Now, time to dig in!!
Going out the back door, I headed toward Grandpa Tom.
"Young Lady Joan, the charcoal fire is ready to go."
"Thank you, Grandpa Tom. Thanks to you too, Koa and Mike."
"Don’t mention it. So, what are we grilling?"
Ben had asked Grandpa Tom and the others to prepare the charcoal, but apparently hadn’t told them exactly what for.
"Giant Snake."
"Giant Snake… You’re going to eat it?"
"Yep. Huh? Grandpa Tom, have you eaten it before?"
"I have, back in my adventuring days. But you couldn’t call that stuff edible. Reeked of fishiness."
"Ah, Grandpa Pom said the same. But this time, I swear it’ll be delicious."
"Hmmm… Well, if Young Lady Joan is the one cooking, it might turn out tasty… Still…"
"Old man, it’s fine! It’s Young Lady Joan!"
"Exactly, it’ll be fine. More than that, the fact that you could even defeat a Giant Snake is amazing."
Grandsons Koa and Mike tried to reassure Grandpa Tom. But it seemed Mike was more hung up on the fact that they’d actually taken down a Giant Snake.
"Alright! Then let’s start grilling. First, lightly grill the flesh side, flip, grill the skin side. Repeat that a few times, then coat it with sauce and grill again. Once it gets a nice char, done!"
"That’s faster than I thought."
"Well yeah, since it’s been steamed already, I just need to sear it. Here, taste test."
I cut the kabayaki into bite-sized pieces and handed them out to Belle, the cooking team, and the gardening team.
But no one moved to eat.
Even though the savory smell of the sauce was tempting, Grandpa Tom’s warning of “fishy” still stuck in their minds.
… But that didn’t matter to Joan.
Munch."Mmm…"
"See, told you so—"
"Deliciousssssssss!!"
"""""""!!"""""""
Seeing Joan’s beaming smile, everyone cautiously brought a piece to their mouths.
Chew, chew…
"""""Delicious!!""""
""It’s so good!"
"……"
"What’s wrong, Grandpa Tom? It wasn’t good…?"
"No, no, it’s delicious. If only back then we’d had a way to eat it like this…"
"Grandpa Tom…"
"Grandpa…"
Joan and Koa called to him, but Grandpa Tom only hung his head.
"Grandpa… What happened?"
Mike gathered his courage and asked.
"Everyone who ate it… couldn’t move. They tried, but whenever they did, things came out both ends… I thought I’d die. That was the first and last time."
"""""""Huh?"""""""
So it was food poisoning!!
For a second I thought he meant someone had actually died.
"Sheesh… So, Grandpa Tom, how is it?"
"It’s tasty. The flesh is so fluffy, yet with just the right fat when you bite in. But at my age, this sauce is a bit heavy."
"Then how about this?"
I handed Grandpa Tom a shiroyaki (grilled plain).
"Season it with just salt or soy sauce. And that green stuff is called wasabi, do you know it?"
"Wasabi… Could it be that spicy thing from the Eastern Country? Never eaten it or seen it, but I’ve heard the name. Though when I heard it, it was called Namida-sabi."
Namida-sabi… Maybe they got sushi-shop slang “namida” and “sabi” mixed up?
Well, either way, it’s wasabi.
"Yep, that’s it. Try just a little with it."
"Alright, with salt then. Munch… Well now, this is easier to eat than the sauced one."
"Glad you like it. The sauce version is usually eaten with rice, but this one’s perfect as a snack with sake."
"Mhm, true enough. Makes me crave some drink."
"Later, I’ll wrap some up for Tani and Zara too, so you can enjoy it with drinks at home."
"Much obliged, Young Lady Joan. Even for Zara’s share."
"You’re welcome."
"Alright then, let’s keep grilling them all!"
""""Yeah!!""""
Flap flap, flap flap…
"Joan? What are you doing?"
"Hm? Fanning with this." Flap flap…
"That’s… an uchiwa?"
"Yep. Back in my past life, people used it instead of fans on hot days." Flap flap…
"Huh… So? Why are you fanning now?"
"Because when you do this… heehee, they come." Flap flap…
"They come? What does? Bugs? Birds? Maybe monsters?"
"Nope. Just wait a bit more." Flap flap…
"?"
After a short while…
"Joan—oh, there you are."
From the mansion came Brother Noel, Brother Jean, Vee, and Lord Eric. From the soldiers’ dorm came Nat, Oki, Ellie, and Ryuji.
"Heehee, see? They came."
"Heehee, you’re right."
"In my past life, we used fans both to stoke the charcoal and to call in customers."
"Ahh, makes sense."
After that, everyone joined for lunch, eating the unagi-don lookalike together.
At first, since it was Giant Snake, everyone ate hesitantly. But in the end, there were plenty calling for seconds.
When I served shiroyaki to Father and Mother, they liked it so much they asked me to bring it out again as a snack with drinks that night.
After lunch, Belle and I mounted Pearl and headed once more to the butchering grounds.
"Hello!!"
"Hm? Oh, it’s you, young lady. What brings you here?"
"Bringing Grandpa Pom some food. Here."
I took a lunchbox out of storage and handed it over.
"What, for me? Is that alright?"
"Of course! Oh, but… did you already eat lunch?"
"No, I was just about to take a break."
"Great! Um, I’d really like to hear your thoughts after you try it… is that okay?"
"Sure, come with me."
Grandpa Pom led us to the gallery at the training grounds.
"You always eat here?"
"Pretty much. At this hour, it’s usually empty. Alright then, let’s dig in. The smell’s driving me crazy. Munch munch… Delicious! What meat is this? Never had anything this good before."
"Heehee, it’s Giant Snake."
"What!? Cough cough… Wh-what did you say!? This is!?"
"Are you okay? …Here, some tea."
Gulp gulp gulp… "Phew, thanks. That was a shock. To think this is Giant Snake…"
"Sorry, I tricked you a little."
"No, no, I got to eat something this tasty… Thank you, young lady."
"You’re welcome."
What do you think about this chapter?
