NOVEL NEXT Chapter 92.2
A Refreshing Cold Shabu-Shabu Salad
Once the salad is plated, add the slightly cooled orc meat. When plating is finished, pour on the homemade ponzu sauce. Today’s ponzu was made with lemon and yuzu. Upon finding yuzu, Yuuri couldn’t resist using it.
“All set on your end?”
“Perfect. How about you, Yuuri?”
“All good here too.”
“Alright, I’ll go call everyone.”
“Thanks~”
“Got it!”
Yuuri watched Yakk dash off cheerfully and then began setting the table. Today’s bread is rolls. Yuuri set the quota at two per person. Since these aren’t big rolls, two should be about right. After all, eating too little isn’t good for one’s health either.
Soup, cold shabu salad, and rolls. It’s a simple lunch, but there shouldn’t be any complaints since there’s no one with a huge appetite around today. The group, appearing with Yakk in the dining hall, only commented that the meal looked delicious without raising any complaints. If the front-line fighters, who eat more, had been here, they might have found it a bit lacking.
“There are seconds on both the meat and salad, so please help yourselves if you feel up for more.”
“Yuuri, I can’t eat that much, you know?”
“That’s fine; don’t force yourself. But with something light, you can eat a bit, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks to the lemon and yuzu in this ponzu, the meat’s easy to eat.”
Smiling warmly, Yuuri exchanged a smile with Hermine. The doll-like beauty, Hermine, doesn’t eat much and isn’t fond of fatty meats. However, she rather liked the meat when eaten with Yuuri’s ponzu sauce. The refreshing flavor made the meat easy to enjoy, suiting her tastes well.
Now that everyone was gathered, they clapped their hands together in thanks and began the meal. Those initially hesitant about the meat seemed reassured by Yuuri and Hermine’s conversation and started on the cold shabu salad.
Though it was chilled after boiling, the orc meat remained tender, as Yuuri had taken care to prevent it from becoming tough. Yuuri knew it would be softer than if it had been rapidly cooled in ice water. With the refreshing ponzu, one could eat several pieces quite easily. Wrapping the meat with salad combined the meat, vegetable flavors, and ponzu into a delicious bite that kept the chopsticks moving naturally.
“Yuuri, did you use the meat from the soup in this?”
“Oh? Did you notice, Camille?”
“Yeah, it had a bit of an orc-meat flavor.”
“Haha, amazing. You’re like Magg.”
“Cut it out. If I reach his level, I feel like I’d be sacrificing some important part of my humanity.”
“Agreed…”
“…Totally.”
Camille, who honestly reported tasting the orc meat flavor in the soup, disliked being compared to Magg, the stock enthusiast, and quickly denied it. Still, no one could blame him. In fact, nobody would even dare. Magg’s sensitivity to broth flavors is famously uncanny, reacting to even the faintest hint of seasoning. Especially with kombu broth, his reactions were particularly pronounced.
“Oh, Aroru, that’s an interesting way of eating it.”
“Hm?”
“You’re putting it in the bread.”
“…The other day…”
“The other day?”
Aroru, who had cut a slit in the middle of the roll with a knife, was eating it with cold shabu salad stuffed inside. Chewing the bite already in her mouth, Aroru continued speaking to Tifaana, who sat across from him.
“Yuuri had put sausages in a roll.”
“Hot dogs are delicious, right?”
“So, I thought this might be good too.”
“Oh, sounds fun!”
After smiling pleasantly, Tifaana followed Aroru’s example. Eating them separately was tasty enough, but stuffing the ingredients together allowed the meat, ponzu, and other flavors to seep into the bread, creating a whole new delicious experience. The phrase “oh, that’s good” slipped out of her as the others reached for rolls to try with the cold shabu salad. Deliciousness is justice; trying something that looks tasty is only right.
Incidentally, Yuuri continued eating them separately. Although he usually didn’t eat much, the light ponzu-flavored cold shabu salad was easy to eat, and before he knew it, he had finished his plate. He knew there was more to go around and felt just a bit more hungry, so he stood up with his plate.
“…Yuuri, you’re getting seconds?”
“Yeah, I think I can eat a bit more.”
“Me too! I’m getting seconds!”
“Me too!”
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to eat that much.”
Seeing Camille and Yakk working hard to finish what was on their plates, Yuuri gave a wry smile. He’s not that big an eater, so there’s no way he would finish it all. Just as he was about to say so, Hermine calmly got up with her plate for seconds too.
Seconds had been secured for everyone, but the cheerful commotion that ensued was all but inevitable.