#7: Chicken And Palenque (3) — The Archmage's Restaurant

“Then you’ve accepted it? I’ll consider it confirmed!”

Mr. Ment started smiling brightly. He looked very pleased. No one spits on a smiling face. I threw in some bait as a reward.

“I’ll formally present this Palenque dish then.”

“What? The dish we just ate? Is that possible?”

He asked back with a very surprised expression. It’s a natural reaction since Palenque dishes are known to be extremely rare.

Of course, Palenques can be caught continuously. No, I plan to make it that way. So, it seems perfect for the pre-banquet meal.

“I found an easy way to catch Palenques. You could call it a culinary revolution. So don’t worry. It won’t be that expensive. Think of it as being around the price of uka meat. How about that?”

Uka meat.

In other words, beef.

In fact, beef is never cheap in any world. It’s the same in this world and in modern times, high-quality beef always comes with a high price.

So I needed to ask if the price range was acceptable. Just because I want to use Palenque doesn’t mean I can exceed their budget.

“Oh, at that level, we can definitely afford it. It seems like it will be a great pre-banquet.”

“I’m just grateful that you’re bringing in customers.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

Mr. Ment shook his head and calculated the cost of the beer.

I accidentally ended up accepting a group of customers.

14 people in three days. It was a good opportunity since I had wanted to fill the restaurant with a large number of people at least once.

“Ha!”

After seeing the two of them off and returning, the dragon was gulping down beer as if it didn’t matter to her at all. When I returned to the kitchen, she sluggishly but quickly clung to me.

Still, she doesn’t do this when there are customers.

No, she doesn’t usually cling to me openly like this even when there are no customers.

She’s the kind of dragon who usually asks for a hug rather than hugging me first.

But suddenly, the dragon jumped onto my back for some reason, placed her chin on my head, wrapped her legs around my upper body, and started laughing.

“Hehe! What are you doing? Let’s eat together!”

Moreover, her tone was that of a complete drunk. Drunk? I frowned and asked the dragon.

“Are you drunk by any chance?”

My uneasy question was soon answered with a slurred response.

“There’s no way I am!”

“What do you mean there’s no way.”

I turned around and counted the beer cans she had consumed. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and soju.

Beer cans are fine. The problem is the soju.

This darn dragon had mixed soju with beer while I wasn’t looking. I can’t live like this.

The atrocity committed while I was distracted talking to Mr. Ment.

Rurin, in her human form, doesn’t get drunk easily from beer. But she’s surprisingly weak to soju. And yet, she loves somaek (soju mixed with beer). But she gets drunk. That’s why I banned it a long time ago, but in the meantime! In the meantime!

“Hey, get off!”

“No! I won’t get off! I’ll never get off until you die! And… I don’t want you to die either. Don’t die…”

She clung to me so perfectly that it was hard to shake her off. No, I’m grateful for telling me not to die, but is that something to say as drunken rambling? I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. Ugh.

“Excuse me, but…”

At that moment, Mr. Ment’s junior, Miltain, peeked into the restaurant. What timing. He had a look on his face that said he had something to say, but when he saw Rurin clinging to me, he started to look around awkwardly, so I had to make an excuse.

“Oh, she’s an employee who got drunk and lost her mind, so don’t worry about it. Hahaha. Alcohol is always the problem. Alcohol.”

“Ouch!”

It hurts. The damn dragon bit the back of my head. I can’t scream in front of a customer. Do I look like food now?

“Oh, really? Is she… your wife?”

“Wife? No?”

A dragon as my wife? How did you come to that conclusion in this situation?

“Is that so? Hmm? Oh, but more importantly! I came back because I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Yes!”

He rummaged through his pockets and handed me a bundle of money. It was about ten thousand runes, roughly equivalent to a hundred thousand won in modern money.

“I was able to become a mercenary thanks to the great help from Senior Ment. But I’ve never been able to repay him. I was just waiting for the opportunity. Then, not too long ago, I completed a request on my own for the first time and received the completion fee. So! As soon as I parted ways with Senior Ment, I had a brilliant idea and ran here like crazy!”

By that point, I started to get the idea. If he had a brilliant idea looking at me, it must be related to cooking. That’s why he handed me the money.

“Are you asking me to cook?”

“Yes! That’s exactly it!”

He opened his eyes wide and asked how I knew.

“Could you prepare a very spicy dish for Senior during the pre-banquet? Despite how he looks, Senior loves spicy food, and whenever we go to distant cities for work, he always enjoys such food. I’ve heard him lament several times that there are no spicy foods in Greek City. The Palenque dish we had earlier was really delicious, but I thought it would be great if I could buy Senior his favorite spicy food with the money I earned. So, if you could make a very spicy and stimulating dish, I would really appreciate it!”

There’s no reason to refuse. After all, my principle is to satisfy the customers without setting a fixed menu.

“Let’s give it a try. It seems possible.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Then I’ll look forward to three days later! Haha. Oh, by the way…”

He laughed happily, then suddenly pointed at my head with a troubled expression.

“Uh… she seems to be drooling and sleeping on your head… is that okay? Your wife is very beautiful… but she’s drunk, right?”

“Hahaha. Drooling?”

This damn dragon. No wonder I felt something cold.

I tried to maintain my composure as I spoke.

“It’s fine. See you in three days then.”

“Oh, yes! I shouldn’t disturb you, so I’ll leave. Haha.”

Disturb? What disturbance? She’s not my wife. She doesn’t listen to people. As Miltain hurriedly disappeared, I shouted out in frustration.

“Hey, Rurin!”

But all I heard was snoring.

Inevitably, I carried Rurin, who was clinging to me, up to the second floor. Then I laid her down on the bed. I watched her for a moment and then started to go back downstairs to clean up, but she clung to me again even in her sleep.

“Don’t go… I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay by my side. Forever!”

“I’m not going. I’ll clean up the kitchen and come back, so sleep tight.”

I managed to separate the drunken dragon and went downstairs. Then she staggered over like a sleepwalker and hugged me again.

Once she’s drunk, she can’t keep her wits about her. That’s why I’ve been watching her to prevent her from drinking soju.

“I told you not to go! You!”

She grabbed me from the front and held onto my clothes tightly.

“You’re my only one!”

She only calms down when she’s in my arms. I can hear her quietly snoring.

If I separate her again, she’ll cling to me again.

There’s no other choice. It’s my fault for letting her get drunk. I carried the dragon back upstairs. I’ll stay with her until she falls asleep completely.

Kyoo-

In the Limon Forest, the cries of Palenques have been clearly heard for the past few days. People who realized it was Palenque tried to catch it, but it’s such a fast monster. When it decides to run away, its speed is beyond human perception, so no one has succeeded in catching it. It’s not called legendary meat for no reason.

But I’m different. Not only did I catch it, but I also turned this Limon Forest into a chicken coop.

A chicken coop made in the forest. Isn’t that great?

Kyoo- Kyoo-

Of course, making it a chicken coop doesn’t mean you can see them. You still only hear their cries. These Palenque fly around with a rustling sound and only when they briefly sit on the top of the bamboo can you catch a glimpse of them.

Palenque is a monster that roams while changing its habitat. It appeared in the Limon Forest now, but at some point, it will move its habitat to another place.

So, appearing in the Limon Forest now is, in a way, a gift of chance. Of course, I don’t plan to leave that chance unattended.

So I fixed the habitat of the Palenque flock to this Limon Forest. I made the Limon Forest their only habitat. This way, I can always come and catch them and get Palenque’s eggs, or rather, their eggs. Monsters don’t need mercy. To humans, monsters are like pests. No matter how legendary the meat is, the damage they cause to fields and farms when they change habitats is beyond imagination. They aren’t called monsters for nothing.

The Limon Forest is teeming with insects, so there’s plenty of food for Palenque. Limiting their habitat to the Limon Forest didn’t restrict their freedom. They just can’t escape the Limon Forest. The Limon Forest is quite large, after all.

A place that has everything for a chicken coop.

Of course, this is only possible thanks to the dragon.

I had Rurin seal the entire Limon Forest. This is one of the ways a dragon protects its lair.

So they can fly freely in the sky. But they can’t leave the Limon Forest. An invisible barrier was created around the Limon Forest. Moreover, it only restricts monsters.

It’s a kind of special skill that dragons have.

The Palenques, realizing they couldn’t go anywhere else, struggled for a while but soon accepted their fate and started laying eggs in various places in the bamboo forest.

They made nests by connecting the bamboo with mud. And they laid their eggs in those nests. Although it was at a height unreachable by humans, it wasn’t a problem for me.

What’s especially convenient is that chickens usually lay eggs without mating. Those are called unfertilized eggs. Fertilized eggs are those created through mating.

Palenque is just a chicken that has evolved into a combat form, but almost everything is similar. Fertilized eggs hatch and grow into Palenques. So, the Limon Forest will continuously supply Palenques.

As for the eggs, I planned to get only as much as needed.

As long as I don’t dry up the source, I can continuously get a small amount of Palenque and eggs.

So it’s a chicken coop.

Kyoo- Kyoo-

I identified the direction where the crying Palenques were gathering and whispered to Rurin.

“Let’s catch exactly 11.”

“Eleven?”

“Yes.”

One Palenque, at most, serves three people. Even if it’s a bit small, it can serve two people. So ten would be enough for the mercenaries.

“How about two, one for you and one for me?”

Misunderstanding, Rurin said something silly. Cute thing.

“One for you. The rest are for the guests. So, drop them to the ground. It’s work, work.”