Chapter 55: Eating a Floating Mushroom Beast
Harold turned on the sprinkler to water the flowers, then he checked on the peaches, which still hadn't sprouted.
So Harold returned to his desk and continued his research until four o'clock in the afternoon (during which time he slept for half an hour because he was too tired). Then he took his purse and took a boat to the residential area of Huacheng.
After arriving, he found the master in the blacksmith shop, gave him all the data of the beast of burden, and asked him to make reins, saddle and other tools for him.
The master was shocked by these numbers. He thought Haroldt had made a mistake. How could a noble scholar who was qualified to study abroad make such a low-level mistake?
After listening to Harold's explanation, his expression changed from astonishment to surprise.
"To be honest, I have also thought about riding a pack animal. This has been my dream since childhood. Pack animal riders are much more handsome than knights, at least that's the case in the eyes of the Xumi people," said the blacksmith as he turned his back to select the right leather.
"When horses encounter hillbillies, they will be frightened and throw their riders off, but pack animals will rush into the hillbillies and trample them into a pulp."
The blacksmith described to Harold the benefits of riding a pack animal. He himself had never ridden a pack animal, nor had he even used a pack animal to transport goods. Everything he said was from his imagination, but he spoke very realistically, as if he had seen the scene with his own eyes.
Harold nodded in agreement. The beasts of burden in the game did like to charge forward recklessly, and it was a good thing to be courageous.
After selecting the right materials with the blacksmith, Harold paid a deposit of 40,000 Mora, and he would have to pay another 70,000 Mora after completion.
Then he bought some wine and visited the village rangers, who all knew his name because of Nasrin, and gave them the wine and asked them to help keep an eye out for the scholars who had come here recently to inquire about him.
"I planted some peaches in the field on the top of the mountain. If someone wants to dig them out and you happen to see it, could you please help stop this behavior?" Harold sighed and looked distressed.
The forest rangers had already learned from Nasrin the reasons and consequences of the abnormal behavior of some scholars in the House of the Decrees. They all felt that Harold's concerns were not unreasonable. In addition, Harold was very polite and they all liked his style of speaking, so they immediately agreed to help him keep an eye on his fields.
"If someone really does that kind of dirty thing, it's not enough to just stop him, we will catch him and give him severe punishment," said a ranger. He hated people who played dirty tricks behind people's backs, so he frowned while speaking, as if the person who did such a thing was standing right in front of him.
Other rangers echoed this, and they proposed a number of punishment measures:
"Take him to a residential area and educate him for two hours."
"Let Amir's woodland dogs give him a good scare."
“Reclaim the temporary residence and incense allotted to him.”
"He'll never get any free pie again!"
...
What? These are actually very severe punishments in the eyes of the forest rangers.
Harold didn't know whether to laugh or cry. For the sake of his image in the hearts of these kind-hearted forest rangers, he didn't tell them about the punishment method of "beating up the vandals and hanging them on a rack".
Then he asked them about the living conditions of the nearby residents. He mainly wanted to know whether the doctor's small slice had tied up anyone for human experiments.
The rangers thought Harold cared about them and were even friendlier to him, telling him about their own and other residents' living conditions.
Harold was slightly relieved not to find the word "missing persons" in the message, but he did not let down his guard and was thinking of countermeasures in his mind.
He didn't think that the little piece was here for tourism. If that little piece really kidnapped residents and scholars for research in the future, then the best option would be to instigate the residents and forest rangers of Huachengguo to shut down his research institute and make a big deal out of it.
No matter how much the top leaders of the Council of Lords want to protect the Fatui, they still have to carefully weigh the pros and cons in the face of public outrage.
But if possible, he did not want the rangers to fight against the Fatui, even if the other side was not numerous. But if something happened to the small slice and attracted the attention of the doctor's real body, he did not know how the doctor would react.
Of course, the best outcome is that Little Slice is determined to harm Lanaro's unintentional human experiment. Lanaro senses the Fatui's malicious intentions and stays away from them. Little Slice returns in vain and goes to another place to conduct other projects until he is wiped out a few years later.
Survive until your enemy dies, which is a satisfying ending to a story.
After saying goodbye to the ranger, Haroldt came to the highest point of the residential area and looked at his experimental field from afar.
There are still some scholars checking in there.
Harold pulled on his scarf, walked over with a swagger, looked at the land, and then left quietly.
Walking out of the residential area, he saw a group of floating water fungi playing at the edge of the woods. The mushroom-shaped aqua blue fungi were jumping around and making "na na" sounds.
Harold stopped to watch, and he remembered the description of this mushroom beast in the "Illustrated Guide to the Biology of Teyvat Continent":
It is rich in water and can be used as an emergency water source.
Well, that is to say, edible.
Catch one and try it.
Harold picked up the book and threw it over, knocking one of them unconscious. The other mushroom beasts were frightened and flew away, but when they saw their companions fall into the hands of strange humans, they floated back and angrily hit Harold with their bodies.
Harold directly mobilized the elemental power to erect a wall to block their attack and picked up the mushroom beasts that fell to the ground.
Soft, flexible and feels good.
Harold couldn't help but pinch the mushroom creature in his hand again. At this time, the mushroom creature woke up. After failing to float, it blinked in confusion and looked at Harold who was pinching it.
...It turns out that you need to be mentally prepared to eat it raw. No wonder the illustration emphasizes that this is only an emergency water source.
Harold silently turned the mushroom-beast over. He couldn't see its eyes, so he didn't feel any psychological pressure when eating it.
He leaned over and took a bite with an expressionless face.
"Na——!"
The mushroom beast in his hand made a sharp cry.
Ugh, it tastes terrible.
Harold frowned, threw the mushroom-beast away, chewed the mushroom-beast piece in his mouth and swallowed it.
It's very astringent and a little bitter, a bit like an unripe banana, but it's very juicy.
No amount of sauce can save this flavorful dish.
But in the eyes of rabbits, there are no unpalatable ingredients, only inappropriate cooking methods. Anything edible can become a delicacy.
If directly cutting it into a sashimi platter doesn’t work, then consider boiling or grilling it.
Harold also wrote down mushroom beasts in his recipe book, and planned to find time to talk to Dolly about cooking slimes and mushroom beasts.