v2c4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 – Water, Wind, and people that act like they don’t care about each other

“Ah, uhm …..welcome?”

I was stunned at seeing Angela and Elizabeth both standing there together.

Why is it this combination?

“Hey, Masaru! Who is this woman!”

Shouted Elizabeth.

“What’s with this woman! Wearing some weird black robes!”

Angela returned fire.

Why are they in such a stormy mood!?

“Uhm, there-there. Calm down, the two of you. She is Elizabeth from the B rank party Dawn’s Battleaxe, who I’ve been in the care of during the forest investigation. And she is Angela-san, a priestess from the temple, who I’ve also been in the care of in many cases.”

“B rank….”

“Priestess…..”

Even after I introduced them to each other they kept on glaring at each other.

“Ah, well. How about you come in for the time being….”

I let them both in.

“Mhu. Who are they?”

“I haven’t seen either of them yet. Why are they in your house?”

When they saw Tilika and Sati they asked once again.

“Well, she is Tilika-chan, a guild staff member. Also, this is Sati. I let her handle ch.o.r.es and such….”

“I’m Sati, Masaru-sama’s slave!”

Sati displayed a full faced smile that she can be proud of no matter the place and quickly bowed.

“Slave!? You bought one!?”

Angela looks at me with a heavy expression.

“Hnnn”

Elizabeth doesn’t look like she particularly cares. She is stealing glances at the freshly done cookings.

“So then you two, what brought you here today?”

I ask them while I invite them to sit.

“I came to see if Masaru is doing alright.”

“We will begin training soon, Masaru!”

“Ah, right. We are about to have lunch, how about you two join us?”

“I will have some.”

“Then I will take you up on you offer.”

I also introduce the two of them to Sati and Tilika. Tilika-chan is just listening without saying anything in particular. I have Sati prepare tea for the two of them.

Aah, the oil is bad. While I was looking away the temperature went up too much. I take it off the fire for a bit. The soup is nicely warming up. Hm, it’s difficult to control the temperature of the oil. Let’s decrease the amount of firewood and watch how it fares. I instruct Sati to prepare the bread and the salad. I add some bread flour to the oil and check its temperature. Should be alright. I put in the meat to be fried. While it’s frying I put bread flour on the remaining cutlets. I ready a plate and line them up on it.

Oh no, there are not enough tableware?

I wasn’t planning on having this number of guests, let’s get more next time, for now I can subst.i.tute them with these ones… Good, I was able to somehow arrange one for the bread and the salad.

The soup has warmed up enough so I bring it to the table. The fried meat is also getting done one after the other. I should’ve chosen a bigger pan for the oil. If the pan is too small it’s difficult to fry bigger quant.i.ties. I serve up the fried foods and take out the tartar sauce from the refrigerator and add that as well.

“You can all start eating now. Sati, you eat too.”

“Uhm, and Masaru-sama?”

“I still have to watch the frying.”

Fried foods are best right after they are done! If you don’t eat them right after they are done the flavor drops.

“There there, sit now. Today’s menu is bread, salad, and soup. You need to put the mayonnaise on the salad. Tartar sauce for the fried foods. Dragon meat is used for everything so they are all excellent! So, before it gets cold, eat up eat up”

Perhaps they couldn’t wait more because of the delicious smell, the women all reached out for the food without reservations.

“Oh, this is delicious.”

“What is this! It’s delicious.”

“Masaru-sama, it’s delicious!”

“….”

The cutlets get done one after the other, so I divide them up and bring them to the table.

“These are cutlets made from dragon meat. Put some sauce on it and try it.”

“These are also good.”

“Crispy and delicious!”

“It’s delicious! It’s delicious!”

“….”

It looks like it’s well received. Tilika-chan is just silently eating, but it looks she is eating it greedily so it’s probably alright.

Finally, the cutlets are also done, so I sit at the table. The fried meat and the dragon cutlets are both truly excellent. Is there this much of a difference when the ingredients are good? At home, I only used some cheap import meats.

The amount of fried meat on the big plate is decreasing quickly. I thought I made more than enough, but I guess it wasn’t.

Ah, Angela and Elizabeth are glaring at each other over the last piece.

“Leave that to me.”

“No way, I was aiming for that.”

Yoink, nom.

“”Ah!?””

Tilika-chan s.n.a.t.c.hed it from the side. Elizabeth has tears in her eyes. Did you want to eat it that much?

“Hey hey. There are still some dragon cutlets and soup.”

I’m glad we made quite an amount. We really made quite a lot so that we don’t have to bother with it for dinner, but it looks like it almost ran out.

Glancing at Sati, I see that she is eating very reservedly. There is no sign of her usual good appet.i.te.

“Sati, eat some more. You were the one who made this soup.”

So, I put the rest of the soup on her plate.

“Thank you very much, Masaru-sama.”

The three women were watching it intently. I just notice that there are no more cutlets.

“Uhhm. Should I make some more since it wasn’t enough?”

“No, it’s alright. Aren’t you quite good at this, Masaru?”

“Mm, I guess I’m already full. Masaru is good at cooking, huh. I’m surprised.”

“It was delicious.”

They were meant to be afternoon desserts, but maybe I should serve the pudding also. I take the puddings out of the refrigerator.

“After-meal dessert. It’s called pudding. It’s sweet.”

I hand out one for each of them. There are 6 puddings. The headcount is 5 people. A single pudding remains on the table.

I should’ve put it in the refrigerator right away, but I wanted to test how the pudding turned out, so I quickly started sampling it.