Chapter 595 –Green Dragon Steak
Author: Eguchi Ren
On my table was a large chunk of meat.
It was glossy red with a nice amount of fat on it.
It was similar to Earth Dragon and Red Dragon meat, but with slightly more white flecks. So, a little fattier than the other. [1] I have no idea whether it was because they were of different species or that this Green Dragon was more sedentary. After all, it only hung out on this island and could not fly. Not to mention, it likes to run off and seal itself in a mountain when threatened.
Regardless of my thoughts, I still have to cook it. Especially with the meat-loving quartet staring at the meat.
They might as well be yelling ‘Feed us quick!’ at me from the amount of pressure I was getting.
“Too thin!”
[2]
“What?” I looked at Fer who had just yelled at me. “What did you say?”
“Master, Fer meant that the meat is too thin.”
I glared at them and moved my mithril knife further into the meat. It was originally supposed to be an inch thick, but now it was about an inch and a half.
“Thicker!”
“… Here?” I stopped at 2 inches.
“”More!””
I moved the knife until it was about 3 inches deep and said, “Alright, that’s it. This is the limit. If you want it any thicker, you can just eat it raw.” I glared at them, “I’m quite happy to cut 5-inch thick ‘steaks’ for all of you to chomp on.”
The Gluttonous Quartet looked disappointed, but I had to put my foot down some time.
“Gunu, if you could make thick steaks like that, why have you been giving us thin meats?”
[1] “Because that’s the ideal cut. You know what?” I whacked out five inches worth of steak and threw it at Fer. “Here! Eat this! That’s your steak, enjoy! Now who else wants the same thing?”
“… Master, I shall have a proper steak, but a thick one. Please,” said Grandpa Gon politely.
“”Er, same here.””
“”Sui wants steak by Aruji~~””
“Good, good, steak for everyone. Raw meat for Fer, got it.”
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Fer had already gulped down the five-inch thick steak, so I didn’t really feel too sorry for him. “I want the cooked steak too!”
“Well, I’m sorry, but there’s a limit to the size of cooked steak.”
“Gununu, fine, cooked steak. Thick one.”
“Tch, you made it sound like I’m starving you,” I muttered as I cut out 3-inch thick steaks and got out my tongs. There was no way I could flip 3-inch steaks with a pair of chopsticks.
[1]
By the way, I cut myself a decent, inch-thick steak, like a normal person.
Sizzle—
The sound of meat being grilled on several hot pans filled the air.
The steaks were not only thick, but so wide that they could barely fit into my largest pan. In the end, [2] I compromised on ‘thickness’ with ‘wideness’ and chose large cuts of meat that would satisfy my familiars without reducing the quality too much.
The aroma alone was enough to indicate the quality of the meat. As an ordinary person, the smell was enough to make my mouth water, but for creatures with sensitive noses, it must be close to unbearable. If the hard staring was any indication.
“Seriously, you guys…” I muttered under my breath as I used the tongs to flip all six pieces of steak. Eyes followed my movements. It was very uncomfortable. “Hahh… I guess it’s hard on the ones who are watching too…”
Finally, I placed the stakes onto a baking pan, covered it with foil paper and…
“Oi! What are you doing!!?”
“Can’t we eat it yet? Master?”
“”Steak! Steak!””
“”Steak~ steak~””
“… I can forgive Grandpa Gon for ignorance, but how many times have you guys seen me make steak? It needs to rest first. Otherwise, it would not taste good,” I scolded them.
“Kuuhhh,”
“Muu…”
“Just be patient,” I said as I checked on the grill again for the next batch of steaks. Maybe I could sneak my 1-inch steak in… That was when I felt eyes staring at the back of my neck. I quickly looked around, but my familiars were all staring at the foil-covered baking tray. Therefore…
“Gah!”
Six pairs of eyes were staring at me from behind some pillars. That’s right, it was the High Elves. They were all staring and drooling in our direction.
“… Would you like to join us?” I asked.
All six of them rushed over.
“Ahem, as promised. The payment for the dismantling job would be meat. Would you like to have a chunk of raw meat or would you like me to cook it up?”
“Cook it!”
“We’ll have what the rest are having!”
“Yes! That!”
“I have never smelt anything so divine~~”
“Please!”
“Absolutely!”
“Okay,” I arbitrarily decided that the newcomers should have the inch-thick steak. If they later want the 3-inch steak, they can ask for it later.
Jiii—-
Ugh, more stares stabbed into my back as I removed the foil paper to move the stacks of meat onto deep dishes.
“Delishh!!!”
“Yum!!!”
[3] I considered the two remaining 3-inch steaks and then the steaks on the stove that needed flipping. Well, I flipped the steaks on the grill once before removing the 3-inch steaks from the under the foil paper and quickly sliced them into decent bite-size and portioned the two steaks out onto six plates.
“Ou!!!”
“So good!!!”
“Yes, yes,” I said as I transferred the inch-thick steaks under the foil paper and got started on the next batch of 3-inch thick steaks.
By now, the pan was so greasy that I had to pour some of the tallow into a bowl before placing more steaks on them. Finally, when the batch of 3-inch steaks was sizzling, I served myself one of the inch-thick steaks. It cut very easily and ooof, wow, that’s really juicy! Another bite later, I sighed.
“Even with just salt and pepper, it’s already this delicious…”
About halfway through my steak, I got out three bottles of Steak Sauce and poured some onto a piece of steak that had been sliced.
“Ah, as expected, the Soy Sauce based Steak Sauce is incredible~”
“Seconds!”
“Yes, yes,”
“I want the next steak with that sauce!” Fer barked.
“Same here, please,” said Grandpa Gon.
““Ou, I want mine that other sauce. Yeah, that one!””
“”Sui wants sauce too~~ Aruji, please choose for Sui~~””
“Yes, yes, fine,” I said as I prepared their orders. After serving my familiars, I had to give the High Elves their share as well. I let them have a set of three different sauces to try. By the way, the three sauces I picked out were: Soy Sauce based, Roasted Garlic based and Grated Radish based.
I must say, the aroma of garlic on steak is ama~zing~~
As for the grated radish based steak sauce, it sounded a little odd, but trust me, with a strong-tasting meat like Dragon Steak, the refres.h.i.+ng flavour of radish refreshes the palate allowing me to renew my taste buds and experience the flavour anew.
“Woah!”
“Th-this…”
“Just a splash of this liquid and the taste…”
“Delis.h.!.+”
“H-how-”
“So good~”
“Well, I’m glad you all enjoyed it,” I said. “Seconds?”
“YES!!”
This time, I served them the inch-thick steaks. Oi, what’s with this look of disappointment? Just eat your food!
Ah, the steaks were quickly devoured. Fine, I’ll make more of the super thick steaks. This time, instead of slicing up the steaks, I let them have one each.
In the end, Fer and Sui had 13 pieces of the 3-inch thick steaks, Grandpa Gon had 11 pieces, and Dora-chan had 5 pieces. The High Elves ate a lot, but I did not manage to keep track. Still, it was shocking how much they could eat.
I looked down at my own plate. I had… one inch-thick steak and a few slices of the super thick steaks and… that was it.
I wonder just how long this Green Dragon would last us?
[Gumihou: Adjusted some details]
[1] Add details
[2] Adjusted the comedic moment. Changed out Mukouda being bullied to Mukouda standing his ground.
[3] Adjust logistic issues