Chapter 8

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# 8

Chapter 3: Chicken and Falenqu

“Phew!”

“What’s with the ‘phew’?”

“I was staring at each one, and my eyes started to hurt.”

Even a Falenqu, which is almost impossible for humans to catch, can't escape a dragon’s field of vision. However, there seem to be side effects. Rulin began rubbing her eyes vigorously with both hands, as if they were hurting. Was it because she used too much of a dragon’s power in her human form?

“Yeah, yeah, good job. Come here, I’ll blow on them.”

Rubbing won’t help. I stopped Rulin’s hands and gently blew some wind into her eyes. Her reaction was intense.

“Hahaha! It tickles!”

“If it tickles, why are you leaning in more?”

“It tickles, but I don’t mind. Blow more!”

“Sigh. Okay, hoo—hoo—there, done? I’m busy, so let’s get back.”

“You always rush the finish. One of your former colleagues, that woman, said a man who rushes the finish is not to be trusted. She said such a man will likely rush the finish during mating, so be careful.”

“What? What did that woman say to a dragon?”

“You’re pouting! I know that’s what you do when you’re hurt.”

“No, I’m not!”

“It’s fine. I told her that even if the finish is weak, it’s okay. Hehe.”

“Good grief.”

I ignored the dragon’s nonsense and returned to the restaurant.

I have nothing to feel guilty about.

Today is very busy, so I’m just ignoring it.

Cooking 14 servings is not as easy as it sounds. With 11 Falenqu in hand, Rulin naturally headed for the magical refrigerator.

“After work, it’s definitely beer, huh, hmm!”

Come to think of it, isn’t beer usually something dwarves like? Well, the problem started when I offered beer to the dragon and tamed her. Honestly, as long as she doesn’t get drunk like three days ago, there’s no problem. Just make sure she doesn’t drink soju.

Since it’s part of the agreement not to interfere when I’m working, Rulin started playing with the beer, and I began preparing the Falenqu.

It took quite a while.

I plan to fry five of them with the bones, just like last time, and debone the rest to make boneless chicken.

The method is the same. The only difference is separating the bones. Making the batter by mixing cornstarch, mushroom powder, and flour is also the same. It took a fair amount of time because of the quantity. Before I knew it, the morning had passed, and it was already lunchtime.

Preparing the Falenqu is not the only thing. I also need to make the spicy dish Miltain requested.

Peppers do exist in this world, known as "Chieri," which are not much different from modern peppers.

Since Miltain specifically asked for it, I wanted to make something with a strong impact, not just something spicy.

Thinking about what spicy dish would go well with chicken, one thing came to mind.

One of my hobbies is summoning and eating modern ramen. Compared to when I first came here, it seems that many new types of ramen have been created in the modern world.

Among the randomly summoned ramen, the one that shocked me the most was the Spicy Chicken Ramen.

A ramen that stands out for its extreme spiciness. Honestly, even I find it challenging. I remember struggling to calm my mouth after eating it once.

However, if you like spicy food, it’s a ramen worth trying. It has an addictive taste that makes you want to keep eating despite the spiciness.

If it’s too spicy, I can always balance the flavor.

For example, mixing it with cheese ramen or jjajang ramen can significantly reduce the spiciness.

Of course, I don’t plan to sell ramen in the restaurant. It’s already processed food.

I thought I’d offer it as a one-time special to please Miltain.

I went to the food storage and brought out a pack of Spicy Chicken Ramen that hadn’t expired.

I hadn’t cooked it in a while, so I decided to boil it and check it before serving. I needed to taste it again to be sure, as I had only tried it once.

I started by boiling water and adding the noodles. Glancing outside the kitchen, I saw Rulin lying on the table with a beer can in her hand. Relieved that she wasn’t interfering, I continued cooking the ramen.

I fished out the boiling noodles and added the sauce, then stir-fried them. The smell began to fill the restaurant. Rulin, who must have been woken by the smell, stood up with her black hair flying and blinked at the kitchen.

“Smells good...”

She walked into the kitchen, swaying as if intoxicated by the smell. In front of me was the Spicy Chicken Ramen. Rulin stared at it.

“Is this lunch today?”

“No, just a moment. This isn’t for you.”

“What do you mean? It smells good.”

“You can’t handle spicy food.”

The Black Dragon, even in human form, wasn’t good with spicy food. But today, she seemed particularly curious about the stir-fried noodles, perhaps drawn by the smell.

“You’re not going to eat this all by yourself, are you? No way.”

Her eyes sparkled as she picked up a fork and brought a red noodle to her mouth.

“Munch.”

The sound of chewing.

“Is this...?”

She mumbled with the noodles in her mouth.

And 5 seconds.

4 seconds.

3 seconds.

Before the count was over, she had an intense reaction.

“It’s so spicy! So spicy!”

Her face turned red, and she started jumping around before finally running out. I followed her with a glass of milk.

“It’s spicy, so spicy! Ah! I feel like I’m breathing fire! I’m going to explode!”

“Swallow the fire and drink this. It will help.”

Gulp.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Milk doesn’t neutralize spiciness, but it can at least soothe a burning mouth, I thought.

The sound of the dragon drinking milk echoed. She drank an entire pack but still seemed to be in pain, panting and sitting on the ground.

“Silly. See? I told you not to eat it. It’s your fault for not believing me.”

“But it looked so good! Ah! It still feels like I’m on fire. It’s like swallowing a Red Dragon’s breath!”

“That must have been quite an experience.”

I calmed the almost crying Rulin, prepared a proper lunch for her, and then got back to work.

***

Time always flows at a constant pace. The banquet time arrived quickly.

The first to appear was Miltain.

He rushed into the restaurant and immediately came over to me, his eyes shining.

It seems he had high expectations for the spicy dish I promised. He came so close that I had to take a step back. I didn’t want to bump faces with a man, and Miltain was almost that close.

“The seniors are coming from behind. Is the dish you promised ready? I came early because I was curious! Can I really satisfy the seniors? I started working hard because of you...”

“Don’t worry. As a professional, I’ll make sure to deliver what I promised.”

“That’s reassuring. Hahaha.”

Miltain smiled with relief and then came even closer.

Why is he being so close and making me uncomfortable? As I was about to show a troubled expression, a gruff voice came from behind.

“Hey! I’m here. I heard there’s a beer party here? I can’t miss that.”

The voice belonged to Knoel.

“What does a mercenary like you have to do with a guild banquet?”

Thanks to Knoel’s arrival, Miltain moved back a bit. Then Knoel came close to me.

“What? The mercenaries coming today are people I’ve worked with. Is there a reason I can’t come? Besides, you said you caught the Falenqu? If you did, say so!”

“Hey, can’t you speak more politely? Anyway, it’s a big deal.”

Fortunately, Reine intervened, grabbing Knoel by the back of the neck.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just like that. Last time, you said you needed Falenqu, right? He was so eager to help that he searched everywhere and caused a commotion, but when he found out you already had it, he got upset.”

“What? This woman!”

“Did you just call me ‘this woman’?”

“When did I? Did you hear that?”

Knoel started a farce. I nodded, naturally siding with Reine.

“I heard it.”

“What?!”

“My dear, if you say you want to skip dinner tomorrow, I’ll remember that.”

“I didn’t say that!”

Knoel, flustered. It’s a case of self-inflicted trouble.

“Well, it’s fine. It was wrong of me not to tell you about the Falenqu. By the way, we’re here because we were invited by Mente. They reserved 14 servings, but two of them couldn’t make it, so they invited us instead.”

“Ah, I see. Even if that wasn’t the case, you’re always welcome. Especially you, Reine.”

“Oh, you’re so kind.”

Reine started patting her husband’s back and laughing.

“Anyway, welcome. Actually, a former colleague found a spell to catch Falenqu, so we were lucky to get the meat. Still, I feel a bit guilty not going through a butcher.”

“Oh, don’t be. We don’t even handle Falenqu, and it’s not a common enough meat to be distributed. You worked hard to get it for the restaurant, so why feel guilty? L.C. is so considerate.”

“Hahaha.”

I scratched the back of my head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Then Knoel, who had been frowning, sat at the bar and shouted.

“Hmph. That’s fine. But the problem is, if you got something like that, you should have let me try it first. You’re so inconsiderate. Bring me some soju!”

He started looking for soju, spouting insults. Knoel had become a soju enthusiast. Reine started scolding him to speak more politely. I decided to bring him some soju.

“Hello!”

Just as I served the soju to Knoel, Mente finally entered the restaurant with the mercenaries. Miltain, who had been standing awkwardly at the back, ran over to Mente.

The restaurant, now filled with 14 people, was packed for the first time since it opened. With people gathered, it was time to serve the food. I immediately started preparing the Falenqu dish.

“Rulin! Can you bring some beer to the guests?”

With my hands full, I called out to the dragon who was sitting in front of the refrigerator, drinking beer.

It’s good that she naturally steps back when customers come, but she has never served before.

“Are you asking this Rulin to serve humans now? I worked earlier today! I think I’ve done enough to earn my keep.”

“This is part of running the restaurant. You agreed to work together, right? Are you backing out? Should I do it alone?”

“Our restaurant?”

“Yes.”

“Hehe, I’ve changed my mind. It might be good to experience human feelings sometimes. I remember the elder saying that leisure is such a thing.”

“I’m glad your mood changes are so diverse.”

After answering Rulin, I set up a barrier and started frying the chicken, or rather, the Falenqu. I could hear the mercenaries’ conversation.

Glancing over, I saw a bearded mercenary sitting next to Mente start the conversation. His beard was so thick that even Knoel couldn’t match it.

Oh.