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Goblin Chapter 124: Eating the Rustfrog Legs
🕑 Added 2025-08-07 18:06:35 +0000 UTCGauss and Alia exchanged a glance, but neither of them seemed to notice the strange look in her eyes.
Their attention was already locked on the massive frog corpse in front of them.
“It’s been a while since lunch anyway,” Gauss nodded to himself. “Can’t let a rare edible monster like this go to waste—would be a shame not to make use of it.”
Alia instinctively took a deep breath and looked down at the giant frog at her feet.
Even though it was very much dead, its wide-open mouth was still leaking sticky, corrosive saliva. The drops hit the grass with soft hissing sounds, white steam rising where they landed. The leaves sizzled and withered on contact, leaving behind blackened scorch marks.
Was this really safe to eat?
She knew some monsters had edible parts, but she had never tried cooking them herself.
A creature that could melt grass just by drooling? Could anyone’s stomach handle that?
She was a little concerned.
But before she could even voice her doubts, Gauss was already moving.
Without hesitation, he drew his dagger from his belt.
Alia closed her mouth. She didn’t want to ruin his mood. And to be fair, even if she wasn’t planning to eat any herself… she was kind of curious.
Gauss carefully avoided the sticky areas and sliced a long vertical line from the chin down to the tail of the Rustfrog.
Then, following the cut, he slowly peeled away the mottled gray-green skin.
To his surprise, the process was smoother than expected.
Once fully skinned, the frog’s tender pink flesh was exposed—muscular, plump, and surprisingly fresh-looking.
Gauss pulled out a thick book from his bag: “The Complete Guide to Foraging around the Jade Forest.”
He flipped to the bookmarked page on Rustfrogs.
There it was—a detailed anatomical diagram showing its wide flat head, stubby forelimbs, and powerful hind legs. The real corpse matched it almost exactly.
“Avoid the mucus glands and surrounding muscle tissue at all costs,” Gauss muttered, finger tracing the bright red warning on the page. “The prime meat is in the thighs. Cut here.”
He pressed the dagger into the joint at the base of the hind leg. The muscular limb bulged with firm, pink meat—clear muscle fibers visible under the translucent flesh.
Crack.
With a clean motion, Gauss separated the entire leg at the joint.
He weighed it in his hands. Just one leg was nearly six pounds—two made over ten.
According to the book, after removing bones, connective tissue, nerves, and skin, the yield should still be over 50%.
Even with conservative estimates, that meant each frog could give at least five pounds of leg meat.
And with 25 frogs lying around...
Over a hundred pounds of meat.
Gauss whistled quietly.
Still, he didn’t decide on whether to process them all just yet.
The book said it was edible—but only a proper cooking test would prove that.
Alia and Ulfen stepped closer.
Ulfen gave the meat a sniff and licked his lips, only to be gently stopped by Alia.
Gauss, meanwhile, crouched down and began processing the leg.
At first, his movements were stiff—using the tip of the knife to slice along the grain, separating the meat from the thick bone and placing it into a sack beside him.
Bit by bit, strand by strand, the pile grew.
With each pass, his technique became more confident and efficient.
Deboning, trimming fascia, avoiding tiny blood vessels—his knife moved smoothly.
By the time both legs were done, he had a five-pound pile of solid, lean meat.
“If you’re inexperienced with exotic monster meat,” he read aloud, “stewing is the recommended beginner method.”
His eyes scanned the listed ingredients:
Ginger, garlic, fruit wine, salt, dried herbs, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, carrots.
He double-checked the list—then began pulling ingredients out of his bag one by one.
Ginger root. Garlic cloves. A sealed jar of cheap fruit wine. Coarse salt. Cotton pouches filled with thyme and bay leaf. Round potatoes and plump carrots.
Alia, crouched beside him, watched with growing suspicion.
She looked down at the open book, then back at Gauss.
Each ingredient—matched exactly. Not one missing.
“...Wait a second.”
She frowned, clearly thinking hard.
Why does he just happen to have everything listed on the page?
She opened her mouth, about to ask—
“Alia, can you grab some firewood and help me set up a cooking fire?” Gauss called casually.
She hesitated—then sighed and went to gather twigs and dry leaves.
By the time she returned and had built a simple stone stove and set the iron pot on top, Gauss had already finished prepping all the ingredients.
Sizzle!
A chunk of white animal fat dropped into the pot, melting instantly with a satisfying hiss.
Then in went the ginger and garlic, releasing a fragrant aroma.
Chopped potatoes and carrots followed, stir-fried until lightly browned, then in went the cleaned frog meat.
Fruit wine. Water. Spices.
Wooden lid on.
Gauss’s eyes gleamed.
“Twenty minutes on simmer. That should do it.”
In his past life, he’d cooked for himself often. He wasn’t a chef, but he definitely wasn’t clueless.
Alia hugged her knees by the fire, staring at the steaming pot.
After a pause, she finally asked the question that had been haunting her:
“Gauss... be honest. You were planning to cook these frogs from the start, weren’t you?”
Otherwise—how could he have been this prepared?
Gauss paused, barely perceptible—then gave a sheepish grin.
“Haha...”
Their eyes met.
No words were needed.
“Fine...” Alia sighed and tossed more wood onto the fire.
As the stew simmered, a rustling sound came from nearby.
The young adventurers they had saved earlier were cautiously approaching.
They had meant to come thank Gauss and Alia earlier, but after watching the spellcaster efficiently butcher, debone, and stew a corrosive frog like it was nothing…
They were… intimidated.
But finally, they worked up the courage.
“U-um… Adventurers!” They stopped in front of the pair, eyes lingering on the dark blue guild badges hanging from their chests—clearly showing Bronze rank.
A mix of awe and envy appeared on their faces.
“Thank you! You saved our lives!”
“Don’t mention it.” Gauss waved casually.
After all, they had come to hunt Rustfrogs anyway. These kids had unknowingly lured the enemies out for them. And even then, they had the presence of mind to yell a warning instead of just running—so he didn’t mind helping them.
“You from the nearby village?” Gauss asked.
“N-no…” The leader blushed. Gauss looked even younger than him—but sharper, more composed.
“We’re a new adventurer party. We stumbled into the nest by accident while traveling…”
“Got it. Just be more careful next time,” Gauss replied, understanding immediately.
Their gear was so basic it was hard to tell they were adventurers at all.
“Wanna stay for a meal?” he offered, gesturing to the bubbling pot.
“N-no! Thank you, sir!” They all said in unison, shaking their heads like mad.
Their eyes darted to the pile of bloody frog skins, the acid-eaten dirt, and the bubbling stew...
They swallowed hard.
“We won’t interrupt your meal! Thanks again!”
They bowed quickly and left without another word.
“Was it really that scary?”
Gauss looked after them, puzzled.
He leaned closer to the pot, waved some steam toward his face, and inhaled deeply.
“Smells amazing.”
He licked his lips.
Something about the sizzling frog meat aroma was awakening a deeper-than-usual hunger.
His Energy Gland seemed especially active today.
