CH 309

“…… This is!! I like hamburgers, but this is really good too! What is it that makes it juicy? Is it the chicken meat?”

“I love this. The flavor of the bird is concentrated in the heat. It makes me want to drink alcohol.”

Makina was amazed at her first taste of fried chicken, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and Fath-san praised it. Helena and Milfy, however, ate it deliciously with mixed expressions.

“Uhhh …… It’s delicious …… but this is the devil’s food ……”

“I, I’ll eat it …… You can move as much as you eat ……”

“I, I’ll take it if you don’t want it, though?”

“Leila has it good, she’s a manager, after all …… I’m not going to give it to you, by the way?”

“…… How disappointing ……”

It’s hard for an idol to maintain his or her figure, so fried food is their detestable enemy. However, the three pieces of fried food I had prepared were already gone from the plate.

And of course, I’ve been sharing them with the monsters, putting hamburgers and fried chicken in their special feeding boxes.

“Kuon Kuon♪!”

“Fumyaaan♪!”

Sephiro can’t eat, so he’s sucking water from a tub. Ash is a bear, so he is eating hamburger. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s in the cat family or not, but the little snow tiger seems to like fried food more. It was funny to see them exchanging a piece of fried food for a small piece of hamburger.

“What’s that deadly bear kid doing eating so hard, he’s so cute!”

“The little Snow tiger is cute too, you know? I think his collar has some kind of magic that reduces the heat around him.”

“Oh, please don’t come near them while they’re eating.”

The older sisters tried to pet Ash, who had sauce all over his mouth, but he was very reluctant to let anyone but his owner touch him while he was eating, so I gently warned them. Ash is gentle, but that doesn’t mean he won’t bite.

It’s a bit conspicuous, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of, so I put a piece of fried chicken on my plate to my mouth.

“Yep, It’s good.”

“Guuuu …… Guuuu …….”

“…… Shut up, Basleigh-sensei.”

Basleigh-sensei, whose plate is already empty, tears up as she utters something that could be a moan or a belch.

(T/N: Belch means emit gas noisily from the stomach through the mouth.)

“It was very good …… the new stewed hamburger steak had a slight aroma of red wine, which was perfect for an adult like me! But! Isn’t this too much!?”

“No, you can’t say that after setting someone up. You should be happy you were able to eat.”

“I want to eat my fill too!”

What do you mean adult …… I ignored Basleigh-sensei, who was prostrate on the table, and continued eating, when someone I hadn’t seen in a while approached me.

“I thought there was a lot of noise, but isn’t it Basleigh. And …… it’s been a long time, Lars.”

“Oh, Prince Orden! …… The prince is using the dining room?”

“Uh, cough, cough!? T-The prince!?”

Milfy coughed and straightened her posture, and Makina and the others turned their attention to Prince Orden. The outsiders also said “Basleigh is one thing, but for him to be an acquaintance of the prince, who the hell is he?”, I can hear them whispering something like that to each other. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Continue eating ……. Hm, what’s this? Basleigh.”

“Uhhhh …… That’s a new dish that Lars made …… He didn’t let me eat it at all!”

“…… I’m sure you did something, right? Lars is the kind of person who never would do something like that. Can I have some of that round ball, please?”

“No, I haven’t touched it yet, but it’s still my leftover food, you know? That would be too much.”

“No, no, I don’t mind. Sometimes I’d rather eat this kind of food than food made especially for me and my father …… Munch, munch …… ……!!!”

He put the remaining fried chicken in his mouth and chewed it with satisfaction, and the next moment, his complexion changed, and he continued to take my fork and knife to eat the hamburger. Ahhhh, hey, that’s not something a prince should do ……!

“This too!? …… I’ve decided.”

“What is?”

“Lars is going to be my personal cook ……”

“I won’t, though!?”

I hurriedly refuted Prince Orden who put his hand on my shoulder with a serious face. Then, Basleigh-sensei also slowly raised her body and opened her mouth.

“You can’t do that, Prince! Lars-kun is letting me stay and freeload in their house. I don’t want him to get too tired from his work at the castle and not be able to prepare meals!”

“I thought you were the one who was letting him stay!? No, this is a great dish. How about 300,000 beryls a month in wages!”

“That’s high!? Gununu …… But money won’t win Lars-kun over ……!”

What on earth does Basleigh-sensei know about me. I let out a sigh and said to Prince Orden.

“I’m sorry Prince, but I’m not a cook, so I’m going to have to pass on that. As I told the cook earlier, I’ll give them the recipe and they can make it. It’s not difficult to cook. Oh, I think I’d like to try different flours for fried food …… Makina and Fath-san seem to like fried food, so maybe I’ll make pork cutlets too. “

“Do you still have new dishes to make ……? Makina-san’s boyfriend is such an outrageous person?”

“Calm down, Milfy-chan. Well, Lars has been amazing since he was a little boy, he can fly and also use ancient magic, that’s it.”

“Kuoon.”

Surprised to see Makina wiping Ash’s mouth, Milfy looks back at Helena, but Helena says that’s a bit too late and takes a bite of her hamburger. 

“Ancient magic …… that’s amazing ……”

As Leila-san was finishing her meal and taking a breather, Prince Orden opened his mouth.

“…… Now that I look closely, aren’t you with some of the most famous idols in the theater …… Lars, you’re more amazing than me, the prince, huh ……”

“Yes, prince, thank you for the other day♪.”

“I-I don’t think that’s true, though?”

When I said that, Prince Orden let out a sigh and the people around me looked at me like I was serious.

“You’ve got an extremely popular idol, a friend, a cute girlfriend, this food, I’ve seen it before, ancient magic! I don’t really know, but these monsters are Lars’ too, right? No one our age has so many things to talk about!”

“Y-Yeah …… It’s true that Makina is cute.”

“H-Hey ……”

“And what’s more, I can tell …… It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other and I’m excited to be in this situation, but let’s just say it’s Basleigh’s fault, okay?”

“Kuh …… That’s about right …… but the person who made me this way was Lars-kun who wouldn’t let me eat hamburger and fried chicken ……!”

“So fine with it being about right …… Geez, you’re starting to get annoying, so you can eat the hamburger steak and fried chicken that I prepared for you.”

I can’t talk, so I take out Basleigh-sensei’s plate that I had hidden in my cart and put it on the table.

“Whoaaaaa! I love you, Lars-kun!”

“You’re doing great ……”

“It’s just the usual.”

Helena sighs in astonishment as Basleigh-sensei begins to gobble up the food. For now, I continued talking, hoping she’s calmed down. 

“–Well, that’s how Basleigh-sensei tricked me into making it.”

“That’s tough …… I understand the situation. I’ll have to ask my father about it, but I’m thinking 150,000 Beryl per recipe? I’m grateful for the addition to the cafeteria menu. Well, I guess it tastes better when Lars makes it, though.”

“What? No, you can have it for free, I’m just teaching you, after all.”

Then Prince Orden held up a finger and pouted.

“If Lars runs a restaurant in general and other restaurants just copy it with just their tongues, that’s one thing, but this is a completely original dish and it’s not on the market. It’s common sense to buy the recipe when adding it to the menu. It’s not a “similar dish,” but a “never-before-seen dish”, that’s how much value it has.

I tilt my head, thinking that this is rather troublesome. Well, I suppose it’s like a patent, but if someone imitates it without permission, you wouldn’t know it too. However, Prince Orden said that if you serve a dish without permission, word of mouth will surely find out about it.

“I’ll pay you if you let me put it on the menu. If I’m going to teach a restaurant, I might as well charge them money, right? If Lars is okay with it, you can hold a cooking class or something like that once a week and sell the recipes to the public there. If you’re not a cook, you can sell your recipes to the public for about 10,000 beryl–“

“Wait, wait, wait!? You don’t have to go that far for the hamburger and fried chicken!? But thank you, I’ll think about it when I get the chance. Right now, I’ll probably only feed people who come to my house.”

When I said that, Prince Orden laughed and told me to call on him anytime. Just when I thought the conversation was over, Milfy and Basleigh-sensei spoke up.

“If that’s the case, would it be difficult to sell the pudding as well? I was hoping to sell it someday, but ……”

“The steamed egg custard too. I think pudding is popular among women, so why don’t you start selling that too, while you are a designer? You can hire some people.”

“Basleigh, elaborate.”

Then Prince Orden and the female knights, wizards and maids leaned forward. Saying unnecessary things ……!

“No, no, no, that’s a bit too much …… What do you all think I am?”

“What? You’re my boyfriend, and an amazing wizard?”

“You’re a man of great wisdom.”

“Er, a designer?”

“A son of a nobleman who doesn’t look like a nobleman?”

“Tamer ……?”

“A student who can make me dinner forever, I guess.”

You’re not wrong. Basleigh-sensei is out of the question. But I’m not convinced with any of them except Makina and Fath-san, so I left my seat.

“…… I’m going home. I’m going to pretend that Helena’s request never happened.”

“No way♪ Look, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Helena ……! What are you talking about!”

Helena’s statement caused a different kind of commotion, and Makina was furious. Prince Orden laughed and said, “Lars is funny after all,” and patted me on the shoulder, wondering what’s so funny.

We ended up making some pudding, which was very popular with the ladies.

The cost of the recipe was to come later, but I taught them how to cook it and left the castle when the …… sun began to set.

While I was cooking, Ash and the little snow tiger were being taken care of by various people, and I thought it was cute that they were so surprised to be surrounded by so many people that they clung to my back the whole time when we were leaving. On the other hand, the little snow tiger was very happy, so I hope Ash will have more courage.

At any rate, I announced to Basleigh-sensei that I would not cook hamburgers at home for a month, and that day was over. But it was fun to cook, so I’ll try something else again.

And the next day.

I got a call from the guild that Kleinert-san, the owner of the theater, had sent a request about the ghostly disturbance.

Will the next story be a little more serious?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“I think I’d like some skewer.”

Don’t make demands ……