It is the day after my visit to Lamberts and I am now diligently preparing food for our trip. As expected, itâs best to work in a proper kitchen whenever I can.
âAfter all, while there should be plenty of interesting food, good restaurants and stalls at the Royal Capital, nothing beats the seasonings and stuff I could get from [Net Super].â
It was sort of given that we will be going to the Royal Capital.
No matter what I thought, Fer, Sui, Dora-chan and Grandpa Gon were now all eagerly bugging me about going to the Royal Capital~ the Royal Capital~~âȘ
Gah!
The moment we got home yesterday, Ferâs first word was âSo, when are we going to the Royal Capital?â
It was followed by Sui and Dora-chan practically singing âRoyal Capital~âȘ The Royal Capital~âȘâ
âShall we go tomorrow, Master? I can you there right away if you want it.â
ââIs the Royal Capital a big city? Huh? Huh?ââ
ââWill there be lots of delicious meat~?ââ
âOh my, you guys canât wait to go to the Royal Capital, huh?â
âWell, we have no choice, for the sake of eating the Leviathan~â
â⊠I knew it.â
I donât have a problem visiting a town or big city, but the problem is that a king lives there! The king!! If I were to set foot in that city, I would have no choice but to have an audience with the kingâŠ
âHahh⊠I guess I have no choice since itâs basic etiquette, but this is so troublesomeâŠâ I sighed. âUgh, will it be alright? You guys, can you please donât be rude in front of the king? Huh?â
The only lucky thing I could think of here is that only Fer and Grandpa Gon could speak human language. However, Fer is an arrogant legendary monster, while Grandpa Gon is an ancient legendary monster.
One thing they have in common is their arrogant attitude.
Just thinking about how they would act in front of royalty is making my stomach hurtâŠ
âLetâs devote all our thoughts to cooking right now, cooking!â
As if to demonstrate the power of the âSolitary Chefâ title, dish after dish piled on the counter, only to be swept into my [Item Box] to make room for more dishes.
I made all of my familiarsâ favourites, deep fried dishes, steaks in all sorts of sauces, ginger grilled meats, sliced beef for beef bowls, sliced pork for pork bowls, mabo tofu with plenty of meat, beefy beef stew, and large meatballs. Now and then, for a change, Iâd make steamed food too, steamed veggies as well as the obligatory steamed meatsâŠ
âPhew, what a spread. Even though I made them myself, Iâd say itâs quite impressive~â
Since the food was quickly tucked away in my [Item Box] I donât exactly know how much I had made, but it must have been a lot.
âI got lost in cooking thanks to the Solitary Chef title, hahaha⊠haaahhâŠ. Letâs make dinner now.â
For dinner, I pulled out a freshly made tray of oval-shaped meatballs, specifically for tonightâs dinner.
âTonight, letâs have something like a stewed Hamburg Steak.â
[1]
The meat had already been browned in the oven, so the next thing to do is to make the stewing sauce for it. The nice thing about this recipe is that I donât have to check if the meat was properly cooked or not since it would be stewed in a sauce anyway.
After removing the meat from the tray to a large, heavy bottom pan, I place the tray on a stove and turned on the fire. When the meat juices and oil started simmering, I added a piece of butter, sliced onions, shimeji mushrooms and some sliced button mushrooms.
Finally, once the sauce is just right, pour it over the pan of mostly cooked Salisbury Steaks, allow the glorified meatballs to simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes, and flip once.
To finish, sprinkle a generous amount of mixed cheese on the pan and slide the whole pan back into the oven, setting the âgrillâ function to lightly toast the cheese on top.
[1]
âItâs done~ now, letâs take this to our hungry beasts~â
I know I complained a lot about them, but nothing beats seeing my food being devoured by grateful beasts, hehehe.
Iâm sure my Gluttonous Quartet are hungry now~ âȘ
Please read this at kitchennovel
My familiars were hungrier than I expected.
They chomped right into their servings of Hamburg Steaks (served with grilled cheese!) almost before I had the chance to set the dishes down.
âOi, oi, chew and swallow, will you? Donât just swallow!â
âPhun, itâs your fault.â
âMy fault? How is your uncouth behaviour my fault?â
âMaster, delicious smells had been floating out of the kitchen all dayâŠâ said Grandpa Gon.
ââUwoohh!!! The smells were so thick I could almost taste it, but I couldnât eat it! Ugh, the torture!!ââ
ââEat now~ eat now~!ââ
[2] Hohoho, do you understand the power of my cooking now? This is the power of the Solitary Chef (sob)!
Indeed, when my familiars kept bugging me about Royal Capital, Royal Capital now!! I had forced them to compromise with a simple âPhun, I wonder what we should do if thereâs nothing good to eat at the Royal Capital?â
Naturally, they replied with âKuuhh, Leviathan! Leviathan meat!â
To which I countered with âHmm⊠since I am obliged to meet with the king after stepping into that city, I wonder how long it would take. Ahhh, I wonder how long it would take for the butchers of the city to take the Leviathan apart? Oh no, what should I do when thereâs nothing good to eat there~~ âȘ â
That little exchange led to the sudden storm of cooking today.
I may have gone overboard a little and served them a late lunch instead of a midday lunch.
Speaking of which, the way they eat those Salisbury SteaksâŠ
Is it really that good?
I cut a small piece off a cheese-covered steak and took a small bite.
âHm, yes, very delicious. Ah, this makes me crave rice~ I should-â
âOi, seconds!â
âSeconds here too, please.â
ââSame!ââ
ââSui too~~ââ
âYou guys ate too quicklyâŠâ I muttered as I got another pan of cheese-covered Salisbury Steaks out from my [Item Box].
What was that? I should ignore them and eat my food?
How could I eat under those starving glittering eyes?
Anyway, I quickly give everyone their seconds. Their thirds, fourths and fifths as well.
It was only after my familiars were sipping or lapping at their after-dinner cola that I finally managed to get a breather.
Unable to resist, I served myself some Salisbury Steaks on rice quickly in between their seconds and ate a tad too much. Woah, Iâm feeling a little bloated now.
Letâs have a little after-lunch coffee, black of course.
âOi, canât we go to the Royal Capital tomorrow?â
âCanât, I have to prepare the offerings tomorrow.â
âGunuâ I mean, g-good, we must honour Ninril-sama,â
Iâm actually surprised by Ferâs restraint. Wow, heâs a true devotee, huh? Although, I canât say whether his devotion is wasted on the goddess or not.
In fact, I still have a little time before the next offering date, but considering our plans to visit the Royal Capital, there is a high possibility that Iâd forget about it or something, so I better do it while Iâm at Carelina.
Yes, letâs take their orders tonight and prepare the goods tomorrowâŠ
âLetâs see, I also have to visit the Adventurerâs Guild to collect the money for the things we sold, pay a visit to LambertsâŠâ Ugh, I still remember the glint in Marie-sanâs eyes. Those were the eyes of a beauty fanatic waiting for their goods.
I should deliver everything quickly and get it out of my schedule soon.
âI thought we could eat Leviathan soonâŠâ
I automatically tuned out everything the moment âthat wordâ was mentioned. Lalala, Iâm not listening~âȘ
Iâm not listening because⊠Iâm checking everyoneâs status now~âȘ
Seriously though, I wonder what everyoneâs status is like after going through that hellish dungeon filled with horrible S Class monstersâŠ
Why did you have to level up into this monstrous being?
Th-thatâs right, didnât Dora-chan insta-kill one of the S Class monsters in the dungeonâŠ?
Wait, what about my Sui-tan?
[Name] Sui
[Age] 10 months
[Race] Huge Slime
[Level] 63
[Health Point] 2028
[Magic Power] 1812
[Attack Power] 2003
[Defense] 1946
[Agility] 2011
[Skill] Acid Bullet | Recovery Potion Generation | Multiplication | Water Magic | Smithing | Super Gigantify
[Blessing]
Blessing of the Water Goddess Rusalka
Blessing of the God of Smith Hephaestus
âPffttâ!â
ââEw, what-! Thatâs disgusting!!ââ
âOi, whatâs wrong with you?â
âMaster?â
ââSui will clean~~ââ
I had accidentally spat coffee across the dining table and on Dora-chanâŠ
My Sui-tanâŠ
Isnât⊠isnât having such crazy stats at⊠10 months old too insane?
ââAruji~~ okay~~?ââ
âSob, Sui~!! Please stay this cute forever and ever and ever~~!!â I howled as I hugged Sui to my chest tightly.
ââWhatâs with this guy?ââ
âJust leave it aloneâŠâ
âMasterâŠâ
[Gumihou: Haha, looks like Fer really understands his master.]
Art from Ying Ying that properly captures Mukoudaâs feelings~
[1] Adjusted the cooking style for the Hamburg Steak. Instead of pan frying, oven grilled it instead. Trust Gumi, this is much more efficient. If Mukouda truly has the Solitary Chef title, heâd do it this way.