Rei's eyes went wide at the sight of the food before him.
Ara had shown him to the guest room, and they'd chatted for a while. When Rei mentioned he was a little hungry, she had headed for the kitchen and returned with the dish now spread out before him.
It was round, giving off steam, and wafting a savory aroma throughout the room.
The appetizing fragrance was strong enough that he could easily imagine the umami of the seafood nestled inside.
The one drawback for Rei, perhaps, was the sauce drizzled on top—which resembled a demi-glace sauce.
Additionally, the absence of toppings like bonito flakes or aonori was something he found slightly disappointing.
Even so... the dish looked more than delicious enough. That much was easy to predict.
"Why is there seafood okonomiyaki here...?"
Rei muttered, his surprise plain to see as he stared at the dish.
"It seems I've managed to surprise you."
Seeing his reaction, Ara offered an amused smile.
For Rei to be surprised was a rare thing indeed, so in that sense, she must have witnessed something quite unusual.
At her satisfied, gotcha-like expression, Rei tried to recall—hadn't he talked about seafood okonomiyaki at some point before, by some chance?
"This dish that spread through Emosion can serve as a meal all on its own, and once the preparations are made, you can produce a large quantity with ease. It's become quite well known by now."
"But why would a dish that spread through Emosion turn up here in Duke Kerebel's Territory?"
Duke Kerebel's Territory and Emosion were a considerable distance apart. Even within the Kingdom of Mireana, it wasn't a trip one could make casually.
That was exactly why Rei found it so strange.
"The cook of this mansion is greedy when it comes to the pursuit of flavor, you see. In the first place, the reason he chose to work for Duke Kerebel was that the Duke's wealth and connections let him cook to his heart's content and obtain rare ingredients. ...Apparently, he holds you in considerable respect, Lord Rei."
"Me? Why?"
"Naturally—this seafood okonomiyaki, Gilm's udon, nikuman, pizza, and so on. Given that you've come up with one dish after another that no one had ever thought of before, it's only natural, I'd think. But more to the point, please go ahead. It's a wonderful dish, so let's eat before it gets cold."
Seafood okonomiyaki, the same as Rei's, had also been set in front of Ara.
In fact, the desire to eat before it cooled was probably her own.
Rei understood that well enough, but since it was freshly made, he could also sympathize with wanting to dig in while it was hot.
He nodded and picked up his knife and fork.
Come to think of it, eating okonomiyaki with a knife and fork... well, normally you'd use chopsticks, but they don't have those in the Kingdom of Mireana. The special feature I saw on TV... was that a spatula? Maybe I could have someone make one of those...
He felt a slight sense of incongruity, but like cutting a steak, he used the knife to portion the seafood okonomiyaki and brought a bite to his mouth.
The first thing to spread across his palate was a refreshingly light sauce.
From his past experience, he had been expecting a richer flavor, but... even as the unexpected taste caught him off guard, he took his time savoring the seafood okonomiyaki.
The plump snap of shrimp, the satisfying crunch of a vegetable with a texture akin to cabbage, white-fleshed fish that dissolved on the tongue, and—however it had been prepared—shellfish cooked through but not overdone, with just the right amount of give.
The flavors that flooded his mouth blended together seamlessly, delighting his tongue.
"Delicious..."
The seafood okonomiyaki must have been plenty delicious to Ara as well.
She murmured in a voice tinged with surprise.
Naturally, Ara already knew the cook who had made this dish was highly skilled. Even so, when eating it directly like this, one couldn't help but be won over.
"Yeah, it's pretty different from the one I made, but it's still plenty good."
"Eh? It's different from what you came up with, Lord Rei?"
"I didn't come up with it—I just made it... well, whatever. Yeah. It's just that a lot of the finer details are different; the general idea is the same."
So said Rei, but in truth, the seafood okonomiyaki before him was more refined than the version he had previously made in Emosion.
Mind you, the one Rei had made was produced with knowledge he had gained while living in Japan as a rank amateur, so it wouldn't be surprising for a professional cook to find various aspects of it lacking.
Furthermore, the absence of ingredients and seasonings that—while not absolutely essential for okonomiyaki—would without a doubt make it taste better, things like bonito flakes, mayonnaise, and aonori, was also a major factor.
But only Rei knew those ingredients were missing, so the cooks who had learned of seafood okonomiyaki in Emosion had made their own independent improvements.
Several years had already passed since Rei had introduced the dish. Naturally, through those improvements, the seafood okonomiyaki had come to taste better than what he had originally taught.
And a skilled cook employed by Duke Kerebel had refined it further still, until it had become astonishingly delicious—enough to surprise even Rei.
"By the way, the cook who made this dish wishes to meet with you later, Lord Rei. Would that be all right?"
While they were savoring the seafood okonomiyaki, Ara suddenly asked.
Rei glanced at her, and noticed her plate was already empty.
She had probably remembered at that moment, having just finished her own okonomiyaki, and decided to ask.
Rei was somewhat bewildered by the request.
"I mean, I don't mind meeting him, but just because we talk doesn't mean I'll have any particular dish to teach him. Well, there are some I vaguely remember, but that's all they are—vague."
"Even so, I think it would be fine."
"...Well, if you say so, I don't particularly mind."
Rei would be staying at the Duke Kerebel Mansion for some time to come. If that was the case, meeting the person who would be cooking for him during his stay was no trouble at all.
If meeting him meant Rei would be served delicious food, then he'd want to meet the man as many times as possible.
"Is that so? Then I'll pass that along later. Um... his passion for cooking is quite intense, but he can be rude at times, so I'd ask that you bear with him and keep an open mind..."
Seeing Ara speak as though the words were difficult to get out, Rei vaguely predicted what sort of personality the man had.
For someone who had devoted themselves to mastering one craft—or was in the process of doing so—letting everything else become rough around the edges was something Rei understood well, having met all manner of people.
"That much is no concern. It'll be easier than dealing with a noble who's gotten the wrong idea."
"Ahahaha."
Since Rei's mention of a noble with the wrong idea clearly referred to someone whose identity Ara could imagine better than anyone, all she could do was laugh and play dumb.
Rei didn't press further, simply savoring the rest of his seafood okonomiyaki.
When about ten minutes had passed, Rei's plate had been just as magnificently cleaned.
After the maid Ara had called cleared the plates and left the room, Ara poured black tea for Rei.
Her skill at brewing tea was exceptional—so much so that even Elena was learning from her.
As he savoring the tea, Rei made casual conversation with Ara.
"So, where's Elena?"
"Right now, well, she's only just returned to Anesis, so I imagine she's busy with various things."
"...What about you, Ara? Are you not busy? You're the commander of Elena's Escort Knight Order, aren't you?"
At Rei's words, Ara quietly looked away.
What that gesture meant, Rei could understand well enough.
Even so, judging that pressing further wouldn't be pleasant for her, he let the matter drop.
At any rate, since she's come all the way back to Duke Kerebel's Territory, Ara must have plenty of work piled up. At least for now, I can let her escape from reality.
He changed the subject, and they were chatting when a knock suddenly came at the door.
At the sound, Ara, who had been drinking tea, stiffened for an instant.
She had perhaps thought someone had come to call her about Knight Order business.
Since Ara had frozen up, Rei called out that it was fine to enter.
At that, Ara shot him a slightly resentful glance, but then the door opened, and the person who stepped inside was not the one Ara had been dreading.
Nor, for that matter, anyone either of them had expected.
A man of about one hundred eighty centimeters, with a sturdy, solid build.
His age appeared to be somewhere in his forties.
But intense curiosity burned in his eyes, making him look several years younger than he actually was.
"...Who are you?"
Naturally, Rei had never seen the man before. He shot a questioning glance at Ara, wondering if he might be someone from Elena's Escort Knight Order.
Ara met his gaze, her expression a half-and-half mix of delight and alarm.
"Georgima-dono, what in the world..."
"That's obvious, isn't it? I wanted to meet the man called Rei I've been hearing about. Hey, are you Rei? The one who's come up with all sorts of dishes?"
"Ah... I see."
From those words alone, Rei understood exactly what sort of person Georgima was.
In short—the cook of the Duke Kerebel Mansion that Ara had mentioned moments ago.
"Hm? What's wrong? You came up with these dishes, didn't you? Pretty impressive for someone so young. I'd love for you to tell me how you think them up."
"Ah... right. Georgima, was it? You're the cook of the Duke Kerebel Mansion, correct?"
"That's right."
Georgima declared it with a confident expression.
He clearly had that much faith in his skill as a cook.
"I see. You seem to already know, but I'll say it for the record. I'm Rei. And about the cooking... I don't know if you've heard this, Georgima, but I was raised by a mage deep in the mountains as a child. The dishes I've spread around are ones I remembered reading about in books back then. I didn't come up with them myself."
It was Rei's usual cover story, offered as a mild deterrent.
In truth, Rei wasn't particularly knowledgeable about cooking. Even if someone pressed him for detailed culinary discussion, he wouldn't be able to answer.
Flambé? That was the thing where you added wine or something and burned off the alcohol, right? That was about the extent of Rei's cooking expertise.
No—if anything, the fact that he even knew the name of the technique called flambé was already above average for him.
So Rei tried to fob Georgima off as best he could, but...
"Gahaha! Don't worry about it. Even if it's just knowledge, you've used it to spread countless dishes. An achievement like that deserves praise, not scorn."
At that booming laugh, Rei let out a sigh.
Mind you, it wasn't the kind of sigh reserved for someone disagreeable—it carried at least some degree of goodwill.
"For the record, I love eating delicious food, but I'm not well versed in cooking techniques. If that's fine with you, I'll hear what you have to say. What'll it be?"
"Not a problem. No—if anything, what you just said makes me want to hear about it in even more detail."
Faced with Georgima, whose eyes glittered with curiosity, Rei shot Ara a glance that asked, What should I do?
Catching his look, Ara addressed Georgima with a touch of hesitation.
"Georgima-dono, are the preparations for today's dinner finished? We discussed holding a simple party this evening, to celebrate Lady Elena's return and to welcome Lord Rei."
"Ah? That side of things is mostly done already. That's exactly why I'm here."
"Ah... I see. I shouldn't have expected anything less from you, Georgima-dono."
Georgima was a man who poured everything into his craft, and who had even been known to join adventurers on monster hunts just to obtain ingredients.
These days, thanks to Duke Kerebel's wealth, he no longer needed to go to such lengths, but his obsession with cooking remained as strong as ever.
"Right. I'd never cut corners on my cooking!"
At Georgima's confident declaration, Rei was suddenly struck by a mischievous impulse.
"All right then. If there's a dish at today's party that I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart is delicious, I'll teach you one dish I remember. ...However, I only know the general method. The details, you'll have to work out through trial and error yourself. That's how udon and the others became what they are now. Think you can handle it?"
At Rei's words, Georgima fixed him with a sharp gaze... and breaking into a fierce, predatory grin, he nodded.