Chapter 47: New Dish

I asked Galatea, who had returned, to bring me a huge pot that had been carried in the steam car. Then I asked Vigna, who blurted out, “My magic is for fighting” to magically fill it with water and put it on fire. The filling was, of course, potatoes. They were cut in half and steamed.

“As a thank you for letting me stay here today, I’m going to treat you to some of my Asgardian specialties!”

“““Wooooow!”””

“We have plenty, so please line up in order. Master, it’s going to be a great turnout!”

With my words, cheers echoed through the crowd. They even cry out that they don’t have enough forces. It was a good thing I had come prepared with the expectation that if we turned the peasants into soldiers and so on to make up for the missing forces, the labor force would have been reduced and the amount of crops collected would have been less.

Then some of them picked up freshly boiled potatoes and looked at them in bewilderment. Well, it’s kind of eerie when you’re not used to seeing it.

“Yes, it’s ready.”

“Oh, thank you. This is the kind of potato that is grown in our territory. I know it doesn’t look familiar, but I’m sure it tastes great, and I hope you’ll give it a try too.”

I took a mouthful of the steaming potato that Vigna had given me. The salty, flaky potatoes spread in my mouth, satisfying my hunger and making me mumble.

“Oh….it’s so good…..”

The people in the village, perhaps attracted by my expression, began to taste the potatoes one after another, and said.

“It’s true, it’s really good!”

“What’s more, it looks like it will keep you full for a long time. What’s this?”

“I’m so happy! I wish my husband could eat it too.”

I felt my heart burn as I watched their voices overflow with happiness. Of course, I was calculating, but I didn’t feel bad about seeing someone’s happy face.

“I’m glad they’re happy. You look happy, too, by the way.”

“I was thinking back to the first time I made potatoes in Asgard.”

“You made them smile. You should be proud.”

Vigna smiles beside me. Come to think of it, it makes my heart flutter to think that she was with me when I first ate the potatoes.

“Thank you, Vigna.”

“Huh? More importantly, Galatea is making something interesting. It seems to be something Noel and I were thinking of cooking together.”

“Eh? What’s that, I didn’t hear anything about it!”

Curiously, I went over to her and saw a large amount of shredded potatoes that had been reticulated in a container of oil. Then, as she quickly pulled up the ones that were beginning to take on color, a savory smell filled the area.

“Is this…?”

“Oh, Master and Vigna, you are just in time. Please enjoy your meal.”

She quickly sprinkled salt on thin slices of freshly fried potatoes and handed them to me. It seemed to be potatoes fried in oil.

It was an unfamiliar dish, but it was potato, and above all, Galatea had made it for me. I knew it wouldn’t be bad, so I took a bite and found that the crunchy texture and the salt was a nice accent.

“What’s this? It’s so good. It goes really well with sake.”

“Thank you very much. This is a dish called French fries, which my father used to eat as a snack, and I have modified it with Noel to make it more modern. Dwarves like to drink, so I thought this would be more pleasing to them.”

This is Souzi’s favorite food? …… It’s easy to pick up and eat with your hands and doesn’t seem that difficult to make. Galatea looks nostalgic, perhaps remembering the time she once took a meal with her former master.

Is it a major dish in other worlds? I’ll use the “World Library”.

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French fries

This is a dish in which potatoes are cut into bite-size pieces and deep-fried in oil. It’s a major food and is available at large chain restaurants.

—————————————–

I don’t know what a chain restaurant is, but it must be a taste of Souzi’s hometown in another world. There are many different cuisines. And I know that it’s important to Galatea.

“Are you sure….? This is a memento of your time with Souzi, right?”

“Yes, I know what Master is trying to do, and I really wanted Master to know how it tastes…. and if Master is the one who tasted it first, then I’m satisfied.”

I patted Galatea’s smiling head and she beamed happily. I’m glad that she’s also trying her best to be useful and think of things for my operation, and that she made me a memento of Souzi, so I take my time to taste the first french fries and then raise my voice to everyone.

“These fries over here go great with the booze! There’s plenty to go around, so feel free to …… oooooohhhh!!!?”

I don’t know if they were reacting to the word “booze” or if they were simply hungry, but a tremendous number of dwarves were rushing toward us. If Vigna hadn’t evacuated us, we would have been squashed.

And so the village became a feast, albeit a small one. Seeing people and dwarves together and making noise reminds me of Bowman…….

“Grace-sama, have you been drinking?”

“Ein huh…… Gimli seems to be making as much noise as ever….”

He seems to be quite drunk and I see him and Neil doing the naked dance, and I giggle. Oh, Vigna glared at me with her amazing eyes and started chasing the two of us with swords as we ran away. Isn’t my girlfriend too scary?

“Grace-sama you’re amazing,……  you turned everyone’s somber faces into smiles. People and dwarves smiling together like that….. it’s as if we’re watching the old Dwell.”

“I don’t think so. This village used to get along together, didn’t it?”

“They used to be, but not so much these days. Not as much as the humans and dwarves in the castle, but I hear that here too, the gluttonous dwarves have had their shoulders narrowed.”

“I see….”

So everyone who went hunting was a dwarf except Miranda….. who was probably desperate for a little more food.

If that was the case, my Asgardian powers would be useful. I’m sure that both humans and dwarves don’t really want to fight. I think of Ein’s dazzling eyes as if she were looking into a glorious past.

“Hey, Ein, can you go get the village chief tomorrow morning?”

“I don’t mind, but don’t tell me you’re going to share the food? Thanks, but it’s only temporary.”

“No, I’m going to trade with them. Asgard’s crops are amazing. I’m going to show you.”

I chuckled and Ein nodded with a dubious look on her face.

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