A growl rumbled from Rei's stomach.
It was only natural. After all, an almost violently appetizing aroma was drifting out from inside the house.
There was no need to wonder what that aroma was. It was the smell of the beef Rei had just handed to Marina, now being grilled.
Several dishes that had been set out when Rei returned were still lined up on the table, but no one had touched them yet. Not even Byune, whose appetite rivaled Rei's own, reached for the food.
Fortunately, the dishes on the table were all salads and light snacks—things that wouldn't lose their flavor as they sat.
As they waited... at first, everyone including Rei had been chatting, while Set and Ielo played some distance away from the table. But as the aroma drifting from the house intensified, conversation naturally died away, and even Set and Ielo grew quiet.
How much time had passed? To Rei, it felt like minutes, or tens of minutes—or even hours. In reality, it was probably about ten minutes or so.
After that much time had elapsed, Marina finally appeared, trailing multiple plates behind her.
...Yes, trailing them.
Behind Marina, several plates floated in midair. How she managed that wasn't difficult to imagine, given that she was a highly skilled Spirit Mage.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Just as Rei requested, I grilled it with salt, pepper, and a few other spices."
She set the plates down on the table. It seemed each plate had already been assigned to its intended recipient. The beef placed in front of Rei was so large it had to weigh well over a kilogram.
That said, the plate in front of Set held nearly three kilograms of meat, and everyone else's plates each bore cuts that were definitely over five hundred grams. Viewed in that light, Rei's portion wasn't unusually large.
Everyone seemed thoroughly fascinated by the meat in front of them. Marina, who had prepared the meal, took a seat in an empty chair, and the dinner finally began.
The first thing everyone reached for was, naturally, the beef steak. Under normal circumstances, they might have started with a salad or some soup as an appetizer before moving on to the steak. But after enduring such a mouthwatering aroma for this long, it was only natural that everyone went straight for the meat.
Rei cut into the beef with his knife.
"Huh?"
He was surprised by the cross-section. It was over a kilogram of meat. A cut that thick would normally require a long time to cook properly. There were varying degrees of doneness—rare, blue-rare, blue—and blue in particular meant the surface was seared for only a few seconds. There was even "raw," completely uncooked meat, but as a steak, that was simply out of the question.
While such cooking methods existed, the meat in front of Rei, despite being quite a thick cut, was cooked to about medium-rare. Normally, one wouldn't expect such a large mass of meat to be grilled this perfectly. A professional cook might be able to pull it off, but Marina wasn't a steak specialist by any means.
And yet, the meat before him was cooked exactly to Rei's liking. Delighted, he smiled through his surprise and popped the cut piece into his mouth.
The first thing to spread across his palate was the fragrance of the spices likely used during grilling. Next came the saltiness of the salt sprinkled on the meat, and when he bit down, the savory char of the seared surface gave way as rich meat juices overflowed.
Not only that, but despite having a satisfying chew, the meat gave way easily when bitten.
"Delicious."
That was the only word that escaped Rei's mouth. When eating truly delicious food, clumsy words of praise simply don't come.
After finishing the first bite, his stomach made its fierce demand for more, insisting it wanted another piece. Prompted by that intense urging, Rei cut into the meat again and brought it to his mouth.
As expected—delicious. Savoring those thoughts, he enjoyed a moment of pure bliss.
The others also offered a word or two of impressions as they brought the steak to their mouths. Before long, everyone was completely absorbed in their steaks. That included both Rei, who had brought the meat, and Marina, who had actually grilled it.
...No, if anything, in Rei's case, having once cooked the meat himself—just grilled it carelessly—the flavor was even better than he had imagined. Even though both methods involved grilling, why was the taste so different? The question crossed his mind for a moment, but it vanished instantly before the steak's deliciousness. Right now, savoring the meal in front of him was far more important than such trivial concerns.
In truth, if there was some cooking trick involved, using it would let Rei prepare tastier meals during camp than before, so it was by no means a trivial matter. That said, since Marina was a party member, he could simply leave the cooking to her without any problem.
Pushing that thought to a corner of his mind, Rei focused on savoring the steak.
But no matter how large the mass of meat was, every bite brought it closer to gone. Rei wished he could enjoy eating this meat forever, but unfortunately, that was impossible. Before he knew it, his plate held nothing but a light residue of meat juice—everything else had disappeared into his stomach.
The others had likewise finished off their steaks before they realized it.
"That was delicious, wasn't it," Vihera murmured heartfeltly, and everyone nodded in renewed agreement.
But to Vihera, Marina smiled and spoke up.
"You don't want this?"
She pointed at the bread on the table, which had appeared at some point without anyone noticing. It wasn't freshly baked, but it was clearly soft white bread—one could tell just by looking at it.
What would that bread be used for? The answer was obvious if one glanced at the meat juice remaining on the plates.
Obvious as it was, everyone except Marina wondered whether bread and meat juice actually went together. Dipping bread in soup was fairly well-known, and when eating bread that had been hardened for preservation, the common method was to soak it in soup to soften it. But that worked because it was soup. Doing the same with meat juice would surely cause heartburn.
If some kind of sauce had been poured over the steak, it might have been another story. But this time, per Rei's request, it had been seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and a light sprinkle of spices. Naturally, there was no sauce of any kind. That was exactly why they assumed it would cause heartburn.
But Marina, even under the skeptical gazes of the others, picked up the bread. She wiped the meat juice from her plate with it, then brought it to her mouth.
"Ah... this is delicious."
Those were heartfelt words from Marina's mouth. One could tell she wasn't just saying it to be polite—she said it because she genuinely found it delicious.
Seeing Marina's reaction, no one could possibly think she was lying. The others, following Rei's lead, likewise mopped up the meat juice with bread and brought it to their mouths.
"This is..."
Words of surprise slipped from Rei's lips. Of course, compared to the steak itself, the flavor was inferior. But as the bread soaked up the meat juice, and with the salt and spices left behind on the plate, it offered a different flavor from the steak.
Rei had expected the absorbed meat juice to be heavy enough to cause heartburn. Yet despite being meat juice, it wasn't that cloying—"light" was perhaps the best word for it, and it settled smoothly into his stomach.
"How is it?"
"...Delicious."
At that word from Rei, Marina smiled with satisfaction. The others also wore contented expressions as they ate the bread.
(After a hot pot, you finish with rice porridge, udon, or ramen. In that sense, is cleaning up the meat juice with this bread the finisher for this steak? ...Well, trying something like this with ordinary meat would definitely give you heartburn.)
Pulling off something like this was only possible because it was this particular meat—the meat of the bull monster found near the Forest of Magic. In that sense, it was quite a special dish, though whether it even qualified as a "dish" was debatable.
"If anyone still wants more, please help yourselves to the dishes on the table. The meat Rei brought us is a bit too extraordinary as an ingredient, so I'm a little hesitant to cook it further."
At Marina's words, a few people wore disappointed expressions. After meat that delicious, they wanted to try another dish if possible—one that, naturally, featured beef as the main ingredient. Rei was among those who felt that way.
However, looking at Marina's demeanor, he understood that asking her to cook something new would be difficult.
(Meat, huh. Salt-crusted roasting... or burying it in the ground and building a fire on top—pit-roasting, was it? It might be interesting to try making something like that.)
Rei considered various cooking methods, but none of them could be done so easily.
Once everyone had finished their steaks and the aftertaste had settled, Vihera finally spoke up.
"So, when are we going to the Forest of Magic?"
The question caught Rei completely off guard. No—to be precise, he had expected Vihera to say something like that eventually. He just hadn't expected her to bring it up this soon.
Of course, Rei had no objection to visiting the Forest of Magic again. If anything, given how many unknown monsters still lurked there—ones neither he nor Set had encountered—he absolutely wanted to go. But as much as he felt that way, he couldn't just drop everything and leave.
"For now, we can't go to the Forest of Magic until the Festival ends and things settle down. That's where my Promotion Exam results will be announced, after all."
If Rei wasn't present at the Festival when his Promotion Exam pass was announced, what would happen? It would definitely cause an uproar. Worse, it would smear mud on the face of Daskar, the man who had planned the whole event. As far as Rei was concerned, if there were some genuinely unavoidable reason, that would be one thing. But without one, he had no intention of skipping the Festival.
"I suppose that's for the best."
Vihera agreed so readily that not only Rei but everyone else listening was taken aback. Given her personality, they had assumed she would demand they head to the Forest of Magic this instant.
She must have noticed those questioning stares directed her way. She opened her mouth with a faintly displeased look.
"Oh, is there something so strange about that? For your information, I do think about these things at least a little, you know? Besides... we can't see the Crystal Dragon's corpse until the Festival begins, right?"
So that was the reason. Rei probably wasn't the only one who realized it.
"It helps me out that you're being so understanding, Vihera. ...Come to think of it, has a specific date been set for the Festival?"
Given that it was supposed to be held within a few days, it wouldn't be strange for it to take place tomorrow or the day after. Normally, Festival preparations took time—depending on the scale, even months.
Among Rei's memories from his elementary school days, there was one of the local children gathering to prepare for Tanabata. Practicing flutes and drums, to be precise. After finishing dinner, they would gather at the park from around seven to past eight in the evening to rehearse. Once practice was over, each child would receive a single ice cream from the nearby penny candy store. In reality, those were paid for out of the neighborhood association funds.
Elementary school students gathering together and making noise at night was an incredibly fond memory for Rei.
As he was lost in those recollections, Marina spoke up.
"This Festival was put together in a hurry, so... I'd say it won't be tomorrow, but probably the day after. Rei, you're the main figure of the Festival in a sense, so I'm sure if you ask, they'll tell you the details."
At Marina's words, Rei decided he would visit the Lord's Manor tomorrow.