Chapter 53 Lewya’s Human Observations Part One
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In the year 2222 of the Grigis Calendar, the first wind week of the Ice Star (氷星), two new people joined the settlement.
Their names are Meisy and Narsht, both of whom seem to be acquaintances of Neil.
Diana told me later how they came to join the settlement, though I was not there at the time because I was giving instructions to the slaves.
Although it is different now, it is an uncharacteristic behavior of a nobleman who values his face to hire someone who had underestimated him, but that was Neil’s character.
How ironic it is that the first thing that comes to my mind is that he is not like an aristocrat, even though he is supposed to be an ideal aristocrat who is a noble but not an aristocrat, and who thinks of enriching his territory rather than fattening his own pockets.
If the nobles were all people like Neil, there would be no need for us elves to hide from the humans.
Now, back to the story, the addition of new human beings means that I have more things to observe.
Actually, I have not told Neil and the others that I was not observing humans, but rather “settlement people” to be exact.
As long as a person is born with intelligence, he or she will always have greed, and even among us elves, bad ones will be born.
We knew that there would be many beings who would harm us, not to mention those who outnumber us, because a large population means that there are many people with various kinds of greed.
Therefore, I was ordered by the elders to observe the people in the settlements, hoping that at least the people in the settlements who might be our neighbors would be good people.
Now, according to Diana, both of the newcomers have some difficulties, so I will have to actually observe them and find out what they are like.
I go to the kitchen of the mansion to observe the man named Narsht first.
I peeked in from the entrance of the kitchen, and found Narsht looking at the ingredients on the cooking table and pondering over them.
He is probably working on the development of a dish that will become a specialty of this settlement, which Neil has entrusted to him. I can honestly respect his diligence, but I need to continue to observe him carefully, since it is said that he used to be an ambitious person who jumped at any favorable conditions that presented themselves.
After observing Narsht for a while, but he showed no sign of making any move, I decided to take action myself in order to get to know his personality.
”You seem to be in a lot of trouble.”
”Hmm? You are…?”
”I’m Lewya, along with Diana… I’m Neil’s servant.”
”Well, Diana may have told you, I’m Narsht, nice to meet you.”
”Nice to meet you too. So, what’s been troubling you?”
”Well, it’s not much, but I’ve never handled so many ingredients at once before, so I was wondering…”
”You used to be the head chef of the Count Atmiras, didn’t you? Have you never handled more ingredients and spices than this before?”
”I just needed a couple of more times. I’m trying to figure out how to combine vegetables from different seasons, since all of them are not harvested at this time of the year.”
”I see.”
It is true that the humans have been cooking only with the ingredients available at that time of the year because they cannot hear the voices of the spirits.
So, it is understandable that they are troubled.
”How about a salad of fresh onions (knoss) and carrots? Both of them are sweet and can be eaten raw, and if you cut them into thin slices and lightly rub them with salt, they will soften and become salty and tasty enough on their own.”
”I see, that combination might be a good idea. But you sounded as if you’ve had it before…”
I’m sorry, I’m just saying that my being an elf is still a secret to everyone except Neil and Diana.
Revealing my identity here would be very bad, I’ll have to come up with some excuse.
”Uhh, Neil, you used to make that before, and it was delicious.”
”I see, as expected of Master Neil.”
As soon as I mention Neil’s name, Narsht is easily convinced.
I’m sorry to say that I’m using this for convenience, but in this kind of situation, Neil’s name is enough to convince most of the people, so I’ll use it again in the future when I’m in danger.
”Okay, let’s give it a try for the time being.”
Narsht said enthusiastically and started to cook with some ingredients in his hands, as if he was going to actually try out what I had taught him.
I moved away from him so as not to disturb his cooking and asked him about something I was wondering about.
”How does Narsht feel about being in charge of the food?”
”What do you mean?”
”I’ve heard that a chef thinks it’s important who he cooks for. How do you feel about serving commoners when you’ve risen to the position of a duke’s chef?”
”Oh, I see.”
Narsht understands my question and smiles bitterly as if he is struggling to answer.
There is no title like a nobleman, and a cook is always a cook.
The only way they can distinguish themselves from other cooks is by who they cook for.
More noble than commoners, more royal than aristocrats, the cooks have made their status known by whom they cook for.
That’s why he thought that his pride as a cook would not allow him to serve the commoners after all these years.
”I quit being a cook once. I am not interested in the glory of the past.”
”Then what would you do if you received an invitation from a noble or royal family to cook for you in the future?”
”If it’s Count Atmiras…no, if it’s Master Neil, I’ll gladly accept, but if it’s not, I’ll refuse.”
”Even if it is an offer from royalty? If you refuse it, your life may be in danger.”
”Well, I’ll think about it if it’ll cause trouble for Master Neil, but if not I’d rather continue cooking for him.”
”I don’t understand, this is a statement from a person who happily accepted an invitation from the duke’s family in the past. You are a cook, aren’t you?”
When I asked him who he was cooking for, which was supposed to be the most important thing, Narsht smiled again and said.
”It’s amusing to think about it, but isn’t that who the meal is meant for? It’s not about cooking for someone else, it’s about being a good cook who can make delicious food. It’s just that I’m realizing such an obvious thing after all these years.”
The answer was simple, without any twist.
But it was precisely because it was simple that Narsht’s answer resonated with me.
Convinced that Narsht no longer had the ambitious ideas of the past, I moved on to my next observation.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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