I, Tevis Nouviche, am furious. My blood is boiling, I tell you. A few days ago, I was in my bedroom at night, tasting a new creation – Sichuan mapo tofu. Despite being overwhelmed by its spiciness and deliciousness, I had been working day and night with the royal chefs to perfectly recreate the recipe. The royal chefs were so frustrated with the complexity of the recipe that they complained, “We should just invite the creator himself to teach us.” The recipe is clear and easy to understand, but analyzing the finer details is proving difficult. We’ve been spending our days debating and researching what might be different. I suppose we’ll have to call Shuri at some point. I was pondering this when…
“Princess, we’ve received a message from our spy. It’s about Shuri.” “Oh? Has he finally been fired from the Gungrave Mercenary Group and decided to work for Nouviche?”
Of course, I’m joking. But I do wish it were true.
“Actually, it seems Shuri has been recruited by another country.” “…What did you say?”
After seeing that kitchen knife, someone still dares to recruit him? Well, I can’t blame them. With skills like his, who wouldn’t fall for him? But this could become a diplomatic issue.
“Which country?” “Arturia. Apparently, during negotiations about magic crystals with the Gungrave Mercenary Group, the prince personally expressed his desire to have Shuri.”
Arturia? Ah, that backwater snowy country with mediocre magic engineering skills that can only sell magic crystals. True, they do produce magic crystals there. The quality isn’t bad either. But we have the Sacred Forest here. Magic crystals form in places rich with nature, and they also appear in the Sacred Forest. The quality is good too. If I remember correctly, we were trading magic crystals and food with them. Honestly, it’s not a very profitable trade. I’ve thought before that we should just stop it.
“Well, fine. Send them a stern warning letter.” “Understood. I’ll have it delivered by pigeon.”
Poor Shuri, being recruited by such a backwater place. Even if he were to work for Arturia, he wouldn’t be able to fully utilize his skills. Shuri belongs in a territory like Nouviche, where fresh ingredients are readily available.
As I was thinking this, I overheard something I couldn’t ignore.
“According to our spy, the king and prince ate Shuri’s cooking and couldn’t put down their spoons even during negotiations. I wonder what kind of dish it was?” “Wait.”
I stopped the maid who was about to leave the room. What did you say? They ate Shuri’s cooking? And it was so delicious they couldn’t stop eating? Unforgivable. To think they tasted such a delicacy before me, and even had the audacity to try and recruit Shuri.
I won’t let this barbaric act slide. I’ll make them regret it.
“Change the content of the letter. Demand a ‘review of our trade agreement’ due to ‘unjust recruitment of a person close to our country’ and ‘insult’. I’ll fly there myself. Make the preparations.” “Y-Yes, Your Highness!”
After the maid rushed out, I sat there carefully considering how to corner Arturia.
“So this is the dish Shuri was working on night after night.”
I’ve finally decided to serve the completed curry to Gungrave. Hi there, it’s Shuri here. It’s been a few days since the commotion with Arturia. We’re finally able to enjoy some peace and quiet.
“This is delicious.” “I’m glad you like it. But it’s not quite perfect yet.” “Not perfect?” “That’s right.”
After all, we don’t have any rice. What should I do? We didn’t have any in stock, so it ended up more like a curry soup. But curry really needs rice, doesn’t it? As I was worrying about this, someone approached us.
“Captain. A messenger from Nouviche came and left a letter and some food.” “Huh? From Nouviche?” “Yes. And they want to meet with Shuri as well.”
What could this be about? When I went to meet the messenger, there was a large amount of food. Hey, isn’t that rice?
“It’s been a while, Sir Shuri.” “Huh? ‘Sir’?” “Yes. You’re the princess’s favorite, Sir Shuri. We’ve been instructed to treat you with the utmost respect.”
Ah, that princess…
“So, what’s all this?” “Yes. Our country has revised our trade agreement with Arturia and successfully gained more benefits. The princess has instructed me to deliver a letter to Captain Gungrave and rice to you, Sir Shuri, as a token of gratitude.” “I see.”
It’s not really for the princess’s sake, though…
“Is that so? By the way, is this rice grown in Nouviche?” “Yes. It’s an essential ingredient for the mapo tofu dish that Sir Shuri introduced.” “I see. In that case, please deliver this to the princess.”
I handed over the curry roux and the recipe. When I finished making the curry powder, I solidified it into a roux for easy transport and cooking. Now you too can be a curry chef!
“What’s this?” “It’s the ingredients and recipe needed for curry rice. I’ve created a new dish, so it’s my way of saying thanks for the rice.” “I-I see. The princess will be delighted.”
I hope so. After the messenger left, Gungrave looked at me with a slightly worried expression.
“Are you sure about this? Sharing a new recipe so easily?” “Well, it’s just a return gift. We can always make more curry roux, so it’s not a problem. The real issue is…”
The real issue is Lill, who’s devouring the hamburger steak curry like there’s no tomorrow. She’s been eating like that for a while now. It’s almost scary.
“Supreme. This is truly supreme.”
She keeps saying things like that while eating.
“You mean Lill?” “…Yeah.”
In the end, we had a hard time stopping Lill.
Later, I cooked the rice and made curry rice. Everyone’s enjoying it. Curry rice really is the best, isn’t it?
Afterwards, in Nouviche, the princess tasted the curry rice and was amazed by its flavor. Recreating the recipe proved to be even more challenging than the mapo tofu, bringing the royal chefs to tears. However, when she tasted the mapo curry, a combination of mapo tofu and curry, she was overjoyed beyond words. In later years, mapo curry would become a secret royal family recipe, but that’s another story.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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Chapter 22
I, Tevis Nouviche, am furious. My blood is boiling, I tell you.
A few days ago, I was in my bedroom at night, tasting a new creation – Sichuan mapo tofu.
Despite being overwhelmed by its spiciness and deliciousness, I had been working day and night with the royal chefs to perfectly recreate the recipe.
The royal chefs were so frustrated with the complexity of the recipe that they complained, “We should just invite the creator himself to teach us.” The recipe is clear and easy to understand, but analyzing the finer details is proving difficult. We’ve been spending our days debating and researching what might be different.
I suppose we’ll have to call Shuri at some point.
I was pondering this when…
“Princess, we’ve received a message from our spy. It’s about Shuri.”
“Oh? Has he finally been fired from the Gungrave Mercenary Group and decided to work for Nouviche?”
Of course, I’m joking.
But I do wish it were true.
“Actually, it seems Shuri has been recruited by another country.”
“…What did you say?”
After seeing that kitchen knife, someone still dares to recruit him?
Well, I can’t blame them. With skills like his, who wouldn’t fall for him?
But this could become a diplomatic issue.
“Which country?”
“Arturia. Apparently, during negotiations about magic crystals with the Gungrave Mercenary Group, the prince personally expressed his desire to have Shuri.”
Arturia?
Ah, that backwater snowy country with mediocre magic engineering skills that can only sell magic crystals.
True, they do produce magic crystals there. The quality isn’t bad either.
But we have the Sacred Forest here.
Magic crystals form in places rich with nature, and they also appear in the Sacred Forest. The quality is good too.
If I remember correctly, we were trading magic crystals and food with them.
Honestly, it’s not a very profitable trade. I’ve thought before that we should just stop it.
“Well, fine. Send them a stern warning letter.”
“Understood. I’ll have it delivered by pigeon.”
Poor Shuri, being recruited by such a backwater place.
Even if he were to work for Arturia, he wouldn’t be able to fully utilize his skills.
Shuri belongs in a territory like Nouviche, where fresh ingredients are readily available.
As I was thinking this, I overheard something I couldn’t ignore.
“According to our spy, the king and prince ate Shuri’s cooking and couldn’t put down their spoons even during negotiations. I wonder what kind of dish it was?”
“Wait.”
I stopped the maid who was about to leave the room.
What did you say? They ate Shuri’s cooking?
And it was so delicious they couldn’t stop eating?
Unforgivable. To think they tasted such a delicacy before me, and even had the audacity to try and recruit Shuri.
I won’t let this barbaric act slide. I’ll make them regret it.
“Change the content of the letter.
Demand a ‘review of our trade agreement’ due to ‘unjust recruitment of a person close to our country’ and ‘insult’.
I’ll fly there myself. Make the preparations.”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”
After the maid rushed out, I sat there carefully considering how to corner Arturia.
“So this is the dish Shuri was working on night after night.”
I’ve finally decided to serve the completed curry to Gungrave.
Hi there, it’s Shuri here. It’s been a few days since the commotion with Arturia. We’re finally able to enjoy some peace and quiet.
“This is delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it. But it’s not quite perfect yet.”
“Not perfect?”
“That’s right.”
After all, we don’t have any rice.
What should I do? We didn’t have any in stock, so it ended up more like a curry soup. But curry really needs rice, doesn’t it?
As I was worrying about this, someone approached us.
“Captain. A messenger from Nouviche came and left a letter and some food.”
“Huh? From Nouviche?”
“Yes. And they want to meet with Shuri as well.”
What could this be about?
When I went to meet the messenger, there was a large amount of food.
Hey, isn’t that rice?
“It’s been a while, Sir Shuri.”
“Huh? ‘Sir’?”
“Yes. You’re the princess’s favorite, Sir Shuri. We’ve been instructed to treat you with the utmost respect.”
Ah, that princess…
“So, what’s all this?”
“Yes. Our country has revised our trade agreement with Arturia and successfully gained more benefits.
The princess has instructed me to deliver a letter to Captain Gungrave and rice to you, Sir Shuri, as a token of gratitude.”
“I see.”
It’s not really for the princess’s sake, though…
“Is that so? By the way, is this rice grown in Nouviche?”
“Yes. It’s an essential ingredient for the mapo tofu dish that Sir Shuri introduced.”
“I see. In that case, please deliver this to the princess.”
I handed over the curry roux and the recipe.
When I finished making the curry powder, I solidified it into a roux for easy transport and cooking.
Now you too can be a curry chef!
“What’s this?”
“It’s the ingredients and recipe needed for curry rice. I’ve created a new dish, so it’s my way of saying thanks for the rice.”
“I-I see. The princess will be delighted.”
I hope so.
After the messenger left, Gungrave looked at me with a slightly worried expression.
“Are you sure about this? Sharing a new recipe so easily?”
“Well, it’s just a return gift. We can always make more curry roux, so it’s not a problem.
The real issue is…”
The real issue is Lill, who’s devouring the hamburger steak curry like there’s no tomorrow.
She’s been eating like that for a while now. It’s almost scary.
“Supreme. This is truly supreme.”
She keeps saying things like that while eating.
“You mean Lill?”
“…Yeah.”
In the end, we had a hard time stopping Lill.
Later, I cooked the rice and made curry rice. Everyone’s enjoying it. Curry rice really is the best, isn’t it?
Afterwards, in Nouviche, the princess tasted the curry rice and was amazed by its flavor.
Recreating the recipe proved to be even more challenging than the mapo tofu, bringing the royal chefs to tears.
However, when she tasted the mapo curry, a combination of mapo tofu and curry, she was overjoyed beyond words.
In later years, mapo curry would become a secret royal family recipe, but that’s another story.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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