Marco enters the kitchen with a smile, finding his usual table and pulling out a cutting board and knife. Opening his [Inventory], he retrieves the first of his many [Flash Cured] slime bodies and inspects it before making his first cut.

  “If I’m aiming for calamari with hot peppers then I need to make rings from this slime. Maybe start with removing the core and then slicing?” Marco thinks rotating the blob, he sets it down and picks up his knife.

  Moving with practiced ease, he slips the knife into the slime pushing until he feels his knife make contact with the core. He carefully cuts around the orb embedded in the creature and removes it, leaving him with a semi-hollow cylinder that he cuts into rings.

  He repeats the process, firing three more slimes and cutting them into rings. He finds some milk in the cold storage and grabs the strong vinegar on the way back to his table.

  Vinegar into milk to make a quick buttermilk substitute, he puts two slimes worth of rings into the buttermilk and lets it rest and marinate.

  The other two portions of rings are put to the side so he can prepare a dredge and breading station. Salt and pepper seasoned flour, whisk eggs and add a splash of milk, and fine breadcrumbs seasoned with garlic, paprika, and some chopped herbs that remind Marco of oregano and basil.

  Marco starts the first unsoaked set of rings into the salt and peppered flour, through the egg wash, and finishing in breadcrumbs. He turns to the stove activating some heating Inscriptions and getting a large pot of oil heating to deep fry.

  He tests the oil with a sprinkle of flour, seeing the reaction he wants from the hot oil, he grabs his first batch of breaded slime rings and drops the first set into the hot oil. Quickly summoning a set of [Salt] chopsticks to flip and retrieve the breaded rings, he tends the pot of oil, breaded slime rings smelling amazing as they get golden brown.

  His footlong chopsticks blur with speed as he flips and takes slime out of the oil. Seasoning the finished product with salt and pepper, Marco decides that he wants some of the hot peppers to be fried as well.

  Deseeding and cutting the peppers into disks and throwing them through the standard breading and adding them to the pot. Mixing the finished slime rings and fried peppers together and then putting them on a warming station so he can whip up some aioli.

  Eggs are separated, mixed with mild vinegar, lemon juice, the herb that reminds Marco of basil, and parsley. Marco drizzles oil into the bowl and whisks vigorously creating a stable and thick emulsion that tastes like lemon and herbs.

  Grabbing a plate and adding a circle of aioli before piling his friend slime rings artistically, topping it with lemon zest, parmesan, and chopped herbs.

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  He sticks his head into the stairwell leading up to the sister’s set of room. “Ethil and Doris! I made a new dish and I need opinions.” Marco calls up the stairs.

  “Coming!” The blended voices of the pair return.

  The sound of feet on stairs comes a few minutes later. The pair appear in their normal set of matching clothing, pale blue clothes tied with an apron around the middle.

  “Before we begin, I know that House Ivory doesn’t eat meat. I killed some slimes and made them into a rendition of something called calamari from back home. Do you consider Mana based creatures to be animals?” Marco asks, explaining the dish a little in the process.

  “Slime as food? We don’t consider Mana creatures to be animals but usually slimes are not edible due to their texture.”

  “I think I found a way around that issue. So, in front of you, a dish of fried slime and hot peppers on top of an herby lemon aioli and topped with lemon zest, parmesan, and chopped herbs. Please enjoy.”

  “The food smells amazing.” The sisters both grab forks and dig in, they enjoy the first batch and Marco begins to drain the buttermilk-soaked batch. He repeats the same process for the new batch and breads and fries the rings to golden brown.

  He plates them in the same fashion before sliding the dish toward the sisters. He grabs one of the slime rings from the first plate, making sure he has a little bit of everything in the bite and tries his creation for the first time.

  Crispy breadcrumbs yield to soft tender slime rings, not quite the same texture as squid but delicious nonetheless. The aioli is a delicious accompaniment, an acidic bite to cut through the fried food and the hot peppers providing a nice heat to round out the dish.

  He tries the buttermilk batch and likes the plain batch just a little bit more. The more robust texture of the unsoaked batch is more appealing to Marco.

  “Do you like the plain batch or the buttermilk batch more?” Marco asks, “And do you have any suggestions?”

  “I like the plain batch more.” The sisters say over each other, “No improvements, this is a very nice dish. Unique and delicious. I think you are the first to conquer the slime edibility issue.”

  “If the pair of you want to help me make more of these then we can serve them for dinner tonight.” Marco suggests.

  “We would be happy to help.” Doris says, quickly grabbing a large bowl and some eggs to make a larger batch of aioli. Marco pulls all of the slime bodies from his [Inventory] and putting them on his table, he shows Ethil how to core the slimes and the correct thickness to slice the rings.

  Ethil summons a knife made of thin but strong ice, she expertly cores the slime and slices it perfectly. The hit their rhythm and soon slime rings are being cored, sliced, breaded, and fried before being placed on the warming station to hold before dinner.

  A crisp salad is made, Marco whips together a Caesar dressing without the anchovies of course. Crunchy greens are combined with shredded parmesan cheese and the creamy dressing before being topped with croutons and placed into a large serving bowl.

  Doris finishes up frying the last of the slime rings and grabs logs of cheese from cold storage and a variety of dried fruit from the cupboard. She arranges the ingredients into a beautiful cheese board to be served with dinner.

  They all clean up with the help of the sister’s magical dishwasher and wash up before Marco leaves for the dining room, excited to see it full of people for a very special meal. He finds his seat next to Coron, chatting about the job he did earlier that day and the process of cooking the surprise meal of the night.