Alchemy

Next morning, inside of the Cooking Club Room, Lou takes Ogata to teach her about Alchemy as he promises, but he did not expect that the girls would also follow them to watch.

"So everyone is here? Let's start," Lou walked and wore the apron, he took another and passed it to them.

"Apron?"

"Yes, one of the protective equipment in Alchemy, after all, we are using some dangerous equipment so the protective measure is a must."

They nodded and started wearing Apron and a hairnet, Lou even distributed disposable gloves and masks to complete the set.

"I'm studying Alchemy, the first thing you need to learn is to know what kind of herb or incidence you using,"

"There are different kinds of herbs and dangerous incidents. Alchemy is usually used. That's why we need to know which is which."

"But, i never study Herbalism,"

"Your wiring on that thing, Herbalism can be called Botany and i think you already know what is it right?"

Ogata nodded." Botany is the scientific study of plants. "Plants," to most people, means a wide range of living organisms from the smallest bacteria to the largest living things - the giant sequoia trees. By this definition, plants include algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants."

"You're right, Herbalism is the same as Botany so you don't need to study Herbalism at all, but still, you need to understand that Herbalism is one of the few things you still need to learn."

"After all, the theory is a theory, a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained."

"But Herbalism is different, knowing the name and the procedure on harvesting a Herb is one of the traits you need to know in learning Alchemy."

Ogata, who was holding a note, nodded while writing what she learned today.

"Let's see how you handle a Herb."

Lou took a Herb that looks like a carrot that is just pulled out from the soul.

"The first thing you need to know in handling herbs is to check if the Herb is fresh or not. Freshness can change the outcome of what you want to make. The higher the freshness of your herb, the higher the quality of the thing you will make."

"Next is handling, you need to at least take care to not hold it though because it will make the quality lower, hand it with care, treat it like a treasure and if you're going to make something, try to minimize the waste."

Lou then starts to make a potion.

"In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, or until most of their juices have been released."

"Add the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are semi-translucent."

"Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper, tomato paste, and soy sauce, and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the herbs are fragrant."

"Add the flour and stir until fully incorporated. Add the wine and stir until mostly absorbed."

"Add the potatoes, vegetable broth, and bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the stew has thickened."

"Remove the bay leaves."

Looking at Loui who happily chopped the ingredients, the speechless looking at him, from any angle they can only see him cooking, not bruin potion.

He even adds salt, pepper to taste and looks cantonment when he tastes it.

Looking at the bowl of vegetable stew in front of them, Ogata can't describe what she is feeling right now.

She wants to grab the casserole and throw it to his face because of anger but she holds it down.

"So this is how to make a Stew?"

Lou looked at them with a surprised expression," How did you know?!"

When Ogata grabs the bowl and is about to throw it to him, Lou stops joking with her.

"Idiot, of course, this is not cooking, I'm doing this to let you see how i'm usually do on my own."

"Did you ever see a Stew made from 20 different herbs, 5 Treasure Regents and Reki Water? It's a huge waste right?" Lou said.

All of them nodded but they suddenly looked angry when Lou scooped a spoon full of stew and put it on rice.

"Hooo~ Vegetable Stew is really delicious~"

"Is it good?" Chika asks.

"You try," Lou fed her, making Chika's eyes twinkling while tasting the dish.

Bang!!

"Lou, get out of here!! Who said you can cook those precious herbs to make a Stew!!" Nobuna who is actually watching with the other Principal explodes in anger seeing Lou's action.

"It's a mistake to keep calm!!"

"Then tell me! What is this!" Nobuna angrily pointed at the steam Stew in front of them looking at him with fierce eyes.

Lou hurriedly took out a food processor and blended the stew on it. After a couple of minutes, he put all of it in and used a stranger to remove all the heavy objects leaving an orange-colored soup in the pot.

Taking a Potion Bottle, Lou transfers it carefully and covers it with cork.

"Tada~ Stamina Potion Vr 0.1 Vegetable Stew Flavor~" Lou proudly presents them his creation and continues.

"Try it, you will like the taste of it, I'm pretty sure."

Nobuna snatched it from his hand, opened the cork and drank it in a gulp. She then felt the fatigue from work slowly recovering.

"Good, it's work, but still can you change how you made your Potion? You're making the Alchemy look like Cooking rather than Refining."

"No, this way they can easily learn it without any complex procedure, and besides, this is how I learn mine so teaching them the way I did is not really a problem."

"..... You win"