The Chief walked until she arrived in front of Rezen and she stared at him with a complicated glint in her eyes
Rezen's presence is no doubt risky to the tribe but at the same time, he is necessary. Before the tribe could nourish another Junior Mage, each and every member of the tribe is more precious than normal, especially the abled ones
Even a Junior Mage's capabilities are limited and the tribe needs to mobilize the apprentices to hunt for food. As such, in these critical times, the tribesmen's health must always be at its peak and Rezen is necessary for that
As such, while Rezen's presence is a threat, he is also necessary. Not to mention, if he really was from a bigger tribe and the tribe shooed him away, that might just bring catastrophe to them. This situation made the Chief feel conflicted inside
"I-it's about the potatoes, Chief" Rezen replied while scratching the back of his head
"I remember that potatoes are edible and actually taste good when prepared properly but they are saying that potatoes are not edible" he continues as if he really finds this situation confusing
"Potatoes? Edible?" The Chief furrowed her brows as she stared at Rezen
"Chief, the healer still hasn't recovered completely. His mind still needs rest! How could potatoes be edible?" Treen chimed in, genuinely worried for the tribe's healer
While Treen and the others absolutely think that potatoes are not edible, the Chief on the other hand was doubtful
Bigger tribes have access to information that a measly tribe such as the Waterside Tribe doesn't. Those tribes are smarter and more knowledgeable
Since Rezen most likely came from a giant tribe, there might be some merit to his words. Considering that potatoes are common around the tribe, if they are edible, they would definitely help in solving the problem of the tribe
"Go fetch some of those potatoes" the Chief ordered and while the tribesmen scratch their heads as they think that the Chief was entertaining Rezen's nonsense, nonetheless, they still went to find some potatoes
"Thank you for believing in me, Chief" Rezen said with a big smile as if he really appreciated the Chief's trust
In return, the Chief merely nodded her head, giving Rezen a lukewarm treatment
Only after almost ten minutes did the potatoes that were asked arrived
"How do we eat them?" The Chief asks after a tribesman hand several pieces of potatoes to her
"Since we don't have many ingredients, I could only think of two ways to prepare them for now" Rezen replied excitedly, showing his great desire to eat the potatoes
The first thing that Rezen did was to remove the stem still attached to the potatoes and wash it thoroughly to remove the unnecessary debris
Basically, every household of the tribe already has some firewood, and Rezen used some of them
He made a circular shape using rocks to use as a base for his fire pit to roast some of the potatoes
Since this world has the presence of magic, creating fire is an easy task. A simple flick of a mage's finger was enough to create fire
Rezen used a larger wooden pot filled with water and placed it on top of the burning firewood
Aside from roasting the potatoes, Rezen also decided to boil some of them
He did all these things while the tribesmen stare at him. He felt like he was in a live cooking show where every move that he did was being watched by his audiences
It felt a bit awkward but Rezen ignored that and just focused on the task at hand
When Rezen felt that the cooking time was enough, he used a stick to remove the potatoes from the fire pit while draining the boiling water from the wooden pot
"Please try them" Rezen said to them and Treen was the first one to move
"Ah, wait, they are still ho—" before Rezen could finish his words, Treen already grabbed one of the roasted potatoes, burning his hand as a result
"Ah! Hot! Hot! Hot!" He screamed miserably while throwing the potato, hitting a fellow tribesman
"Ah! Idiot! It hurts!" The tribesman cursed after being hit by a flying potato that felt like a ball of fire
Not to mention, he even instinctively caught the potato with his hand and because of the heat, just like Treen, he also threw the potato
"Ahh!!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Stop, you idiot!"
The same thing happened several times as the tribesmen threw the potato at each other, resulting in quite a comical scene that was straight out of a comedy cartoon
"These idiots!" The Chief's cheeks turned red out of embarrassment while Rezen laugh at the scene in front of him
With a wave of the Chief's hand, she manipulated the potato and it floated before flying toward her
With a little bit of wind magic, the potato soon cools down to the point that holding it with bare hands doesn't hurt anymore
"Remove the skin first, Chief since they are dirty" Rezen said
He doesn't have foil to wrap the potatoes with making the skin dirty. Not to mention, most people don't like eating the skin of the potato
Since the potato was roasted until it was soft, the Chief easily removed the skin and she tried to take a bite causing her eyes to widen in surprise
"I think the potatoes are quite bland since we don't have seasoning. If we used even just some salt, it'll definitely taste better" Rezen said
Potatoes without any seasoning taste bland to most people and Rezen is worried that the Chief won't like it
"No, the taste is definitely passable. It doesn't taste as good as meat but we can eat this! These potatoes are not too hard to find and we can use them as food stock to survive winter!" The Chief announced with eyes glowing while staring at the potatoes
This made the tribesmen curious. They didn't expect that the Chief would actually find potatoes edible and some of them went to divide the remaining potatoes among themselves
"Uwaa! It's soft! Really soft! This is the first time I ate something like this!" Treen praised
The tribesmen mostly eat roasted meat and they are not exactly soft. There were fruits that they know are edible but they are rare around the vicinity due to excessive consumption
As such, a food as soft as boiled or roasted potatoes are definitely rare and new to their tastes bud
If the potatoes were seasoned with even just salt, they would definitely taste better. Unfortunately, salt is too expensive and precious for the tribesmen to use whenever they want to
"We must gather more of these potatoes! The old and disabled have to search for them while some of the apprentice mages would go and protect them!" The Chief immediately ordered. She knew how important the potatoes are and gathering as many of them as possible is necessary
Perhaps, with their help, none of the tribesmen would die because of hunger in the upcoming winter
"Um... Chief"
The Chief was about to mobilize her people when Rezen raised his hand. With Rezen providing yet another precious help to the tribe, the Chief started looking at him in a better light
"What is it?"
"Chief, instead of just searching for wild potatoes, I suggest we start planting them to ensure a constant supply of potatoes. If we start planting them now, we would have some harvest before winter arrives!" Rezen suggested, confusing the tribesmen
A small tribe like theirs doesn't have the concept of agriculture yet. They are stuck at the hunting and gathering pace
Their knowledge is also limited and they don't see the need for planting since they mostly hunt magic beasts to turn into their food
However, Rezen has already proven his intelligence and the Chief was willing to listen to his suggestion
"What do you mean by that?" The Chief asks and Rezen further elaborated his plans
He wanted to conspire the help of the tribe to farm potatoes!
The more the tribesmen ventured out to search for potatoes, the more they are at risk. Some of them might not even return alive!
In Rezen's eyes, every tribesman is his lifeline. His survival is literally connected to them
He is unwilling to let even one of them die causing the tribe's strength to weaken
If they want potatoes, they could start planting them to grow more potatoes. In this case, the risk and casualties would significantly lessen
"A single seed potato could grow into a plant that on average grows eight to ten potatoes! With a lesser number of potatoes, we could plant and harvest more of them!" Rezen explained the benefit of farming potatoes
If one were to ignore the fact that the tribesmen have to eat potatoes every single day to survive, this doesn't sound bad. Not to mention, are these people even picky with their food? Definitely not!
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