Cave Stem Morning Glory (2)
At the sight of the appetizing green dish, Ciel and Bran both exclaimed in admiration — but their expressions quickly slid back into suspicion.
"Hey, that took way too little time. You sure you actually cooked this properly?"
Bran said that, and Ciel, after taking a brief sniff of the food, spoke with a look of mild doubt. "It smells wonderful, but… isn't this just stir-fried cave stem?"
They had every right to be skeptical. In truth, this dish didn't take all that long to make — but it was one where every second of that short time demanded precision.
"Where I come from, we call this morning glory. Please, give it a try."
Ciel picked up her chopsticks with wary eyes, but the moment she bit into a stem, a crisp, lively crunch rang out through the restaurant.
"Oh… oh my?"
Her round eyes flew wide open, and she immediately reached for another bite, marveling. "The vegetable feels… alive…! And what is this umami? Did you season it with some kind of brine?"
Bran, who had been watching with his arms crossed, casually swiped his chopsticks over, took a single bite, and then — without a word — dragged his entire plate forward.
He ate in silence for a minute or two, arms folded, savoring, before finally opening his mouth. "Salty, with a deep savory finish… My hand keeps going back for more. Damn, I could use a beer with this."
"It looked like nothing but a plain stir-fry… I never imagined a vegetable could taste like this."
And there it is — the reaction I was hoping for.
Morning glory. Or, as it's also known, stir-fried water spinach.
A common vegetable back in the modern world, yet cooked right, it could hold its own against just about any meat dish.
Its greatest charm lay in that crunchy stem. Overcook it and it turned rubbery; only a short, violent sear over fierce heat brought out its signature snap.
Then infuse the oil with plenty of garlic and chili, deepen the savoriness with fish sauce, and finish with the smoky breath of the pan itself —
In an instant, it transformed into both the perfect drinking snack and an absolute rice thief.
Ciel and Bran polished off the bowl in the blink of an eye, exchanged a glance with each other, and nodded.
"…I don't fully trust you yet, but you can work here for the time being."
Hearing Bran's words, I silently cheered inside. I did it.
"Thank you so much!!"
"And as you can see, the shop's in no state to pay you a salary for a while. I can give you a place to sleep, mind you — but that's about it."
"Yes, that's more than enough for now…!"
You can't get full on the first spoonful, as they say. I decided to be satisfied with having secured a roof over my head for the night.
"Take the room at the far end. We start prep early in the morning, so don't you dare oversleep."
"…Yes, sir!"
He might change his mind, after all. The instant Bran finished speaking, I scurried into the room.
In the simply furnished space, I collapsed onto the bed without even pausing to do anything else. So much had happened in a single day that none of it felt real.
"I really did come to another world, huh."
After such a dreamlike day, it felt like I might wake up tomorrow and find myself back in my old world. And yet an inexplicable excitement refused to settle in my chest.
The unfamiliar ingredients I'd seen in this world. The thought that my cooking had gone down well here too. A little spark of maybe this is worth a shot kindled inside me, and my heart began to race.
"Who knows — maybe I really can go on a culinary rampage here?"
Dreaming of a plot straight out of the manga I used to read now and then, I drifted off to sleep.
But when morning came, cold reality was waiting for me.
"Get up already, you lazy bum!"
The worst.
"Wha— what the hell is this—!"
One moment I'd closed my eyes, the next I was jolted awake by an icy shock that snapped my brain wide open.
Wait, I literally just closed my eyes…?
I must have passed out from sheer exhaustion. When I opened my eyes, sunlight was streaming through the window and I was soaked to the bone. And standing in front of me was Bran, a hulking mountain of a man. Don't tell me he threw water on me?
"Didn't I tell you yesterday not to oversleep?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
I shot up and answered, but I couldn't help feeling wronged. Seriously — who wakes someone up by dousing them in water? Even back in my apprentice days at the restaurant, I was never treated like this.
"Get downstairs and help with opening prep. Now."
"Y-yes, sir!"
Hurriedly rubbing my eyes, I followed Bran down. Downstairs, Ciel was already preparing food despite the early hour.
"Oh, you're up. But… why are you all soaked?"
"…"
Looking at me like a drowned rat, Ciel asked with concern in her voice.
"Ha ha… I overslept. My fault entirely."
"Honestly, Uncle — he's going to be working with us from now on. That was too much."
Ciel turned to Bran and scolded him. She's right, you know. That was too far. A guy could oversleep a little. It's not like this world has alarm clocks.
"Tch."
Bran clicked his tongue and headed down to the storeroom. Pausing her cooking for a moment, Ciel wiped her hands on the towel tucked into her apron and offered me a handshake.
"Did you sleep well? Come to think of it, we never properly introduced ourselves yesterday."
"Ah… just call me Hans."
Naturally, I hadn't prepared some fancy fantasy-world name, so on the spot I'd simply dropped the family name from my real one, Han Jung-woo, and gone with the remainder.
"Nice to meet you, Hans. I'm Ciel, like I mentioned yesterday. Welcome to the team here at the Silver Moon Restaurant."
"Silver Moon… Restaurant?"
"Ah, I never explained, did I? It's the name of our restaurant. My mother ran it before me. It used to be bustling, honestly… but lately the customers have really thinned out."
"I see…"
I couldn't claim to know the standards of this world's palate, but I doubted a bland stew like theirs had ever stood a chance of satisfying customers.
"The food isn't bad, I don't think… So what's the problem?"
"…"
Where do I even begin? It looked like a long road ahead.
Then, suddenly remembering the men who had barged in yesterday, I asked Ciel about them.
"Oh, by the way — who were those people who came into the shop yesterday?"
"Ah… those guys?"
Ciel's brow creased slightly as she explained.
"They're from the Golden Lion Restaurant… They run their business backed by a huge trading company. Lately they've been expanding aggressively, and they want our location, so they keep showing up demanding we sell them this land for pennies."
Thinking back on my arrival here, the location hadn't seemed bad at all. The guild association was close by, and while it wasn't exactly on the main street, it sat along a decent flow of foot traffic.
"Recently they've even been spreading vicious rumors and sabotaging us… But no matter what, I have no intention of giving up this shop my mother left me."
Steadfast resolve shone in Ciel's eyes. Well — I was on this ship now, so I might as well row hard alongside her.
"Got it. I'd better work hard too, then. So, what should I start cooking?"
At that, Bran came back up from the basement and cut in.
"Cooking? What are you talking about? Get over here and peel the onions and garlic. Then do some cleaning."
So I won't be touching the kitchen anytime soon, huh.
"Ugh… really not the time for this."
"God, you whine like a damn kid."
When I grumbled through my tears while peeling onions and garlic, Bran glared at me mid-way through trimming the meat.
"…"
He'd tasted my food yesterday — he knew my skills were anything but ordinary. So why wouldn't he let me near the kitchen? Was this some kind of turf-guarding?
As if reading my mind, Bran spoke up. "No way in hell I'm handing the kitchen over to some guy I met for the first time yesterday. Besides, we're short-handed — around here, being a cook doesn't mean you only cook."
"…"
Two people running both the cooking and the cleaning for a restaurant this size — of course they were stretched thin. I couldn't say I was fully convinced, but I peeled my onions and garlic in silence.
"That's enough of that. Go upstairs and start cleaning."
"You got it~"
I answered offhandedly and headed up. The dining room already looked open for business, though there was none of the usual bustle — just a single customer seated inside.
And what a customer: one scrawny man with a shifty, lecherous face, grinning greasily at Ciel. Judging by the look of him, he wasn't here for the food — he was here to ogle her.
I let out a small sigh and wiped down the tables. Was taking this job actually a good idea? Beginning to wonder.
Just then, the door burst open and someone strode in.
"Ciel~! Long time no see~! You been keeping well?"
At the sound of the voice, I looked toward the door — and there stood an impossibly striking woman.
Fiery red ponytail, a confident grin, and clad in thin, lightweight armor that clearly sacrificed everything to mobility, barely covering anything. And above all, an enormous presence announced itself at her chest.
I can't believe I'm seeing an anime scene in real life…
"Rhea! It's been so long!"
The woman called Rhea dropped into a seat with practiced ease.
"Phew~ This dungeon dive was brutal. Just a glass of water for me, okay?"
Ciel promptly brought a glass over and set it in front of her. After gulping it down, Rhea's voice crackled with excitement.
"Anyway — you wanna know what I brought back from the Labyrinth this time? Ta-da!"
She rummaged through her pack, pulled out an enormous egg, and plopped it on the table. It was huge, thick-shelled, with a rough surface mottled in brown spots.
"Is that… a Wind Bird egg?"
Ciel asked, eyes wide with surprise.
"Sure is, Ciel. Snagged one from the grasslands on the third floor~ Figured I'd share it with you all, so I hauled it back. Think you can cook it up for me?"
At the request, Ciel's face clouded with an awkward look.
"Well… I'm not quite sure what I'd even make with it…"
She seemed flustered by the egg's overwhelming size — nothing like an ordinary chicken's. Unable to hold my tongue any longer, I spoke up.
"Would you mind if I tried cooking it?"