Chapter 107 – A Brief Date – Laura (2)
Of course, lifespan is relative for each species.
It is common for humans to live 60 to 70 years on average, and we call races that live longer than humans ‘long-lived tribes’.
And here, a representative example of a long-lived race is right in front of you.
“We have prepared a very special place for you two. Please come this way.”
Chef Fagan guided us inside the restaurant.
Unlike other places where other people stay, the space is quite quiet and calm, and the atmosphere is so good that you can bring a high-ranking person from far away to have a meal.
“Would you like to choose a menu?”
“I came here after hearing about it from my mother. I also tried the food here indirectly at Yeongju Castle.”
I closed the menu so that Fagan wouldn’t get a headache.
“It would be rude for you, the pride of the kingdom’s cuisine, which boasts 500 years of tradition and history, to choose the food here carelessly.”
So, if you ask me if it’s polite to come here and do omakase, that’s also rude.
“As this is my first time here, I want to remember my first experience here.”
Instead.
“Dinner course. I request beef for the main course. Laura, what about you?”
“Hmm… I think the same thing as Lord So.”
“I understand.”
Fagan looked back and forth between me and Laura with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
“It’s a little surprising.”
“Surprising?”
“Yes. It is a day that deepens the thought that people must experience it for themselves.”
“I’m a bit notorious. And my table manners are a bit lacking.”
I raised both hands in advance.
“Rather than worrying about etiquette in front of delicious food, I think we should focus more on the food itself.”
Observe the minimum etiquette.
Using a fork and knife, using a napkin, or not drinking the water used to wash your hands.
However, keeping the order of the fork and knife is a headache.
“I want to eat alone, Laura and I. I’ll press this if I need to, so you don’t have to be around.”
“I understand.”
Just by wearing the dress code, I have the manners and etiquette for this restaurant, and I don’t want to be bothered even when holding a spoon.
“Hey, I have a question.”
Laura looked at Pagan with a twinkle in her eye.
“Have you really been cooking for 500 years?”
“Yes. I left the Elven Forest at the age of 20 and learned to cook while working as an adventurer. And I settled here in Fermaten.”
Fagan smiled with faint eyes.
“No matter how elf you are, if you cook for 500 years, your skills will improve greatly. It took a whopping 100 years to build up your current skills.”
“Wasn’t that before the Infinite Labyrinth opened in Fermaten?”
“Yes. I am the person who witnessed the opening of the Fermaten Infinite Labyrinth in real time.”
I came here for a casual date, but I heard a story that was heavier than I expected.
“I hate to say this, but from the perspective of a restaurant business, the Permaten Infinite Labyrinth is a really good place. As well as the river and sea that spread out from the 21st floor, it is a place where you can supply a variety of food ingredients.”
“I agree with that. It’s not easy to find fresh seafood inland.”
It may be surprising, but the influence of resources from the Infinite Labyrinth also appears in places like this.
Harvesting of marine resources that cannot be physically obtained.
There are many people who go underground through the labyrinth to catch fish, then bring them outside and sell them in the market.
It’s still our turn to enter the 11th floor, but the same applies to the labyrinth area that stretches from the 11th to the 20th floor.
“Then I hope you enjoy your meal. I, Fagan, will show you a dish worthy of the name of the best chef in Permaten.”
Fagan left the place with a greeting.
After seeing him off, I lightly opened the cap of the pre-set wine and filled Laura’s glass with her.
“It’s such an amazing world. “I met people who saw the beginning of Fermaten with their own eyes.”
“…I saw the infinite labyrinth open.”
Laura regained her appetite and continued to look at the spot where Fagan had left.
“Is he really a chef?”
“Maybe.”
That’s right, the chef.
I don’t know anything else, but I can definitely guarantee it.
“There was data that the previous Counts of Permaten often ate here. That’s right, the chef.”
Because it is a gacha pickup character (★★).
An elf who sets out to conquer the infinite labyrinth with a kitchen knife and a frying pan, as he befits the concept of a chef.
His abilities are probably at a level where he can conquer the 40th floor on his own.
Although he is a fairly strong elf and good at cooking at the same time, he has one fatal flaw.
“If it weren’t for the guy, I would have offered to recruit him. It’s a shame.”
“Ah, somehow. I thought it was because the Lord So reacted so coldly.”
Pagan is a man.
The elf may look good on the outside, but he is truly a man in name and reality.
And men cannot join my order.
The best plan would be to just have Fagan cook here, and I pay for 100 years of leave and come on a date like this.
He’s good to him and he’s good to me.
“He may be a man, but he definitely has cooking skills. The pudding you ate today was bought here.”
“Really?”
“Yes. This is a recipe from someone who has been researching cooking for 500 years. It has a standardized formula when it comes to taste. Cooking is like alchemy. Proper combination and mixing of given ingredients produces the best results.”
Bread was served before the meal.
It was a cube of bread small enough to fit the width of a knife, and Laura’s expression hardened as soon as she saw the bread.
“…Isn’t that all?”
“It won’t work to ask for another bowl.”
I handed my appetizer to Laura.
“Oh, no! I’m not saying I want to eat two.”
“It’s okay. I’m a meat person by nature.”
“…It’s okay.”
Laura bowed her head and took my bowl.
I like that Laura, who says it’s okay but she accepts the bowl, is very honest.
“I feel like I look like a pig in the eyes of Lord So.”
“What’s wrong with eating whatever you want? And you exercise just as much.”
“That’s true, but aren’t women who eat a lot a bit like that?”
“Why not eat a lot? As long as you look pretty in my eyes, that’s enough.”
Something.
She thinks she’s out on a date, and the only thing in her mouth is wine, and her tongue rolls around right from the start.
“And Laura, are you worried that you have something to spare? You don’t have to worry at all.”
“…”
Laura cut the cube-like bread in half with a fork and knife and ate it.
The taste was good, but it seemed very embarrassing to eat so many.
“Excuse me. …Oh, would you like one more?”
“No. It’s okay.”
The server was embarrassed that I had passed one of the appetizers to Laura, but I grabbed my fork as soon as I saw the plate in front of me.
“Is it a clam?”
“Yes. These are real clams. They are made by mixing clams, shrimp, and crab meat into scallops and grilling them.”
“Thank you for the explanation.”
I carefully cut the temple, which was exactly cylindrical.
“It’s great when the Infinite Labyrinth is like this. You can eat such fresh food in this inland land.”
“Would you like some?”
“No. You should taste it too. You might have to eat it raw later when you go down to the Infinite Labyrinth. It’s much better to eat it cooked.”
“Yes?”
“Celica said that they sometimes eat or roast creatures that are not magical beasts caught in the Infinite Labyrinth on the spot.”
I put the scallop meat in my mouth.
“…Good. It’s a shame I can’t go down and eat it myself.”
When I was reincarnated as Rouge Permaten, I ate meat-centered meals, mainly pigs and cows, every day. It was a really refreshing experience to eat real seafood for the first time in a long time.
“Laura, taste it to your heart’s content. If you make a mistake later, you may not be able to taste this taste here.”
“…I guess so.”
I can’t go into detail because it’s outside, but Laura would have understood what I meant.
If the Infinite Labyrinth is closed, you will not be able to find and eat seafood like this here.
“By the way, Laura. I forgot to ask, do you cook?”
“Oh.”
Laura’s hand her her her, which was about to cut the temple, stopped.
“Hey, cooking?”
“Yes. Personally, I like women who cook.”
“Well, that. Um, so.”
Laura dismantled the temple and looked at me.
“…Shall we learn how to cook?”
“It’s good to learn. If a couple both cooks, they can take turns cooking.”
The only thing I can cook is a meal for a single person to survive.
If you want to open a convenience store restaurant, you can open one, but the food at the convenience store is all remixed from food purchased at the convenience store, so it is far from actual cooking.
“What do you think, Laura? When her daughter asks her later, ‘Why can’t you cook, Mom?’ What will she say?”
“Well, that is…”
“You’re not planning on leaving it all to other people, are you?”
“…”
Laura was silent.
Until the main course, steak, came out, Laura just scratched her cheek and didn’t say anything.
“Lord So.”
Laura said quietly as she cut the steak.
“It’s definitely nice to have my wife cook for me sometimes, but I think there’s another way that’s best.”
“What is it?”
“You are bringing in a concubine who is in charge of cooking.”
“…”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Laura’s words.
“A concubine who is solely in charge of cooking?”
“Yes. I guess I can have four concubines for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. No. Is it okay to have four concubines for each type of dish?”
“Then what about you?”
I asked outright.
“After you marry me, what are you going to do?”
“It’s me.”
Laura answered confidently.
“I have to take responsibility for Youngju So’s night. Hehe.”
“Then what should I eat?”
“That’s right.”
Laura twisted the shoulder straps of her dress with one hand and licked her lips with his tongue.
“Laura full course…?”
