chapter 32

The first thing that came to mind when I heard her words was, ‘Can I do it?’

In fact, this didn’t matter. I was a chef and she was a customer. A customer was putting in an order to the chef.

[Dinner for Flora]

[Difficulty: D

Flora was forced to stop cooking wind flowers to forget her beloved lover. She wants to eat a dish made of wind flowers once again. Prepare a meal for her.

* A chef-limited quest.

-Completion Conditions: Flora’s Satisfaction 0/1

-Rewards: Unknown.]

A chef-limited quest. There was no reason to refuse. For her and for me, this could be a great opportunity.

“I’m not skilled enough but I’ll do my best to make it.”

[The quest has been accepted.]

“Thank you. You can use the ingredients in the house.”

I looked up and walked out of the house. After all, the Aiolia wind flower was needed to cook. The Aiolia bloomed in the morning sun in a large field.

“It smells good.”

I moved to the nearest flower garden. I chose the Aiolia that looked the most appetizing and tasted it. A chef should know how to eat raw ingredients.

“It is a unique taste. There is the smell of grass, the smell of the rich forest, and the dark smell of the forest.”

I felt the taste of the Aiolia and struggled with it countless times in order to bring out the true taste. I opened my eyes and collected the Aiolia. My inventory was suddenly filled with over 100 Aiolias.

“Let’s look for other ingredients.”

I headed back to Flora’s house. I had to scour the kitchen to see what ingredients were available. This was a pretty important task. If anything was lacking then I would have to go outside and pick it. I thought this was enough. Then I came out again. The kitchen was too small and I couldn’t cook inside. The moment I came outside, I threw the pot into the air. Flora’s eyes followed me as she held Aiolos’ egg.

…I couldn’t disappoint. I started to throw the vegetables in my inventory into the air.

“Dicing!”

There was a pleasant sound as the vegetables were cut and fell into the pot. The proficiency continued to increase.

[The proficiency of the Dicing skill has increased.]

Potatoes, cabbage, paprika, pumpkin, and onions. I cut them into bite-sized pieces and put them into the pot.

Flora was stroking Aiolos’ egg and watching me with surprise. What should I do with the meat…

I currently envisioned two dishes. One was seasoned wind flower. The other was a wind flower soup. I was going to make the two things I saw in the video for Flora. I wanted to make it as smooth as possible for her in her old age.

[Goblin Meat]

[Rating: Normal

-Expiration Date: Two days.

Meat obtained from the goblins. Due to the nature, the texture is slightly chewy.]

[Gnoll Meat]

[Rating: Normal

-Expiration Date: Three days.

Meat obtained from the gnolls. The gnolls have long arms and flexible muscles, so the texture is flexible.]

“The gnoll meat is good.”

The meat had to be sliced in the house. It was because I could only use the Julienne skill if I had a cutting board. I finished cutting the meat on the cutting board. Once all the ingredients were cut, I moved them to the pot.

“Weather Cooking.”

Flames emerged from my right hand and appeared on the Windy Hill. Flora looked surprised again and her eyes shook when Solar appeared with an energetic smile. “Did you call me?”

“Yes. Can you warm up the pot?”

“I understand! Hehe~!”

Now this was familiar to me. Solar used its strength and the water quickly started to boil. It was truly a great firepower.

“Solar, let’s lower it a bit.”

“Understood! Hehe!”

Solar increased its distance from the pot. I smile as I placed the meat on a fork and started to cook it lightly. In any case, it was going into soup so I didn’t intend to cook it for long. I finely sliced the meat into small pieces and put them in the pot, stirring the soup. I didn’t forget to add the pre-cut Aiolia. I would boil it down now.

I went back to the kitchen. It was for the seasoned dish. Another pot was filled with water and brought outside. The water simmered and I started to carefully poach the Aiolia in salted water.

I met Flora’s eyes. She gave me a slight smile and seemed to wipe away some tears. I wanted to make the best dishes for her. I had to do the best I could.

I rinsed the blanched Aiolia in cold water. Originally, seasoned dishes had a bitter aftertaste. I didn’t know if it would work because it was my first time cooking with Aiolia but I thought it would work out somehow.

I checked the soup again. “It’s boiling well.”

I wanted to do my best to help her alleviate her grief. It wouldn’t have been easy for her to ask Alexus’ successor to cook the wind flower.

I grabbed the ladle and stirred the soup carefully. A circle, an S-shaped character, and a number 8 character, I stirred it in various ways as I was lost in thought. Five minutes passed. Then an amazing message appeared before my eyes.

[Please set the theme of the dish.]

“Hmm?”

This was the first time I had seen this? I was suddenly troubled. The theme…

The soup would cool down if I didn’t decide quickly. After a moment of contemplation, I replied, “Flora’s memories.”

A light came out of the soup. The dazzling golden color seemed to be a magic that stopped the world’s time temporarily before it disappeared again.

Ttiring~

[Superior quality! Aiolia Soup with Flora’s memories!]

[There is no true love like the love for food. Your anguish for the poor woman is infused in the dish.

Cooking illuminates the heart. The sun’s radiant energy is overflowing from the soup.

-Star Taste: ☆☆☆☆☆

-Expiration Date: 10 days.

-Health Recovery: 400. Magic Power Recovery: 400.

Efficacy: The moment you eat this dish, all difficulties will be comforted.

All stats are increased by 10% for one day.

Wind resistance will increase by 50%.

Attack speed will increase by 20%.

* Sun’s Blessing: Strength, defense, fire damage, and fire resistance is increased by 40% for 30 minutes.]

[You have made the first superior quality dish.]

[Your reputation has risen by 200.]

[Your reputation has changed from ‘nameless’ to ‘normal’.]

[All stats have increased by 5 points.]

[The level of the sun elemental has increased. More delicate fire control is now possible.]

It seemed like I had made something amazing…

The smell of the soup wasn’t ordinary. There were also five stars that represented the rating of the dish. This was a superior quality dish?

I scooped the soup into a bowl and placed it in front of her. “Please wait a bit. Don’t eat it yet.”

I went into the kitchen and came out with sesame oil and sesame seeds. I took the Aiolia soaked in cold water, put it in a bowl, and started to mix them together. It was a bit disappointing that there was no miso but it couldn’t be helped.

Ttiring~

[Delicacy! Seasoned Aiolia!]

[Don’t be afraid of failure in cooking.

Failure is the mother of success.

After blanching it lightly, it was mixed with sesame oil and sesame seeds. However, the saltiness wasn’t controlled, making it a slightly disappointing dish.

This will be a valuable experience for a chef.

-Star Taste: ☆☆

-Expiration Date: Three days.

-Health Recovery: 100. Magic Power Recovery: 100.

Efficacy: Eating this dish will increase agility by 5% during the day.

Wind resistance is increased by 20%.

* Sun’s Blessing: Strength, defense, fire damage, and fire resistance is increased by 10% for 30 minutes.]

This time, it wasn’t superior quality. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. The rating of the dishes seemed to be in the order of delicacy, pure, and superior quality. It was because the number of star tastes increased from delicacy to superior quality. I placed the seasoned Aiolia in front of her. “Please enjoy.”

“……”

Flora was staring at the food. Her trembling shoulders showed her longing for Aiolos. She lifted the chopsticks and put the seasoned Aiolia in her mouth.

…This situation was more tense than I thought.

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is gulping.]

“Delicious. It is a little less than the one I made but it is still great.”

“Thank you.”

It was a bit bad but it was still decent. I still had another shot. Then Flora lifted her spoon. She was gulping.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yes, a little bit.”

The scent wasn’t normal. The best thing I’ve ever smelled from coming from there. I was distracted by the sweet fragrance I had never smelled before. She put the soup straight into her mouth.

“Ahh…!” Flora’s eyes flashed as she let out an exclamation of admiration. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands and started to cry quietly.

…How much had she missed him? She had missed him so much that she couldn’t cook the wind flower out of fear that she might remember him. I was becoming more and more emotional along with her. At this moment, someone opened the door and came in. “Mother! What is that outside…”

There was a moment of silence. A handsome young man in his mid-30s grabbed my collar when he spotted Flora crying.

“What is this?! What did you do to my mother? Why is my mother crying?! Uh?”

…It was difficult. He seemed to be her son.

“Stop it, Kerenos…” Flora spoke in a hoarse voice, tears streaming down from her eyes.

Kerenos let go of my collar and approached her. I could see his eyes widen as he saw the dishes placed in front of her. Flora told me, “Thank you very much. It is so delicious that I was brought to tears. It is the best.”

Flora couldn’t control her flowing tears. I felt at ease. I was satisfied that my desire to comfort her was well communicated. It was enough to give her a moment of happiness. “Aiolos died and I blamed him. However, I think I understand a bit about why he threw himself forward to save Alexus.”

Tears of resentment and forgiveness, filled with the 400 years of longing, flowed from her eyes. The tears flowed down her chin and finally onto Aiolos’ egg that she was holding. At this moment, the egg in Flora’s arms started to radiate a brilliant light.