Cook of the Mercenary Corp

It’s the chilly season now.
It’s already been half a year since I’ve come to this place. The calendar is the same so the dates are easy to understand.
The trees scatter their leaves, and the wind cools down… I wonder if I can go back home.

h.e.l.lo, it’s Shuri.
I tried saying something poetic but my attachments to earth is thinning. After half a year, a missing person would probably have been fired from their job, and there’s no way my parents would be surprised.
I was seriously worried about if there’s a law which protects you from something like getting abducted into another world.
Besides, I’m working here now, so I’ll just have to establish myself here.

The battle for the rights over the salt ended, and I received a large amount of reward money and ingredients. Ganglabe-san was extremely happy. It seems with this we could increase our troops and complete our armour.
The plan for an a.s.sistant cook seemed be to delayed slightly though.

“Why aren’t we recruiting for an a.s.sistant cook?”
“Because there’s no one capable enough to cover you with your skills. Furthermore, getting someone who can cook at this time is also…”

It seems like my hardships will continue.
It’s not like I can’t just teach someone though.

“Spreading your skills for cooking to other places is a bit…”

I-Is it really such a big deal?!
After all, even Riru-san and Cougar-san seem to like it…

I was slightly shocked but, a battle was happening in the cold district during the cold season.
It seems like the reason this time was exactly for the mineral resources.
Iron and copper and such. Basically the materials for making weapons and daily necessities.
Well, I mean there doesn’t seem to be any gold or silver.
But the iron seem to be able to create good quality steel so a fight is inevitable after all.
It’s cold.
We’re in a cold district during the cold season so the snows been piled up.
It’s not piling up. It’s been piled up.
If snow piles up for 1 meter then it’s at a point where it’s been piled up right?

“It’s cold isn’t it, Riru-san”
“…”

Oh noes, Riru-san’s solidifying.
There’s no helping it.

“Hyoi”
“…so warm!”

Something I made recently, a warm amazake drink.
(TL: Sweet sake from alcohol malt. It has alcohol so it’s not very popular.

“It’s sweet, not like sake”
“But it’s sake after all, so only one bottle”

‘Ku Ku’ drank Riru-san. So moe.

Turning around suddenly, I see Ganglabe-san strategizing whilst drinking the amazake I made.
Given that he’s talking to the other commanders, I wonder how are we going to go about climbing over this snow mountain and attacking the enemy.
Hm? One of the commanders is looking over here. I wonder what that’s about?

In the end, it seems like we’re just resting today and moving forward tomorrow.
Riru-san and I as the trailing troops remain here.
Doing the dishes on this kind of day is kinda tough. The cold pierces your skin.

“Excuse me”

Hn?

“Ah, it’s Ahrius-san”
“I have something to talk about”

Ahrius-san is the magic specialist who commands the magician unit.
Looking from afar before, a huge fireball with a diameter of a meter fell upon the campsite of the enemy without mercy.
That was Ahrius-san. A peerless beauty.
Long, glossy silver hair with good looking features, being slightly taller than me and a girl with perfect proportions. Except, she was flat chested.
In the magician’s unique robe held two short wands in the chest area.
That was Ahrius-san. I wonder why she wanted to talk with me.

“What is it?”
“W-well you see…”

The me who felt that Ahrius-san being slightly embarra.s.sed was erotic, should be normal.

“Would you teach me how to cook?”

…It’s the face of a girl in love.
Because Ahrius-san.
Seemed to like Ganglabe-san.
Rather, it’s obvious if you just look.
Glimpsing over him, touching him boldly and such.
Looking at him with kind eyes that she obviously doesn’t have towards the other campsite for the other males.
You don’t even need to ask because it’s obvious at first glance.
It seems like the person herself plans to hide it so she’s getting too close.
The only person who hasn’t realised it seems to be only Ganglabe-san himself.

“Cooking, is it? I don’t mind but do you have any cooking experience?”
“No…”

This, if I teach her cooking I can only see an ending with a grotesque stomachache.

“How about holding a knife?”
“…a little”
“Even though you have no experience cooking?”
“Sorry, I was being pretentious…”

The me who felt that Ahrius-san folding her arms awkwardly was erotic is healthily normal.

“Hnn, suddenly asking me to teach you how to cook…
There’s no problem with me teaching you but, it won’t be easy you know?”
“That…”
“But why so sudden?”

There hasn’t been many chances to talk with me till now.
Besides, this person the first time she met me immediately said she would kill me.
It was scary so I haven’t talked with her much.

“That is… you won’t tell anyone?”
“Don’t worry about it I’m tight-lipped”
“I… like Ganglabe”

I know!!! Everyone knows!!!
Nowadays with the setting where the beautiful girl likes the hot guy, killing intent will gush out.
In order to lower the wave of killing intent, it seems like they shoot at a ○ motion.
‘Guu’, I endured saying that everyone already knows.

“Haa, is that so”
“And then, recently I often see Ganglabe eating your cooking deliciously.
I’m, a little jealous.”

This BL factor, I’ve never wanted this at all!!!

“That’s, well…”
“If I could also cook for Ganglabe, I think he would turn to look at me.
Recently Riru and Cougar’s troops have made great efforts so he’s looking over there.
I want to do something for Ganglabe’s sake.
Even magic, I’ll learn more.”

The worries of one’s love. A secluded young lady.
Dang, the compensation for being beautiful is amazing.

“Ahrius-san, you aren’t troubled with magic are you?”
“… Just a little”

So you were troubled.
Riru-san and Cougar-san had them, so I was thinking maybe but.

“Magic isn’t really my field so I can’t say anything about that.
But I can help you with your love”
“Eh!? Really!?”

Close, too close, smells good….
Ha, what am I doing!?

“The region I was in, there’s food for people who were intimate.
Luckily the season and region is just right as well. I’ll invite both you and Ganglabe.”
“Eh? You’ll be there too?”
“At that time, please just treat me as one of the background”

I said and felt like crying.

“And? Did you invite me over for some cooking meeting?”

That night I called for Ganglabe-san and Ahrius-san.
Helping out, Riru-san made the table and chairs.
A hamburg steak was the reward. Beef is quickly running low.

“Welcome dear customers. Please sit over here”

I gently suggested them to sit on the chairs.
On the table, plates and spoons have been prepared, as well as something similar to ponzu.
(TL: the fish sauce, soaking in spring onions as well would’ve end up harming the taste of this dish.

“Now, if you would allow me to start cooking”
“Oh, cooking in front of us?”

Ganglabe-san seems to be having fun.
Ahrius-san looks over here with eyes full of killing intent.
Like I said, I didn’t want this BL factor!

“Even if I say that, the stock is already done. It’ll be done shortly”

This time I allowed myself to make boiled tofu.
Before when I was staying in the ocean district, they were selling kelp so I bought some.
The quality is good and makes a good stock.

“This is where you place the tofu”

It was tofu made from soybean and bittern which I got at the sea.
It was quite tough to make this.
Because I had to start by making the tools for creating this.
For that I made a hamburg steak for Riru-san. Beef, its stock is looking bad.

“It’s finishing slowly boiling with a simmer. It’s boiled tofu.”
“…Just this?”

Ganglabe made a surprised looking face.

“This is best eaten during the cold season”
“I see, and, will you serve me a dish?”
“No, I won’t be partic.i.p.ating.”
“What?”

I handed over the special ladle.
The one with the holes in it.

“Serving it to each other, poking at the same pot.
That’s the real thrill of hot pot cooking.”

This time, Ahrius-san made a face like she realised something.

“Ganglabe, let me serve you a dish”
“Hn? Ah, thanks”

Ahrius-san places three tofus onto Ganglabe-san’s plate.

“In that case let me serve you your dish”
“Eh?! Eh, then, ok…”

Feeling embarra.s.sed she gave her ladle and plate to him.
Giving each other three pieces, the dinner meeting starts.

“Delicious!”
“Really… even though it’s so simple.”

Both of them were surprised.
But, saying it’s simple is another thing.

“Ganglabe-san. If this hot pot had no kelp added to it what to you think?”
“It’d have the same taste right?”
“No, the taste would be drastically different.”

Both of them were confused.

“I won’t go into too much detail but, the minor role of the kelp melting into the hot pot is an extremely small factor which makes it savoury as it permeates the lead act, the tofu, which is what creates this taste.
How is it? To the lead Ganglabe-san, I wonder who it is that makes you savoury?”

Somehow saying that myself is so embarra.s.sing.
Ganglabe made a face like ‘what’, and Ahrius-san was looking over at Ganglabe-san with a feverish gaze.

“No way, Ahrius…”
“…yes”

Confirms the embarra.s.sed Ahrius-san.
With this my job ends here.
While the two talk from afar, Shuri shall make a cool exit…

The next day, Ahrius-san thanked me.
‘Thanks, right now we can’t be lovers but if you’re feeling down I’ll be the one to confess’, it seems like a manly response.
‘Riajuu should just go an explode’, was what I was thinking though.
For the comrades close to me to become happy, I wasn’t thinking about that.

By the way I was asked things about composition, elements and molecules so I answered them.
We won the battle later on but, it seems Ahrius-san was unstoppable.