Andy Warmaiden Has the Palate of a Child
Andy Warmaiden Has the Palate of a Child
"Pardon?"
"......."
I followed the voice and looked beside me, where Andy was staring at the soya.
Our eyes met. She smoothed her expression and closed her mouth.
"Did you just say it looked good?"
"N-no, I did not."
"Weren't you the one who said you don't care for heavily seasoned food?"
"...That is irrelevant."
"I was under the impression you disliked spicy things."
"I do dislike spicy things. Spicy food is of no use in survival."
She delivered this as though it were self-evident.
Something about it felt less like a reason and more like an excuse for a picky eater.
"This one has a bit of a kick to it too, even for you."
"Does it contain gochujang?"
"Yes."
"...Even so, I would like to try it. May I?"
"You haven't even finished your coco steak yet."
"I still wish to eat it. I can finish both."
"Very well."
I spooned some soya onto a side dish and set it before her.
Andy, who had been watching with evident curiosity, skewered a piece of sausage and onion with her fork and took a bite.
"Hmm?"
Crunch.
The moment she bit into the sausage and onion together, her eyes widened slightly.
It was a different reaction from the one she'd had with the sparkling water — similar, but not the same.
She looked at me with eyes that sparkled like a child's.
"Th-this seasoning — I have never tasted anything like it."
"Have you never had ketchup?"
"...This is the first I've heard of it."
Never heard of ketchup.
It was a sauce in wide use even in the imperial capital.
Granted, the standard version probably had less sugar than my homemade ketchup, but the flavor profile was similar enough.
I'd known Andy had no real interest in food. I just hadn't realized the extent of it.
"It's a fairly popular sauce in the capital. It was in common use well before I became a cook knight, in fact. A tomato-based seasoning..."
"Ah, so that is what this is?"
She looked at me as if the puzzle piece had just clicked into place.
"The flavor differs from the standard tomato sauce used in the empire. This one is sweeter, tangier, with a bit of heat..."
That was when her face began turning pink.
Her snow-white skin flushed steadily redder, and then she bit her lip and started trembling in little shivers.
"Sp-spicy..."
She lunged for the lemonade.
Cold drink — she meant to quench the heat. Reasonable enough.
"Wait, that's—"
I tried to stop her, but Andy was a trained knight. Her hand was far faster than mine.
Gulp.
She took a mouthful of the carbonation-heavy lemonade. And then.
"Nnnggghh!!!"
Andy stared at me in horror and thrashed in place.
Spicy food followed by carbonation on a sensitized mouth — the reaction was entirely predictable.
Gulp.
"Hwaaaah!!"
Completely beside herself, she squirmed and squeezed her eyes shut as if about to collapse, trembling all over.
"Hoo! Ha! Hoo! Ha!"
She breathed in ragged gasps and pushed them out, like she was meditating through the pain.
All that from the trace amount of gochujang in the soya.
If she ever ate spicy braised cartilage stir-fry, she'd probably pass out on the spot.
"Hoooo..."
By the time the torment subsided, a thin trail of tears glistened at the corners of her eyes.
"It's a sauce made by adding sugar to the standard tomato sauce and reducing it. And the sausage and vegetable stir-fry, as I mentioned, includes a small amount of gochujang."
"Th-that was spicier than expected. The aroma did not suggest it."
"That would be because of the sparkling drink."
"The impact was... considerable."
"You should never drink anything carbonated right after eating something spicy."
"Nngh. I see."
The flush had faded from her face. She looked at the soya again.
"It's delicious."
"I believe that's the first time you've ever told me my food was good."
"Has it been?"
"Yes."
"It was delicious. Sincerely."
Her breathing was still a little ragged from the spice — even that tiny bit of gochujang — but she was gazing at the soya now with fascinated eyes.
A completely different reaction from when she'd eaten the coco breast steak earlier.
She speared another piece of sausage with her fork.
She'd been eating so eagerly that a smear of ketchup clung to the corner of her mouth.
"Wow."
Light kindled in her face the instant she bit into the sausage.
"At this rate you're going to give yourself indigestion."
"Ah uh ih ahyee."
Her mouth was so stuffed with sausage that every syllable came out mashed into a single mumbled mass.
"Truly, this is delicious."
Once she'd swallowed, she offered her honest assessment. A blush had settled on her cheeks.
"M-may I have another serving?"
"You should finish your breast steak first."
"Ah."
She looked at the steak, still half-uneaten, and hesitated, lips pursing.
"Was the coco breast steak not to your liking?"
"That is not it."
"Then?"
"...It was too bland."
"...Didn't you tell me that for a knight of House Warmaiden, food matters only insofar as it sustains life?"
Andy averted her gaze.
"I did say that..."
Perhaps her own words had boxed her in.
She did not ask for more soya again.
Instead she picked up her fork and knife and turned back to the coco breast steak.
"Nngh."
She looked like she was about to cry.
This was unexpected.
I hadn't realized her palate ran this strong in either direction.
I'd assumed she simply avoided spicy, strongly seasoned food as a matter of principle.
And I'd had reason to think so.
She'd turned her nose up at every dish based on doenjang, ganjang, or gochujang. Even when I'd tried using sauces designed to match the empire's palate, her reactions had ranged from tepid to poor.
The one thing she'd reliably eaten was food seasoned with nothing but salt, so I'd mostly given her that.
Does she just like sweet things?
It occurred to me that perhaps she'd been suppressing her true preferences all along under the weight of House Warmaiden's creed: "A knight must be able to eat anything."
"Shall I adjust the seasoning for you?"
"Couldn't you just drizzle that ketchup over it?"
"Shall I mix in some gochujang, like the soya sauce?"
"No. Leave the gochujang out. I would prefer just the ketchup sauce, if you would."
The iron-blood knight of House Warmaiden, famed for her creed of eating anything, turned out to have the palate of a small child.
"Understood. I'll prepare a slightly sweeter, more savory sauce and pour it over."
An incongruous pairing, perhaps — but wasn't giving a customer what they asked for the fundamental virtue of any restaurant owner?
I melted butter in a frying pan, then sprinkled in soy sauce, sugar, and a touch of vinegar. I added ketchup — a little more than the soy sauce — and let it reduce lightly.
The result was a thin sauce akin to pork cutlet sauce but with a more pronounced ketchup note.
The sauce sizzled as I ladled it over the breast steak.
"Try it now. It should be much better."
"Thank you."
As the sauce hit the meat, a sweet-savory aroma rose into the air.
Andy sliced into the breast steak with her fork and knife, just as before. But this time her face carried a faint glimmer of expectation.
"Hmm?"
Her expression brightened the moment she took a bite.
"Oh! This is really..."
She looked at me with startled delight and instinctively smiled — then caught my eye and immediately forced the corners of her mouth back down.
"It's... good."
The effort of suppressing her expression left her face crumpled in a strange grimace.
"If it's good, you're allowed to show it."
"No. That would be improper. As a daughter of House Warmaiden, I have a certain dignity to uphold."
She ate the rest of the coco breast steak with her expression held as rigidly neutral as possible. Every bite made the corners of her mouth twitch. I pretended not to notice.
"Mmm..."
I watched her eat the ketchup-drenched coco steak with undisguised relish and reached a quiet conclusion.
She didn't dislike heavy seasoning.
Andy simply had the palate of a child.
The kind of child who loves dipping chicken nuggets in honey mustard, or dousing spam and fried coco eggs in ketchup.
I ought to send her off with a bottle of ketchup.
That was what I was thinking as I watched her clean her plate.
I cleared the dishes and finished washing up. Andy, who had not yet left, spoke to me.
"...I intend to stay one more night before departing."
"Aren't you expected back immediately? Her Highness the Crown Princess will be waiting."
At my words, Andy looked away and fumbled for a response.
"Th-there is also the matter of confirming whether Sir Lucas's skills have grown rusty. And if I depart at this hour, I will certainly have to camp outdoors tonight. So I shall remain here for the day."
"You don't simply want more lemonade?"
"Absolutely! Not!"
They say vehement denial is as good as confirmation. But once again, I opted to pretend I hadn't noticed.
A knight has her honor. Sometimes you let her keep it.
"Wh-while I am resting, how about a sparring match? I would like to see Sir Lucas's skills."
"All I do is cook. My skills have gone to rust. Are you sure?"
"Quite sure."
Andy picked up a wooden training sword and stepped outside. I took hold of one myself — for the first time in what felt like ages since leaving the knight order.
***
The sparring match with Andy, our first in a long while, ended without a victor.
"Huff, huff. Sir Lucas's stamina is truly remarkable."
Andy was panting as she spoke to me.
Unlike her, drenched in sweat, all I had was slightly heavier breathing — the product of physical conditioning built on cooking over five hundred servings a day.
Not that I considered myself the winner.
After all, she'd been the one attacking the entire time. I'd done nothing but evade her blade.
Unlike Andy, who had trained relentlessly in swordsmanship, I had barely learned the fundamentals.
The average run-of-the-mill swordsman would have shown openings. Andy did not.
I didn't see a single gap.
There was no flaw anywhere in the sword technique she had directed at me. Every time I thought of counterattacking, her blade flowed seamlessly to block — the Warmaiden style, living up to its reputation as the finest in the empire.
If we had been on equal footing in stamina, she would have overwhelmed me and beaten me repeatedly.
"Your own skills are the impressive ones, Deputy Commander. I couldn't extend my blade even once."
"Haah, haah. Is that what you say to a knight who is gasping as though on the verge of death?"
Still in her sweat-soaked training clothes, she heaved for breath. She looked about ready to collapse.
Her training gear, tailored to the body's every contour, clung to her in ways that traced an undeniably elegant line—
"U-uh-uh-ahhh."
Bldi, having witnessed the end of the bout, flailed her way between me and Andy.
The sun was already high overhead, yet she hadn't gone to sleep as she usually would have. She stretched both hands upward, jumping in little hops to block my line of sight.
"D-don't look, please!"
While Bldi was frantically struggling to cover my eyes—
"Boss, have a match with me too."
Andrea had approached without my noticing and issued her own challenge.
She, too, was wearing the empire's form-fitting women's training attire.
"Weren't elven training clothes supposed to be a bit looser?"
"I don't know. You've still got stamina left, so you'll spar with me too, won't you?"
"Why are you both suddenly like this?"
"You don't need to know. Draw your wooden sword. Now."
Andrea was burning with inexplicable competitive fire.
==============
★★★★★
I still haven't forgotten the sensation of drinking lemonade for the first time.
The way it struck the inside of my mouth, the completely novel feeling of it traveling down my throat — I had never experienced anything like it.
Once the sharp tingle of carbonation subsided, there came a perfect sweetness, and at the very end, a tart finish.
The taste of that ice-chilled lemonade filled me with wonder.
And the sausage and vegetable stir-fry...
Among all the foods I have eaten in my life, it was the finest.
I have never tasted anything better.
The moment I bit into a sausage generously coated in that sweet-spicy sauce, I experienced a flavor worthy of the heavens.
It was, admittedly, somewhat too spicy — but not so much that I could not bear it.
Note: Under no circumstances should you drink anything carbonated after eating spicy food.
You will die.
Recommended pairing: Lemonade — Sausage and Vegetable Stir-Fry
— Deputy Commander of the Princess's Knight Order, Andy Warmaiden —
==============
***
"...So your intention is to publicly unveil the new technique you learned at Sir Lucas's side, here in the capital?"
"That is correct."
"Very well. I shall arrange an opportunity to present the technology before long."
Camilla nodded at Lyman's words.
The news was nothing but favorable.
Ramyun soup stock had already proven its flavor and convenience among the nobility.
With commercial release on the horizon, the alchemist and dwarf who had developed the technology were now set to present dishes made with their new technique — alongside me.
It would likely blow a fresh wind through the capital's food scene, alongside the ramyun soup stock itself.
"Has Sir Lucas granted his permission?"
"Yes. My lord does not wish for his name to appear."
"Your lord, is it... So you truly mean to serve Sir Lucas as your master?"
"Forgive me, Lady Camilla. I have sworn a magic oath to serve Sir Lucas as my lord."
"......."
"Please, grant me your leave."
Camilla looked at Lyman, kneeling before her in entreaty.
"You seem to have forgotten that you still owe me a debt, Lyman."
"...That can be repaid shortly."
"Repaid. That sounds to me as though you mean to steal Sir Lucas's carbonation technique and claim it as your own."
"That is not what I meant. I am using it as a foundation to develop several new technologies. Selling those should more than suffice..."
Camilla watched Lyman speak with such urgency and allowed herself a faint smile.
She could hear the sincerity in his voice.
He genuinely wanted to offer everything to Lucas.
An alchemist who had once been so consumed by gambling that recovery seemed impossible — now come to his senses and starting a new life.
How remarkable.
In truth, Lyman's departure to Lucas's side was hardly a loss for Camilla.
Considering Lyman's abilities, the money she had lent him was recoverable at any time.
And beyond that—
Once things work out between me and Lucas, Lyman will naturally become my man anyway.
For Camilla, who was already painting rosy visions of a future with Lucas, Lyman's defection was no loss at all.
It was a net gain.
"There is no need to repay the debt."
"Pardon? What do you..."
"In exchange, you will grant me a single favor. Later."
Camilla's eyes glittered.