Looks Fine to Me?

Depo could barely wrap his head around it. Bandits. Attacking a passing knight, on the open road.

"To think the empire still has lawless corners like this."

Was it sheer nerve, or did some rural backwater simply not know what a real knight could do?

Maybe they'd taken him lightly.

Probably because he wasn't wearing heavy plate—the hallmark of a knight.

That said, you couldn't haul full armor all the way out here, so he'd traveled light.

"Pathetic sight."

Depo clicked his tongue.

His fellow knights would have laughed themselves sick if they'd seen this.

"Tch."

After dealing with the fallen bandits, he spotted a small rural territory not far off.

"Lorant Territory... They said Lucas was living here..."

He recalled a conversation he'd had with Lucas before the man had left.

- I'm going back to my hometown to open a restaurant. Take it easy for a change.

A restaurant, huh.

"Can a restaurant even survive in a mess like this? I'm a little worried."

Had he just thrown his severance pay away for nothing...?

No. With cooking skills like his, it would work anywhere.

How to put it?

His food had a certain pull—something that grabbed your palate and wouldn't let go.

He'd made those prideful Imperial Knights eat at our mess hall instead of their own. That took real power.

Word was the Imperial Knight Order tried to recruit him, too.

Supposedly, Princess Diana had put a decisive stop to it.

Of course, that was just barracks gossip—hard to verify—but the man's cooking had earned him that kind of reputation.

Looks like the rumor was true.

Depo remembered the day Deputy Commander Andy had suddenly summoned him.

- I'm told you talked with Lucas more often than anyone else in the order. Go to his hometown.

- Her Highness wishes for his return to the order.

The princess herself, issuing a direct order to track down a knight who'd already left.

Nothing like this had ever happened before.

It was unprecedented.

Well, the food did get terrible after Lucas left and the new cook took over.

The princess must ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have noticed.

"He said he was opening a restaurant in his hometown... I wonder if he actually did."

Depo swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth.

Just the thought of eating real food again, after all this time, had him keyed up already.

Lucas's cooking—the food that had gotten them through the princess's grueling training.

It wasn't just food.

It had been a kind of art, carrying the joys and sorrows of the whole knight order.

Art might be laying it on too thick.

Anyway.

Filled with hope, he entered Lorant Territory.

And before long.

"Lucas? Oh, you mean Roman Lucas? Haven't seen him since he left."

"He went off to become a knight and never came back."

"We heard he went to the capital after the Lucas family all died and was doing well. Is something the matter?"

Depo realized that Lucas hadn't returned to Lorant Territory at all.

This was...

"This is bad."

Grrrr!

Depo clutched his loudly rumbling stomach and bit his lip.

Roman Lucas, who'd said he was opening a restaurant in his hometown, wasn't here.

"How am I supposed to report this?"

He scratched his head.

***

At the same time, Camilla was catching up on backlogged work at Golden Wagon's headquarters.

Just the travel time to eat Lucas's cooking had taken over a month.

She'd set up Golden Wagon's systems to run smoothly without her, but a leader's month-long absence still left a significant void.

Even after returning to the capital, she'd been stuck at headquarters for a week, unable to go home.

She would finish all the delayed tasks today—but that didn't mean she could head back out.

The reason was simple.

She'd come back from Britten Territory with far too many ideas.

First, that board Lucas had set up in front of his restaurant.

A brilliant system that let you see honest reviews from visiting customers—and also who had chosen which menu items.

A merchant could figure out which customers liked which products.

Customers could check a shop's flagship items and reputation.

She intended to apply this board system to Golden Wagon's operations.

"In the upper left, the most visible spot, I'll start an employee recommendation list... Then a separate list for regulars. And maybe a little gift for anyone who takes the trouble to write a thoughtful comment."

She planned to add a few twists of her own.

Golden Wagon didn't just sell food like Lucas's restaurant, so she needed a strategy that varied by product category.

Products with positive reviews would earn a spot on the main display tables.

I should send Lucas a gift for giving me such a good idea.

There was also the matter of securing distribution channels for the tuu meat she'd received from him.

This might be the chance to change the perception that tuu is nothing but tough.

Camilla glanced at the map on the wall.

Britten Territory.

A rural territory at the empire's southern edge.

It had fertile soil, sure—but it couldn't compete with the vast plains of the western continent, so it was always low on the development priority list.

A quiet backwater with nothing special to draw imperial merchants.

And then something special appeared there.

Lucas's Knight Restaurant.

Twirling her pen, she bit her lip.

She had discovered that special something before anyone else.

She'd even secured an exclusive trading contract for Britten Territory.

Meaning Golden Wagon would hold exclusive rights over all goods sold in Britten, plus priority rights to open shops there.

That didn't mean she could monopolize the food from the Knight Restaurant itself.

But.

She could put the Golden Wagon name largest on what would become the empire's greatest attraction.

She'd imprint Golden Wagon's image anew in the minds of countless nobles.

The finest commercial territory for the finest food.

She was certain it would far surpass the wealth from a mine.

And she would work harder than anyone to make that name stick.

If Lucas had heard that, he'd have been furious—but he was too busy serving customers at his restaurant to know.

She needed to begin construction of a teleport gate on a major city along the southern route as soon as possible.

The cost would be substantial.

But if I can monopolize the entry passes, I should be able to turn a profit without too much trouble.

Even if I can't, that's fine.

She'd be content just to have it for herself.

Just thinking about it suddenly whetted her appetite.

"I want to eat there again soon."

Camilla sighed, smacking her lips.

The taste of that tofu was still vivid on her tongue.

She'd gone there specifically for the chadol doenjang, but what lingered strongest in her memory was the freshly made tofu.

She wanted to get back to Britten Territory as soon as possible.

"It's definitely a profitable item."

Camilla murmured to herself, picturing Lucas's food.

Knock knock.

"Guild Master, it's me, Kobi."

"Come in."

Kobi entered, accompanied by Golden Wagon's chef.

The chef wheeled in a cart bearing a silver platter.

"Beef ribs, made from the tuu ribs you brought back."

It smelled good.

Not as good as Lucas's, but thanks to the excellent ingredients, the aroma pleased her.

This would have to do while she couldn't go to the restaurant.

"Put it down over there."

"Yes, ma'am."

She walked to the table in her office.

She sat down and looked at Kobi.

"Kobi."

"Yes, Guild Master."

"When was your trip scheduled for the new mine in the northeast?"

"It's a month-long trip starting next week, as I understand it. Take a portal to the northeast, then bid against other merchant groups..."

A month.

Too long.

"Cancel all of it."

"But Guild Master, didn't you emphasize that it would be a highly profitable venture?"

"It's a hard opportunity to pass up. So hard I wanted to go secure it myself."

Camilla smiled.

"But I've found something with even greater commercial potential."

She pointed at the map of Britten Territory on the wall.

"Then the northeast mine auction..."

"You go, Kobi. You're more than capable of handling it."

"But I also have my own responsibilities..."

"Those can be delegated. Unless you were planning to take over Britten Territory yourself?"

"...That's not ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it."

Camilla laughed, seeing right through Kobi's scheming.

She could read him like a book.

"You've got this, Kobi. And if you succeed in acquiring the northeast mine, I'll give you a share of the profits."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Of course, until that was done, Kobi wouldn't be able to visit the Knight Restaurant.

Camilla swallowed that thought.

No need to ruin his morale.

This is your punishment for sneaking off to Lucas's restaurant behind my back.

Camilla smiled at Kobi, who was already dreaming of a windfall, and sliced off a piece of meat.

Still, it just wasn't the same.

Disappointing.

***

This was the third day since Andrea had declared a full-on vegetarian diet.

"......."

Over the past few days, Andrea's eyes had gone hollow. Now she was staring fixedly at my lunch—a plate of spicy stir-fried pork belly.

"What are you doing?"

"......."

She was muttering something under her breath, but I couldn't make out the words.

I tilted my head and leaned closer.

"Looks delicious. Looks delicious. Looks delicious. Looks delicious. Looks delicious..."

"That meat smothered in gochujang sauce, with rice, wrapped in lettuce with a thick smear of ssamjang—that'd be heaven, right?"

"It's pork belly, not shoulder, so the fat and lean balance is even more beautiful—more meltingly tender."

"I want to eat it. I'm eating with my eyes right now, but I want to eat it hard. I want donkatsu too. And chadol doenjang. And that charcoal-grilled meat from the other day. No, I just want to grill a whole bone-in slab and devour it."

She was practically chanting her food review like a spell.

Even with me this close, she didn't notice—she just bored holes into the meat with her eyes.

In front of her was nothing but a pile of fresh, green salad.

A completely vegetarian menu—not a single piece of chicken breast.

"You want it that badly?"

Finally, Andrea looked at me.

"...I can't. I have... to lose weight."

So that was why she'd suddenly started doing the elf step and going vegetarian.

She thought she'd put on weight.

I glanced at her lower belly.

From where I stood, she had an absolutely perfect figure—not an ounce of flab in sight.

Did elves just have different standards than humans?

Maybe she's just hard on herself.

Andrea's body was more muscular than other elves'.

The kind of physique you don't get from ordinary training.

It showed how serious her discipline was.

And now she had ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a tiny bit of a belly?

I could see why she'd find that intolerable.

But starving herself to the point of mental collapse was a problem.

If she couldn't function properly because she wasn't eating, I'd be the one to suffer.

I picked up a piece of meat with my chopsticks and held it out to Andrea.

"Huh? Why is the meat coming toward me?"

Without thinking, she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

Th-th-th.

The tip of her ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tongue quivered.

It looked like instinct and reason were at war—the urge to eat fighting the "no."