268 Guests to Forestside ④ - Fa's House Dinner

Then about an hour later.

The sun hid its appearance on the other side of the west, and in Fa's house was ready to have dinner on time.

Of course the ladies went back to their respective houses, so only two of Fa's family and two of their guests are on the spot.

Between us in the upper seat and the mimes in the lower seat, dinner was lined up for tonight.

"There's nothing you can do about it when the dish is cold. Let's eat now."

Me and I-Fa follow the Forestside lesson to pre meal wording, and Mim and Michelle just drool their heads silently.

Well...

It was a more desirable dinner than usual.

quality rather than quantity.

Except for Ai-Fa, the taste streak had filled my belly a lot, so the quantity was more crackling.

The meat dish I served, the juice dish the mime served, the roasted Poitan, and the stewed Gibba's head.

The stewed dish was finished at the end, so the ladies left without being able to taste it. I have to tell you what I think after tomorrow.

But after all, my primary interest was in Mim's juicy dishes.

"Hmm. That smells as strong as Asta's Myrmu grill."

I = fa also took that wood dish with interest.

The women left for a taste, but I haven't eaten yet.

However, the cooking procedure is divided between one and ten.

Mim had first sautéed plenty of myrmu cut into small bites, accompanied by a stock of giva meat.

Then finally add the vegetables and simmer carefully once again. This time Aria sliced it thinly, Tino cut it zak, and Nennon cut it all the time.

So, in the meantime, I'll cook the fuwano.

Flatten the fuwano with water and cook it crunchy about five millimeters thin.

Tear it up one pinch at a time and add it to the pan and season with salt and pico leaves where the fuwano is soaked.

Using the lessons of the day, Mim also used Pico leaves as condiments.

That's how I turned in the last molten Kimmus egg, and when the fire came through to it, it was done.

Fuwano rises in cloudy soup, plus yellow eggs add accents.

The scent is mostly Myrmu's.

As for the procedure, there was still nothing odd about it.

However, I've just been reminded that adding chopped fuwano to the juice is the same cooking method as Timaro and adding melted eggs is the same as Roy's.

"Bye," I said with a wooden spoon, shrugging fuwano and every egg soup.

Gibba's fat forms a skin membrane, reflecting the light of the candlestick.

I poured that delicious liquid into my mouth.

First, the strong scent of Myrmu falls out of my nose.

Later, Myrmu's spiciness, Pico's leaf irritation, and the taste of Giva meat spread through his mouth.

I like the feeling of fuwano noodles sucking soup.

Kimmus eggs also appeal to their presence in the calf with their smooth texture.

The aroma was strong, but what a soft taste.

Gibba's fat and vegetable sweetness creep into the twitch and tongue.

It was delicious enough to sigh.

When I mouthed meat and vegetables, further satisfaction filled my heart.

"It's delicious," I told him.

"I think it tastes extraordinarily better than daytime stewed dishes. I think it's enough to call this a giva dish full of food."

"That's an exaggeration. Giva's fat is still strong, which makes it taste a lot rampant"

Saying so, Mim's expression was bright.

"But I think I could have finished it better than when I used Kimmus or Karon's foot meat at home. That must be the power of Giva meat."

I looked back at Ai-Fa.

Ai-Fa looks a little tricky.

"What do you say, Ai-Fa? Mim's work is a big deal, isn't it?

"Uhm, delicious"

"... you look a lot harder for that, don't you?

"No, I'm not dissatisfied with the taste. Just..."

And, I = fa let his gaze wander like he was looking for words.

"I don't know... I thought this was like Asta's dish... if they were feeding me without knowing anything, I might not have suspected that Asta made it"

"Oh, really?"

"Uhm," Ai-Fa said, letting her lips hang out just a little.

"I know that the women of the Lew family and the Tul-din dishes handmade by Asta resemble the taste of Asta. But how can this dish remind me so much of the taste of Asta?

"Um, I guess that's because there's a lot of parts that resembled the cooking procedure. I've seen Roy cook at Count Turan's mansion many times, but for better or worse, I thought it was a cross-cultural technique."

"Hmm..."

The hands of the meal remained unstoppable, and the obscure expression of Ai-Fa could hardly disappear.

Perhaps Ey-Fa expected the kind of dishes that Timaro would make to come out?

Well, sure, Michelle was a Castle Town cook, just like Timaro, and Mime has been handy with that Michelle, so maybe it makes sense to think that way.

Mim was smiling so embarrassed to hear me and Ai-Fa interact in silence like that.

"I can't believe it resembles Asta's cooking. It's just more scary than an honor. Because I have not yet succeeded in bringing out the deliciousness of Giva meat.... Giva meat has a tremendous presence. As I cook Gibba's dishes, I will be flavoured with the comfort of being on Totos's back, which is raging."

"Oh, that's funny."

"So I think it's really amazing that Asta is getting on with it. I guess that means that I've only ever dealt with Kimmus or Karon's foot meat, and I've only had the experience of walking down the flat on my dear Totoss."

"Hey, though I think it's very difficult to cook delicious dishes with unsavory caron foot meat or kimmus skinless meat."

To my words, Mim stopped moving perfectly.

"Then maybe Asta doesn't like handling caron's leg meat or kimmus meat?

"Yeah. Just to be clear, I'm still not sure I can use kimus or carons to cook better food than mime"

"Oh... so Asta was so appreciative of me"

In Mim's eyes, a bright light of understanding begins to shine.

"I finally get it. So dealing with unsavory and highly flavored meats will require different techniques and experiences. I wondered why Asta was lifting things up about me all the time... but that's not what you said to me because you could treat me like that."

"I don't think there's anything I can do about cooking."

"... if Asta had praised me and others from the bottom of her heart, it would be truly proud"

Saying so, Mim did the trick of holding her own body.

"Thank you. It's going to clog my throat a little bit of happiness."

"That's an exaggeration. Without saying that, I was wondering if you could taste my food."

"Yes."

Shimmering eyes, Mim took a plate of meat dishes.

It was a dish that was recently being studied, made by mimicking pot meat several times.

Once the giva rose meat is boiled, fry with aria, tino and pra. The flavoring is based on tau oil, to which is added sugar and myrmu, chit fruit, lamampa fruit, etc.

Although it has a fairly Japanese-style finish because there are no flavourings similar to soy sauce on the bean board, I was confident enough when it came to flavouring.

I mouth the pot meat broth that time, and Mim gets a "oh" and a chopped breath.

"If you mouth delicious dishes like this, the confidence in your hands is going to be shattered because of it. Is this sweetness the flavour of a seasoning called sugar from a jacquard?

"Yeah. When sugar is available, the flavor widens at once."

"But no matter how great the seasoning, it just breaks the flavor if you can't use it. I was taught that by my father."

Mim glances at her father.

Michelle, as always, was silently proceeding with the meal.

"So it also means that Asta's arm is great enough to use it. I'm really impressed."

"Hey, I was just saying that I could use it because there were seasonings like sugar and tau oil in my hometown too. If I were a cook in Castle Town, they'd be using more of these condiments than me."

"No, I don't think my father would have tried to feed me Asta's cooking if Asta was in the same line as the castle cook."

There is some warm light in Mim's eyes looking at his father.

"I've asked my father before. For once, I was wondering if I could say something called Castle Town food. … I should have lived in Castle Town until I was five, but unfortunately I can barely remember."

Even I remember blurry scenes of playing with childhood at home and in the park, such as before I went to elementary school.

"But my father said he had nothing to learn from the cook over there. Castle town cooks can't use most of their abundant ingredients, and if you say so, they're just being dragged down by the rampant totototoss."

"I see..."

"So I have trained first of all in how many dishes I can cook only with salt, vegetables and meat. As well as the fruit of tau oil and chits, I have learned from my father to strive to take advantage of the flavours of the ingredients, not using vanilla or myrmu as much as possible. How much time, how much heat, how much heat, we've been training for, like, four years."

Four years.

That should be a lifetime.

"Such a father has allowed me to bring Asta's dishes home for about a month now and use fruit liquor to flavor them."

I looked at Michelle in surprise.

Michele keeps eating food on the top of the Buddha.

"That meant you wanted a cook like Asta, didn't it? I'm sure my father was able to overlap Asta's cooking with his old self."

Is that so?

Me and Michelle originally had a similar basic philosophy about cooking - and I wonder if that's why I consider Mime's cooking so "delicious" so far.

But Michelle didn't try to tell me anything.

Instead, it shows an untouched pan with a bearded mandible.

"Whatever, how long are you gonna keep that pot boiling? If we keep it on fire forever, our brains and eyeballs will all melt apart."

"Right. Let's have a taste of this."

I removed the lid replacement plate, even the occasional pulsating heart.

The smell of vivid meat creaks indoors.

On Gibba's head soup, he was eventually to throw salt, tau oil and chit fruit.

We decided that the smell seemed to be as strong as organic dishes, adding flavor and aroma even as it was hidden.

"I think we have a pretty good stock out there as a juice. How about the flavour of the ingredients?"

"Know what? I'm telling you, not all eyeballs and brains are delicious, are they?

"Huh? Oh, really? But earlier..."

"Brains and eyeballs are weighed rarely. It is an ingredient that is regarded as delicious rather than delicious. If it tastes like delicacy to 10,000 people, it's rarely called delicacy."

But Gibatan was no less delicious than the flesh of the torso.

Besides, Gibba's heart is also popular with the people by the woods.

I just want to put some expectations on my eyeballs and brain.

"Hmm, you can't separate eyeballs, so I figured you should see the flavor responsibly with me and I-Fa, right?

"Uhm. We can't just sift something we've never eaten into our guests"

I = fa didn't even look like he was sticking with his mind.

That would be so. Even when they ate the organic dishes, the people by the woods did not, for the time being, show disgust. Brains, eyeballs, and organs are in the same row as "Mother Forest Grace" for the people by the forest. As long as it tastes good, there's no reason to avoid anything.

After all, I've probably been the most scared to notice since I lived in this woodland area.

Even in areas like hearts and livers and hormones, the culture of eyeballs and brain eating wasn't really rooted in my hometown.

But just because I am, I wasn't even willing to run away from this dish.

Once the Donda-Lou and the others had abandoned it as the bait of Mundt, such as Gibba's torso. Jas-din and the others had abandoned the fact that they seemed to taste bad, such as organs. There's no way I could have stepped on two legs here, having persuaded everyone to recommend something they couldn't eat.

"All right, then let's go from the eyeballs."

I pull up the skull that sank in the pan with an iron skewer.

Fat and flesh pieces almost melted off and only white discolored eyeballs were left on the white skull.

"... Speaking of which, I wonder how Dick-Dom is?

"Hmm? Why is it all of a sudden Dick-Dom?

"No, I was looking at Giva's skull and I just remembered it all the time"

"... you're the one who comes up with something weird in the middle of a meal"

Ai-Fa also pulls up one crack in the skull with an iron skewer.

So, without any hesitation, he twitched his orbit with a wooden spoon and took out Gibba's eyeballs without any hesitation.

"Hmm, that's a demonic shape."

While crushing, I throw it into my mouth with utmost lightness.

"What do you say? Delicious?"

"Uhm... this is not good, you have a strange taste"

Ai-Fa gently frowns.

"The taste is thin but the smell is tough. It's like putting an even weirder smell on Giva meat that hasn't drained blood... you'd probably be able to come up with a better way to eat it"

"Really?"

It could have been a mistake to ask for your thoughts first.

Still, I was ready, and no, I put Giva's eyeballs in my mouth.

"Unh."

"What, don't raise your voice funny, fool"

"Oh, no, this... it certainly wasn't enough to simmer with just a little seasoning"

This is all carefully simmered, but quite a raw odor has spread in my mouth.

The texture feels like puffiness or dust… it doesn't feel like much.

I shrugged the broth on the ladle and drank down the eyeballs of chewing with it.

"Ugh, this guy's in trouble. I've never had a giva and sweated cold before."

"Really? If you look at the smell, there's no complaining about the flavor."

"Yeah, I think you just don't have enough experience eating eyeballs at me. Next time, try to add strong aromas and flavors with plenty of myrmu and tarapa."

"Well, your brain's next."

Saying, I = fa flips his skull.

Gibba's brain was nodding to the skull of Ey-Fa's holding.

Finger-breasted bones can be broken to pieces at the bottom, causing EY-FA to fully expose the brain.

Gibba's brain was boiled white and moist.

"Would you like to have Mim and Michele, too?

The answer was yes.

Apparently, I'm the one with the most lust for the first product.

So I moved my brain to the flat plate and made it four equal parts with a knife, but this one didn't smell too bad to eat.

It tastes like a plump tara white child who has eaten only once in his hometown.

"It's delicious. But I do feel like I also know it's called a delicacy"

"... tastes no worse than Karon"

Neither of the guests seemed dissatisfied with this.

"Plus, the broth is delicious! It also feels a little odorous, but if it was Asta, wouldn't it be possible to finish it better?

"Right. I'll explore everything."

"Amazing. I can't believe that not only meat, but even brains, eyeballs and organs can each be used as an ingredient... Kimmus and Karon are sold only a limited number of places in the lodging town, so I feel very jealous"

Saying, Mim stuffed the pot meat broth a few times that was left on the wooden plate.

"What the hell does caron torso or kimmus wings taste like? I just imagine it makes my chest sometimes."

"Right. I've only spoken of complex flavored dishes, so I don't know one thing about Caron's torso right now. Kimmus wings are about as good as a little taste."

"It's about as good as the people in Castle Town buy it, so it must be delicious meat. But I can't imagine the existence of meat that tastes better than Giva at the moment."

That's what I said, and Mim smiled rather.

"Well, it is best for me now to deal with Kimmus and Karon's foot meat. Even if it's like being on a Totos without worrying about a rampage, I'd like to encourage you not to get distracted and fall to the ground."

I swallowed words that almost spilled out of my mouth reflexively.

Michelle eats leftover dishes with a strange face.

That's how the dinner that invited the mimes ended in peace for now.

◇

"I'll send you to Turan in your luggage."

As promised, Ai-Fa prepared me for my luggage.

Under the moonlight, Mim looks very sleepy as she stares at Ai-Fa connecting Gill to her luggage.

"You look a lot tired. I'll lay a cloth on your luggage, so lay down."

"Excuse me. I think I've managed to do my job and I've broken the thread of tension"

With a few decent eyes, Mim looks back at me.

"Thank you so much for today. In the past day, I've learned so many different things that I can't count."

"The same goes for this one. Keep up the good work."

Mim laughs happily and then crawls up to the luggage truck with pleasure.

He seemed to have reached more limits than he thought. But that also seemed natural given the young age of ten.

"Oh, Michelle, do you have a minute?

I pulled Michelle over to chase her, and I invited her into the front door.

Just take off your shoes and head to the pantry.

Going back, Michelle caught me with a strong eye.

"What's that?

"As you can see, it's an ingredient. If Michelle doesn't have any differences, could you please accept this?

Giva meat in different areas, packed in leather bags, totals about ten kilos.

About a litre, earthen bottle of tau oil.

Likewise, a mommy vinegar earthen bottle.

About 500 grams, jagal sugar.

Once I have those ingredients in my arms, I will lower them to my feet.

"I found the method of training with only a limited amount of ingredients to be very great. So, if it's still unnecessary when it comes to condiments, I won't be forced to either - but I'd like you to bring back just this giva meat."

"... why?

"That, of course, is because I want Mim to brush her giva cooking arms more"

I stare straight back at Michelle's eyes a little higher than mine.

"Mim used to count the ingredients as tototoss. If I could do the same, I'd like to see Mim ride Totos better."

"... why?

"That's... because I thought doing so would be food and stimulation for me, too"

That was what I meant.

"I've met some cooks before, but I never thought they were going to be much different. But Mim felt like she was aiming in the same direction as me - and that was so delightful and so inspiring. And so I thought I'd never just want to lose to Mim."

"You don't want to lose, but you send the ingredients?

"Yes, because as it is now, we can't even decide to win or lose. I mean, in my imagination, I'm a total loser, but in reality, I'm a better winner, and this situation just got so tedious."

"So you want to compete on the same terms as Mim"

"No. I don't think cooking is supposed to compete for skill. So it's not in the nature of wanting to decide to win or lose...... I just want to know more about the power of Mim. So I want to be more excited than ever."

"... you're a lot of little things to get rid of."

Michelle took a small breath and rubbed her cheek with her left hand.

"But where Mim brushed his giva cooking arm, it wouldn't do him any good"

"Is it? We are spreading the flavour of Giva to Genos so that they can treat Giva meat as a commodity. If Mim is looking to cook, I don't think learning how to handle giva meat will ever be in vain."

…………

"Michelle, aren't you looking to raise mime as a cook?

"... that girl dreams of being a cook, regardless of what I think"

"It's never a dream. If you were Mim's skill, you'd be able to create a dish that could be sold right now. … and the former lord of Turan, who brings disaster to an excellent cook, has now lost his power"

Michelle lay silent on her face.

Its eyes stare gently at the flat right hand.

I was cut off from my muscles, and I couldn't move three fingers, that right hand.

"Mim told me she admires me something. But I, too, have been admiring Mim strongly in the last three days. When we stand in the same spot and stare at you, I feel like I can get more than I can right now. … so could you please accept these gifts?

"... I'm not in any trouble with copper coins. I've been so desperate to get him out of the world for the last five years."

And - with a voice with no emotions on the pretend, Michelle snapped.

"Where I aspired to be a cook in this Genos, I end up being picked up by the Count Turan family. So I would have taken him outside Genos - if I could have taken him to Alglad, king of Selva. I've survived this kind of disgrace in order to get roadblocks, cars, and copper coins to hire escorts."

"I can't believe it's a living disgrace, no."

"But you no longer have to run from this town. If it were him, it would be possible to stand up as a cook in this Genos.... you feel sorry for the existence of such a merchant enemy?

"It's not pity. This is also for me, and for the people of the woods. Because once Mim has finished cooking fine Giva meat, it will also be possible to spread the delicacy of Giva meat to Genos."

Michelle slowly shakes her neck to the side.

"I don't want to be left alone by you or anything. Now that I don't have to go for Wang Capital, my copper coins are out of use. I can buy as many ingredients as I want."

"Really..."

"So let's just have this guy"

And Michelle scratched a leather bag of giva meat with her left hand.

"Of course, I'll let you pay for the copper coins. This meat is the finest meat available in Inn Town."

I let my mouth down unexpectedly.

Then something amazing happened.

Even Michelle smiled invincibly.

"I didn't have to rush you, I was gonna let Mim use tau oil, sugar, vanilla, etc."

Laughing, Michelle said so.

That was the first time I saw Michelle smile.

It's like a war general on the battlefield, full of courage - and a fascinating smile.

"That's because you've ruined a situation where you can use those ingredients even in Inn Town. If we don't be able to use those ingredients in Accommodation Town in the future, we won't be able to sell great food either.... he's trying to imitate you and set up a stall in Accommodation Town."

"Really?! That's great."

Michelle snorts "Hum".

"Over the past four years, Mim has also finally been able to wear minimal salt and fire reductions. If this allows us to use even more different ingredients and this giva meat, he will surely produce a hell of a dish. He's still a pissy little girl, but he must have the qualities to be a better cook than me and all that.... don't regret giving him giva meat, Asta at Fa's house"

"I won't regret it. I'll make sure Mim doesn't beat me."

"How big a job it will be, you will know it from now on."

After saying so, Michelle returned to the original Buddha top.

Those strong eyes of light can still see me.

"I'm sure you'll bring out Mim's power to the full. … that's not what I am anymore"

"No, it was because of Michelle's guidelines that Mim was so -"

"That's why I put Mim and you together."

I whispered my words, and that's what Michelle threw away.

"It may have been Selva's last tease to meet a man like you before I got old.... Selva took my wife and future from me and gave Mime and you. So now we have a break between happiness and misfortune."

"Michelle, are you--"

"With you, I'm not the man who ends up on Mim's stepping stone. If you don't want Mim to crush you, you have to say the same thing.... that's all you have."

"... ok"

Answering, my back ran through more tingling sensations than ever before, and my chest was full of hot stuff.

That's how I became so deeply bonded with my father and daughter, who had a strange destiny and talent.