Chapter 426: Inquiry
We started with the card game that was our pretext for this gathering while continuing our conversation.
「Well, the kingdom that knew En’s ability is at odds with Shrum, so nothing’s gonna happen right away. 」
Dinosso commented while drawing a card. His face twisted ー seems like he got a bad card.
「Where? 」
「Like I’d tell you. 」
「That’s harsh. 」
Dinosso kept mum even when I asked him nicely.
「That would be a relief. 」
「Yeah, pretty much. 」
Butler and Retze spoke briefly. Both drew cards without taking their eyes off their hands.
Daifuku, who was sprawled on Retze’s lap, twitched his ears. This cat almost always climbs onto Ash or Retze’s laps.
Daifuku swished his tail in front of Retze’s hands as if trying to get in his way, but the guy didn’t even bat an eye. Oh well, I guess that’s obvious since he doesn’t See what’s going on.
「That kingdom is presently preoccupied with succession strife and conflicts and likely has no attention to spare for other matters.」
Butler poured me some wine while I decided which card to discard.
I pulled one card and threw it. I’m bothered by both the topic and Daifuku.
「Ah, I heard there have been quite a few suspicious deaths? 」
Dinosso heaved a sigh as he turned his gaze towards Butler.
「I wonder? 」
Butler’s signature calm smile was still plastered on his face despite the unsettling topic.
「There’s a chance the entire royal family might be wiped out, given the situation in the Central Plains. 」
Dinosso glanced at Butler with half-lidded eyes brimming with suspicion.
Ooooh, seems like something that Butler might do. Hey, Butler, you’re up to something, aren’t you? What did you do?
「Done. 」
Retze declared.
「Ack, that’s quick! 」
「You’re getting distracted by unnecessary stuff. You’re gonna get caught off guard at this rate. 」
Retze pinched my cheek.
「 【Storage】, right? 【Teleportation】, right? And you’re from the same place as the Heroes, right? The spirits are at your beck and call, right? 」
Dinosso folded his fingers with each remark.
「The factors that make Jean-sama a target are truly manifold. 」
Butler said with a slight bow.
「This fellow here is being a responsible person and currently cleaning after my mess. I’m fine as long as you guys are careful around En. I still have the role of father to fulfill, after all. 」
Dinosso flicked the incomplete hand of cards towards the pile in the middle of the table.
Responsibility… Hey, don’t tell me, that incident before when he said he was ‘sold out’, was he referring to their hideout being exposed?
「Adults are so… 」
Why is it that I’m surrounded by bloodthirsty folks?
「I’m a bit hungry now, what’s on the menu today? 」
Retze, you know which specific kingdom it is, right!? And you just changed the subject, didn’t you!?
「Nabeyaki udon. You guys play first, I’ll serve it in a bit. 」
I stood up from the table and went to the stove.
Retze said he was hungry, but I doubt it. He ate a lot of finger foods just earlier.
I sliced the mixed vegetable tempura into half and added more spinach. I’m topping the udon with shrimp tempura, so it’d be quite a huge serving.
The single-person clay pot has a slightly more westernized style compared to the Japanese clay pots in my memory. I added some broth and mirin before putting the chewy udon noodles in, then topped them with the pre-prepped ingredients before closing the lid. After that was a bit of waiting time.
I also cleared a bit of space in the center of the toppings then dropped an egg gently on my share, but only mine. I don’t like my whites running all over the broth and mixing with it.
「Here you go. It’s hot so be careful, okay. 」
I reminded them without thinking, only to realize that ever since I came here, I already encountered a lot of dishes where they just throw the whole plate into the oven. It’s not like the nabeyaki udon was especially hot or anything, I just said it out of habit.
I placed a pot each on their respective side tables. A cloud of steam rose when the lid was opened, revealing a feast of colors ー the yellow tempura, orange carrots, brown shiitake mushrooms with star-shaped cuts on their hoods and the green spinach. The spring onions had already blended well into the soup, peeking here and there out.
「Ooh, looks quite the feast. 」
Dinosso pulled the clay pot towards him to make it easier to eat. It seemed hot, but Dinosso was unfazed, probably because his dragon-type spirit did something about it. Said dragon is still shy as ever, with his head turned away and his tail wrapped around Dinosso’s arm.
「This is truly splendid, reflecting the effort you’ve exerted once again, Jean-sama. Are these perhaps cut in a floral fashion? 」
Butler seemed particularly interested in the decoratively cut carrots. Now I’m wondering why his monocle doesn’t fog up.
「You’re really skilled and meticulous , huh. Thanks for the food. 」
Retze took a pair of chopsticks after commenting. It’s noodles, so I also prepared chopsticks!
I think Retze is actually the skilled and meticulous one.
「This is great. Tastes amazing. 」
Dinosso, who recently got better with the chopsticks too, also expressed his opinion. Is being dextrous a requirement for Gold-ranks? Ah, wait, never mind, Dean prefers a fork.
「This mushroom is so flavorful. 」
Retze examined the piece of shiitake mushroom that he just bit closely.
Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms not only absorb flavor well, they also release a lot of umami into the broth as well. It’s better not to overdo it or else the flavor might become a bit too intense, that’s how they are.
I poked the soft-boiled egg yolk with the tip of my chopsticks and split it, letting it cover the noodles a bit, then I blew on it a bit before taking a bite. The soft spring onion bits are delicious.
「Come to think of it, how is your business faring, Jean-sama? 」
「Bfft. 」
I just let down my guard, and here comes Butler nonchalantly dealing that blow without a change in his tone!
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Thanks. 🖖