One Such Day (1)

“Uh, here… Are you still open?”

Just as I was about to close the restaurant due to the lack of customers, a middle-aged man entered. The man, who appeared to be in his mid-50s, cautiously approached the bar table.

“Yes, of course. Please have a seat.”

“I didn’t know there was a restaurant on the hill. I was surprised while walking by. Ah, do you have any alcohol?”

The man sighed as he asked. He looked troubled.

“Yes, of course, we have alcohol.”

Alcohol is a staple at our restaurant.

“You! Is the food ready yet?”

At that moment, Rurin barged into the restaurant with loud footsteps. It reminded me of how my father used to come home from work. Fond memories came to mind.

“Just a moment, sir.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

The gluttonous dragon with dust all over its head. She must have been wandering around the underground construction site to end up like this.

“Hey, your head is covered in dust.”

“Dust?”

Rurin immediately thrust her head towards me. She wants me to dust it off.

“Anyway, what about the food?”

As soon as I dusted her head off, she started talking about food. Her hair was a mess, so I began combing it, and she leaned back, rubbing her belly in a relaxed position.

“I’m hungry!”

“I’ll give you some, I will.”

“You definitely said you’d feed me something delicious earlier!”

“Did I? That sounds a bit different. I did say to do something if you wanted to eat.”

“So I told the dwarfs to make my room pretty. That counts as work, right? Now give me food!”

As soon as she appeared, the dwarfs must have been busy bowing to her. It’s like she disturbed their work.

“Is that considered work?”

“It is work!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is. You’re strange.”

Rurin moved her head around, not understanding. It’s hindering me from combing her hair.

Sigh.

I barely managed to tidy her hair and then spoke to her. Of course, I had no intention of letting her starve.

“By the way, shouldn’t you change your clothes? They’re too dirty.”

“But today, this is the only clothes I have. I don’t have any other clothes!”

“What?”

I racked my brain at Rurin’s words. She probably has a total of five outfits. Geez.

The clothes she’s wearing now are quite worn out.

It’s a bit of a shocking realization, something I hadn’t thought much about before.

“Oh my.”

“Oh my?”

“I understand for now, so let’s postpone changing. Just wait a bit, and I’ll get you food soon.”

“Got it. I’d appreciate it if you hurry because I’m hungry.”

Rurin picked two forks up as soon as she sat at the table. In both hands. Dual-wielding forks.

I shook my head and went back to the kitchen, speaking to the customer.

“Sorry about that. We were talking about alcohol, right?”

“Is that lady your wife? You seem very happy together.”

“Excuse me?”

The man asked an odd question. I had a feeling the dragon sitting a bit further away perked up its ears.

“That’s not the case.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As I firmly denied it, Rurin started stabbing the table with her fork. She’s not my wife. This darn dragon?

“You seem happy. I’m envious…”

The man looked at me with wistful eyes. This man and Rurin. Did they plan this? What’s going on?

“Me?”

“Yes. Your expression changed when she entered the restaurant.”

“That can’t be. My expression changes easily.”

I denied it and nonchalantly took out the meat for Rurin. I handed soju to the man, hoping he’d drink it.

“This is a drink we only serve at our restaurant, so please try it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

After handing over the drink and glass, I started sorting the uka meat. It’s the leftover part from making sausages the other day.

This part, which I intentionally saved a little of, is considered a delicacy when grilled.

“Is that meat?”

“Yes.”

“Is it something you sell? Now that I think about it, I am a bit hungry.”

“Oh, right. Of course, I should serve it to you.”

The man, who had been sipping soju and seemed to like it, ordered continuously.

I nodded and went to the fridge to get the sauce.

After simmering beef bones to make broth, I ground Belleren meat to enhance the flavor, added red wine for richness, seasoned with soy sauce and pepper, and then added monton mushroom powder to create a versatile sauce that’s delicious for dipping or drizzling on grilled beef.

I poured that sauce for Rurin and the customer and placed the meat on the grill.

The first cut I saved is the skirt steak. It’s considered one of the best parts of beef.

It’s the meat around the cow’s internal organs, slightly dark red, but the dark red is actually preferable. This color has a unique allure.

“Are you grilling it right away?”

“Yes, it’s the part surrounding the uka’s organs. You’ll notice it’s different from other cuts once you try it.”

I explained as I began grilling the skirt steak.

Sizzle!

The irresistible sound echoed. It’s the kind of sound that makes both humans and dragons salivate.

I handed the perfectly grilled skirt steak to the man and Rurin.

“Oh, the juice! It’s juicier than other meats! Delicious!”

“That’s right. I don’t eat meat often, but this is the first time I’ve had something like this!”

The man also nodded without hesitation.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I had uka. Maybe ten years ago? I remember hearing an interesting rumor about uka when I was in the army.”

“You were in the army?”

“Well, isn’t conscription something everyone goes through once? Especially now that monsters have been completely driven to the northern lands, but back then, even if we drove them away, they kept reappearing.”

“That’s true.”

When I was summoned, it was the time when monsters were most active on this continent. As a result, fights with monsters broke out everywhere.

Coincidentally, I was summoned to a battlefield, so naturally I ended up becoming a soldier.

“By the way, what kind of interesting rumor is it that you remember it even after ten years?”

“Oh, I heard it from someone in the unit at the time, and for some reason, it stuck with me for a long time.”

The man took a sip of soju and started talking again while putting the skirt steak in his mouth.

“It’s a story about an isolated unit that survived a crisis with just one uka. They supposedly lured orcs with uka and won. It was fascinating.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, the desperate survival story of a unit isolated in Lurin Belt. Just hearing about it was, how should I say, uplifting.”

The man chuckled and drank his soju again.

I just smiled and put a different cut on the grill this time. The second part is grilled uka tongue. It’s a part that people who’ve tried it keep coming back for.

When grilled, it has a round and cute shape. It’s an essential part of my recommended beef dishes.

“This time, it’s a completely different part.”

Sizzle- Sizzle-

The uka tongue started to cook.

The isolation in Lurin Belt ten years ago.

Actually, that’s my story.

I remember that rumors about the survival of the isolated unit, which the army almost gave up on, spread quite a bit. Hearing it from the man in front of me brings back memories.

Ten years ago, I didn’t even know about Rurin’s existence.

I wasn’t the strongest, and ten years ago, I was just a 5th-class mage.

It’s a story from the time when I struggled to survive. The man continued to recount those times as if reminiscing.

“Well, it’s a story about how they grilled one uka deliciously to lure orcs and win. The soldiers achieved victory while eating that tasteless orc meat.”

That’s right.

Orc meat was really tasteless.

It’s just tasteless.

It’s tough, like chewing rubber.

But at that time, we had to eat orc meat to survive. However, what I’m grilling now is on a whole different level of deliciousness compared to orc meat.

I placed the freshly grilled uka tongue on each of their plates.

“It’s chewy… Can meat really be this chewy? It’s completely different from the last one.”

“This is delicious too!”

Rurin immediately exclaimed in admiration.

If our dragon says it’s delicious, then it must be really good.

The man also began to enjoy the uka tongue with a curious expression.

“The depth of flavor in this sauce is excellent.”

“Thank you. By the way, which part of the uka do you think you just ate?”

When I asked, the man had a puzzled look on his face.

“Actually, this is a delicacy known as the tongue of the uka.”

“What?”

The man was surprised and widened his eyes. Even Rurin, who was busy eating, reacted.

Upon hearing it was tongue, she brought her fingers to her mouth, stuck her tongue out, and exclaimed. Though her pronunciation was all slurred.

“Tongue? Is it really?”

“Yes, that tongue.”

When I confirmed it, Rurin began comparing her tongue to the remaining uka tongue, exclaiming in awe.

The man also looked intrigued but soon muttered self-deprecatingly.

“Tongue… I see. Tongue. It’s like me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I lost my daughter because I used my tongue poorly, because I spoke carelessly…”

The man’s face became wistful again. It was too heavy a topic to ignore, so I questioned him.

“You lost your daughter?”

“Yes, it’s been 15 years since my wife ran away with my daughter. 15 years…”

“Fifteen years? Haven’t you tried looking for them?”

“They disappeared to another city. I think she ran away with another man… If that were the case, she should have left my daughter behind. I don’t even resent her anymore. I just wish I could see my daughter… Is that such a difficult wish?”

“That’s not an unreasonable wish.”

Was he looking for alcohol because of this?

“Because of work… Ah, I work as a bricklayer. When I was young, I often couldn’t go home properly because I was busy with work… I didn’t know it would lead to this. I just wanted to earn more… It was all for my family…”

The man let out a deep sigh and then continued, looking at Rurin again.

“So, when I see a young lady like her, who’s about my daughter’s age, I feel very happy. It’s like seeing my daughter.”

Rurin’s aura usually prevents ordinary men from approaching her.

She doesn’t emit dragon fear openly, but she has an aura that keeps people from bothering her. However, if it’s the emotion of seeing his daughter, it doesn’t seem to affect him, and he looked straight at Rurin.

Rurin, who was eating the thin brisket I grilled, felt his gaze and looked this way.

“What is it? What is it?”

Rurin tilted her head in confusion. But more importantly, she opened her mouth again, focusing on the meat.

The man finished his meat, and the meal came to an end.

“Well, there will be a day when you meet them again, won’t there?”

I offered a consolation that wasn’t really a consolation and started making a drink.

A drink suitable for a weary man.

I mixed honey and lemon with an old whiskey I served to the elders. Then I cooled down boiling water. When you mix it with appropriately hot water, it becomes a hot whiskey.

“I believe you’ll definitely meet them if you’re meant to. So, please try this. It’s a post-meal drink. Drink this, warm your body up, and then go home and sleep well.”

“This is…? Alcohol? It’s…”

The man looked at the steaming drink for a while before bringing it to his mouth. Then he spoke in a low voice.

“I see… It’s hot.”

“Isn’t it?”

The man savored the drink for a moment. I approached Rurin, who had finished her meal, and wiped her mouth. As I wiped Rurin’s mouth, who leaned her face towards me, the man spoke to us.

“It’s hot, fresh, and has a deep flavor… No, it’s more warm than hot. Well, the soldiers isolated with uka survived, so I guess I’ll meet my daughter someday too?”

The man started sipping the drink little by little.

And then the man left.

Since it was late at night, I began to clean up the restaurant. Rurin stealthily moved towards the beer. She snuck towards the fridge, quickly grabbed a can, and then made eye contact with me.

Then she dashed to the second floor, holding a beer can in each hand, and one in her mouth.

Is she planning to drink three cans?

Oh boy.

If she wants to eat, what can I do?

Anyway, I was about to close the restaurant when a woman suddenly rushed in. Then she shouted at me without warning.

“Excuse me!”

“Yes?”

“The man who was here earlier. Is he a regular at this restaurant?”