Chapter 675

TENKEN 675 Making Curry with Io-san

「Umm, is this how the vegetables should be cooked?」

「Mogu mogu」 (munching sfx)

「...How is it?」

「Nn. It’s perfect」

「That’s good to hear」

We were now in the cooking area in the basement of the cooking guild. As one would expect from the headquarters of a guild based in a major city, the cooking area was nothing short of gorgeous.

This is the first time I’ve seen a metal sink in this world. They have also installed magic tools on their stove and oven, and it seemed to be made with efficiency in mind.

At first glance, this place might look like the kitchen of a luxurious hotel on Earth.

Fran and one of the female cooks are standing side by side in such a kitchen, tasting the curry soup.

「Io, amazing」

「Not at all, Fran’s master is more amazing! I am nothing compared to the person who came up with this amazing dish...!」

The girl with Fran is said to be a natural-born genius cook. The unreliable but kind sister to everyone, Io.

We went to the orphanage to say hello to Io the day before, and that’s when we heard that they wouldn’t be having a stall at the contest this year.

Until last year’s contest, she had to open a stall to earn money to run the orphanage. But now that they are under Amanda’s patronage, their financial difficulties have been resolved.

In addition, the number of children has doubled over the last year, making it difficult for her to find time to prepare for the contest.

Because of this, she had no intention of participating in the contest this year.

「I’d like to open the stall if I could. It’s important to interact with the local people after all」

Hearing that, we asked Io if she could help us with our stall.

With this, she can work at the stall for a day and show her face to the local residents. She will also be well compensated.

On the other hand, we’ll be getting the best helpers. She knows a lot of people and is a good cook. We couldn’t ask for a better person.

This is truly a win-win situation.

Well, there was also the selfishness of me wanting to see her cook though.

The level of my cooking skill is higher than hers, but that doesn’t mean I can make the more delicious food.

Just like with Fran’s swordsmanship skill, she instantly got it after raising my skill level all at once. Compared to those who had honed their skills on their own, I realized that we had been neglecting the basics of cooking.

There were also many areas where I lacked in application. I’m good at recreating Earth’s cuisine and improving it to make it more delicious, but...

When it comes to dishes that originally existed in this world, I can recreate them, but I can hardly do a good job of preparing them.

It’s not that it was bad, and Fran is happy enough with it. But it was nothing compared to the food cooked by Io and Fermus at the dragon restaurant.

And that’s why we’re here with Io today. I thought that if I could see her cooking process, I might be able to grasp something.

Well, all I’ve learned is that I just have to be diligent. I can’t imitate a genius after all.

Knock knock.

Just then, a knock sounded at the entrance of the kitchen.

As our work was a trial production of a new product, it was off-limits to everyone except those involved. However, it seemed that we had a visitor.

「Who?」

「This voice, It’s Fran, huh? It’s me, Colbert. I heard you were in Barbra!」

The one who came was Colbert. He was a B-ranked adventurer and a skilled fighter. He was also a former disciple of Dimitris, whom we had to meet.

He was excommunicated for getting serious against Fran in a martial arts tournament, but...

(Can he be here?)

『Well, I don’t mind. He may have lost his skills when he was excommunicated, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his memories of Dimitris. We might find some useful information from him』

It’s not that I want to know Dimitris’ weaknesses or how he fights. What I want to know is his favorite food, his favorite color, or any other information that I can use to make friendly contact with him.

「It’s been a while, Fran」

「Nn」

「It seems, you’ve gotten bigger too」

「?」

Colbert looked strangely excited as he came in. And for some reason, he grasps Fran’s hand tightly with tears in the corners of his eyes.

Oi oi, what is he doing? Isn’t he getting overfamiliar with Fran!? I mean, his hand! He’s squeezing too hard! C-could it be that he has fallen for Fran!? Well, that’s not surprising since Fran is super cute, not... I won’t let him! I won’t let someone who’s weaker than Fran to take care of her! Go get stronger than Fran first and come back again!

「I may not be able to replace your master, but you can count on me for anything while you’re in town!」

「?」

「Curry Master, your disciple has grown up well!」

Aah―, I know where this is going. It seems like he’s still under the impression that I’m dead and he’s going to watch over Fran in my stead. He’s the type of guy who often goes around making assumptions, and I guess he got excited all by himself when he saw Fran.

「Master is still alive」

「Yeah, you’re right」

「...」

It was rare to see Fran’s dumbfounded face.

『Should I show myself to clear up the misunderstanding?』

(...Not now)

『Eh? You sure?』

(Nn. If Master shows up now, we won’t be able to get any information out of him)

『Aah―, that may be true』

I’m sure Colbert will be happy to see me. But he would be too happy, and his excitement could prevent us from getting some information out of him.

『Let’s leave it for a little later then』

(Nn)