The day after Rei arrived at Anesis in Duke Kerebel's Territory.
Having met Duke and Duchess Kerebel for the first time at last night's dinner and experienced being made to groan from the bottom of his heart at the dish Georgima had prepared, there was no doubt that Rei had accumulated some mental fatigue.
Granted, he was not in the middle of a request, and Rei was fundamentally weak in the mornings to begin with.
Furthermore, the bedding—both the bed and the futon—that Rei slept on was provided in the finest guest room in Duke Kerebel's Territory, one that Elena had brought him to, and accordingly, every piece of furniture including the bedding was of the highest quality.
And since it was a winter morning, Rei was sleeping as deeply and soundly as it was possible to be.
Rei was thus enjoying his warm slumber, but eventually the sound of a knock echoed through the room.
The sound came from the door.
Rei reacted slightly to the knocking, but showed no sign of returning from the depths of sleep, continuing to enjoy his rest.
However, the one knocking could not simply leave it be just because Rei was still asleep, and so the sound of knocking echoed once more.
When the knocking continued for dozens of seconds, even Rei, who was weak in the mornings, noticed the sound.
In reality, the quickest way to wake Rei instantly would be to release a light killing intent, but there was no way the guest Elena had brought could be expected to do such a thing.
In the end, the maid who came to wake him continued knocking for several more minutes...
"Nnah."
Rei, who had finally awoken from the sound of the knocking, looked around while letting out a strange voice from his mouth.
"Ah... nn...?"
At first, perhaps not knowing where he was, he looked around with a puzzled, yet still sleep-addled expression.
It was clearly not the Wheat Inn at dusk that Rei used as his regular lodging, and just as clearly not inside the Magic Tent.
After looking around for about ten seconds, upon hearing the knocking from the door once again, his head finally began to work just a little.
"Right, I came to Elena's house, didn't I."
He muttered so, and told the one who had knocked to enter the room.
The maid who came inside was a different one from the one who had attended to Rei the day before.
Age-wise, she appeared to be in her late teens, and her features were attractive enough that calling her a beauty would raise no eyebrows.
Upon entering the room, the maid bowed her head toward Rei, who was sitting on the bed.
"Excuse me, Lord Rei. Good morning. Breakfast preparations are complete; may I bring them here, or would you prefer to eat in the dining hall?"
"Ah... what about Elena and the others?"
"The young lady has already finished her breakfast."
In other words, even if he went to the dining hall, there would either be no one there, or if there were, it would be Elena's parents.
Thinking this, Rei immediately voiced his conclusion.
"Got it. I'll eat here, so bring it over."
"Yes. Also, Lord Georgima says he has business to discuss with you, Lord Rei."
Still not fully awake, when Georgima's name came from the maid's mouth, at first Rei did not realize who that was.
Even so, he understood who it was within a few seconds, likely because the dish he had eaten yesterday was that shocking, and Georgima's own personality was that distinctive.
In particular, the meat that came out as the main dish.
At a glance, it looked like nothing more than simply grilled meat, yet eating a single piece of that meat allowed one to enjoy a variety of flavors—an astonishing dish.
Beyond that as well, several dishes and desserts that came out after the meat were satisfying enough in taste even for Rei, who knew the cuisine of a nation that could be called a culinary superpower—Japan.
And as he recalled the dishes he had eaten last night, he simultaneously remembered the promise he had made: if Georgima's cooking made him think from the bottom of his heart that it was delicious, he would teach a dish that Rei knew, one that Georgima did not.
"Come to think of it, I did promise. Yeah, got it. For now, I'll get dressed, finish breakfast, then head to Georgima's... ah, wait a sec. I'm asking whether I have anything I need to do today or not?"
Meeting Georgima was no problem for Rei, but perhaps Elena had some errand for him, or perhaps Duke and Duchess Kerebel had some business for him, so he asked this—but the maid, with a smile—though one mixed with slight exasperation—shook her head.
"Since there was the matter with Lord Georgima, we were told to have you focus on that today. Lady Elena will be receiving an acquaintance who is coming to visit, so she will be entertaining them. The master and madam each have their own work to attend to."
"In other words, I'm free today."
"Yes, that is correct."
In response to Rei's words, the maid said so.
"Then I'll go to Georgima... ah, by the way, do you know how Set is doing?"
"You mean Lord Rei's Tamed Monster, yes? I have heard that he is playing energetically with Ielo in the stables. He also ate food prepared here for breakfast, so I believe there is no problem."
"I see, then that's fine."
Rei replied thus to the maid's words, but naturally he knew that Set was prone to loneliness.
He should probably show his face at least once.
Thinking this, Rei got himself dressed, and savored the breakfast that Georgima had prepared.
"Ou, ou ou ou ou, ou!"
When Georgima saw Rei appear in the dining hall, he let out a cry that could be called a strange bestial cry, and approached Rei.
If someone who knew nothing had seen this scene, they might have thought a villain was intimidating a child.
Given that Georgima came charging at him, Rei also had to suppress the reflexive urge to throw a punch.
"Georgima-san, calm down! Look, this is a precious opportunity—if he runs away now, it'll all be for nothing!"
"Everyone, lend a hand! Stop Georgima-san!"
There were over ten cooks in the kitchen, but Georgima came dragging several of them as he approached Rei.
"Run, you there, please run!"
"Ah, yeah yeah. It's fine, don't worry."
The cooks desperately called out to Rei, but Rei, addressed by their voices, had no problem and held out his hand—and the moment Georgima saw that, his movement stopped instantly.
Rei had not used any particular magic or skill, but as one who possessed skill surpassing even first-rate, Georgima must have sensed something from Rei.
However, the other cooks who had been trying to stop Georgima had no understanding whatsoever of how the current situation had come about.
They understood that Georgima harbored a fierce passion for cooking, but precisely because of that, they probably never imagined he would stop just from Rei extending his hand.
"Have you calmed down?"
"...Yeah. So, you coming here means you'll teach me a dish, right?"
At the words that came from Georgima's mouth, the other cooks directed looks of astonishment toward Rei.
They never expected to hear words asking to be taught a dish come from Georgima's mouth.
Well, if the other party had been someone who obviously looked like a cook, the story would have been different, but today Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe, so there was no way he could be thought of as someone knowledgeable about cooking.
Georgima, likely noticing the state of his surroundings, opened his mouth with exasperation mixed in.
"This man is the guest that young Elena brought here, the one who invented dishes like udon, nikuman, pizza, and seafood okonomiyaki."
"Wha!?"
At Georgima's words, the cooks who heard them were astonished and turned their gazes toward Rei in unison.
Since Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe as usual today, depending on the viewer, he could only appear as a novice mage.
Given the size of Duke Kerebel's Territory, there were a fair number of mages among its combat forces, and the cooks had initially considered Rei to be one of those.
However, once they knew that the person before them was Rei, their reaction naturally changed.
Rei, who knew dishes that even Georgima did not, was someone worth respect for the cooks.
And so, the cooks who were present eventually changed the nature of their gazes from astonishment to respect.
Rei, receiving looks of respect from the cooks, found himself troubled.
Naturally. From Rei's perspective, he had not taught detailed recipes.
What Rei could do was merely teach knowledge from his hazy memory at best.
Granted, knowing the finished form of a dish was in this case quite valuable.
It was precisely because Rei knew the finished form that dishes starting with udon had become properly edible without taking all that much time.
"So, you coming here like this means you'll teach me a dish, right?"
"You're the one who told me to come, aren't you? Well, teaching a dish is fine."
The instant Rei said that, Georgima's gaze without doubt grew sharper.
He was greedy when it came to cooking, and presumably wanted to make clear that he had no intention of letting this opportunity slip away.
"So, what dish will you teach me?"
"A dish called Ramen. You know udon, right?"
"Yeah, of course. That texture was quite a shock. Easy to eat, too."
"It's a dish similar to that udon. It requires three things: wheat-flour noodles, soup, and toppings. Strictly speaking, there are also condiments and such, but those depend on personal preference."
At the words that it was similar to udon, a slightly disappointed look could be seen on Georgima's face, but since the name of the dish was different, he apparently understood that it was a dish different from udon.
Georgima opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"You said it's different from udon, but how is it different?"
"As far as I know, it's apparently a dish that originated in an entirely different country to begin with."
Rei said this, but naturally he did not know where udon had originated as a dish.
Ramen was a dish that Japanese people had modified from Chinese Cuisine, so its roots could be traced to China.
As for udon, he knew of Inaniwa udon and Sanuki udon, but that was all he knew.
Granted, he did not imagine Georgima would take interest in that sort of thing.
"So, how specifically should I cook it?"
"Unlike udon, the dish called Ramen has several types of soup that form the base of its flavor. However, making them apparently requires condiments like Soy Sauce and Miso. Do you know of them?"
At Rei's words, everyone including Georgima shook their heads.
There were apparently several people in the past who came from Japan through reincarnation or teleportation or whatnot, including Takumu Suzunose, who was a comrade of Zephyle, but it seemed Soy Sauce and Miso hadn't spread. He honestly thought they might exist and he just hadn't found them, but perhaps they couldn't figure out how to make them after all?
Perhaps there had been those who spread Soy Sauce and Miso.
But perhaps the method of making them was too difficult, or simply the taste did not suit the palates of the inhabitants of this world, or the place where those who made them lived.
In any case, the fact that Soy Sauce and Miso had not spread was without doubt a fairly painful circumstance when it came to making Ramen.
Marinated Eggs and Chashu probably used Soy Sauce too, right? Well, he could more or less substitute those with other condiments, maybe?
Thinking this, Rei spoke to Georgima, who was wearing an expression so wretched it could be described as being on the verge of death.
"Don't worry. Even without condiments like Soy Sauce and Miso, there are soups you can make. Though, the only ones I know are the salt type and the tonkotsu type. There was beef bone too, maybe?"
Only the last part about beef bone was muttered quietly so that Georgima could not hear.
Rei had once seen something called Beef Bone Ramen on a TV program or something, but as expected, Tonkotsu Ramen was more famous and therefore left a stronger impression.
"Also, it's a little different from Ramen, but there's a dish called Chilled Chinese Noodles too. Well, the problem is what to do about the Tare, though."
When he thought of Chilled Chinese Noodles, what Rei recalled were two types of Tare: one with a sour Soy Sauce base, and one with a sesame base.
That said, one was difficult without Soy Sauce, and for the sesame-based one, he had absolutely no idea how to make it.
"Salt and tonkotsu... tonkotsu is pig bones? Would Orc bones work for that? And this Chilled Chinese Noodles, what kind of dish is that? From the name, it sounds like it might be a cold dish."
"Orc bones... I wonder about that."
Given that Orc meat was many times more delicious than ordinary pig meat, perhaps Tonkotsu Ramen made with Orc bones would be more delicious, but unfortunately, Rei could not understand how things would turn out in that regard, and so he gave an evasive answer.