Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious

38 – Grilled sablefish for the mermaid princess, with a side of fried squid.

Mermaid Princess Michelle, from the underwater palace, got up early today and dressed up.

“Hmmm~.”

She was in a good mood.

Because today was the day.

The day to go to that delicious restaurant on land.

The fact that she could enjoy delicious food soon made her hum unconsciously.

Of course, guilt still tormented her heart.

But it was not as tearful or sad as when she ate Sebastian in the past.

He was her longtime bodyguard and friend.

But now, it was different.

Not the family of the Dragon Palace, but unknown fish from far away.

The emotion felt when eating them was a slight sense of guilt.

However, the satisfaction that came beyond that pressed down on the weakly emerging sense of sin.

She, who was adjusting her head ornament, put the food ticket that Lucas had given her in her arms.

-Here’s the food ticket. I’m giving it to you because I think the value of the jewelry you gave me last time was too expensive.

-Is it waterproof by any chance?

-Should I waterproof it for you?

-Yes… We have a lot of water in our neighborhood.

The food ticket with waterproof coating that he specially made for her.

It was a part where she could understand his attentiveness towards the guests.

‘What kind of menu can I taste today?’

It was also a pleasure for Lucas to guess by looking at the fish he caught by the sea.

Of course, it’s sad to see the fish being caught right before their eyes.

‘I will not let your sacrifice go in vain.’

The law of the jungle, food chain, nature’s providence.

Michelle recalled the words her father, the Sea King, had told her.

-It’s a dish made from other fish.

-In order to live, even mermaids have to eat other fish. It’s a natural thing.

If it had been her past self, she would have shuddered at the horrible experience.

She might have starved herself for several nights.

But now it was different.

She knew the preciousness and nobility of sacrifice.

And she also knew how delicious, no, how beautiful it was.

Just imagining it made her mouth water.

She had eaten a lot of spicy soup dishes recently, so she hoped there would be a different menu this time.

It was at that moment she thought.

“Michelle.”

Her father, the Sea King’s voice was heard.

Swimming with his slightly darker blue hair flowing, the Sea King stopped in front of Michelle and looked down at her.

“Yes, Father.”

“Where are you going today?”

“Ha ha, well, you see…”

“I heard that you’ve been going to the shore quite often lately. Is that true?”

Michelle avoided his gaze.

She knew all too well that her father did not trust humans.

“Well, Father…”

“It seems to be true.”

“…”

The Sea King sighed and continued speaking.

“Michelle, do you remember what I told you about humans before?”

“Yes, you said they were untrustworthy beings.”

“That’s right. They slaughtered our ancestors based on the absurd superstition that a mermaid’s tears can heal everything.”

The Sea King softly brushed her blue hair and repeated with a warm voice.

“I don’t want my daughter to be hurt by such people.”

‘But it didn’t seem that way…’

Michelle thought of Lucas, the human she had seen on land.

Although he did hunt her subordinate…

Is it true that humans are as bad as her father said?

It didn’t seem that way.

He was surprised by the gem she had presented, but it seemed like he didn’t even know the value it held.

Seeing that he gave her a huge jewel with the meal ticket and told her to come back anytime, that person seemed kind-hearted.

At least, to her.

“So never go up to the land. You also have to be a mermaid who blocks the monsters in the distant sea together with this father.”

“Yes, I understand.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say that she had already gone up to the land.

If she did, she would undoubtedly be forbidden to go out.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

It wouldn’t hurt to tell a little lie.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Alright.”

Michelle bowed her head slightly and swam out of the palace with her beautiful tail.

She blankly watched Lucas, who was leisurely fishing by the shore after setting down his fishing rod, catch a few fish.

The sight of him calmly setting the fishing rod down in the face of fierce waves gave off a strange atmosphere.

Setting aside the fishing rod itself was something mermaids would never do.

It was an action that made him feel human, and each of these actions captivated Michelle’s gaze.

With each catch, Michelle grew excited, wondering what kind of dish she could make with the caught fish.

Just imagining it made her mouth drooling…

“Chew, snap out of it.”

With that, she followed him up to the land, watching him take away the fish he caught.

She happily spent her time imagining today’s menu while following Lucas to the restaurant.

And as they opened the door to the restaurant:

“Ex-excuse me.”

There was Lucas and an unfamiliar woman in the restaurant.

“…Huh? Who is this…person?”

Michelle asked Lucas, pointing to the woman.

“Eh? We haven’t started business yet, you know.”

The unfamiliar woman responded first.

Michele awkwardly smiled and looked through the woman’s blonde hair revealing her pointed ears.

An elf.

A race that, like the mermaid she once was, had been pushed away by the mainlanders to live only in the elf forest.

Why would such a rare elf be here?

No, wait.

“I didn’t ask you. I asked the owner.”

“…?”

Michele was startled by her own words.

Her tone was much colder than she had thought.

“Ah, you’re here. She has been working at the restaurant since a few days ago.”

“An employee?”

“Yes. She couldn’t pay for her meal, so she’s working here until she pays it off.”

“Why are you telling her about this? …You.”

She was working here because she couldn’t pay the money?

“Well, what do you do for food?”

“We usually eat together when there are no customers.”

Even eating restaurant food together with Lucas?

Suddenly, Michele felt unfairly treated.

If she couldn’t pay the money, shouldn’t she be kicked out instead of being fed and lodged?

Then what about me, who paid the money?

I properly paid the money, so why do I have to travel a long distance alone to and from the dragon palace?

If I couldn’t pay the money like this elf…

It was impossible for the princess of the dragon palace to be without money.

She may not have the gold coins used by the mainlanders, but she possessed many jewels of even greater value.

Even now, if she were to sell the jewels she carried, she could easily make as much money as a mainlander.

A good idea came to her.

A way to not have to force herself to eat dinner at the Dragon Palace after having lunch here.

If she were to make the excuse that she had no money and was working here, then she would surely be allowed to eat dinner here as well.

‘I could stay here for a while and order various dishes from the owner.’

Of course, she had never grasped the concept of working since she was the princess of a kingdom, which made this idea possible.

If Andrea were to find out what Michelle was thinking, she would have surely dissuaded her from doing so.

“Um, I, I’m also without money. W-well, it’s just as well. I’ll, I’ll work here too…”

“Lady, do not worry. You have already paid last time, haven’t you? If you have meal vouchers then…”

“O-oh my, I happened to have left my meal vouchers behind?”

Even she thought her acting tone was too awkward.

At that, Lucas laughed and said,

“It’s alright. We’re not so stingy as to drive away our regular guests for such reasons.”

“…”

Her lips pouted.

Why is it not possible for me?

I, too, want to eat the house specialties here to my heart’s content.

However, she did not push further.

The dignity of being a Dragon Palace princess held her back from throwing tantrums in front of strangers.

“Um, then, I’d like to order a fish dish, please.”

She, who was seated at the table closest to the kitchen, placed her order.

– Fish dish – 12 Silver – The menu changes depending on the type of fish caught that day.

It was her favorite menu item.

Even enjoying Lucas’s skillful cooking, as he prepared new dishes every day with freshly-caught fish, was a delight.

“So it’s not open yet…”

“Andrea, I’ll set it up for you.”

“…Alright, yes.”

The elf seemed to want to argue about something, but Lucas stopped her.

For some reason, a sense of superiority filled the air.

It was as if the feeling of defeat just felt had been washed away.

I’m this kind of customer. Hmph.

“What’s on the menu today?”

“We’ve got some nice mackerel and squid. I’m thinking of serving grilled fish with a side of fried squid.”

“Is it just grilled?”

“Yes, I’ll be applying a special sauce, so just grilling it should be fine. The fried squid should also be good.”

Lucas removed the fins from the lifeless mackerel.

“Do you want me to grill it whole, or prepare it boneless?”

In response to Lucas’s question, Michelle looked at the mackerel and answered.

“Which tastes better?”

“Personally, I prefer boneless grilled fish since you don’t have to worry about the bones. But grilled whole fish has its own charms.”

“Then, please prepare it boneless.”

“Understood.”

Lucas chopped the mackerel’s head off with a large Chinese knife after removing all its guts.

Ka-thump!

Lucas split the headless and spread-out mackerel on both sides.

In just a few knife cuts, the backbone of the fish was separated.

In the past, the gruesome scene would have been unbearable to watch, but now it was a show that stimulated her appetite.

He sprinkled just the right amount of salt on the boneless mackerel fillet.

The white salt trickled and became embedded between the fish’s flesh.

“Drink some water.”

The staff elf handed her a bottle of water, but Michelle didn’t even look in his direction.

Instead, she calmly watched Lucas cook.

There was something strangely healing about zoning out and watching him work.

It was through Lucas that she first realized how nice it could be to watch someone else cook for her.

Lucas lightly sprinkled white flour onto the surface of the mackerel.

“Why do you sprinkle that on?”

“Well, when you grill fish fillets, the flesh can sometimes get mashed and fall apart. The flour helps prevent that. Of course, you don’t have to use it, but it does add a nice texture.”

“Oh.”

Everything that Lucas told her was new to her.

There seemed to be a lot more techniques involved in cooking than she thought.

Through Lucas, she found out that there are many steps a dish goes through before it reaches the table.

It was fascinating.

He sprayed oil onto the heated frying pan.

Then he carefully placed each piece of mackerel so that the flesh would touch the frying pan first.

“Why do you grill the flesh first?”

“It’s because it’s easier to maintain the shape that way. If you start with the skin, the fish gets too bendy. That can cause the skin to tear, so it’s better to grill the flesh first. It’s a different story with freshwater fish, though.”

“Ah.”

She learned something new again.

Michelle enjoyed talking to Lucas between these moments of cooking.

The time spent waiting for the dish to be ready didn’t feel boring, which made it even better.

“It’s fascinating.”

After turning the heat to low, Lucas busily moved around with a sheet of paper on top of the grilling mackerel.

This time, he gently coated the already-prepared squid with some tempura powder.

He skillfully applied the tempura batter to the squid, then mixed it into a batter with water and more tempura powder in a wide bowl.

Sizzling.

As the Spanish mackerel slowly cooked, he perfectly coated the squid with tempura batter and dropped it into the pot filled with oil for frying.

Sizzle!

The squid, covered with white batter, fell with a plop into the yellow and transparent cooking oil.

Sizzling!

As the squid boiled in the oil, the tempura bubbled as it cooked.

White batter pieces floated near the tempura, bubbling like a snack.

A delicious sound spread.

While the squid tempura cooked, this time Lucas flipped the Spanish mackerel.

“Wow!”

Fish oil and cooking oil splattered from the golden-browned surface of the Spanish mackerel.

“The Maillard reaction has occurred perfectly, right?”

“Yes, it looks appetizing.”

Gurgle.

Hunger pangs.

Urgently wanting food.

Michel stared blankly at the fish now grilling the skin part.

There was a magic in his cooking that kept making people stare blankly.

Each piece was like a work of art.

As the once-white tempura batter turned yellow, Lucas scooped out the squid tempura.

Oil dripped from the tempura on the metal strainer.

‘I want to eat quickly.’

Saliva pooled in their mouths.

They just wanted to grab it with their hands and bite into it.

Wouldn’t the combination of the chewy squid flesh and the crispy tempura be perfect?

It was so hot that it might scald the roof of one’s mouth, but it seemed like it didn’t matter.

While the lemon-colored squid fritters, made with clean oil, stole her gaze, Lucas made a sauce for the fish by mixing soy sauce, chili powder, minced garlic, sugar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.

He added chopped green onions, onions, and green chili peppers to the sauce and mixed them well.

It was a seasoning sauce to be sprinkled on the fully cooked mackerel.

Even if it wasn’t cooked together, it would enhance the taste of the fish.

Because just grilling it would be too bland.

And he separately made soy sauce for dipping the non-marinated grilled fillet and squid fritters.

A touch of lemon juice was added to the soy sauce.

There was a longing for wasabi as well.

‘Wasabi is the best for fish dishes.’

He neatly placed the thoroughly grilled fish on the plate.

He put the completed seasoning on one slice and the other slice with just the pure fillet itself.

On the tray were freshly fried squid fritters and soy sauce as well.

“Andrea, please take care of the serving.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lucas, who had set up everything from the side dishes to the rice, entrusted Andrea with the serving.

Michelle looked forward to the finished fish dish coming to her by Lucas’s hand.

It was the happiest moment she had felt recently.

What kind of taste would it have?

How delicious would it be?

Would it be a new experience?

What if she feels regretful after finishing it all?

Various thoughts crisscrossed her mind.

“Why do you eat this fish when the meat is more delicious?”

It was until Andrea, who was approaching with the tray, whispered these words.

This damn Elf?