The leaves of the tree shook and easily fell off the branches, already on their way out with their fading colors. Another swing and it finally fell, toppled by the doll armed with a new iron ax. Kuch watched it fall, then grabbed the fallen tree with both their wooden arms. It was dragged through the forest, passing by many other trees that still stood closer to the manor. They were to be left for the time being, needing more time to mature and improve their quality.

  It was the only way I could think of getting better wood for the time being. The lack of gatherer skills was annoying, but I could work around them. Especially now I had plenty of iron tools to better process everything!

  "Oh, well done Kuch," I praised, greeting my doll right outside the gate of my new outer wall. I knelt and patted the timber, feeling how strong and sturdy had been. This tree had definitely been in the prime of its life, unlike the rotten or thin trees I'd been stuck with working so far. "Right, bring it in! I'll take it!"

  I let out a happy hum, kicking up leaves with my every step. It was undoubtedly autumn now in this part of the world, I could notice the way the forest began shedding a lot of its leaves. I'll admit, I really haven't been counting the days ever since I woke up here. And time really flew by when I got into an intense crafting session, days passing without me ever leaving the workshop.

  That was probably an unhealthy and unsociable habit, ah. But I mean, I did still go outside even, through both Kuch and Frie. Honestly, controlling and seeing through them didn't just feel second nature; rather, it was as easy as one would blink or breath. Without the reminder.

  It actually was, on reflection, a little unsettling. I don't know if it was because my new biology or if it just was what somebody who mastered [Doll Maker] was capable of- the skill was so rarely used back in FLOW- so who knows. For all I know, it's a cheat skill buff that whatever dumped me here tossed as compensation. But I think, given how much more powerful my crafts were, that would always be my specialization.

  Though not necessarily that of my dolls.

  All these thoughts crossed my mind as I absently went through the process of chopping, then sawing the lumber. My iron tools made it all almost effortlessly now, I didn't have to put much strength into any cut or swing. I knew it was them, because still couldn't lift those damn fallen front doors!

  No, Frie, don't do it for me! Get back to patching up the walls, I'll handle the insult myself!

  Honestly, if this harvest had quality lumber, then I've half a mind to just take an ax to the rotten timber, damn my old coat of arms. I was already ideas for a replacement-

  Wooden Plank (Item Quality: 84) (Infuse Level: 198)

  "The game was rigged from the start," I gravely intoned and moved to carry out my promised destruction.

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  Okay, I didn't actually smash it all. Just most of it. I didn't destroy the old coat of arms, because...it was the old me. Mikel. I couldn't just destroy that legacy, faded and worn it was.

  I guess I'll restore it when I had the materials to do so, and then hang it up in the great hall somewhere. Maybe above the stairs.

  Speaking of materials, huzzah! Pretty solid quality wood. With it came an increase in my general wood works. It also bumped up my charcoal levels, but it still was nowhere as hot as I would need for either steel or- ugh. No. Don't think about...that. I don't want to sour the positive with panic.

  Let's carry on with an update on my iron progress. I had used up most of what Kuch had brought back in my maniac iron works session to make an array of basic tools. Now I had everything a self-respecting crafter required: knives, axes, saws, even a cleaver if I ever got the urge to actually finally get around to processing animals. Speaking of which, I actually should make as a priority now.

  With fall clearly in progress, winter was likely coming. Which meant animals would likely go into hibernation, definitely waiting out the freeze until the spring thaw. If I wanted animal products like pelts and bones, I absolutely needed to do it now or be resigned for waiting until they woke up. I also didn't fancy my dolls' chances of seeking and defeating monsters in winter, even if I did give Kuch a big upgrade with some of that precious iron.

  What's better than one greatsword? Two of them! Thanks to their immense strength, they could absolutely wield two at the same time. It was admittedly helped along by the fact that one was just made of wood, but the other? Iron, so you know it will cut!

  Kuch lumbered off to go hunting and I decided to prepare for if if they happened to be successful. Let's see, my pantry's chill functions unfortunately didn't work, so no way to preserve raw meat. Which meant...smoking! I could do that now, especially with my quality wood. Sure, I didn't need to eat, but I really just didn't want to waste the food. I took a creature's life, I was going to make the most of everything I harvested.

  The organs could be processed quickly into some long-lasting potions or alchemical concoctions if done right. But that would depend on whatever Kuch brought back. If it was something strong like a bear, I could make some strength potions to boost one's muscular output for a brief moment. If it was something like a rabbit, perhaps I could stitch in a speed rune that would allow one's steps to feel a tad lighter. It definitely was something of a lucky dip, I wonder if I'll get lucky.

  I wasn't so concerned about preserving the bones and teeth, those would always keep and I could always have a purpose for them. Be it for trinkets and ornaments, or just grinding into handy bonemeal compost I could never have too many. My only worry was piling too many, I didn't want to end up filling an entire room with animal skeletons. I wasn't interested in turning part of my home into a museum, unless it was entirely on how cute I was-

  Ahem. Right.

  Okay, that left me with the one thing that I did need to prepare for. It was also the material that coincidentally related to my great desire to improve my fabrics selection to make even more outfits: leather! Right, let's start making what I needed to treat those perishable pelts. A simple reagent known as tannin. The ingredients?

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  Water, and wood bark.

  That was it, really! There was a reason why I hadn't just discard the bark I just stripped off my new wooden planks. One simple application of [Brew] later with some quick boiling, and now I have a barrel of quality tannin to soak my pelts in. Oh right, I could make barrels now with some of the poor iron tools being smelted down into make barrel bands.

  Not soon after, Kuch came back with a successful hunt with a surprising result. "Oh, huh. A boar." I remarked, noting the broken tusks with a frown. Ah, it had charged into my doll, who promptly took the head off in retaliation. Hm, did I want to treat and taxidermy that trophy? Nah, probably better to just boil it down and keep the skull. Tragically, that flavorful broth from that mix was likely going to waste.

  Ack, whatever. Time to start cutting.

  My iron knives made real quick work and I was able to cleanly separate the organs away from everything else before it tainted with plenty of time to spare. Now to drain and collect the blood. With Frie's help, the boar was strung and hung upside down from a tree, allowing for all the lifeblood to drain out the stump. A bucket below collected it, I definitely wasn't going to let that go to waste.

  While the corpse lost all blood and began to pale, I trimmed and fleshed the leather best I could, making sure to collect the gratuitous fat. Boars being a relative to pigs had plenty, though slightly leaner due to being wild unlike the farm animals. Those white lumps could thankfully last indefinitely once I sealed that in a small clay jar with a wood lid. You never knew when something need a bit of flavor or lubrication. I also removed all the outer layer, not a fan of the bristle texture. Hm, might want to save them for making a hairbrush though.

  Now with the pelt cleaned, I lowered it into the barrel of tannin and let it soak in the treatment. That would take a little while to process and become leather, so I definitely wanted to start the timer now. Meanwhile, it looked like the blood had trickled to a crawl, meaning that was done. I ran my knife and cleaver together, feeling a chill from that very sharp sound at the contact like it could cut the air. Butchering time.

  It truly was a pity I couldn't taste anything, morosely reflecting on the tragedy while I took apart the carcass and saw all those delicious cuts. It probably was the greatest drawback of this body, I'd even go so far as to declare, more even than my inability to probably even last a single fight. Ugh, I really felt bad for Noel now whenever Mikel asked them to cook up a grand dinner for Lighthouse. They always came through, making such delicious food that they introduced with such succulent descriptions-

  Hang on a minute. Hang on one just gods-damned minute.

  Puppets couldn't taste anything. Kai hadn't and always spent the meals fooling around instead. But Noel somehow knew how things would taste, which in fact did make sense. You had to be able to sample whatever you were cooking to know if it was going to come out good. So how had they- ah? Ah! AHHHHH!

  My hands come up and slapped into my face at the realization. So too did Kuch's and Frie's, because I'd once again overlooked the fact Noel wasn't just a skilled crafter- they were fully optimized wholly into every field related to it. That was why they had access to powerful endgame skills like [Quench] and...[Palate].

  A cooking skill for the best chefs that allowed one to use magic to sample a piece of food without actually consuming it, simultaneously analyzing its taste while also giving it with a little boost.

  It should be able to circumvent my current bodily limitations!

  I-I had to test this out! The moment I was done butchering, I collected both the, blood, organs, and meat to race down into my workshop. Swiftly, I converted the first two into a nice little rune brew that would slightly boost a user's defense. I was probably going to use it for my winter clothes, it might end up functioning like a little warming function in such a casual way. Not that I even really felt the cold anyhow.

  But I kept the fire pit burning and hung strips of boar meat above it to smoke. Even though I knew it was going to be a while, I stayed there and watched the process all the way with an intense glare. As the flesh turned dark from absorbing all that aromatic wood, I bounced in place, wondering if I was about to unlock a reason for me to cook and eat on the regular.

  It's done, it's done! I took off the jerky and laid it out, grinning. Now, then, the moment of truth. "[Palate]!"

  Simple Boar Jerky (Final Grade: 86)

  It...hm. Okay. So it wasn't actually like tasting it for real, my tongue was definitely unmoved and rather flaccid after the act. It wasn't quite actually like eating a small piece.

  Rather, if I had to describe it, it was more like the technical information beaming straight into my head. I knew it tasted rather crudely of smoke and was a little tough to chew on. Gamey too. Having no spices or salt really messed up the profile. Maybe I could rub some herbs picked from the forest to liven it a bit, or make a marinade.

  Right, experiment over. The result? Mixed. Again, it wasn't really like what I'd been hoping, actually gaining a sense of taste for food. Yet it did inform me of flavors, enough to actually be more than what I was used to before. So...I guess that was a success there?

  Hm. I cast [Palate] again and was informed of the flavor again, closing my eyes. I guess I could maybe enjoy at least the idea of food and drink, but I still didn't feel a real need for it. I'm afraid my kitchens were unfortunately going to still gather dust, mealtimes were still off the schedule. But at least I could ensure my pantries would be filled with quality food. And I had another new field of crafts to pass the time with, so it wasn't all bad.

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