Aunt Marah never imagined that one day a noble would actually learn cooking from her, and so meticulously at that.
She couldn't help wondering if from now on she could brag to people that she was the baron's teacher—the cooking kind, anyway.
Of course, this was all just her imagination.
A male baron going into the kitchen usually meant the noble was on the decline—it wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
"Master, you haven't finished processing this bone properly. If you use it to make broth, it'll really affect the taste."
Marah held up a Fire Source Beast rib that Richard had processed.
"Let me see."
Richard took it and looked—sure enough, there were still membranes stuck in the bone's crevices, and some bits in the corners hadn't been removed either.
"Yeah, I didn't do it right."
He picked up the knife and, like a carpenter sanding wood, started fixing it again.
[Processing Fire Source Beast Bone Broth ingredients. Fire Source Beast Bone Broth proficiency +5]
[Learning to use knife skills. Basic Cooking proficiency +3]
This time in the kitchen, Richard made another discovery.
He'd originally just wanted to increase his Fire Source Beast Bone Broth proficiency, but didn't expect to unlock "Basic Cooking" too.
Now his Attribute Panel showed:
[Basic]: Basic Swordsmanship (Competent 0/200), Basic Cooking (Beginner 39/100)
[Cooking]: Fire Source Beast Bone Broth (Beginner 74/100)
Based on his guess, general knife skills, heat control, and even cooking regular dishes should all fall under Basic Cooking, while anything involving supernatural ingredients would go in the [Cooking] category.
Just like that, over the next hour or so, text prompts kept appearing before Richard's eyes.
From processing bones to handling White Crystal Fruit, from learning knife skills to controlling heat...
Finally, Basic Cooking grew to (Beginner 83/100), while Fire Source Beast Bone Broth proficiency increased to (Competent 5/200).
Along with the proficiency breakthrough came a wave of understanding about how to process Fire Source Beast ingredients.
At the same time, these two cooking types had a chain reaction.
[Gained insight from making Fire Source Beast Bone Broth. Your heat control ability improved. Basic Cooking proficiency +20]
[Basic Cooking proficiency breakthrough]
[Attribute Points +0.1]
Richard's face lit up with delight. He hadn't expected these two to complement each other and break through one after another.
This gave him an extra 0.2 attribute points in one shot, raising his strength another level!
This also made Richard really confident about his future.
"Sir, even though you seem to have a pretty good talent for cooking, I still suggest you stay out of the kitchen."
Marah awkwardly suggested in a small voice, "Whatever you want to eat, just let me make it."
Richard thought to himself, "This is all key to improving my strength—how can I not do it myself?"
Of course, he wouldn't say that out loud.
"Learning to cook makes me happy. If it's something that makes me happy, why shouldn't I do it?"
He said with a smile, "When Ralph gets back, tell him to buy a batch of Fire Source Beast bones and White Crystal Fruit. I need them."
As he spoke, he picked up the Fire Source Beast Bone Broth he'd made and headed to the dining room.
Leaving Marah standing there not knowing what to do.
She thought the baron was just trying something new by going into the kitchen once. How come it seemed like he planned to stay there permanently?
In the dining room, Richard drank the broth.
Compared to what he'd drunk last night, the taste was way worse—probably because his ingredient processing and heat control still had some gap compared to Marah's.
Fortunately, after drinking the broth, the attribute points were still the same, increasing by 0.1.
He added all 0.3 attribute points, bringing his strength up to 4.0.
Richard clenched his fist. The strength increase let him clearly feel how different he was now compared to before.
"If Fire Source Beast Bone Broth can keep giving me attribute points, then only two things limit my strength growth."
He patted his slightly bloated stomach.
"One is my belly, the other is my wallet."
His stomach was only so big—one big bowl of broth was basically all it could handle.
As for the wallet...
Even though the manor still had over five hundred gold coins in savings, considering future expenses, he didn't dare use them recklessly right now.
"Before I leave, I'll buy a reasonable amount of magical food ingredients."
Richard stood up.
The hot feeling from drinking the broth made him want to stretch and move around, so he grabbed a sword and went to the courtyard to practice.
"Swordsmanship's already at Competent level. Gotta push for another breakthrough soon!"
Even though he'd already mastered the theoretical knowledge of Basic Swordsmanship, actually practicing it still had plenty of problems.
Sword grip, power application technique, sword speed—none of his movements were standard.
Fortunately, the Attribute Panel didn't care how standard his movements were. After finishing one set, his proficiency went straight up by 3.
One time, two times, three times...
Sweat soaked his clothes again, but his movements never stopped.
He practiced for over two hours straight.
Richard wiped away some sweat and checked the Attribute Panel.
Now his Basic Swordsmanship proficiency had increased to (Competent 153/200).
"Just 47 points left. Push hard and I might finish today!"
This feeling of getting results from effort gave him tons of motivation.
Richard rested for a bit, and Marah happened to be preparing cream fruit and vegetable cake for afternoon tea, so he sat down to enjoy it.
From a lifestyle perspective, being a lord was pretty nice—someone took care of food, clothing, and everything else.
But underneath that glamorous life, being a good lord wasn't easy. Plenty of nobles went bankrupt by just chasing pleasure without worrying about making ends meet.
Let alone someone like Richard who was about to leave his home.
"Master, Julian's back. He's in the front courtyard right now," Marah reminded him as she brought over some fruit juice.
Richard perked up when he heard that.
Julian had been managing the manor's administrative affairs for years. Setting aside how good he was at it, just the fact that after such a huge blow to the Drake family he could still diligently prepare things for Richard showed a really great attitude.
The only unfortunate thing was that Julian hadn't directly said whether or not he'd go to Blackwood Island.
Richard had asked Ralph about it last night, and Ralph guessed Julian was probably worried about his family, or maybe his family didn't really agree.
"Quick, ask him in!"
Richard added, "Tell him I'm inviting him to enjoy afternoon tea together."
What he needed most right now was people he could trust. Someone like Julian who could get things done and was trustworthy—he needed people like that even more.
Soon, a middle-aged man wearing a gray windbreaker and a gentleman's hat walked into the inner courtyard with big strides.
Julian came under the huge lawn umbrella, took off his hat, and bowed.
"Sir, seeing you healthy again is the best news I've heard lately!"
"You've worked hard, Julian. Come, have a seat!"
Richard invited him to sit while sizing him up.
Supposedly Julian's ancestor had been a baron, but later lost his lands because of war and regime change. After a few generations, the family had completely fallen.
"Ralph told me you're arranging ships for us to go to Blackwood Island. How's that going?"
Julian looked at the baron in front of him with slight curiosity, noticing the changes in him.
At least the old Richard wouldn't have casually invited others to dine with him.
The original owner was someone who really cared about noble status.
This kind of personality wasn't necessarily bad—lots of nobles were like that.
But it was a bit different from how Richard was acting now.
"Maybe the upheaval changed the baron," Julian thought.
"I'm still looking for a suitable ship. There are some leads, but nothing's been finalized yet."
Julian looked troubled. "As you know, not many captains want to go to Blackwood Island."
Captains needed to make money too. Going other places, they'd have cargo both ways. Going to Blackwood Island, they'd probably come back empty.
Richard nodded and said seriously, "I'll have to keep troubling you with this."
"It's what I should do, Baron!" Julian was very humble.
Richard didn't ask any more about renting ships, trusting that the administrative officer would handle it fine.
"I heard the two assistants my father assigned you also ran off. I've got Ralph recruiting people—if you need any, just let him know. Or if you have someone in mind, you can recommend them to me."
After hearing this, Julian looked like he wanted to say something but held back. He still hadn't decided whether to go to Blackwood Island or not.
Recruiting assistants for him now seemed kind of rushed.
Richard caught on to this and smiled, raising his glass of juice to gesture for him to take a sip together.
"Ralph told me you haven't decided whether to come with me to Blackwood Island."
He brought it up directly. "Do you have some concerns? Why don't you tell me about them."