Chapter 188: Grumpy Aria
Chapter 188: Grumpy Aria
Adrian just stood there and watched her leave.
Once she was completely gone, he let out a long sigh.
"I need to inform the Marquis about the monster meat issue." Adrian muttered.
He gathered his things, walked out of the training room, and climbed the stairs back into the main mansion.
He headed for the living room and spotted the Marquis immediately. Draven was sitting on the floor, casually playing with a few of his younger kids.
Adrian walked right up to him.
"Draven." Adrian said seriously. "We have a really serious problem to talk about."
Draven stopped playing with his kids and looked up. He sensed the serious tone instantly and gave a firm nod. "Sure. Let’s go to my study."
The two of them left the kids and walked down the hall. Draven pushed the doors open and they stepped into the private study.
Adrian did not waste any time.
"The monster meat that we got from that massive horde." Adrian started bluntly. "Those are not real monster bodies."
Draven frowned.
"And because of that," Adrian explained. "Eating the meat from those specific corpses is not going to give your soldiers any nutritional value whatsoever."
Adrian ran a hand through his hair.
"I should have told you this earlier." Adrian admitted. "But I was completely focused on Serena’s magical training. The important question is, how are your soldiers doing right now? Have you given them any of this meat to eat yet?"
Draven leaned back against his desk.
"Well, I have only tried eating it myself until now." Draven replied. "And the meat was way too tough for me to even think about feeding it to the soldiers."
The Marquis crossed his arms.
"We need to keep their morale high." Draven stated. "And good, hearty food is a massive factor that helps with that. I cannot just think about feeding them anything edible just to cut costs."
"Okay, good." Adrian nodded in relief. "So you have tasted it, right?"
"Yeah." Draven grunted. "It is ridiculously tough. But I did realize that it works perfectly fine for things like pemmican. You just smash it all down into a paste, boil it into a really thick sludge and drink it. That way the men do not actually have to break their jaws trying to chew on the tough meat."
Draven shook his head.
"But when it comes to cooking it as an actual steak or a stew, it is not a great thing to eat." Draven added. "On top of that, I was just trying to figure out a way to make something truly edible. Because while the actual taste is alright after your purification potion, the physical texture of the meat is terrible. The pemmican, even in its soupy form, it is not really great."
Draven let out a gruff laugh.
"But I was mainly thinking of using it purely as emergency war rations." Draven said. "So I guess it was a very good thing that I never actually distributed any of it to the soldiers."
"Yeah, that is true." Adrian agreed.
He quickly shifted topics. "So, did the monsters attack the walls again during the time I was stuck downstairs?"
"They did attack once in the past two weeks." Draven reported. "But they retreated really quickly. And their numbers were also surprisingly small."
Adrian frowned. "Small numbers? And they retreated quickly?"
That sounded incredibly suspicious.
"I guess they are just testing something." Adrian muttered. "If they are actually deploying scouting tactics to test our defenses, then we must stay on high alert."
Adrian tapped his chin.
"And I am going to have to think about a totally different food solution for your soldiers." Adrian said. "Also my dungeon back in Oresfall has actually gotten another major blessing from the Goddess."
Adrian looked at the Marquis.
"So my territory will be able to produce a lot more grain than we actually require." Adrian grinned. "I could easily export the massive surplus and sell it to you for cheap."
Draven’s eyes widened slightly.
"I would be extremely grateful for that." Draven said honestly. "But how am I supposed to pay you back?"
"Well," Adrian smiled. "You being a friend is already more than enough."
Draven just let out a soft, heavy sigh.
"I cannot accept the fact that I am the only one just constantly taking and... I keep taking from you." Draven said stubbornly. "You already gave me that priceless hybrid manual."
The Marquis held up his hands.
"And I have already managed to learn how to properly use the mana inside my mana veins to connect it directly to my muscles." Draven admitted. "It is working perfectly. I still have a long way to go before I actually master it. but it has already made me much stronger and way more versatile in a real fight."
Draven pointed a finger at Adrian.
"But here is the main issue." Draven said firmly. "You have already given me that manual. You have already given me this purification potion that helps me strip the deadly toxins from monster meat. And now you are offering to sell me food for cheap? You are already selling me iron for cheap."
Draven shook his head.
"It is basically just me taking multiple massive favors from you." Draven argued. "And there is literally nothing that I am giving you in return. And as a man, I just cannot accept that. So please, tell me about anything that you need right now. I hope that it is something highly important so I can actually repay you."
Adrian chuckled.
"Ah, there is nothing that comes to my mind just yet." Adrian said casually. "But I will definitely tell you once I do think of something. Also, the growing cycle for these new crops is going to take a few months anyway." Adrian added. "So there is still plenty of time for us to think about a proper trade deal."
Draven nodded slowly. But then, he suddenly looked incredibly nervous. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh, by the way." Draven mumbled. "Aria has been grumpy ever since you went into isolated training with Serena. She has actually been skipping a few meals."