Chapter 114

Aisia looked at the dish Kurt had made with bewildered eyes.

At first, when only the Oriental Salad and Tofu Steak came out, she thought, “Two main dishes? How luxurious.”

But then, a plate of noodles drenched in a bright red sauce she had never seen before appeared, followed by a cylindrical food that she couldn’t even guess what it was.

“What… what is all this?”

“Today’s a special day, so I went all out.”

“Is it okay to make so much food?”

“Hahaha. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“But isn’t this going to cost a lot?”

“…Ahem. Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

At Aisia’s words, Kurt averted his eyes and spoke, and seeing this, she smiled softly, understanding the situation.

‘He went out of his way to make so much food just to cheer me up. And to avoid burdening me, he changed the subject. Marisia, I really have good companions.’

Of course, Kurt avoided Aisia’s eyes because he had spent almost all the party’s funds without Mari’s permission, but Aisia, unaware of this, was deeply moved by his thoughtfulness.

“Alright. Since today is a special day, let’s start with the meal.”

At Aisia’s words, Karina and Serena, who had been helping Kurt carry the dishes, also sat down, and soon the table was filled with the lively chatter of the four.

—

Sitting at the table, Aisia slowly examined the dishes laid out before her.

Out of the four dishes, two were familiar to her, while the other two were completely new.

“By the way, what are these dishes? I’ve never seen them before.”

“This noodle dish is Napolitan Spaghetti. And this one is called Rice Cake.”

“Napolitan Spaghetti? Is that the name of this noodle dish?”

“Ah, yes. It has a strong sweet and sour flavor, so it can overpower the mild taste of the Tofu Steak. I recommend eating it after the Tofu Steak.”

As Kurt explained the order of eating, Karina and Serena, who had been quietly listening, chimed in.

“But is this Napolitan Spaghetti made with the tomato sauce we had in the Dwarf village last time?”

“Wait, cake!? I had a feeling when I saw the shape!”

Karina, who loved stews and tomato-based dishes, immediately caught the scent of tomatoes and asked, while Serena, reacting to the word “cake,” lit up and clung to Kurt.

‘Tomato sauce…? Cake? What are those two things that they’re so excited about?’

Even by Elf standards, no matter how delicious the food was, they never reacted so dramatically.

‘Just how delicious is this food…?’

Gulp.

Aisia swallowed her saliva without thinking.

Even though she had been feeling down about sending Mari off earlier…

That was that, and this was this.

In that sense, Kurt’s intention to cheer up Aisia had already hit the mark perfectly before the meal even started.

Aisia, forgetting her gloom, picked up her fork with a mix of tension and excitement.

—

And so, the meal began.

Even though she loved the Tofu Steak, Aisia’s eyes kept drifting to the Napolitan Spaghetti and Rice Cake.

Among them, her eyes lingered more often on the Napolitan Spaghetti.

It was because of the unique tangy and rich tomato aroma that kept wafting up even as she ate the Tofu Steak.

Aisia chewed the Tofu Steak non-stop, but her eyes were fixed on the Napolitan Spaghetti. The only reason she ate the Tofu Steak first was because Kurt had recommended it.

If not, she would have gone straight for the Napolitan Spaghetti.

‘Ugh… I can’t focus on the Tofu Steak because the Napolitan Spaghetti is distracting me… Wait?’

As she ate the Tofu Steak, Aisia realized something startling.

‘If the reason for eating the Tofu Steak first is so that the Napolitan Spaghetti doesn’t overpower its flavor, but if I can’t even taste the Tofu Steak because I’m too distracted by the Napolitan Spaghetti, then what’s the point?’

Wouldn’t it be wiser to just skip filling her stomach and go straight for the Napolitan Spaghetti?

Aisia came up with this reasoning and quickly set aside the barely touched Tofu Steak, scooping a plate of Napolitan Spaghetti for herself.

At the same time, the rich, deep, tangy aroma of the tomato sauce wafted up.

‘Hmph. He said it was a sweet and sour dish.’

Would it taste similar to Oriental sauce or ponzu sauce?

Imagining the taste, Aisia twirled the noodles around her fork and put them in her mouth.

Hahp.

‘Mmm!’

But the tanginess of the Napolitan sauce was unlike anything she had expected, different from both the Oriental Salad and ponzu sauce.

The tanginess of Oriental and ponzu sauces was a natural sourness, achieved with vinegar, that didn’t overpower the original flavors of the ingredients.

The Oriental sauce was tangy and salty but didn’t overshadow the natural taste of the vegetables in the salad.

Ponzu sauce went a step further, mixing in fruit juice to bring out a refreshing fruitiness.

But the tanginess of the Napolitan sauce was far from the natural flavors of fruits and vegetables.

The flavors of tomato, onion, and bell pepper were there, but they were somewhat different from their natural states.

Yet, they weren’t completely stripped of their original flavors.

Rather, it was as if their original flavors had been upgraded by a level.

The boiled tomatoes had a concentrated umami, several times stronger than raw tomatoes.

The onions, roasted until soft, lost their sharpness and developed a subtle sweetness.

The bell peppers, a type of paprika, when grilled directly over fire, lost their crunch but became incredibly soft, with their aroma and sweetness multiplied.

All these vegetables retained their original flavors while being elevated to a higher level.

The tomato sauce was a concentrated blend of all these finely chopped vegetables.

Until now, Kurt’s vegetarian dishes had focused on preserving the natural flavors of the ingredients, but this sauce was the opposite, focusing on enhancing the flavors through processing.

The tomato sauce alone had a complex and deep flavor but wasn’t particularly stimulating.

What filled that gap was the presence of ketchup.

It was like a flavor assault, injecting the very concept of stimulation.

Both sauces were made from tomatoes and had artificial flavors, but while the tomato sauce was a healthy, ingredient-focused artificial flavor, ketchup minimized the original flavors, focusing instead on overwhelming the palate with sweetness.

It was salty, tangy, and even the umami, which should have been deep and subtle, felt violently stimulating.

It was a flavor assault that sharply penetrated the eater’s tongue with various stimulating tastes.

If tomato sauce was an emotionally moving drama, ketchup was a splatter movie filled with all sorts of stimulating and sensational scenes.

Despite being made from two sauces with opposite qualities, the Napolitan sauce didn’t clash.

This was because the common ingredient, tomato, bridged the two sauces with entirely different directions.

The tomato’s presence was like a versatile actor capable of both melodrama and psycho killer roles.

The addition of chopped bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms enriched the mouthfeel, while the spaghetti noodles kept the flavor from becoming overwhelming.

Eating it, Aisia felt a shock as if all the hairs on her body were standing on end from the intense yet rich flavor.

‘Such a stimulating taste…!’

Though made with vegetarian ingredients, this dish was far from the naturalistic cuisine typically eaten in Elf villages. Yet, what Aisia felt wasn’t rejection but awe.

It was like the awe one feels when seeing the ocean for the first time.

Until now, the most stimulating flavors she knew were from the fruits grown in the Elf village.

Influenced by the World Tree’s domain, these plants grew large and sweet with deep aromas, as if they had been artificially bred over generations.

Thus, most Elves could enjoy satisfying meals with just the natural fruits without needing to cook with fire, and they had no major complaints.

Aisia had always thought she had an Elf’s palate.

But now, in this moment, she realized.

‘Ah. I love stimulating flavors♡’

It was the moment her palate completely fell for artificial, stimulating tastes.

And so, Aisia mindlessly shoveled Kurt’s Napolitan Spaghetti into her mouth.