Chapter 4

# 4

Chapter 2: Friends and Soju

"Actually, Mr. Ment gave us the money needed to open the shop."

"What do you mean? So, Mr. Knoel tried to open a shop without any money?"

"No, that's not it. Both he and I were completely clueless about business and fell victim to scammers, which left us feeling very discouraged. We lost all the money we had saved up from our mercenary work. Looking back, I wonder what we were thinking when we decided to start a shop... We were too naive."

Scams. They were rampant in any city. When I opened my restaurant, there were quite a few scammers trying to take advantage of me. Of course, I made sure they all got a taste of hell.

"Mr. Knoel is a proud man. After being scammed, he gave up on his dreams. He said he wanted to live a peaceful life with just the two of us, so he quit his mercenary job, which kept us apart for long periods, and decided to take over the butcher shop his father ran... But when he fell victim to another scam and failed, he stopped smiling and seemed to lose all hope in life. That's why I had no choice but to seek Mr. Ment's help. I had no other option..."

Ms. Reine looked at Mr. Ment as she said this. The look in her eyes was certainly not one of affection. It was filled with gratitude and respect.

That was all there was to it.

"I understand what happened. That's the reason, huh? We need to clear up this misunderstanding. Would you both like to come to our restaurant for dinner? We've reached a point where we can't hide anything anymore, so I'll invite Mr. Knoel as well. I'll help you resolve this amicably."

Efforts to prevent the closure of the butcher shop and save the regular customers.

It was time to show off my cooking skills.

I dragged the yawning Rulin and went to find Mr. Knoel. I left a message for Mr. Knoel, who was still half-drunk, to come to the restaurant and returned to the shop to prepare for the reconciliation. Of course, I planned to seat them at a four-person table, not the bar.

The dish I planned to serve was a hot pot that they could enjoy together.

I prepared the broth in the pot. And then the Bellren meat that Mr. Knoel was proud of. Finally, it was time to use the Bellren meat.

The meat of the monster Bellren was perfect for hot pot because it cooked quickly. It had a tender texture and a red color.

The broth was made with dried anchovies and kelp. I also added Mutton mushrooms, a precious ingredient that added umami to the broth. Since dried anchovies and kelp were unfamiliar to the people of this world, I needed to add the Mutton mushrooms to make it more palatable.

I tasted the broth. Even without any seasonings, it had a deep flavor. It was as if I could taste MSG, even though I hadn't added any. This was the greatness of the Mutton mushrooms.

And then there was the Bellren meat, which had a deeper flavor than beef. I sliced the Bellren meat Mr. Knoel had given me very thinly. The thinly sliced Bellren meat had a color similar to beef brisket.

"What about the hamburger steak?"

"I'll make it later. Can you sweep outside a bit?"

"I can't do such a trivial task!"

"Is that so?"

"Are you telling me to go back? I hate my clan. They always mock me for being a failure, and I hate humans too."

"Then help with the work!"

"Ugh, I'm sleepy."

I handed him a broom. Rulin reluctantly took it and trudged outside to start sweeping. A dragon sweeping the floor. It was quite a sight. However, after sweeping the floor a couple of times, Rulin leaned against the shop railing and started to doze off.

Oh dear.

What can you expect from a dragon?

I gave up and focused on slicing the Bellren meat. Anyway, the meat from Mr. Knoel's shop was really fresh.

This world was an era of free professions. There was a distinction between nobles and commoners, but there was no hierarchy among professions. So, a butcher shop like this could have a larger distribution network and grow.

While having such unnecessary thoughts, I was slicing the meat when Ms. Reine and Mr. Ment arrived at the restaurant first.

"Running a restaurant in such a place?"

"Mr. Ment, this place is much better than that restaurant from earlier. In fact, if my husband wasn't a regular, I would have brought you here. It's certainly a part where my husband could have misunderstood... By the way, keeping secrets is really difficult. I missed the right moment to tell you, and we ended up here."

"It would be troublesome if he started causing a scene in the middle of the restaurant. Don't blame yourself too much."

"Yes."

"You're right. Please, have a seat."

I guided the two to a table. Just then, Mr. Knoel arrived.

"You said you would look into Reine, and now you're telling me to come to the restaurant! What's going on?"

As soon as he arrived, Mr. Knoel, who was still half-drunk, stumbled and met Ms. Reine's eyes. And then Mr. Ment's.

Mr. Knoel suddenly seemed to regain his energy and lunged at Mr. Ment.

"Hey, you! You, you dared to lay a hand on Reine?"

"Just a moment, Mr. Knoel."

"Just a moment? This guy said he would look into the situation, and now he's bringing the two of you together like this?"

"Darling, it's not like that! It's not like that!"

"Not like what? Why did you call me? Do you want to break up? I'm so frustrated. Fine, I'll kill you all. I'll kill you all!"

Mr. Knoel, already under the influence of alcohol, couldn't control his anger and was about to cause a scene.

"Mr. Ment lent us the money to open the shop, and we met every month to pay it back! So, please calm down, darling!"

"What?"

Mr. Knoel blinked and looked back and forth between the two.

"You know my personality. If you knew that Mr. Ment had lent us most of the money he had saved up his whole life, would you have opened the shop? You would never have accepted that money, even if it meant your life! So, I had no choice."

Ms. Reine's eyes welled up with tears.

"What, what?"

Mr. Knoel, flustered, looked at Mr. Ment.

"Just a moment, Reine, didn't you say the money was returned by the lord's castle after they caught the culprit? You said that, right?"

"You believed it because you were mentally exhausted. Honestly, getting that money back was impossible."

"That can't be..."

Mr. Ment nodded, and Mr. Knoel fell to the ground, powerless.

"You saved my life. When you were trying to find happiness, I thought it was only natural to help you. Even if it meant we couldn't meet often or drink together anymore! I'm sorry for lying to you. But I agreed that if I told you the truth, you wouldn't accept the money. So, I had no choice but to lie. Even after all these years, the one lie I told still bothered me, and I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth."

"You two..."

Ms. Reine added, sobbing.

"You were so depressed that you acted like you were going to commit suicide. I was scared and had no choice but to seek help. Mr. Ment even said at first that we didn't need to pay the money back, but that was impossible, right? So, I met him regularly to pay back small amounts. How could you misunderstand that?"

Mr. Knoel couldn't say anything. I gently intervened and helped him to the table. Then, Mr. Knoel, with great effort, mumbled.

"Phew. You weren't cheating on me, and you... you lent me the money you had saved your whole life? To someone like me? How could you do that? Just visiting me often would have been enough."

"How could I stand by and watch you fail? I still can't forget the day in the Ferren battle when you pushed me out of the way and took the sword for me! If you hadn't been so proud, we wouldn't have gone ten years without meeting properly! I had no intention of getting married and planned to continue being a mercenary, so I didn't need the money. I didn't lend you enough to live on your own. So, I still think it was a good decision."

"..."

Mr. Knoel couldn't say anything. It didn't seem like he would now say he would return the money and close the shop.

"Besides, I've paid it all back over the past ten years! So, it's useless to talk about returning the money now. So, don't even mention closing the shop, darling."

Bang!

Mr. Knoel slammed his fist on the table, clenching his jaw at Ms. Reine's plea.

Ms. Reine flinched in surprise.

"To doubt you two like that, I... Damn it, damn it!"

But fortunately, it wasn't a pointless outburst. It was more like anger at himself. So, I intervened.

"Everyone, please calm down and enjoy this dish first."

I placed the boiling pot on the table and put three pieces of Bellren meat from Mr. Knoel's shop into it. The Bellren meat cooked quickly in the bubbling broth.

I took the cooked meat and placed it on the plates in front of them.

"Pick it up and dip it in the sauce in front of you before eating it."

The three of them looked confused but, thinking it was a dish I had prepared with care, they didn't refuse and brought the meat to their mouths.

"Oh."

"It's delicious."

"It's delicious, Mr. L."

"Isn't it?"

I paused for a moment before speaking.

"This is made with the meat Mr. Knoel provided. Enjoy it and clear the air."

After handing the meat to Ms. Reine, I stepped back. The water in the pot was boiling.

The three of them were silent for a moment.

"Your eye for meat is still as good as ever. This meat is top-notch."

"Is that so? My skills are unmatched!"

Thanks to Mr. Ment, the conversation started at the table, which had been silent. Mr. Knoel began to sip the steaming broth.

The atmosphere was gradually calming down.

"Hey, bring some soju! It's obvious we need it, right? That soju! Bring the soju. I need to show my friend what soju tastes like."

Mr. Knoel turned his head and shouted at me. Indeed, it was a perfect moment for soju. I couldn't help but smile and brought the soju.

As he drank the soju, Mr. Knoel's eyes began to well up. I had a feeling about it.

"You bastard... You bastard... Thank you. Thank you so much! But why is the steam so hot...? Hey! L! Do something about the steam! It's making me cry!"

"That's not the pot's fault. It's fine for everyone else."

"Shut up!"

Mr. Knoel took another sip of the broth and drank more soju. Then he clinked his glass with Mr. Ment's.

Seeing this, Ms. Reine also took a sip of the broth. It seemed the misunderstanding had been cleared up.

The restaurant was bustling again after a long time.

It was a good sign. It didn't look like the butcher shop I frequented would close. So, it was a good outcome.

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Oh.