Hamburger
Jack was running joyfully at the outskirts of a town in a small country.
[Hehe…I finally got 9 coppers.]
Jack was rushing ahead while paying attention to the "chari-chari" sound of the copper coins at this bosom.
Helping out at the house, getting rid of giant rats at the rafters with a machete, or guiding travelers; earning money little by little.
For seven days, Jack collected money, and then went to eat using it.
Before lunch. The time before lunch was the usual time to go.
At the usual place, the usual two people had already arrived.
[Hi, Jack-kun, good afternoon.]
Kent who was the son of the magician living in the town.
[That"s good. If you are late, we would leave you behind.]
Terry, who was a year older than the other two, was the third son of the mayor.
Only these three naughty kids knew about "that place" in the town.
[Oops. That was close. Ok, let"s go now.]
[Yeah.] [Aa.]
And the three of them departed.
An old well that was no longer used since a long time ago.
It was "that place" where they explored since they were young children.
[Kent, be careful. You"re as clumsy as a troll.]
[I know. You don"t have to say that every time.]
While striking a joke, they dropped the rope and descended down the well.
No one else at the town knows what"s at the bottom of the well.
[Okay, I"m opening it.] [Ou.] [Yeah.]
Only once in 7 days, a door leading to another world appeared.
When Terry opened the door on behalf of his friends, there was a tinkling sound of a bell.
[Welcome. Please have a seat.]
The owner, who was in the middle of guiding the regulars, said to them while holding a tray of liliputs.
[Ou.] [Yeah.] [Aa.]
The three of them were used to it and replied briefly. They sat at a vacant table and waited to order.
[Sorry I kept you waiting. What would you like to order?]
As soon as the owner came to collect their order, the three of them ordered simultaneously.
[[[Hamburger set. The drink is c.o.ke.]]]
[Very well.]
The owner retreated to the kitchen at the back while laughing a little to the overlapping voices.
[I can"t wait.]
[Oh, well. It can"t compare to the usual food.]
[Yup. Even at my house, there"s nothing like this.]
They carefully wiped their hand with the served hot napkin before looking around the restaurant while discussing about the best dish.
[Even so. This shop, there"s many demi-humans.]
[I know they"re coming from that door, but where do they come from?]
[It"s strange. Where in our world do you think the demi-humans that we only see in this restaurant live?]
They always thought of that when they came to this restaurant. The narrowness of the town where they lived, and the size of the world.
Magical doors of another world dining hall appeared all around Jack"s world.
And, not all customers were humans like Jack that "uses" the door.
There were many demi-humans visiting this restaurant.
An elf eating pasta with rotten bean sauce.
Half-elf magician eating pudding every time.
Drinking sake as if taking a bath, dwarves eating a variety of fish dishes.
Occasionally coming, halflings crazily eating a variety of dishes making use of their inborn stomach size causing a commotion.
Up to this point, the tribes were included in Jack"s common sense.
He heard about it sometimes from travelers or adventurers that visited the town, except for elves.
However, there were customers at the restaurant that he had never heard of before.
Lizardman eating yellow omurice that was covered in plenty red sauce for hamburgers.
Tremendous number of liliputs eating an extraordinarily large hotcake.
In the next seat, small people with wings eating crepe with plenty of whipped cream.
The woman eating a meat dish with boiled egg inside had a lower body of a red snake.
There were a lot of races that Jack had only heard from fairytales.
[Is it true that a dragon always comes here at midnight?]
[Oh, is that what your magician grandfather said? Wasn"t it a hoax?]
[I wonder? Sometimes they said that vampires came to the restaurant.]
A little bit of chatting.
Born at the same town with similar ages, the three grew up like brothers, and continued to talk with a friendly atmosphere.
And…
[Sorry I made you wait. It"s your hamburger sets.]
The owner carried their favourite as usual.
[Oh! I"ve been waiting!]
[It looks very good today as well.]
[This is the only place I can eat this.]
They took the dishes and put one each in front of them.
First of all, served on the dish was a heap of deep fried potatoes.
The seasoning was simply salt. It was freshly fried, and you can eat it as is. It was also good with the thick red sauce placed at the corner of the dish.
Placed beside the plate was a gla.s.s cup of black juice named c.o.ke with a strange tube that was not made with wood or metal.
Ice was put inside and the cooled c.o.ke tastes like ale. Bubbles were fizzing out, and a layer of brown foam was formed on the surface.
And the main dish was the hamburger that was placed on the plate with the Baron"s fruit.
It"s their favourite dish, fragrant white bread sprinkled with some kind of seeds on the lightly burnt surface, and sandwiched on between the breads were meat, vegetables, cheese and some sauce.
[Uooo! So delicious-!]
[I suppose I"ll eat it now.]
[Terry, you"re drooling?]
They couldn"t resist the smell drifting from the fried French fries and the freshly made hamburger, and picked up the hamburger.
You don"t need a knife or a fork for this dish.
Hold it with your hand…you bite it.
[[[Delicious!]]]
Their voices overlap.
The lightly baked white bread combined the fragrant seed on the surface with the sweet, soft taste of the bun. The roundly sliced red vegetables were firmly ripe and sweet and sour.
The thinly sliced and slightly burnt oranie were sweetly melting inside their mouth.
The thin green leaf spread under the meat provided a crispy texture while the pickled vegetables accented the meat patty.
In addition, the sauce that coloured the hamburger were a combination of sour red sauce, pungent yellow sauce, and white sauce with soft sourness different from the red sauce1. The hot temperature of the meat caused the cheese sandwiched in between to melt.
Yes, a hamburger was a meat dish.
Though the meat was surrounded by various toppings, its overwhelming taste struck their tongues.
Finely chopped meat shaped into a patty and grilled, the meat was so soft and tender that you can easily bite it apart. Once you chew on it, the meat juices overflow in your mouth.
Simple delicious gravy made using meat fat. The simplicity of the seasoning, a combination of salt and spices, brought out the taste of the meat.
Along with the bread, vegetables and cheese, the sublime combination made hamburger into a finished dish.
After one shout, while Jack was devouring his hamburger greedily, the other two took their time eating.
[Un. Delicious. I wonder how this is made.]
While drinking the c.o.ke in the gla.s.s cup, Kent tilted his head.
The black juice emitted bubbles like ale, and yet did not taste like alcohol.
It seemed that by combining various materials, a refreshing sweet and sour taste was created.
According to the teacher’s story, there seems to be a spring in which bubble springs out in the onsen ground etc. But was it used?
[Umu. Again the food here is fried using good oil.]
Terry dipped the French fries into the red sauce.
Freshly fried in oil, it crumbled in the mouth. The seasoning only used salt.
He heard from his tutor that it was a common dish in an Empire far away. The reason why it was so good is because the oil used had high purity, and the ones with stinking smell was not used.
If you thought about it, there were a few customers who had higher standings than the country boys.
Of course, the restaurant used good cooking materials comparable to upscale restaurants at the city. Their palates were satisfied.
…Comparatively, it was a mystery that the food could be afforded by the allowance of children like Jack and Terry.
The three of them finished eating their food in no time and drank their juice.
They always ordered a set of hamburgers and some additional food.
[I"ll have French fries.]
Terry wiped the red sauce from his lips.
[Well then I’d like another c.o.ke. I"m still thirsty.]
Kent held the cup that contained the c.o.ke.
[Another serving of hamburger!]
While Jack behaved badly, licking the sauce on his fingertips.
[Okay.]
With a wry smile, the owner replied to the three boys.
Come to think of it, there were a group of boys and girls around their age who used to eat hot dogs a long time ago.
[Fuu…I"m full.]
[It was delicious.]
[Yes. The food here is different from others.]
After finishing their food, the three satisfied boys stood up.
[Uncle! I"m putting the money here.]
With a jingling sound, they place the money they owed.
They opened the door and went back to the bottom of the old well.
[Alright! I ate what I want, so I"m going back home.]
[Yup. I have training to do.]
[Aa. It"s time to return back home.]
The three people had promised.
When all of them were 15 years old and recognized as independent adults, they would leave the town and became adventurers.
As a result of visiting the otherworld dining hall, their curiosity was stimulated due to seeing how wide their world truly was, and their determination became firm.
[Oh, but it"s a pity I can"t eat hamburger then.]
[Well, that"s true. But the world is huge. There may be more delicious food.]
[Oh yeah… but sometimes, we should visit our hometown. Anyways, the three of us are going to travel.]
While talking about their future, they climbed up the old well.
The day they became adults and leaving the town was just around the corner.
A combination of ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise perhaps? I can"t really imagine that with sautéed onions and cheese. -.-""