Late-Night Meal
When we returned to the royal capital residence, it seemed that not everyone had gathered yet. I told Liam I’d be preparing a late-night meal and headed to the kitchen.
In the kitchen were Anny and the twin cook sisters, Kelly.
“‘‘Young Lady Joan.’’”
“I’m going to help with the late-night meal. It’s probably going to be a long night.”
“‘‘Thank you.’’”
For the late-night meal, I prepared food that would still taste good when cold: assorted rice balls, tamagoyaki, fried chicken, and orc soup. There wasn’t much time, so I used all the pre-prepped ingredients from storage.
“Impressive, Young Lady Joan. I was worried you’d have to cook the rice from scratch.”
“Right? Better to be prepared than regretful.”
“Absolutely. All that’s left is shaping, grilling, frying, and simmering.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
“‘‘Yes!’’”
“By the way, what’s the emergency summons about this time?”
“Ah, that… actually…”
I explained the incident to Anny and Kelly, and that the twins involved were cat beastmen.
“Ah… that makes sense… That’s why the risotto…”
Since Anny had prepared their dinner earlier, she seemed to understand the situation.
“I’m a twin sister myself, so I kind of get it. Even if the world’s against you, the brother would probably stay close.”
Kelly also had a twin brother. They both worked as cooks at the royal capital residence, often teasing each other on the job, but were close in private. Neither had a romantic partner yet, and both agreed separately that only someone they approved of could be close, so they naturally worried for each other.
“All right! Done!”
Once all the dishes were ready, the meeting had apparently just ended, and Martha came into the kitchen.
“Young Lady Joan, the meeting is over. The late-night meal is ready.”
“Okay! Ah, Anny and Kelly, you can take a break. I’ll carry everything from storage myself. It’s self-service anyway.”
“‘‘Thank you.’’”
Even though they were used to cooking, the emergency had clearly worn them out.
“Here, eat this for now. When you’re tired, you need something sweet, right?”
From storage, I placed a baked cheesecake with blueberry jam on the counter.
“‘‘Wow, yay!’’”
Since moving into the knight dorm, there hadn’t been much chance to cook at the residence, so all the family and staff were craving Joan’s cooking and desserts.
“..….”
“… Martha, save yours for later.”
“Thank you.”
I told Martha, who had been staring at the cake, and she beamed with gratitude.
＊＊＊＊＊
The meeting was apparently being held in the hall due to the number of attendees. Martha and I entered, and groups of people were discussing their next steps. To avoid disturbing them, I arranged the food on tables along the wall. The orc soup was placed on a magic warmer—like an IH cooker in my previous life.
Everyone noticed Joan entering with Martha, but they prioritized the matters at hand. Still, the aroma of the food was irresistible. The current time had just passed the 23rd hour, when even those who had eaten dinner might start to get a bit hungry.
Guuuuuu…
A mysterious stomach growl echoed, followed by others. The healthy people’s stomachs were honest. They glanced at each other, embarrassed, and laughed.
“Alright, everyone, thank you for your hard work! The late-night meal is ready. ‘An empty stomach can’t fight.’ Come eat when you have a moment.”
I shouted, using a rolled-up piece of paper as a megaphone. Drawn by the call and the aroma, one by one, people came to take the food.
“Miss, what fillings are in the rice balls?”
“Eve, good work. The fillings are grilled salmon, okaka cheese, beef gombo, and honey-pickled ume.”
“I’ll just try one of each for now.”
“Don’t eat too much or Ari will hate you.”
“Uh… okay… then I’ll have the beef gombo and ume.”
“What’s okaka?”
“Kent, Yumi, long time no see. Okaka is dried bonito seasoned with soy. I wrapped it with cheese for the rice balls.”
Kent and Yumi were the gardener Tom’s son and daughter-in-law, and also parents of Mike’s group. Normally they work as merchants, but they travel on my father’s Shadow business.
“Then I’ll have that.”
“I’ll take that and the salmon.”
“There are side dishes and miso soup too.”
“Joan, long time no see! You’ve gotten so grown-up.”
“Oh, Mr. Taiki! How have you been? It’s hard to meet you lately.”
“Were you worried about me?”
“Of course! If something happened to you, who would I get information from?”
“That’s your priority? …You’re as sharp as ever.”
“Anyway, there’s sweet tamagoyaki and dashimaki.”
“Anyway, eh… well, dashimaki is great. Thanks… Oh, you’re in the knight course now, right? Haven’t you been messed with by Souya?”
“Messed with?”
“Under the same roof, even in the dorm, right?”
“Hahaha, nothing happened. Mr. Taiki, you’re like a relative uncle.”
“Uncle… I’m only 25, you know?”
“Didn’t know… I thought you were older… much older.”
“Rude!! I never raised you to say such things!”
“I never raised you either!!”
“”Bwah… ahahaha.””
Bam! “‘Ouch!!’”
Laughing with Taiki, we both got a simultaneous chop from the hand.
“You two, you really have no sense of tension!”
Turning around, it was Martha behind us.
“‘‘Sorry…’’”
Around us, people were smirking, stifling laughter, or just staring in disbelief. Apparently, everyone had been watching.
What do you think about this chapter?
