The Nobles Faction, one of the factions within the Mireand Kingdom. In the city of Anesis, that could be called the home of Duke Kerebel, a central figure within that faction.

In one of Duke Kerebel’s residences in Anesis, a young woman sat while facing a knight.

The young woman had golden hair, as if sunlight had materialised, and people who saw her for the first time would almost certainly be lost in her beauty. However, it would be more correct to call her a war goddess than a goddess as held a solemn and serious expression. It was Elena Kerebel, known as the General Princess in neighbouring countries. She had good looks, high charisma, command of soldiers and strong ability to fight herself.

After performing the inheritance ritual at the Alter of Inheritance on the lowest floor of the dungeon she had explored with Rei and gaining the power of an Ancient Dragon while remaining human, her presence was now greater than ever.

And now, Elena, who had gained so much power, was unconsciously releasing some of that pressure as she listened to the report from Ara, who was sitting opposite her.

……No. Rather, it would be correct to say that the pressure seemed to be released after Ara spoke the contents of her report.

The Magic Fever that had occurred in the city of Baar, the discovery of the dungeon core and the countless slimes that emitted purple mist after being spawned by the core. These events had of course already been reported to Liberty Kerebel, Elena’s father. And Elena, who had been listening to the report with her father, called Ara to her personal quarters afterwards to ask about it again.

「Hmm, I see. I understand the story.」

Elena spoke while listening to Ara’s report.

Her voice was also beautiful, sounding like a bell, but Ara had served Elena for many years and had become used to it in a sense. She noticed that her lord sounded a bit unhappy. Of course, it wasn’t hard to guess the reason.

「So, Elena-sama. About the matter of Rei……I wished I had remembered the letter a little earlier.l」

At Ara’s words, Elena shook her head slightly and folded her arms under her chest.

As expected, since Elena was in her own house and private room, she wasn’t wearing body armour but a dress suitable for a princess. By putting her arms under her chest while wearing such a dress, her large bulges were only further emphasised and Ara’s cheeks grew red after unintentionally seeing that.

Of course, to Ara, Elena was someone she respected and was devoted to. However, that didn’t mean that Ara was a lesbian. But even then, the current glossy look that Elena had right now was something that appealed to Ara.

(Rei-dono……I’m sorry.)

Thinking of the face of the youth who was the cause of this in her mind, Ara thought to herself.

The Elena before her was a symbol of military might and beauty. As for the person Elena was thinking of to cause her cheeks to colour, as Ara had known Elena for a long time, it wasn’t difficult for her guess.

「……Well, that’s fine. Did Rei say that he would write a letter?」

Ara, who had lost herself seeing the unique, glossy look of a young woman in love, hurriedly returned to reality after hearing Elena speak with a sigh.

「Yes. It may take some time for the letter to arrive because it is winter, but he definitely said that he would write a letter.」

「I see. Let’s wait until Rei’s letter arrives then. ……No, in this case, should I send him a letter?」

Until now, Elena, who had dedicated her time to improving herself, had little association with children of other noble families and knew very little about the beginnings of love.

Because of that, she asked Ara what to do with her eyes. But Ara hadn’t fallen in love before either, and as she had always followed Elena, she had very little interaction with other noble children as well.

But still, she couldn’t say she didn’t know what to either at Elena’s question……

「That, love is the same as war, so victory goes to the person who strikes first. Likewise, I think Elena-sama should be proactive here?」

She somehow managed to arrange the words she was thinking of.

And to Elena, there was no need to doubt Ara’s words, as she had grown up with her since childhood.

「I understand. Then, prepare a pen and paper. I’ll write a letter right away.」

And so she announced that.

 

 

「Ahahahahaha. Set-chan~, Set-chan~, Set-chan~!」

「Guru~……」

The Satisfied Stomach in the city of Gilm. Milein’s cheeks were dyed red from the liquor she had been drinking as she hugged Set’s neck. At the same time, she ate and gave food to Set, who was inside the restaurant courtesy of Dishot.

「Seriously……I’m sorry, Rei-san. Milein looks like a kid right now.」

「Don’t worry about it. Set is also fond of Milein.」

Rei replied to Sulunin, who was trying to stop Milein, as he ate his udon.

At the end of his line of sight, Milein was giving a dish of boiled vegetables with sauce to Set.

Rei smiled after seeing Set eat it with a happy cry.

After returning to Gilm a short time ago, he had made an appearance at the guard headquarters to inform Ranga about Set’s safety as well as to sign off the request completion before coming across Scorching Wind at the guild, who had just returned to Gilm.

After that, Scorching Wind……or rather, due to Milein’s strong demand, joined Rei and Set for lunch. However, looking at Milein, it seemed that Set was her main goal and Rei was just a bonus.

「That said, I was surprised you knew about the Satisfied Stomach」

「Ahahaha. There were times when even our ranks were low. At that time, we used to eat here often. Anyhow, the food here is cheap, delicious and plentiful, all three at the same time. After becoming a well known rank C party, we’ve come here less often as we have to consider the attention and trouble we might bring……but, thanks to the refurbishment, it’s become quite wide. There isn’t any concern that we might bring too much attention here anymore, so we’ll try to come here again.」

Sulunin smiled in a nostalgic way as he rolled up some udon with a fork and carried it to his mouth.

Rei still wasn’t used to eating udon with a fork, but this was Gilm……and as Elgin didn’t have chopsticks, he carried some of the udon to his mouth with a fork before slurping it up.

『……』

He then noticed Dishot, Sulunin and Ecryll looking at him for some reason.

「What’s wrong?」

「Nothing……Rei-san, your manners are a bit bad.」

Ecryll pointed that out, but Rei was puzzled as he couldn’t understand why.

「What’s wrong?」

「That’s why!　Eating while making noises!」

「……Ah.」

He finally remembered that udon noodles were originally a Japanese food.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Rei had lived in a place that could only be called the epitome of the countryside and the only foreigners he had seen had been on TV. He remembered seeing a TV program where foreigners watched Japanese people eat noodles with surprised eyes.

(Now then, how do I explain this.)

He hesitated for a moment……

「This udon is a dish I taught to Dishot, according to the historical book that the dish was introduced in, it was considered common to eat the udon while slurping.」

He said that seriously.

「Eh!?　This udon dish is from you, Rei-san!?」

Both Sulunin and Ecryll turned to look at Rei with eyes of surprise.

In the first place, it was the first time Scorching Wind had visited the Satisfied Stomach in a long time. Udon had been secretly booming in the city of Gilm as a new dish that had never been seen or created before. Knowing that it had originated from the Satisfied Stomach, they had decided to finish up there.

「Ah. I was in a party with Dishot’s son for a while. At that time, I was asked if I knew any good food and I recalled a dish that I had read in a book previously and taught them it. ……Well, I only told them the general idea, it was purely Dishot’s skill to bring it to its current taste.」

「Ha~Ha~Ha~. Considering you were the one who thought of this udon, I am happy that you say that.」

A voice cut into Rei’s words. The voice was from Dishot, the owner of the Satisfied Stomach.

「Rei, it seems you’ve come back safely. Were you able to eat any delicious food in the city of Baar?」

Seeing that, Rei shook his head at Dishot, who was still greedy for new dishes.

「No way. Food was rationed because of the fever. At first I stayed at an inn, but the inn’s cook had been infected and was in bed.His adventurer son managed to avoid being infected, but he wasn’t that good at cooking. ……At the very end, the cook returned near the end of my stay, but as food was still being rationed, there was no helping it.」

「……I see, that’s disappointing. Oh, that reminds me, how was the popularity of the udon?」

Dishot showed a disappointed expression for a few seconds, but the next moment, changed to a more serious expression as he asked Rei.

The popularity of udon had sparked in Gilm, but he might have been concerned about its reception outside.

「There were no problems. Everyone enjoyed eating it. As far as I heard, I didn’t hear a single person say it was bad. ……Well, maybe no one said that to me since I was the one who offered it.」

「Hmm, was that so. That aside, did you end up leaving any behind?」

「That wasn’t a problem. ……Oh, I almost forgot to return it.」

Suddenly remembering, Rei took out the huge pot from the Misty Ring that had held the udon he had brought to the city of Baar.

It had been properly washed and was so clean that it looked like a pot that was bought for the new year……even if it wasn’t looking that new, it was so clean that even Dishot, who was used to seeing it, couldn’t imagine it. There were almost no oil stains on the outside either.

「Heh, what an extremely clean pot.」

Milein, who had been playing with Set, looked at the pot in admiration.

Dishot smiled happily while looking at the pot.

In the cheery atmosphere, Ecryll asked puzzledly.

「Boss, what happened?　I mean, seeing your pot come back shiny is nice.」

「Well, to have the pot being cleaned up so nicely means that the udon was delicious. I think this pot is them showing their thanks. ……I am delighted that my cooking had been received as such.」

「Heh, so that was what it was. ……Wait a moment!」

As if suddenly realising something, Milein turned to look at the pot in astonishment.

「Inside Rei’s item box, time is stopped right?」

「Hm?　……Ah. Otherwise I can’t keep the food warm.」

「In that case……perhaps, would the cause of Magic Fever stay with the pot……?」

Milein pointed at the pot with her finger shaking somewhat. And the moment she heard that, Ecryll jumped back to take some distance.

However, Sulunin just shook his head at the two of them as he touched the pot.

「I understand that Magic Fever has never existed around here and you are anxious about it. However, it can basically only be transmitted through humans. There’s no mistaking it as it is more commonly known in the south.」

「……Really?」

Sulunin smiled and nodded at Ecryll, who asked doubtfully.

Hearing that, Ecryll finally felt relieved. She returned to her seat and started eating her udon again.

「Ahh……that’s right.」

Moving past the brief disturbance, Dishot turned to Rei.

「You wouldn’t happen to have thought of other ways to eat udon, would you?　It’s definitely delicious in soup, but I would like to increase the ways of eating udon if possible.」

「No, even if you say that……」

Rei, who had continued to eat his udon through the fuss earlier, finished his serve of udon and put his fork down on the table before thinking about what Dishot had asked him.

(How to eat udon……cold udon or something?　Kind of like eating tightly packed chilled udon by dipping it into hot soup. ……No, wouldn’t that just be a substitute for soup udon? Wait. Soup?　Not using soup. I see.)

The conclusion he reached after thinking for a few seconds was extremely simple. It would take less time and effort than traditional udon and only required a few other ingredients aside from udon. However, the problem was.

「Do you have the habit of eating raw eggs here?」

「……Raw eggs, is it?」

At Rei’s question, Dishot involuntarily frowned his eyebrows.

「No, no, we can’t eat eggs raw.」

Milein, who was listening to Rei, shook her head greatly while enjoying the texture of Set’s fur.

「Hmm, so it’s like that after all. In that case, it would be impossible……no, maybe it might work with fried eggs or omelet.」

「Well, that is true.」

Looking at Dishot nodding, it looked like that would work? 　Rei thought to himself in anticipation.

「If that is okay. There is something called kamatama udon. To make it, beat 1-2 eggs into a bowl and put the boiled udon in after without cooling the udon in cold water. The egg is supposed to be semi cooked from the residual heat from the udon. As for seasoning……it seems that soy sauce and other seasonings were used, but since there’s none around here, you’ll have to try the taste with other sauces. Also, I think that if was written in the book to put in herbs that accent the flavour and texture.」

(There’s probably no such thing as bonito, but I have seen several ingredients similar to green onions.)

Like that, one more new menu item for undon appeared in the Satisfied Stomach.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]