Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 150: Cheers
All the dishes were laid out on the table, and everyone who had come gathered in the living room.
Looking at it this way, it was quite cramped. There were so many people that there was barely enough space unless we stood and ate.
Still, I was happy that since coming to this other world, I had been able to form such close bonds with so many people.
However… if we host another gathering and even more people come, it might be too much for this living room to handle.
While considering whether I should ask Sid to build us a larger building, I decided to make the toast.
“Once again, thank you all for coming today. Everyone gathered here has truly helped me and supported me over the past year.”
“That’s not true at all! I’m the one who should be thanking you!”
“Exactly! If anything, we’re the ones who should be grateful!”
Yato and Mika suddenly shouted that in the middle of my toast.
I was really happy they said that, but it made me completely forget what I was going to say next.
…Well, no point dragging it out. Let’s just go straight to the toast.
“Yato, Mika—thank you. This might be a modest gesture, but I’ve prepared some truly delicious food, so I hope you’ll enjoy yourselves. Now then, cheers!”
“Cheers!”
After the toast, we all drank the alcohol in our glasses in one go.
It was a handmade brew by George, and since he brought the highest-quality stuff, it tasted absolutely amazing.
For Ren and the others who can’t drink, as well as Yato and Joel, Velvet had brought juice from Marukame-dō.
It was apparently a new flavor, but maybe it wasn’t quite as tasty—unlike the alcohol group, they didn’t look all that impressed.
“Wow! There’s pizza again this time!”
“Not just Margerita, there’s seafood and teriyaki chicken too! It’s like a real delivery pizza, the quality is insane!”
“I thought last time was the only type of pizza, but there are so many kinds! I’ll dig in right away!”
Sheila, who never misses a new dish, immediately reached for a different type of pizza.
They’re standard among delivery pizzas, so I’m sure she’ll love them.
“Mmm! So different from the tomato one, but still really delicious! I wouldn’t even think these are both called ‘pizza’!”
“I’m glad you like it. There are other types of pasta as well, so feel free to try them too.”
“Oh, you’re right! I didn’t notice because of the sauces, but that white one and the mushroom one are pasta too!”
It looked like she was interested in both the carbonara and the Japanese-style pasta. Sheila happily dug in.
Watching her enjoy the food warmed my heart. Meanwhile, I decided to try Norman’s original dish.
“Sato, this isn’t a dish from your world, is it?”
“No, that one was created by Norman, over there. He used ingredients from this world but made it in the style of your world’s cuisine.”
“Oh, I see. The presentation definitely feels familiar.”
Velvet, who showed interest in Norman’s creation, quickly dished up a portion for me as well.
The recipes here aren’t bad—it’s just that the ingredients are usually subpar.
So I was really curious about how it would taste.
“Let’s dig in. —Ah, it’s delicious! It looks like karst, but the taste is so good it confuses my brain.”
“Huh, so that dish is called karst?”
While listening to Velvet’s commentary, I took a bite myself.
—Yep, it’s pretty good.
It was a dish with chewy, bite-sized dough filled with vegetables and meat, topped with a sweet and savory sauce. It reminded me of a mini kebab.
Since the ingredients were solid, it ended up being reliably tasty.
“Yeah, this is good. Very satisfying for just one bite.”
“It’s definitely designed to be filling in a single bite… But as a complete dish, I think your cooking is more refined, Sato. The ingredients are great, but it didn’t quite move me.”
That seemed like good feedback, but Velvet still gave quite a sharp critique.
To be fair, I felt the same—it wasn’t extraordinarily tasty, just safely tasty.
How should I put it… The recipe was originally meant to mask poor-quality ingredients, so with high-quality ones, it felt wasteful. The thick dough overwhelmed the flavor.
Though the chewy texture was still fun.
“…Princess sure hit a sore spot. I had a lot of confidence in that dish, but she’s right—it’s missing something.”
“Oh, did you hear me? Sorry for being so blunt, especially after you went through the trouble of making it.”
“Norman, I think it’s really tasty!”
“No, I know better than anyone that Sato’s recipes are superior. It’s frustrating, but I lost both in terms of ingredients and recipe. Honestly, the fact that food from another world is crafted to be so easy to make… it’s terrifying.”
It’s true—I usually follow recipes from video-sharing sites, created by professionals who make it easy for anyone to cook.
Being able to produce that kind of flavor with so little effort must seem maddening to a dedicated chef like Norman.
“Huh. So your recipes are that easy to make, Sato?”
“Well, assuming you already know how to cook to some extent. In any case… I’m just grateful to Sato for letting me make my own original dish this time. I feel like I’ve found my path forward.”
Norman’s eyes burned with passion as he spoke, and I was relieved to see that Velvet’s blunt feedback didn’t bring him down.
Hoping that his passion doesn’t take a weird turn, I spent the rest of the evening enjoying the food and chatting to my heart’s content.