READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 66
The servant closed the door to the restaurant and stepped back for a moment.
After a while, the door opened again, and a line of servants began to enter the restaurant, their hands full.
The number of attendees at the small luncheon feast welcoming the guests was fewer than twenty, even if you combined those from Adobice and Winterhome, but the number of dishes and bowls brought in by the servants surpassed that.
One might think it’s excessive, but the table is a reflection of the host’s dignity.
However, compared to the value of Adobice’s wheat in Iceland and Nepanek’s status, it was clearly lacking in scale.
Yet, it can’t be helped if the guests refuse it.
This was the compromise reached, as Nepanek insisted that the scale of the welcome party be reduced every time they visited for updates, and Alfred stubbornly wished to host the guests.
Still, to the eyes of the common folk, it was definitely an overflowing quantity.
Various dishes made from beast and monster meats, as well as vegetables, prepared and garnished in a multitude of ways; pies and breads of various shapes and sizes; soups and stews; along with fresh vegetables and fruits for palate cleansing; and an array of desserts.
Including a few party foods purely for the eyes, rather than for the meal.
However, the guests from Adobice, especially Nepanek, showed expressions of surprise.
Sensing this, Alfred stood up from his seat and spoke.
“Unlike last time, there have been some changes in the Winterhome kitchen as of late, so Nepanek, you might find this somewhat unfamiliar.”
“Indeed, while there are familiar dishes, there are also several I’ve never seen before. But what kind of changes are we talking about?”
“There was a boy who brought some tension to the previously complacent Winterhome kitchen.”
“A boy?”
Do you mean the boy cook named Karem I mentioned earlier?
Understanding the implication, Alfred nodded.
While a few of Adobice’s guests, recalling past experiences, compared them to the present, Alfred stood at the center of the table, personally serving up the roast pig.
As the clean sound of crisp, dry pigskin cracking emanated, the flesh revealed itself, and it was placed first on the plate of Nepanek, the guest of honor.
The tenderloin and sirloin, valued cuts of the pig.
A beautiful plate carrying meat drizzled with red sauce, softly cooked belly fat fried on the residual heat, along with the golden crust, exuding a fragrant herb aroma.
In the desert where water is scarce, pig meat is a precious commodity that only a few can savor.
Of course, it wasn’t much different for those sitting in the restaurant right now, but this wasn’t important to her.
Among familiar dishes lay a few, or rather extremely foreign ones.
Each was extravagant in presentation, capturing the gaze with a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar appearance.
There were yellow cylindrical bags folded inward that obfuscated their contents.
A thin pancake that was doubled and immersed in sauce, seemingly ablaze with fire?
And the pièce de résistance.
‘Isn’t that cheese?’
‘Did they invent a new type of cheese?’
‘It seems a bit small to be a party decoration.’
A perfectly smooth cylinder with a color reminiscent of pure white marble sat upon a plate, without even a single bump.
For a moment, Nepanek felt a spark of curiosity, but quickly refocused on her own plate.
It was clear she wasn’t worried about her food getting cold.
After all, every plate and bowl on the table was a magic tool.
With the host personally serving, there was no way to leave the plate empty.
It’s also bad manners to put more than one type of food on a single plate.
Nepanek skillfully maneuvered her tableware to dip into the crunchy shell, sirloin, and tenderloin, spreading a bit of the bright red fruit sauce on her bite.
Bite.
“….Huff.”
In an instant, Nepanek suppressed a sound, focusing all her senses.
Objectively, this dish couldn’t possibly be bad.
It’s as if, in the Kingdom of Seophone, one could only admit that meat dishes were excellent: the tender, juicy meat bursting with flavor, and the shell that crumbles but retains all its taste and texture.
However, the first sensation that struck her.
An intense stimulus she had never felt before immediately upon touching her tongue.
“Ugh!?”
“Ugh.”
“Hrghhh!”
One by one, the other Adobice guests displayed similar reactions.
With her hairs standing on end, Nepanek’s ears perked up as she pressed her lips together, finally revealing Alfred’s victorious expression.
“This is a new spice that started trending in Winterhome this winter. Want to give its name a guess?”
“Guh, huh! What is this!? The burning sensation on my tongue! What kind of mistake did I make for something tasteless yet spicy like this—
“Just savor the flavor. It’s not pepper.”
“How does something like this keep making my hands… try to grab more?”
The intense sensation that engulfed her entire tongue.
Specifically, it was five times the spiciness experienced when chewing whole peppercorns?
But unlike pepper, which vanishes in an instant, it was steadily lingering in Nepanek’s mouth now.
And in the midst of it, a mild sweetness faintly creeping in, completely hiding the natural fattiness of the pig while preserving its richness.
The persistent aching pain on her tongue gradually dissipated as the oiliness of the pork began to circulate. After the unfamiliar sensation faded, a fiery feeling and… was that disappointment? washed over her.
Nepanek quickly recalled the flavor that lingered mere moments ago.
The robust flavor of the northern spice entwined with the pork and its skin.
What remained, after removing that, was ultimately the sauce.
“This flavor, I’ve never felt it once throughout the rugged receptions in Iceland. I don’t know what it is, but is it a new spice?”
“When you hear the name, you’ll recognize it too. Fire Witch’s Finger.”
“Huh?”
What on earth does that mean?
For a moment, Nepanek’s mask slipped, revealing a startled expression.
I mean, who wouldn’t be shocked to suddenly find out they were served a poison?
Alfred, who had finally succeeded in getting back at them after continuously being at their mercy, felt very satisfied inside, even if he didn’t show it outwardly.
“Since last winter, when it became known that Fire Witch’s Finger is a type of spice similar to pepper, it’s begun to trend across Coldon regardless of class. This is just a part of it.”
“I’ve never eaten poison even when I was starving! Has the Kingdom of Seophone really been on good terms with Bersengzeto?”
“Surprisingly, it’s not poison. Though overdosing can be dangerous, by that logic, alcohol can be dangerous in excess as well.”
“Even so, alcohol doesn’t set a person’s tongue ablaze for this long!”
Nepanek snapped back.
For the Adobice people, (beer) alcohol is synonymous with water and meals.
That was true for both the lower and upper classes.
Unfazed by her impassioned rebuttal, Alfred pointed a finger at her.
As if suggesting that there might be something more.
“Don’t just focus on your tongue, feel the sensations throughout your body. The cold should be waning a bit, right?”
“Waning? What do you mean – Ah…?”
As Nepanek tried to argue against the strange words, she finally noticed a change in her body.
The unyielding chill of Iceland that no magic tool could dispel.
Because of this, she had worn thick fur clothing indoors, courtesy of Alfred’s consideration.
However, even with that, a slight chill could still be felt, but now the cold was gone.
No, she felt a slight warmth instead.
As she felt the change, gold coins began to tumble down in Nepanek’s mind, like a banker’s fireworks display befitting the new Adobice queen.
Big or small, spices tend to attract money.
Combined with a rapid, intuitive warming effect.
Nepanek realized what Alfred was after.
“Export, and cross-verification?”
“Iceland is rugged, and imports are limited. I’ll be aiming for the next contract renewal, not this one.”
“And in the meantime, this Fire Witch’s Finger will spread beyond Iceland to other regions, and then someone will have taken a position ahead of you.”
“I knew you’d understand!”
Unlike the previous spicy spices, it started with a strong kick, transitioning into a clean yet distinct heat, topped with a subtle yet enjoyable sweetness rising from beneath.
Above all else, a quick warming effect which the user can feel firsthand.
Nepanek could sense the scent of gold wafting in the air.
But before that.
“I will make sure to collect my due for being put to work.”
*
*
*
“You’ve done it again, haven’t you, brat?”
“Huh? Are you suddenly saying that?”
“So you’re saying it wasn’t you who dealt a spicy double whammy to the guests?”
“This is slander. I only made desserts.”
Karem felt genuinely wronged.
After finishing the work in the kitchen, he had to jump into the fray among the servants to see how the meal went and ended up hearing that.
Fortunately, however, the guests were enjoying their meal.
Initially aghast at the use of Fire Witch’s Finger powder, Karem was further horrified at the mention that it was Alfred’s order, yet there was nothing he could do.
He might as well make the requested desserts.
With a completely indifferent expression, Karem shrugged at the absurdity, and Catherine raised a finger to point at the three desserts placed on the plate by Mary.
“So, these desserts I’ve never seen before. Kid, are these your creations?”
“They’re called Crepe Cake, Rolled Crepe, and Crepes Suzette, respectively.”
When it comes to important occasions, one must stick to what they’re confident about rather than trying to challenge.
So in that vein, Karem chose a trio of crepes, which required a bit of effort but were otherwise very straightforward.
And fortunately, the boy had plenty of ingredients and was confident enough in his skills.
“The failed dishes were enjoyed by the cooks.”
“So how do these taste? From the looks of it, those two must be whipping cream for sure.”
“The taste is—”
Just as Karem opened his mouth, a servant approached him and cleared his throat to grab their attention.
“Lady Nepanek requests to borrow the chef for a moment.”
“The guest? What’s the reason?”
“She mentioned there were items she’s never seen before and would like an explanation.”
“Hmm, well, Mary is here too, so it should be fine. Go ahead.”
As Catherine waved him off with a dismissive gesture that lacked sincerity, the boy immediately followed the servant to stand next to Nepanek.
A piece of Crepe Cake, a piece of Rolled Crepe, and a piece of Crepes Suzette.
Her plate looked exactly like Catherine’s from just moments earlier.
Seeing Nepanek, whose arrogance was tinged with curiosity, Karem greeted her.
“Greetings, Lady Nepanek. I am Karem, Sir Atanitas’s personal chef.”
“So you’re claiming you made all three of these?”
“That is correct. Although I did receive a bit of help in making the crepes.”
“Hmmm.”
Being slightly shorter than Nepanek, she looked at the boy with a hint of suspicion.
Though she had heard it directly from Alfred.
Even so, wasn’t he too young to have done so much work?
Deciding to investigate for herself, Nepanek asked.
“First, what’s the outer layer and the layers in this cake, and what about the white filling inside the roll?”