Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan

Chapter 300: Under a Walnut Tree

Ren stood in the center of the scullery, her hands resting on her hips as she stared down her ingredients.

Spread out across the wide stone tables were several massive, terrifying swamp crabs the snake guards had hurriedly gathered from the murky depths. They were easily the size of large dogs, their thick, algae-covered shells glistening and their giant pincers securely bound with sturdy marsh vines.

"Mistress!"

Ren turned around just as the two familiar female snake beastmen—one with shimmering coral scales and the other a pristine, glowing albino—slithered excitedly into the kitchen.

"We heard you returned!" the coral female beamed, her vertical pupils dilating with pure joy.

"We have been practicing our skills every single day while you were in the forest!" the albino female added proudly, puffing out her chest. "We want to help you better prepare food for the King!"

Ren’s heart instantly melted. She felt like an incredibly proud culinary instructor looking at her star pupils. "That is amazing! I am so proud of you both," Ren smiled warmly.

Just then, heavy, splashing footsteps echoed from the corridor. Viper stepped into the scullery. He was completely soaked, his black hair dripping swamp water as he carried three large, plump waterfowls by their webbed feet.

The second Ren saw him, a massive, crushing wave of guilt washed entirely over her.

"Viper!" Ren gasped, rushing over to him with her hands clasped together in frantic apology. "Oh my god, I am so incredibly sorry for just leaving you like that! I had absolutely no idea the bird would just grab me and fly here! I feel terrible that you were left behind to get here by yourself!"

"It is fine," Viper replied smoothly, tossing the birds onto an empty stone table. "As long as you got to my king safely, the journey does not matter."

Ren let out a sigh of relief, though the guilt still gnawed at her. She looked at the dead birds on the table, her brows furrowing in genuine confusion.

"Viper, I didn’t ask for waterfowl," Ren explained gently. "I’m making Spicy Garlic-Butter Swamp Crab boils today."

Viper stared at her. A faint, almost imperceptible frown touched his lips. He looked at the dead birds, then back to her.

"I wanted..." Viper started, his deep voice hesitating slightly as he struggled to find the right words. "I wanted the bird pieces. The ones you coat in the crunchy dust and put in the hot fat. You made it for us before. It was... tasty."

Ren blinked, staring blankly at him.

Crunchy dust? Hot fat? Suddenly, it clicked. Ren burst into a bright, ringing laugh. "Wait, you mean fried chicken?! You went out of your way to hunt down ducks because you wanted me to make you fried chicken?!"

A very faint, highly embarrassed pink flush touched Viper’s pale cheeks.

Ren couldn’t stop smiling. "Okay, Viper. Consider it done. I will prepare a special, extra-crispy batch of fried waterfowl just for you as an official apology for leaving you behind."

Viper gave a sharp, satisfied nod and swiftly exited the kitchen.

Ren turned to her eager snake apprentices, assigning the coral and albino females the intense jobs of scrubbing the giant crabs with stiff natural brushes and peeling the mountain of starchy lotus roots.

Leaving the prep work in capable hands, Ren hurried out of the scullery and made her way directly to Syris’s cavernous garden.

The moment she stepped through the archways, Ren opened her inventory. The leather-bound Magical Swamp Ingredients Log Book materialized right into her hands.

"Let’s see what you can do," Ren whispered, opening the cover.

It was absolutely AMAZING.

The pages weren’t just static text; they operated like a magical, holographic tablet. When she thought of a specific flavor profile—like garlic or chili—the book instantly flipped to the exact page, displaying a glowing, 3D image of the corresponding swamp plant, its exact location in the cavernous garden, and a detailed list of its properties.

Ren immediately got to work. She skipped through the damp dirt, easily locating a patch of pungent, bulbous roots that the book identified as a perfect garlic substitute, and a cluster of fiery red swamp-peppers that would give her crab boil the perfect, spicy kick.

No longer did she have to dangerously sniff, lick, and rub random plants just to figure out if they were the equivalent of earthly spices! It was a dream come true!

Ren was enjoying herself so much that she actually began humming a cheerful, upbeat pop tune as she crouched down in the dirt to gather a handful of fragrant wild thyme.

THWACK.

Something small, hard, and incredibly dense forcefully struck the dead-center of the back of her head.

"Ow!" Ren yelped, rubbing her scalp as she pitched forward.

She looked down. Sitting innocently in the damp soil next to her knee was a perfectly round, hard walnut.

Ren froze completely.

A sudden flashback assaulted her brain. She vividly remembered the Fox Shaman parting her bare thighs. She could recall the agonizingly good sensation of his face buried deep between her legs, his hot, wicked tongue aggressively swirling around her swollen clit. She remembered the slick, wet sounds of his mouth as he relentlessly ate her out until she was a screaming, quivering mess, his three fluffy orange tails wrapping possessively around her waist...

Ren aggressively shook her head, a flush burning her cheeks as she tried to physically rattle the memory right out of her brain. Vex had stolen Viper’s boat and was somewhere in the swamp, but he couldn’t possibly be inside the castle, right?!

"No," Ren rationalized, squeezing her eyes shut. "I am just standing under a walnut tree."

Ding!

[System: Host, you are currently directly beneath a Fern.]

Ren’s blood ran cold. Her hands slowly curled into tight, trembling fists.

THWACK.

When a second, perfectly aimed walnut bounced right off the back of her skull, hitting the exact same tender spot, she finally snapped.

"Why, God?" Ren muttered miserably to the dirt.

Taking a deep, bracing breath, Ren slowly stood up from the ferns and turned around.