Chapter 78 An Apology, Please Accept This
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
On the road to the Valend Cave Kingdom, the carriage rocked steadily while Ayumu sat in the back, happily chewing on a quiche he had baked in a stone oven before leaving Livonia City.
It was good—damn good. Cooking for himself always turned out better than anything else.
The pie crust held together eggs of some unknown bird, minced meat, cheese, something like turnip, leafy greens that might have been lettuce, and onion. It was heavy with fillings, hearty and satisfying. Before baking, he had sprinkled crushed nuts across the top, so now the faintly charred nuts blended with the melted cheese to give off a toasty, mouthwatering fragrance.
Maybe I really am a genius in the kitchen… he thought smugly.
”Hmm? That smells delicious… Lord Sanai, are you eating something?” asked Yoluminette Adelaide.
She was from Elandric, like Master Rhines, and served in the Yugan Knight Order. Assigned as his escort on orders from above, she looked like nothing more than a beautiful girl his age—gold hair tied in a ponytail, amethyst eyes shining—but she had been top of her class as a squire, and though young, she was already known as a talented knight.
”Oh, yes… sorry,” he muttered. “I was just eating a quiche I made before leaving Livonia, enjoying the scenery… sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to slack off on duty… forgive me, I was being thoughtless…”
He babbled apologies, guilt gnawing at him. After all, while she stayed sharp, eyes scanning for threats on the roadside, here he was munching food like it was a picnic.
”As an apology—please, have a piece,” he said.
He offered a slice, and Yoluminette instinctively accepted it. “Ah—thank you. I’ll try it,” she said politely, biting in.
Her eyes widened slightly. “O-oh… it’s delicious,” she whispered, hand covering her mouth with the grace of someone raised in refinement.
He watched her with surprise. Perhaps she really was from a noble house. At least, the way she savored food spoke of breeding.
Before long, the slice was gone. Then she tilted her head, puzzled. “Why is it, Lord Sanai, that you can cook? You are a man…”
That caught him. He realized suddenly: in this world, meals meant boiled turnips and herbs at best, slapped together without skill. Men, usually laborers, rarely cooked at all. Even the awful tavern food was guarded as precious trade.
He winced. Maybe he had been careless, letting excitement over leaving the Grand Palace lower his guard. Declaring himself an otherworlder summoned by the foreign goddess Viness wouldn’t end well—too unpredictable, and the Knights of the Palace hadn’t exactly welcomed him warmly either.
No, a simpler truth would suffice. Lies were dangerous, not immoral, just impractical—because they got caught.
”Ah, I see,” he said at last. “Well, I’ve even shared recipes with the Elandric merchant guild. My mother wasn’t skilled in cooking, but we had some cookbooks at home. From about fourteen, I often cooked as a hobby.”
That was true enough. Recipes shared with the guild, his mother’s struggles after divorce, the way he had taught himself with whatever he could find online—none of it was false.
”I understand,” Yoluminette replied. “Books in the house… you must have been from a well-off family. Forgive me—I only asked because it is rare for a man to cook.” She gave a small bow, then returned to her post without another word.
He sighed in relief. With her watchful again, he resumed his own routine—training to amplify his magic power, a habit since before he had been brought to the Grand Palace.
He wished battle would never come. But peace was fragile, especially in this dangerous world. The old saying echoed in his mind: If you wish for peace, prepare for war. To be armed for survival was no shame.
In the swaying carriage, Ayumu focused, building his reserves of magic. Ahead, the road carried them steadily toward the unseen borders of the Valend Cave Kingdom.
Notes:
• Valend Cave Kingdom – Dwarven realm mentioned in the map.
• Rhines – A weary apothecary who serves as the protagonist’s mentor at the Alchemist Guild.
• Viness – Goddess in the Holy Kingdom of Alyurein.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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