Chapter 97: A Sore Loser, Salty Dried Meat, and Hard Bread

“I-It’s finally over… I can’t do any more… I don’t want to move…”

After cooking continuously for roughly two hours, I finally reached a stopping point and collapsed from exhaustion.

“You prepared meals not only for the adventurers but also for the Knights.”

“B-Because I felt sorry for the knights eating nothing but rations.”

“It is one of your virtues that you did more than merely pity them and actually prepared food for everyone.”

The Knights’ meals were dreadful.

It was difficult to explain, but they clearly prioritized long storage life, nutrition, and filling one’s stomach, while flavor came a distant second.

If someone said that was the purpose of rations, I could hardly argue.

A knight shared some salty dried meat and bread so hard it seemed capable of breaking my teeth. The dried meat was so salty that I could barely eat it.

At least to my Japanese palate, it was entirely unappealing.

Raphiel voiced an objection.

“You should not push yourself too far.”

“…I’ll try…”

I had assumed that serving large groups every day at Tsurugi Hachi would make this easy, but everything was completely different.

Of course it was. Even on a busy day, my restaurant served only around a hundred customers.

There were nearly two thousand people on this battlefield. There was no way I could manage them all.

Nevertheless, I had to try.

I had come to the front line to silence the people slandering me in the royal capital.

It would have taken even longer if several Elde knights and adventurers had not volunteered to help.

“Hey, Onii-san. Where is my food?”

“Mm… I’m hungry too…”

“You’re demons.”

“I’m the Demon King.”

“Mm… I am… the Dragon King…”

I used my final reserves of strength to cook whale steaks for the two of them.

“Delicious.”

“…Very… delicious…”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied…”

Then Randolph entered the corner of my vision.

The knights sat around fires with their companions, talking and eating my food. Randolph alone stood apart and silently ate his rations.

“Is Randolph a loner?”

“He’s keeping watch over the surroundings.”

“Oh, Rorondo.”

Rorondo had answered my muttering.

“Commander Randolph has always been like that. Even when everyone else is talking, he stays on guard. He never lets himself relax on a battlefield.”

“…Won’t his body break down if he pushes himself so hard?”

Rorondo shook his head.

“According to him, ‘With spirit, determination, and knowledge of how to rest properly, there is no problem.’”

“I see… By the way, you know an awful lot about Randolph.”

“Naturally. I used to be a knight. I couldn’t keep up with their training and washed out, but Randolph and I joined at the same time.”

“What!?”

I had no idea!

More importantly, what kind of training could a Rank A adventurer fail to keep up with?

“What did the training involve?”

“That’s a secret, so I can’t tell you. The program was completely revised over the last ten-odd years, and knights and former knights are bound to secrecy.”

“Oh, confidentiality…”

“Just remember this: every knight is at least as strong as a Rank A adventurer. Even a new recruit who completes the training is roughly as strong as a Rank B.”

“U-Understood.”

The kingdom apparently possessed many more knights as strong as the adventurers who constantly hunted gigantic monsters in the forest near Papel Village.

Even if Zahaba could control monsters, why had it declared war on Elde…?

Still…

“What is it, Boss?”

“Nothing. I’m just amazed Randolph can eat something so awful without making a face.”

“Are you worried about him?”

“Not at all. I dislike him a little.”

“Hahaha. Don’t say that. His manner of speaking is harsh, but the people around him respect him. Go easy on him, Boss.”

“I’ll try.”

“You won’t say you understand…”

Because he irritated me.

Calling adventurers useless when they had rushed to defend the kingdom during a crisis made me angry.

And this had nothing to do with it, but I did not like how he ignored the food I cooked and gnawed on rations instead.

…It truly had nothing to do with it.

“Raphiel, I’m going somewhere for a moment.”

“You are quite the sore loser, Eight.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

It felt as if Raphiel had read my mind, but I was surely imagining things.

“Randolph.”

“Hm. What do you want?”

I approached Randolph, who stood alone, and called to him.

“Does that taste good?”

“Of course not. You ate some earlier. Or is your palate so crude that you cannot even taste it?”

“Every word you say is irritating! You and your tiny mustache!”

“Who are you calling Tiny Mustache!?”

I brought over a stove and set a pot of water on it.

I cut the dried meat into bite-sized pieces and added them to the pot.

Then I added root vegetables such as carrots and daikon, followed by cabbage, bean sprouts, and other vegetables, and simmered everything.

I adjusted the flavor with mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.

“There. I’ve made a minimally edible soup. Soak the bread in it before eating.”

“…What are you trying to do?”

“Don’t be shy. Eat it.”

“I am not being shy. On a battlefield, efficiently consuming nutrients matters more than taste.”

“Just eat it.”

“I refuse!”

“Eat the damn soup!”

After we repeated that exchange for a while, Randolph finally surrendered.

“Damn you. My foolish brother is the only other man who has ever pestered me this persistently.”

“Please don’t say that. It makes this oddly upsetting.”

“…Well, if you insist so strongly, I suppose I could eat it.”

“Yes, yes. I insist.”

“Hmph.”

Randolph snorted, scooped up the soup with a spoon, and tasted it.

He soaked the bread and silently ate that as well.

“How is it?”

“It is not bad.”

“Why not simply say it’s delicious?”

“…It is not bad.”

Damn this middle-aged man!

“Mm… It smells good…”

“!? Who are you!?”

“Ryu? What brings you here?”

“It smelled good… so I came to eat… The food earlier… wasn’t enough…”

Ryu brought a plate, served herself soup, and began eating.

She offered a single comment.

“Mm… delicious…”

“Ryu is honest! When we return, I’ll buy you anything you want!”

“Mm… Since I am honest… I desire… the game console… the Saintess and Demon King have… I want to play… with everyone…”

“All right. I understand.”

It would be unfair for Raphiel and Eve to have game consoles while she alone did not.

We had plenty of points, so it should be fine.

“…Mm…”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ryu?”

“Mm… Probably… my imagination…”

Ryu glanced toward the sea and tilted her head, but immediately returned her attention to her plate.

“Come to think of it, the enemy hasn’t attacked again since we repelled the monsters…”

“…Hmph. They either believed that meager force could defeat the kingdom or have devised another plan.”

“I don’t like the second possibility.”

“Then we will simply crush that plan with them. There is no difficulty—”

At that moment, something over the sea flashed brilliantly.

The tremendous impact and explosion followed a moment later.

“!? What was that!?”

“Mm… It wasn’t… my imagination…”

“Ryu? Do you know something?”

“…I am… in the sea…”

“What? What does that—”

I could not understand her words. As I stood there bewildered, Ryu began unsteadily walking toward the sea.

Afterword: Eight’s Pride

Eight is reasonably confident in his cooking and becomes displeased when someone refuses even to look at what he has made.