Chapter 413 – Surströmming

Sylph also started searching in the Card Shop.

Only Vasida wrinkled her nose, a strange expression crossing her face.

But to avoid being noticed by the others, she silently lowered her head and busied herself with eating.

Mo Lan explained with a straight face: “Canned food is a special method of packaging and preserving food on Earth. However… surströmming has a rather unique flavor. Most people would find it hard to stomach.”

“Really? There’s actually food like that?” Celia materialized the card out of curiosity and opened the can following the diagram on the lid.

The moment Vasida and Mo Lan heard the can pop open, they immediately held their breath.

Celia, Lilith, and Sylph took the full brunt of the stench head-on. All three gagged in unison, feeling that one more breath would knock them unconscious.

Bi’er, for the first time ever, flapped her wings of her own accord and flew several hundred meters away in one go. Zhizhi clamped her nose shut and buried her head in the ground to block out the smell.

Only Lilith’s Vampire Vine seemed unfazed.

This particular card happened to be single-use — once materialized, it couldn’t be stored back into card form.

Celia made to throw it away, then suddenly remembered this was right next to where she lived. Worried about contaminating the soil, she pulled it back.

She held it in her hands, at a complete loss for what to do.

Thankfully, one card contained three cans, and she had only opened one.

Otherwise the stench would have been doubled!

“Is… is this really food and not some kind of stink poison?”

“It’s food! It smells unbearable, but it actually tastes quite good,” Mo Lan said.

“I simply cannot imagine that something this foul-smelling could actually be edible… urgh~” Sylph turned her face away again.

“How about we feed it to the Devouring Stomach?” Vasida suggested.

Back in fifth year, she had also drawn a surströmming card, and ended up feeding it to the Devouring Stomach.

The stuff stank to high heaven, but the food energy it provided was actually quite decent.

This was something she couldn’t wrap her head around either — based on the food energy the Devouring Stomach extracted, surströmming actually fell into the category of delicious food.

“Is… is that really okay?” Celia said, pinching her nose. “Maybe I should just destroy it with magic — Uli!”

The turtle she’d been holding had turned around at some point and plunged headfirst into the surströmming can, gobbling mouthful after mouthful.

When she saw the tip of Uli’s tail wiggling in little circles, Celia fell silent. “You actually think this is good?”

Having lived with Uli for so long, she was only just discovering today that Uli had such extreme tastes!

Uli said nothing, simply burying her head and devouring the contents ravenously. She licked one can spotlessly clean, drinking every last drop of juice before lifting her head. “Yummy! More!”

She spoke in 《Valen Common Language》.

Yet another magical familiar that could speak human language.

It wasn’t particularly strange for a witch’s familiar to speak human tongues — the magical familiar contract inherently boosted a familiar’s intelligence.

Especially this turtle, which was a species from another world.

But her love for surströmming was still quite surprising.

Celia even double-checked with her: “You really want more? You don’t think it stinks?”

Uli: “Smells great!”

Celia used the Wind Wall spell to section off a space far downwind, then tossed Uli and the remaining two cans inside.

Uli buried her head and began devouring once more.

Before long, the remaining two cans had been polished clean as well.

Vasida silently put away the Devouring Stomach. “Looks like surströmming really does suit her palate.”

Uli enjoyed Mo Lan’s cooking too, but she had never shown the same frantic eagerness as she did with the surströmming.

Even though the wind had carried the smell away, the lingering aftertaste from the empty cans still made them nauseous.

In the end, Celia hurled the empty cans high into the air and blasted them to dust with a Firework Blast.

After she sat back down by the campfire with Uli in her arms, Mo Lan handed her a card. “A gift — rations for Uli.”

“{Canned Food Card — Surströmming}, quantity: one ton?” Celia nearly had a physical gag reflex.

Mo Lan had mentioned earlier that she wanted to give Uli some extra rations and had produced a card. Although Celia hadn’t understood what it was at the time, she had clearly seen the card’s name — wasn’t it {Ingredient Card — Freshwater Fish}?

“How about we switch back to the other card instead!” Celia said.

Surströmming really did smell terrible!

Uli turned to look at her, beady eyes full of pleading. Seeing that Celia remained unmoved, she stretched her neck out and chomped down on the card, mumbling indistinctly: “Thank you!”

She claimed it herself, stashed it away at lightning speed, then went back to nonchalantly nibbling on dried fish as if nothing had happened.

Celia: “…”

She really did love the stuff. Celia had been raising all those fish for her, yet Uli had only ever dutifully looked after them — she’d never once thought to hoard them away.

Celia had no choice but to accept Uli’s decision. She said to Mo Lan, somewhat embarrassed:

“Thank you, but honestly, those fish you all caught were really nothing special — you didn’t need to do this.

And Uli and I even mooched a meal off you.

How about this — come stay at my place tonight! You can set up your tents on Uli’s back.

I have a few specialties of my own too. I’ll cook for you tomorrow.

There are also some fish and shrimp I’ve been raising for Uli at the bottom of the lake. They’re not native Emerald Creek Plains species — they can’t adapt to the water here, so they have to be kept in an enclosure on the lakebed. They won’t escape.

Moira, you can go pick some out. Consider it a thank-you gift for that card.”

Mo Lan did need some new species as card-making materials, and besides, the way Celia had emerged from the water earlier had been incredibly cool.

The idea of spending a night on the turtle’s back had them all absolutely thrilled.

After exchanging glances with Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph, she nodded in agreement. “Then we’ll gladly take you up on that.”

“No trouble at all! It’s been so long since the lake was this lively!” Celia said happily.

“Then let’s hurry up and eat. Once we’ve finished everything, we’ll pack up camp!” Mo Lan said.

They had been so engrossed in conversation that they’d barely touched the food she’d made.

By now the surströmming smell had fully dissipated, and the witches’ appetites returned with a vengeance.

Mo Lan had made generous portions, so even with one extra person, they all ate their fill.

Today, however, there was no need for Vasida’s Devouring Stomach to handle the leftovers.

Uli ate every last bit.

Like Zhizhi, Uli could shift between large and small forms.

But her enormous form was her true body.

Her appetite matched her size — absolutely staggering.

Of everyone present, probably only she and Vasida hadn’t eaten their fill.

But each had their own way of getting extra helpings — Vasida could feed Breadfruit to the Devouring Stomach, and Uli could return to the lakebed to continue eating.

Mo Lan packed up everything at the campsite. The tent reverted to a Tent Card, and together with Celia, they made their way to the lakeside.

Celia set Uli down in the water. Uli swam toward the center of the lake, then rapidly grew in size.

“Hop on!” Celia pulled out her broomstick and flew up onto Uli’s back first. Mo Lan and the others followed close behind.