Bella, a commoner student at Arcadia Academy, had been suffering from headaches lately.
Because the student cafeteria had stopped operating after the headmaster suddenly cut off its supply of ingredients.
The noble students’ dormitories allowed them to live with at least one servant from their own house.
Thus, the nobles were not particularly bothered by the suspension of meals.
“No cafeteria meals? Just eat out.” Or, “My servant buys food for me.” Such enviable countermeasures.
But for the majority of commoner students, excluding the nobles, that was impossible.
It wasn’t as if every commoner student received a scholarship...
In reality, merely paying tuition and the cost of uniforms was enough to put their household finances in jeopardy.
In such harsh financial circumstances,
the student cafeteria, which was relatively cheap, had always been packed with commoners—but that, too, had become a thing of the past.
‘Haa... I guess I’ll have to starve again today.’
The suspicious black-haired man she had run into on her way to school the day before yesterday.
That man had asked her all sorts of questions about the academy’s meals, then handed her a bag of hardtack.
And not just any tasteless, rock-hard hardtack, either—it was that Silbaerin hardtack that was said to be impossible to buy lately because it sold out so fast.
Honestly, he was on the better-looking side, but wasn’t “You look like you have no energy” a greeting that sounded far too cultish?
Unable to completely set aside her suspicions, Bella finally relaxed when she saw the insignia of the Callius Merchant Company among the people with him.
‘That hardtack really was delicious.’
Silbaerin hardtack was a little more expensive than the cheap bread or hardtack sold on the market.
For Bella, who had to treasure every single coin, it was something she could only look at every day, never actually buy.
But now that she had happened to eat it, it was on an entirely different level from any hardtack she had ever had.
No, it wasn’t just hardtack; even compared to other breads, it was delicious enough to rank near the top.
Grrr—
As she imagined the clean, subtly sweet taste of the hardtack, the hunger she had filled with water since morning began to churn again.
Today, the road to school felt farther than ever.
As she staggered along, staring only at the stone patterns on the ground,
Whoooosh—!
A familiar yet destructive aroma instantly burrowed deep into her nose.
Bella forgot even to walk and fixed her gaze on the source.
‘Toast? What’s that tucked between the slices of bread?’
The mansion of the Callius Merchant Company, which she inevitably passed on the way to the academy.
Thanks to its low wall, the front yard was visible without any particular effort,
and two people were preparing breakfast there.
But Bella did not register the faces or races of the two people at all.
Only that toast, giving off the familiar savory fragrance of bread, butter, and eggs.
And the stimulating smell hidden behind those familiar scents.
Only its identity seized Bella’s mind.
‘Ah, I want just one bite...’
Whether or not he knew how Bella felt,
one of them was about to bite into the toast dripping with bright red sauce.
At that moment, Bella’s eyes met his.
Only when their gazes crossed did her reason finally return.
Bella immediately bowed her head and apologized for the rudeness she had committed.
When she came to her senses and looked properly, the person was none other than the black-haired man who had given her hardtack the day before yesterday.
She was already so grateful for the hardtack she owed him, and yet she had repaid that kindness by interrupting his leisurely breakfast.
“Wait right there. Don’t go anywhere!”
However, the black-haired man did not scold her for her rudeness.
What came back to her was not a reprimand, but one warm toast that the black-haired man had been about to eat.
It was food whose aroma seeped into every cell, making her wonder whether a commoner like herself was even allowed to eat it.
Bella was hungry and a commoner with no food to eat today, but she did have shame.
When she stubbornly refused, the black-haired man forced the toast into her hands.
And the price he asked in return was merely a small request: to promote it to her friends.
But Bella could not fulfill that request.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say that “she” had no chance to promote it.
“I’ve definitely smelled this before... That’s why I can’t hold back anymore...”
“Just one bite!! Please, let me try just one bite!!”
“C-commoner! Where did you buy that food? I’ll pay you. Please tell me!!”
Because... the moment she unwrapped the toast to eat it in place of lunch,
every student around Bella, commoner and noble alike, gathered on their own.
***
After grabbing a passing female student and even setting the free promotion auto-hunt in motion,
I headed toward the blacksmith district to pick up the stall tent I had ordered in advance.
Of course, it was not a business I had personally run around and found; Callius had introduced me to a suitable carpentry workshop.
I had debated whether to make the stall a mobile, wheeled type like a modern food cart, or to simplify it into a sturdy tented stand.
After much consideration, I decided on the latter.
After all, a food cart had many restrictions in terms of size and cooking equipment, and I would even need a horse to move it.
Buying a horse just to commute for a bit of street stall business would be too exhausting.
It seemed better to call workers to install it once, then call them once more when I closed up shop later.
While I went to check on the stall, Eilenna said she would practice the menu at the mansion.
If the stall could be installed today, I intended to start business as early as tomorrow, so it seemed she wanted to learn everything ahead of time without being late.
‘A textbook example of excellent judgment.’
Since she already possessed a delicate palate and skill in handling ingredients, she would probably master it without much difficulty.
Since I happened to be alone and thought I could look around at my leisure,
I also took the chance to finish the sightseeing I hadn’t done before and survey the market.
“Try our wild boar sandwich, caught yesterday! Fresh and delicious!”
“Boss, one sandwich, please.”
“Welcome! Thank you~”
Seeing a lively marketplace for the first time in a while made me loosen my purse strings.
I had just eaten a hearty toast before coming out, but unable to resist the temptation, I ordered some otherworld street food.
A wild boar sandwich... If I remembered correctly, the magical beast Iseria had taken down in one blow long ago was a wild boar.
We butchered it and sold it for a nice profit. Of course, right after that, a wave broke out and we ended up detained in the city.
‘Memories. Good old memories.’
Come to think of it, back then we only caught and butchered it; I never actually ate it myself.
In fact, if you looked closely at the menu of my restaurant or the dishes I cooked for myself, you could probably tell.
I avoided meat, especially pork and beef from this other world, whenever possible.
Chicken could be eaten without much sense of foreignness if cooked well enough. Like baeksuk or gomtang.
But the other meats... I just couldn’t overcome them.
‘I miss modern selective breeding...’
Leaving magical beasts aside, the livestock of this other world were animals that had not yet been sufficiently improved through breeding.
Because of that, pork and lamb gave off such a gamey stench that it made you wonder, “Is this even possible?” while beef was far too tough.
To begin with, in a world with technology that could not support mass production, there was no way people could freely consume livestock meat.
Naturally, breed improvement had no choice but to progress slowly.
Recently, at least, I had obtained sap and leaves from the World Tree, giving me hope.
Even sausages made with all kinds of spices still smelled gamey, but once I brushed World Tree sap on them, the smell vanished completely.
Before long, the day would come when I could make tender boiled pork or beef steak.
Krrr, if I tore up some spicy kimjang kimchi, laid a slice of milky-white boiled pork on top, and ate it...
“Here’s your wild boar sandwich! Enjoy~”
“Ah, thank you.”
I had been right in the middle of imagining early-winter November kimjang boiled pork, but when I came to my senses, it had turned into a wild boar sandwich.
Tsk. It was a shame, but it wasn’t an impossible future, so I should try it once this winter.
A few of Noirdel’s friendly elves, Arthur, and Duke Cailan salting napa cabbages in a huge washtub would be quite the spectacle, wouldn’t it?
They were all far stronger than me, so they probably wouldn’t need rubber gloves.
If they were superhumans, they could overcome it with sheer spirit.
Still, rather than kimjang in the distant future, I needed to focus on the food in front of me.
After receiving the sandwich and moving a little away from the shop, I sniffed at it.
‘Hmm... Well, this much is acceptable.’
It had a slight gamey odor, but it was not so bad that I couldn’t eat it.
It was about the level where someone with a strong stomach could eat it with some difficulty while thinking of it as pork flavor.
In other words, for an average modern person, it would not be an easy smell.
But I, Kang Jinwoo, am a man who survived the pork offal of Moran Market.
I was confident I could eat this level of gamey odor with pleasure.
Munch, munch—
Unlike soft white bread, this was rye bread with large, conspicuous air holes.
On top of the tough, coarse bread were sliced and grilled pieces of wild boar meat, finished with cheese.
The combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fat was not bad, but the smell was still unpleasant.
Musty bread, pungent cheese, and gamey meat all together—it was pure testo-bro food.
One thing was certain: it tasted like something women would never eat.
Besides this “wild boar sandwich,” I explored various other street foods.
Meat pies, simple crepes, nuts, dried fruits, and so on.
After tasting a little of everything, I was certain.
Okay, analysis complete.
‘Other world. You can’t beat me.’
To be honest, it wasn’t as if the level of the food or cooking was low.
Of course, it was not as developed as modern Earth, but considering the technological background of this world, it was at a very appropriate level.
In some ways, it was even more developed than Earth’s medieval era.
Since this was a world where magic existed, refrigeration, freezing, and heat control technology seemed more convenient than in modern times.
But that was as far as it went.
The cuisine of this other world still could not surpass even the stronghold of a single “street toast.”
I felt a little relieved.
Deep down, I had been wondering what I would do if the business flopped, since I wouldn’t have the face to show Eilenna or Callius...
With my heart thus lightened, I arrived at the carpentry workshop and checked the temporary assembly of the completed stall.
“No need to show me your identification. I can tell just by looking. You’re the black-haired chef Lord Callius mentioned, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right. Is this the stall?”
“That’s right. Still, it’s a stall that’ll be used at the academy, so we made it neat and dignified. Do you like it?”
“The finish is killer. Thank you.”
I had worried it might end up with red-and-white stripes like a circus tent, but the craftsman’s sense stood out.
The stall had a frame of calm brown wood and was covered here and there with red canvas.
If blue tones, purple, or deep green were used for a restaurant, it psychologically reduced appetite.
This phenomenon did vary depending on each individual’s cultural background, but in general, the colors that had a negative effect were largely fixed.
“Would it be possible to install this this afternoon? It’s on the street in front of the academy building.”
“Mm, that’s plenty possible. After lunch, we’ll go to the front of the Callius Merchant Company mansion, so be ready.”
“I like how straightforward you are. Here’s the payment. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Haha! Thank you!”
It seemed Callius had introduced me to a genuinely solid business.
Burly middle-aged men who looked as if they did not contain even the slightest trace of estrogen.
If this kind of people made the stall, I could trust it and use it.
I had paid for the stall, and there was no more market research to do.
I returned to the mansion, waited for the workers, then headed to the academy with Eilenna.
If I remembered correctly... the administration office staff had said the paperwork would likely be processed without issue, so I should come prepared with the stall.
Even so, rather than installing the stall recklessly, it was better to stop by the administration office first and confirm.
I sent the workers ahead to the stall site, then entered the academy’s main building with Eilenna.
“What should we eat for lunch today? Should we go out toward the plaza?”
“Ah, it’s far, so that’s annoying... Our family servant said he’d prepare lunch. Want to eat with me?”
“Sure. The time spent going back and forth would be a waste.”
“What’s your afternoon class?”
“Probably ‘The History of Alchemy and Equivalent Exchange’?”
“Wow, the food coma’s gonna kill you.”
By coincidence, it seemed to overlap with the academy students’ lunch break, and the place was crowded with students from the entrance.
This was my third visit here, but it was my first time seeing such a scene, so it felt a little unfamiliar.
On top of that, I had black hair, and Eilenna was a beauty who would draw attention even if she were not an elf.
Whether we liked it or not, we became the center of the students’ attention.
“Look at his hair color. Is he an Easterner, like in the rumors?”
“That’s what catches your eye? Look at the elf next to him, wow...”
We had done nothing wrong, but Eilenna and I lowered our heads and hurried our steps.
We were crossing the corridor toward the administration office,
when a dense crowd of people in the middle of the passage blocked the way.
Please, just one bite—!
Where? Where did you buy it—?!
What were these kids doing here instead of going to eat?
Since they were standing right in the way when I was in a hurry, I had no choice but to ask for their understanding and squeeze through the crowd.
“Sorry, students, coming through...!”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“We were blocking the way. Sorry.”
At least they admirably knew they were in the wrong.
As expected of students from the empire’s only institution of higher education.
I had pushed through about half of the clustered crowd.
But then, someone called out to me.
“Oh, Toast Mister?”
“Hm? You’re that female student from this morning?”
It was none other than the female student I had set on auto-hunt this morning.
And the moment that female student referred to me as “Toast Mister”...
“Toast? This person is that chef?”
“Where are you doing business?!”
“You’re open for lunch, right? Right?”
Whoooosh—!
The heads of the crowd that had been gathered around the female student turned all at once, and every single gaze locked onto me.
Even if they were students much younger than me... this was a little scary.
It seemed it would be better to move the start of business up by a day.
Because in this atmosphere, if I said, “We’re not open today,” it felt like something would happen right then and there.