CH 98

The flower festival was over, but there were seven days left of the school break.

The dormitory was very quiet because the students who had returned to the territories hadn’t returned yet. Cain came to the dining hall to have breakfast after finishing running and changing his clothes which he had been doing as a daily routine even after he came to Siriyum.

“That reminds me, the dining hall lady is not here, huh.”

There was no one in the kitchen behind the dining hall counter. During the break, the kitchen was opened so the remaining students could prepare their own meals. However,  at this school where only the sons and daughters of aristocrats were gathered, there were only a few students who could prepare their own meals.

The students who had come to the cafeteria earlier were eating something that could be eaten as it was, such as bread and fruits, taken from the pantry. 

Seeing that, Cain laughed bitterly thinking that of course, the students who had their homes in the royal capital would go home. 

Cain was a salaryman who lived alone in his previous life. Because he had a low salary, he basically cooked his own meal, but for rice, he would just put unwashed rice in the rice cooker and press the switch, and for fried chicken, he would spray it with oil from cooking oil spray and cook it in the oven toaster. For both simmered dishes and miso soup, the temperature was able to be adjusted automatically with an IH stove and there would be no overcook or spillage if he set a timer. Because he was cooking his meals with the help of tools from the civilization in his previous life, Cain knew that he couldn’t cook his own meal there at the same level like he did in his previous life.

However, thinking that he could do it if it was just grilling eggs so he entered the kitchen but he changed his mind thinking that too was impossible.

All the cookware was for commercial use. It was obvious. They usually cooked food for all the dormitory students.

If the pots were big, the stove was big too. Above all, it seemed to be difficult just to get the fire going in the stove and oven.

“Maddy?”

When he was looking at the kitchen utensils, he was called from behind. It was obvious that he was mistaken for someone else, but since he was the only one in the kitchen at the moment, Cain looked back knowing that it was directed at him.  

“I’m Cain. Senior Maddy is not here.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I thought only Maddy would go to the kitchen during the break. So Cain, right? Can you cook?”

The one who called out to him was a male student who seemed to be a senior student because he had a big body. He stood at the entrance of the kitchen, scratching his head.

“I thought I could make something simple so I was looking around, but the tools and equipment are too big so it would be hard.”

“Oh, if that, have a look over to the other side of the cabinet. There’s a stove for meals for staff and for students cooking themselves on days like this. That reminds me, I’ve seen you before. Cain, didn’t you work part-time to help in the kitchen?” 

“I was just doing the prep work and helped stir the simmering food. I had never seen the other side of the cabinet. Thank you. I’ll have a look.” 

Cain thanked the male student and went around to the back of the cabinet. Certainly, a small stove was set up there.

It had the shape of a table top gas stove with a fish broiling grill as it would be called in the previous life, and if you put firewood in the grill part and fired it up, you could cook on the gas stove part.

There were two round holes, and a stand with legs like a trivet was installed. With this size, it seemed like it wouldn’t take much time to light firewood and heat up the pot.

The pots and pans that were hanging on the wall were also normal-sized. 

“Maddy often cooks here. By the way, can you cook?”

When he was looking at the cooking utensils, Cain was surprised to hear a voice from behind. When he turned around, the senior male student from earlier was following him. Cain was surprised because he thought he surely wouldn’t come into the kitchen.

“If it’s something simple. Well, if there are eggs, maybe I can make an omelet or…” Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com

“Is that so! Making it for one person is the same as making it for two people, right!? It’s the same, right! Right!”

“Ye..yes–…”

After deciding on his own, the senior boy disappeared excitingly into the pantry and returned with 10 eggs.

Cain took the firewood piled up by the wall and threw it into the pilot hole of the stove. It seemed to be easier to use than the one for commercial use, but it was also the first time for Cain to cook since he became a resident of that world. He didn’t know how much firewood was needed for it to be enough. For the time being, he decided to put in as much as it would fit, and if the fire was too strong he would pull it out. He also prepared a bucket for fire extinguishing by his feet. 

“Do you know where the tinder is? If I remember it correctly, Maddy always goes there…”

“Ah… it’s okay.”

Cain was hungry. He hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, which he can usually have just by coming to the dining hall after he returned from his running since morning. He couldn’t wait to start a fire bit by bit from a tinder. 

“Small flames, come forth from my hands, spread flame as my command.”

As Cain turned his hand towards the firewood and cast the incantation, a flame appeared at his fingertips and jumped into the pilot hole of the stove. It made a cracking noise and burned into the firewood, and the fire began flicking from the hole above the stove.

“Wow. Magic? That was magic? ….Oh, you’re him! The international student from Break.”

“My name is Cain Elgrandark. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Thibaud Quintiana. This is the first time I’ve seen magic. It’s really convenient.”

Cain put the frying pan on the trivet, cracked 10 eggs in a bowl, added the seasoning appropriately, and stirred it. When he saw smoke coming from the frying pan, he took it down for the time being and put the bottom in a bucket and it sizzled. He put an amount of butter as if you can’t have too much, on the frying pan and melted it, and then added half of the beaten egg and stirred it before returning the pan to the stove.

Finally, he put the pan back on the stove, and while stirring with the edge of the wooden spatula, he gradually shaped it and slowly gathered it to the edge of the pan. 

“Order’s up!”

He turned the frying pan over and placed the finished thick omelet on the plate, and before returning it to the stove, he put an amount of butter on the frying pan again as if it was not enough.

“Because it’s my first time using this, the edges are a little burnt but if it’s okay with you, please have it first, Senior Thibaud.”

While putting the other half of the beaten egg in a frying pan and stirring, Cain faced the stove as he cooked his own omelet. It was the second one, so he adjusted the heat while lifting the frying pan, and this time he got a beautiful omelet.

Then, while thinking the only thing left to do was to place it on the plate to have his breakfast,  he turned around and saw students holding eggs and plates forming a line behind him. 

“…Umm”

“It smelled like burnt butter, and when I looked into it, Thibaud had a hot omelet with him.”

“Maddy is not around today so I’ve given up thinking I could only eat bread.” 

“If you can make it for Thibaud, you can make it for us too, right?”

“I’ll help you crack the eggs and mix them, okay? Okay?”

There were only a few students that remained in the dormitory during the flower festival break. There must have been some students who had already finished eating and were no longer in the dining hall. 

Despite that, there were around a dozen people that were lining up. 

Cain was hungry. 

“It’s okay to cook it after you’re done with your meal. We want to eat a warm meal!”

Even though they said it like that, he didn’t think he could eat properly when he imagined eating an omelet by himself while being watched intently by a dozen people.  

“Please make as many beaten eggs as you want and then line up. Add in as much salt and pepper as you like. I will only cook it, so I don’t guarantee the taste!”

Cain’s omelet was by no means good. It was the level of cooking of a salaryman living alone who cooked his own meal. The surface was a little bumpy and there were some burnt brown parts. Since it was cooked with firewood, there was uneven heat in the frying pan itself.

However, it was a feast for the students who thought they had no choice but to have bread and fruits for their breakfast. At this school, where only aristocrats attended, some of them were crying while eating omelets, even though they would probably have eaten a real feast before entering school.

Cain ended up eating a cold omelet with a weary arm after continuously tossing the frying pan, but in exchange,  he was able to get textbooks from the third and fourth-grade students.