Chapter 14: Dragons, Caves, and Yakitori

The next morning, I closed the shop and prepared to head to Grinius.

Martina had said it wasn’t an urgent matter, but after receiving an absurdly large sum of money as travel expenses, I found it hard to procrastinate.

Selly strongly opposed my sudden departure, but after I explained the reason, she somewhat understood.

Perhaps not having forgotten what happened the night before, she pouted her lips.

“Lost chicken… I wanted to eat it…”

“I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a gift on my way back, so please forgive me.”

“Tch. If you come back this time hurt, just try it!”

After handling things like asking Selly to take care of Rachel’s meals or having her guarded by the guild, I set off for my journey in the afternoon.

“It’s been a while since I’ve traveled.”

How long had it been since I wandered alone without a group?

It was probably when I returned to Hilton, so it hadn’t been that long after all.

Back then, it was really tough walking around with unfamiliar prosthetic limbs.

But now-

“What brings you here?”

“I would like to rent a carriage.”

“This is a place that rents carriages to those who are carrying out royal duties… Oh, this is Lady Princess 2’s? My apologies!”

I have money and power (though not mine).

Traveling around in a royal carriage and eating at high-end restaurants made this journey incredibly comfortable.

I now fully understood why people covet money and power.

However, the meal was a bit disappointing.

“Did they put too many spices in this?”

One of the culinary rules of this world:

The more spices a dish has, the more luxurious it is!

High-end restaurants all strictly followed this rule, so the food was heavily spiced.

It wasn’t to the point where it was inedible, but it was enough to overwhelm the flavor of the ingredients.

Considering the ingredients were probably high-quality, it was a shame.

I wondered if this was only the case here, so I tried a few more restaurants, but most of them were at a similar level!

So, I decided to stop my high-end restaurant tour.

Instead, at a spice shop, I found an unexpected treasure.

“What is this?”

“Oh, that’s a sauce imported from the East-”

When I listened to the explanation, it turned out to be soy sauce?

Upon tasting it, it really was soy sauce.

It wasn’t the type we know as Jin soy sauce, but it was more like the Chinese Lu Chou-

Anyway, it was a soy sauce-like taste!

I happily made a contract for the supply of soy sauce.

“Alright, tonight’s dinner will be soy sauce chicken!”

Since there was still some time until dinner, I thought it would be better to finish my work first.

So, with a light heart, I headed to the cave I had visited before, only to meet an unexpected guest there.

[Who would have thought a foolish human would step into this place where the spirit of Artlaus wanders…

…Wait, could it be… you?]

“That wound… Could you be Aolus?”

[No, I’m not Aolus, I’m the Black Dragon!]

Why on earth are you here?

The Black Dragon Aolus.

The dragon I had once defeated when I was still an adventurer was now looking down at me with a flustered expression inside the cave.

The Black Dragon and I exchanged glances.

Normally, if it was an opponent I had fought before, I would have immediately drawn my sword, but this particular dragon was a special case.

He was known to the world as an evil dragon following the Demon King, and there were rumors that people had seen him on the battlefield.

But in reality, Aolus was never affiliated with the Demon King’s army, and he had never attacked the kingdom’s forces.

He was more like-

“Are you still not home?”

[What does it matter if I go home or not?!]

He’s basically just a runaway youth from home.

Wait, since he’s a dragon, does “runaway youth” even make sense?

“Should I say runaway cleaning dragon?”

No, that gives off an image of him wearing a maid outfit and cleaning.

Anyway, he’s just an adolescent dragon going through a rebellious phase.

The “Black Dragon” nickname was something he came up with himself.

In fact, he had never met the Demon King, but he started spreading rumors about being the Black Dragon because he thought it would suit the Demon King.

The quest where I “subdued the Black Dragon” was actually a bit of an accident that happened during the process of me hearing him confess that.

Perhaps remembering that incident, he flinched while eyeing the sword hanging at my waist.

[Shit, this is bad. Of all the times to meet, it’s this fucking monster…]

“A monster? I’m just an ordinary human.”

[What human can emit light from their sword, you crazy monster!]

“What are you talking about? There are plenty of people who can do that besides me.”

In a fantasy world, skilled swordsmen can emit sword energy.

This is common knowledge, right?

But he yelled as though he didn’t agree with me.

[Don’t lie! I turned into a human and checked for myself! There was no one else who could do that except you!]

“That’s because you didn’t investigate enough. Who do you think knows more about being a human swordsman, me as a human, or you as a dragon?”

[You think a dragon can be beaten by a human?]

“I’ve beaten you, though.”

[… I was talking about knowledge!]

“Well, I don’t think I would lose in that either. From the fact that you’re still here in this cave…”

Perhaps feeling a little stung by my words, he turned his head with an annoyed look.

I asked, in a bewildered tone,

“No, seriously, what are you doing here? Didn’t you leave home because it was stuffy?”

[Do you think I want to be here like this?]

“Then why are you?”

[Every time I go outside, my mom keeps scolding me, saying I should stop and come home…]

Was “dragon scolding” used for that purpose?

I briefly checked my common sense, but nothing seemed strange.

While I was lost in thought, he seemed to gather his resolve and growled at me.

[Anyway, get out of my lair! I may have been easily beaten before, but now I’ve grown quite a bit! But since you’re missing a leg, if we fight now-]

“Do you think you can win? Want to test it?”

As I placed my hand on the sword, the dragon quickly changed the subject.

[…It won’t be good for your leg! My mom said if you move too much after getting hurt, it’ll cause serious problems!]

“Are you worried about me?”

[Me? Worry about you?]

No, suddenly making such a serious face…

My excitement was ruined, so I said to Aolus,

“Anyway, just calm down and go home. You should also stop worrying your mother.”

[Mind your own business! By the way, why are you here? I came here because no one ever visits this place.]

“I came to pick some flowers lying around your feet…”

…I paused.

I looked down at Aolus’ feet and lost my words.

There were none.

The crescent flowers that should have filled the cave were almost entirely gone.

The only ones left were a couple crushed near his tail.

With a feeling of disbelief, I asked,

“Did you eat the flowers?”

[Well, I had no choice! If I didn’t eat them, there was nothing else to eat here!]

Aolus, thinking I was angry, took a defensive tone in his voice, sounding very scared.

But what I felt wasn’t anger.

“Did you survive eating this?”

Honestly, up until now, I had been casually thinking of his runaway as something lighthearted, but once I found out that he had endured by eating this, my thoughts changed.

‘How much did he hate going home…
To survive by eating this awful thing, that takes some serious determination.
Even I wouldn’t touch these flowers unless I was on the verge of life and death!
He voluntarily ate them!’

Suddenly, I noticed Aolus looked smaller than before.

Was it just me, or could I see his bones?

Aolus, noticing my gaze, flinched.

[What’s with that look? It’s making me uncomfortable.]

I couldn’t let this go. I needed to feed him.

No matter how much of a dragon he was, he was still just a kid, and here he was starving!

Unable to hold back the Korean blood that boiled in me, I spoke in as soft a voice as I could muster.

“Aolus, let’s eat together.”

My plan to go back and make soy sauce chicken was canceled.

Tonight’s dinner would be here.

Leaving Aolus, who looked like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard me correctly, behind, I gathered the ingredients and returned to the cave.

The ingredients I had prepared were: cleaned chicken, soy sauce, sugar, green onions, ginger, white wine, and charcoal.

I found a spot in the cave where the wind flowed well and started a fire with the charcoal.

Watching me, Aolus asked in a reluctant voice,

[What are you doing?]

“Grilled chicken skewers. Well, since the sauce is Japanese, it should be called yakitori.”

[No, I didn’t ask for the name of the food…]

“Shh. Stay quiet and just watch.”

Once the fire was ready, I began making the sauce.

To bring out a deep flavor, it takes quite a long time to simmer, but today I decided to make a simpler version.

‘First, mix wine and soy sauce in a 1:1 ratio.’

Originally, cooking alcohols like sake or mirin are used, but since I didn’t have them, I chose the best white wine I could find for cooking.

Then, I added about half the amount of sugar as the wine.

After that, I chopped the green onions into large pieces and sliced about half a clove of ginger to add.

Next, I placed it all over the heat to simmer.

As the smell of the simmering sauce filled the air, Aolus, who seemed to have a lot to say, sniffed the air.

“Doesn’t it smell good?”

[It’s not bad. It’s the first time I’ve smelled something like this.]

“It will smell even better when it’s finished. Just wait a little longer.”

I adjusted the heat and let the sauce simmer until it reduced by half.

Soon, the sauce thickened to a sticky consistency, just like the sauce for glazing.

‘Great, this viscosity is perfect.’

I set the sauce aside and began grilling the skewered chicken over the charcoal.

As the smell of grilled meat filled the cave, Aolus swallowed nervously and asked,

[Is it done yet?]

“Not yet. Wait a little longer.”

[It seems like it would be good to just dip the meat in the sauce and eat it now…]

Of course, it would still taste good.

But it wasn’t yakitori yet.

I carefully adjusted the heat and turned the skewers over several times to make sure they were cooked evenly.

And after about 80% of the cooking was done,

‘Now.’

I dipped the slightly undercooked yakitori into the sauce, making sure it was evenly coated, then cooked it just until it was fully done and served it on a plate.

One by one, the skewers piled up on the plate.

Without saying a word, I handed the skewers to Aolus, who was just swallowing his saliva.

“Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to eat like that? Why don’t you change form and eat?”

[…Then can I eat it?]

“Yeah. It’s ready now.”

Aolus quickly transformed into a human form and grabbed a skewer of chicken.

With a snap, he swallowed the chicken along with the skewer.