At the sound of the Hobbyist Shop Owner's voice echoing from the kitchen, Rei and the others exchanged glances almost reflexively.
The cries coming from within—indistinguishable between bizarre shrieks and angry shouts—did not sound at all like someone cooking.
"H-Hey. What do you think?"
Rei usually carried himself with an air of arrogance... though that might have been an exaggeration. Still, he had a personality that didn't rattle easily, no matter what happened. Yet this was a sight that even he couldn't help but be surprised by.
"All sorts of things about first-class people are often incomprehensible to ordinary folks."
In response to Rei's words, Marina murmured, reaching for an Orc meat skewer with an almost entirely unperturbed air.
For some reason, Yohanna and her companions nodded in understanding as they looked at Rei upon hearing Marina's words.
"...Hey?"
Rei muttered, feeling as though he had been subjected to an incredibly unreasonable treatment. But to Yohanna and the others, this was likely exactly what they expected. Everyone turned their heads away in unison... so perfectly synchronized that "in perfect formation" would be a fitting description.
Even after averting their gazes... no, perhaps precisely because they had averted their gazes, what Yohanna and the others meant was abundantly clear.
"Come now, Rei, you settle down too. This dish is delicious, you know? Here, say 'aah.'"
Vihera, who had been watching the exchange between Rei and Yohanna's group, speared a piece of Orc stir-fry onto a fork and held it out to him. Despite being seasoned simply with salt alone, the meat had developed a remarkably deep flavor thanks to the careful preparation.
"Mmph."
Drawn by the aroma wafting from the Orc meat and its dripping juices, Rei brought his mouth to Vihera's fork with what could practically be called a reflexive lunge and ate the meat.
'Ah.'
At the sight of Vihera doing this, Elena and Marina each let out a sound.
"Hehe."
And as for Vihera, she flashed a triumphant smile toward the two of them.
"...Hey, Yohanna. Looking at those four, what do you think?"
"Even if you ask me what I think, carelessly getting involved would definitely mean a bad time here, so wouldn't it be better not to?"
"In your case, you just want to monopolize Set, don't you?"
At the words her companion let slip along with a sigh, Yohanna puffed out her chest as if to say she had nothing to hide.
"Oh my, did I do something? I'm just showering Set-chan with affection here. Ah, look, Set-chan. This vegetable stew is delicious too, you know?"
"Guru."
The Silver Lion meat that had been taken to the kitchen was intriguing... extremely intriguing, but the array of dishes right in front of Set was equally captivating.
The dishes before him were all selections that could be called masterpieces, and for Set, the desire to thoroughly savor these dishes until the Silver Lion meat was ready was evidently strong.
...Of course, that was precisely because Set itself understood that once a dish made with Silver Lion meat was ready, it would undoubtedly focus entirely on that.
Having seen that the amount of meat itself was not particularly large, Set also held the expectation that it probably wouldn't be able to eat much of the Silver Lion meat.
Beside Set, Ielo was also cheerfully eating Orc meat dishes, but in Ielo's case, its body was originally not very large... rather, it was small, so it seemed to get full quickly with just a small amount, and its eating pace had slowed down.
"Still, looking at it like this, there sure are a lot of meat-based dishes."
Elena, having brought her battle with Vihera to a pause, murmured while surveying the array of dishes on the table once more.
"To begin with, the name of this establishment is the Orc Stew Pavilion, so isn't that to be expected?"
Ara, who had been contentedly enjoying the food on the premise that there was no place for her during the women's battle, replied as she finished eating the last of the stew soaked into her bread.
"Besides, this is a Dungeon... adventurers inevitably make up the majority, and when you're exerting yourself physically, it's only natural to crave meat, isn't it?"
"Now hold on, Vihera. There are adventurers who prefer vegetables too, you know?" Marina said to Vihera.
In truth, that was by no means a mistaken statement.
Of course, as Vihera had stated, it was a fact that many adventurers favored meat dishes.
This was likely influenced by the proportion of young men among adventurers.
However, among them, there were naturally those who liked fish, or vegetables, or fruits, or nuts... there were many preferences.
"I understand that, but this is the Orc Stew Pavilion, right? It's only natural that more people come here with meat dishes in mind, isn't it?"
"Hey now, my place isn't strictly a meat specialty restaurant, you know. We have a fair number of vegetable dishes too. ...Just look at the table and you'll see."
The one who said that was the Hobbyist Shop Owner, who had been raising angry shouts and bizarre cries in the kitchen until just a moment ago.
Unusually... yes, not only for Rei and the others who were visiting this shop for the first time today, but even for Yohanna and her companions who had frequented this shop many times, he was floating a smile that looked to be in an exceptionally good mood.
The reason for that was, without a doubt, the plate he held in his hands.
On the plate were skewers.
Despite the time spent, it was a very simple dish, but the smile on the Hobbyist Shop Owner's face was proof of just how well it had turned out.
"Alright, here you go. For now, it's Silver Lion skewers. Honestly, I wanted to try putting a lot more effort into it, but as expected of S-Rank monster meat, I still haven't grasped its properties. I simply skewered it to better understand the quality of the meat. It's seasoned with salt only, so just eat it for now."
The Hobbyist Shop Owner's words were convincing to Rei and the others.
To begin with, throughout this entire area... no, throughout the entire Kingdom of Mireana... or rather, even looking across all of Elgin, there were almost none who had ever cooked S-Rank monster meat.
To say there were almost none meant that there were a few, but... even among S-Rank monsters, there was a wide range of quality.
Whether a cooking method suited to a particular S-Rank monster's meat would be appropriate for cooking another S-Rank monster was a question whose answer was no.
If this were down to C-Rank... or around B-Rank monsters, they were caught in reasonably large numbers, so there was some information left regarding how to generally prepare each type of monster.
...Of course, in most cases, such information was treated as a closely guarded secret, an important matter that ordinary cooks could never learn.
At any rate, since this was the Hobbyist Shop Owner's first time preparing Silver Lion, he needed to start with a simple dish to understand the properties of the meat.
"It's just salt seasoning, but I think it's not a bad choice for bringing out the flavor of the meat."
As the Hobbyist Shop Owner spoke those words, everyone's hands, and beaks, reached out toward the plate on the table.
The first to pick up a skewer was Rei.
Followed by Set... and after that, one after another, they all picked up Silver Lion skewers.
"Hey! No need to rush, there's properly enough for everyone, so calm down!"
The Hobbyist Shop Owner's angry shout echoed through the shop, but Rei and the others let it go in one ear and out the other while bringing the skewers they held to their mouths.
The moment they bit into it, the first thing they could taste was the savory aroma and the firmly seared surface of the Silver Lion meat.
As the Hobbyist Shop Owner was confident in meat dishes, the doneness of the meat could be called perfect.
Depending on the person, some might prefer it cooked more thoroughly, while others might prefer it closer to raw.
But without a doubt, the current level of doneness was what the majority would favor.
And as they nibbled through the surface and the mouth filled with the scent of the beautifully seared meat, what spread next was a surprisingly deep, rich flavor.
Perhaps due to the cut of the meat, there wasn't a great amount of juice, yet the unmistakable essence of meat remained in full force.
Furthermore, there was no toughness to the meat; it had an exceptionally tender texture.
(Silver Lion... I've never eaten lion meat before, but could it be that lions on Earth are this delicious too? ...No, surely not. The Silver Lion is this delicious because it's an S-Rank monster in the first place.)
Even as he thought such things, the greater part of Rei was genuinely moved, even enraptured, by the taste of the Silver Lion skewer.
What about it was delicious, and how—it was difficult even for Rei to express.
Truly, simply that it was delicious. That one phrase alone was Rei's entire impression.
The taste, which made one want to keep eating forever, could truly be said to be worthy of S-Rank monster meat.
It wasn't as if any special spices or the like were used; this was achieved purely by the flavor inherent to the ingredient itself.
The others besides Rei were also looking at the skewers they had bitten into, seemingly at a loss for words.
This was the same for Set and Ielo; before that overwhelming deliciousness, everyone could do nothing but fall silent.
As the daughter of Duke Kerebel's House, as a former member of the Bestia Empire's Imperial Family, as the Dark Elf Guild Master who had lived for a long time... even Elena and the others, who had tasted various delicacies, were at a loss for words before the overwhelming flavor.
Let alone Yohanna and the others—for them, the stimulus was simply too strong.
'………'
Unable to even produce words, their consciousness completely seized by the deliciousness of the meat, their appearance, seen from an outsider's perspective, would leave one with absolutely no idea what was happening or how it had come to this.
Yohanna, while perhaps not on Elena and the others' level, had features attractive enough to be called a beauty by general standards.
Coming from a family that ran a fairly large business, she had experience eating reasonably delicious food, but... even Yohanna, just like her other companions, wore an expression as if her soul had been sucked out, and her usually beautiful face had become somewhat comical.
"This is..."
The fact that the first to open his mouth was the Hobbyist Shop Owner was likely because, running this kind of shop as he did, he possessed a certain resistance to delicious food.
Taking a bite, then another, he turned his gaze once more to the meat threaded on the skewer.
From that demeanor, it was apparent he was agonizing over how best to cook this meat to make it the most delicious, but right now no one, including Rei, had the presence of mind for such a thing.
He had lived as a Cook for many years.
Indeed, enough to hold more than a fair amount of confidence in his own skills.
But... as he stood here now, he could not think of a single way to cook the meat before him.
No, to be precise, he could easily imagine that no matter how this meat was cooked, it would become a supreme meat dish.
However, that could hardly be said to be drawing out the true flavor of the meat.
A dish that would maximize the potential of the supreme ingredient that was Silver Lion meat... even pondering that, nothing came to mind for the Hobbyist Shop Owner.
(Guess it means I was still green, huh.)
Was he getting ahead of himself? Had he lost his drive to improve? Had he been satisfied with the status quo?
Thinking such thoughts, feeling a disgust at his own inadequacy, he brought the Silver Lion skewer before him into his mouth.
Since not much time had passed since it was grilled, it had not gone cold.
The taste of the Silver Lion meat that spread to fill his mouth was truly enough to make one feel as if they were ascending to heaven... one could say as much.
(And what's more, it is certainly good meat, but the fat itself is surprisingly scarce. Of course, it probably depends on the cut.)
The Hobbyist Shop Owner had not asked which part of the animal this meat was from.
But from his experience handling the meat of various monsters, he guessed it was probably the equivalent of an inner thigh cut on a cow.
A cut of lean red meat, if one wanted to enjoy the pure flavor of the meat itself, it would be superior to cuts with more fat.
Meat rich in fat, the kind nobles favor, would taste perfectly delicious when eating just a bite or two, but eating it in large quantities would cause indigestion and could even make one feel unwell.
Compared to such meat, lean meat, unlike fattier cuts, allowed one to eat a larger quantity.
...Of course, there was still a limit.
But the meat on the skewer the Hobbyist Shop Owner held now was exceptionally tender even compared to fatty meat, all while allowing one to firmly enjoy the taste of the meat—a somewhat contradictory, miraculous piece of meat.
He was lost on how he should cook it... but that hesitation cleared up in a matter of seconds.
He was a Cook, after all, he concluded; there was nothing for it but to try every cooking method he could manage.
"I'm bringing out the next dish!"
Announcing that, he took a bite of the remaining Silver Lion meat on his skewer and returned to the kitchen.
In the end, on this day... numerous Silver Lion meat dishes were brought out, and every time they ate one, everyone was stunned and dumbfounded, repeating the cycle over and over. Rei requested additional meat to have more dishes made, and among those, he slyly stored away his favorites into his Misty Ring.