Doctor's Dinner (2)

“Would you like to get up?”

The woman lying down had long ears; she was an elf. To think that there was an elf in Greek City. Come to think of it, I might have heard of this before.

Anyway, if she was an elf, the situation was clear. Rurin’s identity would have been exposed because of the elf’s eyes that could see through lies.

“Who are you? How can you treat the Great Being like that…! Ah! Perhaps….”

“No, I’m very well aware that she’s a dragon. Our relationship is a bit special, so it’s hard to explain.”

“A special relationship?”

The elf blinked with a face that showed disbelief. Fear was still evident in her eyes.

“More importantly, Ms. Elf, you know that it’s a secret that there is a dragon in Greek City, right?”

“Yes, yes. I have no intention of destroying my clan. What kind of bold elf would go around spreading tales about a dragon’s play?”

This is obvious. If you blabber about a dragon’s secret, you will only face thorough retribution.

“Then get up. Anyway, it’s better not to think too deeply about my relationship with the dragon.”

“Is that also a secret of the Great Being?”

“That’s right.”

“You are human, right? No, you are definitely human….”

“I am. Hu-man. Definitely hu-man. Don’t be so scared.”

“But…”

“I used to be a somewhat famous wizard, but now I’m a retired restaurant owner. I chose to retire because I was tired of fighting, so in a way, you could say I have something in common with the elves.”

“A famous wizard…?”

“They called me a great wizard. Would you understand if I said I was a companion of your elf hero, Beden?”

“Is that really true!”

The elf stared at me with a very surprised face. Her face showed that everything was so amazing that she could hardly believe it. But noble elves cannot lie and have the ability to detect others’ lies, so she would realize the truth if she looked into my eyes.

“It seems to be true…. With Beden…!”

“Yes, so I’m not a bad person. But beyond that, it’s a secret related to the dragon, so could you just let it go? This might sound like a threat, but rest assured, the dragon will not rampage or anything. This is also true.”

I stared into the elf’s eyes. She must have realized that I wasn’t lying. The elf, then cautiously, very cautiously, got up.

“Everything you said seems to be true. Then I will pretend not to know. I don’t want to be too deeply involved with a dragon. It’s also an unspoken rule.”

“That’s right. Then, forget about the dragon, and more importantly, what’s your name, Ms. Elf?”

“I’m… Elena.”

“We share the same first two letters. I’m El.”

“Ah, yes, yes. I heard from Mrs. Rayne.”

The elf who introduced herself as Elena nodded. Then she looked around and her expression became ambiguous.

Her face showed that she was scared to keep stepping into a place where a dragon lived, but it would be impolite to just leave after entering the restaurant.

She was the type whose thoughts showed on her face. She probably couldn’t lie at all.

“Don’t be so nervous. This is just an ordinary restaurant. The dragon’s name is Rurin, and she’s not that bad. As long as she’s with me, she won’t cause any harm, so you can relax. Anyway, you came here to eat, right? Then sit down. I’m sorry for scaring you, so I’ll serve you something delicious. Please let go of your doubts. I’m not a bad person.”

“That… seems to be true, but…”

Elena still seemed hesitant, but eventually, she sat down at the table I pointed to.

*Boom! Bang! *

Meanwhile, the sound of construction from below the restaurant, that is, beneath the hill, echoed loudly. I’ve told her to do it gently, but she’s just smashing things according to their nature.

“What’s that?”

The elf, sensitive to sounds, began to look around cautiously.

“It’s nothing. Just little tremors in the ground. More importantly, what would you like to eat?”

“Ah, I can only eat vegetables. But Mrs. Rayne said you could make delicious dishes with just vegetables and told me to come here… Is that possible?”

Elena mumbled in a very uncertain tone. She was completely intimidated because of Rurin.

To be honest, her reaction was the correct attitude when dealing with a dragon. Tense and respectful. Because that’s a dragon.

Well, that’s not important now. A vegetable dish. Of course, it’s possible. There are various dishes made with just vegetables, so it’s not difficult at all.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make you a delicious dish with vegetables. Ah, but what exactly can’t you eat?”

This part is important. To what extent are you a vegetarian? If you’re a true vegetarian, you can only eat plants. If not, the range of choices is wider.

“Meat. As long as it’s not animal flesh, it’s okay.”

“Oh, you can eat anything except flesh?”

“Yes, I’m not a vegetarian, but my body can’t handle flesh.”

That was fortunate. Then the range is not that narrow.

“Alright. I’ll make you a delicious dish without flesh.”

“Really? I’ve eaten many dishes without meat, but honestly, in terms of taste, I often find raw vegetables better.”

The elf nodded with anticipation.

“Oh! Why are there so many customers today? Hahaha.”

A loud voice was heard. It was a very familiar voice. It was none other than Mr. Knoll who stepped into the restaurant. Interestingly, the person he brought was not Mrs. Rayne but a young man I had never seen before.

“My nephew said he had something to consult about, so I came! So, bring out the uba belly.”

Mr. Knoll, who had become a complete uba belly maniac, said heartily and took a seat at a four-person table with the young man.

Elena seemed not to know that Mr. Knoll was Mrs. Rayne’s husband. She looked at the two for a moment and then soon lost interest.

“Alright, wait a moment.”

I headed straight to the ingredient storage. I planned to make Elena’s dish first. She ordered first, so it’s only natural.

When it comes to vegetable dishes, various things come to mind, but if only flesh is excluded, pasta seems just right. Strictly speaking, pasta is a noodle dish. Anyway, it’s delicious even without meat.

As long as the tomato itself is tasty, everything else will be okay. If you fully bring out the flavor of the tomato, you can create a deep taste without adding meat.

There are tomatoes in this world, too. Moreover, they are quite delicious. Perhaps because the climate here resembles that in the Andes, the origin of tomatoes, you can even feel a refreshing apple-like sweetness from the tomatoes themselves.

I first drizzled olive oil into the pan. The world’s best vegetable oil, olive oil. It’s perfect for someone who can’t eat meat. The olive oil I use is the highest grade, called extra virgin. It is the finest oil with pieces of olive pulp floating in it. Then I finely chop and fry onions and garlic. The key is to chop quickly and finely.

*Sizzle! *

When you put the chopped onions and garlic in the olive oil-heated pan and fry them, an indescribable smell spreads. Especially when you fry the onions until they turn brown, the really delicious smell stimulates your appetite. When you add the garlic aroma to that, it feels like you could be full just from the smell.

Then tomatoes. Crush insanely fresh tomatoes and boil them, season with pepper, then cook the pasta. The important thing here is that you must cook the pasta in hard water. Even in modern times, especially for broth-based Asian dishes, soft water is used, while hard water is typically used for Western dishes. This is quite a significant difference.

A typical example of hard water is the underground rock water flowing beneath this hill. The groundwater here is rich in calcium and hard proteins. This hard water has the property of firming noodles like pasta. It is a natural rule to use hard water to cook pasta for the best texture and firmness.

For other purposes, you should naturally use soft water. Soft water is ordinary water, and the restaurant’s drinking water is supplied by my water spray magic, so this water is soft water. Hard water and soft water are determined by their contained mineral components.

Anyway, with fresh ingredients and appropriate water. And if you mix in monton mushrooms, a really delicious pasta dish is completed.

Elena, who was staring at it blankly, finally uttered an exclamation, seemingly having escaped a bit from the fear of seeing the dragon.

“Oh my, the color is beautiful.”

“Yes, it’s a full red the color of sunlight.”

“I’ve never seen such a dish before…”

I placed the completed dish in front of her. Elena cautiously lifted the noodles with a fork. Her face was filled with curiosity. She showed a deep interest in my cooking.

It was clear that even with the thought of quickly eating anything and getting away from the dragon, there had been a significant change. So I let her focus on the food and moved to start grilling the uba belly for Mr. Knoll.

“The Uba belly is ready.”

“Oh, great! Nellin, try this. It’s really delicious.”

Mr. Knoll looked at the uba belly and gestured for soju. Elena, surprisingly, was slurping the pasta. The sound was crisp. She gripped the fork tightly and immediately slurped the noodles. Each time, her hair fell, which must have been inconvenient, but she didn’t care that the tomato sauce splashed on her blonde hair and continued to use the fork frantically. She was seeing pasta for the first time, so she wouldn’t even think of the skill of twirling it with a fork.

“How is it?”

When I asked, Elena, who had her nose buried in the plate, looked up and smiled. She was pretty when she smiled. I was used to Rurin, so it didn’t make much of an impression.

“It’s delicious! This is the first time in my life that I’ve eaten a dish made so deliciously with just vegetables. So this is what cooking is? I’ve always only eaten raw vegetables…!”

Her enthusiastic response was very rewarding. Elves have no concept of cooking. My elf companion, Beden, had the same reaction.

Satisfied with the reaction, I heard the conversation between Mr. Knoll and his nephew. Anyway, their voices were loud. Even considering the small size of the restaurant.

“Is your arm okay?”

“Yes, but I think I need to take a break from the mine work until the wound heals. There’s night work today, but I had to leave early. But going home feels uncomfortable.”

“You, this kid, home feels uncomfortable? What does that even mean?”

“Uncle, you knew that my mom isn’t my biological mother, right?”

“What? How did you find out!”

“I know everything. I found everything out! So don’t try to lie. I thought she was my real mother for 20 years, and she wasn’t…! Everything- everything is so confusing that I don’t know what to do!”

“So, what… what did you do? How did you treat Mrs. May?”

“I don’t know. I was deceived for 20 years, so what was I supposed to do? I just called her ‘aunt’.”

“What, kid?”

Given the content of the conversation, I glanced at Mr. Knoll, and he had a very embarrassed expression. It was understandable.

“Indeed…”

Elena, who also seemed to have heard, wiped her mouth with a napkin and muttered something. The plate was clean.

“Pardon?”

“Humans seem to lack affection. If she raised him for 20 years, wouldn’t there already be a love beyond that of a mother? I run a clinic in the city and take care of people, but I keep getting disappointed by humans. I guess you could say I don’t really understand. As a result, I don’t have any close friends.”

Elena whispered very quietly, shaking her head. Then she slowly started to get up, so I stopped her.

“Wait a moment, Elena.”

“Yes?”

“Uh, there’s sauce in your hair.”

“What?”

The elf was very embarrassed and hurriedly took the towel I handed her. Meanwhile, the conversation between Mr. Knoll and the young man continued.