Chapter 7: Chicken and Palenque (3)

“Then it’s confirmed! I’ll consider it settled,” Ment said, his face lighting up with a bright smile. There’s no one who could resist smiling back at such a happy face, so I decided to sweeten the deal.

“How about I serve this Palenque dish formally at the event?”

“Really? The dish we just had? Is that even possible?” He looked genuinely surprised, given the rarity of Palenque as a culinary ingredient.

“Yes, I found a way to catch Palenque easily. It’s kind of a culinary revolution, you might say. So don’t worry, it won’t be too expensive. Think of it as being around the price of Uka meat. How does that sound?”

Uka meat, essentially beef, isn’t cheap anywhere. High-quality beef always comes with a hefty price tag, be it in this world or the modern one. It was important to ensure that the cost fit their budget.

“That sounds doable. I think it’ll make for a great pre-festival feast.”

“I’m just grateful for the business.”

“No, it’s us who should thank you.”

Ment shook his head as he settled the beer tab.

I had inadvertently agreed to host a large group of customers. Fourteen people in three days. It was a good opportunity to fill the restaurant and test its capacity.

“Cheers!”

After seeing off Ment and Miltein, I returned to find our dragon friend still drinking beer as if nothing else mattered. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, she quickly clung to me, moving surprisingly fast despite her languid demeanor.

She usually doesn’t cling to me like this, especially not in front of customers or even when we’re alone. Mostly, she just asks to be hugged. But today, she jumped on me, wrapping her arms and legs around my body, resting her chin on my head, and giggling.

“Hihi! What’re you doing? Let’s eat together!” she slurred, her words revealing her drunken state.

“Are you drunk?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at the smell of alcohol.

“No way! That’s ridiculous!” she replied, her speech slurred.

“What do you mean, no way?”

I turned to count the empty beer cans. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… and soju. The beer wasn’t the problem—it was the soju.

This mischievous dragon had mixed beer and soju while I was distracted talking to Ment. She doesn’t usually get drunk on beer, but she’s surprisingly weak to soju, though she loves it. That’s why I had banned it. But somehow, she managed to sneak it in.

“Hey, let go.”

“No! No way! I’ll never let go! I’ll cling to you until the end of time! And… don’t die. Please don’t die…”

She was clinging so tightly that it was hard to pry her off. I appreciated her concern about not wanting me to die, but saying it as part of a drunken ramble wasn’t quite comforting. Besides, I had no plans to die anytime soon.

“Excuse me?”

Just then, Miltein peeked into the restaurant again, catching me at an incredibly awkward moment. He looked like he had something to say, but upon seeing Rurin clinging to me, he seemed puzzled.

“Don’t mind her. She’s just a bit drunk. Happens sometimes,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Oh, is she your wife?”

“Wife? No, no.”

How could he jump to that conclusion from this situation?

“I see… Anyway, I came back with a request.”

“A request?”

“Yes.”

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a wad of money, about ten thousand runes, equivalent to roughly a hundred dollars.

“I became a mercenary thanks to Mentor’s help, but I never properly repaid him. I recently completed my first solo mission and received a reward. So, I thought it’d be great to buy him a special meal with my earnings. He loves spicy food, but he always complains that there’s nothing spicy enough in this city. Could you prepare a very spicy dish for the pre-festival?”

There was no reason to refuse. My principle was to satisfy customers without sticking to a fixed menu.

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Thank you! I’ll look forward to it! But, uh… is your wife alright? She seems to be drooling on your head…”

“Wife? No, and yes, she’s just drunk,” I said, trying to stay composed.

I could feel something cold on my head. The dragon was indeed drooling. Maintaining my composure, I responded, “No worries. See you in three days.”

“Alright! I’ll leave you to it then.”

As Miltein left, I turned to the dragon, who was now snoring lightly.

“Hey, Rurin!”

“Gororong, gororong,” she mumbled, still asleep.

With no other option, I carried her upstairs and laid her on the bed. As I was about to leave, she clung to me again, even in her sleep.

“Don’t go. I don’t want you to leave. Stay with me forever.”

“I’ll be back after I clean up the kitchen. Sleep well.”

I managed to untangle myself and went downstairs, but she followed me like a sleepwalker and clung to me again.

Once she’s drunk, she’s impossible to deal with. That’s why I had banned soju.

“I told you not to leave me!”

She clung to me, gripping my clothes tightly.

“You’re the only one for me!”

She calmed down once she was in my arms, quietly purring.

If I left her now, she’d just cling to me again.

There was no other choice. It was my fault for letting her get drunk. I carried her back upstairs, deciding to stay with her until she fell asleep completely.

—

Coo-coo…

For the past few days, the sounds of Palenque echoed clearly in Limont Forest. People who recognized the sound tried to catch them, but the creatures were too swift. No one succeeded. No wonder they were called legendary meat.

But I was different. Not only did I catch them, but I turned Limont Forest into their permanent habitat.

Isn’t that clever?

Coo-coo…

Of course, I didn’t just turn the forest into a visible chicken coop. You could still only hear their calls. Palenque would perch on the tops of bamboo trees, becoming visible only for brief moments.

Palenque are nomadic monsters, changing habitats frequently. Finding them in Limont Forest was a lucky break, a gift from chance. I didn’t plan to waste that chance.

So, I made Limont Forest their only habitat, ensuring they wouldn’t leave. This way, I could always catch them and gather their eggs. Monsters don’t deserve mercy. To humans, monsters are pests. Even legendary meat like Palenque can cause immense damage to fields.

Limont Forest had plenty of insects, providing ample food for Palenque. They were confined to the forest, unable to escape, but it wasn’t as if they were truly imprisoned. The forest was vast.

It was a perfect chicken coop.

Thanks to Rurin, I sealed the entire forest. This was a technique dragons use to protect their lairs.

They could fly freely within the forest but couldn’t leave. An invisible barrier surrounded the forest, affecting only monsters.

The Palenque resisted initially but soon accepted their fate, laying eggs in the bamboo forest.

They built nests by weaving mud between the bamboo, laying eggs high above human reach. But that wasn’t a problem for me.

The convenient part was that Palenque, like chickens, could lay eggs without mating—unfertilized eggs. Fertilized eggs hatched into more Palenque. Thus, Limont Forest would continually supply Palenque.

I planned to gather only the eggs I needed.

This way, I could sustainably harvest Palenque and their eggs.

It was a chicken coop.

Coo-coo…

I pinpointed the direction of the Palenque calls and whispered to Rurin.

“Let’s catch eleven.”

“Eleven?”

“Yes.”

A single Palenque could yield up to three servings, or two if smaller. Ten would suffice for the mercenaries.

“How about just two? One for you and one for me.”

Rurin misunderstood. Adorable.

“One for you. The rest are for the customers. Now, drop them. It’s work time.”

“Oh, okay.”

It took a lot of time to make Rurin understand the concept of a restaurant. Dragons don’t have such a concept.

To Rurin, everything was new and fascinating.

Now that she understood, she accepted the idea of work. The dragon focused on the Palenque.

Flap!

The Palenque dropped in droves, succumbing to the dragon’s fear.

Not a scratch on them.

So convenient.