C40: Daily Fitness

“Lord Saint.”
“Please stop calling me that. Others are imitating you now…”

The Lifeless King came over to hang out today. Not that I mind. Talking to him is fun; he can even come here every day if he’d like.

“I brought a souvenir for you today, Lord Saint.”

I knew it. He still insists on calling me that.
But wait, a souvenir? I keep receiving things from Sensei; it’s starting to make me feel guilty.

What kind of souvenir is it this time?

“Didn’t you say last time that you wanted a bird that lays eggs, but you couldn’t find any monster that resembles one?”

Yes, that I did.
My life as a cultivator still lacks a great variety of things, and one of them includes eggs.
Eggs are tasty and can expand my cooking repertoire.

We already have vegetables, meat, and condiments. It’s about time we have eggs.
And in order to procure a stable supply of it, we need chickens for that.

However, this is a fantasy world.
I doubt the chicken here is the same chicken I know.

That’s why I’m looking for monsters that nest in the dungeons and have an ecology similar to chickens, just like how I used square boar meat as a substitute for pork.

Regardless of knowing whether it existed or not, my wife, Platy, and Veil, formed an expedition party to search for this chicken-like monster in the dungeons.

They’ve been busy with the search these past few days.
In other words, they’re not here.

“After hearing your story, I also thought of looking for a monster that meets your desires.”
“In your dungeon?”

This reclaimed land of mine lies adjacent to two dungeons—Sensei’s cave dungeon and Veil’s mountain dungeon.
I expected bird monsters to nest in the mountains; that’s why Platy and Veil have been searching there all this time, but I guess I was wrong…

“There was such a monster like that,” says Sensei as he takes out a bird.
“Ohh!”

Its size and silhouette are just like a chicken’s! This might just live up to my expectations!
…or so I thought.

“I believe it’s called a Yoschamo. Despite being a bird species, it cannot fly. Hence it nests in my dungeon.”
“I see…”

That’s when I noticed a specific characteristic of this so-called yoschamo that cannot be overlooked.

“But Sensei…”
“Yes?”
“It has a cockscomb.”

Cockscomb.
That red thing on a chicken’s head.

Of course, since it’s a chicken, you can at least expect it to have a cockscomb.
That’s what I thought, too.

But when you say it’s a chicken with a cockscomb…

“…A rooster?”

This is a male chicken, isn’t it?
The chicken I wanted was one that can lay eggs, in other words, a hen.

As I thought of this, the yoschamo suddenly faced the other way.

…
…Don’t show off your anus to me.
…Wait, I think birds have a cloaca instead of an anus.

Suddenly, something lumpy came out from the yoschamo’s hole.
It was oval and light brown in col—an egg?
An egg!
Even though it has a cockscomb, it still laid an egg!

Now that I think about it, pseudo-biological monsters from the dungeons have no reproductive ability. Therefore there’s no distinction between males and females.
That means there’s no problem if a monster possesses characteristics of both genders.

But if there’s no need for them to reproduce, why do they still lay eggs?
Oh well, not that it matters. It’s a trifling matter compared to procuring a steady supply of eggs!

While I hold the egg with both hands like some kind of treasure, the yoschamo briskly walks toward me.

…Upon closer look, this chicken-like creature has a smug expression.
When suddenly, it gives me a spur kick!

“Woah!”

It seems it wasn’t specifically aimed at me, but at the egg I was holding.
Its sharp kick cracks the egg in half, spilling its contents. Thankfully, a plate happened to be right under, where the egg white and yolk spread out evenly.

“This is…!”

The yolk is almost entirely spherical and is nicely swollen, with the color more orange than yellow, while the egg white is as transparent as freshwater.

“Are you saying I should give it a try?”

The yoschamo nods in response.
Taking up on its offer, I slurp the raw egg straight from the plate.
Being Japanese, raw eggs are fine with me.

“T-This is delicious!!!”

I immediately adopted five birds from Sensei’s dungeon.

---

Sensei went home.
Platy and Veil, who came back that evening from the mountain dungeon half-dead, were mind-blown by the truth.

“It was in the cave dungeon this whole time?! We put so much effort looking all over the mountain dungeon for nothing?!”
“Wow! What a completely useless mountain dungeon that was! Just like its guardian!”
“Huh?! In that case, I won’t let you eat anything from the square boar that you get from my mountain!”

They’ve become so close now that they can even quarrel with each other…

But I won’t give this scrambled egg made from the yoschamo’s produce to those who are fighting~

…
It was an instant hit.

Though their efforts were in vain, to Platy and Veil, who searched all over the mountain dungeon seeking this taste, the satisfaction they feel is all the more.

Now I want a rectangular pan for tamagoyaki…