READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 68
There’s a saying that a beauty can turn even plain water into a work of art.
And among the Dark Elves living in the desert, there were many stunning individuals, regardless of gender.
Adobice was a multi-racial nation with a high proportion of Dark Elves.
Naturally, there were many Dark Elves in the delegation.
And true to their elven nature, they were all beautiful, with Nepanek at the pinnacle of that beauty.
A girl dashing across the sands of the desert, radiating vibrant charm.
Yet, despite her lively demeanor, there was a languor that came with time.
Her skin glowed with a light rarely seen in Europa.
When Nepanek expressed her displeasure with merely puffed cheeks, her honest complaint alone could draw the attention of others.
But that was completely irrelevant.
Karem’s heartbeat didn’t even flinch.
His heart was as steadfast as a stone statue.
“Then, I shall take my leave. Excuse me.”
After all, the ones he saw every day were Catherine and Mary.
It was only natural to exude a killer intent when one’s realm (work) is intruded upon.
As the protector of flour, he was obsessed with bread, milk, butter, and jam.
Even the expressionless Mary, if measured against beauty, was on par with Nepanek.
Yet, the contractor, Catherine, held an even higher position of beauty, possessing a simple expression and actions that still occasionally overloaded Karem’s heart with her charm and innocence.
In such a case, it was difficult for Karem to be distracted by Nepanek’s looks.
His eyes were perhaps raised quite too high.
His mind was unyielding like an unmovable Moai statue.
Karem ignored the piercing gaze from behind and returned to his place.
And Karem squeezed his eyes shut.
He saw Catherine, innocently eating a cake with cream smeared on her mouth, and he briefly counted the few around him.
“Seems the explanation has ended, but why are your eyes closed?”
“No, I was just regaining the balance of my wavering heart.”
“Huh? What reason do you have to waver?”
“I just received a job offer a moment ago.”
“What?”
What did I just hear?
Catherine’s head turned sharply, startled like a cat by a sudden noise, as she pondered what to eat next while looking at the competitors around her.
A seasoned adventurer, renowned even before becoming a Grand Wizard, Catherine had certainly received job offers from other nobles on occasion.
But no, this wasn’t just a job offer.
In plain words, it was a poaching!
The most underhanded yet unstoppable act of offering overwhelming wealth to attract a desirable talent!
Catherine waved her hand in the air, unconcerned about Mary approaching with a handkerchief, as she grabbed Karem by both shoulders and shook him.
“Tell me, you haven’t fallen for the wicked desert scoundrel’s glittering temptation, have you? Answer me!”
“No, you’ve been calling them guests this whole time, right? People are watching!”
“Do you really think they have time to care about this?”
Catherine was right.
Though they are elves known for their keen hearing, that only applies when the situation allows.
Those at the table, from Adobice to Winterhome, were either enchanted by the sensation they were tasting for the first time in their lives or busy chatting about it.
The conversation between Catherine and Karem, spoken in a firm tone yet not raised voice, went unheard amidst the chaotic background of the table.
While Nepanek continued to look at Karem with a pout, she couldn’t grasp what Catherine and Karem were talking about.
She merely sensed it was related to the proposal she had given moments ago.
Whether the contractor and partner cared or not.
Mary watched the situation for a bit before offering the handkerchief.
“Contractor. You have cream on your cheek.”
“Huh? Ah, no wonder it feels so strange.”
Karem, hastily spewing excuses he didn’t truly understand, sighed absentmindedly as Catherine seemed to momentarily calm down.
“It’s not over yet.”
“Ah, please. I’m not going!”
And Catherine bombarded Karem with questions until the banquet ended, only calming after he repeated the reminder of the contract three times.
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“Is it just about cream, sugar, and adequate labor?”
“Can cream transform into this texture with just that? Are you kidding me?”
“Of course.”
The boy, Karem, nodded.
The chefs from Adobice and Winterhome were baffled, but there was nothing they could do. After all, they witnessed the process of whipped cream being made right in front of their eyes.
The source technology.
So-called secret techniques have always been precious in any era.
From how to process the ingredients, combination methods, and ratios, even mere hand movements could be seen as secrets. Recipes for cooking were no exception.
Ultimately, to have a secret meant having everything belonging to the one who possessed it.
In that sense, Karem’s whipped cream certainly counted as a secret in the eyes of the surrounding chefs.
In this era, even the method of chopping with a knife was something someone would pay for.
Whipped cream that changes the form and texture of the raw ingredients was even more bizarre in their views if it was not considered source technology.
For these chefs, whipped cream would go on to be seen as a significant technique in culinary history.
At that moment, Karem showcased various dishes he could present along with their recipes.
The chefs of Winterhome, accustomed to this for a while now, adapted and praised him.
“Chef Karem. You are a god!” Is that a bit blasphemous? Who cares!
The chefs from Adobice were left dumbfounded.
So they asked.
“Is it really okay to just reveal this so easily?”
“What? Wasn’t it a trade from the beginning? You guys tossed in your own recipes with spices and everything.”
“No, um.”
The Dark Elf chefs from Adobice scratched their heads and glanced at each other.
Of course, when it came to secrets, they were technically on the possible side.
But how many people would hand over their own secret so willingly for a price? Even if they did, it would be customary to hand it off in a convoluted and hard-to-understand manner.
And the receivers would rarely harbor complaints.
After all, a secret was inherently just like that, right? Even if one were to be compensated, who would freely give away something that was essentially their all? Just avoiding scams would be fortunate.
In that sense, Karem appeared to the Dark Elves, who lived longer than other races, as a peculiar one.
The Dark Elves were confused by the unprecedented experience.
Was he far too altruistic? Or was he simply innocent due to his youth?
The Dark Elven chefs exchanged glances, momentarily setting aside their honed political skills learned back in their homeland’s palace.
“….Are you perhaps interested in dishes from other regions besides Adobice?”
“Oh, from other regions?”
“Yes. It’s the food of the tribes from the Arcadia Wastes—”
After all, the reason a great nation is considered great is due to its broad-mindedness.
These individuals, proudly identifying as Dark Elves from Adobice, were so young yet exerted their talents and were willing to share them without pretense. How could one not find that admirable?
Determined to showcase the generosity of a great nation, the Dark Elves resolved to do just that.
“I’m interested, but first, shouldn’t we make the whipped cream ourselves and test it? After that, we can discuss what to share because it’ll look better if it’s reciprocal.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s not wrong. Before this sense fades, there are a few things I want to try.”
“Do you have leftover butter cake and syrup? I have a few things I want to try.”
“Here they are. I’ll have to make the syrup now.”
The chefs from Adobice and Winterhome began to scatter in groups.
Finally having time to breathe, Karem let out a deep sigh and turned to the Dark Elf girl, Nepanek, who was observing him intently.
“Excuse me, Nepanek. As an envoy of the Kingdom of Adobice, aren’t you terribly busy?”
“How many here have the right to directly meet me in this remote Iceland?”
A counter-question was returned.
This meant that those unworthy would remain at a subordinate level below.
Of course, there was still plenty of work to do.
Perhaps that was why.
While Catherine’s eyes were lit up with determination, it seemed she had an understanding of that gap and kept making proposals to Nepanek.
“This is the nth time I’ve said it—”
“Still, how about reconsidering? With such talent at a young age, think about the future. Wouldn’t you be better suited for a larger pond than this backwater Europa?”
“Hmm, a larger pond.”
Of course, he wasn’t exempt from wanting more.
More money, better cooking tools.
Better ingredients and spices.
A better kitchen and more people to command.
But let’s be honest.
Even for more money, there wasn’t much he could spend it on right now.
Cooking tools?
When he went to fetch the copper grill and various other things he ordered last winter, Catherine had handed it back and refunded the advance payment.
Ingredients and spices?
Among what came into Winterhome, the majority weren’t imports.
Even those were goods in good condition comparable to items in modern supermarkets.
There couldn’t be a big rogue capable of messing with the quality in a grand noble’s kitchen.
Even if there were, wouldn’t they just end up getting the bread dipped in blood on the quick meal after being ambushed?
A better kitchen? More people under him?
He already had Mary, the house fairy. Did he really need a better facility and more people to command?
No, before that, Mary wouldn’t allow other servants or workers into the Wizard’s Tower without a fight.
As Karem’s expression initially brightened then began to morph into a strange negative one, Nepanek, by contrast, grew flustered and asked.
“What? Is it that at your young age, you have no ambitions at all? If you wanted, I could even attach an oasis to a prime location!”
“Hmm, an oasis with a territory…”
Due to the sun god Sobek’s grace, while the Kingdom of Adobice’s territory was mainly desert, such water scarcity was rare.
Nonetheless, because most of Adobice’s territory was desert, water was even scarcer, and oases were treasured.
Water is the source of life.
Where there is water, plants grow, animals gather, and people gather, leading to the formation of villages.
Offering an oasis meant granting dominion over the territory surrounding it.
“It doesn’t seem attractive after all.”
“Huh? Why on earth not!”
Of course, real estate held value that could awaken even the dead.
In an earlier life, Karem would gladly kneel and lick Nepanek’s feet until they smelled like minty cleansing scents.
But what about in this reincarnation?
There was a saying that great power comes with great responsibility.
If at this age he were to acquire a territory with one of the best prized lands in the desert—an oasis—it was inevitable that jealousy would arise.
Even if he accepted, he might end up spending more time in Nepanek’s kitchen or the palace’s kitchen than at the oasis, making it meaningless to hold that territory.
Most importantly, what would accepting Nepanek’s proposal mean?
It meant abandoning all he had built up until now and starting from scratch again.
Karem had no confidence he could recreate the current outcomes.
Even if he wiped away all the past benefits, the people he met, the benefactors…
The bonds forged throughout the years weighed heavily on him.
“Thank you for the great offer, but I must respectfully decline.”