Chapter 5: Chicken and Palenque (1)
When I head to the market, I usually buy vegetables first and then head to the butcher shop. This route rarely changes.
However, today I felt a bit different. Thinking about yesterday and Mr. Knoll’s flustered face made me chuckle.
So, when I arrived at the butcher shop and saw Mr. Knoll, I greeted him with a big grin.
“Hello, Mr. Crybaby Knoll.”
“What? What did you call me, you brat?”
“Are you embarrassed?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I never cried! That’s it, I’m closing this shop!”
“Close it if you dare!”
Ms. Reine grabbed Mr. Knoll’s hair and pulled.
“Hello, Mr. El. You’ve come?”
“Yes.”
“No! I won’t sell to him! Ow, my hair!”
Ms. Reine pulled harder, laughing as she did.
“Don’t listen to his nonsense. He’s actually grateful, even if he won’t admit it.”
“When did I say that!”
“Alright, can I get some Uba sirloin?”
“Uba sirloin? I’ll get it right away, hoho.”
Ms. Reine laughed as she went inside. I couldn’t resist asking Mr. Knoll a question.
“By any chance, do you have Palenque?”
Palenque and Palenque eggs. In other words, I needed chicken and eggs. Especially eggs, which are incredibly useful.
“Palenque? Do you need Palenque?”
“It’d be great if you had some, especially alive.”
To get eggs, I needed a live Palenque.
“Alive? Are you crazy? Do you know how hard it is to catch a Palenque alive? If anyone could do that, they’d be rich by now.”
“So, you don’t have slaughtered Palenque either?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Mr. Knoll, this sounds like a different story.”
“What do you mean, brat?”
“When I first came here, you said you could get any meat if my cooking did it justice, remember?”
“Hmm, Reine! What did you say?”
Mr. Knoll shut his mouth and hurried inside, calling for Ms. Reine. Well, it’s true that asking for Palenque at a butcher shop is crazy. Palenque are so hard to catch that they’re highly valued. People who have tasted them call them legendary. They’re not something you’d find in the market.
Of course, this world has other birds and eggs. Palenque is just the closest thing to chicken and is highly prized as a cooking ingredient. It’s the best among the birds used for food.
“Mr. El, here’s your Uba sirloin. Is this right?”
“Yes.”
The Uba meat was pink and fresh. I nodded and paid for it.
“Thank you.”
“We’re the ones who should thank you.”
Ms. Reine bowed her head. As I was about to leave, Mr. Knoll rushed out. I stopped, sensing he had something to tell me.
“That Palenque! They say it was spotted in the Limont Forest on the city outskirts.”
“In Limont Forest?”
“Yes, I got the information from some mercenaries.”
“Is it reliable?”
“Yes, I’ll let you know if I hear more.”
Mr. Knoll scratched his head, looking grumpy as usual.
“Oh, you’re so gruff.”
Ms. Reine shook her head. Despite his appearance, Mr. Knoll is a good guy. He’s just shy.
I said goodbye and headed back to the restaurant. Thanks to Ms. Reine’s recommendations, a few customers do trickle in. But it’s mostly in the evening. Lunchtime is always slow. And today, the restaurant was empty again.
I decided to head to Limont Forest to find Palenque and eggs.
Once I made up my mind, I acted immediately. I ran up to the second floor.
“Gororong, gororong.”
Even though the sun was high, the dragon in bed showed no signs of waking up.
“What is it!”
“Wake up! Why don’t you get up in the morning?”
I was in a hurry.
Seeing she was awake, I grabbed Rurin in a princess carry. She flailed her legs.
“Isn’t it because you didn’t let me sleep last night? This is unfair!”
“Don’t say things that people might misunderstand. Wash your face.”
Who was the one who, after sleeping all day, couldn’t sleep at night and begged me to play? I set the Black Dragon down on the floor, wrapped a towel around her, and washed her face with water from a basin.
“Blow your nose.”
“Hooong!”
After wiping her white face and blowing her nose, I sat the dazed dragon back on the bed. If left alone, it would take all day for her to get ready.
I quickly dressed her over her pajamas and combed her hair.
Usually, these actions would take a while, but I finished them swiftly, leaving Rurin looking bewildered.
“What’s all this?”
“It doesn’t matter. The important thing is, there’s a Palenque flying around! Don’t you want to try a new dish?”
“A new dish?”
“One that goes well with beer.”
“Ooh, is there such a thing? I want it.”
Still groggy, her eyes sparkled at the mention of a dish that pairs well with beer.
“If you want it, get up right now.”
As I fixed her hair, she looked up at me and spread her arms.
“Hug me.”
“What?”
“Hug me and I’ll get up.”
“Why so clingy?”
“You haven’t hugged me much lately. During the war, you used to hug me often to encourage me!”
“Alright, alright.”
I gave her a quick hug and let go. She frowned and shouted.
“Not enough!”
Her eyes accused me of being half-hearted. So, I hugged her tightly.
Very tightly!
Her soft body pressed against me, and I felt a warm, comforting sensation.
“Hehe, I feel a bit more awake now!”
“Are you satisfied?”
“What are you talking about? You’d have to hug me all day to even slightly satisfy me! If you hugged me for a year, I might be slightly satisfied!”
“A year?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Stop joking and let’s go. We’re going to Limont Forest.”
“Ugh? I’m still not satisfied!”
Satisfied or not, I let go of her and headed downstairs. I heard her following behind me.
—
Limont Forest is on the outskirts of the city, past the hill where I live.
Specifically, once you cross the hill, there’s a stream. Beyond that stream lies a bamboo forest called Limont Forest.
Mercenaries often pass through Limont Forest on their way to the northern city, so it’s likely one of them spotted the Palenque.
“Why are we here?”
Rurin looked around the forest, seemingly unimpressed by the bamboo.
“We’re here to catch the ingredients for that dish I mentioned.”
“Oh!”
At the mention of cooking, the dragon, ever driven by her instincts, started drooling.
“We need to catch a monster called Palenque.”
“Palenque?”
Rurin tilted her head in confusion. It seemed she didn’t know what it was.
“You don’t know?”
“Why would I know about such a trivial monster? I am a dragon among dragons…”
“Yes, yes, I get it.”
I covered her mouth with my hand and dragged her further into the forest.
Padadadak!
Up in the bamboo forest, several Palenque were flying around.
“Look, that’s them!”
I let go of her mouth and pointed. Rurin also spotted the Palenque and spoke.
“Oh, those?”
They looked like chickens, flying chickens. They were called monsters because they were much more aggressive than chickens and very fast. I knew this information in advance, which is why I brought Rurin along.
I am a combat mage.
Thanks to the Dragon Lord’s Heart, my magic is extremely powerful.
In this world, mages have different specialties.
There’s combat magic.
That’s what I learned.
And there’s research magic, which includes alchemy and other special magics.
I learned combat magic for practical use.
So, burning down this entire forest would be easy.
But catching small monsters like Palenque alive required Rurin’s skills.
I didn’t need a Palenque reduced to ashes.
“Make those flying Palenque fall!”
“Shall I kill them all?”
“No, just one for now. I’ve never tasted them before, so I need to decide.”
“That’s easy.”
Rurin fixed her gaze on one Palenque. Sensing the killing intent, the Palenque glanced at Rurin.
“Kueeee!”
It let out a strange cry and then plummeted to the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth before passing out.
This is the power of Dragon Fear.
Just by looking at it, she could make it faint or even die. It’s the best way to get ingredients without injuring them.
Normally, she hides this absolute power in her human form.
A dragon is a dragon, and if I hadn’t consumed the Dragon Heart, I’d be like that Palenque.
“How was that?”
“Well done, well done.”
I ran over, grabbed the trembling Palenque by the neck, and quickly broke it. It was just like a chicken. The butchering method should be the same.
Pushing the pleased Rurin, I returned to the restaurant. Rurin immediately went to the fridge, grabbed a beer, and sat in front of the Palenque like a dog wagging its tail.
“Is it tasty with beer?”
“No, I need to
cook it first. Wait.”
“Oh, okay. But I’ll have a beer first.”
Rurin opened the beer can and gulped it down, shivering in delight.
She’d done enough today, so I let it slide.
Leaving the dragon alone, I started to prepare the Palenque. Wild chickens are usually tough and hard to eat, but this Palenque seemed different.
The worry was that it might be too tough, but my knife cut through it easily, smoother than a store-bought chicken.
I cut the Palenque into pieces, scored them, and seasoned with salt and pepper. This is the basic step for making Palenque fried chicken.
I then coated the pieces with minced garlic. The combination of garlic and chicken is perfect.
Next, I soaked them in milk to remove any gamey smell. Unlike modern chicken shops that use powder mixes, seasonings, and MSG, I used my method.
I prepared a mix of flour and frying powder, a modern item. I added cornmeal to the mix. The ratio was about 3:1:0.5.
I usually add powder, but I used powdered Merton mushrooms instead. These mushrooms are like magical powder in this era.
Almost ready. Now I just had to hope the chicken was tasty.
I covered the now purring dragon with a blanket and took a break myself. Dragons need a lot of sleep. They typically go through centuries-long sleep cycles.
Anyway, it was a peaceful time.
Setting aside the lack of customers.
As evening approached, the sunset cast a beautiful glow over the restaurant. This view was why I built the restaurant here.
I didn’t need a bustling business. Just a few regulars and a sense of community. That’s why I avoided the busy market areas.
As the sky turned red, I was about to fry the marinated Palenque when a customer arrived.
It was Mr. Ment, the mercenary from the other day.
“Oh, Mr. Ment?”
“Yes, the drink I had here was so good I had to come back. Haha.”
