Conflicts Of Interest Often Begin From Trivial Matters (7)

Leisurely times flowed peacefully. And thanks to Linda, who brought news that the Empire was starting to move, I was able to call all the vassals and enter a meeting, but the problem was that no one had experience leading an ‘army.’

“This means that if a war breaks out, our way of responding will be haphazard… Does Wijel have no experience either?”

“I have experience leading a tribe in battle… but I do not know the combat style of fighting while holding a castle wall like this one.”

“It would be the same for Demina or Debik, but does Gamung have any?”

Gamung shook his head to convey that he did not. It was a difficult situation. Therefore, the best alternative that came up was to increase the scale of mock battles.

“The domain’s military force currently reaches 20,000. Among them, 10,000 have been supplied with firearms. That is why I am saying this, I would like to hold a large-scale battle this time.”

“A large-scale one…?”

“How about a confrontation between 10,000 regular domain soldiers and 50,000 whale beastkin?”

Hare and Richard were troubled after gauging the numbers, but I spoke simply.

“Um, there is a problem.”

“It is because of the ammo cases, right?”

“….That is correct. There is a limit to the number we can produce in a day. Furthermore, since we have to prepare firearms and cannons as well… our hands are too busy.”

At Richard’s groaning, Hare was seen patting him on the back, saying he did well. I thought they had become quite close lately, and unlike Richard who looked miserable, Hare seemed quite cheerful.

Then, something occurred to me.

“Hey, Hare, when is the date to visit the Demon Dragon this month?”

“It is in three days. Why do you ask?”

“Hmm… If so, could you take me to the Demon Dragon then?”

At my words, everyone in the room, including Hare, stood up and said it was absolutely not allowed. Generally, the argument was that if something happened to me, the future of the domain would become uncertain, but honestly, the current situation was not leisurely, so I had to insist strongly.

“Since she is someone I am in a kind of business relationship with, I am going to see if she might grant a few small favors in exchange for some gifts. It could be called a reward after a tribute.”

A few people looked uncomfortable at the word ‘tribute,’ but in reality, it was a situation of being shaken down. No, if I thought about it carefully, we were the ones who were only receiving things and not giving a proper answer.

I planned to prepare various things and visit the Demon Dragon this time.

“Since there are roughly 4,000 ammo cases currently available, if you think we can churn out 6,000 within a week, please stop me.”

The vassals shut their mouths as if they had become mute. However, Hare, after understanding what I said, asked me with a strange expression.

“Are you going to ask the Demon Dragon for an ammo case enchantment?”

“Yes, wouldn’t it be nothing for someone like the Demon Dragon?”

“Well… that is true. But she has a lot of laziness. And her personality is fiery…”

“It is fine. I am planning to prepare various items to visit her this time.”

At my words, Hare and the vassals tilted their heads. To be honest, the Demon Dragon was a dragon who knew the joy of eating. Therefore, if I produced various foods and went to serve her?

I thought she would surely like it and grant any request without difficulty. Furthermore, I thought the Demon Dragon would suffer some loss if the Ingrad Domain was destroyed.

First of all, since she would not be able to receive the tribute I gave, there was a possibility she would step forward out of regret. It was something that could never be excluded, and when I appealed with that thought, did everyone think it was worth a try?

No one opened their mouth to oppose anymore.

“But is the number invading this time really one million?”

“It will likely be one million. The Empress declared so, and reports have come in that there is about a month left until they assemble the forces and depart.”

At Linda’s words, I rested my chin on my hand for a moment and asked.

“This means the location they will advance to is either the sea, or climbing over the mountains… or else they have to go around the mountains. Where do you think they will move toward?”

“I think they have no choice but to go around the mountains. Part of it is that the mountain paths are narrow, but because of the terrain characteristics, if such a large number moves, large monsters might be attracted, so I think they will avoid it if possible.”

“Large monsters…?”

“I mean special entities like Drakes or Giant Golems.”

At Demina’s words, I suddenly became curious about what they looked like. However, I could not afford to be reckless. Besides, there was another practical problem.

“It means the land route is almost certain… Well, since we can think there is still about a month and a half left until the war. Let’s also conduct adaptation training in advance.”

Actual combat experience—we had no way to fill that gap, and since the fact was that only training was the answer, I planned to draw up a plan so that those who had been issued firearms could continue large-scale practice among themselves.

In a few days, I would be going to meet the Demon Dragon. From now on, what I had to do was figure out how to persuade the dragon.

First, I planned to make all the chocolates produced in various types this time and food from another world. First, during the meeting, I asked the vassals here if they had ever seen the food I was describing, and I asked for the general recipes I knew. Since the only overlapping part was pork cutlet, I excluded it from the menu I was considering, and there were three types left.

First, there were the Chinese menu items Jjamppong and Tangsuyuk, and then there was chicken, which I planned to compete with using seasoned chicken. Since I had Gochujang, I thought it was worth a try, and for this, I visited the kitchen after a long time and faced Riin.

“Would a dragon really grant a favor for food?”

“I have no choice but to try. If it goes well, it’s a jackpot, and even if it doesn’t, I’ll have to prepare as best as I can.”

“I hope it goes well…”

I nodded, and after piling up plenty of seafood and seasonings that I had asked the vassals to obtain, I brought a large wok to the situation with the intention of trying to make Jjamppong first.

Since preparing the ingredients was not that difficult, I started by washing the seafood clean. Fortunately, shellfish similar to those on Earth existed in this world as well. First, I planned to try making Jjamppong using clams before fish.

“What I am going to make now is Bul-jjamppong. Since the chili itself is only spicy, I had no choice but to pick that… anyway, the method of making it is not that difficult. Watch closely.”

Riin looked at me and said she understood, so I first put appropriately sliced green onions and sliced garlic into the heated wok and started sautéing them in olive oil.

Because it would not do if it burned or cooked too dry, when I thought the scent had drifted out to some extent, I added chili powder and started making chili oil.

The spicy smell spread throughout the kitchen. It was certainly not easy to adapt to; literally, it was the scent of hell that felt spicy enough to kill just by the smell. While enduring this, after making the chili oil, I immediately added various vegetables, including cabbage and onions, and started sautéing them over high heat. Then, after adding fish sauce and sugar in an appropriate ratio and seasoning it, I started pouring the drinking water I had prepared into the wok, and Riin helped from the side, saying it was a mysterious cooking method.

“It is a cooking method that requires high heat, but if you make it well, it is really delicious.”

“….It seems like it will be too spicy.”

“I will show you what a spicy but attractive taste is.”

Then, I added the prepared clams, goose barnacles, and squid, and while waiting for it to boil vigorously, I started boiling the noodles, which were the biggest problem.

Since I did not know how to make hand-pulled noodles in the first place, I made Kalguksu noodles instead. Riin watched this and found it fascinating. Honestly, the flour in this world was only used for making bread, so that was quite a pity, but should I try making Tteokbokki later? While having such thoughts, I picked up a ladle out of curiosity while boiling the noodles and scooped up some Jjamppong broth.

First of all, the color looked appropriately spicy. It was not thin and had an orange glow that made it look delicious at a glance… the problem was the spiciness.

‘If the spiciness of the chili is fully contained… it might be terrible…’

I planned to make a large amount of broth, boil it once today, and boil it again tomorrow to finish it, but I was still curious.

No, to be exact, I missed it. Is that why?

I carefully brought it to my mouth, and while Riin and others watching from the side frowned slightly and looked at me with worried expressions, with a ‘slurping’ sound, the broth I took a sip of was…

“Kuu…”

It was a taste that made an exclamation flow out naturally. It was perfect if you subtracted the fact that it was damn spicy and a bit salty.

Anyway, seeing me take one ladle and then a second one, the vassals, maids, and Riin looked at me with curious expressions, so I said to everyone.

“It is a taste where both would die even if two were eating. Prepare yourselves well before you eat.”

The vassals nodded at my words, and after everyone scooped a bowl of broth and ate it, the episode ended with them running out of the dining room with their faces turned red. However, I thought if it had this much taste and character, it might work on the dragon as well.

“Riin, what kind of seasoning do you think would make it perfect if added?”

I asked for seasoning advice from someone who knew how to cook professionally, and after drinking water continuously, Riin pondered for a moment and spoke to me carefully.

“The spiciness that paralyzes my tongue… I cannot get a sense of what kind of seasoning is needed. I am sorry.”

While thinking I felt sorry for Riin and the others who were struggling while making ‘sipping and huffing’ sounds, I strained the fully boiled noodles and placed them appropriately in a bowl. Then, after putting the ingredients and broth appropriately into the bowl containing the noodles, I took some chopsticks and sat down at the dining table and started mixing the noodles.

The maids looked at me as if I were a strange person, but it was just a pity that they did not know this taste.

‘Hmm, should I knead the flour into an appropriately round shape, boil it… and try making Tteokbokki…?’

Thinking that might also work, I immediately started eating the Jjamppong in front of me, and it was so spicy and delicious that it would not be an exaggeration to call it real Bul-jjamppong.

It might be that it felt more delicious because it was a dish I made, but I was certainly able to finish the whole bowl while sweating profusely at the taste I missed.

I was worried about tomorrow, but thinking that was something to deal with when the time came, I entered the kitchen again while holding my appropriately full stomach, and I saw Riin scooping a little at a time with a ladle to taste it and add seasonings.

Even though she had such a hard time earlier, she was full of curiosity because she was a cook. Afterwards, the Jjamppong Riin seasoned was registered as an official recipe and selected as the food to be presented to the dragon. Next, I started preparing Tangsuyuk made with ‘Orc meat,’ which was meat I had set aside with the intention that I would not eat it.

In the case of Tangsuyuk, it could be cooked in two styles: one was Tangsuyuk fried with starch powder that was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, and the other was Tangsuyuk fried using only flour batter to give a slightly soggy feeling.

Since both were parts where preferences varied quite a bit, I could not tell what the dragon would prefer, so I started preparing ingredients with the intention of cooking both for now.