#40 Daily Fitness

“Lord Saint.”

“Please stop calling me "Lord Saint". Even the others are starting to call me that 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.”

As I thought, he still insists on calling me that way. And 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 that you wanted a bird monster that lays eggs but you couldn’t find any 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.

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 that of chickens, just like how I used square boar meat as a substitute for pork.

Regardless of knowing whether it exists or not, my wife, Platy, and Veil, teamed up to search for this chicken-like monster in the dungeons.

They’ve been busy with the search these past few days that they're also not here today.

“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.” said Sensei as he took 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 species of bird, 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 spherical and light brown in color—an egg?

An egg!

Even though it has a cockscomb, it still laid an egg!

Now that I think about it, pseudo-biological monsters that originate from the dungeons have no reproductive ability because they are indeed pseudo, therefore there’s no distinction between male and female. That means there’s no problem if a monster possesses characteristics of either genders.

But if there’s no need for them to reproduce, then why do they still lay eggs?

Oh well, not that it matters, it’s a trifling thing to fuss over compared to being able to procure a steady supply of eggs!

While I held the egg with both hands like it was some kind of treasure, the yoschamo briskly walked towards me.

…Upon closer look, this chicken-like creature has a funny expression on.

When suddenly, it gave me a spur kick!

“Woah!”

It seems it wasn’t specifically aiming at me, but its egg that I was holding.

Its sharp kick cracked the egg in half, spilling its contents. Thankfully, a plate happened to be right under it, where the egg white and yolk spread out evenly.

“This is--!”

The yolk is almost completely spherical in shape and is nicely swollen, with the color more orange than yellow, while the egg white is as transparent as fresh water.

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

The yoschamo nodded in response.

Taking up on its offer, I slurped 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 from the mountain dungeon that evening, 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 yoschama’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 for this taste, the satisfaction they feel is all the more for them.

Now I want a tamagoyaki pan.