Banquet at the Duke’s Castle
Satou here. It’s always nice to share a delicious dinner with a big group of friends. Personally, I prefer to be involved in the eating rather than the cooking.
“Master, bridge-shaped monster sighted, I report. We should prepare for battle, I advise.”
“Oh nooo!”
“Dangerous danger, sir!”
Alarmed by Nana’s declaration, Pochi and Tama started to panic.
“Calm down, you three. That’s just a special kind of bridge called a drawbridge.”
A hundred-foot section in the middle of the vast area across the river was raised in the air so the ship’s large sails wouldn’t crash into it.
The river was over half a mile wide, so it didn’t look like a very big gap, but in reality, it was similar in scale to the Tower Bridge in London. The architecture of this world was impressive, too.
As I gazed at the drawbridge, my AR display informed me that the moving section was actually a kind of golem. Our curiosity must have awakened the tour guide’s instincts, because she came over with an explanation.
“It’s said that this bridge was created by the gods a thousand years ago…”
She went on to inform us that the bridge pier included barrier posts so that aquatic monsters couldn’t approach the outskirts of the old capital.
Downstream, I could see ten or more barrier posts erected in addition to the bridge.
As the guide talked us through the sights, our ship traversed a harbor docked with numerous boats, traveled up a tributary along the edge of the city, and entered a harbor for the exclusive use of nobles.
The whole city seemed to be in a heightened state of revelry, no doubt thanks to the martial arts tournament going on.
As the ship was being unloaded, I looked up the latest information about the city.
There were a lot of high-level warriors about, probably also because of the tournament. Miss Ringrande seemed to be the highest at level 55.
I didn’t see any reincarnations like Arisa, people with the Hero title, demons, possessed individuals, or anything like that.
There were still about thirty members of the demon lord–worshipping cult Wings of Freedom left in the old capital: nine in the lower parts of town, fifteen lurking below the castle of a noble called Count Bobino, and four detained in the dungeon of the duke’s castle.
The last two were inside the castle itself: the third son of the duke, who was also Sara’s uncle, and his right-hand man.
Count Bobino himself wasn’t a Wings of Freedom member, but evidently the count before him had been in its upper echelons.
Because the last thing I wanted was another demon lord or the like being summoned, I’d have to report these names and hiding places to the duke under my hero alias.
That being said, most of the members were killed during the demon lord incident I’d thwarted, so I doubted they’d be able to pull off another large-scale plan like that anytime soon. Still, better to be safe than sorry.
“Sir Satou! The carriage my brother sent for me has arrived! I’ll be taking my leave now.”
Tolma seemed to have recovered from before and called out to me as soon as I disembarked.
Amazingly, the carriage behind him didn’t have a horse. Though it was shaped like a normal carriage, it was actually a magic item called a golem car.
A closer look at the wheels would reveal the artificial hands there to turn them. Now, that was a fantasy carriage if I’d ever seen one.
“Did you have plans for where to stay in the old capital? If not, you should stay at our house! With the martial arts tournament going on, I doubt there’ll be many open rooms left.”
“I appreciate the offer, but we’re all right. We’ll be staying in the house of the esteemed Count Worgoch.”
Count Worgoch was the viceroy of Gururian City. After I defeated the lesser hell demon that attacked his territory, the count offered to let us stay in his parents’ mansion here in the old capital.
We waved to the Tolma family as they entered their vehicle, then took our own carriage and horses to Count Worgoch’s mansion.
Thanks to the tour guide’s cart leading the way, we wouldn’t get lost.
“This is quite a comfortable ride.”
“Yes, it’s amazing to be able to speak so easily in a moving carriage.”
Miss Karina and her maid escort Pina marveled aloud.
“Well, of course! Our master enhanced it with love!”
“Mm. Love.”
Arisa and Mia spoke proudly with me between them.
I was pretty sure it was because I enhanced it with technology not love, but I decided to keep that to myself.
Except for our driver Lulu, the other girls were riding in front of and behind the carriage.
Tama and Pochi were riding the runosaur, their ears and tails hidden by hooded cloaks, while Liza and Nana were armored and on horseback. Erina, another one of Miss Karina’s maid escorts, was riding a horse next to the carriage.
After we left the Dreamglow Cavern, the temperature had risen to a springlike warmth. The hooded cloaks were probably pretty warm.
As soon as we passed through a large set of gates near the harbor, we were in the middle of the aristocratic quarter of the city. We were stopped just inside the gates, but the guide in front took care of things, so all I had to do was show the silver plate that was proof of my nobility.
The streets of the aristocratic district were paved with stone, and the buildings resembled concrete.
According to what I learned at the banquet in Muno Castle, this area was built with a special kind of Earth Magic called architectural magic. A noble called Count Hohen who lived there in the old capital was apparently a master of the art.
Most of the maids hurrying to and fro on the streets were in the same kind of outfits I’d seen in Muno Castle: plain dresses.
I’ll have to popularize maid outfits in the old capital, too.
As I mused on these ambitions, the cart arrived in a quiet neighborhood where the wealthiest aristocrats lived.
On the map, I saw that other high-ranked nobles like marquises and counts lived near the duke’s castle.
Each of the mansions was as big and spacious as Tokyo Dome. If anything, it might be more apt to describe them as “palaces.”
Arisa quickly tired of viewing the houses and lobbed a question at Miss Karina instead.
“Are you staying with Count Worgoch, too, Lady Karina?”
“I-indeed. I was planning to stay at Orion’s boarding house, but as it seems several other young men are staying there besides him…”
Right. It would probably be too much for someone as uncomfortable around men as Miss Karina to stay there.
I had planned to accompany her there so I could meet Orion myself, but from the sound of things, that might have to wait until another day.
Orion was Baron Muno’s eldest son, five years younger than Karina at age fourteen. He was studying abroad in the old capital.
According to Viscount Nina from the Muno Barony, he had chosen this over the esteemed academy in the royal capital because the nobles there objected to his visit, owing to the barony’s reputation as a “cursed territory.”
Eventually, the carriages slowed their pace not far from the duke’s castle.
Once we arrived at Count Worgoch’s impressively mansion-like estate, the viceroy’s parents—the previous duke and his wife—greeted us. Once we’d exchanged pleasantries, they directed us to the count’s private house.
Here we parted ways with the guide, who went off to the duke’s castle to deliver a report along with a letter requesting my introduction to him.
The viceroy’s house was a large three-story mansion, complete with stables and separate lodging for the servants. It was even more impressive than the guesthouse where the beastfolk girls and I had stayed in Seiryuu City’s local castle.
When we stopped our carriage in front of the entrance, twenty or so servants were waiting for us, led by a thin older gentleman with gray hair.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Sebaf, the supervisor of this house.” The man bowed politely, as did the staff behind him.
“Aw, man…,” Arisa muttered behind me, and I privately agreed. If only his name were Sebastian, it would have been perfect.
“I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight. Thank you for having us, Mr. Sebaf.”
“Please, you may simply call me Sebaf.”
I nodded at the mild-mannered man, then introduced Miss Karina as well.
After Sebaf guided us to a living room and we relaxed awhile, I asked him for a tour.
“This will be your room, Sir Satou.”
This suite had several smaller chambers, including a bedroom, a study, and a dressing room. There was an extra-large bed in the center of the bedroom, big enough to fit our entire group.
There were private rooms for everyone else, too, but since several of my kids didn’t like to sleep alone, I suspected that the rooms other than mine and the living room wouldn’t see much use.
However, Miss Karina’s party was staying on a different floor, so I didn’t see an “accidentally got into the wrong bed” type of event in the cards.
After the tour, I let the kids explore the mansion freely.
“It’s Tamaaa?”
“And Pochi, sir.”
“What a beautiful mirror. The reflection is quite different from that of a copper mirror.”
I heard voices from the dressing room next to the living room.
Beyond the open door, I found the beastfolk girls standing in front of the glass mirror inside, gleefully waving at their reflections.
As I flopped down on the bed to organize our plans for our old capital visit, Arisa and Lulu returned from touring the kitchen.
“We’re back!”
“Master! The kitchen here is amazing!”
Flushed with excitement, Lulu told me all about the cooking-related magic tools there.
Sebaf gave us permission to use the space, so we could prepare our own meals as long as we let them know in advance. He added that meals were generally cooked in the kitchen of the main building; this one was mainly for preparing light fare and snacks.
“There was even an oven and a refrigerator!”
“Guess what! There was milk and fruit in the refrigerator. You should bake a cake or something!”
“Good idea. Maybe I’ll try making a sponge cake.”
At that, Arisa gave a shriek of delight.
Tama and Pochi had been peering out from the dressing room, but they came rushing over at the mention of food.
“Caaake?”
“Sir!”
Both of them joined Arisa in jumping for joy.
If it would make them that happy, the effort of baking a cake would be well worth it.
“Letter.”
“We have received two messages from the elderly man, I report.”
Mia and Nana had returned from their exploration of the grounds.
The letters in question were from the former Count Worgoch and Duke Ougoch himself. The count was inviting us to dinner that evening, while the duke was accepting the request for a meeting the tour guide had delivered on my behalf. According to the letter, he would meet with me tomorrow.
Both invitations were directed toward only Miss Karina and me, so I told the other girls to relax and enjoy the mansion.
Dinner that evening came in the form of many trays of small but extravagant delicacies to delight the palate, several of which seemed reproducible. I decided I should cook them for the others during our stay in the old capital.
The next day, Miss Karina and I went to Ougoch Castle for our audience with the duke.
Duke Ougoch was a sturdy old man with an abundance of gray hair, especially his beard. My first instinct was to classify him as a jolly old man, but the powerful glint in his eye said otherwise.
“Welcome, daughter of Leon. Ipasa has told me all. I have heard that you fought valiantly on the front lines in the defense of Muno City and even took on a demon in Gururian City. I commend your bravery.”
Leon was Baron Muno’s first name. Oh yeah, I guess the duke and Baron Muno are related.
Normally, this would be where Miss Karina gave a demure response, but instead she just acted nervous. Her social anxiety must be kicking in again.
I would’ve liked to back her up, but for all intents and purposes, I was just a tagalong lesser noble. It would be rude to speak without the duke’s permission.
Instead, Raka spoke up for her, glowing blue on Miss Karina’s chest.
“I accept your words with gratitude on behalf of my master.”
“Oh-ho, a magic tool that understands human language? It’s just like the invincible armor that my parents spoke of in legends.”
“Indeed.”
The response came from a slender consul who was standing nearby the duke.
His slitted eyes resembled a snake’s as he observed us appraisingly, but because he didn’t have nearly as powerful a presence as the duke, I paid him no mind.
“Grandfather!”
I heard the sound of familiar footsteps along with the cry, and sure enough, Miss Ringrande entered the room.
“Rin…this is official business. Leave us.”
“Not likely! I heard that Miss Karina and Satou were here, so I came to rescue them before you put them through the wringer.”
Ignoring the duke’s complaints, Miss Ringrande looked around at the armored knights stiffly lining the audience room.
“Honestly. What sort of a welcome is this for the heroes who saved Gururian City? Besides, it doesn’t seem to be intimidating the person you wanted it to.”
Ringrande gazed right at me as she spoke.
Wait, he was trying to intimidate me?
Given their formal stance and perfectly polished armor, I had assumed that the knights were supposed to be some sort of honor guard giving us a warm welcome. Walking down the line of armored knights was honestly a pretty exciting experience. I felt more like thanking him than complaining, really.
“I can’t get anything past you, Rin.”
The duke raised a hand to signal the officer standing nearby, and the knights marched out of the room.
Other than us, the only people who stayed in the room were the council, the haughty-looking level-50 military officer, and a few knight guards, including Sir Ipasa.
As well as some maids and other servants, of course.
“Now, is that good enough?” the duke grumbled to Miss Ringrande.
Then he signaled to the consul, who took a rectangular tray from a nearby servant and carried it over to us.
“As thanks to Lady Karina Muno and Sir Satou Pendragon of Muno Barony for their heroic service in protecting Gururian City from demons, Duke Ougoch hereby bestows upon thee the Ougoch Duchy Sapphire Medal.”
Laid on the tray were two heavy-looking medals and two velvet sachets chock-full of gold coins.
If I had to guess just by looking at the sachets, there were probably about a hundred coins in each. Miss Karina, unaccustomed to seeing this much gold, had sparkles in her eyes.
“So that’s the Sapphire Medal…,” Sir Ipasa murmured in admiration, which I was able to pick up on with my “Keen Hearing” skill. Given his reaction, this medal had to be a pretty rare and valuable object.
“Please accept these gifts. They are well deserved for your achievements.” The duke had evidently mistaken Miss Karina’s rapture at the sight of the gold coins as reluctance to accept them. “You may not have heard, but lesser hell demons like the one in Gururian City have been attacking in every city in the duchy.”
I hadn’t seen any signs of a demon attack in Zurute City, where we stayed on the way here, but that could have been because it was nighttime and our stay was short.
At the request of the duke, the consul elaborated. “Gururian and Sutoandell are the only two cities where damage was minimal. The rest may take years to fully recover.”
Huh? The greater hell demon I fought beneath Seiryuu City was one thing, but there should be enough people of high enough level to defeat a lesser hell demon in pretty much any city…
Well, I suppose the damage might’ve been done before anyone strong enough to do that showed up. Now I understood why the viceroy of Gururian City gave a low-ranking noble like me such generous treatment.
But did that mean the short horns had shown up in other cities? I referred to the map and discovered three of them in a hidden safe in the duke’s office.
The short horn was an item that could change humans into demons. I hadn’t mentioned them to the viceroy in Gururian City out of fear of starting a panicked witch hunt, but maybe that didn’t make much difference.
The amount of used short horns I had didn’t match the number of demons I’d beaten. I concluded it wasn’t an item they dropped every time.
As for the used short horn I’d gotten in Gururian City, giving it to the duke at this point might just have been stirring up a hornet’s nest, so I decided to feign ignorance for now.
As I followed this somewhat negative train of thought, the meeting with the duke continued.
Once we’d accepted the medals and rewards, the next item on the agenda was the letter from Baron Muno.
“It’s signed from Leon, but I don’t doubt it was Nina who wrote it. She always did know how to make a troublesome request sound like an easy favor.”
I was a little surprised to hear Duke Ougoch refer to Viscount Nina by her first name. Then I remembered that he was the one who recommended her as consul for Muno Barony.
Still, what could she have requested?
“Not only is she asking for a loan and extra supplies, she wants us to lend civil officials, military officers, and even engineers? Impossible.”
Sounds like quite a wish list.
Knowing Viscount Nina, they probably only truly needed the supplies, while the manpower would be a nice bonus, added to make the rest sound more reasonable.
From the duke’s expression, he understood this as well. Then his face suddenly turned mischievous.
“How about this? Sir Pendragon, if you become my vassal, I will grant all these requests. I can even make you an honorary baron if you wish.”
Trading me for all those resources? I’d imagine any ordinary statesman would accept immediately.
As I was contemplating how to respond to his jest, someone else went ahead and overreacted.
“Y-you mustn’t! S-Satou is a vassal of my father. E-even you cannot take him away, Your Grace!”
Lady Karina leaped in front of me, spreading her arms in a childish attempt to hide me from the duke.
Her bewitchingly large bust was enough to win me over under normal circumstances; such fierce protective instincts from her almost made me fall head over heels. Especially considering how nice her curves looked from this angle.
“Hmm. No luck, huh?”
“C-certainly not!” The duke smiled drolly at Karina’s furious response. Apparently, she had managed to charm him into a good mood. “Very well. Daughter of Leon, worry not. I will not steal away this person you hold so dear.”
“D-d-dear…?!”
At that, Miss Karina turned bright red and just about fainted dead away, and I quickly caught her.
“Your Grace, Lady Karina is quite purehearted, so I beg you not to tease her too much.”
“I suppose. She is Leon’s child, after all.”
As the duke chuckled, Miss Ringrande whispered into his ear.
…Huh?
When she was finished, the duke called Sir Ipasa over, and they exchanged a few quiet words.
They had to be using some kind of magical counterintelligence-type device, because my “Keen Hearing” skill couldn’t pick up their conversation.
“Hmm, a miraculous dish, you say…”
However, my “Lip Reading” skill did manage to catch the duke’s words, since I could see his mouth.
“Sir Pendragon. Ipasa tells me you made a remarkable dish called ‘consommé soup,’ and Rin spoke highly of your ‘tempura.’ I am hosting a banquet tonight for the highest nobility of the city, and I would like you to cook these dishes for my guests and me. If they are satisfactory, I shall give Nina the aid she requested.”
Tempura was one thing, but the pseudo-consommé soup that Ipasa described as a “miraculous dish” could be a bit of an issue.
“I would be remiss to refuse a request from Your Grace, but I must confess that preparation of consommé soup is a lengthy process, so it would be impossible to make in time for tonight’s dinner.”
“Very well. Then we shall make do with the tempura for tonight. I shall host an evening party for the nobility three days from now; you may prepare the consommé soup for that occasion.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
A real aristocrat might resent being treated like a chef, but as an ordinary citizen who ascended to nobility out of nowhere, I was actually pretty proud to hear that someone would want to eat my cooking for such a reason.
A young maidservant led me to the kitchen of the duke’s castle.
Several maids were looking after Miss Karina while she was unconscious. I told them to send her back to Count Worgoch’s place on the carriage that brought us here once she was feeling better. Hopefully, she wouldn’t come charging into the kitchen.
As we walked through a long corridor, I used my “Search Entire Map” to see what ingredients were in the castle.
They were a little short on a few things, so I expanded the search area to include all of the old capital and looked up shops that were selling what I needed. As always, the map skill was super convenient.
The room was three times the size of an average classroom and bustling with activity, like the galley of some luxurious hotel.
“I’ll go and fetch the head chef. Please wait here, Sir Knight.”
The maidservant who guided me here slipped in among the busy cooks, heading for the red-bearded head of the kitchen.
“The duke is ordering us to let some noble whippersnapper take care of the main dish?!”
“Ch-Chef, please! Not so loud! Do you want to be arrested for speaking out against the duke?!”
Sounded like the head chef and his assistant were arguing about me. Was I going to have to make a dish to prove myself worthy, like in a cooking manga? That could be fun.
“Hmph! This is an important banquet. I’m not letting some noble mess things up on a lark!” the head chef bellowed.
“I-it’ll be all right!” The maidservant who guided me here piped up with an exaggerated gesture. “Sir Ipasa of the Lloyd family personally vouched for the taste!”
This made him pause. “…What? The Lloyd family…?”
As it turned out, Sir Ipasa came from a line of famous gourmets. This seemed to be enough to satisfy the chef.
“All right. Open up the back kitchen. We’re not helping him, but he can use whatever ingredients he wants.”
“But Chef, wouldn’t it be better to have a few sous—”
“Fool! If this noble’s main course fails and we have no backup dish, it’ll bring shame on the duke! We’ll make our main dish as planned. Surely this noble can call on his own vassals to help him.”
The head chef and second-in-command wrapped up their conversation, and the latter approached me with the maidservant to apologetically sum up what I’d just heard with my “Keen Hearing” skill.
The head chef, clearly not a fan of taking orders, must have delegated the task of negotiating with “the noble” to his assistant.
“I understand. As long as there are ingredients and cookware I can use, I can supply my own assistants.”
At that, the assistant head chef looked as if I’d taken a huge weight off his shoulders.
I guess middle management is tough in any world.
“Could I trouble you to deliver this letter for me?”
“Certainly, sir.”
Before setting out to secure the ingredients, I asked the maidservant to contact Arisa and the others back at Count Worgoch’s mansion. She gave a signal, and a maid standing in the hallway quickly took the letter and hurried away with it.
“Thank you for waiting. Allow me to bring you to the ingredient storehouse.”
Along the way, the maidservant explained that her role was to be the aide of a lesser noblewoman, and that she therefore ranked higher than ordinary maids. According to her, it was a popular job in the duchy, thanks to the perks it provided of teaching courtly manners and helping in the search for potential marriage partners. And here I assumed it was just a synonym for maid.
I showed the authorization slip that the assistant head chef gave me to the guard in front of the ingredient storehouse, and he stepped aside to let us in.
“Whoa, this is impressive.”
I wasn’t just being polite; I was genuinely impressed. Even on earth, I had never seen so many ingredients and spices in one place. There were dozens of varieties of soy sauce alone, all with different flavors or places of origin.
The maidservant brought me a small dish for tasting, and I sampled them one by one, noting the differences with my menu’s memo pad feature.
Unlike in the Shiga Kingdom, where I’d seen only ordinary tallow, there were several varieties of vegetable oil here.
We went through the room-temperature, refrigerated, and finally frozen storage, collecting the ingredients one by one.
They even had the likes of green beans, sweet potatoes, and lotus root, none of which I had seen on my journey so far. These seemed to be available in the marketplace of the old capital, too, so I’d have to stock up during our stay.
Wait, is that tofu? If I made tofu hamburg steaks, even Mia should be able to eat them.
My mind was full of possibilities as I finished collecting the necessary ingredients and spices. As I started to carry them back toward the kitchen, the maidservant quickly summoned someone to take them for me.
“You must let the help take care of manual labor like that,” she scolded me lightly.
…I’m sorry. I’m still new to all this nobility stuff.
Because I’d never heard of some of these ingredients, I decided to taste the different oils while I was preparing to cook.
The kitchen was chock-full of incredibly useful magic cooking tools. Once I realized the stove was a bit wonky, I did a little magic plumbing to clear the channels, like I always did.
If they were letting me use all of this handy equipment, it was the least I could do.
“Mm, this lotus root tempura is wonderfully delicious.”
“The sweet potato is very good, too… I think I liked the pumpkin better, though.”
“Wouldn’t white fish make delicious tempura, too?”
When I had the maidservant do some taste testing for me, I soon noticed a gaggle of maids and pageboys watching enviously. I let them know they could help, too, as long as they didn’t get in the way of my work.
Many of them turned out to have surprisingly discriminating palates, so this ended up being a good call.
Eggplant tempura, for instance, was surprisingly poorly received, while they loved the thinly sliced carrot tempura for some reason.
But eggplant tempura is so good…
“Master! We brought the goods!”
“Satou.”
“Sorry for taking so long, master.”
At the chorus of lively voices, I turned to see Arisa, Mia, and Lulu entering the kitchen.
“Pochi and Tama gathered the green shiso.”
“Pickled ginger.”
“I couldn’t find the ‘pike conger’ eel you requested, so Arisa told us to buy garden eel, fanged eel, and sweet eel.”
“Thanks, that’s a huge help.”
After thanking them, I sorted through the ingredients they brought.
The pickled ginger was a light pink, not the red kind I was expecting. They must not color it with red shiso here.
I decided to make it into tempura instead of using it as a garnish. I’d only ever seen pickled ginger tempura in Kansai tempura shops, but I found it surprisingly addictive. Maybe it’d be a big hit in this world.
“Lulu, could you help me with prep?”
“Of course!”
“Arisa and Mia, you two charge the magic tools.”
“Okeydoke.”
“Mm.”
Everyone went into action.
This time, we chose nine types of tempura: shiitake-like mushrooms, pumpkin, carrots, green beans, shrimp, green shiso, pickled ginger, lotus root, and fanged eel, which was closest in taste to conger eel.
I wanted to add eggplants and sweet potatoes, too, but since they weren’t very well received in the taste tests, I decided to hold off this time.
For the base of the special tempura sauce, I used Gururian-made mirin and a light soy sauce from a famous artisan in the royal capital. To that, I added a pinch of high-quality Sutoandell white sugar and a few drops of pure Shigan sake from the old capital. Including dashi, too, seemed to detract from the flavor of the sauce, so I used only a small amount. The result was a light but agreeable flavor.
Next, I fried the tempura with a special mixture of a few different kinds of vegetable oil, with sesame oil from Zetts County as the base.
Once I’d cooked up all the delicious-looking tempura, I arranged it on a tray to drain the excess oil.
Then it was Doctor Mia’s turn.
“Mia, you’re up.”
“Mm… ? Steam Loop: Tempura Jouki Junkan: Tempura.”
When Mia chanted the spell, the extra oil was removed from the tempura coating.
I’d designed this cooking spell in my spare time back on the ship specifically for this purpose, making the tempura both healthier and crunchier to boot. Taking out too much oil resulted in a loss of flavor, so it took a long time to find the perfect balance for maximum crispiness.
“Thank you, Mia. It’s going to be two hundred percent more delicious now.”
“Reward?”
Mia offered her head expectantly, and I stuck my hand under her hood to pat her on top of her silky hair, but that made Arisa and Lulu envious. I’d have to do the same for them later.
“Sa… Sir Pendragon! I’ve come to help you!”
Suddenly, Miss Karina came charging into the kitchen. Thanks to inertia, it took her mystical breasts a moment to come to a halt after the rest of her stopped moving. As always, it was a sight to behold.
“Guilty.”
“Grr, damn those supernatural boobs…”
I bonked Mia and Arisa gently on the head to reprove them before speaking to Miss Karina.
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”
“But of course! I’m perfectly healthy! Now, let us combine our powers for the greater good of all people!”
Miss Karina’s eyes sparkled, and her fists were clenched with eagerness, but alas, the cooking was already done.
“I will do whatever it takes! Anything at all!”
At those promising words, I was tempted to shift my gaze back toward her bosom, but I managed to control myself.
“Sorry, but—”
“In that case, I have an important task that only you can carry out, Lady Karina.”
Before Arisa could say we were already finished, I clamped a hand over her mouth. I didn’t want to let Karina’s enthusiasm go to waste.
The young noble awaited my assignment rather nervously.
“I’d like you to sample this tempura and tell me if there’s anything wrong with the texture or flavor, please.”
“Understood. I’d be happy to assist!”
Relieved, Miss Karina let out the breath she’d been holding and brought the shrimp to her mouth with an intense expression. Her glistening lips parted, and her perfect white teeth bit tentatively into the shrimp tempura.
With each movement of her jaw, her serious countenance softened into a blissful smile.
“How is it?”
“It passes with flying colors, Satou! Without question, the most delicious shrimp tempura I’ve ever eaten in my life!”
Miss Karina beamed as she responded. She didn’t even seem to realize that she’d called me by my name for once.
Her reaction indicated success, and the waiters and waitresses gathered around. Clearly my turn was just about up.
I plated the tempura on gorgeously colored dishes and entrusted them to the waitstaff. Normally, I would’ve liked to grate some daikon on top, but I refrained thanks to a notion among the people of the old capital that daikon was unlucky. From here, all I could do was entrust my fate to the heavens (and the tastes of the nobles) and start cleaning up.
After a while, my “Keen Hearing” skill alerted me to delighted cries from the upper-class nobles, so by all appearances, I’d succeeded.
Most of all, I was just happy they appreciated my cooking.
The waitstaff streamed back into the kitchen with brilliant smiles.
“Sir Knight! You’re a huge hit! The guests all send their highest compliments!”
They were as happy for me as if I were one of them, which improved my mood further.
I thanked the waitstaff for letting me know and apologized to the head chef for causing a fuss in his kitchen.
Of course, I had to thank my kids for their hard work, too.
“Good work, everyone.”
“Whew, I’m staaarving!”
“Mm, hungry.”
“Hee-hee. We did work quite a bit.”
I thought I’d made plenty of extra tempura for them to “taste test,” but evidently it wasn’t enough.
Scanning the kitchen, I saw whole piles of vegetable scraps.
“Is it all right if I use some of these vegetables?”
“Certainly.”
After checking with one of the chefs, who had just come in to make rice, I gathered some of the vegetables.
“What are you going to make?” Arisa curiously inquired.
“Oh, nothing big.”
It really wasn’t anything special, so I tried not to get her expectations too high.
I diced onions and carrots, panfried them lightly, mixed them with some cut greens, rolled them in the tempura batter, and tossed them into the oil.
“Oh! Vegetable fritters!”
“That’s right. Arisa, could you take these bowls and see if you can get some rice for us?”
“Okeydoke! Mia, help me carry them?”
“Mm.”
Arisa followed the smell of fresh rice over to the young chef, who agreed to share some with us.
I cut each fritter into quarters and put them on the piping hot rice, then topped them with the tempura sauce, which I’d boiled to make it a little thicker. With that, the kakiage don was complete.
“Mm, tasty!”
“Yum.”
“It’s so crispy and hot… It’s wonderful.”
“Delicious! I think I might enjoy this even more than ordinary tempura.”
The four girls dug into their bowls with gusto. My three were using chopsticks, but Miss Karina used a fork and spoon.
After watching them fondly for a moment, I put together an extra bowl.
“Here you are.” I handed it to the maidservant.
“For me? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. You’ve been a great help today, so please allow me to thank you with this.”
At first, I’d figured such a meal might be too inelegant for someone who worked closely with nobility, but I could tell she wanted to try it and decided to offer.
Next, I made two more bowls for the head chef and his assistant.
I’d need to use this kitchen again for the evening party three days from now. A little late-night snack might help my standing with them a little.
“Thank you for letting me use your kitchen today.”
“Bah, I should never have doubted you, you—”
“I’m terribly sorry if we seemed mistrustful of your abilities, Sir Knight. His Grace the duke has sent along his compliments as well.”
The assistant head chef was quick to interrupt the head chef before he could be too impolite.
At the same time, he offered up a tray, which held a letter praising the tempura and inviting me to join the dinner guests for a light gathering in the salon after the meal.
“Incidentally, what is that you have there?”
“Oh, this is a simple dish called vegetable fritters. It isn’t made with such high-quality ingredients as what we put together for the nobility, but you are more than welcome to it if you like.”
“Hey, it looks damn tasty! Thanks, bud.”
The two chefs accepted the bowls I offered them and ate with apparent enjoyment.
The envy of the other chefs around us was plain to see. I felt bad, but I didn’t have enough batter left for everyone.
“Sir Pendragon! Your tempura is a work of art! That crispy coating on the crunchy shrimp was exquisite!”
“No, no, Marquis Lloyd. The pickled ginger tempura reigned supreme. Nothing else could possibly compete.”
“I beg to differ, Count Hohen. Shrimp is the ultimate tempura. That vivid taste and texture were so unlike boiled or roasted shrimp…”
The famed gourmets Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen were extolling the virtues of tempura to me with such fervor that spit threatened to fly from their mouths.
They had caught me the second I entered the salon, before I even had a chance to greet the duke.
Miss Karina, who never fared well in social situations, had excused herself on the grounds of feeling poorly and returned to the count’s mansion with the others.
“Marquis Lloyd, Count Hohen, I am in complete agreement that tempura is delicious, but please give Sir Pendragon some space. At the very least, he ought to be allowed to greet the duke first.”
“As you wish, Sir Worgoch.”
“Indeed, you make a fair point. Sir Pendragon, let us discuss tempura later.”
The former Count Worgoch was the eldest man present. Thanks to his intervention, I was able to go and say hello to the duke.
I felt the eyes of the upper crust following me as I approached.
The nobles present were the pillars of the Ougoch Duchy, all ranked viscount or higher—mostly the heads or former heads of major families. The exact breakdown was one marquis, three counts, and eight viscounts.
Miss Ringrande’s father, the next duke, and her younger brother, next in line after her father, were off in Eluette Marquisate. According to Miss Ringrande herself, they would be returning to the old capital within the next few days.
Even Tolma was present, greeting me with a friendly wave and a casual compliment to my cooking. His elder brother, Viscount Siemmen, didn’t seem to be around; Tolma was probably here in his brother’s place.
At any rate, as a transplant from a different world, I was still having a hard time adjusting to all of these ranks besides “king.”
An important aspect of the noble rankings here was the corresponding permission level to use City Cores, so all the people here besides Duke Ougoch, the lord, were probably vassals who had been granted some degree of that power.
And yet only a king could grant any title higher than baronet. How confusing.
I wish my “Shigan Language” skill had translated lord as junior king and king as super king or something.
Shaking off these absentminded notions, I kneeled in front of Duke Ougoch to thank him for his invitation.
“…Sir Pendragon. Your cooking was truly delicious, and—”
“Wasn’t it?”
With a powerful glare, the duke silenced Miss Ringrande, who was sitting beside him.
“—I am sure the meal at the evening party will be just as pleasing. I shall put out a public call for capable men to send to Muno Barony; in the event that no one comes forward, only then shall I order some to do so.”
“Are you certain? I haven’t yet completed my end of the bargain.”
“I insist. Think of it as compensation for tonight’s dinner. If you can impress the nobles at the evening party just as much, then I will permit you to solicit donations and investments for the barony as well.”
Wow, this was turning into a bigger deal than I bargained for.
I found it hard to believe that simple tempura was enough to warrant all that, but maybe it was the result of my maxed-out “Cooking” skill.
“Grandfather, those are rewards for Baron Muno, aren’t they? Shouldn’t you reward Satou himself, too?”
“Hmm, a fair point… What might you desire?”
Thanks to Miss Ringrande, the duke was planning to reward me even further, but I was starting to think this was a little much for some tempura.
“Seeing as you have generously agreed to assist the barony already, I couldn’t possibly accept any further reward.”
“Oh really? Restraint’s not a virtue, you know! You should be accepting it proudly after the excellent dinner you gave us.” Miss Ringrande was talking to me like a teacher scolding a naughty student, but once she noticed my discomfort, she grinned and made a joke to set me at ease.
“How about this? Would you like to become the exclusive chef of the hero Hayato?”
Yeah, no thanks. I love eating delicious food and all, but I honestly prefer when someone else cooks it for me. I should probably come up with a request before they give any more weird suggestions.
“Come now, ask whatever you’d like. Do you want Rin as your bride, perhaps?”
“Hey! Grandfather, you know I’m a follower of the hero, so I have no intention of marrying until the demon lord is dealt with!”
…Huh? Do they not know the demon lord is gone from the head priestess of Tenion Temple yet? Maybe I should sneak into the temple later and ask her what the deal is.
“I have no such desires that would be so far above my station. Though, if it’s at all possible, receiving permission to purchase scrolls and spell books in the duchy would be a most unexpected joy.”
“Hmm. You are truly free of greed, to request not the items themselves but simply permission to purchase them. Very well, I shall grant it.”
The generous duke called over a man in a butler’s uniform to write up a permit.
Tolma had already agreed to introduce me to Viscount Siemmen, but with the duke’s permission, I should be able to get even more scrolls.
“If you ever decide to quit being Leon’s vassal, you ought to come here instead. I would hire you as a chef anytime,” the duke commented.
“Wait a minute, Your Grace! Sir Pendragon should be the head chef for the Lloyd family instead. He would be wasted as a mere sous chef!” Marquis Lloyd protested.
“It is most unbecoming to attempt to lure away a vassal of Baron Muno, Marquis Lloyd,” said Count Hohen. I appreciated his attempts to discourage them from trying to hire me as a chef, but unfortunately, he didn’t stop there. “Incidentally, Sir Pendragon, would you happen to be a married man?”
“No, I feel I’m too young for that, and I have no wish to settle down anytime soon.”
“Why, then you should take one of my daughters or granddaughters who’s around your age. You could become a member of my family, if you—”
“Count Hohen! Are you trying to make our knight into your son-in-law?!”
As it turned out, there were an awful lot of greedy nobles in this duchy.
I thought he was joking at first, but it turned out Count Hohen had upward of forty children and grandchildren combined, at least seven of who were unmarried young women, so maybe not.
Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen seemed to be good friends; they spent some time jousting over me.
Eventually, Miss Ringrande rescued me. Then I was able to speak to other people as well.
Because a few of them had workshops and studios in the old capital or rare spell books that might interest me, I was certainly amenable to making friends with them.
In particular, it seemed many advanced spell books were hidden away in nobles’ collections, so permission to purchase them wouldn’t help me there.
I ran a map search on the old capital, but I didn’t find any textbooks for advanced kinds of magic in any of the shops.
“Sir Satou, it turns out my brother is in Labyrinth City on scroll workshop–related business at the moment. I’m told he’ll return soon by way of the royal capital. Would you mind waiting until then for the scrolls? I don’t believe it should be longer than a trimoon, at the very latest.”
“Certainly. We plan to stay in the old capital for a while, so that’s not a problem at all.”
“Whew, I’m glad to hear you say that.”
My smile seemed to ease Tolma’s apologetic mood.
A trimoon was only ten days; that wouldn’t be an issue. I was planning to find out if I could have scrolls made of my original spells. If it turned out to be a lengthy process, I could always come back on my own with “Skyrunning” to pick them up.
“Sorry to come so late at night, Head Priestess.”
“Why, if it isn’t Mr. Nanashi. You do tend to show up unexpectedly, don’t you?”
After I returned from the duke’s castle, I donned my disguise as Nanashi the Hero and paid a visit to the head priestess’s room at Tenion Temple, in the nobles’ quarter.
This was after confirming on the map that she hadn’t gone to sleep yet, of course.
She didn’t have any abnormal status conditions, but thanks to the mysterious atmosphere of her room, she had an unearthly quality that made you wonder if she wouldn’t vanish if you looked away for a second.
“I had a little question for you.”
“Oh my, I wonder what that could be? But first, I have something to tell you myself, as it happens. Do you mind?”
“That’s fine. What is it?”
I was trying to make Nanashi sound as different from Satou as possible, but I still felt awful speaking so rudely to an older woman like the head priestess. If I wasn’t careful, I could easily slip into a more polite attitude.
The head priestess rose slowly from a seat that resembled a rocking chair.
“I have received an Oracle message from Goddess Tenion regarding the defeat of the demon lord. Nanashi the Hero, allow me to offer the temple’s thanks in her stead,” the priestess said solemnly. Then she broke into a small smile. “Thank you for protecting my beloved old capital, Mr. Nanashi.” With a little less gravitas, she added, “Worry not. Priestess Sara is not yet able to leave her bed, but the other two Oracle priestesses have returned to their normal lives.”
According to the map, I saw that Sara’s status now read Weakened: Mild. It had been only Weakened that morning, so she must be recovering steadily.
I decided to go visit her as Satou once that status condition was gone entirely.
“I’m glad to hear it. But would you mind if I inquired about something?”
“Oh, certainly. My apologies for going on so. Ask whatever you like.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but the head priestess looked pale. “Standing for so long could bode ill for your health. Please go ahead and sit.”
The priestess smiled faintly and returned to her seat.
“I haven’t heard anything in the old capital about the demon lord being defeated. Has it not been officially announced?”
“Indeed… I did bring a report to His Grace the duke, but he preferred to wait until the other temples received Oracle messages about it before making an announcement.”
The head priestess appeared troubled.
“And the other temples have not received these messages yet?”
“Even with the ‘Oracle’ skill, the ceremony itself can take several days, depending on the temple.”
So you can’t just ask the gods questions whenever you want, huh?
“Here at the Tenion Temple, we have this sanctuary, so it’s easier to prepare the ritual here than at other temples.”
“Oh really? That sounds convenient.”
She chuckled. “It is the work of Our Lady Tenion, after all. This sanctuary is the only reason I’m able to move about normally, even so close to the end of my life. Outside of it, I can hardly even sit up without assistance.”
So that was what Sara meant when she said back in Muno Barony that the holy woman couldn’t leave the sanctuary.
Well, now I had my answers as to why the information hadn’t been made public. It was probably time to wrap things up.
“…I understand. Thanks.”
“Oh? Leaving so soon? I was hoping we could chat a little longer.”
I stood up to leave, but the head priestess stopped me.
All I had left to do for the evening was anonymously report the whereabouts of the Wings of Freedom members to the duke, so I could spare a little more time.
Now that the Treasure of Resurrection had used up its magic power bringing Sara back to life, I offered to restore its charge while we talked. We passed the time with tea and pastries I brought out from Storage, exchanging idle conversation and discussing myths.
Eventually, the priestess’s AR display showed her status as Fatigue: Mild. I decided to take my leave.
“It seems I’ve overstayed a little.”
I returned the refilled Treasure of Resurrection to the priestess and stowed the Holy Sword I was using as a battery in my Item Box.
“Thank you, Mr. Nanashi. Though I hope that we never have need of this again.”
“As do I.”
Nodding to the head priestess as she put away the artifact, I left the Tenion Temple.
Hidden by the dark of the night, I used “Skyrunning” and various stealth skills to slip into the duke’s bedroom.
As I did so, I felt a slight sense of resistance.
Upon closer inspection, an AR display appeared reading Ougoch Castle Barrier Wall. Was this a barrier created by the City Core?
“You got through the castle barrier…? Who are you?”
The duke’s status had read Sleeping just moments ago; the City Core must have alerted him somehow.
“A hero,” I answered shortly as he sat up.
Now that the perceptive duke had met Satou several times, I took care to keep the gender of my voice ambiguous and to speak only in short phrases.
“A hero, you say? And with violet hair… Are you Nanashi the Hero?”
I nodded briefly to avoid letting the conversation go too far, then tossed him a packet of papers tied with a string.
“…What’s this?” the duke asked, eyeing them doubtfully.
“Read,” I answered simply, taking inspiration from Professor Mia.
“The hiding places of the demon lord cult… Where did you get all this information?”
The map included not only the hideout in the old capital but all the other locations in the duchy. A group like that was sure to make a comeback if they weren’t all rounded up at once.
“In Count Bobino’s basement of all places, right under our noses… That foolish son of mine…”
The duke seemed stunned that some of his family and chief vassals were included on the list.
“Please allow me to take care of this personally, Sir Nanashi the Hero. I swear on the name of Duke Ougoch that it will be dealt with appropriately.”
I had no trouble believing that.
“I will dispatch a band of knights to round up the members in Count Bobino’s estate tomorrow. As for the ones in the downtown area, I shall send not knights but individuals who can arrest them quietly.”
I tilted my head Mia-style, and the duke explained.
“Just to be certain, we will need assurance that this information is true. We will capture them first, then have vassals use Yamato stones or the Eye of Judgment to ascertain their guilt.”
Right, I forgot those handy tools and gifts existed.
If anything, I thought it would be easier to use the City Core to find them, but they probably had a good reason for not doing it that way.
Just to be safe, I pointed out my cautions in the documents regarding the capture of Wings of Freedom members. Namely, to capture them all at once and to be wary of the “short horn” item that turned people into demons. I had written that terrorists could become desperate when chased down, so it was best to deal with them all at once.
No individuals possessing short horns had showed up on my map search, but some of them had “Item Box” skills, Magic Bags, or the like. I couldn’t search inside those except for marked objects; I highlighted the names of those individuals on the list.
There weren’t any particularly strong ones lurking about, so even if one of them did have a short horn, their demon form would probably be easy enough to defeat. There were at least three knights in the city who were above level 50, after all.
I waited a few seconds in thought before I told the duke, “All yours.”
This short-spoken version of Nanashi would probably be harder to identify, but it sure made meetings difficult.
It’d probably be wise to come up with a better dummy personality whose way of speaking and acting would be difficult to connect with me. Maybe Arisa would have some ideas.
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