「I wanna make some medicinal coatin’ for the armor.」
「You finished them already?」
「Just some finishin’ touches and enchantments left. Ya wanted soft leather, right?」
Nodding in response, Haruna was impressed all over again. Truly, his craftsmanship knew no bounds.
「And you, Haruna-san? Gettin’ ready for supper?」
「Uh-huh. There’s a good number of eggs in everything, counting the dessert. She’ll be okay, won’t she?」
「Won’t kill her.」
Hiroshi said, as he continued to boil down the mysterious liquid in the wok. Chuckling at the sight, Haruna decided to have him boil some eggs in a separate pot.
「I got a clue on tonight’s menu… It ain’t enough to use up all that meat, is it?」
「Tonight’s just the preshow, my friend. Oh, right.」
「Yeah?」
「Are you going to use the Wyvern bones on something?」
「I could take ‘em or leave ‘em.」
「Okay. I’ll try making a bone broth tomorrow, then.」
And so, their conversation ensued in the safety of their kitchen. Anyone with even the slightest understanding of the terror of the Wyvern would not believe their ears, if they happened upon this conversation. Bone broth? Actually, they would be in disbelief at the mere thought of cooking its meat. Since an ordinary kitchen knife would swiftly deteriorate to the point of no return after a few cuts through the meat. Which, by the way, would not soften enough to make it appetizing just by an ordinary chef cooking it in their kitchen. The Wyvern, in fact, can’t even be properly taken apart without the use of an incredibly sharp blade under seasoned precision.
While Hiroshi and Haruna were unaware of it, the task of cooking a high-level monster like a Wyvern required extraordinary tools and skills as a prerequisite. If someone were to watch Haruna slice through Wyvern meat with a kitchen knife (which had only been reforged on a whim after seeing some wear and tear) as if she was wielding a cursed sword, they would start seeing spots. Now these two think this is normal, mostly because Douga and Rayna were used to the sight (or have given up on confronting the absurdity) and didn’t say anything, but this was far from a normal kitchen in Farlane.
These two, oblivious to their own absurd situation, continued discussing various dishes they could make in the future until Hiroshi had concluded his work on the stove.
「That oughtta do it.」
Taking the pot off the stove, Hiroshi carried it to his work space. He would cool it enough to touch before slathering the pieces of armor with it. All that was left was to dry them afterward and put some enchantments on them.
「And the eggs are boiled, too. I’ll leave ya to it.」
「Okie dokie. I’ll make us a three-star meal, don’t you worry.」
Haruna said, and finished prepping the time-consuming deserts before straining the boiled eggs before mixing them in with the minced onions with mayonnaise to make a big batch of tartar sauce. After treating the Wyvern meat (chopped into reasonable sizes), she fried one after another. After there was a mound of fried meat, she separated them onto everyone’s plates, and finishing off with the tartar sauce on the side. She stored the portions for the collection team in an insulated container (along with separate containers for the tartar sauce) in the pantry.
Then, she took out the custard pudding she had been working on simultaneously from the steamer, and chilled it a bit with a spell before throwing them in the fridge. She also took the potato soup she was working on from the stove, and separated portions of it for the collection team, and placed them in the pantry. After whipping up a quick salad, she prepared the bread and placed everything on the cart before wheeling them all to the dining room. Of course, the bread baked in this workshop were fermented with yeast (in other words, bread from our world). Today, she had baked buttered rolls and walnut bread.
「Dinner’s ready!」
Haruna announced through the PA system (which Hiroshi had installed for convenience). Before anyone else, Rayna came down to the dining room carrying Elena.
「Fried Wyvern thighs, served with tartar sauce. There’s enough for seconds, so don’t be shy.」
Haruna’s nonchalant description of tonight’s specials was met with a (just as nonchalant) “Well that sounds lovely” from Douga, who had just walked in.
「…Wyvern? Are you sure it’s edible?」
「Yeah, it tastes pretty good.」
「I don’t think she meant to ask you about its taste…」
Elena, dumbfounded, began to say, and saw Douga and Rayna (who had just sat her down in her chair) shake their heads.
「…I thought you were joking… You’re really going to eat it…?」
「Hey, Lay. You came.」
「Brother!」
Layotte had entered, interjecting in Elena’s stead (who had been keeping silent, unsure of what to say). Aearis turned to him, delighted.
「I had heard that nothing harmful was served last night, but I heard Elena was recovering somewhat, and had to check on her diet for myself. I insisted I had to stop by.」
「Will you be joining us, Lord Layotte?」
「Wyvern meat’s great for ya constitution.」
「…I’ll have some.」
Hearing Layotte’s response, Aearis brightened up even more. Watching this with a smile, Haruna plated another serving. She had made extra (just in case of an unexpected guest like this) so an extra serving didn’t take away from anyone. After watching her brother take his seat, Aearis was waiting patiently for his portion to be served, but her glistening eyes were glaring down the fried Wyvern through her collected expression. She had no quandary with the abnormal practice of cooking Wyvern meat. In fact, she had no clue of its absurdity to begin with. She had been told the previous night to stop worrying about what people are thinking when eating her food, and so, Aearis could now devote her full attention (fueled with the full force of her appetite) to the meal in front of her.
「Now… Thank you for another day, another delicious meal.」
Haruna announced after serving everyone’s plates, and the others began to reach for the food as soon as they had finished their pre-consumption prayer. Layotte and Elena each struck one of the bite-size chunks of meat with their fork, and dipped it in the tartar sauce before timidly putting it in their mouth.
「It doesn’t make sense…」
Elena mumbled, with a pondering expression in reaction to the taste of the fried meat, paired perfectly with the tartar sauce. The Wyvern thighs were not too flashy, but had a substantial base of flavors. Its juices harmonized perfectly with the tartar sauce, and sang their delicious chorus through everyone’s mouth. It tasted like happiness.
「What do you mean?」
「How can such a savage creature taste so good…? I still can’t believe you cooked a Wyvern…」
「I mean, Hiroshi and Haruna are the epitome of not making sense.」
「For real?」
「Cookin’ ain’t hard. It just takes practice.」
Right. Because anyone could cook up a Wyvern with practice. Oblivious to their powers, Hiroshi and Haruna continued to ramble off their words of complaint.
Tempered by Aearis, who continued to clear her plate with a brimming smile, the two other royals at the table reluctantly conceded. Of course, their concerned expression didn’t last long against the assault of deliciousness that ensued.
「Layotte had told me so much, so I was worried what the food would be like, but…」
「The ingredient aside, it taste fine… Much better than fine. You eat these kinds of dishes every day?」
Elena and Layotte uttered, to which Douga and Rayna answered, with straight faces:
「I don’t have the palette for some of the dishes, but nothing so far was prepared poorly.」
「Once in a while, there will be a dish on the table… Where I have learned that I will be happier by not picturing the ingredients.」
A prime example of such ingredients were the Piaranork legs. These too, were extremely difficult for an ordinary chef to handle, albeit not nearly as difficult as a Wyvern. It tasted like crab, minus the tang of the sea. It was surprisingly delicious, but Douga and Rayna had some thoughts about dining on something that had nearly eaten them alive.
There were many examples worthy of note, and their frequency of appearance on the dining table had skyrocketed since Makoto joined the party. The monsters she takes down during quests or collection outing are nothing that a class 7 adventurer would come across, much less around these parts. If these creatures lurked around Wulls, chaos would ensue. Everyone in the party could only be impressed at how she keeps coming across quests of that nature.
Of course, Hiroshi and Haruna would cook everything she brought back, so they were also on another level entirely.
「Alrighty, it’s time for desert!」
After making sure that everyone had cleared their plates, Haruna brought in the custard. It had been steamed and well-chilled. Layotte nor Elena had never seen anything like it. While this world hadn’t seen the invention of custard, there were ice cream and sherbet out on the market. Different world, different culinary culture.
「It’s delicious.」
Aearis said with full-hearted glee after swallowing the first spoonful.
「Elle-chan loves custard.」
「Among other things, ya could say.」
「I love anything that Hiroshi-sama and Haruna-sama make.」
Aearis exclaimed with a brimming smile. Out of everyone in the party, she would be the one most detached from worldly things. She had said so herself: good food trumps all.
「Aearis, don’t you think you should be more cautious about what you put in your mouth…?」
「They would never serve me anything inedible, so there’s no need for that.」
When it came to dining, Aearis had grown to fully trust the chefs of the house. Of course, both of them tasted everything they made, and discard anything that didn’t come out right, so it was impossible for something inedible to appear on Aearis’ plate. Moreover, no one who prides themselves of their cooking would ever poison someone with their food.
「I see they have found the way to your heart…」
「Little sis, are you going to be able to resume your life as the Priestess Princess…?」
「…When I get back, I will try my best.」
Even as Elena wished her sister would be more trusting, she could help but reminisce, trying to remember when it was they had a family dinner together. In fact, Elena wondered, if this could be the first time she had seen a genuine smile on Aearis’ face during meal time. Elena hadn’t seen Aearis’ genuine smile at all for the past three years. Her smile alone was worthy of celebration, Elena concluded.
While some may be surprised to hear this, but before Aearis was banished, she had no interest in food whatsoever. Both an extravagant meal that even royalty would only indulge in on a special occasion, and a meagre meal reminiscent of livestock feed held the same value to her. Aearis, who was always people-pleasing to her best efforts, always slapped on a smile and cleared her plate, no matter what was on it (as long as it wasn’t poisoned). Still Elena doubted that Aearis had ever truly enjoyed a meal before.
Unfortunately, the only experience of a family meal Aearis had ever had was the chore of clearing her plate with an obligatory smile on her face (as to not worry anyone in the room) as she desperately tried to let Katrina’s insults roll off her back. As long as eating was a chore, she obviously couldn’t taste a thing that she put in her mouth. Not to mention that everything served to her had gotten cold by the time it reached her. Even Layotte and Elena had never really enjoyed the food itself. It was no wonder that Aearis showed no interest in food in that environment.
And here she was, with a genuine smile, enjoying her food. Enjoying herself. Elena couldn’t believe her eyes when Aearis (who had never shown any interest in the food served to her) was devouring her food with her eyes before it was even served. What’s more, she was astounded by Aearis (who was much more wary of things than she looked) essentially exclaiming that she trusted Hiroshi and Haruna with her life. Elena couldn’t help but be impressed that they had gotten her to open up so much in ten days or so.
「In any case, I’m sure you two are to thank for Aearis’ growing interest in dining.」
Elena noted.
「I’m still nervous if she can get back on the Temple’s diet, but I’m happy to see that eating isn’t just a chore to her anymore.」