Cooking Showdown (1)

“Hehehehe.”

Rurin had recently made it a hobby to lie on the table, palms facing up, gazing at the ring and laughing.

She had carefully placed all her earrings, necklaces, and bracelets on the Hibiren flower in the bedroom, now cherishing only the ring.

Why does it feel like the ring, reflecting sunlight, is bathing the restaurant in pink?

The restaurant had become bathed in pink.

“The ring you gave me~ Hmmm~”

Rurin kept humming and giggling as she admired the ring, lost in its beauty. While I was happy that she liked it, her obsession with it meant she wasn’t doing any work, which was a problem.

“Rurin.

“Rurin!”

She kept humming and didn’t even respond when I called her. This girl…

“Hey, Rurin!”

“What is it?!”

After calling her about ten times, she finally responded, but with plenty of annoyance.

“It’s almost opening time, so get up.”

“Ring?”

“I’m talking about opening time, not the ring!”

“Ring! Hehehe.”

She sat up from the table, holding out the ring to show it off to me. What am I supposed to do with this? Is “ring” the only word you know now?

“Come on, get up and wipe the tables.”

“I can’t let the rag touch my ring! I’ll just go have some beer over there.”

She shook her head and waggled her index finger from side to side.

That was her typical finger movement whenever she made a tsk-tsk sound.

“Really? You’d better make sense. Fine, then wear gloves while you do it.”

“But then I can’t see the ring! I don’t like that! The ring must be visible!”

She hid her hands behind her back, taking a defensive stance as if to say it was absolutely unacceptable.

Sigh.

Well, now you’ve found a good excuse.

“Then you can just hug me tightly! The whole time! Then I’ll forgive you even if I can’t see the ring.”

“You must be kidding!”

This laziness is getting out of hand.

How am I supposed to run a business if I’m hugging you all day? Geez.

“It wasn’t funny, but you said you loved me and gave me a ring. Whatever, the ring is pretty, so I’ll let it slide. Hehehe, ta-da.”

Even when I scold her, it always comes back to the ring. She just stares at it and giggles.

Fine.

If you’re going to insist that much, I’ll play along.

“As long as the ring is visible and doesn’t touch the rag, right?”

“Hehehe, well, yeah.”

She nodded absentmindedly, still staring at the ring. Silly girl. Don’t underestimate modern inventions.

I have just the thing.

I quickly used mana to summon some plastic gloves from the modern world.

Yep, this will do.

Heh heh.

I grabbed the pack of summoned plastic gloves, tore it open, pulled out a couple, and walked over to where Rurin was lying on the table.

“What, what is that?”

Rurin eyed the unfamiliar item warily, but I grabbed her hand and began putting the gloves on her.

“What is this? What is this thing?”

She tried to pull her hand away in panic, but it was useless. I ignored her protests and slipped the glove onto her other hand, the one with the ring. Then I placed a rag in her palm.

“Huh, huh?”

“Huh what? There, now you’ve got no complaints, right? It fits your conditions perfectly, doesn’t it?”

“Why does something like this even exist? The ring is visible! It’s a glove, but the ring is visible! Ugh, this is annoying!”

“Hehehe, I win. Now, get to work.”

“Ughhhh! How could you!”

“Stop glaring at the plastic gloves! Hurry and wipe the tables. Scrub them hard. Especially the one you were lying on.”

In the end, a slouched Rurin trudged over and started wiping the tables, glaring at the plastic gloves with each step.

“This kind of thing shouldn’t exist.”

“Scrub! With force! Make it clean!”

“If I scrub too hard, this thing will break!”

“Oh, that won’t do. Then just calm down and apply reasonable pressure. Got it?”

“I don’t know!”

What do you mean you don’t know? You’re doing just fine.

Seeing her working like that was a nice sight. I shrugged and returned to preparing the food.

Lululu~

“Is anyone here! Ellison!”

“Huh?”

Thud, thud, thud.

Just then, a customer – no, an acquaintance – walked into the restaurant.

“Oh, Rurin! You’ve been well?”

This guy, who learned human speech in a strange way, had a really odd way of speaking. It had been a long time since I last saw this old companion.

Not only were we close, but he was the dwarf who had made everything in the restaurant, including the indispensable iron plate.

He had disappeared, saying he wanted to enjoy the peaceful world by traveling. I wonder what brought him back.

“Nirip, so you only see Rurin and not me?”

“Oh! You were there?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Ha ha ha, this dwarf body is all about sturdiness! I’ve been well!”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Oh, Rurin! This – this is some fine craftsmanship!”

The dwarf stomped his way through the restaurant, waved to me, and then noticed the ring on Rurin’s hand. He grabbed her hand to examine it.

“Ahh! Not this! Because of the craftsmanship!”

Then, as if recalling an old trauma, he broke into a cold sweat and looked at Rurin.

“Don’t touch it! You earthbound shorty!”

Bammm!

Thud thud thud, clatter crash!

With an impressive crash, the dwarf was sent flying out of the restaurant.

“Rurin, but you’re wearing gloves, so technically he didn’t touch your skin.”

“Oh, is that so? Hmm. But still, I don’t like it!”

Sensing that this was the moment, she took off the plastic gloves while shaking her head.

“Ah, Rurin. You haven’t changed.”

“You’re still tiny!”

It seems Rurin remembers this dwarf clearly. Well, with such a strong memory, forgetting would indeed be odd.

“Hahaha, our species is naturally small!”

Thud, thud, thud.

The dwarf chuckled heartily as he made his way to the iron plate.

“As expected, Ellison. You’ve kept it clean! But, it seems like it needs a little repair. Could you step aside for a moment?”

“Ah, really?”

Coming from the dwarf who made the iron plate, I quickly stepped aside for this “after-service”.

Then the dwarf pulled out his various tools and began hammering and clanging.

Meanwhile, Rurin had already retreated to a corner, alternating between looking at me, glancing at her ring, and drinking beer.

She sure moves fast.

The business hadn’t even started yet, but she probably figured I wouldn’t scold her with the dwarf around.

Her thinking is getting craftier.

Clang clang!

The dwarf quickly finished the repairs and started wiping off sweat. If he knew about the new underground lair, he might faint.

In fact, the original plan was to explain Rurin’s identity to this dwarf and have him oversee the construction of the lair. But since we couldn’t find him, we had to ask the dwarfs from the collapsing Milliorek Mountains instead.

“It’s as good as new. Hahaha.”

“Thanks. As expected, repairs from a dwarf make it look pristine.”

“Haha, of course! No need for repayment! Just make a dish that pairs well with this drink!”

“Really? Did you find a good drink or something?”

The dwarf sat at the bar table in front of the iron plate, confidently placing the jug of alcohol he had brought onto the table.

“Indeed! This here is the famous, hard-to-find liquor from the central continent, Irion!”

Irion!

It’s one of the most famous liquors in the world, known for not requiring any aging.

It’s known for its clear floral fragrance.

“Irion, you say? Is that for real?”

As soon as I heard the name of the liquor, I extended my glass. If it’s Irion, I have to taste it regardless of business or anything else.

The dwarf laughed cheerfully and poured the liquor into my glass.

“To celebrating this reunion!”

“To the health of the dwarfs!”

We lightly toasted, and I brought the glass to my lips. Oh, this fragrance. This smoothness.

And the floral taste spreading through my body.

Ahhh.

Getting drunk on the scent of flowers – this is exactly what they mean by that.

“Alright, I’ll grill the freshest uka tongue that just came in on the iron plate you fixed.”

“Ohh, uka tongue?”

Uka tongue, which is ox tongue. Thinly sliced and grilled on the iron plate, topped with scallions, lemon juice, and just a sprinkle of salt – it pairs perfectly with this drink. Heh heh.

Wait a minute. It’s almost opening time.

Is this okay?

Whatever, who cares.

“Here, eat up! Eat as much as you want! It’s on me!”

Succumbing to the allure of Irion, I shouted. The dwarf laughed heartily and reached for the food. Rurin, who had been lurking in the background, appeared as well.

She had already shown interest when the alcohol was brought out, but perhaps because of the dwarf, she hadn’t come closer. Once the uka tongue started grilling, though, she couldn’t resist any longer and peeked out.

“Sniff sniff, I want to drink that too!”

Sniffing the floral aroma, she reached out toward the jug.

“Rurin, stop!”

“Huh?”

“You can’t have that. The alcohol is strong. If you drink it, you’ll just end up causing a scene with drunkenness and nausea again. So no.”

“The aroma is nice, but why is it strong? If I just taste it…”

“If you get drunk, you won’t even notice if the ring on your hand disappears, right?”

“Ugh, that’s unfair!”

“Instead, have some meat. Here.”

Rurin grumbled, but I stuffed a piece of uka tongue into her mouth to shut her up.

Using ox tongue to silence a dragon’s tongue. Impressive, isn’t it?

“Ohhh, this is delicious! It’s chewy! After that chewy texture, it melts in the mouth. This is completely different from regular uka meat.”

“Right? Rurin, squeeze plenty of lemon juice. Yeah, like that.”

Encouraged by the dwarf’s reaction, Rurin began to chew the grilled tongue in her mouth with enthusiasm.

“Wooow!”

An exclamation of admiration rang out. That means she liked it. Soon after, she began devouring the food with gusto.

“By the way, Ellison.”

“Hmm?”

“I actually came here because I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor? What could a dwarf of your stature possibly need?”

“Well, do you remember that boy who helped us during the war when we were struggling with the terrain?”

“Of course I remember.”

During the battle to drive out the monsters, there was an area where we fought a large-scale battle, and that boy risked his life to guide us through the dangerous terrain.

One of my principles is to always remember those who helped me, even after death.

You can forget your enemies, but you must always remember your benefactors.

So, of course, I remember him. He was a brave and helpful boy.

“While traveling across the continent, I passed by their area. It seems like the boy and his mother are struggling with their restaurant lately… What do you think? Could you lend them some help?”

“Is it really that bad?”

“Yes, that boy had been helping his mother’s small restaurant from the beginning.”

“That’s right. I still remember the commotion the dwarfs caused at that restaurant.”

“Hahaha! Forget about that! Anyway, if you pass by that village, you should stop by. You’re knowledgeable about food, unlike me.”

The dwarf scratched his head as he gobbled down more uka tongue and downed another glass of liquor.

Nirip is a dwarf with a righteous and masculine character – a very likable fellow.

I’m sure he came to find me today because he was worried about the boy’s situation.

“Alright, leave that to me. But why don’t you settle down already?”

“Hahaha, settling down? How can a wanderlust dwarf like me settle down! Ellison, you settled because you have a wife over there, but I don’t have a wife!”

“Wife? We’re not there yet.”

“Not yet? Well, well, you’ve made a lot of progress. Hahahaha!”

The dwarf’s laughter echoed around us. I would never have admitted that before.

Settling down in this restaurant changed a lot.

Rurin, who had been devouring the grilled uka tongue with enthusiasm like the dwarf, suddenly interrupted, laughing.

“Hehehe, that’s right! Wife! But stop eating so much, you’re eating my portion!”

The dragon and the dwarf began fighting over the ox tongue. Good grief.

Well, it’s a peaceful scene. A rather happy sight, you could say.