15 Chapter 5: Foodgasms? What’s that?
- Silas -
I served Ramen to the trio of old men in the shop and returned to the counter once more.
Bang, Issac and Hayato were in the shop.
The door opened and an old man appeared. He was wearing a ragged and patched up set of clothes and a pair of cheap sandals. He had silver-white pompadour hairstyle and a goatee and was hunching down.
"Hohoh I didn't know there was a new restaurant in this area." he said while looking around the shop.
"What would you like, Sir?" Lavinia asked him politely.
I did notice that not many people were able to even notice my restaurant. I still didn't know what the selection criteria was but I made a personal rule to never be impolite to any of the customers no matter how they looked… until they started to mess around. This rule was followed by every member of the staff.
"Hohohoho some tempura and a bottle of Sake would be best. But I don't have anything to pay you with." he said, scratching his head, embarrassed.
The guy looked like a goofy old man and I don't know why I found him funny. "In that case, the first meal can be on the house."
A simple bottle of alcohol wouldn't cause anything.
"Hahahaha thank you so much. I really owe you for this."
I passed him the tempura and a bottle of alcohol and picked a seat nearby. There were very few people in the restaurant today so I could have a chat with the oldies.
"How is young Ikki doing, Silas? I haven't seen him in a while." Bang asked.
"I stopped by his training yesterday. He has been working hard. Even his new teachers are very impressed with him." They actually were.
"The boy reminded me of my own apprentice. That foolish boy, Garou… To hang on with sheer grit and fight against everyone at such a young age. I would have taken him as an apprentice in a heartbeat if I could teach him anything."
"Oh, is he that good?" Isaac said, caressing his goatee.
"Kamikaze had been throwing high praise for the boy and he never does that."
"So, how about you Silas? Won't you learn some Martial Arts?" Hayato asked me.
I just smiled at him. "I was learning some tricks from Kisuke. he might not look like it but he is a very accomplished swordsman himself. I don't know if I will get to use Martial Arts though? I am just a chef."
"And who decided that chefs cannot learn martial arts? To catch better prey and to prepare truly great ingredients, a chef needs to possess incredible willpower, strength and skill. For example, the Tempura you made was from the Sake Salmon. While it is a fish with only a Capture Level 2 it's extremely difficult for a chef, even experienced ones, to keep the flavours locked when cooking it. You have managed to do something which I think only a hundred or so chefs around the world can do. Good job on that one. But for higher level ingredients, you will have to complete the process in a fraction of the time taken for this Tempura. For some dishes I know, it can be as low as a thousandth of a second. Without proper knowledge of Martial Arts, such a task is impossible."
It was the new old man who said this, attracting the glances from all the people around him.
But I was attracted to something else entirely. "You know the name of the ingredient."
"Hahahaha I have eaten different types of food in my life."
"Silas boy, is there something special about this dish?" Issac asked, sensing my shock.
"I… get provided with any raw material I need by the restaurant itself when I pay the money but even I don't know where these food products come from. There were some extremely outrageous things in the list of ingredients. Ingredients costing billions. It's just that I have only been learning to cook for a year and a half so I don't want to waste those ingredients. I will try them when I get better."
"Billions?" Hayato asked, quite shocked.
"The things from the Dark Continent can go for that price." He scratched his goatee.
"You just get the ingredients in the shop? For money?" The new old man asked, surprised for the first time.
"They are just kept in my refrigerator or my store room when I buy it. Oh, this restaurant is a bit special." I explained about the restaurant to the guy and after an initial shock, he listened to everything quietly.
"So you can buy anything you want for money."
"Umm."
"Even GOD?"
"Yes. There is one such ingredient." I answered.
"How much do I need to pay for it?"
"This… I am sorry but I still can't cook it and this is a restaurant and not a butcher's shop. I am afraid selling raw ingredients is not allowed. I can sell only food cooked by myself."
He sat back and then shook his head with a smile.
"As I thought, it would never be so easy. I hope you get there soon, child. GOD is not something money can buy so you don't even realise how lucky you are."
The man went on to explain some things about his world. He worked as a Knocking Master. He was a hunter in his younger days. Just because of this, he got along well with Issac. He said that his name was Jiro.
He even joined the old guys and just at that time, the shop opened once more and two people entered the room.
One was an old man wearing a kimono and another was a girl with orange clothes.
"I didn't know there was a restaurant near the school? Is this place new?" He asked, looking at me.
"Hmm. Yes. What would you like to eat, Sir?"
"Hmph, as if this small place could serve food to satisfy us?" The girl snorted.
The old man sighed, "Be respectful, Erina."
"But grandfather…"
He shut the girl up and looked at me. "We will take whatever the chef recommends. Price is not an issue."
I raised an eyebrow at the price comment.
"Alright."
I prepared a very simple dish. An Egg fried rice but with Strawberry Rice, edible Billion Bird Eggs and several other ingredients which would make the dish price at around five hundred thousand.
The guy said that price wasn't an issue. Let him think about it.
As for the girl, I made a bowl of udon noodles. The guy asked me for the chef's recommendation. The Chef recommends some humility for the girl.
The aroma of the dish was kept in the kitchen so they had no idea what I was making. I covered the dish and called for Lavy to serve the dish.
I looked over the counter to observe the reaction of the two.
Lavinia removed the covers and both their eyes glazed over.
"Why is my dish different?" She asked, looking at her noodles.
"It's the Chef's recommendation for you." I smiled.
My restaurant served Demon Lords and Heroes. A little brat questioning my restaurant's tastes cannot be left alone… no matter how cute the girl was.
She glared at me for a moment but still took a bit of the udon.
"Umm ahhhh~"
She started rubbing her thighs together and moaning, startling me all of a sudden as everyone looked weirdly at me.
"I swear I didn't mix anything illegal within the dish." I quickly raised my hand.
What the hell?
Was she one of those scammers who will try to blackmail people after causing such scenes? Where are the cameras?
I looked around the place in panic and then threw the girl a wary look.
The old man beside him didn't mind anything and instead laughed.
"Hahahaha don't worry about it. This just means that Erina likes your cooking. Our family reacts differently to delicious food. Erina was blessed or rather cursed by an ability called the God's Tongue and she can perceive tastes to a very minute level. This makes her incredibly selective of what she eats. She doesn't mean to insult you." He explained.
"So this…"
"Is how she reacts to the taste which she gets won over by."
He then took a bite of his own food and paused for a moment before his clothes burst out from his body and he went on for a minute long rant on the details of the dish. I didn't even think that much when I was cooking this. He stopped after a minute and then looked at me and I couldn't help but ask. "So, these bursting clothes ability was yours?"
"Hmm."
Damn… that must suck. Everytime he ate good food, he would lose his clothes. I mean imagine this ability of a woman… that would be a nightmare. An inborn training tool to make someone into an exhibitionist.
What kind of a messed up world was this guy living in? The very thought made me shudder.
Not to mention, his clothes bill must be huge.
The man and the girl both concentrated on eating after that and then ordered different things too.
From the cheapest dish to the things going in millions.
For a minute I was scared if they were going to be scammed but the guy paid everything and added a twenty percent tip.
I made five million and eighty seven thousand yen from just this guy.
"Say, young man, why are you wasting your talents in such a remote place. I am sure that with your skill, you could get jobs anywhere you want. I actually want to invite you to the Totsuki Academy for the position of a teacher."
