95. Becoming Calm for No Reason
95. Becoming Calm for No Reason
Mountain and Sea Delicacies
Rare and delicious foods from the mountains and seas.
The Three Great Delicacies called truffle, foie gras, caviar, etc.
Humanity was never more earnest about anything than eating while living.
Thus, I could say it.
"Flour dried under Apollon's clear sunlight for 100 days, potatoes grown in a field blessed with Demeter's protection, beef tenderloin supplied from Hermes's temple, cooked over a flame blessed with Hestia's protection────
──It is beef stew."
"........."
Don't mess around when food is in front of you.
At long last the explanation ended, I immediately picked up my spoon and tried to scoop a bite of the stew.
"The prayer is not yet finished."
"......Ugh...!"
The stew was cooling down even at this very moment, you know?
I glanced at the waiter, sending a look to just move on, but the waiter smiled as if there was nothing to worry about.
"The bowl itself has a warming function. It is an item supplied by the Hephaestus Guild."
".......Ugh!"
I
Just let me hit that human once.
'How does it take over 30 minutes to eat a single stew after entering the restaurant?'
Only after finally listening to all that droning did I manage to scoop a bite of the stew into my mouth.
"────Wah"
Ah
This
How should I put it
My impressions were complex in many ways, making it difficult to explain in a single word, but if I forced it into one sentence, it was this.
"Insane"
It was a taste worth spacing out for 30 minutes over.
I hurriedly raised my spoon and put the stew in my mouth again.
'Fucking delicious'
A sweet and savory taste
A nutty and salty taste
And at the same time, a deep aftertaste that lingered as it went down.
Normally, this kind of stew would make you incredibly full, but mysteriously, there was no heavy feeling in my stomach at all.
"As expected of a meal made by a follower of Demeter."
Minerva was enjoying the taste leisurely, as if she was familiar with it.
I guess experienced people really are different. I lifted my spoon again to finish off the stew.
"Customer"
"Hm?"
And at that moment, the waiter reappeared beside me.
The waiter pointed at the half-eaten stew and spoke.
"Would you like to try this delicious beef stew, ground into a cream stew?"
"Eh....?"
What?
"Yes, please."
"Then I will prepare the dish for this customer first."
"No...what..."
What the hell were they doing with a perfectly delicious beef stew right there?
Unable to grasp the situation, I blankly stared at the scene unfolding before me.
Wiiiiiiing!
"No...nooooo......."
One blender that appeared from nowhere
The beef stew went inside and was diligently ground into a mush, and somehow, before I knew it, it emerged as a creamy white cream stew.
"Mm...it is delicious indeed."
"You flatter me."
"............."
Was it me who was strange?
Minerva nodded and began eating her stew.
'From her expression, it looks fine though...'
The waiter then looked at me and asked back.
"And for you, customer...?"
"Uh....yeah. Yes."
"Understood."
Please wait just a moment.
About 5 minutes after the waiter finished speaking
Before I knew it, the beef stew had become cream stew.
"Sluuurp....mm.....mmmmm....!"
The taste was good.
Along with the creamy flavor, rich meatiness was felt here and there.
A slightly greasy and weighty taste compared to the beef stew.
And pinning it down with the wine served alongside, it kept going down.
No matter how you looked at it, this stew seemed to lack nothing
"Would you like to have this stew made into a sauce?"
"........Um"
Yes
Do as you please.
In an instant, the waiter reduced the cream stew into a concentrated sauce.
"Mmmm....!"
The sauce taste was profound and delicious beyond imagination.
There was flavor, sure. But it was just flavor, and there was a strange lack.
If only there was something to fill this strange sense of lacking...
"Would you like the sauce served with bread?"
"........Yes"
I spread it on baguette bread and ate.
It was flavorful. It was delicious as expected.
But this strangely unsatisfying feeling...
"Would you like to try beef stew using this concentrated sauce as a base?"
"............."
The infinite loop of beef stew had returned once again
Around that time, I quietly closed both eyes.
This feeling
This familiar sensation.
I definitely knew it.
'This...makes me feel ridiculously and oddly calm...'
So I said, take it easy on the collaborations.
You sharpabb dubiduba~ dubidubidubi dubabba, and the like.
****************
After finishing the meal
I made the truffle I had brought from home as an offering to the gods into a stew and offered it up.
The method of offering was just roughly holding the item and praying with both hands together. Maybe because I was an apostle, or maybe because of the title, I didn't offer it before an altar, but it oxidized into light and disappeared on its own.
[Main God─Hera: This taste, it is a deeply warming taste.]
According to Hera, the taste was excellent.
[Main God─Demeter: How about making this mushroom cream stew, which is delicious even as is, into a sauce and dipping bread in it?]
[Main God─Hera:....Sister, how did you get here? More importantly, I'm on a diet right now!]
[Main God─Demeter: Where exactly is the fat you need to lose? No, is that so? That's why your chest lacks flesh because you're always like that!]
[Main God─Hera: We promised not to talk about that!]
"Um....."
Something a little interesting seemed to happen in between, but
[Goddess Athena: This stew is delicious.]
[Main God─Hera: Athena, I did not invite you to this place!]
[Main God─Demeter: I invited her though? Seeing her drool with her eyes because it looked delicious, I felt a bit sorry to leave her alone.]
[Main God─Hera: Ugh...aagh, aaaaaah...!!!]
".....Oh man"
I decided to ignore it.
[Main God─Cronus:...Child?]
"............."
I decided to ignore it.
"Huaa....that was a good meal. So good it's a problem, really."
Minerva followed me out.
She was gently pressing her upper stomach with her hand, wearing a happy expression.
"Normally I manage my diet to some extent, but whenever I come here, I end up overeating without realizing it. I guess it really is as expected...all followers of Demeter have outstanding cooking skills."
"......Hmm"
If you asked me about the skill, I could only say it was good, but.
"I found it a bit scary."
"Yes? Pfft, I guess that could be the case! Because sometimes it really does feel like you're being tortured with food."
After escaping the dilemma of stew, stew, bread, stew
They showed a fire show before my eyes in the order of
Beef, beef, pork, chicken
Beef, beef, innards, innards...
'At one point, it felt like we were eating too much meat...'
So I asked if they didn't serve things like salad, and they said that since the livestock we eat had already eaten the vegetables, by eating the meat, we were consuming vegetables too.
Clearly nonsense, but
"...Burp"
Part of me found it strangely convincing.
Still, they brought out a few more sauces for me, as if they were being considerate in their own way.
Each and every one of those, once eaten, made you crave meat again—it was the ultimate meat-meat restaurant.
"Huaaaah....how long has it been since I've eaten like this."
"...Ah, now that I think of it,"
I turned my head toward Minerva.
"I'll send you the money later, so send me your account or ID. That's the only way I'll be able to send you the money."
"Ah, yes. I'll send it later."
"Don't forget."
"....Isn't it better for you, Chrono, if I forget?"
"You're saying something that could be a big problem, kid."
I spoke to Minerva.
"Those little trivial things become debt and become karma. Especially when it's about money, wrapping it up quickly is the best."
"Is that so.....I guess it really is like that?"
"Isn't it usually the case for everyone?"
In turn, I became curious about Minerva's thinking.
Why was she so naturally giving off the nuance that it was 'not necessarily so'?
"Um....actually, this is the first time I'm saying this but...."
Minerva's steps narrowed slightly.
She turned her eyes slightly to the side, avoiding eye contact.
"It's because I'm the daughter of the Athena Guild Master. I've almost never received money for resolving guild tasks, you see."
"Huh? What does being the daughter of the guild master have to do with not receiving money for completing missions?"
"Yes?"
"That's that, and this is this."
".....It's not that simple of a matter, I'm saying."
Minerva smiled an awkward, faint smile and continued speaking.
"I'm the guild master's daughter, right? So it's a given that I should do this, since I'm the guild master's daughter."
"Sounds like bullshit no matter how I look at it. So do you at least get an allowance normally?"
"Since I'm the guild master's daughter, I'm always well-off financially. However, all payment details get reported up to my father...."
"...Isn't that essentially tying you down with money?"
"Yes?"
"Isn't it?"
"What?"
"........."
I felt like the answers were strangely crossing each other.
I slightly changed my question and asked Minerva.
"So, is there a way for you to spend money without your father seeing the payment history?"
"I've been too busy with studies...still, the guild members have given me gifts, so I've never really felt a lack of anything."
"I see."
I nodded lightly.
'She's been gaslit to the point of gas poisoning.'
In the game, I knew her roughly as a struggling child oppressed at home,
But listening to it in real time beside her, the severity was beyond what I imagined.
"Passion pay and financial pressure, huh...."
Was it only natural that she became a heavy metal fanatic?
As I quietly walked forward, Minerva's footsteps suddenly halted for a moment.
"Ah......"
"....Aha"
Across the street
A few people were gathered.
"............."
In the center of them stood bandmen, singing, playing the guitar, and smiling at each other as if having fun.
Minerva quietly gazed at that scene, her hand clenched tightly into a fist.
'...Come to think of it, the occasion that made her fall into metal was'
Probably one of the guild members lent her a metal CD and she got to know it, or something like that.
After that, she fell into metal and became a metalhead known to everyone who knew her, or something like that.
In my memory, I recalled there was also an electric guitar inside Minerva's closet.
'That means she felt just as stifled, right?'
In a reality that didn't get better no matter how hard she lived
In a present that didn't change no matter how she kept moving forward
Effort wasn't rewarded, only bleakness stretched before her eyes
Even if she wanted to slump down, now even giving up wasn't tolerated, beneath the precarious bottom
Now searching for the invisible self 'me'──at around that time, a window popped before my eyes.
[Emergency Mission]
[Show a True Bandman]
-This is an emergency mission issued by Ur
1. Perform many good songs (0/1)
Reward: One-time blindfold play ticket
"......Oh man"
Ur, really.
I let out a short sigh and immediately sat down on the bench right next to me.
"Chrono?"
Minerva was flustered by my sudden action.
I took out Agape and held it in my hand as I spoke.
"A goddess I know told me to do some band performance here."
If you're busy, it's fine to leave me and go.
I changed Agape into an 8K keyboard and spoke.
And at these words of mine, Minerva smiled as if she found it absurd and took a spot right in front of me.
"...Aren't you going? What are you doing?"
"As Fan No. 1, I have a duty to listen if it's Chrono's performance."
"A fan? Did I even have something like a fan club?"
Still, I guess I won't be completely embarrassed.
I selected a song to perform appropriately.
"Well....to tell the truth, there actually is one."
"....It was real."
My hand nearly slipped midway through, but it didn't become a big problem.
As a side note
"[Mother and father all go to hell KOROSEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!]"
"Kyaaaaaaah! It's Hell Kaiser-niiiiiiiiim!!!!"
I performed death metal too.
...The police even showed up midway, but whether it was the aftermath of the Master Level performance, they reversed roles and became the audience and performed air guitar.