The moment the blankets were settled, Nora gently took Luna from Austin’s arms so he could focus on setting up the rest of their things.

Then she hummed softly to the baby as she swayed side to side.

Meanwhile, Austin knelt beside a small cluster of stones he’d already gathered, then hea began arranging them into a circle before pulling out the ingredients he had packed away in his item box.

"Alright, time to get this fire going." He muttered to himself as he began stacking some woods at the centre of the stone ring.

Seeing this, Tatiana couldn’t help but crouch down beside him, as she leaned close with an amused look on her face.

"Are you going to start a fire by rubbing sticks together?"

"Yeah." Since there were no lighters or matches in this era, Austin had to do things the primitive way.

"That sounds boring." Tatiana replied.

"Well, it is what it is. So just sit back and let me show you my skills." Austin muttered, though even he was beginning to wonder how long it would take him to actually get the wood lit.

But Tatiana wasn’t going to just sit back and watch him spend half an hour on it.

"Allow me." Tatiana announced as she leaned forward slightly, cupping one hand near the kindling.

And with a small puff of warm breath, a thin stream of fire curled from her lips, and the kindling caught instantly.

Austin watched as the flames crackled to life in seconds.

Seeing this, he was immediately awed. "That’s amazing."

"Of course it is. I’m a dragon."

"Yeah, yeah, dragons are the most amazing creatures in the kingdom."

"Huh? Just in the kingdom?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Sorry about that, I meant in the world."

"Better."

"Still, I was really hoping to see if I could actually do it myself."

"Oh really, but we would have wasted a lot of time waiting for you, and who’s to say you’d even manage it? It’s better to have a dependable dragon around."

"Someone like you?"

"Exactly! Someone like me! I’m a dragon, and fire is kind of our thing, if you know what I mean." Tatiana grinned, showing off her white teeth as she settled onto the grass.

"Show off." Austin stood up, rolling his eyes with a grin.

Of course, he was a little disappointed, because he had genuinely wanted to see if he could light a fire by rubbing wood together just like in the movies he had watched in his previous world.

He had hoped to feel a sense of adventure and survival while doing it, but Tatiana had robbed him of that feeling.

Still, he didn’t hold it against her.

Meanwhile, Tatiana watched as Austin set the cooking pot over the flames. "What a strange friend I have. I don’t even know why you’d consider lighting the fire yourself when you had me here."

Since she was a dragon, wasn’t it better to have her lit the wood than Austin doing it himself?

Hearing this, Nora couldn’t help but giggle softly from where she sat, whilst still cradling Luna. "I think hubby just wanted to do it because he was trying to impress us with his little survival skills."

"Oi, little? did you just called my survival skills little?"

"Yep." Nora replied with a giggle.

" I have plenty of survival skills." Austin protested with a grin, and Rowena couldn’t help but join in.

"Oh really, please do tell."

"Well, I survived a goblin cave extermination and a death worm battle altogether, didn’t I?"

"Yeah, and you got swallowed in the process." Tatiana added dryly, and Austin instantly felt an imaginary arrow settle in his chest.

"Ugh~"

Seeing this, Nora couldn’t help but giggle, and so did Rowena as the beautiful Countess settled onto the blanket beside her.

"Wow, three against one. I never knew ladies could attack me all at once. I’ll never forget what happened today." Austin muttered to himself, but all three ladies heard him.

Of course, he carried no real annoyance toward the three beautiful ladies, and all three knew this, so they simply smiled as they watched him go about whatever he was doing.

Now that the pot on the flame had begun to heat, Austin started pulling out ingredients one after another from his item box, ranging from thinly sliced meat to a variety of vegetables Legolas and his girlfriend had helped him gather from the market.

Austin also brought out a rich and fragrant broth base he had spent the better part of the previous day perfecting.

Seeing all of this, Rowena couldn’t help but ask.

"What exactly are you making?" She leaned forward slightly to peer into the pot.

She had originally planned to bring two of her best chefs along for the picnic, since she had heard they would be cooking and eating there, but Austin had requested they rely on him for the day instead.

After all, this moment was meant primarily for the four of them alone, so Austin hadn’t wanted anyone else joining their little picnic.

"So? What’s it called?" Rowena asked again.

"It’s called a hotpot." Austin replied as he carefully arranged the ingredients along the rim of the pot.

"Hotpot? I’ve never heard of it." Rowena replied.

"Well, if you had, then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise now, would it?"

"I suppose you’re right."

"Anyways, I heard from someone a long time ago that this is something people make when they want to share a meal together. Everyone cooks their own food right at the table, picking what they like and eating at their own pace."

"That sounds chaotic. Can such a thing truly work?" Rowena asked.

"Well, it’s supposed to be a little chaotic. That’s what makes it fun." Austin explained as he watched what he was cooking.

Now the sweet, enticing aroma of the meat had begun to drift toward everyone waiting around him.

Even the beautiful dragon lady, who had been resting her back on the grass nearby, instantly had her nose twitching in a really cute way, and before anyone knew it, she had appeared in front of Austin to grab a piece of hot, juicy meat straight from the simmering broth.

But Austin instantly swatted her hand away without even looking up.

"No touching. It’s not ready yet."

"But it smells delicious." She tried to grab it again with a pout on her face, but Austin swatted her hand once more.

"Then you’ll have to wait, because it’s not ready."