Episode 2

After being recognized for my cooking, I was able to receive various meats from Knoll’s butcher shop. He was kind enough to get things that weren’t available.

Especially, being able to get the specific cuts of meat I wanted was a great boon. Sometimes I even use offal parts that are rarely used in this world for cooking.

However, today’s visit was clearly strange. The person who always came with his wife came alone today. They always bicker, but that’s just a facade. Moreover, he is someone with a strong spirit of craftsmanship, not the type to leave his shop easily. So, considering the timing, it was definitely an unexpected visit.

Anyway, the cleaned uba belly.

I coated the frying pan with cooking oil. The basic cooking necessities like oil, pepper, salt, sugar, and soy sauce are all items summoned from the modern world. I summon them and store them in containers from this world. This way, no one finds it strange, they are just curious about the ingredients used.

Since there’s no electricity, summoning electronic devices is useless. Electric shock magic is a destructive magic, not one that supplies electricity. And I don’t have such knowledge either.

To reduce the sense of incongruity in the restaurant, I didn’t rely on summoning kitchen tools. The household items and kitchen tools in the restaurant are all made of metals like iron that are produced here. Various pots and large iron plates are also made in this fantasy world.

Of course, these aren’t common items in this world. They are made by a Dwarf craftsman, which makes them hard for ordinary people to get. But at least they are made with materials and people from this world, so there’s no sense of incongruity.

It would be too strange if modern items were present in the restaurant.

Anyway, I was grilling the uba belly the same way as before, when Knoll knocked on the table.

“Hmm, what was it called again? That clear liquor, can I have some of that?”

“Soju, you mean?”

This was unexpected. When I first served him soju, he said it didn’t suit his taste. But despite that, he always asked for soju whenever he came. The man who claims beer is the best drink. Of course, there is beer in this world too. It’s a national drink. There’s beer, distilled spirits, fruit wine, everything.

Of course, distilled spirits and fruit wines are expensive in this world too.

And another unexpected point. Drinking liquor at lunch? Unless it’s something serious, people rarely drink soju in broad daylight in this world.

So, as I felt earlier, Knoll today is quite strange.

But if the customer asks, I have no choice but to give it to him.

I handed Knoll the soju stored in a transparent glass bottle. He started drinking it straight from the bottle.

“This stuff, the more I drink it, the sweeter it feels and it makes me forget unpleasant things. It was weird at first, but not bad. No, rather, the more I drink, the more I like it. Haha, just like my wife. The more I live with her, the more I love her.”

“If she’s so lovely, why don’t you treat her better instead of suddenly drinking soju at lunchtime?”

“Shut up!”

Knoll waved his hand and drank the soju again.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else in this? How does it have such a pleasant sweetness?”

“That’s the charm of that liquor.”

“Hmm.”

In fact, diluted soju contains a compound called aspartame, which gives it a sweet taste. Distilled soju is difficult to make and expensive. The best option for mass use in the store is diluted soju.

Realistically, it’s affordable to sell and doesn’t burden those who buy it.

Of course, diluted soju is a modern summoned item.

Knoll snorted but continued to drink the soju. When I placed the finished pork belly in front of him, he grabbed a fork.

He took a bite and then reached for the soju again.

“Ah! Yeah, I’ve tried other drinks you’ve given me, but this meat and this soju really go well together. It’s great, just perfect.”

“People do call it a match made in heaven.”

“Right. Damn it! That’s why I need to get drunk! Anyway, your cooking is the best.”

Knoll, unusually, continued to praise as he downed the liquor and meat in succession.

“Knoll, something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

No matter how I looked, it wasn’t normal, so for the first time, I pried, and Knoll clammed up.

“What is it?”

This man, even though he talks like this, always meets my demands for quality meat. The term ‘craftsmanship’ suits him perfectly. He’s one of the essential people for the restaurant to run properly. Such a person is in this state at lunchtime.

But Knoll remained silent. He just kept pouring soju down his throat. After drinking two bottles, fully drunk, he started muttering.

“Rayne is acting strange. I’m telling you, she’s strange.”

“You were just talking about how much you love her. What’s strange?”

“I think she’s cheating on me.”

“What?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the ridiculous statement. Rayne seemed like the epitome of a virtuous wife who respected Knoll and only thought of her husband. Someone like that, cheating?

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the ridiculous statement. Rayne seemed like the epitome of a virtuous wife who respected Knoll and only thought of her husband. Someone like that, cheating?

“It can’t be. What are you even looking at? Have you looked at the scene yourself?”

“Until now, I didn’t know, but it’s every month! She goes out once a month. I thought she was meeting a friend once a month. But I found out recently! She seems to dress up more on the day she goes out, so I followed her, and then, and then!”

“And then?”

“This damn woman! She was meeting my old colleague! I wanted to stab them on the spot, but I-I love Rayne. I can’t live without her! Give me more booze!”

“Oh dear, Mr. Knoll.”

I started to get a headache. When he says old colleague, he must mean from when he was a mercenary.

I don’t really understand, but when you love someone so much,

when you don’t want to lose them, you can lose your cool and your judgment gets clouded. I’ve heard that can happen.

It can happen because we’re human, they say.

Mr. Knoll wouldn’t believe it if he heard it from someone else, but it seems seeing it with his own eyes was a big deal. However, from an objective perspective, Ms. Rayne is not that kind of person.

“When was that?”

“Last month! And she’s going out again today. She’s definitely cheating again. Damn it. I’ve been boiling inside for a month, but I can’t take it anymore.”

It was exactly a month ago, after I gave Mr. Knoll some pork belly and got his approval. But now I had to stop him.

“So, you’re going to get drunk and go kill everyone?”

“I have to kill them. I’ll kill them and then myself!”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Phew. How about we find out the situation first? I’ll find Mrs. Rayne and get to the bottom of it, so just stay calm.”

“Really? You?”

Mr. Knoll huffed and then started looking up at me.

“Who exactly is that man?”

“He’s a damn bastard. He was my comrade when we were mercenaries! We entrusted our lives to each other in battle! But after I quit, he never came to see me. Not even once! I thought he was busy, but he was too stuck on Rayne to come! Damn it!”

“Even so.”

“What do you mean, ‘even so’!”

“Anyway, go inside. I don’t think Mrs. Rayne is that kind of person. So, let me investigate, and then you can do whatever you want.”

“Really?”

Knoll blinked. His love for Rayne is so deep that even though he thinks she cheated, he couldn’t confront her directly and just burned inside. I’ve never seen this side of him, usually such a tough guy.

Anyway, I think of Rayne and Knoll as colleagues, and I don’t want things to go wrong. They’re regular customers too.

If this ends badly, I’ll lose my meat supplier too.

So, I have to prove it.

There are many ways.

I asked him where he saw her last month and sent Mr. Knoll home. Then I headed to the second floor. There are two rooms on the second floor. One is my sanctuary, my room. Of course, I didn’t need anything from my room. I forcefully opened the door to the inner room.

Bang!

Even with the loud noise, the huge monster sleeping on the bed didn’t move.

“Gorolong gorolong.”

She’s making strange sounds while sleeping. I lifted the blanket. Damn, she’s naked.

“Rurin! You better wake up now.”

“Golong golong.”

“Wake up, you useless monster!”

“Golong?”

“What do you mean, ‘golong’? Do you know how long it’s been since the sun rose, you parasite.”

“What!”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?”

“Why are you waking me? I was sleeping so well.”

She rubs her eyes, yawns, and stretches.

I sighed and started picking up the clothes scattered on the floor and putting them on her. She rubbed her eyes while letting me dress her as if it were natural.

“Hoo.”

“Stop and wake up. Aren’t dragons supposed to not sleep for hundreds of years after they sleep once? Ugh, you lazy dragon. Get to work. Work.”

“Are you insulting our dragonkind now! A mere human! How insolent.”

“If you don’t like it, go back.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then endure the insults.”

“I don’t want to either! Why are you like this since earlier? Ugh.”

She shook her black hair and raised her black eyebrows. The black wave that immediately identifies her as a Black Dragon. Black hair is rather rare in this world. That’s why her hair color gives me a sense of familiarity. Maybe that’s why I like her hair color so much.

“When you polymorph, you have to live with the same rhythm as humans. So, of course, I have to sleep. Huaaam.”

“Shut up and get up.”

I yawned and pulled the lower half of the Black Dragon who was crawling back into the blanket. The sight of her being dragged is ridiculous.

“Why are you like this today? You told me to sleep quietly, didn’t you!”

“I woke you because there’s something that needs to be done.”

“Work?”

Only then did she rub her eyes again and stagger to her feet.

Black Dragon Rurin.

A youngster of the Black Dragon clan based on the eastern continent. Calling her a youngster in human years is absurd, but in dragon years, she’s practically a kid.

Dragons are known as the kings of monsters and an absolute terror to humans in this world.

But it was different for me.

The powerful mana I gained after obtaining a Dragon heart 10 years ago made me not fear even dragons.

Of course, the Dragon Lord’s heart, which he gave me under certain conditions, made me strong.

Thanks to that heart, I could use magic that could tear dragons apart.

Through that fate, I got caught up in the dragon’s war and met Rurin then.

She is also a homeless dragon whose lair was destroyed in the war.

Rurin came to the human world for the first time.

Dragons are born with advanced magical knowledge.

But the dragons who know everything as commonly thought are those who have experienced thousands of years of play.

They naturally have much more experience and knowledge than humans because they have spent thousands of years in the human world. But Rurin had never experienced the human world and stayed in the lair until she followed me after being born.

That’s why she lacks common sense.

“If there’s another human like you, it would be a disaster for the Dragon clan. A disaster. How can you endure it after eating a dragon heart?”

“Right. That was amazing to me too. Even the Dragon Lord was surprised.”

“For your information, my heart doesn’t taste good.”

“I’m not eating it. If I eat one more, my body might really explode.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

Suddenly, Rurin’s eyes sparkled.

“When I want to commit suicide, I’ll take my heart out and feed it to you while I’m dying. Then we’ll both die together?”

“Shut up!”