I quickly did the same butchering process and made a dozen Crow Birds into big pieces of white meat, purified and ready to fry, I set up a big pan with oil getting warmer, and then covered the chicken breasts, wings, and thighs with a special batter made of flour, eggs, salt, and other spices, frying it all into the oil once I was done. The smell of chicken permeated our surroundings. The barrier was already set up and we made it deep into the forest, so the ants didn't noticed us at all.
"Ahhh, this smells so nice! I want to eat already!" Partner was excited, drinking Phoenix Blood wasn't enough for her anymore. "Bleh, miasma infected blood's really terrible…"
"Let me purify it for you…" Emeraldine purified the blood, which turned from black to a deep red.
"Oooh, much better!" Partner enjoyed the blood.
"Hmmm, Maria can you bring some beer?" Wondered Lucifer.
"Sure thing! Anybody else wants some drinks?" I asked out.
"Aren't you a bit too relaxed?" Sighed Helga from behind.
"Hey! you guys are not the ones that can say that when you're always merrily ready to feast! Come on, where's the festive spirit of dwarves?" I laughed, bringing some beer out from the Inventory.
"Hmm, but shouldn't we be more in alert?" Asked Helga.
"Well I am, I've put several Undead around, all the ones I've raised so far, and there's a Phantasmal Clone in front of them watching over. Even if they approach they're going to just get stomped." I said. "I think the best part of dungeon diving is these parts when we get to relax and eat some tasty monster meat."
"You're insane… but I agree to an extent, let's enjoy some time together I suppose." Helga sighed, her common sense was rapidly fading away.
"I am honestly slightly tired as well, so I would be glad if we took a break, I want to sleep as well, if possible." Brunhild said.
"Then how about we take a break? Maybe four hours should be enough for you?" I wondered.
"That's too little, I sleep at least 5 days…" Brunhild yawned.
"Yeah… that's not possible right now, Brunhild, be more reasonable." Sighed Lucifer.
"Hahaha, sorry. It'll do with this tasty chicken and a small nap, don't worry about me." Brunhild smiled, enjoying the meal with us.
The chicken was already done, Abyssal Phoenix meat grilled on dragon flames, what a combination. The spices went amazingly, giving it some citric touch, spicy, and sweet. The juices were coming out of the grilled meat with each bite. The Phoenix was so big even the dragons could eat in their dragon forms, though they preferred their human-like forms anyways.
"Hmmm… I can't stop eating!" Partner cried.
"So good… Phoenix meat is fantastic!" Emeraldine admitted. "I can't believe we've been missing on something so good before."
"I can't believe it myself either." I laughed. "The other birds we ate were also tasty but nothing like these guys!"
"Hmm, try out the fried chicken ones too!" Brunhild said. "I love the crunchiness! It is like when you caught a living prey and as it struggles, you bite through its tender meat and crunchy bones. A sensation I haven't had in many years, it reminds me of my childhood."
"Yeah, it really is delicious and make us feel that way." Lucifer sighed in happiness.
"Wait what?!" I asked in surprise. "…Well, whatever. I guess dragons are dragons after all."
I tried out the crispy fried "chicken". The meat was tender and delicious, I had injected some lemon juice and spices over it, so it was very delicious as well. I was having a blast enjoying this meal so much… Well, we all were.
"Guys add some lemon on top!" Takeshi said. "This really reminds me of Karaage! Hmm! It really goes amazingly! I wish we had mayo too…"
"Lemon…?" Wondered Emeraldine, she quickly poured some lemon juice over a piece of fried chicken, we all tried it out.
The combination of the fresh citric juice over the fried chicken created a unique combination of flavors, and the slightly spicy sauce made of fermented beans made it even better. A combination of many flavors.
"So this is Karaage you say? I love it!" Helga celebrated. "Uoooh! And the beer goes so well too! Ah damn it! My kids must be thinking I'm having a hard time… I am ashamed."
"This minty beer is something completely new, where did you even got this one?"
"I prefer this brown beer, it is very sweet!"
"This chicken is superb. I don't even know if I'll be able to enjoy another meal as good as this one."
"Yeah, no other chicken will be this good before."
"I've also made some chicken bone soup, the bones also got meat. There's potatoes and carrots, and onions too! Try it out if you want something warm to drink, everyone." I quickly shared the soup.
"Uwaahh… I really wanted something warm . This dungeon is quite cold now that I think about it." Laura said. "It really hits the spot!"
"It goes nice with the grilled chicken…" Takeshi said. "I never thought these ugly birds would be this tasty."
"Well you always discover something new." I laughed. "Wait… now that I think about it, can't I raise the "light" version of these chickens in my dungeon? They're an available monster after all! Perhaps I could summon them later and make a ranch with them so they can give us delicious eggs and we can butcher them for their meat as well… A win-win situation indeed."
"Oh, that sounds smart." Emeraldine pointed out.
"Yeah, we could produce our own large-scale food supply, not only we could produce vegetables and fruits but also meat and eggs." Lucifer said. "It is indeed an amazing idea."
"We'll do that then!" I laughed. "We could bring some of those monsters back home too to build our own ranch there. Monsters are resistant to freezing temperatures quite well."
Like that, a new project came to my mind.