Chapter 27: Friend?

"But I still wanna know, How did you get all of this magic fruits? Even if I personally go inside the enchanted forest, it would still take me a long time to find one. And even if I find a magic fruit I still need to defeat it's guardian, before I could get it." Father said to Gaspar while giving him a weird look.

"So, how did you do it?" Father intriguingly ask.

"Lord Hubert, I didn't really do anything special, I just wanted to go there since I know that I could find a lot of special ingredients inside that forest, that is not available in our city." Gaspar said in desperation.

Because a lot of variety of edible plants and spices that we now used in our farm have came from the enchanted forest.

It took us weeks before we were able to sort them out, and a most of the plants that we collected aren't eligible for human consumption, so most of them have been thrown out or destroyed.

And since the magic beasts have become more and more aggressive, all the previous mission to collect any materials from that forest have now been suspended.

In fact, the escorting knights have to face off several wave of magic beasts attack while they were there, and every passing day and the deeper they go the more dangerous it becomes.

Gaspar himself is actually one of the people that were assigned to collect this said materials, since he was the main cook of the house he has more experienced to discern which one is edible or not. But he didn't come there alone or unarmed, as many soldiers and 2 official knights were assigned to guard them at all times.

It was thanks to them, that the entire collection team was able to get out on that place safely, and although the enchanted forest is a treasure trove of materials. It is also a dangerous place to go and it's not easy to find the plants that we are looking for. A huge portion of what they have collected are actually poisonous despite having a normal appearance.

But thanks to that venture, we managed to enrich the life of many people living here in Florentine city. It also allowed us to increase our influence to others, by providing them with some of our new materials that we got from the forest.

Although it turns out, that most of those materials are already publicly known to be edible plants, it's just that due to their different taste people haven't cultivate them in large portion.

"Gaspar, I know that you are dedicated to your profession as a cook, but what have you done this time is beyond the limits." Father seriously say to him.

"Bu-But Lord Hubert I didn't really do anything. I wasn't even in the edge of the enchanted forest, I was a little far from it, collecting some of the mushrooms I have seen last time, to used them for my new recipe. But a magic beast suddenly appears in front of me and took my bag away." Gaspar said in a hurry as he try to defends himself from accusation.

"The magic beast have taken your bag? why would it do that?" Ask by my father as he looked at Gaspar with a baffled face.

"It might be because it smells the food that I brought for my lunch. It's just a new recipe I come up with.... using.... some... of ....the .....plants..... tha...t ...were....deem.... as...not...safe."Gaspar said slowly while his voice becomes smaller at the end of his sentence.

"You've What? Did I just heard it right?" Father said in distress.

"Gaspar Stoll" Father said in a solem voice "You have been serving this family for almost 2 decades and your stoll family has been considered as the official cook of this mansion for generations. Yet, you are the only person I know, who actually behave differently from the rest of your ancestors. So now, tell me and explain to me the reason for why are you using such dangerous ingredients on the food you cook." Father said in gritted tone but his face only shows calmness.

"I-I d-don't really h-have any bad intention and I'm not using those dangerous plants on my food, I only use the plants that can cause discomfort to some people. Because I just want to find out what's the reason for  their violent reaction towards this food." Gaspar said in a low voice.

"I'm trying to understand why some people can eat this food without any issues, but others experience problems after consuming it. I thought maybe there was something wrong with the preparation or ingredients, so I wanted to try recreating it," Gaspar said in detail as defends his own actions.

To me it sounds like Gaspar was talking about is allergic reaction of some individual to certain plants. In this world, where magic is possible there are some areas that are more advance than the others. Making the development of this world unbalanced due to the presence of magic, some aspects are advanced while others are not.

So it is normal for most people not to know what food they are allergic from as most of them considered it as them being sick due to bad luck, or they just blamed it all to the food they ate.

It would really be a good Idea if I invest more on the development of science in this era. Not in a sense that we would make a computer or phone out of nowhere, but to use the fundamentals of it to identify the problem, and find a solution to solve it.

I'm talking about the scientific method, by asking the most important question of all. The Why's, "The why it happens, Why did it became like that and so on." and if I could impart this principles to a lot of people, then it would become easier for our city to develop faster. As there are gonna be more brain that could help me think in analyzing critical problems and how to solve it.

Because I alone would not be enough to change everything here, but if I did the first step on creating more people who thinks like me, who will solve the problem in a rational way, then it is not impossible for me to change the course of the entire world but of cours-.

I was suddenly interrupted and pulled back into the real world when my father have suddenly speak. I almost forgot that I'm still listening to his lecture regarding Gaspars secret adventure.

"But what you have done is still dangerous, and you even decided to risk your own life just to collect that ingredients, for what?"Father said angrily.

"Lord Hubert, I did it because the people decided to abandon this ingredient since it was deemed as unsafe just because some people has gotten sick because of eating it despite its potential development, and it is unfair. This ingredient actually taste great ones you mix them into your food, and as a cook finding a good ingredients is one of my mission in life."

"But this still doesn't answered our question on why the magic beast grab your bag. It's sounds ridiculous to my ears that a magic beast will steal your bag because it takes a liking into the food inside of it. Did you perhaps hide anything inside of it aside from food." I said in order to distract my father's attention from Gaspar.

"No, No I don't have anything at all. The bag only had my food and some mushroom that I picked up along the way as well as a small pot." he said quickly.

"Then what's the reason for it? and you even manage to take home a lot of magic fruit from that place without suffering any harm, Don't tell me that you managed to be friend that magic beast." I said in a joking manner.

"Actually master Lucas I think it did considered me as a new friend." Gaspar said with uncertainty.

"WHAT?" "HOW? ask by both my father and I in alarm.

"I-I don't know. It just happens, and after that it takes off towards the enchanted forest while I was left there in shock." He said while lost in his thoughts.

"But it also went back after some time with my tattered bag in its mouth. It slowly walks closer towards me and it gently put the bag down into my foot, and that's where I saw that all my foods are gone. It's also the time that it brought me a piece of this magic fruits." He further explain to us in a steady tone.

"And what happen afterwards?" father ask intriguingly.

"Lord Hubert, I-I actually felt attracted to the fruit that it brought to me, like my entire being is craving to eat it. So I just went ahead pick it up, then put it in my mouth I also noticed that the magic beast have given me a weird look when I did it. I don't know how to describe its expression, but it gaze at me with an intense look on its eyes." he said calmly while narrating the entire story.

"What does this magic beast look like?" I asked since I'm curious to know.

"It's like a huge black cat with sharp fangs and it has a crystal crown on its head with big wings on it's back and if I stand beside it I'm only as tall as one of its legs." Gaspar describe with enthusiasm.

Father and I looked at each other with serious expression on both of our face, because there is one magic beast that exactly fits this description, and if we're thinking the same thing that means we are in danger.

Isn't this sounds like one of the story known throughout the land. The black beasts of the kingdom of Aqua, one of the main leaders of magic beasts wave that leads this kingdom into its destruction.

"The Black beasts?" said by both of us at the same time.

"Oh no, no, no, Lord Hubert, it may have the same appearance as the black beasts that was described in the books but this one is really really friendly." defensively said by Gaspar.

"Gaspar Stoll, Do you know what you are talking about? Friendly? Since when? And did you not see the trouble it has caused us?" Father said patiently to him.

"B-But my lord I'm telling the truth, it even gave me a lot of gifts. And when it saw me eat this fruit it even brought me to a place that's full of the same fruit. Though it dragged me by my clothes, and I felt terrified the entire time. I eventually found out that it just want me to eat more of this, and it's very docile it even let me petted its soft fur." Gaspar said desperately.

What the heck, Gaspar is treating that beasts like a cat.

I don't know what to think about this situation, if I just didn't know the truth I might have taught that Gaspar is a transmigator himself.

Why the heck does he have all of this adventure and I'm here, stuck in the city. He even managed to find a "friendly magic beast" and at the same time, discovered this kind of treasure inside the enchanted forest.

It is even a miracle that he managed to comeback alive without suffering any wounds or damaged to his body.

Although I must say, that it must have something to do with the magic beast he befriended inside the forest since it has protected him the entire time, such a thing is not impossible but very very rare.

A magic beasts wouldn't just let anyone to approach them, nor take anything from their territory without any exchange in return, and the only thing that Gaspar have on his hands, is his experimental food that can't be eaten by normal human at all.

And I don't think that such a powerful beasts would take a liking to his dark cuisine, and I don't believe that the reason he managed to befriend it is because of the terrible taste of his food.

That's just too unbelievable.

"Did it do anything to you while you were there?" I ask just to confirm everything.

"No, it just stares at me the entire time, and it allows me to wonder around the place and let me pick up some new materials, and when I said that I need to go back, it immediately guided me towards the exit. So I just followed that beast while it slowly walk in front of me." He explains in detailed.

"If what you have said is true, then why is it behaving like that, and did you notice something unusual on that beast? there's no reason for such a high-ranking magic beast to live on the edge of the enchanted forest." my father said in a grave voice.

"I don't know lord Hubert, but I think the only unusual thing about that magic beast is the black mist that occasionally appears on its body." Gaspar said carefully while in deep thought.