The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 114

Chapter 114:

Eating Well

“I CAN’T BELIEVE EVERYONE actually made it.”

Everyone was at the table this evening. They had been spread out in all directions today attending to the investigation, but every single one came back at about the same time, as if they’d planned it. Rattloore had a sly smile on his face, so maybe he had something to do with it? I rolled my eyes and put the final touches on tonight’s dinner. Today, we were going to have toma and meat stew with lots of cheese on top. Seizerk and Rattloore were practically drooling.

I’d lined a basket with leafy greens and arranged some slightly-larger-than-bite-sized chunks of meat inside to steam. I had the perfect salty sauce to accompany this.

Gnouga watched the steaming process with great interest. Then I spread out a bed of boiled and smashed potatoes on a platter and topped it with heavily seasoned and baked cuts of 

meat, as well as a sort of salad made with boiled eggs. Finally, I scattered the fresh vegetable salad with broken bits of toasted black bread and drizzled dressing over it.

“Little accident in the kitchen?” Sifar was looking at the black bread. It seemed he’d mistaken toasted bread for burned bread.

“Nope. Just wanted to try some contrasting textures.”

“Wooow. I guess you worked through whatever was on your mind?”

I laughed. Sifar saw right through me. He patted my head lightly, ate some of his fresh vegetable salad, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Now this is interesting,” he mused. It seemed he liked it.

“Hey, Gnouga! No hogging the food!” Bolorda shouted.

I looked at Gnouga, who was holding the entire streamer basket in his arms as he ate. Bolorda was trying to snatch it away from him.

“Um, actually, I have another one steaming,” I told Bolorda.

“Hm? There’s more?”

“Yes.”

Gnouga loved meat, and he loved sharp flavors. I was well aware that any combination of those would double his appetite, so I made twice as much of the steamed dishes. The second serving was just about finished. I went to the kitchen to check on the meat.

While I prodded it to see if it was done, Lowcreek poked his head in and said, “Smells amazing.” He was sitting next to Gnouga before, so he probably hadn’t gotten a single bite yet.

“Looks ready.”

“Mind if I take it over?”

“Sure. It’s hot, so be careful! I’ll bring the sauce.”

Lowcreek cheerfully transferred the basket to a large plate and took it to the table, where he sat as far from Gnouga as possible. When I came with the sauce, everyone thanked me. Getting meat away from Gnouga was basically impossible. When I looked over at him, I noticed Sifar stealing bits of meat here and there from the basket he still cradled. Only Sifar could do that.

When I took a seat, Rattloore passed me the potato salad with meat. “Are you getting enough, Ivy?”

“Thank you very much. I’m getting plenty.” Between my filling lunch of pastries and the taste-tests I’d been doing for dinner along the way, I was already pretty full. It didn’t feel like I’d tasted that much, though. Maybe eating three whole fruits was overdoing it.

I dug into my own salad and watched the big platter of it gradually empty. Whoops. I thought I’d made a lot. I was planning to have it for breakfast if there were leftovers…

“Were you hungry?” I asked Sifar, the only person who had already started drinking a mug of after-dinner tea. He’d eaten about as much as Rattloore and Seizerk but finished much faster. I’d heard somewhere that eating fast was bad for digestion, but he seemed fine to me.

“Did you hear what’s going down tomorrow?” he replied.

Tomorrow? He must mean Count Faltoria.

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ve been so busy nailing down our evidence and planning for tomorrow that we didn’t eat lunch. I was starving.”

“I had no idea.”

“Hey, who missed lunch?” Bolorda protested. “You and Gnouga ate plenty.” If Bolorda said it, I believed it. Sifar and Gnouga were cunning, for sure.

“Aww, c’mon. We had less time than usual, so we couldn’t really eat.”

Bolorda was clearly exasperated by Sifar’s whining. He had eaten, even if it might’ve been less than usual. Sifar and Gnouga were pretty big eaters, huh?

Bolorda heaved a sigh and gave up on the argument. That was undoubtedly the best move. It would take real courage to argue with Sifar and win. And…resolve, maybe. Either way, not worth it when you’re tired.

“Thanks for the food. It was delicious, Ivy.”

“Mm, what a meal… Thanks, Ivy.”

People thanked me as they finished eating. They all looked fatigued yet satisfied. At least that’s something!

While I made tea, Marcreek and Rickbert helped me wash up.

“Thank you very much.”

They looked surprised. Had I said something out of line?

“Ivy, you’re such a good kid. What we’re doing is basically nothing.”

“Yeah. Making food for everyone was a huge effort, right?”

It did take a long time to cook for so many, but I was happy that they polished it all off…even if I did feel a twinge at losing tomorrow’s breakfast. Still, it was no big deal. We had plenty of ingredients left. Maybe I’d make a simple soup for breakfast.

“It’s not a problem. Cooking is fun.”

“We definitely appreciate it,” Bolorda chimed in as he brought his dirty dishes over. I thanked him and took the plates off his hands. “You’ve got a unique way with food. Think you’ll ever open a restaurant?”

“…Huh?”

It was a shocking question. A restaurant? Whose? Why?

“Oh? Guess not? I just figured, since you like cooking and you’ve been experimenting, you might’ve thought about opening one.”

“Oooh, no, I couldn’t. I just like cooking.”

“Really? What a waste of talent.”

I appreciated the compliment, but Past Me had taught me everything I knew about cooking. Opening a restaurant would feel like cheating, and I didn’t want that mental burden.

“Hey…sorry, Ivy.” For some reason, Rattloore apologized to me out of nowhere.

My hands, currently busy preparing soup for breakfast, stopped moving. I cocked my head in confusion. Had he done anything worth apologizing for? I couldn’t think of anything.

“Umm, for what?” I asked.

“I tried asking around about slave traders.”

Huh?! Did he think I already agreed to buy a slave? I’d better stop him before this goes any further.

“It turns out…every slave trader in this town was working with the kidnapping organization. They’re all dirty!”

Wow…I still don’t feel great that he did that, but I’m glad he didn’t bring me a slave out of nowhere. Phew…but whoa, every one of the traders here was a bad guy, huh? That’s kind of…impressive.