Archmage's Restaurant - Chapter 44: The Northern Forest and Chestnuts (5)
“Rurin, you need to use a weaker Fireball when you’re cooking! What was that?”
The remains of the scrambled eggs, now just ash, sat on top of my head. There were some on Rurin’s head too.
“Hehehe! You look funny!”
“And you don’t?”
“But, El, this is strange. I did use a weaker Fireball, but it was stronger than usual.”
“Huh?”
Rurin tilted her head, genuinely puzzled, as if she found it odd herself. She even examined her hand, which had cast the spell.
“Stronger than usual?”
I had a hunch about what might have caused this. The dragon orbs. Could it be that the effects of the dragon orbs were already manifesting? As expected of a dragon, she’s absorbing mana incredibly fast.
“Looks like you’ve absorbed a lot of mana already.”
“Is that it? As expected, I’m amazing!”
“Yeah, it’s great that you’re amazing, but what about this mess?”
I pointed to the chaotic state of the kitchen, but Rurin was beaming with pride, despite the situation.
“I didn’t realize my mana had become stronger, so it’s not my fault!”
She declared it proudly.
“Don’t get too cocky. Clean this up.”
I couldn’t help but sigh as I began cleaning up the frying pan. Unfortunately, the cooking was over. The Pallenque eggs we brought back from the forest were all used up.
Although it was a failure, there was one positive takeaway: Rurin was getting better at following recipes. Controlling the fire is something she’ll get used to as she adjusts to her newfound strength.
This means I can’t give up on my ambition to teach Rurin to cook simple dishes.
With that in mind, I handed Rurin a cup of instant ramen.
“A bet’s a bet. So at least make this. Anyone can do it.”
“Is this the same thing we ate in the underground? Hmm, it looks a bit different. It’s not that spicy dish from before, is it?”
Rurin frowned, recalling the spicy Buldak Bokkeummyun from before.
“No, this is the mild one we had underground.”
“Really?”
“Yep, you just tear it open and pour boiling water up to this line. Then wait a bit, and it’s done.”
“Oh, that’s simple. Too easy! This is nothing for someone like me.”
Rurin confidently started boiling water. Then she carefully poured it into the cup. Despite her bravado, she was cautious when pouring the water.
If she couldn’t even manage instant ramen, that would be a disaster.
The cup filled with boiling water, steam rising from it. Thankfully, the ramen turned out fine. What a relief.
Rurin and I sat at the table, slurping down the ramen. Instant ramen can be quite satisfying when you haven’t had it in a while.
“It’s good. But that bonin from earlier was even better.”
“I thought you said it was bad? Didn’t you insist it was awful?”
“I never said that. You must have misheard.”
“What? You don’t want the ramen?”
“I made this, so that doesn’t count! Do you not want to eat it?”
Rurin attempted a counterattack as she sipped the ramen broth. Of course, it didn’t take long for her to be met with a gentle tap on the temple.
“Ow! That hurt!”
Then the familiar lines of banter were exchanged. Peace is indeed a wonderful thing.
***
Elena entered the restaurant hesitantly. She’s always like this. The reason? Rurin. Whenever Rurin isn’t in the restaurant, Elena’s demeanor is much more natural.
But when Rurin is sprawled out asleep at a table, as she is now, Elena becomes extremely nervous. Seeing this, you’d think you were looking at a pitiful elf.
“Hello, El.”
“Welcome.”
Elena nodded politely and took a seat at the bar.
“Grooool!”
But she flinched at every little sound Rurin made in her sleep. Yet she still comes to the restaurant regularly, which is a mystery to me.
If she’s that scared, wouldn’t it make sense to avoid the place? I appreciate that she likes my cooking that much, though. Then again, our restaurant is probably the only place she can get such a variety of vegetable dishes.
Still, I wish she could be a bit more confident. Rurin isn’t the type of dragon to harm an elf unless provoked.
In fact, if anything, Rurin is quite friendly towards Elena. This is likely because Elena is always so polite to Rurin.
“Could I have that vegetable dish again…?”
“Grooool!”
Rurin’s soft snore echoed through the room. It was her signature snore—a gentle, rasping sound rather than a full-on snore, the dragon version of a purr.
Elena, in the middle of asking for her usual vegetable dish, flinched at the sound. Shaking my head, I took her order.
“Alright, just a moment.”
“Yes!”
Elena nodded timidly.
I wanted to help her overcome this reaction, but I must admit, it’s quite amusing to watch. Every time Rurin stirs, Elena’s long elf ears twitch nervously.
Given the relationship between elves and dragons, there’s not much I can do about this for now.
Elena loves my pasta dishes. So, I served her pasta today as well.
Her reactions while eating are amusing too. She slurps the noodles down happily but chokes the moment Rurin moves.
Watching her like this, I worried she might choke for real.
Though it’s amusing, it must be a tough situation for her. Feeling sorry for her, I picked up Rurin and carried her upstairs to the bed, then returned.
With the source of her fear removed, Elena brightened considerably and continued eating her pasta. She even started a conversation.
“Recently, there have been fewer men with bad intentions around. Thanks to Lady Rayne, many people who really needed help have been coming to the clinic. I’m so happy about that. So far, I haven’t had a single patient I couldn’t help, and everyone has recovered.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
Elena smiled happily. Healing the sick is her calling, her life’s purpose. Previously, some men with ill intentions were causing trouble because of her beauty.
I had something to do with the fact that those thugs have stopped bothering her, but I had no intention of mentioning it.
“Yes, and you know the dressing you taught me to make for the vegetables last time? It wasn’t as hard as I thought. So, I… Eek!”
Elena, who had been chatting away, suddenly let out a startled scream, as if she had seen a ghost. The dwarf chieftain had come up from the underground, and it seemed that his appearance had frightened her.
The dwarf chieftain frowned and spoke to Elena.
“Elf woman, why do you look at a dwarf as if he were a monster?”
“Why is a dwarf here?!”
Her reaction was the opposite of when she faced Rurin. She looked at the dwarf with hostility rather than fear and reverence.
“I should be asking why an elf is here, but I have no business with you.”
The white-haired dwarf ignored Elena and walked over to me.
“El, about that candied bonin you gave me yesterday. Could I have some more? The dwarf children liked it very much.”
The dwarf chieftain scratched the back of his head, seeming a bit embarrassed by the request.
“Oh, sure. I made plenty of it.”
I handed him two or three jars, and his face lit up. He took the jars in his thick, scarred hands and nodded.
“Thank you very much. I’ve never seen our dwarf children prefer something over beer before. Haha.”
The dwarf chieftain hugged the jars of candied bonin to his chest and hurried back downstairs. It was a heartwarming scene. Who would have thought a dwarf would come asking for more candied bonin? It was a pleasant surprise.
“Dwarves live here?”
The ignored elf finally spoke up after the dwarf left, her mouth hanging open.
“They’re here to help with the construction of the lair below. It’s dragon-related, after all.”
“Oh, related to the Great One…?”
“So, just for now, please forget about the enmity between the dwarves and elves.”
“Yes… I was just startled, that’s all.”
The tension between dwarves and elves pales in comparison to the animosity between Red Dragons and Black Dragons.
These two races once almost brought the entire continent to the brink of destruction with their war.
“Oh, Elena, why don’t you take a jar of this? It’s candied bonin. It’s sweet and delicious. You can eat it without worrying—it has nothing to do with meat.”
“Really? Well, anything you make has to be good, El. Of course, it will be.”
“Thanks for saying that. Haha. Well, the dwarves seem to think so too, since they came back for more.”
Elena’s eyes sparkled at the mention of a tasty treat unrelated to meat. She sat back down and continued eating her pasta. Once she finished, I handed her a glass of water, and she nodded in thanks before drinking.
And just then.
“El!”
The dragon I had carried upstairs jumped down into the restaurant, pointing at me.
Pfffft!
And the elf, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it out. It was like a spray bottle.
“I was awake! Why did you move me to the second floor? I wasn’t even sleeping.”
“You were dozing off, so what are you talking about?”
“G-Great One…”
The elf, who had sprayed water everywhere, immediately jumped to her feet and knelt before Rurin. Even when Rurin is asleep, Elena flinches. When Rurin is awake, she’s an object of worship. Yet, despite her fear, Elena was still holding onto the jar of candied bonin I gave her.
“Oh, an elf? Hehe, that’s tasty!”
Rurin pointed to the candied bonin as she spoke.
“It would’ve been better if it tasted bad.”
She muttered as she went to fetch another beer, seemingly still upset about losing the bet.
“El, thank you! I have to go since it’s time to reopen the clinic!”
Having built up some resistance while Rurin was asleep, Elena still had none when faced with an awake dragon. She fled the restaurant, clutching the jar of candied bonin as if her life depended on it.
***
Elena practically fled back to her clinic.
“Haa, that was scary.”
She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she sat down. To her, dragons were still overwhelming creatures.
She had seen the elves in a neighboring village wiped out by a dragon’s wrath, leaving no trace behind.
That was over a hundred years ago, long before the Dragon War began. Even after all that time, her fear of dragons was still deeply rooted.
“But… El is kind. I’ve never met a human like him before.”
She mumbled to herself, gazing at the jar on her desk.
The jar was filled with bonin, submerged in liquid. Or rather, it wasn’t just water. Elena thought as much as she opened the jar.
Even though she had just eaten pasta, she had been so nervous that she didn’t even remember tasting it.
She carefully picked up a piece of bonin. It was slippery and slightly sticky. Tilting her head curiously, she popped it into her mouth.
“It’s delicious!”
Elena stared at the bonin in amazement. When she lived in the Elven Forest, she had only ever eaten raw bonin.
Raw bonin was tasty enough, but this exceeded her expectations. It was sweet, really sweet. And for Elena, sweetness was the ultimate treat.
She had first discovered the joy of sweetness through one of El’s dishes.
“Amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever envied the Great One…”
Elena muttered as she put another piece of bonin in her mouth. She realized she might eat the whole jar in one sitting.
So, she stood up.
Instinctively, she licked the sugary syrup off her fingers.