Cooking with Wild Game: Volume 16 (eBook)
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-3430-4 (ISBN)
So much has already changed in Asuta's life recently. Many new ingredients have flowed into the post town, and he has started up new business deals as well. He's even been able to use everything now at his disposal to work on bringing new dishes like curry to the land of Genos. And things are even shifting for the people around him, with Dan Rutim yielding the post of clan head to his son.
But even with all that upheaval, there's still plenty left for our hero to face. When Asuta encounters a woman who has read the stars and made a shocking declaration, just how will he react? What wondrous new ingredients will he discover hidden deep in the Turan Manor? And perhaps most importantly of all, when he encounters the greatest chef in all of Genos, will he be able to keep up with the man's skills?
See all this and more in the exciting sixteenth volume of Cooking with Wild Game!
So much has already changed in Asuta's life recently. Many new ingredients have flowed into the post town, and he has started up new business deals as well. He's even been able to use everything now at his disposal to work on bringing new dishes like curry to the land of Genos. And things are even shifting for the people around him, with Dan Rutim yielding the post of clan head to his son.But even with all that upheaval, there's still plenty left for our hero to face. When Asuta encounters a woman who has read the stars and made a shocking declaration, just how will he react? What wondrous new ingredients will he discover hidden deep in the Turan Manor? And perhaps most importantly of all, when he encounters the greatest chef in all of Genos, will he be able to keep up with the man's skills?See all this and more in the exciting sixteenth volume of Cooking with Wild Game!
“It’s been a while. I’m glad you seem to be doing okay too.”
Even though Lefreya was now the head of the house of Turan, I still recalled her chiding me for being formal with her before, so I kept things casual.
Honestly, I felt more relieved than I had expected to find that Lefreya was just the same as always. If she had looked like an expressionless doll as she had at the dinner party, it wouldn’t have sat well with me.
“Asuta, I hear tell you have once again been tasked with handling the kitchen for a banquet. I suppose that may simply be natural, considering your level of skill.”
“Right. Will you be there too?”
“Indeed. The Turan fuwano and mamaria shall be essential in establishing trade with Banarm, so it is a matter of course that I would be dragged out as the head of the house, is it not? But, well, since it will grant me the opportunity to eat your cooking, I have no reason to complain,” Lefreya said, haughtily lifting up her jaw. “By the way, I have a single warning to give you. Will you hear it?”
“A warning? What is it?”
“It is nothing all that serious. Perhaps it will even prove an unnecessary and difficult-to-understand bit of advice. Still, I believe that this time around, you would make the envoys of Banarm happier if you were to prepare dishes a bit more befitting nobles. That is all I wished to express.”
“Dishes befitting nobles? Could you explain that in a bit more detail?”
“I meant what I said, so I don’t see what detail there is to give. Your dishes were every bit as delicious as Timalo’s the last time around, but I do not believe they were all that appropriate to be served to nobility. I suspect that there may have been some who felt taken aback at tasting them.”
That really was an unexpected statement.
When I glanced over at Polarth, who had also attended that banquet, I found him stroking his chin.
“Well, Sir Asuta can only make dishes using methods from the forest’s edge and his home nation, so I feel it would be mistaken to expect dishes made to the tastes of nobles from him. And on top of that, the previous dinner party was meant to foster friendship between the castle town and the forest’s edge by having each side sample the other’s cooking. So with that in mind, would you not agree that Sir Asuta was fully correct in the dishes he prepared?”
“That’s true. But this banquet is meant to welcome the envoys from Banarm. So would presenting the unsophisticated cooking of the forest’s edge truly be the proper choice?”
“I’m not so certain. Of course, I could see there being some complaints in that case... Still, I can see that being at least a bit out of touch with Lord Welhide’s desire to show the people of Banarm Sir Asuta’s skills.”
Somehow or another, I started to understand what they were getting at.
On the night of that dinner party, the nobles had low expectations in regards to giba cooking, so my dishes received a rather lenient evaluation. And since the event was meant to foster peaceful relations between the forest’s edge and the ruling class of Genos, the nobles undoubtedly knew well enough to praise any dish that was presented.
But the envoy group this time around were guests who held a neutral standing. Actually, I’d bet that they were really wondering just what kind of food would be served after what they had heard from Welhide.
“At that dinner party, Duke Genos opined that you and Timalo would be about equal in a comparison of taste, but did you take those words at face value, Asuta?”
“No. I don’t think he was trying to make himself look good by helping us out or anything, but I’m sure he said that so the people of the forest’s edge could save face.”
“That’s an admirable attitude to have. Though I was harboring some small hope that I would get to see you humbled just now...” Lefreya teased, then shrugged her slender shoulders. “Still, your dishes were all truly delicious. If we were to compare them one by one, I would likely give you the victory in each case. The only one I would hesitate on would be the appetizer, which was overly plain.”
“Thanks, I’m honored to hear it.”
“Still, those six dishes felt somehow inconsistent. It was not too noticeable when eaten alongside Timalo’s cooking, but if I were to eat your dishes alone in turn, I may have found that inconsistency more unpleasant.”
“That’s some good insight there. Both in my home country and at the forest’s edge, it’s not really the custom to eat dishes one at a time in order.” Now understanding what she was getting at, I shot her a smile. “Thanks for the unexpected advice. I don’t know if I can make dishes that a noble would consider proper or not, but I’ll at least try to make the menu more unified for the coming banquet.”
“Right. It is not as if I care in the least what those envoys from Banarm think, however, so I do not mind if you go ahead and make whatever you please.” After saying that, Lefreya’s face took on a bit of a strange expression. It looked as if she was uneasy, or maybe like she got a small bone stuck in her throat or something. “However...Varkas will be presenting his cooking on that day as well, will he not? If you offer up dishes too far removed from the customs of the castle town, that obstinate man could end up making a real mess of the welcome banquet.”
“Oh? But I recall Sir Varkas being quite a gentle and polite man,” Polarth chimed in, looking intrigued.
Varkas was the guy who had previously served as the head chef of the Turan manor. And supposedly, he was either the first or second most skilled chef in all of Genos. Even putting aside the evaluation of the castle town, even Mikel, a man I respected, acknowledged his skill, so I had been looking forward to the chance to meet him today.
Lefreya gave an affected shrug of her shoulders. “It’s true that Varkas is the sort of man you say. But he is a different person entirely when it comes to cooking. He has come here to this manor today, has he not?”
“Indeed. He was summoned so that he may meet Sir Asuta.”
“In that case, go ahead and see for yourselves. I hope that you do not lose the desire to cook for the welcome banquet as a result, Asuta,” Lefreya said, staring straight at me.
Once again, I shot her back a smile.
“The lord of Genos and the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge already came to an agreement about that. I can’t really back out now even if I did want to.”
“Hmph. Then do not pay any heed to whatever that stubborn man may say. Back when they shared a kitchen in this manor, I can recall Timalo being run ragged day in and day out.”
Maybe Varkas was a stubborn man who took serious pride in his work just like Mikel. Honestly, that thought only made me all the more interested to meet him.
“Well then, shall we head toward the kitchen? We need to get you all back to the forest’s edge before the sun sets, after all.” With that, Polarth gave a single bow and exited the room.
Lefreya called out “Ah,” as if to stop me, but then she turned away in a huff. “It is nothing. Farewell, Asuta.”
“Right. See you at the welcome banquet.”
In the end, neither Lefreya nor I made a single reference to Cyclaeus. But then, how could we? It wasn’t like we were very close. Not enough to have an open discussion about something so heavy...and I didn’t think I had the kind of life experience needed for it anyway.
“Thank you, Asuta. I believe Lefreya, was very glad to have seen you.”
Because of my lack of experience, I couldn’t really come up with a proper reply to Sanjura either.
“Well then, off to the kitchen and pantry! Sir Asuta, I shall see you later!”
“Huh? Are you going somewhere, Polarth?”
“Hmm? It’s necessary to cleanse yourself before entering the kitchen, correct? I intend to join you there today!”
Now that he mentioned it, we did still have that custom ahead of us.
Apparently, nobles had a bathroom meant for their own exclusive use, so Polarth departed with some pages who had appeared out of nowhere, while we were led to the same bathroom we had used in the past.
“Ooh, it’s been a while! I’ve been looking forward to getting in this bathhouse thing!” Rimee Ruu excitedly proclaimed.
Ai Fa, meanwhile, remained silent with a displeased look as the young girl pulled her along. My clan head probably much preferred bathing in the Lanto river.
Toor Deen looked pretty nervous heading in, as it was her first time, but when she stepped back out she appeared nice and refreshed. Personally, I was decently fond of using the steam bath myself.
After we were all nice and clean, we met back up with Polarth, at which point we finally headed toward our true destination: the kitchen and pantries that were the pride of the Turan manor.
“It may be difficult to tell thanks to everything being connected by enclosed passageways, but the kitchen and pantries were built as separate structures to the rear of the main manor. And they are in no way lesser than the kitchen and pantries of Genos castle,” Polarth explained as we arrived in front of a massive double door as large as the entrance to the manor. After giving us a bow, the soldiers guarding the...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 21.3.2022 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Cooking with Wild Game | Cooking with Wild Game |
| Illustrationen | Kochimo |
| Übersetzer | Matthew Warner |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy |
| Schlagworte | business • cooking • exotic food • Hunting • Isekai • Light Novel • Romance • Slice of Life |
| ISBN-10 | 1-7183-3430-3 / 1718334303 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-7183-3430-4 / 9781718334304 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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