Translated by Kitchennovel dot com

  Julian looked at the plate of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] with a deep frown.

  How long has it had been since last had meat? 30 years? Or 50 years? It’s likely that he had not touched meat since that time he saw a group of flesh eating ogres feasting on the corpses of an entire village at the age of 20.

  That sickening incident helped him achieved the breakthrough needed to master his ice magic, which he then used to storm the Demon Island and kill off that particular tribe of ogre on his own.

  However, though it had been nearly a hundred years, that terrible event remained firmly lodged within his psyche. From then on, any kind of meat related food still sickened him.

  The odd thing was, though he could see the finely chopped ham dotting the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] the feeling of discomfort was almost none existent. The fragrance of eggs and other ingredients blended together in a delicious harmony, an oddly restless feeling began to bubble from within his body.

  If you must know, his normal everyday food was vegetable boiled in plain water. Occasionally, he would have a boiled egg for nutritional purpose and completely avoided both fish and meat. For him to develop a desire to try a plate of rice fried with eggs, mixed with various other ingredients and all shiny with oil, was rather unusual to say the least.

  The reason he entered the restaurant with Klaus was to establish a better relationship with Amy, not to eat meat.

  “I should at least try one bite, ba?” Julian still hesitated.

  “Boss! One more [Yang Zhou Fried Rice]! The fried rice made by you is just too delicious!” the person next to him put down his spoon, his plate completely clean, his face overflowing with happiness.

  “Alright, please wait.” Abbé Mia said with a smile and entered the kitchen.

  “Could it really be that delicious?” Julian looked at that person from the corner of his eyes, there was not a single piece of rice left on his plate. In fact, the plate looked like it had been licked clean.

  “Tortoise Grandpa, you do you not like Rainbow Rice?” Amy was looking at Julian with suspicious eyes.

  “That guy can’t eat meat. I guess it’s been close to a hundred years since he last tasted meat, ba.” Klaus, who had eaten half a plate of his [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] looked at Julian with some pity in his eyes. He had some idea of what happened to that guy those years ago. He, too, was there when they executed the man eating ogres on demon island, ogres that managed to escape Julian’s ice magic all died under his hands.

  He had no particular grudge against demons, however, there was no need for man eating demons to exist in this world. It’s not like they would cease hunting humans just because the race war had ended.

  The War of Fire and Ice draw a great deal of attention in Nolan Continent, and everyone thought that the moment they set eyes upon each other, a battle unto the death would immediately commence. However, few knew that they also did many joint missions together, these missions were usually secret projects. The destruction of the man eating demons was a private mission they undertook without any formal leadership.

  “It’s really sad if you can’t eat meat.” Amy gave Julian a pitying look.

  “Who says I can’t eat meat!” triggered by the pity in Amy’s eyes, Julian’s blood pressure shot up, he grabbed a spoon and dug it into the middle of the fried rice and lifted a good amount up. Rice tumbled off the spoon, sparkling and colourful.

  Julian’s appetite, which had been awakened by the bowl of [Savoury Beancurds] earlier, was further increased by the seductive scent that invaded in his nose. Under Amy’s expectant eyes, he opened his mouth and shoved the spoonful of rice into his mouth.

  “What is this flavour! Meat, to think meat is so delicious!” Julian’s eyes popped wide open, the egg wrapped rice hit him first. When he bite down once, flavours which had years to developed exploded under his teeth, releasing its years worth of savoury umami flavour. Julian, who had long forgotten what meat tasted like, felt like his taste buds had been jolted awake. The newly awakened taste buds cheered as though they were celebrating the return of a king.

  Though the few pieces of meat were cut to the size of a grain of rice, the flavour was deep and powerful enough to shock Julian down to the core.

  A sudden memory was shaken loose from his mind, before the incident with the man eating ogres, he had been a man who could not live without meat.

  Aside from the ham, the scent of the sea was ushered in by finely chopped of large prawns, chewy mushrooms, crisp winter bamboo shoots, and fresh tasting scallions made their presence known. The flavour was so delicious and well balance that the reawakened taste buds were carried up to heaven in wave after wave of sensation.

  What was even more surprising was the faint scent of Spring of Life water contained within each grain of rice. Those who had never tasted the Spring of Life water might think that what they were tasting was just an interesting spice. However, he was one of those few privilege people who had actually tasted it before. Only, he never thought that Mike would have the ability to get his hands on this precious water, and to serve it as part of his cooking.

  “Ah……” the mouthful of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] was swallowed, and Julian let out an unexpected sigh. His entire attention focussed on the plate of fried rice in front of him, spoonful after spoonful of rice was sent non-stop into his mouth.

  “Grandpa Tortoise seems to really enjoy it, so he doesn’t really hate meat?” a smile bloomed on Amy’s face.

  “I could only say that Boss Mike’s cooking was just too delicious.” Klaus was also a little stunned. Julian, who had never touched meant for so long would actually eat the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] so happily, even though it contained finely chopped ham.

  However, when he thought about it, during his time at Lot City he could only stomach half a small bowl of rice. It was only in Chaos City that he started eating two full plates of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] for every meal. He was in fact, not so different from Julian.

  [Ting!]

  The sound of spoon ringing against the plate woke Julian from his half dreaming state, it was then that he realized that he had eaten the entire plate of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice].

  He actually ate a whole plate of food with meat in it!

  Moreover, there was none of the sick feeling in his stomach that came when he had accidentally eaten meat in the past. In fact, he had the urge of eating another bowl

  How many years had it been since he had this kind of feeling? His heart nearly pounded out of his chest as his eyes moved irresistibly towards the [Juicy Burger].

  It was another type of food he had never seen before, stuffed within the sliced opened cavity of some kind of white, soft looking biscuit was stewed lean and fatty meat, shredded to pieces. When it was first set on the table, Julian immediately froze up at the sight. Too fatty, too oily, too meaty!

  However, after eating an entire plate of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice], a sudden desire to experience an even more powerful taste of meat was born within him. The small bits of ham in the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] was not enough to satisfied him, this [Juicy Burger] should do the trick.

  “This one…… I wonder if the taste of meat will be different?” with some hesitation, Julian reached out a hand for the [Juicy Burger]. The thick smell of stewed meat tickled his nose, its strong meaty smell was different from the savoury saltiness of the ham. However, the seductive power was the same, finally, he could no longer stop himself and took a huge bite.

  The soft bread had absorbed some of meat gravy, it’s sweetness taking on a savoury flavour that was mouth wateringly delicious. The bread was soft, but toothsome, and though there were fatty meat mixed in with the lean, it did not feel at all greasy or sickening. As his chewed, meat juice exploded from the shredded meat, flooding over his taste buds alighting them like a chain of bombs. The flavour of meat wrecking havoc in his mouth and surging out from his stomach into his blood streams.

  “Ah–!” a long and loud cry issued from Julian’s mouth, his hard pounded, his eyes feverishly bright as he stared at the [Juicy Burger] in his hand.

  This, this was the feeling of youth!

  Those precious forgotten years, when he too, ran about in white robes, thinking himself a hero, a wizard who aimed to use his magic to uphold justice and protect the weak.

  [Translator: Oh, master Julian…… I wonder if his hunchback could be fixed by the food?]