over and found a familiar pattern on the left chest of the white-haired uncle's clothes.

This pattern looks so familiar. I must have seen it somewhere.

That’s right! This mark is also on several of my junior sister’s clothes.

Just as Gut reacted, Celie asked the question at the same time.

"What is the relationship between you and Gu Ya?"