LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 16
“Ughhhhh…..”
“Gordon, how much did you drink to be in this state?”
Karem’s question was only natural.
Unlike in his past life where he wasn’t particularly fond of alcohol, Karem often, no, frequently encountered people suffering from hangovers while staying in Moston Village.
Usually, it was the biological father of the so-called Creatures and the only priestess in the village, and the village chief, but still.
However, when someone looked so ragged that they were indistinguishable from a corpse, questions would inevitably arise.
What kind of drink could defeat a veteran mercenary who took down a wild boar head-on? Could it be that, despite appearances, he couldn’t handle anything but beer?
“Uh, urgh! Drunken… Fire…”
“Drunken Fire? That sounds familiar.”
The cause of the hangover. Drunken Fire.
Karem tilted his head. He felt like he had heard that somewhere. No, he wasn’t just saying that; he actually had.
What was it again?
Catherine, who was seated at the royal seats in the kitchen organizing scrolls, let out an incredulous laugh.
“Hah, you had Drunken Fire? I bet you didn’t just stop at one glass.”
“Is it really that strong?”
“Kid, Drunken Fire is a flammable spirit. It’s so potent and pure that it’s even used as a catalyst in alchemy or as a reagent for magic.”
“Flammable, huh…”
Karem pondered deeply.
It’s common knowledge that the higher the alcohol content, the easier it is to ignite.
However, as far as Karem knew, flammable spirits leaned more towards whiskey, vodka, and spirits. Did he really drink a whole bottle?
“Wait, is he even human…?”
Catherine clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s probably just the unique bravado that mercenaries have.”
“…Karem, did getting hired by the Mage make you so shameless with your words?”
“Sir Atanitas.”
“Mercenary. Are you seriously threatening my employed cook?”
Catherine reprimanded Gordon as if to say not to threaten her prized chef.
But it wasn’t like she immediately cast magic at him or kicked him on the shins.
It was just a light nudge of her foot against the leg of the stool where Gordon was seated.
For Gordon, who had stumbled into the kitchen as if crawling due to his hangover, that was more than enough.
“Guhhhh! My head and stomach are both spinning!?”
“…The reaction is rather strange. At this point, I’m getting curious. Just how much did you drink to end up like this? Ten cups?”
“A whole bottle…”
“…”
Catherine, with her chin resting on her wrist, was flabbergasted.
So much so that she lost strength in her other hand, causing her forehead to plop onto the table.
Gordon’s words held that much power.
A bottle of Drunken Fire would normally knock out an ogre and even lay a dwarf flat in bed.
The fact that an ordinary human downed a whole bottle? If Gordon was right, it was a miracle he was still alive.
“Hah, hey, mercenary.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Are you sure you’re not a dwarf in disguise?”
Curiosity piqued so much due to the bizarre situation that Catherine began questioning Gordon, delivering a verbal assault on him while he groaned from the hangover.
In the meantime, Karem opened the lid of the pot that had been bubbling on the stove for several hours.
Inside the pot was chicken broth.
Last night, Gordon had prepared a cleaned chicken he had won in a drinking bet, sautéed it, and added leeks, onions, radish, and a bit of garlic, letting it simmer for hours.
Although it was tough old fowl, that very quality meant that if you took the time to extract the broth, it would reveal its true flavor.
At that moment, the storage in the backyard was stocked full of various vegetables, so Karem generously tossed them in.
This was Karem’s first attempt at cooking since being reincarnated in this world. After tasting it, Karem closed his eyes in delight.
But as soon as the moment of joy passed, a feeling of regret washed over him.
If only he had some real pepper and a bowl of rice! But alas, that was out of the question.
Karem sprinkled salt generously into a bowl filled with the broth and ingredients and presented it to the dying Gordon.
Thud!
“Here, Gordon. Eat this and get your senses back, will you?”
“Guhhh…”
Gordon found it difficult to move even a finger.
But the rich aroma wafting from the bowl beside him instinctively urged his body to act.
Slurp.
Though lifting the bowl was a challenge, as the saying goes, once you start something, you’ve already accomplished half of it, and Gordon felt the rich chicken broth and fat seep into his painfully empty stomach, alleviating his suffering.
A mercenary and drinking go hand in hand.
And just as closely as alcohol, there’s the remedy for it.
Thus, as Gordon roamed the Europa continent as a mercenary, he had tried various hangover cures, but there was nothing as effective as this warm broth.
“Gahhh! Ah, I can live now.”
“…”
As the zombie suffering from a hangover resurrected as Gordon, Catherine turned her head sharply and glared at Karem.
Though she said nothing, it was as clear as day.
Karem, who had prepared the soup, offered her a spoonful filled with the broth’s ingredients.
“Mmm, the bones and meat separate so easily, huh. It’s been ages since I had such tender chicken.”
“Seems it was an old rooster, and as it was tough, I spent some time simmering it to make it soft.”
“Yeah, if it had been cooked a little longer, it would have shredded right off the bone.”
Just as she had said.
The bones of the old fowl, completely stripped of juice and oil, would fall apart without much effort.
The fire from the stove attached to the oven was considerable as well.
The chicken, having been simmered for a long time, fell apart as it cooked down to shreds.
The sweetness of the leeks and onions combined with the rich poultry oil enveloped Catherine’s mouth tenderly, allowing her to savor each bite.
Catherine praised her choice to hire Karem on a whim the previous afternoon.
Unconsciously smiling, she felt Karem’s gaze and quickly adjusted her expression.
Out of pride, she couldn’t let Karem and the mercenary see her embarrassed.
“Phew, I can finally breathe again. It feels like my insides are opening up.”
“You ate pretty quickly. One more bowl—”
“By the way, how long did you simmer such tender, flavorful chicken soup?”
“Well, I started simmering it before sunrise, and it’s been going since then.”
Thus, the firewood stacked in one corner of the kitchen noticeably dwindled, but Karem thought it was a sacrifice worth making for the rich broth.
Considering that the host Hamerson, who couldn’t wait to serve Catherine more, might even encourage him to use even more.
Gordon, who emptied the refill of chicken broth in an instant, shook his head as if to clear his mind.
“Ugh, I need to recover my strength quickly.”
“Is there something urgent?”
“I took a full day’s rest yesterday, so I need to start accepting requests today.”
Even though winter only had dangerous jobs on the menu, mercenaries took their breaks unless it was an urgent or considerable fee. Adventurers were the same.
Thus, spring and autumn could be regarded as peak seasons for various requests, yet Karem found it strange.
“Gordon, while you shared things with Sir Atanitas, don’t you have a mountain of gold coins?”
“That’s true. But Karem?”
“Yes?”
“No matter how much money you have, it’s never enough. So I’ll take my leave now.”
“Fine. I won’t see you off.”
“Of course. Mage. Karem, the food was delicious.”
Finally finishing off the broth in his bowl, Gordon left the kitchen before Karem could say a word.
Though he thought he didn’t need to be seen off, Catherine rapped her fingers on the table, and Karem obediently attended to her dining needs.
“I have enough meat and vegetables; now I’d like some bread.”
“Oh, would you like me to bake some?”
“No. I want it torn into small pieces and soaked in the broth. Do you know how to do that?”
Yes. Karem immediately grasped what Catherine was asking and swiftly picked up the hardened bread.
Though it might seem like a strange way to eat bread soaked in broth instead of rice, it was perfectly normal for regions where the staple food was wheat and bread, just as it was to eat rice in broth.
However, the bread they currently had was inconvenient for feeding to Catherine.
Karem cut the bread into bite-sized pieces and soaked them in the broth.
Catherine nodded in satisfaction, as if that was exactly what she wanted, and took the softened bread full of chicken fat and broth into her mouth.
After all, meat should be eaten with bread. It paired perfectly with the rich, oily broth.
The culinary truth that protein must be accompanied by carbohydrates.
Catherine, having learned this truth through experience, finished her meal joyfully.
Now that Catherine’s meal was over, it was Karem’s turn. The boy quickly served himself a bowl of broth.
As he tended to Catherine, the broth continued to thicken.
The ingredients became even softer, and the umami flavor of the broth intensified.
The richness of the broth became so thick that it stuck to the mouth, and Karem’s head rang with joy.
But his tongue trembled with regret.
Rice! White rice! Crunchy radish kimchi!
As impossible cravings surged, like moles popping up, Karem squashed them with the hammer of rationality.
And while Karem wrestled with his internal conflict beside Catherine, who was waiting for him to finish his meal—
Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!
“Excuse me for intruding this early, but I heard that Catherine Marigold and Sir Atanitas are staying here!”
A guest had arrived.