Chapter 17 : The Dish Grandma May Wants to Eat (3)

“It seems that Purpure’s cooking was to your liking.”

The village chief, Rian, stroked his pure white beard and smiled.

Unlike usual, Grandma Mae was not lying in bed, but sitting and waiting for us.

“Because Purpure made the dish with all her heart!

Grandma Mae will like it too!”

Maeve said, placing the ‘Wave-Steamed Chicken’, which smelled of deliciously simmered soy sauce, on the table.

“We also have pure white rice prepared by the ladies here.”

The combination of the ultimate sweet and salty Wave-Steamed Chicken and rice will make even the hero and the saint, who are not familiar with Eastern-style food, swallow their saliva, right?

“It smells…

nostalgic…”

When Grandma Mae muttered, Village Chief Rian nodded with teary eyes.

“Our demon lord made this for you, so try a bite.”

Village Chief Rian carefully picked up a piece of meat that emitted the elegant light of soy sauce, which could be said to hold a sparkling, jet-black darkness, with chopsticks.

“Please…

please…”

“I hope blessings will be with us at this moment.”

Grandma Mae carefully chewed her mouth.

“Ah, ahhh…”

Grandma Mae, who gently chewed the meat a few times, opened her eyes wide and exclaimed in admiration.

“It’s not a nostalgic…

taste.”

“Uh, uh oh?”

Tears welled up in Grandma Mae’s eyes.

“This…

is the taste of that time.

The food that my grandmother made…

Oh my, how can this taste be exactly the same.”

Grandma Mae started to regain her vitality after just eating one piece of meat.

“It’s amazing…

How to make this smelly troublemaker so delicious.”

“It’s because our!

Demon lord made it!!”

“Purpure seemed to know how to cook it from the beginning.”

Fortunately, Maeve and Dominicus’ obvious compliments surprised Grandma Mae.

“Oh my…

This little lady?”

“Purpure only knew how much Grandma Mae wanted to eat this dish.”

Grandma Mae, beyond everyone’s expectations, picked up her chopsticks herself and started eating healthily.

“Oh, dear…

I never imagined that I would regain my health so quickly.”

“It’s because the desire rooted in the seven is disappearing.”

The reason Grandma Mae was sick was because of the plump ‘Black Desire’.

On the contrary, if this guy disappears, there’s no reason for you to be sick!

“You have such great skills.

Our demon lady…

You really simmered it well.

There’s no smell at all.

You’re admirable and amazing…”

“Purpure is incredibly good at cooking!

She knows how to use seasonings that are hard to remember the names of, and she knows exactly how much of that expensive pepper to put in!”

“She has the skills to deliciously cook monsters to the point where even the royal chefs would be amazed.”

Grandma Mae smiled brightly and moved her chopsticks without stopping.

I can tell it’s a success without even hearing any more comments!

“Oh my, look at me.

I don’t think this old lady can eat it all, so everyone come and eat some together.”

“Then!

I’ll just eat a little!”

Maeve smiled brightly and accepted the Wave-Steamed Chicken that Dominicus served with a ladle and chopsticks that he had brought with his sense.

“Ugh…

Honestly, I think I deserve to eat it too!

I made almost half of it!”

“Maeve did work hard on the knife work.”

You did work hard, so I won’t scold you.

Maeve smiled brightly and picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks and put it in her mouth.

I also felt it at the noodle shop, but your chopstick skills are very precise, unlike your appearance?

“Nom…!

Mmm, hmm…!!

This is really salty and sweet and flavorful as Purpure said…?

It’s, it’s spicy!

It’s spicy!”

Maeve fanned her hand in a fuss.

“It’s, it’s spicy…!

Purpure!

This is sweet and salty and flavorful, but it’s spicy!”

“It’s not that spicy.”

Even Grandma Mae is eating it well, isn’t she?

I picked up the Wave-Steamed Chicken and held the chopsticks upside down and poked it.

The cute resistance of the plump and chewy chicken thigh meat was felt through my small hands, so I was already looking forward to the texture.

“Nom…!”

The Wave-Steamed Chicken, thrown onto my soft tongue, emitted an unimaginable harmony of flavors.

The first taste was the salty yet sweet and dangerously tongue-twisting umami unique to soy sauce.

The salty taste that appropriately warms the appetite reigned proudly on my tongue like a triumphant general, and the sweet taste that followed conquered the tongue like a knight.

The subtle umami that lingered was like confetti sprinkled during a parade, and it made me want to taste it again.

“Nom nom, nom…!”

But the taste of the Wave-Steamed Chicken doesn’t end there!

After the march on the tongue, there was the intense resistance of the meat between the teeth.

As expected, the chicken thigh meat of the Wave-Throated Sparrow had a chewy texture like a tsundere girl’s rejection of a confession.

On top of that, the unique gamey smell and stench that it had in its body disappeared cleanly as if by Cinderella’s magic, and only the dangerously appetite-stimulating savory scent of soy sauce was vibrating.

The unique tingling taste of chili and green onion appeared at the end, dancing gently, but it’s not enough to say it’s spicy?

“It’s not spicy at all.”

“No, no!

No, no!

This is spicy.

It’s a spicy taste!”

“Hmm…

I can’t say it’s not spicy, I guess.”

As expected, as they look, they’re Westerners, so they fuss even if it’s just slightly spicy.

“Oh my…

This old lady’s taste buds are just right, what should I do…”

“Ah, no!

No!

Even if it’s spicy, if you eat it with the potatoes and sweet potatoes here, it’s perfect!”

Sensing disaster, Maeve quickly cut a potato in half with her chopsticks and munched on it.

“Uh oh?”

You were clearly saying that the hastily added side dish would act as a firefighter, but was it the right answer?

“What, what is this…

The sauce is definitely the same sauce, isn’t it?

But somehow…

it’s like a steamed potato, but it’s permeated, uh, it’s incredibly delicious?”

“This sweet potato too…

Oh, this is quite sweet, enough to say it’s flavorful.

I can feel a hymn of appropriate taste that makes the Mallowmallow want to give up its house again.”

Even Dominicus is praying, so it seems like it worked properly.

“Nom nom.”

Hearing satisfactory evaluations from all sides, I threw a potato deeply infused with the broth into my mouth.

It’s cooked just right?

It’s definitely not to the point where it’s melted and mushy, and the texture somewhere between a steamed potato and a baked potato is really good.

It’s subtly fluffy, but it’s also definitely soaked in the broth, so you don’t need ketchup for french fries!

“Ah, but…

Phew.

I feel like it’s spicy, but I can’t stop eating the Wave-Steamed Chicken.”

“In the past, we used to make a lot of Wave-Steamed Chicken like this and share it with everyone in Moonlit Pier.”

Grandma Mae started talking with the energy she found while eating satisfactorily.

“Oh…

Then did you cook and eat Wave-Throated Sparrows like this in the past too?”

“That’s right.

That’s right.

It’s a dish with a pretty deep meaning…

My grandmother always said that.”

Grandma Mae smiled and suddenly looked at me.

“Only this dying old lady knows how to remove the smell of Wave-Steamed Chicken and how to cook it, but how did you make it even more delicious…

“

“Because Purpure is the great demon lord, I know.”

I brought the black desire that was still sleeping in the corner and hugged it.

When this guy starts to bubble and shrink, I have to swallow it.

“Great demon lord…?

Ah, that’s right…

Demon lord…

Great demon lord.”

“Ah…!

That’s!

Our Purpure is a great demon lord~!

But!

We’re on a pilgrimage right now, so absolutely!

Absolutely!

It’s not a dangerous situation!”

Maeve spoke urgently, but Grandma Mae’s expression was unusual.

“That…

was true.

The food you made with trembling hands wasn’t crazy nonsense…”

Grandma Mae suddenly shed a few tears and took my small hand and stroked it.

“Thank you, thank you so much.

Great demon lord…

This old lady didn’t even keep her promise and just lay in bed sick, but you kept your promise.”

“Pu, Purpure…”

“

Everyone knows.”

Everyone in this Moonlit Pier has received grace from the great demon lord.

People who have been village chiefs in this town, thank you.

Grandma Mae naturally hugged me tightly.

“This Wave-Steamed Chicken is proof that the great demon lord solved the hunger of this village.

So when you came back like this, I should have served it to you…”

“Haha, old lady, don’t say things that were impossible anyway.”

“This old geezer…”

Grandma Mae hit Village Chief Rian as if to show off the strength she had regained.

“Oh my…

This old lady!

You even left home shouting that all of your grandmother’s words were lies!”

“So that’s why Grandma Mae was surprised to see Purpure?”

A grandmother who is the village chief told her granddaughter that the demon lord would someday return to the village, and taught her how to make food.

…Honestly, I would think she was a liar too.

It’s natural to think she’s crazy.

“That’s right.

Oh my…

If I had known you would return in such a cute form…”

“Purpure is fine.”

It’s probably not my story anyway.

I just don’t want to create obstacles in the era of the terrifying great demon lord’s revival that will come someday.

“Thank you.

Purpure…

Thanks to you, my mother, my grandmother…

You showed me that this long wait wasn’t wrong.”

This is what the desire that devoured Grandma Mae was like?

You have to serve ‘Wave-Steamed Chicken’ to the demon lord who returns to Moonlit Pier.

Even when you became an old lady with pure white hair, you wanted to keep that promise so badly, the story that your grandmother and mother told you must have remained deep in your heart.

Even though you were a grandmother who ran away from home because you didn’t like your family’s teachings, you eventually listened to your family’s story and wanted to fulfill your duty.

“Grandma Mae is not wrong.

As you know, Wave-Steamed Chicken is a delicious dish!”

“Yes, and the cute demon lord came back to Moonlit Pier to keep this promise.”

Grandma Mae smiled brightly, looking healthy, and stroked my head.

Normally, I would have been angry and told you to stop, but today, I can’t help it.

“Good job!

Purpure!

Thanks to you, you can see that Grandma Mae has become very healthy, right?”

Maeve, who had cleanly washed the pot, said.

“That’s right.

She’s stronger than Grandpa Rian.”

Is it to show off the strength you couldn’t move while sleeping for a long time?

Grandma Mae moved more actively than Village Chief Rian, who was walking with a cane.

Even the villagers were surprised or hugged her while crying, Grandma Mae was so popular.

“Purpure is curious.

Wasn’t Grandpa Rian the village chief originally?”

“Yes, Grandma Mae was the village chief for generations.

But she was lying down for years, not just a day or two, so it seems to have changed naturally.”

So that was the situation.

“But Purpure!

Didn’t you say you had to do something after you ate earlier?”

“That’s right.

I’m going to eat one of the seven, the black desire.”

I answered, holding up the shrunken black desire that was still sleeping.

“I can’t see it, but…

What happens if you eat that?”

“Purpure will power up!”

“Oh!

Then can you find your lost memories too?”

You probably don’t have any memories to find!

With a pounding heart, I opened my mouth wide to bite the black desire again.

“I’ll eat it deliciously!”