Chapter 2: A Friend and Soju (1)

After being recognized for my cooking, I started receiving a variety of meats from Knoll’s butcher shop. He even goes out of his way to find hard-to-get cuts.

Especially getting the specific cuts I want has been a huge benefit. Sometimes I use offal parts that aren’t commonly used in this world for my recipes.

But today’s visit was clearly unusual. For one, Knoll was alone, without his wife. Despite their constant bickering, they were inseparable. Plus, Knoll is a man with a strong sense of craftsmanship who wouldn’t leave his shop unattended easily. Considering the timing, his visit was certainly unexpected.

Anyway, the uba belly was ready.

I coated a frying pan with cooking oil. The cooking oil, pepper, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and other basic cooking necessities in my kitchen are all summoned from the modern world. I transfer them to containers from this world to avoid suspicion. No one questions the ingredients themselves.

Since there’s no electricity here, even if I summoned electrical appliances, they’d be useless. Electric magic is for destructive purposes, not for supplying power, and I lack the knowledge to make it work.

To maintain consistency in my restaurant, I didn’t rely on summoned kitchen tools. All the utensils and kitchenware are made from locally sourced metals like iron. The pots and large iron plate are all made-in-fantasy.

Of course, these aren’t common items in this world. They are crafted by a dwarf artisan, making them hard for ordinary people to acquire. But at least they’re made from materials and by people of this world, so they don’t seem out of place.

It would be too strange to have modern items in my restaurant.

Anyway, as I was grilling the uba belly in the usual way, Knoll knocked on the table.

“Hmm, by the way, could you get me some of that clear liquor?”

“You mean soju?”

This was unexpected. Knoll had initially said he didn’t like soju when I first introduced it, but he still asked for it every time he came. Despite claiming that beer was the best, he always sought soju. Beer exists in this world too and is a popular drink. There are also distilled and fruit liquors, though they are expensive.

Another unusual thing was drinking during the day. It’s rare to see someone in this world drinking soju in broad daylight unless something significant happened.

Knoll had been acting strange since he arrived today.

But a customer is a customer, so I brought out a glass bottle of soju for him. Knoll grabbed the bottle and started drinking straight from it.

“This stuff, you know, the more you drink it, the sweeter it gets and makes you forget bad things. It was weird at first, but now I like it. Actually, the more I drink it, the more I like it. Hehehe, just like my wife. The more we’re together, the more I love her.”

“If you love her so much, why are you drinking soju at lunchtime instead of treating her well?”

“Shut up!”

Knoll waved his hand dismissively and continued drinking.

“Are you sure there’s nothing added to this? How does it taste so pleasantly sweet?”

“That’s the charm of this liquor.”

“Hmph.”

The truth is, diluted soju contains a compound called aspartame, which gives it a sweet taste. Distilled soju is difficult to make and expensive. Diluted soju is the best option for large quantities used in the restaurant.

It’s affordable for me to sell and for customers to buy.

Of course, diluted soju is a modern product.

Despite his grumbling, Knoll continued drinking the soju. As I placed the finished pork belly in front of him, he eagerly grabbed a fork.

After taking a bite, he reached for the soju again.

“Ah! I’ve tried the other drinks you gave me, but this soju with this pork belly is just perfect. They go so well together.”

“They’re often called a match made in heaven.”

“Indeed. Damn it! I need to get drunk! Anyway, your cooking is top-notch.”

Uncharacteristically, Knoll praised my cooking while gulping down the soju and pork.

“Knoll, is something wrong?”

He clearly wasn’t acting normal, so I finally asked. Knoll fell silent.

“What’s the matter?”

Despite his gruff demeanor, he’s a man who always ensures the quality of his meat and meets my requirements. His craftsmanship is impeccable. He’s crucial for my restaurant’s operation. Seeing him in this state in the middle of the day was concerning.

Knoll remained silent, continuing to down the soju. After finishing two bottles, he finally started muttering.

“Reine is acting strange. Really strange.”

“You were just saying how much you love her. What’s strange about her?”

“I think she’s cheating on me.”

“What?”

I couldn’t believe it. Reine was the epitome of a devoted wife who, despite scolding Knoll, respected and cared for him deeply. The idea of her cheating was absurd.

“No way. What makes you think that? Did you see it yourself?”

“I never noticed before, but every month! Every month, she goes out for a day. I thought she was just meeting a friend. But recently, I realized she’s been dressing up more on those days, so I followed her. And then, and then!”

“And then?”

“That damn woman! She was meeting one of my old comrades! I wanted to kill them both on the spot, but I love Reine. I can’t live without her! Give me more soju!”

“Oh, Knoll.”

I felt a headache coming on. His old comrade probably referred to someone from his mercenary days.

I’ve heard that sometimes, when you love someone too much and don’t want to lose them, you can lose your cool and your judgment.

It’s human nature, I suppose.

Knoll, who wouldn’t have believed this if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, seemed deeply troubled. But as a third party, I couldn’t believe Reine would do such a thing.

“When did this happen?”

“Last month! And she’s going out again today, too. I’m sure she’s cheating again. Damn it. I’ve been stewing over this for a month, but I can’t take it anymore.”

A month ago, right after Knoll had accepted my cooking. But now was the time to calm him down.

“Are you going to go and kill everyone after drinking?”

“I have to kill them. And then I’ll kill myself!”

“Hold on, hold on. How about I find out what’s really going on? Let me talk to Reine and get to the bottom of this, so just calm down and wait here.”

“Really? You’ll do that?”

Knoll, breathing heavily, looked up at me.

“Who exactly is this man?”

“Damn bastard. He was a comrade I trusted my life to during mercenary work! We fought together, but after I quit, he never visited. Not once! I thought he was just busy, but it turns out he was avoiding me because he was seeing Reine. Damn it!”

“Even so.”

“What do you mean, ‘even so’?”

“Anyway, stay here. I don’t think Reine is that kind of person. Let me investigate, and then you can decide what to do.”

“Really?”

Knoll blinked. Despite thinking Reine was cheating, his deep love for her made him unable to confront her directly. He was usually a tough guy, but this was a side I hadn’t seen before.

Anyway, Reine and Knoll are people I consider friends, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. They’re also regulars.

If this situation goes south, I’ll lose my meat supplier.

So, I need to get to the bottom of this.

There are various ways to approach this.

After asking Knoll where he had seen Reine last month, I sent him home. Then I headed upstairs. There are two rooms on the second floor. One is my sanctuary, my room. Of course, I didn’t need to go there. I forcefully opened the door to the inner room.

Bang!

Despite the loud noise, the huge monster sleeping on the bed didn’t budge.

“Snore… snore…”

Making strange noises while sleeping, I pulled off the blanket. Damn, she’s naked.

“Rurin! You better wake up while I’m still asking nicely.”

“Snore…”

“Wake up, you lazy monster!”

“Snore?”

“What’s with the ‘snore’? The sun has been up for a while, you lazy bum.”

“What do you want?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Get up.”

Rubbing her eyes and yawning, she stretched.

I sighed and started dressing her with the clothes scattered on the floor. She rubbed her eyes as if it was natural for me to wait on her.

“Phew.”

“Stop yawning. Isn’t your kind supposed to not sleep for hundreds of years after sleeping once? You lazy dragon, get to work.”

“Are you mocking us dragons? You insolent human.”

“Then go back home.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then get mocked.”

“I don’t want that either! Why are you acting like this today?”

Her black hair fluttered as she raised her black eyebrows. The waves of black hair instantly revealed that she was a Black Dragon. Black hair is rare in this world, giving it a sense of familiarity from my hometown. Her hair color is something I really like.

“If you polymorph into a human, you have to live with the same rhythms as humans. So, naturally, you need to sleep. Yawn.”

“Just get up.”

I pulled the lower half of the Black Dragon, Rurin,

out from under the blanket. She was dragging herself out, looking ridiculous.

“Why are you doing this today? You told me to stay quiet and sleep!”

“I woke you up because I need your help.”

“Help?”

Finally, she rubbed her eyes again and staggered to her feet.

Black Dragon Rurin.

She’s a young member of the Black Dragon tribe based on the eastern continent. Converting her age to human years is absurd, but in dragon years, she’s practically a kid.

Dragons are known as the kings of monsters and the embodiment of terror for humans in this world.

But to me, they’re different.

The powerful mana I gained after obtaining a dragon heart ten years ago made me fearless even towards dragons.

Of course, the Dragon Lord’s heart, given to me with conditions, made me strong.

Thanks to that heart, I can use magic capable of tearing dragons apart.

I met Rurin during the dragon war caused by that heart.

She’s a dragon without a home, as her lair was destroyed in the war.

Rurin had never been to the human world.

Dragons are born with advanced magical knowledge.

However, the image of dragons knowing everything is from those who have experienced thousands of years.

Dragons with thousands of years in the human world naturally have more experience and knowledge than humans. But Rurin had never experienced the human world. She stayed in the lair until she followed me out after being born.

Her lack of common sense is due to this.

“If there are more humans like you, it’s a disaster for the dragon race. A disaster. How can you withstand eating a dragon heart?”

“Indeed. Even the Dragon Lord was surprised.”

“For your information, my heart isn’t tasty.”

“I’m not eating it. If I eat one more, I might actually explode.”

“Really? Is that so?”

Rurin’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

“When I want to die, I’ll take out my heart, make you eat it, and we’ll die together?”

“Shut up!”