Tonight's Dinner Is Chicken!
After catching up to Huey, who’d been fleeing from me, and knocking him flat—
“You’ve got something to say to me, don’t you?”
“I will never think like that again.”
“And?”
“From now on, I will trust and follow Lady Ren’s every word.”
I had flipped him over and was pressing my foot into his chest for a proper lesson when a voice cut in.
“…What exactly is going on here?”
I turned toward the sound. Lucy stood there, arms full of the things Huey had asked for, staring at me with a thoroughly bewildered expression.
How far had she run to get back this fast?
“Ah, you’re already here.”
“S-Save me… quack.”
“Tsk. Shut it.”
The way he stretched a hand toward her the second he spotted Lucy made it clear he still hadn’t been hit enough.
“Ren.”
“What.”
“I more or less understand that Master did something wrong, but if you keep holding him like that, dinner’s only going to get later.”
Ah.
“That would be a problem.”
“Right? I want to eat pudding soon too.”
“I’m sa—”
“We’ll finish the rest after we eat.”
“Exactly. And doing this out on the roadside where everyone can see is a bit much.”
“….”
What’s with that reaction?
Did he actually think I was going to let him off right here?
“Hey.”
“…Yes.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t think those things in the first place.”
“….”
Who told him to pull a stunt like that.
Anyway, if I kept going there was no telling what he’d do to the food.
So I decided to toss him a carrot instead of the whip for now.
“If dinner’s good, I’ll let it slide.”
At those words Huey’s face brightened so dramatically it was almost funny.
He’s ridiculously easy to read, this guy.
“Like I said earlier, no need to worry about that.”
Huey thumped his chest, promising he’d make tonight’s dinner something I’d never forget.
…Except with his face swollen from all the hits, the whole display just looked ridiculous.
“Pfft.”
“Hey, don’t laugh. Or we’ll get dragged into it too.”
Look at that.
Even the people walking by were giving us a wide berth.
“…Ahem.”
“That’s why you go looking for a beating in the first place. Foolish Master.”
“Anyway, you’re making me waste energy for no reason. Let’s go.”
I gave Huey’s back a solid swat with my wing.
Watching the corners of his mouth suddenly curl upward for some reason, I found myself thinking:
…This guy. He’s not the kind of pervert who actually likes getting hit, is he?
“Alright, I’m heading to the kitchen. Rest until I call you when it’s ready.”
That question stayed with me all the way to the inn, and kept lingering until Lucy—who had gone with him to help—finally came back.
“Ren? What have you been fretting over this whole time?”
“Lucy?”
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen you look so worried.”
I glanced out the window, thinking more time must have passed than I’d realized, but the sky that had been slowly turning red was still exactly the same as a moment ago.
“You’re back already.”
“Yes. He said I only needed to drop off the ingredients. More importantly—what’s this sudden fretting about?”
“Ah, well…”
Lucy sat down beside me on the bed, curiosity plain on her face.
I hesitated over whether to say it or not, but she’d been with Huey longer than I had. Maybe she’d noticed something. So I opened my mouth.
“That Huey guy. Is he the type who likes getting hit?”
“…Suddenly?”
Lucy’s expression said she was wondering what nonsense I’d just blurted out of nowhere.
I told her about the Huey I’d seen just earlier.
“Pfft. Kuh… kkh…”
She clamped both hands over her mouth and started rolling around on the bed.
After laughing for a long while while holding her breath, Lucy smoothed her face back into its usual blank mask as if nothing had happened and spoke.
“At least from what I’ve seen, Master isn’t particularly someone who enjoys pain, so you can rest easy.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
Even so, the hurdle of having a companion who’s a pervert that likes getting hit is a little high.
“…He is a pervert, though.”
I was just sighing in relief that Huey wasn’t the kind of pervert who liked getting hit when a small voice drifted over.
“Hm? What was that?”
“It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Well, no need to worry about it.
I wander around talking to myself all the time when I’m bored, too.
“More importantly, it’s about time we headed downstairs.”
On the way up she’d heard from Huey that we should come out and wait after a little while.
“Shall we go? Let’s see just how delicious whatever he prepared is.”
“Sounds good.”
I followed Lucy as she stood and headed down to the first floor…
“Good heavens. What on earth is this smell.”
A rich, savory oil aroma had filled the entire first floor.
“This… he’s really going all out.”
“You know what it is?”
“Yes. It’s a dish I tried once when I first started traveling with Master.”
Lucy seemed to have figured something out.
But she kept her mouth firmly shut, saying it wouldn’t be any fun if I knew ahead of time.
“Aww, smelling it just makes me hungrier.”
“Please hold on a little longer. We’re better off than the others, at least.”
“…Definitely.”
She was right.
Looking around, other guests had abandoned their meals and were hounding the staff over the oil smell drifting their way.
“Hey! What’s this smell right now?”
“Give us one of whatever you’re making over there too!”
“Ah, well… this is food another guest is making by borrowing the kitchen…”
Just as the innkeeper’s daughter was failing to hide her fluster—
“Ah, sorry. Just a moment.”
Huey’s face poked out from the kitchen side, calling for the innkeeper’s daughter.
“Oh, is it done?”
“Looks like it.”
Before long the innkeeper’s daughter, who’d gone into the kitchen after Huey, came back out looking relieved and spoke up.
“Everyone, please wait just a little longer. He said it seems he unexpectedly disturbed your meals, so even if the portions are small, he’ll prepare enough for everyone to have a taste.”
“He’s generous.”
“No wonder. I thought the amount of ingredients he told me to buy today was a lot.”
I smirked at the cheers that followed and waited a bit longer.
“Alright, you’ve been waiting?”
“Ooh…”
“What about the pudding?”
“…Lucy. Pudding is dessert, not a meal.”
“Tch.”
Huey carried a large bowl heaped with food over to our table.
“The other guests will be taken care of by the inn staff, so let’s just eat comfortably.”
Whatever Huey was saying, I swallowed hard and stared at the food on the plate.
The dish looked like an entire large chicken had been fried whole.
It was still radiating heat, as if it had only just been pulled from the oil.
“H-How do you eat this?”
“Wipe your drool first.”
He chuckled at my urgent question, then pulled out a handkerchief, wrapped it around a chicken leg, and tore the leg clean off to hand to me.
-Crunch.
“Here—special delivery of the tastiest part. The one I prepared just for you will be out soon too, so start with this.”
He said this was best eaten by tearing it apart with your hands.
Unfortunately I couldn’t do that, so he’d prepared some with just the meat pulled off separately—look forward to it.
“Be careful, it’s hot.”
“Ren. I know you want to eat it right away, but that is genuinely hot.”
At the warning that if I didn’t eat slowly I might burn my tongue and lose the taste entirely, I stopped just short of putting the chicken leg held in both wings into my mouth.
“…Let’s see.”
I poked the outer crust with my tongue.
“Hmm…”
It was hot, no question… but ever since I’d gotten this body, heat hadn’t been particularly painful.
Yeah. Seemed fine.
“Thanks for the meal!”
-Crunch!
The moment I took a huge bite of that big chicken leg—
“———Uuu~~!!”
“Whoa! Careful!”
“The table! The table’s going to break! Ren!”
At that violent explosion of flavor I couldn’t help thrashing my legs like a little kid.
It was lucky I remembered that if the table broke the rest of the food would hit the floor. Otherwise I really would have smashed it.
“What is this!? I’ve tried fried food a few times before, but it never really suited me so I always stopped after a couple bites!”
Meat! Is it the meat!?
So frying meat is what actually brings out the flavor!?
“Ahaha. Well, the frying method is different.”
“Master. Explaining right now is useless—she’s not listening.”
“…Yeah.”
-Crunch!
I bit into the chicken leg again. The crispy texture and rich savory aroma flooded my mouth.
Then the chicken juices burst free, followed by the salty-yet-spicy kick of the seasoning, and I completely lost the ability to think straight.
After demolishing two chicken legs in a frenzy—
“It’s so good—!!”
“Glad you like it. Looks like the one prepared just for you is out too.”
I stared blankly at the bowl the inn staff set on the table.
More precisely, at the chicken pieces inside it, fried to perfect bite-size pieces.
“That’s yours, so take your time.”
What do I do?
I don’t even want to imagine a journey without Huey anymore.
“Huey.”
“Hm?”
“…Never mind. It’s ridiculously delicious.”
“You’re welcome.”
…I almost said something huge.
Trying to tell a guy who’s traveling because he wants to go home not to go home.
Calm down, Ren.
“More importantly, I want to eat the pudding soon.”
“Can’t I fill my stomach a little first?”
“…Since it’s a special occasion, I’ll wait.”
And so.
After stuffing ourselves on the otherworld food called chicken, I used the excuse that I was full and handed my share of pudding over to Lucy.
“Phew.”
I was walking the city’s night streets, trying to settle my racing heart with a stroll, when—
“Huh? That’s…”
Not on the main road lit by shop lights, but in a dark alley corner.
I caught what looked like a familiar figure passing by.
“Strange.”
I carefully headed deeper into the alley, suppressing my presence as much as possible, but all I found were trash and rats.
“No choice, then.”
-Flap!
Considering the faint spirit energy I’d felt as well, the chance I’d simply mis-seen something was vanishingly small.
I rose into the air, fully prepared for the other party to notice me.
“Ugh. Not here.”
Nowhere around was the person I was looking for—Osmon.
“I’m sure he was with some blue-skinned bastard…”
The image of Osmon walking alongside a guy with blue skin that made me feel sick just looking at him kept nagging at me.
“Tsk.”
There’s no rule saying a blind man can’t come this far out, so I decided to stop hunting for someone who was clearly trying to stay hidden.
We were leaving the city tomorrow anyway. No need to get tangled up in something that looked like a hassle.
…Of course, as everyone has probably already guessed by now—
I would come to regret this choice of mine for a very long time.