Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A Steamy Night with Widow Nadia (2)
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Kalt had started cooking in earnest the moment he set off on his journey with Mabel as part of the hero party.
In his past life, he had hardly ever cooked. In this life, he only helped out a little with meals for his parents or the couple who had taken him in—Mabel's family.
But when he had no choice but to travel with Mabel, Kalt thought to himself.
Chewing on jerky all the time was getting unbearable.
He wanted a proper meal.
Mabel would never even think of cooking, not even if she died.
And even if she did, he couldn't expect anything decent from her.
In that case, I'd rather make it myself.
Kalt took immediate action.
Back when he was still traveling just with Mabel.
Back when Mabel was such a slacker that she was considered a problem child in a bottom-tier party, leaving him with plenty of free time.
Kalt studied cooking.
In line with his resolve to live a good life, he offered small but helpful favors in every village they passed through, befriending local housewives or inn and restaurant owners to pick up cooking knowledge and tips.
On top of that, he drew on vague memories from his past life—recipes he'd heard about or seen but never made himself—and his skills steadily improved.
Of course, there was a little trick involved in the process.
Following around Mabel, who was a total deadweight throwing tantrums all the time, was bound to build up stress.
In the midst of such a stressful journey, it wasn't easy for Kalt to maintain a consistent interest in cooking.
That's why Kalt hypnotized himself.
The suggestion was simple: he wouldn't get bored learning to cook.
He would find joy in cooking itself.
Thanks to the self-hypnosis, the process of learning to cook actually became a way to relieve the stress of traveling with Mabel.
Since cooking itself brought him pleasure, his skills shot up rapidly.
And now, those honed cooking skills...
Kalt planned to use them as a tool for his steamy night with the widow.
"Mr. Kalt, you can cook too?"
To Nadia, who looked surprised, Kalt offered a gentle smile.
"I just got tired of buying jerky or bread in villages all the time. So I learned a bit. I can make plenty of good drinking snacks."
Kalt stood up from his seat.
"Could I borrow the kitchen?"
"Of course. Go right ahead."
'Ah.'
She hadn't explicitly agreed to drink together, but by allowing him to use the kitchen, Nadia realized she had tacitly accepted sharing drinks with Kalt.
But Nadia brushed it off as no big deal.
'Mr. Kalt seems trustworthy. Besides, why would someone like him be interested in an old lady like me?'
Middle-aged men in the village occasionally eyed her figure.
But none of them ever made a direct pass at her.
Living in that kind of environment for so long, Nadia found it hard to believe a young man like Kalt could be interested in a woman like her.
She was happy to be treated like a lady, but she figured it was just polite flattery.
"Ms. Nadia, are you okay with something greasy?"
Nadia was a woman too.
She might not like having oily food with drinks in the evening.
In his past life, Kalt had heard women say multiple times that they avoided greasy food at night when he was dealing with them.
Of course, he later learned it was all talk—most of them loved fried chicken and beer for dinner or scarfed down a bowl of spicy noodles in one sitting, full of contradictions.
How many women actually stuck to it diligently, anyway?
Even knowing most women secretly preferred greasy food, Kalt still made a point of asking out of courtesy.
Checking someone's preference before acting versus barreling ahead without asking could make a big difference in relationships.
Especially today, when he needed to cater to Nadia's mood as much as possible.
"Yes, that's fine. What are you planning to make?"
"A kind of fried dish."
"Oh, but we only have a little oil right now..."
"Don't worry. I'll use ingredients I brought with me. By the way, I don't see Lunia around."
"Lunia's staying over at a friend's house tonight."
A handsome adventurer had shown up at her family's inn.
His looks were insane, his body was killer.
And that smooth baritone voice? Total madness.
Lunia, dying to brag to her friends about it all night, had chosen to sleep over there.
"Then I just need to make enough for two."
Kalt went back to his room first and pulled out his pouch of cooking tools and ingredients before heading to the kitchen.
This pouch of Kalt's.
It was enchanted with preservation and spatial magic.
In his past life, it would have been called an inventory.
Its official name was a Subspace Preservation Pouch.
Engraving both spatial and preservation magic required incredibly advanced techniques, so Kalt had shelled out a fortune when he bought it.
Even most hero parties and adventurers couldn't afford the outrageous price.
Of course, it had paid for itself many times over.
Ingredients stored inside stayed perpetually fresh, eliminating any risk of spoilage during travel.
And his cooking tools wouldn't get damaged on rough journeys either.
The only limit was capacity, so Kalt only kept his cooking tools and ingredients inside.
Of course, ingredients took up the bulk of the space.
Mabel's party had suggested putting equipment in there to ease travel fatigue, but Kalt shot it down flat.
When it came to gear worth storing, weapons were the only option.
During travel, pulling a weapon out of the pouch one by one in a fight could get him attacked first.
He had yelled that it was ridiculous to complain about carrying your own weapon.
In the kitchen, Kalt unpacked his tools and pulled out the ingredients for tonight's dish.
Marinated pork, eggs, starch, oil.
And a special sauce with vegetables and mushrooms.
The dish Kalt was making for Nadia was sweet and sour pork.
Even on the road, he couldn't leisurely do every step from scratch every time.
It would take too long.
While he was cooking, he had no idea how much whining he'd get from Mabel, let alone Ianna and Marti.
That's why, whenever he had spare time, Kalt handled the tedious, time-consuming prep in villages and stored the ready ingredients separately in his pouch.
Every chef and housewife he learned from said the same thing.
Cooking was all about the prep—get that done ahead, and it goes fast.
In fact, all Kalt did in the kitchen was coat the marinated pork in batter mixed to the right ratio, fry it in oil, and reheat the sauce.
'Ahh, that smell. This is exactly why I bought the inventory.'
The aroma when perfectly marinated meat hit fresh egg batter and went into the fryer.
Day by day, no more calculating expiration dates or fretting if ingredients in the bag would spoil.
Kalt sent daily thanks to his inventory pouch for easing those worries.
In humid, hot areas, ingredients that should last three days would reek after one—the despair of that was soul-crushing.
Once the sweet and sour pork was all fried, he plated it up and poured the sauce into a separate dish, then carried everything to the table.
"Here you go."
"Oh my, what dish is this?"
"It's called sweet and sour pork. Try dipping the fried meat in the sauce. Or..."
Kalt pulled out an extra empty plate and set it on the table.
"You can put the meat on this plate and pour the sauce over it."
Dipping or pouring.
Either way worked.
Nadia felt a joy she hadn't experienced in ages.
The unfamiliar dish Kalt had made was far tastier than she'd expected.
A unique crunch that was crispy without being tough.
The juicy meat inside paired with the sweet sauce made the drinks go down smooth.
But what made her feel the best was the conversation with Kalt.
He nodded along with that smooth baritone, listening to her stories.
Just having a handsome man like Kalt listen to her was enough to lift her spirits.
More than that, she had no one to drink and chat freely with like this.
As an innkeeper, she spent most of her time at the inn.
She heard drunken rants from adventurers or villagers, but she rarely got to drink herself and vent freely.
And drinking with her daughter Lunia felt wrong as a parent.
"Lunia's such a good girl, isn't she? She must get lonely without a dad. She probably has things she wants to do herself. But she helps out at the inn like this..."
"She's a daughter to be proud of."
"Yes, exactly. Lunia's my treasure."
"Ms. Nadia, raising her alone makes you someone truly worthy of respect."
"Oh, Mr. Kalt. Aren't you flattering me too much?"
"It's not flattery—it's what I really think. If anything, I feel like you should live a little more for yourself."
"Everything for Lunia is for me too."
Talking with Kalt felt great.
Every nod of agreement affirmed her and praised her for thinking of her daughter.
Normally, she saw it as just what a mother should do.
But with the alcohol flowing, the praise hit even sweeter.
Once the sweet and sour pork was gone and she was nicely buzzed,
Kalt extended his hand toward Nadia.
"Ms. Nadia, try being a little more honest with yourself."
For a moment, Nadia's eyes glazed over blankly.
"Hon...est..."
"Yes. Isn't there anything that bothers you normally? For example..."
Kalt's lips curved into a sly smile.
"...in sexual matters."