Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious

26 – You’ll Give People the Wrong Idea if You Say That.

“My heart feels much better now.”

After sending gifts to the Marquis and the hardworking knights, there was still plenty of bone soup left.

Having eaten it for two days, there was still enough left, so they heated it up and enjoyed it, feeling the warm sensation in their hearts.

“This taste, it’s amazing.”

She took a big bite from the bulky radish kimchi that was about two fingers in length.

They liked the crunchy texture of the well-cooked radish.

The bite mark on the radish kimchi was clear.

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She served the Marquis with sliced radish kimchi, but personally preferred not to cut it and just bite into it like that.

Didn’t it taste better this way?

“Should I have some more rice with soup?”

The hot soup filled their stomachs, making everything feel positive.

Right now, they felt like they could accomplish anything.

Their positive thinking circuit was spinning.

For example, adding more items to the menu.

Wouldn’t that be great?

As the menu becomes more diverse, even if preparing the food is a bit overwhelming, considering my experience as a kitchen knight…

Slap!

“Get a hold of yourself, Lucas!”

I slapped both cheeks, waking my mind from the endless positive mindset brought on by the bone soup.

The tingling and burning sensation brought me back to reality.

Dangerous.

The power of positivity coming from the steaming hot soup.

With a full stomach from the soft broth and rice, I felt like I could do anything.

Even if a meteorite were to fall, everything would have been fine, right?

Ah, is that too much?

If this were Korea, I would have mixed a cup of vending machine coffee in with the soup.

A filling meal followed by a sweet and salty coffee mix?

With that, it’s already over.

I couldn’t have imagined how much I would miss mixed coffee.

Then again, if I had mixed coffee, I might not have had the self-control to slap myself just now.

Bone soup with mixed coffee? That’s a must.

I would have definitely added it to the menu.

“If there are too many items on the menu, we won’t be able to handle it. We can’t keep waking up in the early morning to make bone soup every day.”

Unless more hands were added, there was no way to make the bone soup daily.

It was possible to make it during the break time between lunch and dinner, but if that happened, the bone soup had to be prepared a whole day in advance, which was unfortunate.

It was possible to prepare meals for over 500 people in the knights without any problems because other knights helped with washing the dishes, cleaning, and preparing materials.

All I had to do was focus on cooking, so it was relatively less burdensome.

Of course, it wasn’t an easy job to keep the fire going in a large pot with a ladle larger than a shovel all day long.

Adding doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) or kimchi-jjigae(pork and kimchi stew) may be a good idea.

“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea at all…”

There’s still a lot of leftover soybean paste brought from the capital, and some more being aged.

If the quantity isn’t too large, it should be manageable.

There’s plenty of well-ripened kimchi, so kimchi stew should be no problem.

“Speaking of which, the princess absolutely loved this kimchi stew…”

Suddenly, this thought crossed my mind.

Could I have helped her change for the better? If she hadn’t become a tyrant, things like what happened in the romance fantasy novel wouldn’t have occurred.

Such thoughts.

Snap!

“Get a grip. That’s impossible. What kind of power could a mere cook have?”

With a full stomach, all kinds of thoughts come up.

“Well, at any rate, I’ve finished eating now.”

I wiped my mouth, looking at the completely empty beef bone soup.

There’s plenty of frozen bull meat, but the thought of boiling it again is daunting.

It’ll probably stay in the freezer for a while.

Or I could have sold it at the top of the Golden Wagon.

Bull meat has been a popular ingredient for a long time, known as an energy booster, so they’ll probably like it.

People who know the taste of properly prepared bull meat will pay a good price.

“By the way, how much soju is left?”

I opened the external refrigerator where I kept the soju to sell in the evening.

The soju, which had once filled the fridge, was now revealing its bottom.

“I don’t have much left.”

Kobi said he’d be back within a month, so he should be coming soon…

It’s inconvenient since I can’t contact him…

Back in Korea, a simple click on a smartphone would have been enough.

Magic isn’t always perfect, after all.

It couldn’t be helped.

While checking the amount of the insufficient soju.

Ting.

The door opened.

“It’s break time now. We’re not open for business.”

“Boss!”

The one who entered after opening the door was Liana, who worked in the Domestic Affairs Division of the Count’s territory.

“Ah, Miss Liana.”

“Here’s the payment for the bull meat and bone soup we ate three days ago.”

A large bag was in her hand.

“Is that all in gold coins?”

“Yes. It’s a total of 100 gold. You can count it yourself if you’re unsure! There are five platinum coins worth 10 gold each and fifty gold coins worth 1 gold each.”

100 gold.

It was a tremendous amount for a single meal.

In this world, you can think of 1 gold as 100,000 won in Korea.

100 gold is an amount close to 10 million won.

10 million won for a meal for 80 people.

The amount exceeded 100,000 won per person.

It would also include the prices of bone soup and tailmeat.

Count, you’re a big spender.

Even the Kobi of the Golden Wagon wouldn’t charge this much.

Knowing the income of this domain, I suppose I can take it as a deep impression of the dishes I served if they readily pay 100 gold.

‘I can’t just return this.’

After confirming the bag contained exactly 100 gold, I nodded to her.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll pack some meat to send to the Count.”

“Huh? You don’t have to do that.”

I sliced up some of the leftover meat I had stored in the refrigerator and held it out to her.

“You can just grill the meat like before. As for the special broth, you can ask a skilled chef to prepare it. They’ll know what to do.”

Since we had hunted the bull together, I figured it would be fine to share some of the remaining meat and broth.

“Oh, and have you heard? The owner of the Golden Wagon has come to the southern part of the Empire. My sister, who works in a nearby city, was struggling so much because they barged in without any notice.”

Wait a minute.

What did she say?

“Camilla Wagon has come to the southern part of the Empire?”

“Yes. Haven’t the southern parts of the Empire been lagging behind in development and various other aspects for decades now? There’s some speculation that Camilla Wagon might be scouting suitable terrain for developing the south.”

No.

That can’t be.

There was nothing in the south worth the Golden Wagon’s investment.

It was just vast plains filled with crops.

While there were fresh fish from the ocean and various types of livestock industries, they could also be supplied sufficiently from the western part of the Empire, which was even closer to the capital.

There’s no reason to build a portal for transporting crops that have low efficiency in terms of transportation, even if it takes a long time.

And they most likely wouldn’t be developing cities either.

While the land had potential, the efficiency of investment was low, so there was no reason to spend money on it.

That was Camilla Wagon’s assessment of the entire southern part of the Empire.

It was certain because I heard it from her.

“Where do you think is the least valuable land to invest in the Empire?”

-The least valuable to invest in? Why ask the obvious? Of course, it’s the entire southern region along the Roulette River. There are plenty of crops, but nothing else special about the land.

She had said it confidently at the time.

-Not to mention, it’s not even bordered by another country, so all you need is the most basic defense. Unless something extraordinary emerges, there’s no need to spend any money on the land.

-Why are you asking this? Shouldn’t you be asking where the best investment value is instead?

I recalled the image of her, laughing lightly, secretly coming to our organization to enjoy a meal.

It was from then on.

The reason I chose this place, the British countryside, for my new home.

I thought that if it were a land that Camilla would never look at, even a tyrant would not touch it.

It wouldn’t have been just a trip either.

She hated meaningless trips more than anyone else.

‘Could it be because of me?’

I thought back to when Koby came to find me.

-So, are you really not planning to return to the capital?

-Your Grace misses Lucas’ food.

So I told her to come and eat at our store if she wanted my food.

To be honest, it was a gentle refusal that I usually say.

-Are you serious?

-I understand. I’ll tell Your Grace that. If she wants to eat, she should come directly.

Koby’s expression when he asked me back was quite meaningful.

Did she really intend to come?

“No way… I must be overthinking this.”

“Boss, why are you like this? Your face looks really bad. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Anyway, it’s really an amazing move. And it’s not just anyone, but Camilla Wagon! Revolutionary transportation through portals, large-scale transportation using wagons as big as their names, and a huge increase in scale by selling goods at relatively low prices through a network of wagons spread across the region!”

“If she extends her hand to the southern part of the empire, the British countryside may find an even better source of income. As the administrator for the British countryside, we can’t miss this opportunity!”

Liana had unknowingly entered Camilla-praising mode.

That’s when it became noisy outside.

The time was now 4 PM.

It was not yet the time for people who had gone out for their duties to return to the city.

And it was not at all the time for the guards and servants working inside the castle to come out.

I could feel it instinctively.

She’s here.

“Huh? What’s going on? Why is it so noisy outside?”

Liana couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Is this the place? The cafe that Lucas set up?”

It was because of the voice coming from outside.

“Boss, it looks like we have a guest. I’ll let them know it’s break time. Just a moment.”

Liana hurried outside.

Liana’s scream was heard as she found the source of the commotion outside.

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

It wasn’t a scream of terror at all.

Rather, it was quite the opposite.

It was more like an exclamation of excitement that a fan would make upon seeing the object of their admiration.

“Ca, Ca, Camilla?”

“What are you?”

Camilla’s distinctive voice that looks down on others could be heard.

I couldn’t just stay sitting in the restaurant.

Now that she’s come this far, I must face her.

I still have the boundless positive power of the bone broth soup.

As I opened the door and stepped out, red hair like a sunset and pumpkin-colored eyes turned to me.

“Lucas! You were here! You wouldn’t believe how anxious I was to see you.”

“Welcome, Miss Camilla Wagen.”

She looked at me, then placed her hand on her hip and spoke.

“You have to take responsibility for making me like this, right?”

Liana’s eyes, filled with admiration for Camilla, widened in surprise.

I couldn’t tell what sort of story was being written in her head, but she covered her mouth with her hand, repeatedly saying, “Oh my, oh my.”

“Miss Sangdan, if you say that, everyone will misunderstand.”