Chapter 269

After Kurt rescued Bram from the monster known as Demon’s Hand, several significant changes occurred.

The first was the rumor about Kurt’s cooking.

Although it had been quite some time since Kurt started cooking at the Adventurer Guild, his culinary skills remained a hot topic among adventurers.

Among the adventurers of Astram, Kurt’s dishes were quite popular as bar snacks and also a heated debate topic.

When Kurt cooked, opinions were split: “The smell is so intense it’s almost painful, so it must be incredibly delicious,” versus “No, just because the smell is strong doesn’t guarantee the taste is great. It’s probably just the smell that’s impressive, not the taste.”

Of course, most ordinary adventurers would think someone is a good cook if they serve dishes with an amazing aroma and enjoy eating them. However, the issue was that the cook in question was a Lizardman.

It was well-known that most Beastkin retained some habits of their animal origins, but Lizardmen were particularly notorious for having a sense of taste worse than actual lizards.

Moreover, there was an inn in Astram run by a Lizardman that was popular among non-human races. This inn was praised for addressing minor discomforts from the perspective of other races, but its one shortfall was the food.

Normally, a dedicated cook handled the meals, but if that cook was off, the innkeeper would take over, and the dishes, while looking and smelling good, always turned out to be a mess in terms of taste.

Thus, skeptics argued that Kurt’s cooking, while visually and aromatically impressive, was likely just a facade learned from living in human society, with the actual taste being significantly lacking.

Supporters, however, pointed out that Kurt’s party members always enjoyed his meals, suggesting that his cooking couldn’t be that bad. Yet, this argument failed to fully convince the skeptics.

The debate over Kurt’s cooking was so intense among Astram’s adventurers that the stakes of bets on whether his food was truly delicious or not could match a month’s income for an average adventurer party.

However, none of the adventurers debating had actually tasted Kurt’s cooking, leaving their curiosity unsatisfied and Kurt’s culinary skills shrouded in mystery.

Recently, however, a well-respected Silver Rank adventurer party, Bram’s party, tasted Kurt’s cooking and testified about it, unraveling the mystery that had been one of Astram’s seven greatest enigmas.

With Kurt’s cooking proven to be delicious, public opinion among Astram’s adventurers shifted.

Thoughts like, “If it’s really that good, maybe I should ask him to cook for me too,” began to surface.

Previously, it was difficult to approach a party with no prior connection to share a meal, especially since Bram’s party included two Silver Rank adventurers, higher than the average adventurer in Astram.

But now, with the confirmation of Kurt’s cooking skills, the balance tipped towards wanting to taste his dishes.

Moreover, hearing from Bram’s party that Kurt was surprisingly willing to cook upon request added to the good news.

However, this led to the second issue.

The second issue was that Astram’s adventurers couldn’t bring themselves to casually ask Kurt to cook for them.

This was because, along with his cooking skills, Kurt’s combat prowess had also become widely known.

If someone was of a similar or slightly higher rank, it might be possible to casually get acquainted over drinks and subtly request a meal.

But when the gap in ability was overwhelmingly large, even initiating a conversation, let alone asking for a meal, became difficult.

Kurt had always prioritized cooking since becoming an adventurer, often choosing hunting quests based on what would taste good over lucrative or fame-garnering quests.

For instance, among the quests he accepted was one to hunt a Three-legged Fowl that had escaped from a farm, a task more suited for novice adventurers.

Even when hunting more formidable monsters, Kurt was always accompanied by his party members, the Silver Rank adventurers Karina and Serena, which led to his abilities being underestimated.

Of course, sharp-eyed adventurers suspected Kurt’s skills were above average for his rank, but without collaborating with adventurers outside his fixed party or taking on quests alone, his true capabilities remained unknown.

However,

when Kurt rescued Bram and brought back the corpse of the Demon’s Hand as if it were a trivial matter, the adventurers at the Adventurer Guild couldn’t help but realize Kurt’s true strength.

Even in Astram, where monsters of all kinds roamed, a Gold Rank monster like the Demon’s Hand was not something one could easily encounter.

It was an event significant enough to warrant an emergency alert in Astram just by its appearance.

Yet, Kurt had returned with the Demon’s Hand’s corpse in just a day since leaving the Adventurer Guild.

This was a timeframe barely sufficient for a round trip to the quest location under normal travel conditions.

Adding to this, Kurt appeared unscathed, in stark contrast to the Demon’s Hand, whose wings were scratched and head bore a large hole.

This proved how one-sided the battle had been.

The ranking of monster hunts is based on the premise that a minimum of four adventurers of the same rank are needed to safely hunt a monster of that rank.

Thus, Kurt’s estimated adventurer rank was equivalent to four Gold Rank adventurers.

Or possibly even higher.

To think that someone who achieved such a feat was merely an adventurer of the same rank?

If adventurers of the same rank could single-handedly take down Gold Rank monsters, the monsters near Astram would have been wiped out long ago.

Therefore,

Kurt was now not just a topic of conversation within the Adventurer Guild of Astram but a sensation throughout Astram itself.

…

…

…

“…But still.”

At the center of this buzz, Kurt was holding a shopping basket with a troubled expression.

“Huh? Wait, is that Lizardman…?”

“Is that Lizardman the one from the rumors…?”

“Oh my, oh my. What’s going on?”

“If I ask for a handshake now, would he accept?”

“Ah, wait, I want to ask too!”

Merchants in the market, whom he had casually interacted with before, now looked at him with difficulty or, perhaps wanting to make a good impression, gave him 30% more goods than usual for the same price, making shopping a hassle.

And as Kurt, overwhelmed by the excessive attention, wandered among the people, he recalled something from his past life.

It was about a friend who particularly loved card games.

That friend, shy in strange places, once complained to Kurt in his past life about how uncomfortable he felt when a regular restaurant owner acted overly familiar or gave extra service, making him unable to visit that restaurant again.

At that time, Kurt didn’t understand his friend’s feelings, merely thinking, “So there are customers like that. I should keep that in mind when running a shop,” and brushed it off lightly…

“Now I get it. What you were trying to say back then…”

He truly realized how excessive attention and favor could actually cause discomfort.

Thus, wherever he went, merchants and residents of Astram recognized him.

Being a rare Lizardman, he already attracted attention, but the gazes directed at him in recent days were incomparable to before.

In the end, Kurt had to cut his shopping short, unable to buy even half of what he originally intended.

And when Kurt returned to the Adventurer Guild with a half-filled shopping basket, looking more tired than usual, there was someone waiting for him.