Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Shadow of Corin (10)
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The city had plenty of street food to snack on, and the innkeeper's cooking skills were so outstanding that there was no need to cook myself. But at this late hour—closer to dawn than night—there was nowhere to buy food or ask someone to cook, so I had no choice but to do it myself.
I headed downstairs. The dining hall was dim and dark.
“Legion.”
I picked up a candlestick. Legion shot a burst of flame at it, lighting the candle and brightening the surroundings. I went around lighting the candles on the walls of the dining hall before entering the kitchen.
As expected from the innkeeper's skill, the kitchen was neatly organized with a variety of tools. I reached for the best-sharpened knife among the neatly arranged ones.
“Who's there?”
That was when someone appeared from beyond the dining hall. A familiar voice. The innkeeper, looking like she'd just woken up, rubbed her eyes as she stared at me. In her other hand was a sturdy hammer.
“It's me. Theodore.”
“Th-the Druid, sir?”
“Yes. That's right.”
“What in the world are you doing at this hour...?”
She let out a sigh, patting her chest before slamming the hammer down on the table with a thud. It made quite an intimidating sound.
“Sorry about that. My companion is really starving...”
“Your companion...? Oh, that handsome fellow?”
Handsome... Well, honestly, Lloyd was handsome. I was the Druid guy, and Lloyd was the handsome guy... I nodded awkwardly.
“He's been eating nothing but jerky and biscuits for days.”
“No, that's not right!”
“Exactly.”
“You have to eat well to keep a body like that!”
...When did she see his body? I gave the innkeeper another awkward look and nodded. Ahem, ahem. Why was I clearing my throat?
“That's what I mean. So...”
“So?”
“If it's okay...”
“Oh, cooking at this hour would be tough.”
The innkeeper waved her hand dismissively. I quickly interjected.
“Of course. I wouldn't dream of imposing like that. I just wanted to borrow the kitchen a bit. And some ingredients. I'd pay properly, of course.”
“...Hmm.”
The innkeeper tilted her head from side to side, as if pondering.
“I'll handle everything very carefully. And I won't take ingredients needed for tomorrow's business.”
“Weeell... Hmm. There is some fish.”
“Fish sounds perfect.”
“But I wonder if outlanders can eat it.”
The innkeeper hummed thoughtfully for a long while before pushing past me into the kitchen, rummaging around, and pulling out a wooden box. The inside of the box, enchanted with cooling magic, was packed with ice, and on top were ordinary fish... and...
“That one...”
“Do you know what it is?”
What she pointed to looked quite different from the regular fish. It was black, elongated, and slick. The kind of appearance most would find gross. Unless it was already cooked.
“Eel. Eel.”
That's right. Eel. That eel renowned for nourishing the body! Here, what did they call it...?
“Long Black Fish. Caught from the river around here every fall. Locals know it, but outsiders...”
“Haha. I've seen it once before.”
“You said you were a long-time mercenary! I guess it's true!”
“It is.”
I ate eel occasionally. Very occasionally. When someone treated me, or for Father's birthday. Something like that.
“This can be used right away, so it's fine...”
“Thank you.”
“Oh my. You know how to eat it? That's surprising!”
“Hahaha. Long... No, people who don't know Long Black Fish is a delicacy are missing out.”
“Right? Exactly!”
The innkeeper excitedly pulled out the eels. One, two, three. Three of them. Seeing the three eels laid out on the cutting board, I swallowed hard.
“But Long Black Fish has a lot of bones, so you have to boil them looong and slow to eat them... Is that okay?”
“Hmm, I'm planning to cook it a different way.”
“A different way? Is there another way? Roshan style, maybe?”
If anything, Korean style. I shrugged and grinned.
“Something I picked up somewhere.”
“Oh? Now I'm curious. Tell me later when you have time.”
“I will.”
“Yaaawn, so sleepy. Good luck, then.”
“Go rest.”
“That guy has a good friend, a real good friend...”
The innkeeper grabbed the hammer from the table and headed back.
“...”
Alright, now it's just me and the eels.
I stared at the eels on the cutting board for a moment before picking up a gleaming filleting knife.
When it comes to eel, it has to be that.
“Grilled eel.”
There are stews and steams, but grilled eel is the best. Perfect for restoring energy, just what a tired Lloyd needs.
“First, the heads...”
Back in the day, I couldn't even grill a single mackerel properly, but living in this pseudo-medieval world had made me proficient at handling fish. I could probably open a sushi place if I returned to my original world.
-Thunk!!!
-Thunk!!!
-Thunk!!!
I severed the heads and skillfully filleted them. As the innkeeper said, eels have a lot of bones. Especially the fine ones. Locals treated fish with lots of fine bones as trash fish, discarding them or boiling them until unrecognizable, like the innkeeper did.
But for grilled eel, you need to remove the bones and fine spines. Sure, as a Korean, I could chew through the fine bones... but for eel after so long, better to put in the effort!
After carefully deboning and trimming, the eel took on the familiar shape I knew. Thin and elongated fillets. I grabbed coarse salt, rubbed it on the skin to remove the slime, rinsed under running water, and patted dry with a cloth.
“Handling eel takes more time than I thought?”
I never realized how labor-intensive it was; I just used to buy it ready-made. I wiped a bead of sweat and scored the fillets lightly. To remove any remaining spines and tenderize the meat.
Halfway done just from prep. I took the eels through the small door at the back of the kitchen. Stacked the firewood neatly.
“Legion. Max firepower.”
「Theo. Be careful.」
“Yeah.”
-Whoosh!!!
Legion's black flame poured over the firewood. It quickly turned into perfect charcoal, emitting just the right heat. I placed a thin wire mesh on top and laid the eels on it.
“Grill the flesh side first for eel.”
Something Father always said at the Pungcheon eel place. If you start with the skin, it dries out tough. Grill the belly golden brown first, then flip—smooth sailing.
Come to think of it, he explained 'Pungcheon' meant 'eel that rides the wind into the river,' not just a place name. Wind 'pung' and river 'cheon.' Thanks to Father's trivia, I'd always shared that when eating eel. Recalling it brought a bittersweet smile tinged with longing.
While the eel grilled, I started on rice and sauce. No rice, but steaming mixed wheat and barley might mimic it somewhat. Can't eat grilled eel with bread. For sauce, I'd improvise. No soy sauce or gochujang, so just an approximation.
Fortunately, the kitchen had demi-glace sauce and dried peperoncino. I ground the peperoncino into powder, mixed it into the demi-glace, boiled it down with pepper and salt until thick...
“Mmm, this should do...”
Tasting it, pretty good. Could pass as spicy soy sauce?
「Theo. Me too. Me too.」
“This is spicy, though?”
「Theo. Spicy. What?」
“Oh, you don't know what spicy is yet.”
「Theo. Me. Don't know. Spicy.」
“Spicy means... like fire coming out of your mouth...”
「Theo. Me. Mouth. Fire comes out.」
“...Right. You already breathe fire from your mouth?”
How do I explain this? After pondering, I concluded he had to experience it. I dipped my pinky in the sauce and fed it to Legion. Then...
「...!」
-Whoosh!!!
Legion stretched his neck upward and spewed flame. Yeah, yeah. That's what spicy feels like—fire from the mouth. I chuckled, waiting for the breath to stop. Legion puffed up his chest, flapping his wings and wagging his tail.
“See? Told you it's spicy.”
「Theo! Theo!」
“Yeah, yeah. Hang on a bit.”
I pulled milk from my pouch and fed it to him. After nearly downing a whole bottle, Legion calmed, sticking out his tongue.
By then, the initial grilling was done. I brushed the makeshift sauce generously over the well-grilled eel and finished on low heat, flipping occasionally. The mouthwatering aroma filled the air as it slowly absorbed the flavors.
“This is a success!”
I sliced the grilled eel into bite-sized pieces, plated it, added shredded ginger on the side. Parsley powder instead of green onions... Done.
“Ooh. Looks pretty legit!”
The slightly spicy-sweet aroma was familiar, even if not exact. Gulp. I swallowed involuntarily, then scooped the pre-made 'rice' into a stew bowl. No rice, no stickiness, just fluffy... but if no teeth, use gums. In this pseudo-medieval world, this imitation was impressive!
I loaded the wooden tray and headed upstairs. Lloyd, now cleaned up, waited in the room.
“This is...”
“Grilled Long Black Fish. And this is steamed grains, like rice.”
“Never seen food like this.”
“Something from my homeland we ate occasionally. Not perfect, but edible.”
“...Thanks.”
We sat at the table and began eating.
“Mmm...”
“How is it?”
“Delicious. A new flavor for me.”
Relief—he liked it. I picked up my fork. Eating grilled eel with a fork felt odd, but...
“Kyaa...”
The moment the spicy-sweet sauced eel hit my tongue, a satisfied sigh escaped. Ah, makes me crave soju! White wine would have to do. I pulled a bottle from my subspace ring, poured a glass, and downed it. Killer!
“By the way, Theodore.”
“Y-yeah? What?”
“...Why are you only eating the tail?”
Cough. Gulp. Ahem. Nearly choked. Whew... I rolled my eyes, cleared my throat again, and calmly replied.
“Well, naturally...”
“Naturally?”
“The body goes to you, Lloyd, for all your hard work.”
Call me shameless, but I won't yield the tail!
「Theo. Then. Me too.」
“Uh, uh. Yeah, yeah. Ahh~.”
But Legion gets some. I fed him an eel tail and wiped sauce from his mouth. He sure knows to go for the good stuff!
“Eat up, Legion.”