Discussions on Cuisine

A week had gone by since Elin had disappeared for that day, though Kim was still entertained at the reason why. Especially with the irony that if she hadn't gone lookig for the person who had made the bread, she'd have been able to find him easily.

However, she recognized that Elin's feelings on the matter mandated that she not say anything to Elin or be overheard by Elin talking about it. Especially if she was laughing about it. Although, Kim wouldn't mind 'making up' with Elin afterwards, she couldn't be sure how long Elin might be upset about it for.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder what else Elin might do in the future like that. She hoped that the next time something like this occurred, that Elin wouldn't be as embarrassed, though Elin was probably more mortified, about it.

As then Kim would be able to tease her without having to worry about Elin getting upset and quite possibly left sleeping apart from each other for a while.

However, Kim couldn't help but find herself staring at a new dish that Elin apparently had worked with the guy who had made the bread. She wasn't sure what it was, nor could she really identify what might be in it. Only that Elin was watching her with an expectant expression on her face.

What was in front of her looked like a kind of dinner roll, that had been put around something, that gave the roll lumps in places, and couldn't otherwise be seen.

Kim typically was always interested in trying new foods, but that was usually because she knew what was in them. While in this case, she couldn't be sure what it was that she was looking at. Aside from the part that was made out of bread.

Although, she wasn't sure how they were able to get it cooked in the first place, since she knew they weren't travelling with an over, but that wasn't the main point. The main point was the fact that Elin wanted to see what Kim thought of it, and Kim was very much aware that if she didn't have a positive enough reaction to it, that it was likely going to hurt Elin's feelings.

Never before had she found herself in such a precarious position. Yet, she also knew that she couldn't just hold the… roll in front of her forever like that. So, she carefully lifted it and took a bite.

Inside the roll was the stew that they'd had earlier. While it wasn't bad, she couldn't say it was an improvement either. Still, given Elin's hopeful smile, Kim decided not to say anything.

She merely smiled and took another bite, the tension in Elin giving way to relief.

"I was afraid you weren't going to like it," Elin said, lifting her own roll. "I wasn't sure about putting the stew inside, but that's all they seemed to think about when making stuffed buns."

Kim wasn't sure what Elin was talking about, but figured the less she knew, the better. As it wasn't like she cared a whole lot about what was being served to eat here. All that mattered was that she'd have the strength she'd need in order to get through any of the challenges this lousy competition so she could have a chance at getting back to her own world.

She'd likely eat the food even if it was lousy. Just so she'd have the energy to fight when it was needed. After all, part of the preparations for winning a fight was having the energy to get through the fight as well, especially when you had no idea when the fight was coming up in the first place.

"You really like this?" Elin asked, pulling Kim out of her thoughts. "It's almost the same as before."

Kim nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty much the same," she agreed. "It's hard to change the flavor when it's always made the same way."

Elin blinked. "Wait, I thought you liked it!" she cried in protest, as if Kim had betrayed her somehow.

"Well, I didn't dislike it," Kim replied, wondering if she'd made a mistake admitting to as much as she had already. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to take it back in a way that Elin would accept.

"Why didn't you say you didn't like it?" Elin asked, her tone making Kim think of Elin almost as a kicked puppy.

"Well, it was clear you wanted me to like it," Kim replied offhandedly, not seeing the point in trying to continue hiding it. "So, I just let you see what you wanted to see and make your own conclusions."

As Kim finished talking, she got the feeling, based on Elin's expression, that she hadn't listened to her whole answer. Elin was eating the stuffed roll, or bun, happily, her expression rather distant and a smile on her face.

Kim wanted to just roll her eyes at Elin's reaction, but she couldn't help but smile either way at how happy she seemed to be. Since she hadn't been happy with how the roll had tasted earlier, she had to assume that what Elin had heard in regards to what she'd said is what put the girl on cloud nine.

It wasn't what she had intended to do, but if nothing else, it helped get Elin from bothering her at the moment. Which wasn't something she ever planned on complaining about. Especially when she wasn't in the mood to try and figure out what was going on in Elin's head.

Still, as she looked at the roll she'd started eating, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to improve it. At least the flavor if nothing else.

Otherwise she thought that it'd be better to just continue eating the stew the way they had before, with the same bowls that she was pretty sure were never really cleaned out.

Which wasn't exactly hygienic, but she at least didn't have to worry so much about food poisoning, since she was confident that Elin's magic would be able to solve anything like that if it happened.

Besides, it wasn't like it was the worst thing she'd ever had to do. Nor was it as bad as some of the people that she'd seen briefly in this world that seemed to be among the lower class in this world. People who probably didn't even have enough money to have a single bowl for anyone in the family. Not was it as bad as she recalled how some people struggled to survive in various cities in the past.

Such as London maybe in the 19th century, although she wasn't quite certain about the accuracy of when it was like that or if she was remembering the location of that correctly, when the river that went through the city was used both as the source for their drinking water, as well as their sewer.

Now that would be disgusting, Kim thought to herself, taking another bite out of the roll. If she had to deal with something like that, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd even care if she survived at all. Because then she was confident that her life would be at an all time low and she probably wouldn't have the strength to get herself out of it at that point anyway.

When Kim finished her roll, she got up, suddenly wondering how close they were currently to the mountains. Especially since from what she remembered of what Elmo had said, that it should only take a week.

Granted, the army might slow them down a little, but she couldn't imagine that it should slow them down that much. All they'd seen so far were just trees and more trees around them.

The mountains in the distance has been getting bigger, but that didn't really mean they were really close or in them. As it wasn't anything that she could really see around her.

It didn't take long before she found Lance, who was discussing something with the baker soldier, at least that's what Kim thought of him as. Which meant, she'd need to wait for him to finish before she could expect him to shift his attention to what she had in mind. At least since it wasn't really that important.

"That sounds reasonable," Lance was replying to the baker soldier.

"How many should I try to make before breakfast?" he asked.

Lance paused, looking deep in thought and his gaze turning downward. "Just enough for the officers," Lance said finally. "Once we get their opinion, I might be able to get enough support for you to show others how to do this as well as being able to make enough for the entire camp."

"Thanks," the sodier said, smiling. "I'll get started on it right away."

The man turned and left without even saluting or waiting for Lance to dismiss him. Which Kim couldn't help but feel was a little odd. Granted, she didn't care whether or not this army was disciplined or not, but she couldn't help but wonder if Lance was aware of some of the problems he was allowing to fester by allowing things like that.

Not that she felt like pointing it out. If anything, it would come to a head sooner or later, and he'd have to deal with it on his own. If anything, it'd probably help him understand the whole situation better than if Kim walked him through everything step by step. Including the reasons why things like that were so important to the discipline of those under his command.

"So, what can I help you with?' Lance said, pulling Kim back to the present.

"I was wondering when we'd be reaching the mountains," she said. "I'm pretty sure Elmo had been told it was about a week's walk, and we've been walking for over a week now."

Lance nodded, looking at Kim with all seriousness. "Technically, we did enter the mountains yesterday," he merely said.

Kim blinked. It took her a moment to process what Lance had said, but shen she had, she felt more than a little surprised. "What? Why does it still look like we're in that forest still?"

"Simply because we're still on the edges of the mountains," Lance replied. "We're coming into the mountains and we'll be climbing a hill tomorrow, and you'll be able to see some of the mountains more easily when the trees start thinning out. You'll also be able to see why they're called the Crystal Mountains."

Kim sighed, feeling like their idea of when they were in the mountains was completely different from what her interpretation of that was. Not only that, but she had a feeling that at least Jonas and Elmo would agree with her on that part. In regards to Elin, she couldn't be sure what she'd think of it.

"Alright," Kim merely replied. "I was just wondering."

Lance nodded, and Kim was about to leave, when Elin burst into the tent.

"Kim! You'll never guess what happened!" she said excitedly, not giving Kim a chance to say anything.

"Then you might as well tell me," Kim said, after a moment when it was clear that Elin was waiting for Kim to say soething.

"I saw what looked like a flying fire," Elin replied.

"What do you mean a 'flying fire?'" Kim asked, feeling like Elin was pulling a prank or something.

"Just what I said," Elin replied, not missing a beat. "I was finishing my stuffed bun, when I saw the fire flying through the trees, like it wasn't bothered by them." Kim opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when Elin continued on in a hurry. "When it was almost over me, this fell down."

Elin held up a feather that had the colorings of a fire that was just starting to burn out. Kim wasn't sure, but she had the impression that it was also giving off a little bit of light.

Yet, she wasn't that impressed. After all, Elin had already shown her that feather.

"So, you're showing me the same feather that you found about a week ago, why?"

Elin shook her head, and held up another feather, just like the one in her other hand. "I thought you might not believe me, so I got that feather as well," Elin said triumphantly. "So you can see that it's here and not the same one that I just found."

Kim wasn't sure how to respond to that. A second feather wasn't so easily explained away. Not when she saw them both together like that.