Soju With Friends (3)

“In fact, Mr. Ment helped us raise the money needed to open the store.”

“What do you mean, did Mr. Knoll try to open the store without any money?”

“No, that’s not it. Both of us knew nothing about running a business, so we were swindled by scammers and got discouraged. We lost all the money we had saved up from mercenary work. Looking back, I wonder what we were thinking when we decided to start the store… We were too naive.”

Scams. They were rampant in any city. There were quite a few scammers who tried to latch onto me when I opened my restaurant. Of course, I gave every scammer who tried to deceive me a taste of hell.

“My husband is a proud man. After being scammed, he said he would give up on his dream. He decided to quit mercenary work, which kept us apart for long periods, and take over his father’s butcher shop so we could live a peaceful life together… But when that failed due to an unexpected scam, he stopped smiling and seemed to lose hope in life. So I had no choice but to accept Mr. Ment’s help. I had no other option…”

Mrs. Rayne said this and then looked at Mr. Ment. The look in her eyes was clearly not love. What they contained was gratitude and respect. That was undoubtedly all.

“I understand the situation roughly. That was the reason, huh. Then we should clear up the misunderstanding. Will both of you come to our restaurant by evening? We are at a point where we can’t deceive anyone further, right? So I’ll also call Mr. Knoll. I will help you resolve this matter amicably.”

Efforts to avoid closing the butcher shop and to save a regular business partner.

It’s time to showcase my cooking skills for that purpose.

I dragged the yawning Rurin to find Mr. Knoll. I left a message for Mr. Knoll, who was still hungover, to come to the restaurant no matter what, and then returned to the shop to prepare for the reconciliation meeting. Of course, I planned to seat them at a four-person table, not the bar table.

The dish I planned to serve was shabu-shabu, which they could enjoy together.

I prepared the broth in the pot. Then came Mr. Knoll’s prized Belleren meat. Finally, it was time to use the Belleren meat.

The texture of the monster Belleren’s meat was perfect for shabu-shabu. It cooks quickly. The red meat was characterized by its tender texture.

The broth, of course, was made with anchovies and kelp. I added monton mushrooms, which are a precious ingredient that enhances the umami of the broth. Since anchovies and kelp are somewhat foreign to people in this world, monton mushrooms were needed to add familiarity.

I ladled some broth and tasted it. Even though it was a basic broth, it had a deep flavor. It’s as if it contained MSG, even though no seasonings were added. This is the greatness of monton mushrooms.

Then there’s the Belleren meat, which has a deeper flavor than beef. I sliced the Belleren meat, which I got from Mr. Knoll, very thinly. The thinly sliced Belleren meat had a color similar to beef brisket.

“What about the hamburger steak?”

“I’ll make it later. Can you sweep outside the restaurant a bit?”

“I cannot do such a trivial thing!”

“Is that so?”

“So you’re telling me to go back? I hate my kind. They always mock me for being incompetent, and I hate humans too.”

“So help out then!”

“Ugh, I’m sleepy.”

I took a broom out and handed it to her. Rurin reluctantly took the broom and trudged outside to start sweeping the floor. A dragon cleaning is quite an exotic phenomenon. However, after sweeping the floor twice, Ms. Dragon leaned against the shop railing and began to doze off.

Oh dear.

What can you expect from a dragon?

I gave up and focused on slicing the Belleren meat. After all, the meat from Mr. Knoll’s shop was indeed very fresh.

This world is an era of free professions. There’s only a distinction between nobles and commoners. There’s no such thing as the dignity of a profession. So, with a butcher shop of this caliber, it could be grown with a larger distribution network.

As I was slicing the meat, lost in such pointless thoughts, Mrs. Rayne and Mr. Ment arrived at the restaurant first.

“Is this where you run your restaurant?”

“Mr. Ment, this place is much more delicious than that restaurant from before. If my husband weren’t a regular, I would have brought him here. Surely, there are parts he might misunderstand… Secrets are really hard to keep. We missed the right timing to tell him and it has come to this.”

“It’s not like he’d close the store midway if you didn’t, right? Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“Yes.”

“You’re right. Now, please sit here.”

I guided the two to the table. Just then, Mr. Knoll arrived.

“You said you’d look into Rayne, but now you’re telling me to come to the restaurant no matter what! What’s going on?”

Mr. Knoll, who still seemed hungover and was staggering, locked eyes with Mrs. Rayne. And with Mr. Ment as well.

Suddenly, Mr. Knoll, seemingly reinvigorated, rushed towards Mr. Ment.

“You bastard! You, you dare lay a hand on Rayne?”

“Wait a minute, Mr. Knoll.”

“Wait a minute? What do you mean, wait a minute! This bastard said he’d look into the details, but he’s already put the two of you together?”

“Dear, it’s not like that! It’s not!”

“What do you mean, it’s not! Why did you call me here? To break up with me? This is outrageous, fine. I’ll kill you all. I’ll kill you all!”

Mr. Knoll, already under the influence of alcohol, couldn’t contain his anger and began to cause a commotion.

“Mr. Ment lent us money when we opened the store, and we met every month to repay that money! So calm down, dear!”

“What?”

Mr. Knoll blinked and looked back and forth between the two.

“You know your personality. If you knew that Mr. Ment had lent us most of his life savings, would you have opened the store? You wouldn’t have taken the money even if it killed you! So, so I had no choice.”

Mrs. Rayne finally teared up.

“What, what?”

Mr. Knoll looked at Mr. Ment in confusion.

“Wait, Rayne, didn’t you say that the Lord’s castle caught the culprit and returned the money? You definitely said that.”

“You were so mentally exhausted that you believed it right away. Honestly, getting that money back was impossible.”

“Is that so…”

As Mr. Ment nodded, Mr. Knoll collapsed to the ground in defeat.

“You saved my life. I thought it was only natural to help a friend find happiness. Even if it meant we couldn’t meet often, even if it meant I couldn’t drink with you anymore! I’m sorry I deceived you. But I agreed that if we told you the truth, you wouldn’t accept it, so we had no choice but to lie. Over the years, I felt guilty about the lie and couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.”

“You guys…”

Mrs. Rayne added tearfully.

“You were so deep in self-loathing, acting as if you might commit suicide, that I was afraid and had no choice but to accept help. Mr. Ment even said at first that we didn’t need to repay the money, but that’s nonsense, right? So I met him regularly to repay even a small amount. How could you misunderstand that?”

Mr. Knoll couldn’t say anything. I gently intervened and helped him to the table. Then, with difficulty, Mr. Knoll murmured.

“Ha. So it wasn’t an affair, you… you lent me your life savings? To someone like me? How could you do that? I would have been grateful if you just visited often.”

“How could I stand by and watch you fail? I still haven’t forgotten the day you pushed me out of the way and took the sword in the Battle of Ferren! If it weren’t for your pride, we wouldn’t have gone ten years without properly meeting! I wasn’t planning on getting married and was going to continue mercenary work, so I didn’t need money. I didn’t lend you the money to live alone. So I still think it was the right decision.”

“……”

Mr. Knoll couldn’t say anything. He didn’t seem likely to talk about returning the money and closing the shop now.

“Besides, we’ve repaid the money over the last ten years! So saying you’ll return the money now is pointless. Don’t even talk about closing the shop, dear.”

Bang!

At Mrs. Rayne’s plea, Mr. Knoll clenched his jaw and slammed the table.

Mrs. Rayne flinched in surprise.

“To doubt people like you, I’m… damn it, damn it!”

But fortunately, it wasn’t an unjust outburst. It was anger directed at himself. So I intervened.

“Everyone, let’s calm down and talk after tasting this dish?”

I placed the bubbling pot on the table. Then, I put three pieces of Belleren meat from Mr. Knoll’s shop into the boiling broth. The Belleren meat quickly cooked in the boiling broth.

I scooped them out and placed them on small plates in front of the three.

“Take it and dip it into the sauce in front of you.”

The three looked bewildered, but they couldn’t refuse the carefully prepared dish and brought the meat to their mouths.

“Oh.”

“It’s delicious.”

“It’s tasty. El.”

“Isn’t it?”

I held my breath for a moment and then spoke.

“This was made with the meat provided by Mr. Knoll. Eat and clear the air.”

After entrusting the meat to Mrs. Rayne, I stepped away. The pot continued to bubble.

The three of them were silent for a while.

“You still have a good eye for meat, huh? This meat tastes amazing.”

“Is that so? There’s no one who can match my skills!”

Thanks to Mr. Ment, the conversation started at the once silent table. Meanwhile, Mr. Knoll began sipping the steaming broth.

The atmosphere was gradually calming down.

“Hey, you! Bring some liquor! Isn’t this clearly a situation that calls for alcohol? That soju! Bring the soju. I need to show my friend the taste of soju too.”

Mr. Knoll turned his head sharply and shouted at me. Yes, this is a perfect occasion for alcohol. I couldn’t help but smile and delivered the soju.

After drinking the soju, Mr. Knoll’s eyes soon became moist. For some reason, that’s how it felt.

“You bastard…! You bastard…! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! Sniff, but why is the smoke so hot… Hey! El! Do something about the smoke! It’s making me cry!”

“How is that the pot’s fault? Everyone else is fine.”

“Shut up!”

Mr. Knoll scooped up some more broth and drank it down with the soju. Then he clinked bottles with Mr. Ment.

Seeing this, Mrs. Rayne also scooped up some broth. It seemed the misunderstanding had been cleared up well.

The restaurant was bustling for the first time in a long while.

It’s a good sign. It seems unlikely that the butcher shop I frequent will close. So it’s a good thing.