Agreeing to make a run to the village, he turned and ran. Sylpha felt something was off, but it wasn't until he disappeared into the foilage that she realized he had been running in the wrong direction. Too late to chase him down to correct his path, Sylpha just got up and went to gather more kindling. Feeding the fire with enough wood to keep going, she sat down and looked at the time. She suspected she would have a good lot of alone time to herself, so she checked the condition of the fire then disappeared on the spot. She logged out. Lifting the VR headset, Erica ran a hand through her hair then proceeded to do her own thing. Things like, say, drinking water, having a snack, going to the toilet... things gamers were doing when they were away from the game. She also consulted a notebook, in which she wrote a great myriad of recipes both experimental and completed. She didn't need to consult anything about a Yosenabe, but there were other things she was thinking about related to the experimental recipes in her notes. Eventually, though, her thoughts turned to the hotpot dish that was requested of her and the words that Yuichi said before he left. Something about it comparing to one made by his personal chef. Personal chef? You needed a personal chef to make a dish like Yosenabe? Well, there existed people with no cooking skills after all, and that wasn't just referring to the game. By the time Sylpha logged back in, one hour had passed (one and a half if counting from when Yuichi left). She suspected he would be back, but... he wasn't. With even more time on her hands, she gathered more wood and made a tripod to hold the pot over the fire... then scrapped it because it would likely be unable to take the weight. Instead, she just prepared the water by filling a waterskin from the river. She simply had that much time on her hands. Just when she thought he wouldn't be showing up any more, he did, carrying a heavy haul. How he had done so on such little energy was beyond Sylpha's comprehension. Perhaps he might have already hit 0 energy and fainted, but the Yladian did not bother questioning it, deciding it would be more beneficial to her sanity. Opening the box, she only needed to take a single glance before looking up at him. "You can't make a hotpot without a pot, you dolt." For once an insult slipped out of her mouth. Regrets? She had none, he thoroughly deserved it. Pulling up the cooking tool, it was basically a pan: low and flat, much better for making tarts and pies, but nothing for a hotpot. "That means you're going to be eating something outside your request." Taking the Kobold meat and the tool she heated some water, a small dash of sugar, then a trace amount of flour as a thickening agent. It was all she was given and the fool didn't even bother to bring vegetables. They're in a forest, but the vegetation here was not the tasty kind worth serving to humans. With one hand occupied by the act of cooking whatever weird recipe this was going to turn out to be, she took up her waterskin and held it out, with one finger pointing out in the direction of the river. "Take it and fill it from the river there. Have a drink while you're at it: You're going to need it." It would at least tide him over until the cooking was done. Players, like humans, could go on an empty stomach for a while. When the item left her hand, she would occupy it again with the meat. Once the water had been heated, she would coat the meat with it as a (poor) substitute for marination before being left on the pan over the fire. Whatever. As long as it was cooked properly, she could no longer care for the taste. The consistency looked edible, and she didn't put too much sugar to overpower everything. All she had to do was not drop the pan into the fire.
