After finishing our business at Castle Dour, we teleported straight back to Breezehome.
The moment I stepped inside, I began stacking logs in the fire pit in the center of the first-floor living room.
If this were a normal medieval world instead of Skyrim, I would have had to strike flint and steel to get a spark going.
But in this fantasy wasteland, there's a much better way.
"Ha-neul."
"Yeah?"
"Light 'er up."
Choi Ha-neul immediately caught my drift. She cast a novice Flames spell, keeping the output as low as possible, and torched the firewood.
The logs crackled into life, and a slow, steady warmth began to fill the house.
This is exactly why you need at least one mage in the house.
—Grumble.
"Ah! That was..."
"Pfft, you that hungry?"
Eloise's stomach had sent out a distress signal, earning her a smirk from Choi Ha-neul. Now that I thought about it, we'd been living off scraps and trail rations during the mission.
'Since we're finally home, should I try my hand at cooking?'
Cooking over an open hearth sounded decent. Luckily, the cupboards were already stocked with basic utensils like pans and pots.
"Why don't we cook something for ourselves?"
Choi Ha-neul, apparently thinking the same thing, spoke up.
"I don't know how to cook..."
"I am also not particularly skilled in domestic affairs," Lydia added.
It seemed Eloise and Lydia were better at swinging swords than spatulas.
"What about you, Mister?"
"Me?"
At Ha-neul's question, everyone's eyes locked onto me. Cooking wasn't exactly my specialty, but living alone for years meant I was at least average.
"I'm... alright, I guess?"
"Then give it a shot!"
With the decision made, we headed out to the market to gather supplies. Since Skyrim doesn't have the luxury of refrigerators, you have to buy your ingredients fresh every day.
"Hmm... what should the menu be? Stew is usually the safe bet—"
""Anything but stew or soup!""
Eloise and Choi Ha-neul shut me down instantly.
To be fair, we had eaten enough stew on the road to last a lifetime.
Stew was the go-to because you could just chuck random ingredients into a pot, boil them, and get something edible. We were sick of it.
"Then what do you want?"
As she pondered the question, Choi Ha-neul's gaze drifted toward Anoriath's meat stall, and she dragged me along.
The stall had quite the variety: venison, horker, beef, pheasant. The meat was still vibrant with blood, clearly recently butchered.
"Slurp. Let's just grill some meat!"
"I can get behind that."
"It would be an excellent source of protein," Lydia noted.
Grilling meat is low difficulty and guaranteed flavor—the perfect choice for a bunch of amateur cooks.
"Alright, what kind?"
"Step right up! Fresh meat, straight from the plains!"
Seeing our interest, Anoriath started his pitch.
"Any recommendations?"
"The horker meat is nutrient-rich, though a bit pricey, and the beef is exceptionally tender with a deep flavor!"
'Both look good.'
After a moment of deliberation, I bought two portions of each.
"But how are you going to prepare it?"
"Let's just make steaks!"
Steak is fine, but just grilling it plain gets boring fast.
'Isn't there some kind of sauce? Ah, maybe that place...?'
A location came to mind: Arcadia's Cauldron, right next to the general goods store.
It's technically an alchemy shop that deals in ingredients and potions, but I'd noticed some alchemy ingredients are also used in cooking.
They might have spices or condiments tucked away.
"Anyone in?"
I pushed the door open and greeted the owner. Arcadia was busy organizing her shelves.
"Welcome. What can I do for you?"
"Do you happen to sell any spices?"
"Spices?"
Arcadia looked slightly taken aback by the unusual request.
"I don't technically sell them, but I do have some seasonings I made for my own personal use."
"Would you consider selling them to me?"
"I'm no chef, so I can't guarantee the taste..."
"Please!!"
After Ha-neul and I practically begged, we managed to secure some Nordic Barnacle sauce and Green Apple dressing.
"Want to try it?" Ha-neul asked, eyeing the jars in my hands. I popped the lid and told her to go ahead.
Both of us dipped a finger in for a taste.
'Oh, this is actually good?'
Despite Arcadia's humility, the seasoning was impressive. The Nordic Barnacle sauce was salty and savory, reminiscent of oyster sauce back on Earth.
The apple dressing had a refreshing tartness that would be perfect for a salad.
Satisfied, we bought some butter, vegetables, and bread before hauling our heavy bags back home.
"Alright, let's divvy up the chores."
I set the bags down. Choi Ha-neul and Eloise were on vegetable duty. I took the lead as head chef, with Lydia as my sous-chef.
While the girls prepped the greens, I focused on the main event: the meat.
I dropped a slab of butter into the pan and sliced the beef into thick cuts. I planned to sear them over high heat to keep them crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside—perfectly rare.
Leaving the beef to Lydia's watchful eye, I set a pot on another corner of the hearth.
I decided to dice the horker meat and cook it like steak bites.
Horker meat is fatty enough that it doesn't really need butter. I threw the meat in over medium heat and drizzled some mead over it to kill any gamey scent.
Then, I tossed in the vegetables and potatoes the others had prepped, followed by a generous helping of Nordic Barnacle sauce for a stir-fry.
The aroma of sizzling meat and sweet-salty sauce filled the room, making everyone's mouth water.
"Wow, that smells incredible! Just one bite..."
—Slap.
"Wait for the others. Go set the table."
I lightly swatted Ha-neul's hand away.
"Tch."
After three more minutes of sizzling, the meal was finally ready.
"Food's up."
Today's menu: Cabbage salad with green apple dressing, seared beef steaks, and horker-vegetable stir-fry.
"Mmm! This is amazing!"
"The meat truly melts in the mouth."
"Munch, munch."
The cooking was a resounding success.
'Let me try some too.'
I mixed the pale green apple dressing with the shredded cabbage and took a bite.
A fresh, crisp acidity exploded in my mouth. Followed by a piece of the crispy steak.
When I pierced the steak with my knife, the juices flowed out—a sight for sore eyes. I tried eating the salad and steak together.
The sweet, tender flavor of the meat clashing with the crunchy texture of the cabbage made every bite a delight.
'Heh. This is the life.'
It felt as though the fatigue gathered from roaming the battlefields was being washed away. It wasn't exactly high-end restaurant quality, but for my palate, it was more than satisfying.
"I'm sleeping there!"
"Who says?"
I thought we'd finally get some peace after the meal, but Eloise and Choi Ha-neul were already fighting over the bed.
"Good grief, you're acting like children."
Breezehome has two small beds on the first floor. On the second floor, there's a small bedroom immediately to the left, and a master bedroom with a large bed that could easily fit two people.
Naturally, the master bed was vastly superior in terms of blankets and mattress fluffiness. Lydia and I didn't care where we slept, but both girls wanted the master bedroom.
"Why don't you two just share..."
—Glare.
I tried to mediate, but Eloise and Choi Ha-neul both shot me a look that told me to stay out of it.
"Let's settle it with Rock-Paper-Scissors."
"Fine!"
"Hng..."
"I told you you should have just shared."
Choi Ha-neul, having lost the game, was now sobbing in the first-floor bedroom near me. The master bedroom, predictably, went to Eloise.
"Ha... I'm supposed to be the party leader here."
"I don't think we ever actually picked a party leader, did we?"
"Whose side are you on, Mister?" Ha-neul snapped back.
"Calm down. Let's talk about the plan going forward."
"Hmph!"
Despite her pout, I began filling her in on the Dawnguard quest line.
There was a specific reason why I was pushing for the Dawnguard while the Civil War was still ongoing.
Unlike the game, DLC and faction narratives in this world progressed over time even without the protagonist's direct involvement. The Thieves Guild was a prime example.
'And seeing Gunmar the other day confirmed it.'
To maximize my meta-knowledge, I had to initiate these faction quests before they progressed too far on their own. It was a logistical nightmare, but with teleportation magic, it was manageable.
Anyway, Dawnguard—Skyrim's first DLC—centered around the conflict between vampires and the organization dedicated to hunting them.
Players could choose to become a vampire hunter or turn into a vampire and forsake the world. Either way worked.
'Though obviously, I'm sticking with the Dawnguard.'
Regardless of the choice, Harkon had to die in the end. But siding with the vampires meant the Dawnguard would become hostile, and the members would eventually be slaughtered by the player. Most players who didn't want to kill a likable character like Isran chose the Dawnguard route. Plus, some people just don't like blood-sucking man-eaters.
To explain the origins of the Dawnguard:
In the early Second Era, the Jarl of Riften had a son who loved adventure. Unfortunately, he was turned into a vampire during one of his travels. Unable to bring himself to kill his own son, the Jarl built a fortress in Dayspring Canyon on the outskirts of the Rift—Fort Dawnguard—to imprison and watch over him.
The mercenaries hired to guard the castle and the son became the first members of the Dawnguard. The organization flourished until the Third Era, when it eventually fractured for various reasons, leaving the fortress a ghost castle.
However, Isran, a former Vigilant of Stendarr who lost his family to vampires, left the Vigilants in a rage. He took the abandoned Fort Dawnguard as his base and rebuilt the order.
"So that's the backstory..."
Ha-neul sat on her bed, hugging her pillow tight as she listened intently.
"Lately, the influence of vampires in Skyrim has been growing. Remember Lord Harkon, the Vampire Lord I mentioned?"
Taking him down was the ultimate goal of the Dawnguard quest line.
I explained the general scope of the quest to her, and after some discussion, we decided to head to Riften tomorrow and then make our way to Fort Dawnguard.