3 bar menu

Volume 4 Extra 1.4

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Translator: Reflet

Editor: Weasalopes

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To be fair, Fum was rather uncomfortable being on the Forre king’s lap as he doted on her, while Lime relaxing on the queen’s lap had a very different experience.

「Besides, the workshop owner is already quite testing, and the octogals are absolutely rude creatures, but while it would be normal to take offense, I cannot exactly call myself queen if every little thing like this sets me off.」

「Precisely. I cannot tell you how many times we have been trash talked in the middle of banquets. Surely even you can see that, yes？」

Everyone just grimaced at the two rulers’ blunt opinions. It was especially sucky that they didn’t have the guts to object to anything that was said.

「At any rate, Lime, you are so cute. I would have wanted such a great daughter as you.」

「Aye, my children and grandchildren were all boys, and they all resembled me, growing into strong-muscled, broad-shouldered men. It has been quite stagnant as a result.」

Layla, the mother of both children currently being doted on by both queen and king, made a very inconvenienced face. While neither of them were the kinds of kids to grow arrogant as a result of attention, as a mother she had many anxieties about this.

It wasn’t like the queen and king were the only ones who had pampered Fum and Lime before. The king of Farlane and his consorts who would occasionally come along with him had a tendency to dote over theyounger children of Azuma Workshop. In Lime’s case, for instance, Aearis, the elves of Ortem village, and even the forest giants pampered her, so this mother felt troubled indeed.

Thankfully, Fum and Lime both understood that while they were being treated with more privilege than others, this treatment was not to be taken for granted. Lime enjoyed this a bit more than Fum, but still would never ask selfish things or become aggressive as a result. In fact, for a nearly six year old child, she was firm enough to decline anyone’s attempt at pampering her during work, no matter how elite they were.

「Now that every country’s unusual state of affairs has been revealed, can I bring the food over？」

「Yeah, please do.」

Layotte made an apologetic nod, realizing that his circumstances had caused everyone to wait.

「Haru, what’s for dinner？」

As Haruna went to go get the food, Mio called out. Since Teres and the others had asked her, Tatsuya, and Makoto to entertain the royal guests, she had not been involved in today’s food.

「Since we’re all gathered here, I figured I may as well try combining the harvests of the mountains and sea of Farlane, the scorching desert of Darl, and the mountain caves of Forre into a country-themed three course meal.」

「Wow, that sounds great.」

「I get the feeling that liquor would go fantastic with this.」

Tatsuya and Makoto’s hearts raced with excitement when they heard Haruna’s quick outline. The king of Forre also could be seen with his eyes glistening when the word liquor, but everyone chose to ignore that.

「Wow, this is quite something……」

King Gout, no doubt accustomed to luxurious food, let out an exclamation. The food, all lined up on the table with no pretense as to how much anyone could eat, could be summed up in one word: magnificent.

The salad, which had plenty of fresh vegetables from Farlane, was a mix of sand manta chunks and chopped sausage from Forre. The soup included a sand shark fin base, while the appetizers consisted of wyvern sasami bang bang ji ripoff, desert crab with eggs, rock worm meatballs, edamame, and other little things to pile onto the plate.

Other things included tempura using ingredients from the three kingdoms, chawanmushi filled with ingredients, typical dishes like jatte, bulfch, and even grilled meat/vegetables. However, the dish that really stole the show was probably the behemoth sirloin steak, roasted only with salt and pepper with no fancy additions.

This menu was filled with the kind of food that even royals had a hard time acquiring, or perhaps never had at all, with the rarest kind of ingredients and the most magnificent quantity and quality you ever laid your eyes on. There was boiled barley and rice mixed in here and there, perhaps a form of self-expression for the Japanese crew.

「Alright, eat to your hearts’ content.」

「Fabulous, as always.」

「I found some good ingredients in Forre too, so I did my best.」

Layotte smiled awkwardly at Haruna with her chest puffed out as he said his itadakimasu, chopsticks in hand. He was truly one with the customs here in the workshop. Incidentally, the chopsticks he was using were personalized, high quality black painted sticks that Hiroshi gave him after practice one day.

「Hm, you are quite good with those stick things, lad.」

「Neither I nor my sons can handle those. Undoubtedly, we would crush such delicate objects.」

The queen and Forre king let out their admiration at the members of Azuma Workshop, who pretty much ate everything there with chopsticks.

「Once you get used to it, it’s easier than eating with a knife or a fork.」

「Is that actually true？」

「Yeah. Although you still have to practice a good amount to pick up small things like this.」

Layotte said, pinching one of the beans in the salad and showing them. Lime did the same with one of her beans, a smug look on her face.

「Aye, truly dexterous, you are.」

「Yeah, there’s also an increasing number of knights who can use these. Undoubtedly, these will become the new eating utensils in Wulls within a few years or less.」

The queen nodded again in an impressed manner at Layotte as he broke his udeyamame jatte into smaller pieces.

「I’m guessing those chopstick things won’t sprout too well in Forre. After all, from our cultural perspective, why waste time picking at every small piece in front of us when we can just quickly end it by eating with our hands?」

「Then I guess udon or soba would be difficult for you.」

「Udon? Soba? What kind of food are those？」

「Noodles in hot soup. You could attempt to eat with a spoon or fork, but considering the ingredients, it would be most efficient to use chopsticks, I think.」

「So the noodles are hot, and they’re in soup. Indeed, it does not sound like the kind of meal we want to just be sticking our hands into.」

The Forre king appeared to be disappointed at Layotte’s explanation, to which everyone just grimaced. As per his bearlike appearance, this king truly was a bit too magnificent.

「But wow, are Fum and Lime eating stuff like this every day？」

「Well, no, ma’am, definitely not every day, and even this kind of involved food only comes out when Boss Man or Haruna-san is here and when a switch suddenly flips in them.」

「No need to be all stiff when you talk to me, little lady.」

「N-N-N-N-No I can’t do that！！」

The queen encouraged Fum to take it easy, who immediately declined with all her might, which appeared to truly disappoint the queen.

「Well, we do however eat food made from monsters every day.」

「Yes, because a certain someone feels the need to go out day in and day out and so graciously take down monsters to provide them as food for us……」

Tatsuya and Makoto’s eyes immediately swiveled to the side as Nora and Teres made comments concerning their everyday food. The two of them generally had little to do other than hunting, taking on punitive quests and bringing back home the parts that were not requested by the quest giver in order to have Hiroshi and the other two process it.

As a result, the monster ingredients were gradually accumulating in storage, which was still getting full despite the workshop’s efforts to circulate some of it through avenues like the Adventurer’s Association, so the workshop now had to have its members and Ortem partners eat the surplus.

Thanks to this, Teres’s cooking skill was increasing, as all she had to do was cook the ingredients without adding too much seasoning. Still, every time Teres made such meals, she got weird reactions, so her overall lifestyle as a cook was in the negatives.

「And when you say monster ingredients, you must be talking about a plethora of varieties. If the magician over there takes the monsters down, I have no doubt they would be classified as high class ingredients.」

「Yes indeed. At least set the bar under troll birds, I say. We don’t even know what to use the money for from selling them, or so they say, but if that’s the case then I’d really like them to stop pushing the aftermath onto us and deal with it themselves. Having to deal with this luxury every day above my skill level is strangely humiliating, both as a craftsman and as a worker.」

「Wow, this bulfch really goes with sake.」

「Yep, you said it. Chugging down a glass of sake with bulfch at the side is true happiness……」

After Nora responded to the queen’s command with a jab at them, Tatsuya and Makoto quickly switched their tactic to discussing sake and food, to which the Forre king caught on and almost pushed the dwarf killer liquor on them, but was scolded by Haruna. Mio, who had kept out of the conversation this whole time, had an exceedingly broad smile on her face as she ate.

「At any rate, it seems there will be no issue with leaving my former subordinate in charge. Let us accept the workshop master’s request, shall we not, King Gout？」

「Indeed. Though I am a bit peeved at the fact that they eat better than we do, it is not right to have just Farlane handling everything.」

「So on that note, Layla, my former subordinate will oversee the workshop in Darl, and acquaintances of King Gout will administer the workshop and branch office in Forre. No problems, I trust?」

Layla nodded silently at the two royals. She was already beginning to have a tough time monitoring everything herself. Still, unable to just hire any person out there, she had no reason to complain to her superior and benefactor, Hiroshi. Teres and the other girls also said many things, but fully trusted Hiroshi and his friends, so they also had no intention of disobeying.

「Then from here out, it’s a no-holds-barred party. If there’s any food that goes with booze, I ask that you pile them on. I will pay however much that I have to.」

「Aye. As a man of Forre, I cannot simply go without conquering every unknown drink.」

And just like that, the queen and king become cheerful, filled with the taste of gourmet food and the drink to match before satisfactorily going on their way back.

「Now I have to get back too so that I can finish the selection. I might actually bring the candidates over tomorrow.」

「Yeah, thanks a lot for yer hard work, mate.」

Encouraged by Hiroshi, Layotte smiled awkwardly as he nodded. At this time, Layotte had completely forgotten to order Rainy’s equipment, to which he came face to face with her the next day and was forced to remember.

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