Chapter 22 : Irene has a food she wants to remember (3)

“What’s this? A hammer? Why do you need a hammer to cook?”

Maeve tilted her head and spoke.

I was going to ask for help because my small, soft body wouldn’t be able to do it!

“Like when we made the steamed wavewing, I need Maeve’s strength.”

“I know that, but why do you need a hammer? Isn’t the preparation of the ingredients all finished?”

Maeve pointed to the pot full of oil, the breadcrumbs, the beaten eggs, and the two pieces of pork loin.

“We’re going to do something called tenderizing.”

“Oh… Purpure is using difficult words again! Right, Saint?”

Dominicus nodded, rubbing the soft bread to make breadcrumbs.

“You just need to hit the meat with the hammer that Maeve is holding.”

I placed a piece of pork loin on the cutting board, covered it with a white cloth, and spoke.

“I don’t think I should hit it with all my might, what should it feel like?”

“….Why not?”

Maeve made an awkward expression and rolled her eyes to the side.

“It might turn into dust and disappear…”

What kind of power is that?!

“Think of it as flattening the meat.”

I showed Maeve my small, soft palm.

“When you lift the meat, please make it so that I can see my palm from the other side.”

“Okay! It’s easy if you give me such a detailed example!”

Maeve blew a confident breath and gently hit with the hammer in her right hand.

-Thump thump thump!

Heroes really have overflowing power, I love it.

Maeve finished the work while I brought the frying pan and poured a lot of oil into it.

“Ta-da! Purpure! Give me your hand!”

Maeve, who waited for my hand, made a proud expression when she saw her hand faintly through the meat.

“But is this okay? I don’t think there will be any meat flavor at all.”

“But you can eat it to your fill.”

I took the thinly spread meat with both hands and rolled it in the breadcrumbs that were rustling as if they would turn to dust.

“Really? It doesn’t seem like much… I think even Purpure could eat it all.”

“But we’ll coat it with a lot of breadcrumbs and fry it. Then the amount will increase and the taste will be better.”

Maeve was very interested in the dish because the ingredient was meat.

On the other hand, Dominicus was rubbing the soft bread with an almost lifeless face.

Isn’t he expecting too little because it’s not a monster?

He ate the steamed wavewing well in the end!

“Why do we need this egg wash?”

“To make the breadcrumbs stick to every corner of the meat. It’s like glue.”

Maeve clapped her hands with wide eyes.

Isn’t this a basic cooking method? Why don’t you know?

Anyway, with my small hands, I coated the meat with a lot of breadcrumbs, dipped it in the egg wash, and then coated it with breadcrumbs again.

“Huff…!”

This time too, I breathed fireballs into my mouth to raise the temperature of the stove.

“But why did you ask me to prepare the pot?”

In front of Maeve, who tilted her head, I put chopsticks in the oil.

“Wow! Are we frying chopsticks too?”

“Of course not! When you put chopsticks like this and bubbles rise around them, it’s the perfect temperature!”

“Wow…! Really? I’ve never heard of this! So you don’t check by putting your finger in!”

Wouldn’t your finger get fried if you put it in, Maeve?!

Leaving this foolish hero behind, I quickly put the meat on the frying pan.

Sizzle sizzle!

“It smells quite savory and delicious.”

“Yeah yeah! It really, really smells incredibly delicious!”

The oil in the frying pan was neither too much nor too little.

It was enough to fry the meat properly.

“Wow… But is it okay, Purpure? The oil is splattering a lot?”

“I’m not a child. I’m a terrifying Great Demon Lord.”

The oil was splattering, but it was really fine.

Rather, the savory smell of oil and the aroma that came out as the batter browned made my mouth water.

“I was very worried at first…”

In front of the admiring Maeve, I lifted the properly fried dish from the frying pan.

If I put it on a wooden basket and wait for a while, the oil will drain enough, and it will be perfect to eat!

“It looks incredibly delicious… What, what is this called?”

“It’s schnitzel. Haven’t you seen it before, Maeve?”

“Hmm… I’ve never seen it before? The meats I’ve eaten were all roasted whole or…”

Maeve scratched the back of her head, speaking awkwardly.

What is this woman’s identity?

Was she a warrior of some barbarian tribe before becoming a hero?

“But Purpure, there seems to be quite a lot of cooking ingredients left… Do you have any for me?”

“Maeve can eat properly too, so don’t worry.

I placed the well-cooked schnitzel on a plate and put the fruit jam that the merchants from the west gave me generously next to it.

“First, call Irene!”

“Hmm…. um…”

“How is it? It’s schnitzel that Purpure made diligently! For Ms. Irene!”

Unlike Maeve, who had sparkling eyes, Irene had a subtle expression as expected.

“
…Yeah, maybe it’ll be different this time.”

Irene hesitated, but picked up a fork and knife and cut the schnitzel.

“Wow… It sounds really delicious from the sound.”

Maeve admired, but Irene looked at the bite-sized schnitzel with a calm expression.

“…… It’s the same.”

“Right? Right? How good of a cook our Purpure is!”

Irene opened her mouth and put the well-cooked schnitzel in her mouth.

“Hmm…”

Somewhere between pan-frying and deep-frying.

Irene silently chewed on the crispy yet slightly soggy schnitzel.

“It’s delicious, right? It’s delicious, right? It’s delicious, as expected?”

Maeve was making a fuss, but Irene’s expression was blunt.

Rather, the blue desire sitting next to her, wriggling, looked more human.

“Hmm…”

Irene let out a painful breath, then ate another piece of schnitzel dipped in fruit jam.

Chew chew. Irene ate the schnitzel as if evaluating it carefully, then put down her fork.

“It was delicious.”

“Uh… Uh…?”

Even Maeve would know that the reaction is subtle at this point.

Irene took the bottle of alcohol to her mouth as soon as she finished speaking.

I quickly grabbed it with my soft hand to prevent her from drinking.

“Doesn’t Irene like it?”

“…I don’t want to say bad things to someone who helped me so hard.”

“It, it looks delicious just by looking at it…?”

Maeve urgently cut the schnitzel with a knife, picked it up with a fork, and put it in her mouth.

“Mmm~! As soon as you take a bite, you can feel the savory and fragrant oil taste… And you can definitely taste the meat!”

“It’s not that this dish is wrong. It’s not tasteless. It’s delicious. I always thought so…”

Irene put down the bottle of alcohol she was holding in pain.

“But… It’s not it! Schnitzel… Schnitzel… No matter how much I eat it, it’s not it. It wasn’t this taste!”

“There’s no way Purpure is wrong….”

“I’m wrong. But I’m wrong! It’s not this taste… The one in my memory…! The schnitzel that Anastasia made wasn’t this taste!”

Irene sobbed and covered her face with both hands.

“I’m sorry… But it’s not it. It wasn’t this taste. It’s similar, but it wasn’t this dish…”

“Uh, what do we do, Purpure? It seems like it’s really not it.”

“Even though it was made more delicious than the chefs from the west… It’s not it. It’s not this dish…”

Irene, who couldn’t drink, couldn’t overcome her sadness and continued to sob.

“It’s fortunate.”

I stroked Irene’s shoulder with my small, soft hand.

“Contrary to your worries, Irene remembers the taste accurately.”

“I… remember it correctly?”

“That’s right. That’s why Irene can’t be satisfied no matter how much schnitzel she eats.”

I pointed to the schnitzel, which wasn’t even a quarter eaten, with my finger.

“The food Irene ate isn’t schnitzel.”

“Ah… It’s not?! No! No! There’s no way! Anastasia told me it was schnitzel. I remember that clearly!”

I held Irene’s hand, who was shouting in panic, tightly.

“Anastasia made food for Irene every day.”

“Th….That’s… right. I didn’t even know the day was passing when I was making carriages.”

“Anastasia wanted to feed Irene delicious things.”

So Anastasia made schnitzel.

She made delicious schnitzel that made Gabe drool and
.

“So she made me delicious schnitzel… And I’m so stupid that I can’t remember it.”

“So you think you couldn’t make carriages properly?”

“…That’s right. I’m a fool who can’t even remember the taste of the food my precious friend made.”

I hit Irene’s forehead with my finger.

“Anastasia made a special schnitzel for Irene.”

“Special…?”

“She put a lot of meat in it, wishing you to eat more deliciously, and showed off her skills diligently.”

Schnitzel definitely contains meat, but it’s not to the extent that you can feel the savory meat juice when you chew.

“But according to Purpure’s explanation, we can’t make the special schnitzel that Anastasia made, can we?”

“Special… Special… Ah, ah… So that’s why. That’s why it was!”

Irene cried, shedding tears, and shouted in pain.

It must be both happy and sad that the problem that she couldn’t find the answer to for a long time was solved in an unexpected way.

“If the recipe was changed for me, ha, hahaha… There’s no way I can eat it again… I was wandering around wanting to see a mirage again…”

Irene lowered her head and trembled her shoulders.

“Thank you… Great Demon Lord.”

“What are you talking about. I’m going to make the special schnitzel that Anastasia made from now on.”

When I clapped twice, Dominicus brought the bowl containing the fluffy, coarse breadcrumbs that he had been diligently grinding, and the oil pot.

And thick pork loin!

“You’re going to make Anastasia’s schnitzel… How?”

“Because I’m the Great Demon Lord.”

The schnitzel that Anastasia made changed its appearance for her friend in East Haven.

There’s no need to say that the name of that dish is Tonkatsu, though!