“Did you make this yourself?”
Gerold, who had been working upstairs and was dragged down by Eddie, looked surprised at the impressively set table.
“Yes, it’s a sort of tasting session while we eat. I’m planning to offer this as a breakfast menu.”
“Rice…is it?”
Of course, egg dishes were common in the Reneba Empire too. But their staple food was bread, and there was a strong perception that rice was something eaten in foreign countries. Naturally, egg rice was not a common dish either.
Condiments like soy sauce or dark soy sauce didn’t exist here either. There were similar things, but they weren’t the same.
Oh, and sesame oil too.
That difference was quite significant.
Eddie smiled brightly. He gestured for Gerold and Ketron to sit down as he began the final steps of the dish preparation.
“Do you two prefer your eggs cooked or raw?”
“I like them raw.”
“…Either is fine.”
At that, Eddie made a hole in the center of the perfectly cooked rice with wooden chopsticks.
Ketron looked puzzled at the unfamiliar sight of chopsticks, but Gerold, who had by now become somewhat accustomed to Eddie’s use of chopsticks, remained expressionless.
After cracking an egg into the hole, Eddie poured a circle of soy sauce, mixed it a few times, and then poured the soy sauce-mixed egg onto the warm rice with the hole.
“This is for Gerold.”
“Thank you.”
This time, he drizzled a circle of soy sauce and a circle of sesame oil on the rice, then placed a fried egg with a half-cooked yolk on top.
“This is for Ket.”
When he handed it to Ketron with a spoon, Ketron awkwardly accepted it.
“Break the egg and mix it in.”
Here, and this too. He also passed over several pieces of the grilled seasoned meat patties he had cooked along with the pickled radish and salad he had selected as side dishes. Ketron tilted his head at the unfamiliar appearance of the food.
However, being a man who had once chewed on tree bark when overcome by hunger, he was the type to eat just about anything. As Eddie instructed, he broke up the egg and, with a dubious expression, took a bite of the soy sauce egg rice.
“…!”
His expression alone revealed whether it was delicious or not. Eddie grinned, as it was a flavor he knew well. The salty and savory taste would be exquisite. Whoever invented soy sauce egg rice must have been a genius.
It was a bit disappointing that the sesame oil was store-bought. The egg rice he always used to eat had been made with domestically produced sesame oil that his grandmother had pressed herself. That was the only thing he missed, but it couldn’t be helped.
Before creating these menu items, Eddie had pondered whether to develop lunch items first or breakfast items.
In the end, he decided to create breakfast items for departing guests and selected these dishes.
While he could offer a variety of lunch and dinner options, the simplicity of breakfast menus also reinforced this decision.
Gerold began eating with an extremely elegant demeanor, slowly and gracefully. Meanwhile, Ketron emptied his bowl almost instantly, as if his large body indeed required many calories to maintain. Seeing this, Eddie quietly prepared another serving of soy sauce egg rice.
Good thing I prepared two servings each, just in case.
Feeling pleased, Eddie set up a new bowl and gently placed some more meat patties on top. As soon as he received the fresh food, Ketron practically drank it, lifting the bowl to his mouth.
Eat a lot, our Ket.
Knowing full well that Ketron inwardly flustered every time he heard that nickname, Eddie kept the greeting to himself, not wanting to disturb his meal, and began eating his own portion.
Of course, the meal was delicious.
* * *
Eddie had completed the basic concept for the breakfast menu.
With the launch of the new menu imminent, Eddie found himself troubled by one concern.
“Hmm.”
A delicious-looking breakfast spread. The menu consisted of udon and soy sauce egg rice.
While the menu items themselves were fine, the composition was the issue.
Even excluding the small side dishes, he had decided to add croquettes to the udon and the meat patties to the egg rice as main side dishes. It wasn’t a bad combination.
The problem was that this entire composition would be extremely unfamiliar to the empire’s citizens. While these foods and flavors were very familiar to Koreans, they would be completely foreign to the locals.
Even if he couldn’t change the main dishes, it seemed like having at least one familiar taste for breakfast would be better.
For example, if there was a small side dish as familiar to empire citizens as kimchi was to Koreans, perhaps it would be better to replace the pickled radish with that instead.
He considered asking Gerold, but he hesitated, concerned that not knowing such things might appear too suspicious.
Although, in reality, he was already quite suspicious.
It was a question he had wondered about before: why didn’t Gerold question Eddie’s change or the convenience store items he brought back?
Now as then, the problem remained unanswered.
“Well, I guess there’s no choice.”
In the end, Eddie decided to go to the market himself.
By visiting and looking around shops that sold side dishes, he could get a general idea of the empire’s taste preferences. Seeing the local market firsthand would be meaningful as well.
The problem was that going out alone beyond the inn still scared him a bit.
Since his possession, Eddie had never ventured far enough from the inn to lose sight of it.
There were several reasons why going far was difficult.
First, this was a strange fantasy world with different races, magic, and demon folk, so it wasn’t a safe world like Korea where he had lived.
Second, this was a world with a rigid class system, and if he, an ignorant commoner, made a mistake with a noble… in this brutal world, he could face immediate execution depending on the severity of the offense.
Since the concept of human rights was weak here, he worried about making a mistake and never being able to return to the inn.
But beyond all that, most importantly…
“…”
Eddie unconsciously wrapped his arms around himself. Somehow, he felt a chill run through his body.
Of course, he knew it was psychological.
Eddie was still somewhat afraid of mixing among crowds of strangers.
After all, he was someone who had died once, stabbed by a knife about a month ago.
When he had ventured outside the inn to find Ketron, there was at least a sense of duty to prevent the protagonist’s descent into darkness. Now, without such motivation, he had been postponing his outing day after day.
I shouldn’t just force Ket—I should overcome my own fears too.
Sighing as if troubled, Eddie made his decision. Since going out alone from the start seemed too challenging, he would go with someone.
His first thought was Gerold, whom he had spent the most time with since his possession.
For Eddie, Gerold was a super yes-man, so if he asked him to go out together, even without a specific reason, Gerold would immediately nod and prepare to leave.
However, there was someone more suitable for this outing than Gerold.
There was another person who needed to overcome their fears.
Eddie stood in front of Ketron’s room. His knock on the door was confident.
“Ket, do you have a moment?”
There was no response. As usual, Eddie didn’t particularly wait and opened the door.
Indeed, as expected, Ketron was in the room.
What was unique was that he was doing one-armed handstand push-ups while wearing only pants, with his other arm behind his back.
He must have been at it for quite some time, as the room was filled with heat.
His face, with sweat dripping down, quietly looked at Eddie who had opened the door and entered.
His injuries probably hadn’t completely healed yet. Eddie was about to lecture him but instead just sighed softly.
Although he had seen this body once before, it clearly wasn’t just naturally built like that.
Even though he probably hadn’t exercised at all for nearly a month, his body, filled with organically packed muscles, was quite intimidating. The muscles in the arm supporting that heavy body moved dynamically.
At this rate, he would be perfect for a bodyguard role even without a sword. Eddie smiled with satisfaction without realizing it.
“Hello, Ket.”
There was no greeting in return. But Eddie calmly walked over and squatted in front of Ketron, who was still in a handstand.
“I have a favor to ask, is that okay?”
As he said this, he pulled out a handkerchief from his chest. Not at all perturbed by the man still maintaining a one-armed handstand, his hand calmly wiped the sweat from Ketron’s face.
“Hah.”
Though he should be getting used to it by now, Ketron still couldn’t quite get accustomed to Eddie’s inappropriate behaviors. Normally, wouldn’t someone close the door and leave after seeing such a scene?
But Ketron now understood that Eddie’s actions weren’t meant to challenge him.
He finally righted himself from his inverted position. While tightening the waistband of his somewhat loose pants, he spoke.
“What kind of favor?”
“Hmm, I need a bodyguard.”
“A bodyguard?”
Eddie nodded.
“Where to?”
Was it to a dangerous gambling den, or perhaps for some illegal transaction? Ketron, who had his suspicions about this highly suspicious man, was imagining shady requests in back alleys when Eddie replied in a bright voice.
“The market.”
“…The market?”
Was he talking about a black market? But what followed was completely different.
“Yes, I heard there’s a big market selling food ingredients just ahead. Things like vegetables and side dishes.”
“…”
“I’d like you to come with me.”
His innocently smiling face seemed devoid of any ulterior motives.