“So I’d like to ask a favor. I want you to come and cook for my younger sister so she can regain her appetite.”
Lord Hairel made his request of me.
“By that, do you mean I would have to go all the way to the Hildenburg domain to cook?”
“Yes. If you succeed, I’ll pay you handsomely.”
That was a bit troublesome.
The reason I had deliberately opened a restaurant in such a remote place was
also because I didn’t want my peaceful daily life, a little removed from the city, to be disturbed.
And now he was telling me to go into the kitchen of a family famous enough to appear in the newspapers……
Even if I went and perfectly suited the young lady’s tastes, that would be a problem.
If that happened, these people would surely try to install me as their family chef altogether.
That was not the retirement life I wanted.
If I had intended to work as a personal chef under some noble, I wouldn’t have quit being an adventurer in the first place.
“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of leaving this restaurant.”
“What did you say……?”
“If the young lady wishes to eat my food, she must come to this restaurant to do so.”
“Do you know who you are speaking to right now?”
“Yes, I know very well.”
If anything, the one who didn’t know who he was speaking to was Lord Hairel.
Even after seeing me fix his carriage wheel with magic just now,
he immediately lost his temper because things weren’t going the way he wanted.
It was true that Lord Hairel was of higher status than I was,
but that didn’t mean he could treat me however he pleased, as if I were a slave.
A noble’s words and actions ought to carry weight and courtesy.
I didn’t particularly like nobles,
but if a noble spoke to me with sufficient respect, I had no qualms about treating them with courtesy as well.
“This is my restaurant, and I am its owner. Even if Duke Hildenburg himself were to ask, anyone who wishes to eat my food must come to my restaurant.”
Scrape—!
Angered by my words, Lord Hairel shot up from his seat.
Judging from his conduct, he was hopelessly unfit to become a good lord.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
If you come to my restaurant, then you follow the rules of my restaurant.
If he had no intention of doing so, I had no intention of accepting him as a guest either.
“Hmph. You run a restaurant in a strange place like this. There’s no way your skills are worth anything.”
“That is rather difficult to let pass. When it comes to cooking, I am confident I would not lose to anyone.”
Shing—!
When I continued to answer back, Lord Hairel drew the sword at his waist.
It was shiny and pretty, a sword that had clearly never once been used in actual combat.
“Lord Hairel…… please calm yourself. If you cause trouble for no reason, His Grace the Duke will scold you.”
At his side, his retainers cautiously tried to stop him.
“Did you not hear what this man said? He is clearly insulting me.”
“I have never insulted you, my lord. I merely stated the facts as they are.”
“You bastard, even now……!”
With a small sigh, I stepped back from Lord Hairel, who looked as if he would bring his sword down at any moment.
The way he held the sword was awkward, and I could barely sense any killing intent, but it was just in case.
As the eldest son of his family, he would surely end up managing the family domain after his father someday,
but if he was that impatient and immature, the residents of the domain were going to suffer.
For now, however, the urgent matter was bringing this situation to an end.
I didn’t want to deal for long with people causing a disturbance inside my shop either.
“In any case, I have made myself clear. If you wish to order and eat my food, you must come to the restaurant in person. I will never close this restaurant and enter another family’s kitchen as their head chef. The road back is rough, so please take care on your way.”
“You…… you……”
“And you said the young lady has stopped eating and drinking, but there are many excellent restaurants in the royal capital. I’m sure there are also many fine chefs who would go to your domain and cook as you wish. As you said yourself, is there any reason to ask a restaurant tucked away in a remote place like this, one whose skill may or may not even exist?”
“Do you truly not value your life?”
Lord Hairel raised his sword and aimed it at the tip of my nose.
But I had already secretly wrapped my body in protective magic.
Magic could be used without chanting as long as one concentrated one’s mind for enough time, even without reciting an incantation.
It was a considerably difficult technique for an ordinary mage,
but for me, who had been an archmage, it was not so hard.
Even if Lord Hairel failed to restrain his anger here and actually swung his sword at me,
the sword would simply snap and clatter to the floor without being able to wound me.
“……”
Silence flowed through the restaurant.
I could feel the sword in Lord Hairel’s hand trembling.
It was because his body was shaking with rage.
I was just as troubled.
All I had to do was refuse politely and send him away,
but because I disliked Lord Hairel’s attitude, I had ended up speaking in a roundabout, cutting way without realizing it.
He was already too provoked, so even if I apologized now, he likely wouldn’t listen,
and if I used force to drive him out, that would only blow the matter up even further……
If only I had endured a little more and responded more gently.
I suppose there’s still no helping my personality.
Jingle— jingle—
Just then, the shop door suddenly opened, breaking the silence as the bell rang.
“Klaauuuuuuuus!”
It was none other than my old companion, the elf knight Irit.
“Hm? What’s going on here?”
Irit had entered while calling my name loudly, but she paused when she saw the situation.
The elven adventurer, who had lived for five hundred years, narrowed her eyes once,
then seemed to grasp the general situation right away.
“I don’t know what happened, but there’s nothing good to be gained from laying a hand on this man, you know? Rich young master.”
Then she said it with a slight smile toward Lord Hairel.
I never thought there would come a day when I would be so glad to see Irit visit my shop.
With her here, we could somehow bring this situation to a close.
Because Irit was a member of the party known across the continent as heroes.
No matter how ducal the family, they could not carelessly act against a hero of the entire continent.
Of course, I had been in that party as well, but I had asked them to remove my name……
“Irit……? Why is the hero Irit here……?”
Lord Hairel lowered the sword he had been aiming at me
and looked at Irit with an utterly flustered expression.
“I came to see a friend’s face. Is there a problem?”
“This man is the hero Irit’s friend……?”
Lord Hairel turned his head toward me as if he couldn’t believe it.
At the very least, anyone living on this continent
knew the names of my old companions, the Four Heroes, transcending status and race.
Of course, my old companions were not of high birth,
but because of their tremendous achievement in sealing the Abyssal Rift, they held a position that transcended status.
If some ducal house turned the heroes into enemies simply because they displeased them,
that would essentially be the same as declaring the entire continent, aside from their own family, their enemy.
“Well, we are friends. Quite close ones.”
I smiled as I spoke to Lord Hairel.
“Why did you not say so earlier?”
“The fact that I’m Irit’s friend has nothing to do with the restaurant, does it?”
“Grr……”
Having lost his words, Lord Hairel averted his eyes from me.
“You seem to have come as a customer, but Klaus’s cooking skills are certain, so you can trust him.”
Irit came to my side and said so.
She probably didn’t know the details of what had happened before and after, but she seemed to have decided that since there was some kind of trouble, she should provide support.
“In any case, if you wish to eat my food, please follow the rules of my restaurant. That is all I can say.”
At my words, Lord Hairel briefly exchanged glances with the retainer beside him, then rose from his seat.
“……We’re leaving.”
With that, he led his retainers out of the restaurant.
* * *
“Wow, that was perfect timing.”
After Lord Hairel left,
I set out fruit preserved in honey as a snack for Irit and talked with her.
“So, what was that young master? A customer?”
“Should I call him a customer…… or what……?”
I explained to Irit what Lord Hairel had proposed.
That Lady Rosaria, known as the Doll Princess, had suddenly stopped eating and drinking,
and that they were looking for a chef who could help her regain her appetite.
And that, for that purpose, I had been asked to close the restaurant and go all the way to the Hildenburg domain to cook.
“The Doll Princess…… isn’t she that incredibly famous person?”
“She’s that famous?”
“There’s probably hardly anyone in the royal capital who doesn’t know her.”
Irit put a piece of fruit into her mouth and made an ecstatic “mm” expression.
Then she opened her mouth again.
“They call her the Doll Princess because she looks like a beautifully crafted doll. She’s so pretty that it seems her family dotes on her dearly. If your face is that beautiful, you can even aim for an upward marriage into a good family, so she’s practically a living treasure.”
“The newspaper said her marriage partner has already been decided. The Enstark family? I don’t know much about nobles.”
“I don’t know either. I just know the Doll Princess is famous because of her beauty.”
While Irit ate the fruit on the plate,
I recalled the portrait of the Doll Princess I had seen in the newspaper not long ago.
No matter how well a portrait was drawn, it could never fully capture reality.
If the Doll Princess was truly famous for such extraordinary beauty, I wanted to see her in person at least once.
“……Surely that lord won’t come back. Not after being humiliated like that.”
“Wouldn’t he come again? The fact that he came all the way here in the first place means they’ve already failed several times to satisfy the young lady’s tastes.”
“Hmm… you think so……? Judging by Lord Hairel’s personality, I feel like he must be turning inside out with frustration.”
“I told him, didn’t I? That Klaus’s cooking skills are certain. If a hero guaranteed the taste, could he really not come back?”
Irit smiled mischievously and swallowed the remaining fruit.
I looked out the window at the rough road.
Perhaps before long, just as Irit said, I might end up meeting the subject of that unreal portrait in person.
And when that time came, I would have to consider what to serve her as a chef.
“……I suppose I should think up a menu.”
Murmuring quietly, I rose from my seat.
* * *