Tour of the Kitchen

The carriage brought us to a small diner a little outside the central district. They had probably chosen it because it would be harder for anyone to find out that Artur-sama had visited than if we went to a diner in the central district.

Even the restaurants in the central district that aren't aimed at nobles are used by many noble servants, after all.

The carriage stopped right in front of the diner, and its door opened. The man who opened it was wearing the sort of servant's uniform commonly seen in noble households. Was he one of the royal guards?

We followed the man out of the carriage and went inside together. Once we entered, two people were waiting with their heads bowed deeply.

"Raise your head."

When Stefan said that, the two people raised their heads. They were a man and a woman who looked to be in their fifties. Were they married?

More importantly, this was amazing! It was so cool!! I want to try saying, "Raise your head" sometime!

He looked like a king. Well, Stefan was a real prince, but after becoming friends with him, I sometimes forgot that.

But moments like this reminded me. He was so cool.

Stefan really had an aura about him—the kind of aura that made people obey him without even realizing it. I had nothing like that at all... I wanted an aura.

While I was thinking such foolish thoughts, things had progressed, and we were all going to the kitchen.

The kitchen had a layout much like my family's diner, which gave it a nostalgic feeling. I wondered how my mother, father, and Marie were doing.

"First, prepare some chicken grilled plain and some with salt sprinkled on it."

"Certainly."

After Stefan said that, the two people began moving efficiently. However, their faces were stiff, so they seemed extremely nervous. Their hands even looked like they were trembling. They didn't need to be so nervous...

I offered to help them, hoping to ease their tension even a little.

"Stefan-sama, may I help these two? I understand what needs explaining, too."

"That's true. It would be more helpful to have you explain things than simply watch them prepare the food. Leon, I'll be counting on you."

"Certainly."

I approached the two nervous people. The moment I drew near, they flinched. They were so nervous that I almost felt sorry for them.

I stopped at a comfortable distance and greeted them.

"Hello. I'm Leon. I'm a commoner, so you don't need to be so nervous. I'll help, too, so you can relax a little more."

I deliberately avoided using polite speech so they would believe that I was a commoner.

"Y-you're a commoner...?"

"Yeah! I attend the Royal Academy, but I'm a commoner. My family runs a diner on the far western outskirts."

"I see. Then did you help your parents, too?"

"I did! So I can help with all sorts of things."

"That would be a great help. Please take care of us."

"Likewise."

The tension visibly left their faces, and they looked relieved. Having a fellow commoner here really did make them feel more at ease.

If there were only nobles here, it probably seemed like no one would understand how commoners felt.

"Then shall we begin? We should start with the chicken, right? Do you have any chicken?"

"Yes. We received everything we needed earlier, so we have plenty."

The man pointed toward a large quantity of food and seasonings. There was so much that even a huge crowd couldn't finish it all.

The knights were probably nobles, too, so they hadn't known how much would be needed.

"Then, sir, could you prepare the chicken? And, ma'am, could you get the frying pan ready and light the hearth?"

"Got it."

"I'll take care of the frying pan and the hearth."

The man brought over a chicken from among the ingredients. It was an entire bird. You could buy only the cuts you needed from a butcher, but they hadn't known which cuts were needed...

The man seemed to be taking out the thigh meat.

"Artur-sama, what the man is cutting up now is chicken. This is a whole chicken, so he is carving it into various cuts, such as thigh and breast meat. Today, we'll be using the thigh meat."

"This is chicken...?"

"This is my first time seeing a whole one, too."

"It doesn't look very appetizing."

Everyone seemed pretty put off by it. Apparently, this was Stefan and Martine's first time seeing a whole chicken, too. Come to think of it, this was also my first time seeing a whole chicken since coming to this world.

Lucien didn't seem bothered at all. Had he seen one before?

"By the way, the knife that he's using to cut up the chicken is called a kitchen knife."

"I've never heard of a kitchen knife, but is that knife-like object called one?"

"That's exactly right. A blade used for cooking is called a kitchen knife."

"I understand."

Artur-sama seemed determined to learn as much as possible. He really was so receptive. Normally, one's pride would get in the way and make it difficult to openly ask to be taught.

I would do my best to teach him as much as possible, too.

"The woman is lighting the hearth."

"The hearth is like a fireplace."

I see. Since noble mansions had fireplaces, I suppose that made the hearth easier for him to understand.

But once stoves became widespread, the hearth might no longer be needed either. What a waste. Fireplaces were so cool.

"It works similarly to a fireplace. In noble residences, fireplaces are used to keep people warm, but in kitchens, hearths are used for cooking."

"How do you use fire for cooking?"

Huh? Wait a second... Could it be that he didn't even understand cooking methods like grilling and boiling?

But when I thought about it, if no one taught him, then he would remain ignorant. If he had always eaten only finished dishes, he probably wouldn't be able to imagine how they were prepared.

Still, food was warm, wasn't it? If he thought about why it was warm, he might have figured it out.

"Cooking basically means preparing ingredients by grilling or boiling them. The meals Artur-sama usually eats are always warm, aren't they? That's because they are cooked over a fire."

"I see... So the ingredients aren't naturally warm. Indeed, I saw many of them earlier, and they were all cold. But wouldn't they turn into charcoal if you cooked them over a fire?"

"No, of course they will turn into charcoal if you cook them too long, but there is no problem if you cook them for an appropriate amount of time."

"I see."

His knowledge was astonishingly biased. Even if his father had intended to turn him into a puppet noble, shouldn't he have taught him at least this much? Artur-sama's father was far too extreme.

I almost found it more believable to think that he simply hated Artur-sama for no reason at all...

"What the woman is holding now is called a frying pan. You heat it over the fire and cook the ingredients on it."

By the time I finished explaining, the man seemed to have finished cutting the thigh meat into bite-sized pieces, so I had him cook it right away.

"This is chicken cut into bite-sized pieces. We'll sprinkle salt on half of it and grill the other half without adding anything."

They grilled the chicken, then put the salted and unsalted portions on separate plates and handed them out.

Should someone taste it for poison? Just as I was about to ask Stefan, one of the royal guards who had accompanied us pulled out some cutlery from somewhere and tasted the food for poison.

That was quick... Was this person an attendant rather than a guard? Or was this a guard who could also serve as an attendant?

I had no idea, but this person was clearly capable. Once the poison test was over, they handed everyone their cutlery, too.

Where did those even come from? It was too mysterious... I wanted to ask about all sorts of things, but this person probably wouldn't tell me, so I decided to let it go for now.

"Now, please try the unseasoned chicken first."

When I said that, everyone ate the chicken without hesitation.

I had a portion, too, so I tried it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, either. It tasted like chicken and nothing more.

"Artur-sama, what do you think? This is the natural flavor of chicken without anything added to it."

"It's not tasty..."

"Then please try the chicken with salt."

Artur-sama put the salted chicken into his mouth. The moment he did, his expression turned to one of surprise, and he kept chewing away. It must have been delicious.

I tried some, too. Yes, it was good. Just plain delicious.

"This is delicious... It's amazing that sprinkling on that salt made it taste this good."

"Even if something isn't very tasty with just salt, it can become delicious when cooked together with other ingredients."

After that, at Artur-sama's request, they prepared a beef stew, and then baked some bread for all of us to eat.

It seemed the reason this diner had been chosen was that they baked bread there. Normally, people bought bread from a bakery, but some diners went to the trouble of making it themselves.

Artur-sama looked surprised the entire time, repeatedly asking questions and working hard to learn as much as possible.

We left the diner and returned to the Royal Academy. It was getting a little later than the time our usual research club ended. It would probably be best to say our goodbyes early.

When we got out of the carriage, Artur-sama greeted everyone before finally turning to me.

"Leon... Thank you for teaching me so many things today. You really helped me."

"Please don't mention it. If anything else comes up, I'll be happy to explain it anytime."

"Yes, I'll be counting on you then. See you."

With that, Artur-sama hurried back to the carriage stand.

I sincerely hoped that what happened today would set Artur-sama on a better path. I truly meant that. He had said some pretty awful things to me in the past, but Artur-sama was a victim, too.

"Shall we head home? I'm kind of tired..."

"Yeah. It's already later than usual."

"Stefan and Martine, you're heading home too, right?"

"Yeah. We really should be getting home now."

"Father will be worried."

"Father is a little too worried."

So Alexis-sama is a worrier, huh. He really does seem like the type who adores his children, despite being royalty. I had always imagined royal families as having rather cold and cutthroat relationships, but this country's royal family was nothing like that.

"See you."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah!"

We parted ways with Stefan and Martine, and Lucien and I headed home.