chapter 77
“Alright, shall we eat then?”
At my words, the three men stared at me intently.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Uh… the food you cooked…?”
“Are you saying the Saint made this herself?!”
Even though the Grand Duke had tasted my cooking several times, the other two had probably never eaten anything I’d made—but for some reason, their eyes sparkled.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Well, it’s good that they didn’t seem put off.
If anyone were to frown in front of such obviously delicious food, I wouldn’t leave it be.
I handed out one lunchbox to each of them.
As I passed the boxes over, I could feel the warmth through my hands.
“Magic really is the best!”
Lunchboxes are meant to be eaten warm, so I’d even put a heat-retaining spell on them.
In my previous life, unless I microwaved something, no matter how well I tried to keep it warm, it would still be cold when eaten. Magic made things far more convenient.
Plus, since I had stored them in my status screen’s inventory, everything I was now about to eat was as hot and fresh as if I had just cooked it.
“Well, I’ll taste it first…”
Edwin and Locke were staring at the lunchboxes with sparkling eyes, but since they weren’t eating immediately, I wondered if they were hesitant because the food was unfamiliar. So, I decided to demonstrate first.
“It’s not like I’m hungry and just want to eat quickly.”
…Really, that was true.
I muttered the excuse in my head and picked up a fork to poke the croquette first.
The crispy exterior of the croquette made a satisfying crunch.
I didn’t eat it immediately but dipped it into the small dish of ketchup beside it.
“Before coming here, I really did prepare everything.”
I had completed all quest rewards, reviewed all the quests that still needed clearing, explored new features, and even packed all sorts of ingredients and food for a long expedition in my inventory.
“The inventory feature is ridiculously overpowered.”
Even though I’d packed cooking tools, ingredients, and all the lunchboxes I could make, there were no warnings that I had exceeded the limit. In other words, I hadn’t reached the limit yet. Maybe there wasn’t one at all.
Delighted by this unexpected discovery, I eagerly prepared the lunchboxes. I included mustard sauce to go with the fried food and the freshly made ketchup.
For the ketchup, of course, I used honey instead of sugar.
I peeled blanched tomatoes, blended them with onions and garlic, then simmered the mixture with honey, vinegar, and salt. Adding a bit of starch adjusted the consistency, and simple homemade ketchup was ready.
The bright red ketchup looked delicious on the croquette.
Edwin and Locke, staring at it expectantly, briefly looked worried.
“They probably aren’t used to such a bright red sauce in this world… but what nonsense worry.”
I smiled at them reassuringly and took a bite of the croquette without hesitation.
“Hmm…!”
As soon as I bit into the croquette, steam rose from the crispy crust. The aroma of savory oil hit my nose first, followed by the rich flavor of the golden-brown fried coating spreading through my mouth.
At the same time, the juices from the meat hidden inside the golden crust oozed out.
“Wow, the meat smells amazing. The potatoes are so fluffy!”
Crispy outside, tender inside.
Truly, crispy outside, soft inside.
I closed my eyes and savored the fried food I was tasting for the first time in this life.
The more I chewed, the deeper the flavor. The soft sweetness of the potatoes blended with the rich meat juices, while the savory oil added depth. The ketchup balanced it out, cutting the richness with its sweet and sour notes.
The croquette, slowly breaking apart and melting on my tongue, was just…
“…!”
Incredibly delicious!!
I opened my eyes and saw my brother and Locke, still looking concerned, and the Grand Duke, whose thoughts I couldn’t read.
Without paying them any mind, I hastily reached for the next item.
Poke! I speared a roasted chicken drumstick with my fork.
“Mmm, this is good too. It’s simply roasted, but seasoned with salt, pepper, and minced garlic, it feels like a wholesome meal. The balance is great after the fried food!”
Next, the potato-wrapped meat. I had wanted to use bacon, but there was none in this world, and I hadn’t prepared to cure it, so I just wrapped thinly sliced meat.
“And just roasted in the oven, yet the flavor is incredible. The combination with mustard sauce is perfect. To overwhelm purely with the taste of simple ingredients… amazing!”
I also ate fried vegetables here and there. Just plain fried vegetables, yet the oil coated my tongue and gave them a flavor rivaling the croquettes.
When I wanted a sharper taste, mustard sauce. To cut through the richness, ketchup. Both sauces perfectly enhanced the meal.
“Sis…?”
My brother closed his eyes tightly, trembling with delight, before barely managing to speak.
“Delicious…”
“…Delicious?”
“Delicious…”
I wanted to maintain my dignity as an older sister in front of him, but the words that came out sounded like a defeated person surrendering to the taste.
Sorry, little brother.
But it’s just too good!
Perhaps sensing my wish for them to enjoy it too, they exchanged glances and clumsily began to poke food with their forks.
“…!”
“…!”
“…Mmm.”
The Grand Duke let out a small sound of admiration, while Edwin and Locke’s eyes widened.
“…Edwin, how is it?”
I watched Edwin eat a croquette with a racing heart. He rarely answered me at all, focusing on chewing, but after swallowing, he looked at me.
“Sis, what is this…?”
“Hehe. Delicious, isn’t it? This is called a croquette. It’s made from meat and potatoes.”
“…Croquette…”
Edwin hurriedly stabbed another croquette with his fork and ate it, repeating over and over.
Hmm. Edwin eats one thing at a time. I should’ve given him more croquettes.
Seeing him eat happily made me proud as his sister.
During the meal, I heard him murmur, “How can this food…?” and “Sis, are you really an angel sent from heaven?” But I must have misheard. Haha.
Locke beside him exclaimed,
“Saint! Wow! What is this! It’s really delicious! My goodness! Saint! I can’t stop eating!”
“Alright, calm down, Locke.”
“No! Really! Amazing! I’ve never tasted anything like this! Wow!”
…He seemed to have lost some intelligence.
His exclamations were very simple-minded.
“Well, at least I can tell he’s enjoying it…”
Among the people who had eaten my food, they had the second-best reaction after Hamilton. Unlike fanatic Hamilton, this was pure joy.
Watching someone get happy from my cooking made me happy too.
While watching Locke scarf down the lunchbox, still exclaiming “Wow!”, I wondered how the Grand Duke would react.
“…How will Grand Duke Blake respond?”
The Grand Duke’s face was still expressionless.
But I noticed his eyebrows twitch slightly every time he dipped into the ketchup.
I smiled mischievously and spoke to him.
“Your Grace, how is it?”
“…Hmm. It’s… delicious…”
“You don’t need to lie if it isn’t true.”
I cut him off coldly, and he flinched at me, a rare reaction.
“He hasn’t forgotten the resentment from when he equated the food from that horrid restaurant with mine.”
I had worked so hard to get him to sincerely say “delicious.”
Although I had given up on hearing it earnestly, I had found other ways to achieve quests.
Like showing him something spicy.
“Of course, this time the ketchup for the Grand Duke has a lot of finely ground peperoncino… hehe…”
This time, unlike before, it was just a playful joke, not out of ill will.
I waited with a playful smile for his response.
[Hidden condition revealed.]
[Quest progress updated.]
[Quest time limit updated.]
“…Huh?”
I blinked at the sudden system notification.
