Chapter 4: A Friend and Soju (3)

“Actually, Mr. Ment helped us gather the money to open the store.”

“What? So Mr. Knoll was planning to open the store without any money?”

“No, it wasn’t like that. Both my husband and I were clueless about running a business and got scammed by some con artists. We lost all the money we had saved from doing mercenary work. Looking back, it was so naive of us to think we could start a business…”

Scams. They’re everywhere, no matter which city you go to. I encountered a few con artists myself when I was opening my restaurant. Of course, those who tried to scam me were shown a bit of hell.

“My husband has a lot of pride. After we got scammed, he said he wanted to give up on his dream. He wanted to stop the mercenary work that kept us apart for long periods and take over his father’s butcher shop. But when that failed due to another scam, he stopped smiling and seemed to lose hope in life. That’s when I had no choice but to accept Mr. Ment’s help.”

Ms. Reine glanced at Mr. Ment as she spoke. There was no affection in her eyes, only gratitude and respect.

That was all there was to it.

“I see, I understand now. Then we should clear up this misunderstanding. How about you both come to our restaurant this evening? We can’t keep hiding the truth any longer. I’ll invite Mr. Knoll too. Let’s resolve this peacefully.”

It was time to showcase my culinary skills to avoid the butcher shop from closing and to preserve our regular supplier.

Dragging a yawning Rurin with me, I went to find Mr. Knoll. Still not fully sober, he reluctantly agreed to come to the restaurant. I returned to the restaurant and started setting up for a reconciliation. I planned to seat them at a four-person table, not the bar.

The dish I prepared was shabu-shabu, something to be enjoyed together.

I began by making a broth. Then I brought out the Belle Ren meat that Mr. Knoll prided himself on. Finally, it was time to use it.

Belle Ren, a monster, had meat perfect for shabu-shabu. It cooks quickly and has a tender texture with a distinctive red color.

The broth was made from anchovies and kelp, and I added Merton mushrooms. These mushrooms enhanced the broth’s umami, an essential ingredient for these people who found anchovies and kelp somewhat foreign.

I tasted the broth. Despite being a basic broth, it had a deep flavor, almost like it had MSG. That’s the greatness of Merton mushrooms.

With the rich Belle Ren meat, I sliced it thinly. The thin slices resembled beef brisket.

“What about the hamburger steak?”

“I’ll make it later. Can you sweep outside the restaurant?”

“I refuse to do such a menial task!”

“Is that so?”

“You’re trying to send me away, aren’t you? I hate being around those humans. They always mock me, calling me a fool, and I hate humans too.”

“So just help me with the work!”

“Ugh, I’m sleepy.”

I handed her a broom, and Rurin reluctantly took it, dragging herself outside to sweep. Seeing a dragon sweeping was quite a sight. However, she soon leaned against the railing and dozed off.

Oh well.

What could I expect from a dragon?

I focused on slicing the Belle Ren meat. The freshness of Mr. Knoll’s meat was indeed excellent.

In this world, we are in the age of freelancers. Despite the distinction between nobles and commoners, there’s no hierarchy between professions. So, a butcher shop like this could grow significantly with a larger distribution network.

Lost in such thoughts while slicing the meat, Ms. Reine and Mr. Ment arrived at the restaurant.

“Is this where you run your restaurant?”

“Mr. Ment, despite its appearance, the food here is incomparable to that other restaurant. If my husband wasn’t a regular, I would’ve brought him here. It’s no wonder he misunderstood… Secrets are so hard to keep. I can’t believe it came to this.”

“It’s understandable. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right. Please, take a seat.”

I led them to the table. Just then, Mr. Knoll arrived.

“You said you’d look into Reine, and now you’re dragging me to the restaurant! What’s going on?”

Mr. Knoll, still not fully sober, staggered a bit as he saw Reine and Mr. Ment. Suddenly, he seemed to gather strength and rushed toward Mr. Ment.

“You bastard! How dare you touch Reine?”

“Wait a minute, Mr. Knoll.”

“Wait for what? You said you’d find out what’s going on, and now you’ve brought them together like this?”

“Honey, it’s not what you think!”

“What do you mean it’s not? Why did you call me here? To break up with me? This is insane. Fine, I’ll kill everyone!”

Mr. Knoll, still under the influence of alcohol, couldn’t contain his rage.

“Mr. Ment lent us money to open the store, and I met with him monthly to repay the debt! Calm down, honey!”

“What?”

Mr. Knoll blinked, looking between the two.

“You know how you are. If you knew Mr. Ment lent us most of his life savings, would you have opened the store? You wouldn’t have accepted the money, no matter what! So, I had no choice but to keep it a secret.”

Ms. Reine’s eyes filled with tears.

“What?”

Mr. Knoll looked at Mr. Ment in confusion.

“Wait, Reine, didn’t you say the lord’s castle caught the culprits and returned the money? You said that!”

“You were mentally exhausted, and you believed it. But realistically, getting the money back was impossible.”

“How could this be…”

Mr. Ment nodded, and Mr. Knoll sank to the ground in disbelief.

“You saved my life. How could I not help a friend find happiness? Even if it meant we couldn’t see each other often, or drink together, I had to help. I’m sorry for deceiving you. But I knew you wouldn’t accept the money if you knew the truth. After lying once, it became harder to confess as time went on.”

“You guys…”

Ms. Reine, teary-eyed, added.

“You were so depressed, acting like you might kill yourself. I was scared, so I had to accept Mr. Ment’s help. At first, he even said we didn’t have to repay him, but that’s ridiculous! So, I met with him every month to repay him bit by bit. How could you misunderstand that?”

Mr. Knoll was speechless. I stepped in to help him to a chair. He muttered weakly.

“Not an affair, but… You lent me your life savings? To someone like me? How could you do that? Just visiting often would have been enough.”

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch you fall apart. I still remember the day you pushed me out of the way and took that sword blow for me. We wouldn’t have spent ten years apart if you weren’t so proud! I had no plans to marry and intended to continue as a mercenary, so I didn’t need the money. I still think it was the right decision.”

“…”

Mr. Knoll said nothing. It seemed he wouldn’t be talking about returning the money and closing the store anymore.

“Besides, you’ve repaid all the money over the past ten years! So don’t even think about returning it now. Don’t talk about closing the store, honey.”

Wham!

Mr. Knoll slammed his fist on the table, startling Ms. Reine.

“How could I have doubted you? Damn it, what a fool I am!”

Luckily, he wasn’t venting his anger on anyone else. It was self-directed. I intervened.

“Everyone, let’s calm down and try this dish, okay?”

I placed the boiling pot on the table and added three pieces of Belle Ren meat. The meat cooked quickly in the bubbling broth.

I served each of them a piece.

“Dip it in the sauce and try it.”

Though puzzled, they couldn’t refuse the meticulously prepared dish and brought the meat to their mouths.

“Oh.”

“It’s delicious.”

“It’s amazing, Mr. El.”

“Isn’t it?”

I took a moment before speaking.

“This was made with the meat from Mr. Knoll’s butcher shop. Please enjoy and make peace.”

I left them to their meal and stepped away. The pot continued to boil.

There was silence for a moment.

“You still have a good eye for meat. This is excellent.”

“Really? No one can match my skills!”

Mr. Ment’s words broke the silence, and conversation began to flow. Mr. Knoll sipped the steaming broth, and the atmosphere started to calm.

“Hey! Bring some soju! This calls for a drink. My friend needs to taste it too.”

Mr. Knoll called out to me. This was indeed the perfect occasion for soju. I couldn’t help but smile as I brought it over.

As they drank, Mr. Knoll’s eyes grew moist. It felt like something was about to happen.

“You bastard… Thank you. Thank you so much! Damn it, why is this smoke so hot? Hey, El! Do something about this smoke! It’s making me cry!”

“How is it the pot’s fault? Everyone else is fine.”

“Shut up!”

Mr. Knoll drank the broth and then clinked bottles with Mr. Ment.

Seeing this, Ms. Reine also sipped the broth. It seemed the misunderstanding had been

cleared up.

For the first time in a while, the restaurant was bustling.

It was a good sign. This meant my favorite butcher shop wouldn’t close. All in all, it turned out well.