“By the way, Rebecca-san.”


  “What is it?”


  “Can I leave Allen and Elena in your care?”


  “Oh my, Takumi-san, are you going out by yourself?”


  “Yes, I think I will.”


  The kids and I are together almost all the time, so I’ll take this opportunity to get away from them for a bit.

  “I will return at night before the kids go to sleep, so I’d appreciate it if you could take care of them until then.”


  “Then, you will be dining by yourself, too?”


  “Yes, if you agree to my request… that is.”


  For starters, I think I’ll go out while the kids are asleep.

  “I will feel sorry for them if you leave while they are asleep…”


  “Will they cry, or will they sulk… I don’t know what kind of reaction they will show, so I’m going to have trouble you, Rebecca-san.”


  “That’s fine with me, but…”


  Rebecca-san wanted to say something, but she did not refuse, so I decided to leave the children with her and go out.

  ◇　◇　◇


  “Now then, what should I do~”


  After I left the Ruven residence, I wandered around the city.

  “Oh, isn’t that Takumi!”


  “Ah, Evan-san.”


  I found myself near the Adventurer’s Guild, where I met Evan-san, an adventurer who had become a good friend of mine.

  “You are alone? Where are the kids?”


  Finding it was strange that I was alone, Evan-san was looking around for the children

  “I left them in someone else’s care.”


  “Left them? Ahh, at the Count’s?”


  “Yes, that’s right.”


  Evan-san knows that we are being taken care of by the Ruven family, and not staying at the inn, so he seemed to have thought of it right away.

  “I don’t know how the two who are so close to you could agree to stay at home.”


  “… I left while they were napping.”


  “Is it… going to be okay?”


  “Sure… I think.”


  Evan-san gave me a subtle look when I told him that I had left them there without telling them first. Does he think that if I leave the kids here, they’ll go ballistic? They may cry and sulk, but they won’t go… wild… They are not going to do that, right?

  “And so, what are you doing alone? You didn’t come to accept a request, did you?”


  “I was just wandering around.”


  “Oh, let’s go drinking then!”


  When I told Evan-san that I had nothing in particular to do, his eyes lit up.

  “I want to eat your cooking!”


  “Nonono! If we are to drink, then let’s order food from the place we drink at! It’s not my place to cook!”


  “It’s fine! The inn I’m staying at will lend you the kitchen! Alright, let’s go!”


  “… Ehh~”


  Evan-san grabbed my arm tightly and started walking towards the inn.

  “Evan-san, you are so pushy~”


  “Your food is delicious. I’ll pay for the ingredients and also the labor, please. Okay?”


  Evan-san said to me pleadingly. I’m going to feel bad if you say it like that.

  “Geez~ Can’t be helped~ And so, what do you want to eat?”


  “Anything!”


  “… Anything, you say.”


  Anything is the most annoying answer.

  “So, you are fine with whatever I feel like eating.”


  “Ou, that’s fine with me. Then, do you need to go shopping before going to the inn?”


  “I’ve got all the ingredients on me.”


  Since I had plenty of ingredients on hand, I declined the offer, and we moved on to the inn.

  “Takumi, they said you can use it.”


  “Alright.”


  Evan-san had negotiated about the inn’s kitchen, and it seemed to have been approved.

  I’ve been to this diner once before for a launch after a joint request with Evan-san and Scott-san’s Steel Hawks party, but this was my first time meeting the kitchen staff.

  “Excuse me. Sorry to bother you.”


  “It’s still early enough before the guests come, so it’s no problem. Besides, I’m interested in your cooking.”


  “Eh? Erm… what do you mean by that?”


  “I heard you were the one who came up with the sauce for the salad.”


  Salad sauce… he means the dressing, right?

  “You taught Scott how to make the sauce, right? We can’t cook, so we had the old man here make it for us.”


  “Oh yeah, I did.”


  I guess because I was tilting my head, Evan-san told me what this was about.

  I completely forgot that I gave Scott the recipe for the dressing.

  “Those fellows who only ate meat all the time and wouldn’t eat any vegetables no matter how many times I told them, started ordering salads.”


  “Those fellows?”


  “The adventurers who use this inn and dining hall. It’s delicious. It’s not just me and Scott, the other guys love it too, it’s a popular menu item here.”


  “Heeh~ That’s good, isn’t it?”


  I don’t know how many adventurers didn’t eat vegetables, but it’s good that they started to eat them, right?

  “That’s why the old man must be interested in what you are going to make. And so, what have you decided to make today?”


  “I will be troubled if you have so many expectations… let’s see~”


  I bought a lot of seafood the other day, so I think I’ll use that.

  “Ah, I guess I will do Fry?”


  “Fry?”


  “Right. Yes, they are dishes made by coating ingredients with breadcrumbs and frying them.”


  Shrimp and fish… horse mackerel! Scallops and squid would be good too!

  “Evan, if you’re free, I could use your help.”


  “I don’t know how to cook.”


  “Even my kids can help, can’t you?”


  “Hey, Takumi! If the kids can do it, I can do it too!”


  “I will have you help then.”


  The bread crumbing process is easier when there are more people around, so I got Evan-san involved, and the old man, Milton-san, offered to help as well. He seemed to be really interested in what I was doing.

  “Takumi, if you let the old man help you, he’s going to steal your recipe~”


  “I don’t really mind…”


  But I think it’s bad for the person who bought the recipe.

  I’d be happy to give it away, but… they wouldn’t take it for free~ right~ Why don’t I send them another letter with a recipe for a different dish?

  “Then, would you be willing to help me make a large batch for my personal use next time?”


  I asked him to help me cook food for my Infinite Storage the next time. After all, frying is a pain in the ass!

  In addition to the ones I’m planning to make today, pork cutlets, ground meat, fried white, croquettes, fried white fish and salmon are also good. And then there are things I want to eat or make, like asparagus wrapped in meat or cheese sticks…


  “Ou! Leave it to me!”


  Milton-san agreed, so we negotiated, and I lightly explained the process of cooking.

  “That’s a lot of work.”


  “Well, it’s not a qucik dish.”


  When the breadcrumbs were done and the fish was frying in oil, Milton-san muttered to himself.

  “Takumi, is it done?”


  “It’s still cooking, can’t you see?”


  “But it smells so good!”


  “You are not a child, so go out and wait obediently!”


  Evan-san, who had played an active role in bread crumbing, began to wander around behind me when he was finished. When I told him to go to the dining room and sit down, he was a little disappointed and left the kitchen

  “Alright, this should be good.”


  When the color looked good, I removed it from oil.

  “What do you think? It takes a little work, but it’s not that difficult, is it?”


  “Yeah. Looks like everything will be all right as long as you pay attention to the heat.”


  “Here, this is for you, Milton-san.”


  “Is this alright?”


  “It’s fine. You have to try what you helped make.”


  I also gave Milton-san a portion of the fried dishes and tartar sauce. I would have liked some Worcestershire sauce, but I could only make a mediocre one, so I refrained from serving it.