Chapter 15: The “Incompetent” and “Delinquent” Prince 3 (part one)

　Now. The topic has derailed considerably, but the goal this time is to make Lute’s breakfast. Chit-chat is not a bad thing, but it’s time to get down to business.

“For the time being,”

　As soon as Lute mutters this, a desk made of ice and a knife appear in front of him..

“… it’s still convenient.”

“Right?”

　To his men’s dumbfounded admiration, Lute responded with a grin.

　The ice-based material creation done by Lute has already become familiar due to the past few days of killing time. Although it depends on Lute’s image, it is an extremely convenient magic that can create everything from small objects to building class objects on the spot.

　This time, he was planning to use the desk as a cooking table and cut up the strong muscled duck with an ice knife that was as sharp as a real knife. Created on the spot, this outdoor cooking was a guarantee of cleanliness.

“Well, let’s handle it. Hey, I need your advice.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

　Following Lute’s words, one of his subordinates, who was born into a family of hunters, takes his place beside him.

　After confirming this, Lute grabbed the ice knife.

“What do you plan to make, by the way?”

“First remove the internal organs, then roast it whole. We’re talking about a fresh duck killed with no external injuries, right? Then this is what you should do.”

“Ah, that’s fine. But in that case, wouldn’t it be better to let the blood clot first? If you rip open the belly, the blood will flow, won’t it?”

“Don’t worry, I can stop the blood flow. And if I cut in the wrong place, I can make sure the contents don’t come out.”

“Wow, seriously, Your Highness, you can do anything you want! If that’s the case, then that’s fine. If you cut open the stomach, it’ll burn faster.”

“Okay. What I want to ask you is how to remove the internal organs. I know how to do it, but I’m not very confident about it. You can help me with that.”

“Ah, I see. The internal organs are delicious, but they are a pain to process. It’s safe to discard them this time.”

　Their discussion led to a very smooth decision on how to cook the duck. The other members of the group were dumbfounded by their discussion, which could have been conducted by a chef. After all, the two men are not cooks at all, but a prince and a soldier. The soldier is from a family of hunters, which still makes sense, but the prince is clearly strange. It’s really funny how he’s used to sticking a knife through the buttocks of a duck and groping for the internal organs.

“… Umm, Lute-sama?”

“Hmm?”

“There are many things I would like to say, but let me start with this one point. You mentioned that you can cook, but isn’t that already a different kind of skill than cooking?”

“Well, it’s a technique I learned from the old hunter I became friends with when I escaped from the castle.”

　As Lute said this, his arms were filled with internal organs that had been pulled out in spectacular fashion. In addition, Azure’s head really hurt when he pulled out the heart and lungs.

“… Then next. You mentioned something about roasting the whole thing, but aren’t you going to drain the blood?”

“Well, why?”

“No matter what you ask me… If you don’t drain the blood, the meat will stink, won’t it?”

“ah……”

“Yes, there is…”

　The two expressed their agreement with Azure’s words. It wasn’t because he accepted Azure’s words, but because he sensed a misunderstanding peculiar to those who had half the knowledge.

“You are mistaken in your perception, Azure-dono. Blood isn’t particularly bad. Fresh blood can be eaten without any problem and can even be used as a sauce or something.”

“……Is that so?”

“It’s confusing because it’s called blood extraction, but the real purpose of that is to cool the meat. Blood easily rots, so it is easily damaged at the temperature of a corpse. The reason the meat smells bad is that the smell of the blood is transferred to the meat rather than the meat itself.”

“So, conversely, if you kill something like this without cutting it…no, the blood isn’t spoiled, so you don’t have to worry about draining the blood.”

“I see……”

　Azure was frankly impressed by their explanation. Although Azure is in the military, she is also a daughter of a noble family.  As a soldier and a caretaker of noble princesses she knew how to cook, but she didn’t have this kind of detailed knowledge.……In addition, although the size of the country is different, Lute, who is supposed to be in a more prestigious position than Azure, has more knowledge of those sorts of things.

“Well, now that we’ve done the prep work, let’s cook it. Hey, someone get firewood.”

“Yes yes. Understood.”

　Following Lute’s instructions, one of his subordinates with free hands quickly uses his own flint to light the fire with efficient movements.

“So ……how are you going to put it on the fire after this?”

“Like this.”

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