When Isaac bit into the sardine tempura, he became silent.

What was this?

He had casually come to meet Arnoux, and to check out the next great store that the latter had mentioned. However, how did such a food exist in this world?

Up until now, Arnoux had recommended many slightly trendy stores and restaurants.

Most of them were Eastern Kingdom-style restaurants with fairly tasty food.

Still, as tasty as they were, Isaac could still reproduce the flavour.

As a chef’s son, Isaac vaguely felt like he wanted to be involved in cooking in the future. He had trained enough to not be an embarra.s.sment of a chef. For Isaac, this dish that he was unable to make himself was an object of marvel.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know the ingredients. Wheat flour, eggs, and water were mixed together to coat the ingredients before they were deep fried. That was it. However, even if he made it himself, it probably wouldn’t taste the same. Isaac suspected that it involved laborious preparation.

「Does it not suit your taste?」

He shook his head at the waitress, who was watching him anxiously, before throwing the remaining sardines into his mouth. As expected, it was delicious. The lager that he was drinking and nearly choked on was also delicious, just as the rumours said.

Even though the night was still young, Izakaya n.o.bu was already busy. The small shop was lively with regulars and first time customers, all enjoying their food and drinks as they liked. Isaac had visited many pubs around the Imperial Capital, but even if he had paid 1000 gold, it would have been difficult to find a store with an atmosphere like this.

「At any rate, you came, Arnoux-san’s friend.」

「Say, did Arnoux-sama cause any trouble here?」

「He’s not that troublesome.」

The main subject, Arnoux, wasn’t here because that blond-haired prodigal son had broken his promise to come. Not only did Arnoux and the tall, black-haired Isaac look like polar opposites, they also had contrasting personalities. Isaac was serious, while Arnoux was whimsical. This was why they got along well. Isaac was like the older brother that Arnoux had yearned for.

「It’s a pity that Arnoux-san couldn’t come today.」

「It is, isn’t it? Well, I think Arnoux would have enjoyed this delicious food and liquor, too.」

「I’m glad to hear you say that.」

He had a rough guess of what Arnoux was doing right now. He was investigating the movements of the thugs who had rampaged at this store. The thugs who were caught by the guards had paid a fine, so they had only stayed in prison for a single day and had already left town.

There was also a rumor about a man named Damien, who had joined forces with the boss of the thugs of the Old Capital (Aiteria). Isaac was posted here just in case any thugs feeling resentment for this store came to seek revenge.

He had eaten the sardines just now, so he extended this fork to the kakiage next.

He wanted to cut up the kakiage, which contained onions and small shrimp, with his knife, but he bit into it instead, even though it was a bit improper.

Crunch, crunch.

Crunch, crunch.

Crunch, crunch.

(TL note: kakiage is mixed vegetable/seafood tempura)

~Kakiage~

He finished eating a whole piece, without ever dropping his fork, before he had even realized it.

The oil from eating many deep-fried onions would probably be heavy on his stomach, but there seemed to be a solution to that.

He couldn’t get enough of the mellow sweetness of the soft and crispy onions.

Before he even needed to order, the waitress had already refilled his mug with a second serving of lager. He wanted to say something but smiled instead. This was probably why Arnoux was fond of this store. Even though Arnoux didn’t look like it, he was terribly hard to please when it came to customer service, but Isaac could relax in a shop like this, since it was so thorough with its service.

Even the mushroom tempura had an interesting texture. Until now, whenever he wanted to eat mushrooms, he would only boil or stew it. In the northern lands where Isaac’s ancestors had lived, there were mushrooms that had to be boiled properly, or else the poison would remain. Since this wisdom was handed down to him, he didn’t eat mushrooms unless they were boiled, but there were recipes like this tempura, too.

The most surprising thing was the tree roots. Even though the waitress, s.h.i.+n.o.bu, called this gobou, no matter how he saw it, it looked like the roots of a tree that had been thinly sliced.

It was mixed together with carrots to make kakiage. The texture wasn’t the same as the onions, but this was also delicious.

(TL note: gobou = burdock root)

「The world of cooking is full of marvels, isn’t it? I never thought that the roots of a tree would be so delicious.」

「The burdock root is good, isn’t it? It was my grandfather’s favourite dish.」

Isaac couldn’t utter a word to s.h.i.+n.o.bu, who was smiling as she spoke. She probably came from a land that was poor enough that they had to dig for tree roots. They might have tried frying it In order to make it even slightly more delicious. By deep-frying the burdock, which was a tree root, it would no longer be just a tree root.

It had become a cuisine.

This dish, after three generations, had turned into this tempura. It probably came to the point where the ingredients were easily acquired, and from there, they tried to come up with the original idea to coat the fried roots with batter. With the addition of eggs, this dish was completed as the tempura.

If that were the case, he could understand the elaborate preparations for it. Their n.o.ble minds allowed them to make the most out of every ingredient. It seemed that they had put a lot of effort into this ingredient, which had become available in excess anywhere, and elevated it into a dish.

While eating up the plate filled with tempura, Isaac’s curiosity as a chef, which was welling inside of him, burst forth.

This tempura was delicious.

In addition, it could make various other dishes delicious. He wanted to learn this skill. If he saw anything he could copy, he would go for it.

「This tempura is tasty. I want something has strong flavours next… I’d like to eat something stewed.」

「Yes, a stew dish with strong flavours, coming up!」