NOVEL NEXT chapter 34
34 – If you don’t have money, you have to pay with your body?
The new taste of the seasoning stimulates her taste buds.
The salty taste and tingling pain on her tongue.
It was spicy.
“Phew.”
Not knowing it herself, she exhaled because of the spicy sensation she has never experienced before.
Until now, she only seasoned her food with just plain salt.
Very rarely, she had eaten human-made dishes sometimes.
Every time, she was surprised by the unfamiliar taste of the seasoning.
She was also amazed by how diverse the cooking methods were for those who have been eating meat for a long time.
Of course, as a carnivorous purist, she believed the taste of the meat itself was important, so she didn’t really enjoy meat seasoned in various ways.
But.
This was different.
The strangely stimulating spiciness that made her tongue tingle gave her a refreshing feeling in her chest.
Perhaps, it was because of the taste of the meat that followed.
The bull meat melts in her mouth.
Unbelievable.
She had caught more than ten bulls so far, but it was her first time eating a meat that had such a soft texture.
‘How smoothly was it prepared?’
Until now, she had devised and studied various traps to catch this bull and even tried different methods to do so.
A bull that burns the fat in its body in anger until the moment it dies.
The insistence on handling it as quickly as possible was akin to saying one had to cut off the bastard’s lifeline.
So, the record she set was 1 minute and 12 seconds.
It was the time from when the bastard started fighting her with all his might until his last dying breath.
Even the meat she cooked with such skill couldn’t produce a taste like this.
This was a single strike.
Unlike using traps to forcibly shorten the time, this was a genuine single strike.
The taste didn’t lie.
The profound flavor of the meat pierced through the seasoning and tantalized her tongue.
“Mmm~.”
Plenty of oil penetrated deep, minuscule by minuscule, and the harmony of oil and flesh satisfied her praising body.
The moment she ate the meat, she realized.
The proprietor before her possessed an unbelievable skill as a knight.
She wanted to learn.
She wanted to ask how this man hunted the wyverns.
But before that.
Gulp.
Many pieces of meat still awaited them.
Just a bit more.
While using a spoon to pick out each piece of meat, the proprietor asked,
“Is it delicious?”
At a very simple question, Andrea nodded as if enchanted.
“Y-yes, undeniably delicious.”
“It’ll be even better if you eat it with rice.”
“Rice? You mean those grains?”
“Yes, it’s beef bibimbap. The harmony of various vegetables, grains, and the three brothers of meat is perfect.”
“Are you saying the vegetables are delicious? That can’t be.”
“You said the same thing before eating the meat.”
“If it doesn’t taste good… is it possible to learn the secret?”
“Secret?”
“The secret to how this dish was made.”
“Understood.”
Andrea inwardly smiled in triumph.
It couldn’t possibly taste good.
She had eaten more vegetables than one could possibly stomach.
In her life, she must have eaten several times the amount of vegetables an average person would.
She knew every single flavor there was to know about vegetables.
Even if it tasted good, she could deny that it was the taste of the vegetables and grains, and only the meat was delicious.
Holding onto the desire to discover the secret, she heaped her plate full of rice, vegetables, and meat, as the man had done.
The red-dyed rice, the vegetables that still maintained their original color, and the meat colored in a deep dark brown were beautiful.
She gulped down her saliva.
And then, she took a huge bite.
“Wow.”
Rice and vegetables filled her mouth along with the meat.
Mushy, crunchy!
The tender rice, the crispy vegetables, and the texture of the meat passing in between them all.
The vegetables were torn apart by her teeth, mixing the spicy seasoning with the broth that flowed out. The unique bitter taste of the vegetables, which should have been unpleasant, was not felt.
Before she could even finish appreciating this taste, the meat’s juices found their place within her mouth.
It was delicious.
Honestly, it was delicious.
She had never eaten such delicious vegetarian food before.
No, is this a meat dish since it’s mixed with meat?
“How is it?”
“…Uh, it’s delicious.”
“With proper cooking, vegetables can be enjoyable to eat as well.”
“…”
There was no choice but to admit it.
This man was talented.
As a knight and as a chef.
“Try the soybean paste stew too.”
“But this is…”
“It’s a stew made by boiling fermented bean paste. Despite the smell, it has a slightly richer taste.”
“Ugh…”
This was a little questionable in terms of appearance…
But the food this man had prepared was undoubtedly delicious.
Since he could skillfully make vegetarian dishes like these, it might truly be food.
Even if this was originally excrement meant to tease her.
‘If I get the bull-hunting technique as an excuse for this.’
She drank the broth of the soybean paste stew with glistening transparent meat fat.
Spicy!
The meat fat is rich!
Although the smell was strange, it wasn’t overwhelmingly repulsive.
Of course, the seasoning wasn’t to her taste, but it was still delicious.
The combination of the spicy taste, the tender meat, and the harmony of various vegetables.
It was quite excellent.
Although the appearance was a bit odd, she was sure it was not feces.
“Ah, not bad.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah. The meat is tasty, and the seasoning isn’t bad either…but it’s not something I’d want to eat often. Actually, this was better.”
She took another spoonful of the bibimbap.
The spiciness, which was enough to make her mouth tingle, failed to suppress the fiery sensation completely.
“Phew, spicy, but delicious.”
She gulped down water to chase away the spiciness lingering in her mouth.
“It’s not that spicy, but you seem to be struggling.”
“Ahem!” Her eyes landed on the last remaining pork and tofu kimchi dish.
Using a fork and spoon, she picked up a piece of tofu, and on top of it, she dipped some vegetables that appeared to be stir-fried with pork and cabbage.
She had a rough idea, as she had seen a person eating it when they walked in.
“What is this?”
“It’s pork and tofu kimchi. You eat it together with tofu, made by stir-frying kimchi with pork front leg.”
“Pork? Why isn’t it beef?”
“The two just don’t go well together.”
It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t disappointed.
She had high expectations due to the higher meat ratio, but it wasn’t beef after all.
Despite her disappointment, her hands were busy with the food.
She could make her evaluation after trying the dish.
If it wasn’t good, she could still teach him how to catch beef…
Unknowingly, she was using this as an excuse to eat the man’s cooking.
She cut a suitable portion of the pork and tofu kimchi, placed it on her spoon, and put it in her mouth.
The soft tofu melted in her mouth, wrapping her tongue with a velvety texture and richness, soothing her pain from the spiciness.
The cabbage, less spicy than before, had a strange sour taste as it was softly chewed in her mouth, the sour flavor spreading. Then came the chewed meat.
The three flavors hit her tongue all at once, tapping it rapidly.
Her taste buds were overwhelmed as if they had been struck by a rapid three-hit combo.
‘It’s delicious.’
At some point, she realized she was enjoying the food without even thinking about evaluating its taste.
Originally, her pleasure in dining had come from the sense of victory in catching the bull and tearing its meat.
As a knight and a warrior, it was a time to devote pride and enjoy the pleasure of eating meat.
But now, she was completely focused on eating the food itself.
When she came to her senses, she found that the bowls were all emptied.
Of course, she had only picked out the solid pieces of the doenjang-jjigae and drank the broth sparingly.
It was delicious, but…
For an elf like her, this was the limit.
The taste was there, it was really delicious.
But the visuals were not convincing enough.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Yes. Thank you! I’ve had a hearty meal. I didn’t know bull could be so tender. I was surprised by your ability to deal with it and even more surprised by your cooking skills.”
“I’m glad. It was an honor to serve our first elf customer.”
“You don’t need to be so formal. I’m not as uptight as the other elves.”
Her stomach was full now, and she had eaten the bull.
Now he wanted to ask her what she really wanted.
“I have one question to ask.”
“But first, I have something I’d like to ask as well.”
At the words of the tavern owner, Andrea nodded.
“Ask away.”
“You said the bull was definitely your servant, but would you mind telling us how you came all the way to our village?”
That should be enough.
It wasn’t a difficult question.
“Ah, well, you see, I originally set a trap to hunt the bull. Since the taste deepens the quicker you catch it, I tried to catch him as easily as possible by driving him towards the trap, but he broke through the trap and escaped into the forest.”
Although she was disappointed that she couldn’t finish the job herself, she met a skilled person and had a delicious meal thanks to it.
It was rather a gain for her.
“So, it’s because of you, Elf, that the bull ruined the field, threatened the village and attacked the soldiers?”
“Well, you could look at it that way. But thanks to that, I met such a skilled knight…”
“Ha. I wondered who caused such a fuss, and it turns out it was all because of you?”
“Huh, what did you just…?”
Andrea blinked at the sudden change in the innkeeper’s attitude and looked at him.
Why is this man suddenly like this?
He was so friendly just a moment ago.
“Do you know how much damage we’ve suffered because of you? Farmer Gilbert who lives in the Conwell village has had his entire crops ruined this year because of you, the soldier Simon has had his arm broken and can’t go on patrol to make money, and me? I couldn’t rest on my day off, I was busy cutting and grilling meat, you know?”
Andrea unknowingly took a step back in the face of Lucas’s momentum.
“Is, is that so? I apologize. But while hunting, there’s bound to be…”
“Ah-ah, did you do something wrong or not?”
“Ye-yes, I did.”
“Then you should compensate, shouldn’t you?”
“No, I mean, before that, my wrongdoing was…”
“Not there? After hearing about poor Gilbert and Simon, you still say you did no wrong?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
Lucas let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth again.
“200 gold as consolation to the farmers who suffered losses due to the bull, 100 gold as consolation to Simon, and for me working through my day off…Fine, I’ll let that go out of consideration. So, 300 gold in total.”
“That’s unreasonable…”
“Including 3 menu items as food costs, 45 silver on top of 300 gold. Let’s settle with 300 gold and 45 silver and call it even.”
“Ha, but that cow is not mine.”
“Didn’t you clearly say it was your bull earlier? Besides, you just admitted your responsibility, so there’s no way out.”
Andrea closed her mouth.
300 gold.
There was no way she could have that much money.
Although she was a long-lived elf, she did not actively participate in human society.
She only had enough money for basic maintenance.
At most, she only had 100 gold.
Of course, she could probably get 300 gold if she gave away this knight’s sword she possessed….
-Thank you for saving my life. This sword will serve as proof that you are the knight who protected me.
This was a gift given to her by a human who helped her get involved in the human world, even just a little.
Above all, it was a sword that was necessary for smooth travels.
“I-, I don’t have the money.”
She replied in a crawling voice.
She tried to bluff, but she had already caught on to the man’s strength.
She couldn’t recklessly go against him, knowing she wouldn’t win.
She could only hope for his mercy.
“You don’t have money?”
“….”
“Sigh, there’s no other way. You’ll have to pay it off with your body.”
Andrea saw it.
Lucas’s persistently lingering gaze on her.
She flinched and covered her chest.
“W-what are you trying to do?”
“You have to pay it off with your body.”