Soju with Friends

Only after my cooking gained recognition could I accept various types of meat from Mr. Knoll's meat shop. He kindly salvaged items that I didn't possess.

Specifically, being able to obtain the desired meat in the desired cuts is a tremendous advantage. Sometimes, uncommon internal parts are used in cooking in this world.

However, today's journey was clearly odd. Moreover, the person who always accompanied his wife came alone. Even though they always argued, it was just a facade. Furthermore, this person had strong skills and wasn't the type to easily leave the shop. Hence, considering their time zone, it was evident that this was an unexpected visit.

Anyway, the fat from Uva's belly had been trimmed.

I poured cooking oil into the frying pan. All the essential cooking needs like oil, pepper, salt, sugar, and soy sauce are available in this modern era. Call and place them in containers in this world. If left like this, no one would feel uncomfortable. I'm just curious about the ingredients used.

Moreover, there's no electricity, so calling electronic items is useless. Lightning magic is destructive magic, so it's impossible to supply electricity. I don't have that knowledge.

To reduce heterogeneity within the restaurant itself, kitchen equipment doesn't rely on summons. All household tools and restaurant kitchen equipment are made using metals like iron produced here. Various large iron pots and dishes are also fantastically made.

Certainly, these are not common items in this world. The difference is, these are items made by dwarf craftsmen, making them hard for ordinary people to obtain. But at least they're made with materials from this world and by people from this world, so there's no sense of heterogeneity.

Because it would be very strange to place modern culture in a restaurant.

Anyway, as I grilled Uva Belly in the same way as before, Mr. Knoll knocked on the table.

"Hmm, what did you say? Please give me that clear drink."

Do you mean soju?

It's unexpected once again. On the day soju was first released, this man deemed it unpleasant. But besides that, I've always looked for soju every time I come. He's the one who says that beer is the best alcohol. Of course, beer exists in this world too. It's a national mainstream. Beer, alcoholic beverages, fruit drinks, they're all there.

Of course, distilled alcoholic beverages and fruit drinks are expensive in this world.

And one more surprising thing. Except for something special, very few people in this world drink soju in the middle of the day.

So, as I felt some time ago, there's something quite peculiar about Mr. Knoll today.

But because the customers are different, is there any other way to offer it to them?

I handed Mr. Knoll a bottle of soju in a transparent glass bottle. He took the soju bottle and began drinking.

"Here it is, the more I drink it, the sweeter it tastes, and it helps me forget things I don't like. It was strange at first, but not bad. Or more precisely, the more you consume, the better the result. Hehehe, it's the same with my wife. The longer we live, the more beautiful my wife will become."

"If you're so beautiful, why don't you treat me well regularly and suddenly start drinking soju for lunch?"

"Shush!"

Tuan Knoll waved his hand and took another sip of soju.

"Are you sure you didn't put anything in this? How could I taste this pleasant sweetness?"

"That's the charm of the drink."

"Delightful."

In fact, diluted soju does contain aspartame, a compound that creates a sweet taste. Distilled soju is difficult to make and expensive. The one used in large quantities in the shop is diluted soju.

Even sold at a cheap price, it doesn't burden those who buy it.

Certainly, diluted soju is a modern product.

Mr. Knoll snorted but continued drinking soju. As I placed the cooked pork belly in front of me, he picked up a fork.

After the meal, I went to fetch more soju.

"Wow! Yes, I've tried other drinks you offered me, but this meat and this soju complement each other perfectly. I like it."

"That's called a soulful pairing."

"I know. Filth! So I have to get drunk! Anyway, one dish is the best."

Unusually, Mr. Knoll praised me while continuously drinking and eating the meat.

"Mr. Knoll, are you sure there's something wrong?"

"However I look at it, it's not normal, so when I asked for the first time, Mr. Knoll simply remained silent."

"What's happening?"

No matter what he said, this man always met the quality of meat and my needs. The word expertise fits perfectly. One of the key people for a restaurant to function well. Someone like that has been like this since lunchtime.

But Mr. Knoll stayed silent. Kept pouring soju. Only after drinking two bottles and being totally drunk did he start mumbling words.

"Reine is strange. It's weird."

"What's strange when you say you love me and such?"

"I feel like I'm cheating."

"Oh?"

I can only shake my head at the nonsensical statement. Miss Laine seemed like the epitome of a good mother and wife, treating Miss Knoll well while still respecting her; people like that are a rarity.

"Is that the issue? What are you seeing? Did you witness this scene firsthand?"

"I didn't know until now, every month! I used to go out of the house one day every month. I thought I'd meet a friend once a month. But recently, I found out! It seems like they're dressing up more when they go out, so I followed them and did it too!"

"I did it?"

"You despicable woman! I met my old colleague! Initially, I wanted to stab him right away, but I love Laine too much. I couldn't do it without her! Give me more alcohol!"

"Oh my, Mr. Knoll."

My head ached. If it was his former colleague, perhaps he was talking about the time he worked as a mercenary.

I'm not sure, but if you love someone too much.

So, I've heard, if you don't want to lose, there are times when you lose your calm and your self-importance. Even though it might be because we're human.

Knoll would never believe it if he heard it from someone else, but seeing that scene with his own eyes felt like a big problem. Yet, if a third party saw it calmly, Mr. Laine wasn't that kind of person.

"When was this?"

"Last month! And she said she was going out again today, so I'm sure she's cheating again. Damn it. I've been boiling inside for a month, but I can't take it anymore."

It was exactly a month ago, after I fed Mr. Knoll the pork belly and got it accepted. But now it's time to stop.

"Are you saying you're going to drink and then go and kill everyone?"

"I have to kill her. Kill me, and I'll die too!"

"Wait a moment, wait a moment. Phew. How about we find out the situation first? I'll meet Mr. Laine and get the details, so don't get too excited and just stay calm."

"Really? You?"

Mr. Knoll snorted and began to stare at me.

"What kind of man is he?"

"He's a scoundrel. When I worked as a mercenary, he was a crucial fellow comrade! This is the man who risked his life to fight alongside me! But after I quit the job, he never came to visit me. Not once! I thought it was because he was busy, but he couldn't come because he was trapped with Laine. Damn it!"

"Even so."

"Whatever!"

"Anyway, please come in. I don't think Mr. Layne is that kind of person. So, I'll investigate, and then you can do whatever you want."

"Really?"

Mr. Knoll blinked. Although he thought he had been cheated on due to his special affection for Mr. Layne, he seemed unable to confront it directly and was just burning inside. Despite usually being a courageous man, this was the first time I had seen him like this.

Anyway, I considered Mr. Reine and Mr. Knoll as colleagues, and I didn't want any mistakes to happen. He was also usually reasonable.

If the situation continued like this, there would be no place to source meat.

So, I had to verify it first.

There were many ways.

After asking where he had seen his wife last month, I told Mr. Knoll to go home. Then, we headed to the second floor. There were two rooms on the second floor. One of them was my sanctuary, my room. Of course, there was nothing suspicious in my room. I roughly opened the door to the inner room.

Thunk!

Despite the loud sound, the giant monster sleeping on the bed didn't move.

"Snore, snore."

He was asleep, making strange noises. I pulled back the blanket. He was stark naked.

"Lurin! It'd be better if you woke up when you wanted to say something nice."

"Snore, snore."

"Wake up, you jobless monster!"

"Huh?"

"What's this? When did the sun rise? Ugh, a bug-eater, I see."

"What!"

"What's that?"

"Why did you wake me up? I was sleeping soundly."

I rubbed my eyes, yawned, and stretched.

I sighed and picked up the clothes lying on the bed floor, starting to put them on. He rubbed his eyes as if being attended to by me was a blessing.

"Well."

"Stop waking up. Isn't it that dragon races don't sleep after slumbering for hundreds of years? Ugh, you bug-eating dragon. Work. Work."

"Are you mocking our dragons now? On the subject of humans!" He looked somewhat foolish.

"If you mock me, you'll die."

"I don't like that."

"Then why mock me?"

"I don't like it either! Why do you do this from before? Ugh."

He flicked his black hair and raised his black eyebrows. It was a black wave that immediately indicated his species as a black dragon. In this world, black hair was quite rare. Therefore, this hair color made you feel familiar with the homeland. That's why I really liked his hair color.

"If you become polymorphed, you have no choice but to live with the same rhythm of life as humans. So of course, you have to sleep. Wahaaaa."

"Be quiet and wake up."

I yawned and pulled the lower part of Mr. Black Dragon's body while crawling under the blanket. It was disgusting how everything was being dragged.

"Why did you do this today? Weren't you the one who asked me to sleep and not go wild?"

"I woke you up because there's something I need to do."

"Work?"

Only then did I wake up, rubbing my eyes again.

Lurin, the Black Dragon.

He was from the Black Dragon clan that made the eastern continent their home. If translated into human years, it wouldn't make sense to say that he was a child, but compared to dragon years, he wasn't much different from a child.

In this world, dragons were absolute entities known as monster kings and objects of fear for humans.

But that was different for me.

The strength gained after acquiring the Dragon Heart ten years ago made me unafraid even of dragons.

Of course, the heart given by the Dragon King under certain conditions made me stronger.

Thanks to that heart, I could use magic that could shred dragons.

As a result, he got caught up in the dragon war, and that's when he met Lurin.

He was also a homeless dragon whose rare dragon went missing in the war.

Lurin first appeared in the human world.

Dragons are born with advanced magical knowledge.

However, dragons usually considered to know everything are those that have indulged for thousands of years.

Having spent thousands of years in the human world, they naturally possess more experience and knowledge than humans. However, because Lurin had never experienced the human world, for some reason, he only stayed in Rare after he was born until he came out with me.

That's the lack of common sense.

"If there were other humans like you, it would be a disaster for the Dragon Clan. A disaster. How can you survive even after eating a dragon's heart?"

"I know. It's interesting to me too. Even the Dragon King was surprised."

For the record, my heart is tasteless.

"I won't eat another. If I do, my body will literally explode."

"Ohh? Is that so?" Lurin's eyes suddenly sparkled.

" When I wanted to commit suicide, I took its heart and gave it to you before I died. So, are we going to die together?"

"Silence!"