The population in the royal capital had grown.
And right now, around lunchtime, that was causing a bit of a problem.
"Mmh, everywhere is packed, isn't it?"
"I heard the city was getting crowded, but this is a bit much..."
We made the rounds to our usual spots.
Frank-san's diner, the eatery serving rice, Sara-san's cafe—every single one was bustling with people.
We also stopped by several other places Philia had visited before.
However, those were overflowing with customers too, leaving us unable to grab a bite to eat.
"...Guess we have no choice."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There are so many people that every place has a line out the door, right? Waiting around will just waste time, so I'm thinking we should make something ourselves."
Make something ourselves.
With that in mind, I bought a few ingredients in the commercial district.
Only after purchasing the groceries, however, did I realize I hadn't thought about where we would actually cook.
And so, I brought Philia back to the inn with me.
"You want to use the kitchen?"
"Yes. Would that be alright? I'll make sure to clean everything up properly when I'm done."
Back at the inn, I asked Ted-san and Amanda-san for permission to use their kitchen.
"Mmh... Well, if it's Erik, I don't see why not. What do you think?"
"If it's fine with you, Ted, it's fine with me. The kitchen is your workplace, so I'll leave the decision to you. More importantly, is this young lady in your party, Erik?"
"Yes. I'm Philia. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Fufu, what a lovely girl. Just what I'd expect from Erik's partner. I'm Amanda, and this is my husband, Ted. We have a daughter, but she's out right now, so I'll introduce her to you some other time."
With Amanda-san's blessing, I stepped into the kitchen and set the ingredients on the counter.
"Can you cook, Erik?"
"A little. Back in my village, I used to help out here and there."
I didn't have the [Cooking] skill.
However, I had learned the basics from the village aunties.
Things like how to hold a kitchen knife, and how to prep ingredients to bring out their best flavor.
There hadn't been anyone there who could truly be called a professional chef.
Even so, I believed that people who spent years cooking for their families possessed a fair amount of skill.
From there, I sliced the vegetables and meat, whipping up a simple stir-fry with light seasoning.
Since meat and vegetable stir-fry alone felt a bit lacking, I also made some soup to go with it.
◇
You have trained in [Cooking].
Earned 1 EXP.
16/100 until skill acquisition.
◇
I had remained mindful and focused throughout the cooking process.
Because of that, just like with [Cleaning], I earned a substantial amount of EXP despite the short duration.
"Wow, this looks amazing! You really can do anything, Erik-kun!"
"Saying I can do anything is giving me too much credit. I only know what I was taught. It's thanks to everyone teaching me the basic skills for survival that I'm able to get by today."
Because they taught me how to read and write, I could register as an adventurer and read books and quest boards.
Because they taught me how to do household chores, I could take on and succeed in housekeeping requests.
The fact that I could work as an adventurer now was entirely thanks to the people of my village.
"This is seasoned quite differently from Ted's. It's light, but the flavor has really soaked into the vegetables."
"Yeah, this is a great way to balance the flavors... Erik. Are you sure you don't have the [Cooking] skill?"
"Not at the moment, no."
To thank them for letting us use the kitchen, I had prepared portions for Amanda-san and Ted-san as well.
The two of them dug in, looking thoroughly pleased with the meal.
After that, I began eating my own portion.
The seasoning had turned out just right, making for a delicious meal.
"That was wonderful. Thank you, Erik-kun."
"Don't mention it. I was in danger of missing lunch myself, after all. Thanks for cleaning up, Philia."
"No, no! You made such a delicious lunch for us, so this is the least I can do!"
Once we finished eating, Philia took care of the dishes.
Since I had done the cooking, she insisted on handling the cleanup, so I left it to her.
With everything tidy once more, we stepped out of the inn.
We made our way toward the Adventurer's Guild to pick up a request.
"Wait up~!"
A voice called out from down the street.
Glancing toward the sound, I saw a large, gray wolf sprinting in our direction.
"Wha— Why is there a wolf in the middle of town?!"
A monster inside the city.
I was startled, but looking closely, I noticed the collar around its neck bearing a "Proof of Tamed Beast."
If we provoked it carelessly, there was no telling what might happen.
"Philia. Over here."
"Y-Yeah!"
The wolf was closing in fast.
Philia had frozen stiff at the sight.
I called out to her, grabbed her wrist, and pulled us over to the side of the street.
"Gau?!"
The wolf had been bounding along happily, but it came to an abrupt halt right in front of us.
Then, catching sight of my face, it inexplicably darted toward me.
"W-What the...?!"
Sensing that I was its target, I tried to back away.
However, the moment the wolf leaped toward me, it was slammed flat against the ground.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to leave my side when we're walking through town?!"
A girl with golden hair reaching down to her waist and striking blue eyes appeared.
She was the one who had been chasing after the wolf.
It seemed she had done something to stop it, and she was now thoroughly scolding the wolf as it lay flattened against the ground.
Then, turning toward us, she wore an apologetic expression.
"I'm so sorry! My tamed beast gave you a fright, didn't it?!"
"N-No. Neither of us were hurt, so it's quite alright."
"Thanks to Erik-kun, I wasn't hurt either, so please don't worry."
"I'm so glad to hear that. If anyone had gotten hurt because of this... Ugh, just the thought of it is terrifying."
As the girl fretted anxiously, a loud, thunderous rumble echoed from the stomach of the wolf prostrate behind her.