Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Eric tasted the bottle of berry wine he had made earlier.
This time, the flavor was finally right. The rich aroma of fruit blended with the fragrant scent of wine, sweet and easy to drink.
Now that the Dwarves had arrived, he felt more courageous. He pulled out the sorghum stored in the shed and started a new project: distilling white liquor.
While the sorghum was cooking, Max came to bring him some demon beast meat. Following behind him were Sam and the others, their faces full of expectation. But today, Eric was busy distilling liquor and didn’t cook.
"Sigh, when will this communal kitchen ever be finished?" Kevin sighed and grumbled.
Michael shot him an annoyed glance: "The iron pots haven’t even been forged, and the shed isn’t built yet. Where’s the kitchen going to come from?"
"I’ll go build the shed right after we eat!" Sam said impatiently.
"That’s right, when we were on patrol, we saw a human merchant caravan. They’ll probably arrive this afternoon," Michael turned his head to tell Max.
Seeing that the sorghum in the pot was cooked until soft, Eric scooped it out into a ceramic jar, sprinkled yeast starter on it, and then sealed the lid to ferment.
Once finished, he stretched.
He saw the baskets full of tofu piled up in front of him; he had forgotten to tell them to take it to be distributed to the tribe members again. He perked up his ears to listen. The square was still quite lively, so they probably hadn’t finished distributing the meat yet.
He hurriedly ran over, panting as he said: "Max, you guys forgot to take the tofu!"
Sam slapped his forehead; he had been too preoccupied with thoughts of the kitchen. He shot off like an arrow, leaving only an echo behind:
"I’ll go get it!"
Max looked down at Eric’s short, silver-white hair, which had become messy from his hurried run. He suppressed the urge to reach out and smooth it for him.
"A merchant caravan will be passing through today; they’ve already entered our territory. Is there anything you want to trade for?"
Eric’s mouth fell open in surprise. After being here for so long, he was finally about to meet humans!
He was excited for a long while before remembering to answer:
"Um... chili, pepper, those kinds of spices. It would be great if they have dill this time... Oh, it would be great if they brought cotton, preferably with seeds, so we can grow it ourselves!"
"Cotton?" Michael repeated, puzzled. Could it be an edible flower?
Max remained calm: "Alright, you’ll go with us later."
The beast cub wasn’t allowed to run to the merchant caravan alone; there had been cases of them being captured before.
Eric agreed without hesitation. He was only curious about the humans in this world, but he would absolutely not trust them because of it. Now, the Snow Wolf people were his family.
He turned to explain to Michael:
"I heard from Luban that wealthy Dwarves wear clothes made of cotton cloth. It’s more comfortable than linen, and blankets made from it are warmer than animal hides."
Sorry, Luban, I’m using you as an excuse again, he thought without a shred of guilt.
Michael, only half-understanding, praised it anyway: "Then this cotton would be very suitable for the beast cubs to use in winter, wouldn’t it?"
Of course. Not just for the young ones, it’s great for adults too.
He unconsciously imagined a winter scene with snow filling the sky and the wind howling, the whole family sitting on a warm heated bed, wearing cotton clothes, covered with cotton blankets, with a pot of thorny beast honey jam water warming on the stove.
What a feeling of overwhelming happiness! Weren’t all the toil and trouble for the sake of improving one’s standard of living a little?
By this time, Max and Michael had started a fire to grill the meat.
Their skills had improved by leaps and bounds, and the aroma was delicious. Sam also pulled the cart over and distributed the tofu to the tribe members, with a large portion being pushed towards Eric. He cut the tofu into small pieces, rendered fat from some beast meat in a ceramic pot, then added the tofu and wild onions to stir-fry together.
By the time the demon beast meat was grilled, the tofu stew was also ready.
Usually, at this time, Max would still be leading the warriors in training, but for the past few days, he had stayed in the tribe to ensure the safety of the members.
Although humans lacked innate strength, their swordsmen and mages became formidable once they reached a certain level, making them a difficult race to deal with.