“Mr. Souya! It’s reaaady!”
I’d dozed off.
Checking my watch, I saw an hour had passed.
“Whaaa—?!” Startled, Éa woke up.
“Can you taste-test it for me? Though, we all know my seasoning is always perfect!”
“Éa, do you mind?” I slid my dazed sister off my lap and laid her down on the meadow, then draped my poncho over her. She snuggled up and fell right back to sleep. “Lemme see.”
I approached the pot. Inside, I found a dark-brown stew simply filled with nothing but morsels of pork. Machina had made curry using Otherworldly ingredients from scratch. Of course, real curry just referred to a type of seasoning, so more accurately, this was Japanese-style curry. But getting into the fine details on the individual types of the dish would only make things more complicated, so let’s just go with curry.
I ladled a bit of the curry into a small bowl and took a bite.
“Da—” Damn, that’s good. Hearty and full, the flavors from all the ingredients danced together like Rockettes. But—
“It’s a little sour. Could use some salt, too.”
“What…did you say?” Machina spluttered.
After adding a pinch of salt, I stirred the stew again. “It needs something…to round out the flavors a bit.” I scanned the Tupperware Machina had brought, picked one, and said, “Let’s use this.” And I threw shredded cheese into the pot. “Oh, and a little of this and this.” Milk and honey. Mix, mix, mix.
Experience had taught me that the races on the smaller side here tended to have somewhat childish palettes. Once, I’d hosted a high priest of the Church of Flames and another from the Jumichla Healing Temple. Coincidentally, the two small beastfolk had not appreciated the meal’s strong flavors, instead preferring what you might serve a kid. In other words, our guests today would probably not appreciate the acidity in the tomatoes or the more pungent spices, either. Everyone tolerated a different level of spiciness. We’d brought along a little jar of crushed red peppers, so I’d just ask our guests to add whatever they liked to their own bowls.
I took another taste. “Mmm, nice and mellow.” The acidity had lessened, and the saltiness and hearty flavor came through more. It made me want to mix some rice in. Though perhaps a little unsatisfying for an adult, the curry would probably be a hit for younger customers.
“Grrrrrr.” Machina ground her gears, frustrated. I smirked back at her.
“So what will we eat this with?”
“Potatoes from the underground goblin dungeon and pasta with garlic and chili flakes.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
I plucked a potato out of a boiling pot of water and transferred the pasta from the frying pan onto a plate, leaving half of it empty. In that space, I then ladled out the curry, going heavy on the pork morsels. This was no time to skimp. Visually, it wasn’t very appealing, so I garnished the potato with medicinal shoots and grated cheese over the curry. For the final touch, I added a few slices of homemade pickled onions.
“Guess that about does it, huh?”
“I reckon it does, partner.”
After preparing four more portions, I served the dishes, placing them on the table. Éa jolted awake as soon as she caught a whiff of the meal. For someone who’d been so scared, she seemed surprisingly at ease when she took her seat—right across from the Dark Lord.
“Thank you all for your patience. I call this Goblin curry.”
“Curry? And that is…?” my green guest wondered.
“It’s actually quite interesting. You see, it all goes back to a former allied nation called Engla—”
Éa clamped her hand over my mouth. “Yaya, I’m starving. Save it.”
“Mr. Souya, you should really read the room.” I haven’t even started yet!
The goblin grabbed his spoon and dug right in. “Ohhh. Ohhh-ho.” The utensil clacked against the bowl as he went back for more. He used his spoon to slice the potato, coated the chunk in curry, and took his time, enjoying every mouthful.
“………” The Dark Lord had begun eating, too.
But you’re a skeleton, so how…? Or so I pondered, but the mystery soon solved itself. As soon as the cloaked regent took a spoonful of the curry, everything but the utensil dissolved into light and got absorbed into the bones.
“………” Wordlessly, the Dark Lord kept eating. Does it satisfy their taste buds? I can’t tell. There’s no reading this one. “………”
Seeming to notice my gaze, the skeleton tapped the little green guy, then whispered something once again. For a second, I thought it was cute—then grew horrified at myself for thinking it.
“Thus decrees my lord: ‘The majesty you see here is one of my most closely held secrets, a magical technique called Ghelmganse Necrosia. The high magic spell digests what sustenance I intake and sends the taste to my soul. Terrifying, would you not agree? Bwa-ha-ha-ha!’ I want to focus on this, though, so I’ll tell you the rest later, dude.”
Our two unusual guests went back to their meals.
“Mm!” Right on cue, my little sister—
“This is so yummy! Don’t the instant-ramen packages come in this flavor?!”
—started wolfing it down. I had a Dark Lord (skeleton), a green goblin, and an elven princess (technically) before me, and the elf by far had the worst table manners. Or maybe the skeletal lord and the little guy were just extra polite.
“Yaya! I want it spicier. And some mayonnaise for the potato! I don’t want the pasta!” She had a point; the noodles didn’t mesh well with the rest of the dish. It didn’t taste bad per se, but it sort of clashed with the flavors. I set the jars of chili flakes and mayonnaise in front of her.