CH 89.3

As one would expect from a wheat place of the country, the influx of merchants must be accompanied by an influx of culture…..

「Grrr」

My stomach rumbled.

I had been walking all morning and had only one bowl of udon in my stomach.

I happened to be walking down a dingy alleyway far from the main street and I walked into a small, old-fashioned bar nearby.

It was small, with only a dozen or so seats and no table. The walls have a narrow yellow menu.

Whenever I come to a new town, I always try to go to a small bar like this one.

If you eat the kind of food that the locals usually eat, you will naturally learn a lot about that place.

「Welcome, come in, sit anywhere you want.」

「Yeah」

I sat down at a seat in the back of the bar and the owner, who seemed to be an excellent cook, put a small bowl of food in front of me.

「This is your first time here, don’t you? Try that potato stew, we’re really proud of it.」

「Ah……thank you. Ale please.」

「Yes yes」

In the small, undecorated bowl, there was a serving of wild boar meat, which I had not eaten very often, and potatoes that could be found anywhere, topped with thin, white hair like strips of leek.

When I put the meat, which is about the size of the tip of my index finger, into my mouth, my mouth is flooded with the deliciousness of the meat, which almost makes me swoon along with the taste of the sweet soup.

The taste is rich and delicious.

「Here’s your ale.」

I downed the ale in one gup and ordered everything I saw on the menu.

-0-

I didn’t want to go yet so I continued to eat. Night came and the restaurant was full of customers.

I was sipping a strong drink while talking to a middle-aged man sitting next to me.

In the past, I used to take notes while listening to what the person I’m talking with was talking about. However, today, my right hand is still clutching my drink.

It had been a while since I had talked to someone so casually and it’s a little refreshing.

「Hee, niichan is from Fureara? What do you do?」

「I’m looking for one」

It’s not a lie.

Whether I continue as a bard or not, I have to make a living.

「You came on a good time, there is a lot of work around here right now. The Schenkers are doing a lot of different things.」

「I’ve heard a lot about the Schenkers since I got here. What kind of family are they? Are they nobles?」

「Flour wholesaler. The son of the Schenker Family is a mage who became a noble but he is too good at business so it would be a shame if he will do noble things. He has created all kinds of jobs for us commoners.」

「Heh, sounds great」

「He also makes all kinds of foods like pepperoncino, torquivayaki, fried noodles……and this drink, the Schenker made this too.」

The middle aged man shakes a glass filled with fruit wine as he says that but it’s hard to believe.

「Really? Isn’t that too broad?」

「He is that skillful…..right, the Schenker also made this restaurant’s specialty.」

「Specialty?」

「Udon」

Udon again……

Well, it’s important to eat local specialties.

I ordered the udon recommended by the middle aged man next to me.

I should still be able to eat it given my stomach’s condition considering how much it filled me during lunchtime.

「Here’s your order～」

What appeared in front of me was a muddy soup different from the one I had eaten during the day and on top of the noodles was a large amount of what looked like brown meat.

Meat udon?

As I slurped the noodles with my mouth, I could smell the wild aroma of meat.

I wondered if it was pork or perhaps boar.

I bit the firm noodle and the slippery noodle danced on my tongue.

Unable to resist, I put my mouth on my bowl and boldly sucked in the soup.

This soup was ridiculously delicious.

The udon noodles with gehageha soup I had for lunch was good, but I prefer this one.

When I bit into the meat that had absorbed the soup, I bit into a crunchy texture which was completely different from what I had expected.

When you bite into it, it crumbles like a baked pastry and then remains in your mouth, unbroken.

What a mysterious meat.