Arrangement

Arranged yakisoba is becoming a fad among adventurers.

They don't just stir-fry noodles and cabbages, as they also mix in a variety of ingredients.

Many bring in scraps of vegetables and dried meat, but there is also an increase in people who opted to add dagashis to it.

There's a reason for this.

It has been discovered that cooking yakisoba with dagashis can have a high magical effect.

[For example, there's this Jumbo Cutlet.]

While explaining to Michelle, sitting in front of the griddle, I chopped up the Jumbo Cutlet into bite-sized pieces.

[Normally, with the "Power Boost" shout, your arm strength would increase for three seconds, right? If you add that to yakisoba...]

Since this snack is sauce flavored, there's no discrepancy in taste when added to yakisoba.

Mixing the cutlet chunks and noodles, I then added the cabbages at the end.

Lastly, I poured the sauce over the stir-fried noodles, and I now have a Jumbo Cutlet Yakisoba.

[What happens?]

[The power boost buff lasts up to 12 seconds.]

[Extending the buff four times longer is amazing. It could come in handy in battle.]

[Moreover, it has a half-day standby time. In other words, you can use Power Boost once at any time within half a day of eating it.]

Thanks to this effect, many adventurers had recently been eating Jumbo Cutlet Yakisoba for breakfast.

Since there are only three griddles though, its popularity has made it so that there's a long line of people waiting to eat a serving.

[Now, it's ready. Try it.]

It was Michelle's first time eating yakisoba.

I think I did a good job with it, but serving someone my arrangement just makes me a bit nervous.

[Thank you for the meal.]

Michelle trying to bite into the yakisoba, only to puff her mouth from its warmth, looks adorable.

[How is it?]

[It's very tasty (if it's something Yuusuke makes, it will always be tasty♡).]

""

Since she often cooked for me, I'm happy that she was pleased with my cooking.

Next time, let's consider nutrition balance and make her something with a lot of meat and veggies.

[Are there any other arrangements you have in mind?]

[It seems that crushed and topping New Orleans mayonnaise-flavored snacks is popular. Also, I've heard that eating it in between sauce crackers gives the eater an extra layer of defense.]

(T/N: I don't know what they meant by New Orleans mayo)

The carbohydrate mayhem that is Yakisoba Bread also seems to have some kind of magical effect on the people here.

I wonder if it'll become popular if I made and sold those?

[Hmmm. So, does that mean those guys over there are working on a new recipe?]

Michelle glanced toward Merle and Mira, who were cooking their yakisoba at the table next to ours.

Merle has been eating a lot of yakisoba morning and night, looking for an effective arrangement.

It seems like Mira could only helplessly go along with her whims.

[Alright, let's go...]

Merle said with a trembling voice.

What she has in her hand is a packet of powdered juice (pineapple flavor).

[Merle, seriously!?]

I reflexively called out to her.

[I told you that's definitely not a good idea!]

Mira also looked worried.

[Don't stop me, you two. I've decided to devote myself to this study!]

Study, she said...

The powdered juice (pineapple flavor) that Mira is holding in her hand is a popular product that increases the amount of money drops from defeating monsters by 1.2 times (for 10 minutes).

In any case, she's probably just aiming for a duration and multiplier increase, right?

[If you put powdered juice in that, the taste wouldn't make any sense.]

Michelle looks worriedly at the item Merle had in her hand.

[Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that. Back home, some restaurants put pineapple in their sweet-and-sour pork. There's also the possibility that if you add pork to it, it might taste better than you might think...]

I guess it depends on the quantity, but I don't think it would taste that awful.

Well, it would turn out to be a very sweet yakisoba though.

As the powdered juice was sprinkled over the noodles, the scent of pineapple filled the room.

It was the same scent I had smelled when I passed by a pineapple candy factory.

It kinda reminded me of the scenery in Japan.

However, that was only until sauce was added.

When Merle poured the sauce over the top, all the pineapple scent was replaced by the sauce.

It was proof of how overwhelming yakisoba sauce is.

However, it smelled more fruity than usual.

[It might surprisingly work out well!? Maybe I am a genius!]

Merle exclaimed as she inhaled the sweet scent of yakisoba.

It's obvious at a glance that she isn't a genius, but this happening was just a coincidence.

Besides, when it comes to arranged yakisoba, until you actually taste it, you can't let your guard down.

I've seen many adventurers get sick from sipping the vinegar out of their Sacchan Squid Yakisoba, so there's no doubt about this.

Merle packed the finished yakisoba in her lunch box.

Perhaps being wary that the effect time might be short, she decided to eat it after finding monsters.

Unlike powdered juice, consuming that is pretty troublesome....

You might be chased or attacked while you're eating, you know?

[We're off then! With this, maybe the amount of money will get multiplied by 5 or the duration will extend to 30 minutes. Just wait and see!]

Well then, let's see what happens...

Since Merle has bad luck with lottery, I don't feel like she'd have good luck with arrangements either.

At the very least, I hope their arrangement will turn out delicious.

◆

The royal palace had rooms of various sizes, but the new King, Bartos, preferred a small room for secret talks.

Now, only King Bartos and Baron Essel are in this private room of about 20 square meters.

Bartos looked over the report with a bored expression on his face and seemingly tossing out something she found something trivial, he threw the bundle of papers on his desk.

[My brother isn't making any moves huh.]

[Not at the moment.]

[Even though I've gone out of my way to give him an opening to plot a rebellion.]

Not wanting to be accused of killing his brother and usurping the throne, Bartos has imprisoned the former King.

However, this is only a pretext.

His true intentions lie elsewhere.

He was also waiting for the influential nobles who were against him to rally around the former King and have them reinstated as their puppet.

But so far, no such movements have been made.

[For the time being, the nobles are showing their allegiance but...]

[That's a great thing.]

[Keep a close watch on them.]

[I'm aware of that. Ah, that's right, there's one thing that concerns me.]

Baron Essel said with a slight chuckle.

[What is it?]

[It seems that the former Queen Concert-sama is more intent on escaping from prison than the former King.]

[Titti was?]

Bartos also chuckled as he recalled the former Queen Consort's character.

[The attendant observing them reported this to me. It seems that she has been trying to cajole a servant.]

[Good grief, she's fallen that far huh. She's a good woman, so I'd like to have her at least once, but I've lost my appetite.]

The Baron rebuked the King's joke.

[Your Majesty.]

[I was just joking, no need to get mad.]

King Bartos was a capable man, but his only fault was that he was too lecherous.

The Baron knew that he meant 60% of what he said.

[How would you like to deal with Titti-sama?]

[Fumu... Just leave her alone. If she actually tries to escape from prison, catch her and put her to death. Make a spectacle of her in the plaza and that should relieve the people's pent-up frustration on them.]

The Baron didn't like this approach, but what the King said was also true.

Somehow keeping a large sigh to himself, the Baron kept his thoughts to himself.

For the first time in a long time, he felt like taking a bath in the onsen, drinking a bottle of ramune, and having a Mobile Force match with someone.