Chapter 77 – Hotpot Is Amazing!

Lilith had already been conquered by the flavors in her mouth. She had never experienced such an explosive taste before.

After finishing the meat in her mouth and gulping down a large mouthful of ice-cold Breadfruit juice, she finally had room to speak:

“So spicy, so numbing… but it feels amazing!”

The spice made her forehead bead with sweat, yet she couldn’t help wanting to eat more.

Still clumsy with chopsticks, she tried to cook the meat herself: “Moira, how do you use these sticks? Do I just pick up the meat and put it in the pot?”

Vasida: “???”

That reaction probably meant it was delicious, right?

Maybe she should give it a try too? After all, she had a strong stomach and had never had an upset one.

Moments later, there was one more little sorceress clumsily learning to use chopsticks.

“Sylph! Quick! You try it too! It smells so good!” Vasida urged Sylph.

She was the only one who hadn’t eaten yet.

Sylph gritted her teeth and put the meat from her plate into her mouth.

She usually ate rather bland food. The sudden spiciness brought tears to her eyes as she frantically chugged juice: “Spicy! Spicy! So spicy!”

Seeing her extreme reaction, Mo Lan figured she truly couldn’t handle that level of heat and recommended the other two broths: “If you really can’t take it, try the mildly spicy tomato broth, or the non-spicy clear broth. They taste quite good too.”

Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph now understood how hotpot worked.

They tried cooking some meat in the other two pots.

“This sour and spicy one seems pretty good too.”

“This one is so savory and not spicy at all—the blanched greens are delicious!”

“But I still like the red oil spicy pot the best. What a rush!”

Lilith now found the red broth in that pot more captivating than blood.

“I think that one’s the best too!” Vasida said.

She felt deeply sorry for her earlier prejudice. How could Earth possibly be a culinary wasteland? This thing called hotpot was nothing short of a divine delicacy.

Even Sylph, who normally ate bland food, couldn’t stop herself from dipping meat into the red oil spicy pot again and again.

Even though the spice brought tears to her eyes every single time, she refused to give up.

The tomato and clear broths had been completely relegated to palate cleansers between bouts of the fiery flavor.

Mo Lan had expected as much.

No one could resist the allure of red oil hotpot! And if they could, it was only because the hotpot wasn’t authentic enough!

Sorceresses had no custom of keeping silent during meals, so Mo Lan asked Vasida and Sylph: “How are your Grimoires coming along?”

Vasida, who had been burying her face in food, and Sylph, who had been guzzling juice to cool the burn, both looked up and shared a smile.

Together, they summoned their Grimoires.

“We did it!”

Vasida’s was a wild-styled book bound in animal hide.

The cover was furry, with a gaping maw embedded with beast fangs in the center.

Sylph’s leaned more toward an Elven aesthetic—vines, flowers, and leaves painted and carved across every inch of the cover.

The design was far more refined and elegant than before, though the craftsmanship still showed some rough edges.

The inlay and carving techniques were somewhat crude.

But the two of them were clearly very satisfied, doting on their Grimoires and unable to put them down.

“We both found cover templates directly from ‘《The Birth of an Exquisite Cover》.’ It was a bit clumsy since it was our first time, but the results turned out pretty well,” Sylph said.

The two Grimoires floated side by side. Vasida looked at Mo Lan and Lilith: “Which do you think is prettier—mine or Sylph’s?”

“…”

What kind of loaded question was that?

Mo Lan and Lilith were speechless for a second, then said in unison: “Mine is the prettiest!”

Lilith glanced at her: “My Grimoire is the best. Red is the most powerful color.”

“Purple is prettier, and my Grimoire matches my Book of Cards—one of a kind!” Mo Lan refused to back down.

“Red is prettier!” “Mine is one of a kind!”

“Furry and cozy, with badass fangs!”

“Green is the color of life and vitality!”

…

The hotpot gathering had devolved into a Grimoire beauty pageant.

None of them could out-argue the others.

“Hey, hey, hey! We’re all talking about our Grimoires, and you’re over there sneaking meat into the pot!”

All arguments came to an end with the last plate of meat.

Every bit of the ingredients Mo Lan had brought back that afternoon was eaten clean.

Lilith used a Cleaning spell to wash all the bowls, plates, dining table, and kitchen spotless.

She was reluctant to touch the three remaining broths: “Moira, can you still cook more stuff in these broths? It’d be such a waste to dump them. If you don’t want them, can I take them?”

Perfectly ordinary ingredients, once dipped in this broth, tasted completely different.

Broth this magical—she could keep eating it until it went bad!

Mo Lan stopped her: “The oil in the pot has been cooked out and the flavor’s faded. It won’t taste good anymore—just dump it. If you want more, I’ll teach you how to make it later.”

“The red oil one might have faded, but the tomato and clear broths are still fine!”

Truth be told, Vasida had her own designs too. She eyed the pots on the table.

With the broth base there, all you had to do was bring it to a boil and blanch whatever you wanted. Easy as could be.

“Even if the clear broth is a bit bland, so what? Just add some salt,” Sylph chimed in.

For Sylph, who could only make pan-seared steak, vegetable salad, and toast, even a diluted broth was already a rare delicacy.

Outnumbered three to one, Mo Lan was defeated. The three broths were snatched up by Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph, each claiming one to take away.

They nearly came to blows over dividing the spoils—or rather, the uneven distribution of broth.

Watching the three of them carry their prizes as if cradling great treasures, happily departing, Mo Lan shook her head with an amused smile.

“If I actually made hotpot seasoning cubes, those three would bend over backwards for me. Hotpot seasoning is a pain to make from scratch, but hotpot seasoning Cards would be easy!”

“Forbidden!”

“Mass-selling food to little witches below fourth year is forbidden!”

The Headmistress’s decree arrived immediately.

“Fine!” Mo Lan understood the Academy’s reasoning, so: “No hotpot for the upperclassmen for now!”

After seeing her friends off, she went to the washroom and soaked in a bath, washing away the grease and hotpot smell clinging to her.

Fresh and clean, she sat down at her desk.

She opened the window, letting the cool night breeze pour in to dry her damp hair.

She opened her Grimoire to 《Fire, Light, and Water》and continued reading.

When the alarm rang at one in the morning, her hair was dry and the book was nearly finished.

The only change was a few moths that had gathered around the magic lamp in the dormitory, chasing the light.

“Finally done!” Mo Lan closed her Grimoire and yawned, pinching up the moth carcasses beneath the lamp and flicking them out the window to fertilize the soil.

Unfortunately, there was no time to try the Flame spell or the Light spell.

But at least she had finished all the books she’d planned to read. A bountiful harvest and a perfect weekend. Tomorrow would be a fresh start.

She shuffled along in her slippers and climbed upstairs.

When she reached her bed, it was as if all her strength was suddenly drained away. She collapsed into the covers and fell fast asleep.

Partway through sleeping, she remembered she hadn’t turned off the lamp. She wriggled up like an earthworm, stretched out an arm, and tugged the pull cord of the bedside magic lamp.

Click. The room plunged into darkness.

The remaining moths suddenly lost the light they’d been chasing and scattered in all directions.