Chicken And Palenque (2)

“Are you alone?”

“No, I brought this guy with me today.”

“Hello. My name is Miltain.”

The man who appeared from behind Mr. Ment was a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. While Mr. Ment had the look of a gracefully aging middle-aged man, Miltain was a refreshingly handsome young man.

“He’s a junior mercenary but still a greenhorn who can’t do anything by himself. A real novice.”

“Oh, come on, Senior! That’s not true! I can handle a full workload now.”

“You’re still far from it! Anyway, is dinner available now? I want to show this guy what good liquor tastes like.”

Mr. Ment asked while giving Miltain a light smack. He’s truly a humane person. Just like when he helped Mr. Knoll.

“How can you ask if there’s food available when you’re at a restaurant? Please, come in.”

“That’s true. Haha.”

When I showed them to their seats, Mr. Ment and Miltain followed me inside. Since the dragon was sleeping at the bar table, I guided them to a four-person table.

As I looked at the two, a good idea suddenly came to mind. Since it’s come to this, it might not be a bad idea to ask the locals to try the Palenque dish.

I want to know if chicken tastes good to the people here as well.

The more people to evaluate the taste, the better.

“Actually, I’m currently cooking with Palenque. Would you like to try it?”

“Palenque? You mean that… that monster that flies around at invisible speeds?”

When I mentioned Palenque, Mr. Ment asked again with a rather surprised expression.

“Yes, that Palenque. I heard it appeared in the Limon Forest and captured it.”

“Wow, you mean that Palenque that even hunters who specialize in catching monsters for ingredients can’t catch because it’s too fast? How could we possibly…”

“No, I figured out how to catch it, but I’m still unsure about its taste. So I need someone to taste it. Please, do me this favor.”

When I bowed my head, the surprised Mr. Ment stood up abruptly and bowed as well. Then, scratching the back of his head, he answered.

“Then, shamelessly… I’ll taste it.”

“Senior, what exactly is Palenque that you’re saying this?”

“Palenque is a flying monster, and it’s said that its taste has been legendary for a long time.”

“We can actually try something like that?”

“Actually, I’ve never tried it myself. It’s not an ingredient that people like us can easily come by.”

Mr. Ment started explaining various things about the legend of Palenque to Miltain. Having achieved my goal, I left the two behind and returned to the kitchen.

All the preparations were done. Now, all I had to do was fry it.

Since I didn’t have a deep fryer, I poured cooking oil into a deep pot and started heating it. Then, I cast a dome-shaped barrier above the pot. It’s a magic that anyone who studies magic can do. Even someone like me, who specializes in combat magic, can use this basic defensive magic.

This barrier is very effective at preventing the oil from splattering everywhere.

After setting the barrier up, I measured the temperature with a thermometer and then carefully dropped the pre-battered pieces of Palenque into the pot.

Sizzle!

Every time a piece of chicken goes into the pot, a mouth-watering sound echoes.

The oil boils vigorously. The surface of the chicken turns golden brown as it fries, made even crispier by the cornmeal.

The smell of chicken starts to fill the restaurant. A savory and rich aroma unique to chicken wafts through the air.

Mr. Ment and Miltain, seemingly curious about the smell and sound, kept looking this way. I took the fried chicken out with an oil strainer. After shaking off the oil, I brought a piece of shoulder meat to my mouth.

I needed to check if Palenque meat really tastes like chicken.

Or if it just looks like chicken.

I needed to confirm whether it was tough or not.

-Crunch.

Of course, that was just a needless worry.

-Crunch.

The Palenque’s skin started to dance in my mouth. It’s delicious.

I gave high marks to the skin and immediately brought the meat to my mouth. The meat is chewy with a hint of garlic, combined with the unique chicken flavor mixed with corn and monton mushrooms that fills my mouth.

I ate the fried skin again. Then, I ate the meat. The crunchy skin and chewy meat started dancing together in my mouth.

Moreover, Palenque had a deeper flavor than chicken. Despite being seasoned only with salt and pepper, it had a rich taste, somewhat like the savory flavor of oyster sauce but completely different, a natural taste.

It’s not called legendary meat for no reason. It’s tastier than chicken.

Palenque, it’s good!

I wiped the oil from my mouth and clenched my fist secretly. This is definitely a success. But it’s not time to celebrate yet.

People in this world might find the taste of chicken strange, so I need to let them try it first and then decide.

I set aside one piece each of the drumstick, wing, and breast meat for our dragon. Palenque is about twice the size of a chicken. It looks exactly like a chicken but is as big as a turkey. So even after setting aside Rurin’s share, there was enough for the two guests.

I neatly arranged the chicken on a plate and placed it on Mr. Ment’s table. Then, I added a glass of beer filled to the brim.

“You said you came for soju, but this Palenque dish goes better with beer. Please try it. Oh, it tastes best when eaten with your hands rather than a fork.”

“Oh, really?”

As I handed them a cloth to wipe their hands and stepped back, Mr. Ment began to stare intently at the chicken. Miltain did the same.

“Oh, it looks crispy. I’ve never seen a dish like this before.”

“Senior, this is new to me too. I can’t wait any longer! Please, try it so I can eat too.”

The smell of the chicken seemed to stimulate their appetite, as Miltain kept swallowing his saliva and urging Mr. Ment, who nodded.

“Let’s eat together.”

Mr. Ment picked the chicken up first. Then, Miltain followed suit. As soon as he took a bite of the meat along with the skin, he started to cheer.

“Oh! Senior, this! This is amazing! I’ve never tasted meat this delicious! How can the skin be this good?”

“Ah! The beer is perfect too, Senior!”

Although Miltain was the one being vocal, Mr. Ment was in a similar state, silently alternating between beer and chicken with a look of astonishment. He seemed ready to chew on the bones as well.

“Hmm?”

Rurin woke up from the noise, stretched, and got up. She glanced at the two sitting at the table, then looked at me with a blank expression.

“Wake up. If you sleep now, you won’t sleep at night again, right?”

“No, I will.”

“No shit.”

“What is ‘shit’?”

“‘Shit’ is just ‘shit’. Never mind, try this.”

I wiped the drool off her mouth and gave her the chicken I had set aside. The dragon tilted her head in curiosity.

“What is this? It looks strange!”

“This is the Palenque dish I mentioned earlier.”

“This?”

Rurin scrutinized the dish again, then put it in her mouth, bones and all.

“Hey, hey, you need to remove the bones.”

When she becomes a human, her teeth are just like a regular person’s. She can’t crush bones. But Rurin shook her head.

Her cheek puffed out as the drumstick bone touched it. One side puffed out, then the other. She repeated this a few times before pulling out the drumstick bone with her fingers. It was a very clean deboning. She snorted in satisfaction.

“Oh! This is delicious! The crispy outside and the chewy inside are perfect. This definitely goes well with beer!”

Deboning her first drumstick so cleanly – she really is a deity in the world of food. As I stood there amazed, Rurin gestured for more.

“Hehe, it’s delicious. The beer is good too. But there’s not enough!”

“I gave it to the guests.”

“What!”

The dragon waved her hand.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go catch a lot more tomorrow. Now that we know it’s delicious.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll hold back for a day. Because I’m kind.”

“Kind? What’s gotten into our Dragon?”

“In a dream, you knelt before me, begging for a hug. So I’ve become generous. Hehe.”

Rurin spoke magnanimously and then drank her beer again.

Having such a dream without permission?

Me, kneeling, well, I might kneel. But kneeling and begging for a hug? There’s no crazier dream than that.

As I clicked my tongue at the dragon’s crazy dream, Mr. Ment and Miltain stood up, leaving only bones on the plate. I left the dragon for a moment and approached the table.

“We enjoyed an unexpected luxury. Haha.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

It’s always a joy when people eat every last bit of the food I serve. I replied with satisfaction.

“This dish goes so well with beer. I feel like I’ll want to eat it again, but that’s a problem since the ingredients are so rare. Oh! By the way, how much do I owe you?”

“Well, as I mentioned earlier, this is a tasting. I’ll only charge you for the beer.”

“What?”

Mr. Ment widened his eyes and shook his head. He looked as if to say, ‘That’s not possible’.

“How can I cause such trouble after eating something so delicious…”

“I clearly stated that this was a tasting when I served it. Charging you would be even more absurd.”

“But still… What kind of place fills you up with tastings? And it’s delicious, too.”

Mr. Ment replied with a troubled expression. Then he started to think about something. Soon, he clapped his hands and spoke to Miltain beside him.

“Then, how about we hold the pre-party here?”

Miltain wiped his oil-slicked mouth and raised his hand.

“If it’s your idea, Senior, I’m all for it! Besides, I like this restaurant too. Have I ever gone against your word? Haha!”

“You little rascal?”

Mr. Ment, giving Miltain a light smack, looked at me and spoke again.

“Actually, in three days, we have a mercenary group gathering. We’ve been hired to protect a large trading caravan, which is a big deal, so the entire group will be mobilized. It’s a great opportunity for us, and we thought of having a pre-party to wish for success and boost morale. If it’s okay with you, could you prepare for it?”

“Really? Mr. Ment, are you by any chance the leader of the mercenary group?”

“No, no.”

Surprised by the question, Mr. Ment immediately waved his hand.

“Our mercenary group is just a gathering of like-minded people, so we don’t really have a leader or anything like that. I’m just one of the senior members, so they listen to me. A grand title like ‘leader’ doesn’t suit me. Hahaha.”

“I see. A pre-party, huh. How many people?”

Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me whether Mr. Ment is the leader or not. There was a time when even the leader of a huge mercenary group in the capital couldn’t raise his head before me, but now I’m just a chef in a deserted restaurant. What matters is the number of people. The number of people I have to serve.

Too many would be troublesome.

“We’re a small mercenary group, so it’s not that many. Including me, there are 14 of us.”

Fourteen people is just the limit of what this place can accommodate.

“Fourteen people should be doable.”

The largest number of guests I’ve had since opening the restaurant.

So, I feel a bit nervous. It would be easier if I were told to fight 14 people.

It feels like the first day I went into battle. To feel that trembling sensation again.

Of course, it’s a bit of an exaggeration.

On that first day in battle, I was a nervous rookie who couldn’t do anything.