Cooking in the lodging’s kitchen.
“Rudell, where should I put this?”
“That? Please put it on the table.”
Rudell and Leje were organizing the ingredients they bought from the market.
“Wow… Why is there so much?”
“There’s a lot of people, so what can you do?”
Just for the basic ingredients, there were onions, potatoes, carrots, and of course, spices for making curry.
On top of that, with a basic headcount of five and considering Leje and Kurt’s appetites, the amount had to increase.
“Hmm… How did I make that back then…”
After finishing a rough sort, Rudell began to rummage through the ingredients, retracing his memories.
The dish he had made over and over while living alone was curry.
As such, recalling that recipe wasn’t all that difficult.
“First, I need to prep the ingredients…”
The first thing to do was to wash and cut the ingredients.
“Create Water.”
As he gathered the ingredients into a basket, Rudell waved his hand in the air, and a large water droplet formed in response to his magic.
With another wave of his hand, the droplet moved and started washing the ingredients.
“Need any help?”
“I’m good, I’ll handle it.”
Leje, watching the scene, asked, and Rudell shook his head.
It wasn’t difficult, but having her, as a countess, help him felt a bit burdensome.
After washing the basic ingredients, Rudell took out a cutting board and knife and began to prepare the ingredients.
“Hmm~♬ Hmm~♪”
“…”
While Rudell hummed a tune, Leje stared at him intently.
Then she approached Rudell and snatched the knife from him.
“When are you going to finish it? Step aside.”
“Leje?”
Rudell stuttered, surprised by her sudden action.
At the same time, she picked up a potato and looked at him.
“Watch closely. This is how you handle a knife.”
She tossed the potato into the air, sliced it at incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, the peeled potato fell neatly into the bowl.
At that level, it could hardly be called anything less than an incredible feat.
“Wow…”
“How about that? Impressive, right?”
Stunned by her godly knife skills, Rudell gasped lowly as Leje puffed out her chest proudly.
However, the next moment.
“Hey, Leje.”
“What? You could compliment me more, you know?”
“No, what I mean is, you don’t slice a potato like that but do a diced cut instead.”
“…”
The potatoes for curry are usually diced.
But the way she sliced the potatoes was what’s commonly known as a straight cut.
Typically used for making french fries.
“Uh… Can’t we just slice it again?”
“If it’s too small, it’ll fall apart during cooking. We’ll have to cut a fresh one.”
“S-sorry…”
“It’s okay. We can just make something else with it.”
Though it might not work for the curry, the potato was cut to a perfect size for making potato pancakes.
If it’s potato pancakes, even Leje and the others could enjoy it without any burden, so it wasn’t a big problem.
“If you’re so bored, could you peel the skins off other ingredients?”
“That’s easy!”
With a boastful tone, Leje quickly began preparing the other ingredients.
In just a few minutes, neatly cut ingredients were placed into bowls…
“The prep work is done… Now, let’s make the base.”
Looking at the appropriately sized ingredients, Rudell turned on the stove and started frying the spices.
Various smells wafted through the kitchen as the spices released their aroma…
“Hmm… what’s that smell like…”
“Strange, right?”
“Yeah, it’s a really unusual smell.”
It seemed like it was the first time Leje had smelled anything like it, as she tilted her head, suspiciously.
Since curry is such an exotic dish, it must have been a foreign smell to her.
Her reaction was completely understandable.
“I think this is enough.”
After a while, Rudell gathered the fried spices and finely ground them with magic.
As the intense aroma tickled his nose, he mixed it with water blended with butter and milk, then added the remaining ingredients in order, covering it with a lid.
“Alright, now I need to make the rice.”
“Rice? What’s that?”
“It’s food that’s mainly eaten in the Eastern Continent. You’ll probably like it.”
Because the rice also goes with curry.
It was really disappointing not to have a pressure cooker, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Thinking he should ask Silphier for one someday, Rudell created another droplet of water.
“First, wash the rice clean…”
He poured water into the clean pot filled with rice, brought it to a boil on high heat, and once the water reduced, he lowered the heat.
After a little wait, once the water had reduced, he covered the pot and let it steam a bit before finishing.
“Ohh… this is a fascinating dish.”
“Let’s see, the curry…”
As white steam billowed from the pot, Leje curiously observed the scene.
Rudell opened the pot to check the curry.
The unique zesty aroma of the curry spread everywhere, and Rudell carefully ladled some into a bowl to taste.
“Perfect.”
It was undoubtedly the first time, but the taste felt so familiar.
Nodding with a satisfied face, Rudell began preparing for the meal.
“Now, leftover’s the potato pancakes.”
Making potato pancakes wouldn’t take long, so it was about time to call the others.
“Leje, could you call everyone else?”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Nodding at Rudell’s request, Leje left the kitchen, and Rudell hummed a tune as he took out the dishes.
Time passed, and night deepened.
*
The reactions of the others to the curry were nothing short of explosive.
Of course, the potato pancakes also received rave reviews.
“One more bowl!”
“Can I please have another bowl…!!”
“This dish is truly the blessing of the goddess…!! How on earth did you make such a dish…!”
“Delicious.”
“Eat as much as you like, I made a lot.”
Worried there might be mixed opinions, he was relieved to find that wasn’t the case.
It seemed Leje liked it too, as she had already polished off three bowls.
So, after the meal…
“Let us do the dishes. You all rest.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Count Weinstein must be tired as well, so leave this to us…”
“Don’t worry and just take a good rest.”
“Hmm… if you insist…”
Since they couldn’t insist after saying so much.
With a low groan, Rudell left the kitchen with Leje.
“Ughhhh… so tired.”
“You’ve been running around all day. No wonder you’re tired.”
As they walked down the hallway, Rudell yawned, and Leje remarked.
Plus, he had done almost all the dinner preparation by himself, so it would be strange if he wasn’t tired.
Reaching his room, Rudell lit a fire in the fireplace and leaned back in a chair.
“Yawn…”
Feeling his eyelids grow heavy as he stared blankly at the flickering fire.
At that moment…
“Hey, are you trying to sleep right there?”
“Yeah… a bit tired.”
He nodded at Leje’s follow-up question, and she smiled faintly.
“Want me to give you a knee pillow?”
“A knee pillow?”
“Yeah, they say guys like this kind of thing?”
“Where did you hear that…”
She was sitting on the couch, patting her knees, and Rudell spoke in disbelief.
Of course, he absolutely didn’t dislike the idea.
“Come on, come on! Don’t refuse.”
“Hmm…”
With a low groan at her urging voice, Rudell stood up.
He headed towards the couch, looking awkwardly at Leje who was sparkling with excitement as she kept patting her knees.
“Hah…”
In the end, with a short sigh, Rudell lay down on the couch, resting his head on her knees.
“How is it? A countess’s knee pillow?”
“What should I say… It’s definitely comfortable…”
“Of course! It’s not just anyone, but a countess’s knee pillow!”
“Y-yes~ I’m so moved~”
What would others think if they saw this scene?
They would probably faint in shock. Rudell thought as he let out a loud yawn.
“By the way, are you okay? Won’t your legs get sore if we stay like this?”
“Stop worrying about me and worry about yourself. You look really tired right now.”
“Do I look that bad?”
What did Leje see to make her say that?
As he tried to look in a mirror, Rudell’s body was blocked by her hand.
“Want me to sing you a lullaby?”
“Do you think I’m a kid?”
“Hey, you’re still a child.”
“Of course not.”
They couldn’t count the years he had lived, over thirty including his previous life, of course!
He couldn’t bring himself to say that, and slowly, Rudell closed his eyes.
