How a Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom

Poncho and Serina: A Bizarre Midnight Snacking Session

“Hrm... I just can’t seem to get it right, yes.”

This was just after the Principality of Amidonia had been annexed into the Elfrieden Kingdom.

The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho, had spent the long autumn nights in the castle’s cafeteria wracking his brain. The seed of his worries was in a certain sauce that His Majesty had asked him to develop. He had been told it was a seasoning that would be absolutely essential for recreating the dishes from Souma’s former world.

According to Souma, this sauce was thicker than the ones in this country, had a bittersweet flavor, and was amazingly delicious when tossed with noodles or put on fried foods. The development of this sauce for flour-based dishes was Poncho’s current task.

Poncho gulped. I would very much like to try the yakisoba and okonomiyaki dishes that His Majesty spoke of, yes.

With his greater-than-average interest in eating, Poncho had experience with spending exorbitant amounts of money on gourmet trips to various countries. If he was told there were as-yet-unknown delicacies for him to try, it was only natural he would be interested. However, in order to make them, he would first have to create this unknown sauce.

It hurts that I’ve never tasted it myself. It means I have to recreate an unknown taste relying only on the hints His Majesty gives me, yes.

Working off the hint that it was delicious when poured over noodles, he repeatedly experimented with pouring his test sauces over the spaghetti used in spaghetti buns and stirring it in with them as he fried them. Even with the ordinary sauce it came out pretty tasty, but something felt lacking.

What is the sweetness His Majesty spoke of anyway? Sugar? Caramel? Or a fruity sort of sweetness? Without knowing that, there’s not much I can...

“Sir Poncho,” a voice suddenly called across from the cafeteria where he’d thought he was alone in the dead of night.

“Eek! Yes?!” Poncho jumped up. When he hastily turned around, standing there was the head maid, Serina. “O-Oh... It was you, Madam Serina. You startled me, yes.”

“I come here often, so there was no need to be surprised. I’m hurt.” Serina sighed, but her expression was as devoid of emotion as ever, so it was hard to be sure if she was actually hurt or not. Poncho bobbed his head up and down.

“I’m terribly sorry, yes,” Poncho said. “I was lost in thought, you see, yes.”

“About that sauce... right? Have you still not completed it?”

“I haven’t managed to produce anything that made me say ‘this is it,’ yes,” Poncho said.

“That’s unfortunate. I had hoped today would be the day I could partake of it...” Serina said that with a straight face that made it hard to tell how serious she was. However, Poncho could sense something like honest disappointment from the words she spoke.

“Is that why you’ve been coming here every night?” he asked.

“The sauce yakisoba His Majesty spoke of... It had such a cheap, yet alluring ring to it, wouldn’t you agree? Oh, Sir Poncho... Please, let me have it soon.”

Serina wore an enraptured expression, as if her earlier cheekiness had all been a lie. Ever since she had eaten Souma and Poncho’s seafood and pork bone ramen, she had been thoroughly entranced by the junk food from Souma’s world that Poncho made.

With a wry smile at the way Serina acted, Poncho said, “I’ll let you know when it’s finished, yes. I’ll have you be the first of the first to taste test it, so you don’t need to come here every night...”

“That’s not my only reason for being here, of course,” Serina told him. “I get all sorts of delicious nighttime snacks when I come, after all.”

“I know I’m not one to talk, but aren’t you worried you’ll put on weight?” Poncho asked.

Serina responded with a look like she was unconcerned, “Being a maid is heavy labor, so I don’t have time to put on weight. If anything, I’m increasing my workload during the day so that I can enjoy these nighttime snacks.”

What Serina was saying was true. Recently, Serina had had a heavy workload that included training the new maid Carla, looking after Princess Liscia, and managing all of the other maids as the head maid.

“It really is very difficult,” she continued. “I simply must have my late night snack to end the day on a good note.”

“I-Is that a fact, yes?”

“It is. Now, Sir Poncho, please... feed me again tonight.”

Serina’s face drew in so close that it felt like he could hear her breathing and she whispered that to him sweetly. When a beautiful woman like Serina begged him so alluringly, Poncho couldn’t possibly refuse.

“I-I’ll do it. Though, that said, all I have here is spaghetti. Spaghetti Neapolitan is about the only thing I can make. Will that do?”

“It is enough,” she said. “It really is a mystery. Who would have thought spaghetti and that sauce called ketchup would mix so well? All you do is pour the sauce on and stir-fry it, but it creates a unique dish different from meat sauce or arrabbiata sauce. It’s cheap but delicious, with a taste that reminds you endlessly of home. Just the memory of it has my mouth watering.”

Serina spoke quickly, with a passion that would normally be unthinkable for her. Poncho was listening to her with a wry smile, but then something she said caught his attention.

“Ketchup goes well with spaghetti...” he murmured.

“Hm? Is something the matter, Sir Poncho?” she asked.

“No, it’s just, one of the characteristics of the sauce for flour-based dishes that His Majesty mentioned was that it went well with noodles, yes. Spaghetti is a type of noodle, so I was thinking it matched that trait...”

“...That’s true, isn’t it?” she asked. “The sauce was supposed to be thick, wasn’t it? That trait is similar to ketchup, too.”

“Could the sauce for flour-based dishes that His Majesty spoke of be Worcestershire sauce mixed with ketchup or some other boiled vegetable?! M-Madam Serina, I want to try making it right now. Would you mind?”

“Of course not. Let me help.”

And so, the two of them worked side by side in the kitchen. Poncho tried adding a small amount of ketchup to the sauce and mixing the two together. Serina poured it over the boiled spaghetti and stir-fried them in a frying pan along with vegetables and other ingredients. A savory smell filled the area.

When the noodles had turned brown, they piled them onto a plate, and it was finally time for taste-testing. The two of them sat across from each other at one of the cafeteria tables. Twining the noodles around a fork (because this country lacked the custom of slurping their noodles), they both dug in at the same time.

They both opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“...I can’t get enough, yes.”

“Yes. My, what a destructively good taste this is.”

This was it. This was precisely the taste His Majesty Souma had been seeking. Even though he didn’t know the right answer, Poncho could instinctively tell this was it.

This strong, so very strong, flavor was irresistible. Even though spaghetti was a staple food, it made you want another staple food to go with it. Oh, it made sense now. That was what the bun was for. His Majesty had created the spaghetti bun after giving up on something called a yakisoba bun. Certainly, if they could eat this yakisoba on a bun like a spaghetti bun, it would taste amazing.

“This is... a success, I would have to say, yes.”

“Yes. I have to agree,” said Serina. “Oh, it’s so delicious.”

“Ahaha... You really do look like you’re enjoying it, yes,” Poncho said as he watched Serina eat with a look of bliss on her face. Serina was obsessed with Poncho’s food, but Poncho also liked watching Serina eat the dishes he made.

Seeing her enjoy what I’ve made... It’s wonderful, yes.

“Hm? Is something the matter?” Serina tilted her head to the side and asked him, but Poncho laughed wryly and shook his head.

“No... We made a lot of it, so there’s enough for you to have seconds, yes.”

“Oh, this is the best, Sir Poncho.”

Poncho had a firm grasp on Serina’s stomach. Normally, he was a timid man, and she was a woman with sadistic tendencies, but now their relationship was reversed.

That bizarre midnight snack session had only just begun.