Chapter 57: A Dish to Instantly Silence the Opponent and Dragon Sightings
“…Sigh…”
I sat at the table in the living room with my notebook spread open before me and let out a long, weary sigh that seemed to drain every ounce of energy from my body.
A moment later, Eve wandered into the room.
“Hm? Oniisan, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, Eve. Could you listen to me complain for a minute?”
“I’m about to watch the late-night anime I recorded yesterday, so no.”
“But it’s recorded! It’ll still be there later!”
I managed to stop Eve before she escaped and recruited her as my unwilling sounding board.
“The lord asked me to prepare ‘a dish so delicious it’ll shut up those spoiled city brats in one bite.'”
“…But aren’t most of your dishes already like that? Do you really need to overthink it?”
“You… think so?”
She certainly had a point.
Any authentic Japanese dish would already be something completely unfamiliar to the people of this world.
Odds were good that simply serving them something they’d never experienced before would leave a lasting impression.
Still…
Would that really be enough?
“A dish that’ll silence them in one bite…” I muttered, sinking deeper into thought. “Maybe I should just serve them a bowl of surströmming over rice.”
Eve stared at me.
“…Oniisan, are you the type who thinks about something so much that you eventually drive straight off a cliff? Because I feel like that’s exactly what’s happening. Please don’t do that. It’d cause a riot.”
“I mean, people joke about it all the time on video sites, but it’s actually surprisingly delicious.”
That brought back an old memory.
My grandpa had once seen videos about surströmming online and gotten curious enough to order a can through mail order.
Granted…
The smell had been absolutely catastrophic.
No exaggeration there.
But if you handled it properly, then sandwiched it with mashed potatoes and cheese between slices of bread…
It transformed into an unexpectedly incredible meal.
Now that I was thinking about it…
I kind of wanted to eat it again.
Not that I actually would.
The neighbors would probably declare war on me.
“More importantly…” Eve glanced toward the clock. “Isn’t it almost opening time for Tsurugi Hachi?”
“…Huh?”
I instinctively looked at the clock.
“…Ah, crap!!”
It was already past eleven.
I bolted out of the house and sprinted toward the restaurant.
Most adventurers headed into the forest early in the morning to hunt monsters before returning at night.
That meant lunchtime wasn’t nearly as busy as dinner…
But “less busy” definitely wasn’t the same thing as “empty.”
“I’m so sorry I’m late!”
“Oh, Eight,” Sabine greeted me with a grin. “We were just about to come get you.”
“We’ve already finished preparing the ingredients,” Tifana added.
“Thank you both so much!”
After thanking Sabine and Tifana, I hurried into the kitchen.
I worked at full speed to make up for the lost time, and before long the lunchtime rush had passed.
With the customers gone, I prepared lunch for the staff.
“Mmm! Man, I’ll never get tired of ginger pork!”
“It’s absolutely delicious,” Tifana agreed happily. “Reina should stop coming only once every three days and just work here every day.”
“Nah,” Sabine laughed, shrugging while happily stuffing her mouth with orc ginger pork. “That girl’s a born shut-in. If her daughter Nor wasn’t so dependable, she’d have starved to death ages ago.”
Just then—
“Boss! Am I too late for lunch?”
A young adventurer cautiously poked his head through the doorway, looking apologetic.
I glanced at the clock.
The hands hadn’t quite reached one o’clock yet.
Barely.
I smiled.
“You’re just in time.”
“Yes! That’s a relief!”
The young adventurer flashed a broad grin before taking a seat at the counter.
“I’ll have the Ginger Pork Set Meal.”
“Coming right up. Just give me a few minutes.”
“Sure! Man, I finally caught a break. Today’s been nothing but bad luck until now.”
“Oh? Something happen this morning?”
The restaurant was quiet enough now that I could chat while I cooked.
And yes—
Before anyone asks—
I was wearing my mask.
“No kidding. I figured I’d get ahead of the other adventurers by heading deeper into the forest than usual…”
He leaned forward dramatically.
“…and then I ran into this absolutely gigantic dragon.”
“That… sounds terrifying. I’m glad you made it back safely.”
“Oh, it gets better. You won’t believe this.”
He grinned.
“That dragon talked.”
“…Wait.”
I looked up from the stove.
“Dragons can talk?”
“I asked Guildmaster Kirara the same thing earlier. Apparently it’s incredibly rare. Only dragons that’ve lived for several hundred years can supposedly speak.”
A dragon that spoke human language…
Now that sounded like fantasy.
I’d honestly kind of like to see one.
While I was idly entertaining that thought—
“The dragon suddenly asks me, ‘Where’s the Demon King?'”
The adventurer laughed nervously.
“I nearly jumped out of my skin. I ran as fast as I could. I mean, everyone knows the Demon King lives on the Demon Continent. No way it’d be hanging around some tiny village like this.”
“Hahaha…”
I forced out a laugh.
“Y-Yeah… no kidding…”
Wait.
Ah.
“Thanks for the meal! It was great as always, Boss!”
“Y-You’re very welcome! Please come again!”
“You bet!”
After seeing the adventurer off, I left the dishes to Tifana and the others and hurried home.
The moment I got there, I told Eve everything.
“Huh? There’s a dragon deep in the forest looking for the Demon King?”
“Y-Yeah. Um… we’re okay, right? It isn’t suddenly going to attack the village or anything… right?”
“Oh.”
Eve blinked.
“I guess the naked old man isn’t here right now.”
That was true.
The village chief had left for the territorial capital to negotiate the compensation for hosting the noble academy’s social studies visit.
Watching that bent old man sprint away while laughing, “Ho, ho, ho,” had looked less like watching an elderly gentleman…
…and more like witnessing some ancient yokai disappearing into the distance.
In any case…
Our strongest fighter wasn’t here.
On top of that, Raphiel had barely left her room ever since her confrontation with Saril.
Aside from coming out for meals and baths, she’d stayed shut inside, completely absent-minded and lost in thought.
I wanted to leave her alone until she’d sorted out her feelings.
She wasn’t someone I wanted to rely on right now.
“Father! Don’t worry! If something happens, I’ll just go fwoosh!“
Amate puffed out her tiny chest confidently.
“Hmm…” Eve shrugged. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. There’s no way the Demon King is somewhere like this, and that dragon will probably leave sooner or later.”
“…Huh?”
“…Hm?”
Eve tilted her head.
Then, after a full second—
Her eyes suddenly went wide.
“…Oh.”
She pointed at herself.
“The Demon King… is me, isn’t it?”
“You forgot that!?”
“I-I mean… it’s just…”
She scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“I haven’t even sparred with Saintie lately. I’ve just been eating delicious food, watching anime, and building Gunpla…”
Now that she mentioned it…
Recently, Eve had become noticeably softer around the edges.
Not physically—
Well…
Maybe a little physically too.
But more than that, the dangerous, overwhelming aura she’d carried when we’d first met had all but disappeared.
At this point…
She just felt like an ordinary girl freeloading at my house.
“Hmm… Dragons…”
She crossed her arms thoughtfully.
“Come to think of it, I did spend a while killing every dragon I came across whenever I got bored. If one of them holds a grudge against me, I guess that wouldn’t be too surprising.”
“…Wow.”
I couldn’t help blurting it out.
“That was the most Demon King-like thing you’ve said in ages.”
“Right!”
Eve slapped her palms together.
“Since this is probably my fault, I’ll head into the forest and take care of it real quick! Oniisan, look forward to some dragon meat as a souvenir!”
Just then—
Without any warning—
Raphiel quietly emerged from the hallway.
“I shall accompany you to slay this dragon.”
“Wah!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Y-You startled me…”
“And Eight.”
She looked directly at me.
“You’re coming too.”
“…Huh?”
“I said…”
Raphiel repeated herself in the exact same calm tone.
“You’re coming too.”
Wait.
What?