Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 798 - 63: Alcmene’s Wicked Taste

Chapter 798: Chapter 63: Alcmene’s Wicked Taste

Alcmene’s treehouse had three levels. The first floor was a spacious hall used for receiving guests, with two other rooms at the back, one of which was a narrow storeroom where frequently used items were stored, ready for use at a moment’s notice. The second floor housed three rooms; two of these were the bedrooms of the mother and daughter, where the two Lizard Ladies had lived together for over a hundred years, and the last one served as a dining room. However, since the adventure team was too large, the small dining room couldn’t accommodate everyone, so Alcmene had to temporarily convert the living room into a dining room. As for the third floor, it contained the kitchen and a storage room, where various foods and infrequently used items were kept, which made cooking more convenient and avoided the hassle of running up and down whenever a certain item was needed. For Lizardmen, most treehouses were designed this way.

This design was quite reasonable. The swamp was very humid, and living close to the ground could easily lead to trouble from the damp environment, potentially even causing illness. Sleeping on the second floor was much better as the room was mostly dry and no longer suffered from humidity. Moreover, cooking aromas produced during cooking would rise with the smoke. If the kitchen were located below the bedroom, even with a chimney, these smells could easily invade the bedroom. However, by arranging it like now, such problems were avoided, which was a unique living wisdom developed from years of residing in treehouses by the Lizardmen.

"Lizardmen, although not having any blood relation, were created by Artemis. Elves, although created by a collaboration between the forest and Life Deity System gods, saw a significant contribution from Artemis, resulting in both races inheriting many characteristics from Artemis, hence sharing many similar habits," Alcmene, who had been drawn away by her daughter into preparing meals on the third floor, left Galantis holding her tail, gleefully leading the team around her home. Although it was her leading, due to limited knowledge, most of the time it was Pannis who was doing the introducing while she listened intently at the side, making one wonder who the Lizardman really was. Pannis patted the wall of the treehouse beside him and said, "Living in trees, for example, is a habit of Artemis adopted by both races. However, Lizardmen’s customs differ from the Elves. You might see the Elves’ treehouses someday, and indeed Vivian might have already seen them; they reside among the forest trees, cultivating and influencing trees through magic to grow into living houses which they inhabit. Of course, this also has to do with the forest’s rejection properties, which I’ll explain in detail if you ever encounter them. Lizardmen, as you see, are not skilled in magic nor do they live within forests, but they modify trees in their own way to craft artificial treehouses. Compared to the Elves, of course, Elves have less impact on the trees, but Lizardmen, unlike them, are not protectors of plant life; they are pure hunters, and as long as the trees do not die, the extent of impact doesn’t matter much."

Seven people wandered around Alcmene’s home. The interior space of all three levels was actually quite large, but the arrangement was very simple and ordinary. Apart from one other space on the first floor being used as a pharmacy, the rest of it didn’t differ much from an ordinary Lizardman dwelling. As for Alcmene’s pharmacy, Pannis didn’t dare take the girls inside. The lessons from his accidental visit still deeply etched in his memory, Pannis did not want to experience that again. The herbs in the swamp were not all pleasantly fragrant, and one might even say that most medicinal smells and visual effects were not too pleasant. These mixed together—if someone saw and smelled them, it would be hard to say whether they would still have the courage to use the creations of this herbal master. Better not to see at all.

"What a pity, hiss, that you actually didn’t go inside," sighed Alcmene deeply as she served all the food on the table. Her mischievous pleasure in creating excitement for herself to enjoy was luckily avoided by Pannis this time, leaving her no choice but to give Pannis an unamused glance and sit down opposite him, threateningly flicking her tail, "It’s definitely because you, little brother, warned them ahead. You’re such a dreadful person. Had I known, I would’ve put something extra in your portion of the food."

Pannis simply ignored her. He knew his old friend all too well; reacting to her would only encourage her to become worse. The only way to deal with her was to ignore her until she found it boring, which could then make her tone down a bit. Thus, Pannis just looked at the plates on the table and told everyone, "Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the food; these are all swamp specialties. After this woman’s cooking, they are not to be found anywhere else. Take this, for instance, stewed mud lizard tail—the mud lizard’s meat is quite coarse, except for the tail, which is tender and tough, even tastier than the wings of a colorful winged chicken. Take this, too, berry cream sauce baked silk fruit—the silk fruit is a common plant eaten by Lizardmen, but berry cream is only available when the rainy season is approaching; if the timing is off, you simply can’t have it."

"What a fool you are, brother, keeping the best for last. Hiss, you aren’t planning to sneak it for yourself once they overlook it, are you?" Alcmene moved the largest soup bowl from in front of her daughter, whose eyes were desperate to the point of tears, to a place easily reachable by the girls, ignoring Galantis’s complaints. She attentive said, "Hiss, try this, it’s incredibly delicious food, you won’t regret eating it."

In the soup bowl was a creamy thick soup with white strips floating in it, apparently some kind of meat mixed with a plant cooked together. The girls each took a bowl to taste; the meat strips were so tender they almost melted on the tip of their tongue, while the plant was chewy, and it was hard to describe the taste of the soup—it seemed to perfectly blend the merits of seven or eight different foods. The girls felt that they had only tasted a few spoonfuls, yet they found their bowls were already empty.

"High Priest, you’re truly amazing," Catherine said sincerely, "What kind of meat is this, so incredibly tender?"

"You don’t know? You brought it yourselves, I merely borrowed it," Alcmene’s eyes twinkled slyly, unfortunately, the girls didn’t notice. "The long, strip-like thing, you even battled with it for a while, you should remember it well, how could you forget so easily?"

The girls’ faces changed color simultaneously, even the always expressionless Ava’s face turned slightly green. An image appeared in each of the girls’ minds at the same time—that being covered in lumps, waving its tentacles secreting mucus. Nearly synchronously, the girls covered their mouths with their hands, as if only by doing so could they prevent the contents of their stomachs from spraying onto the dining table. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly votes at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)