Chapter 46: Abandoned Dog’s Pasta VI (1/2)

【73rd day】

It was the dead of night, and we had gathered in the royal castle’s kitchen again.

The king, Otou-san and me.

Lanseal isn’t present today. There is probably a reason for that. It’s none of my business.

「For some reason, it got categorized as a high-class dish. Anchovy pasta. Please enjoy」

It was a simple supper, which was anchovies mixed with pasta aglio olio e peperoncino.

「Umu, Souya. For some reason, there’s a peculiar smell……」

King Lemuria frowned at the smell of the anchovies. I had mixed the anchovies in and heated them up when I was in the process of frying the garlic in olive oil, but humans are creatures that are sensitive to unfamiliar smells.

「Should I add white wine to erase the smell?」

「I’m okay with this」

Otou-san was eating it without minding the smell. Sluurpp, came the sound of pasta being slurped.

「Certainly, it has a peculiar fishy smell, but when it’s washed down with this wine………………」

He drank the wine directly from the bottle.

「Kuh………………Puhaa. It’s absolutely wonderful」

「Medimu, that’s a wine that I’m not familiar with」

「I bought this from the Eruomea merchant company. At 30 gold coins per bottle, it’s expensive, but I believe that its taste lives up to its price. It has this clear and abyss-like deep taste」

It’s a wine that I’m familiar with.

「That wine is something that the fishmen salvaged from sunken ships. It had aged slowly at low temperatures on the seabed, and I hear that it’s truly a taste with depth」

「Oh yes, that's it. That explains why it matches well with fish」

「It’s a royal order, Medimu. Share that with me too」

What a cheap royal order.

「Just a little, alright? Pay up if you drink too much. Or rather, buy it yourself」

「Don't be so fussy about the minor details」

I was signaled to bring him a glass.

Also, to pour the wine to the brim for the king.

He bit the bullet and ate one mouth of the pasta. And then, he drank the wine in one go.

「Mu……………… The fishy flavor became delicious all of a sudden. That’s not all. This quiet and refreshing taste that’s reminiscent of the ocean depths. The sweetness that soaks in. It’s almost like taking a bite of the bottom of the deep seabed, moist and yet, in some respects, it has a calming depth. Umu」

He poured another glass.

「Hey」

He had filled it about halfway before Otou-san snatched the bottle back.

「That’s being disrespectful, Medimu」

「In the first place, what kind of king steals the wine of his people?」

「What belongs to the people, belongs to the king」

It’s Gianism[1] of the alternate world.

As things like fights between Ossans(old men) are nothing but unsightly, I’ll put a stop to it.

「In that case, in place of the wine, I’ll add something special for the king」

『What?』

For some reason, Otou-san also responded.

I took out a chicken egg that had been put in water. I broke it and dropped its contents on the king's pasta.

「What’s this?」

「It’s onsen(hot springs) egg[2], a chicken egg that has been boiled until it has a runny feel」

It’s something that’s difficult to make using the large eggs, which are the mainstream eggs here.

On it, I sprinkled an “imitation” Krazy Salt[3], which was made by rubbing and mixing various dried herbs, dried garlic, and rock salt.

「Please eat while mixing it lightly」

「Umu」

When he split the onsen egg in half with his fork, the king had a child-like expression. It seemed that it was novel after all. He mixed it lightly and brought it to his mouth along with the pasta.

「Oh, the taste changed. It’s rich and easy to eat. Or rather, isn't this egg tasty no matter what you match it with? Leave the ingredients and notes so that it can be prepared for breakfast tomorrow」

「Understood」

Certainly, adding onsen eggs will make anything delicious. But it's dangerous. Because everything will be covered up by the onsen eggs. In a sense, it can even be called a blasphemy to cooking.

「Souya, to be sure, there are more eggs, right?」

「There are, but……」

At Otou-san’s question, I glanced repeatedly at King Lemuria.

「Medimu, if you fill the remaining half of the glass with your wine, I’ll share my eggs with you」

「It’s really only half, alright?!」

They were chicken eggs that I had prepared, but I’ll let it pass. I don't want to see things like ugly fights between Ossans.

I dropped an onsen egg on top of Otou-san’s pasta as well, sprinkled Krazy Salt over it too, and at the same time, poured wine into the king’s glass.

After that, they ate and drank peacefully.

Act your age, for crying out loud. Good grief.

The edamame to round things off was boiled by me today. I removed the beans from the pods, put them in a small bowl, added one onsen egg, sprinkled powdered red peppers, and then drizzled a splash of fish sauce over it.

I prepared Otou-san’s portion too so that they wouldn’t quarrel, and after sticking spoons into the small bowls, I presented them.

「As it seems to be to your tastes, it’s edamame with onsen egg dropped on top」

「Umu」

The two of them ate it peacefully.

「Uumu, it tastes different again. But to think that such delicious beans exist in this world…… Moreover, I’ve been finding the vegetables that I eat recently delicious…… Is it my age?」

The king seemed to like it.

Otou-san bolted it down in one go and swallowed.

「Is your fussiness over food finally cured at this old age? That guy Melm had desperately tried to feed you all sorts of things in the past, but his son-in-law is the one who cured you, huh? What an odd coincidence」

Melm.

It’s the name of Rana's father. The marriage between Rana and me hasn’t been recognized by him. Or rather, it’s a spur of the moment sham marriage, so it’ll complicate matters if he actually recognized it.

One of these days, I’ll need to talk to him about the reason and the sequence of events of everything. It would be great if he’s an understanding person though.

「Melm, huh? There’s no end to that guy’s worries as well. The forest has also suddenly become troubled. The sisters are forever――――――No, that isn’t a topic for today, I suppose」

The king elegantly bolted the beans down and swallowed.

I didn’t say it out loud, but I wanted to warn the two of them.

Chew well when eating.

「Well then, Souya. The matter of Libera. What happened?」

The king broached the main subject.

Now, who knows what will happen. I made my report.

「He was an agent of Elysium. The details are unclear, but he was connected to two of the Popes. Being driven out was also a pretense. His objective was to take advantage of the situation to insert himself into the anti-Elysium forces, and then tear them apart from the inside」

「Why didn't you kill him? I can’t imagine that the man who slaughtered a beast of Elysium would have a hard time against the likes of a spy」

「The beast was killed using a technique from foreign lands. It has various prerequisites. It’s not a technique that can be used against human opponents or in the city」

「A technique from foreign lands, huh?」

The king’s eyes lit up with greed.

I can’t tell the king and Otou-san about either the power of the Lycans or Misuranika-sama’s power. No, I can’t tell anyone. I can never talk about it.

Wild Hunt.

That power pollutes the surroundings.

To be precise, the cursed words used as the trigger are the cause. It’s a curse of death. Just by hearing them, the curse plunged living things into death.

The place where I had fought had become black and withered. Even now, not a single blade of grass has grown.

It’s obvious, but something like this can't be used in public. If a chain of curses occurs between people, there is even a risk of wiping Lemuria out.

The power that I had obtained to protect my party member’s fame can’t be used to protect the other party members. On the contrary, it leads to ruin.

Truly, the works of the gods are full of irony.

「Lemuria, allow me to offer you advice」

Otou-san spoke to the king with a slight air of respect.

「Don't ask Souya what kind of technique he used to defeat the beast. Don’t look into it. You’ve heard the story of the warehouse district being blown up, right? That’s the work of this guy. When foreign knowledge or techniques get stolen, they go “Boom”. Will the royal castle get blown up and rebuilt? Needless to say, the king will also end up being replaced」

「You’re right」

The look in the king’s eyes changed.