Chapter 142

As soon as I entered the kitchen, I immediately took out the potatoes.

The dishes I planned to make were French fries and a milkshake.

Both are best when freshly made, but if I had to prioritize which to make first, it would definitely be the French fries over the milkshake, which would turn into sweet milk if it melted.

Actually, when I heard that Arisa likes dairy products, I thought about making cheese fries or poutine with gravy sauce, but since it’s quite hot today, it’s better to balance it with something cool.

Plus, French fries and milkshake go well together.

Making French fries was simple.

Mari had begged me to make them so many times during our travels that it became second nature to me.

Now, after adjusting the oil temperature, which I’ve gotten used to, I dropped the potatoes cut into French fry style into the oil.

All that’s left is to fry the potatoes and finish them.

But while frying the potatoes, I prepared to make the milkshake.

“Hey, Serena.”

“What, what is it…?”

“I think I’ll need your help with the cooking. I need magic.”

“Ah, really? Okay! I’ll be right there.”

“Hey, hey! Don’t go alone!”

I called Serena, who was waiting for snacks at the guild table, and she shook off Karina’s hand, who tried to grab her, and entered the kitchen with strangely light steps.

“So, what’s up?”

“I need you to use magic to make some ice.”

“Ice? Making ice with magic is pretty tiring…”

“Sorry, but it’s essential for the dessert.”

“D-dessert? Hmph. If it’s dessert, I guess I have no choice.”

Serena, who initially frowned at the idea of making ice because it was tiring, brightened up at the mention of dessert and willingly began chanting the magic spell.

The easiest way to make a milkshake is to mix milk and vanilla ice cream and blend it until it’s smooth, but in this world, making a milkshake that way would require making ice cream from scratch.

That would be putting the cart before the horse.

If that’s the case, I might as well just serve ice cream as dessert.

So, the method I’m using is to make a milkshake using only milk and ice.

It’s more troublesome than using ice cream, and if not blended properly, it can be grainy…

But I can’t start by making ice cream just to make a milkshake, so I have no choice.

Meanwhile, three minutes had passed since I started frying the potatoes, and I took them out of the oil, sprinkled them with salt and herb powder, and finished the French fries.

I also put some ketchup on the plate…

By then, Serena had also made a fairly large block of ice and handed it to me.

“Hoo… Done. My specialty is fire magic…”

“Good job. It’ll be done soon, so go back and wait.”

“Can’t I just watch you cook here?”

“Watch?”

“Yeah. You said it’ll be done soon, so let’s go to the table together then.”

“It’s not a problem, but…”

I started making the milkshake with Serena watching me.

Just like milkshakes made with ice cream, making a milkshake without ice cream is also simple.

First, I put small dice-shaped ice cubes into a tall Dwarf-made bowl.

Then, I added milk in the right proportion, followed by sugar for sweetness.

Finally, I added vanilla essence for a smooth and fragrant flavor.

Of course, in this world, most exotic spices are hard to come by.

In my past life, steel trade ships and airplanes circulated goods worldwide, but in this world, the limit is carriages instead of airplanes and large sailing ships instead of steel trade ships.

But if there’s no vanilla essence, I can use a substitute.

The substitute for vanilla essence is oil extracted from evening primrose petals.

The evening primrose is the same flower petal I used when I ate a sandwich with Mari in a cave before arriving in Astram.

It had a similar but slightly different fragrance from vanilla.

I added the evening primrose oil instead of vanilla essence.

Come to think of it, I had some journals and miscellaneous items from that cave…

I had planned to sort them out someday but completely forgot.

Someday, I’ll find the time to deal with them.

For now, cooking takes priority over the miscellaneous items.

Once all the ingredients for the milkshake are in the bottle, the next step is to blend them smoothly using a hand blender.

Of course, here, the hand blender means my hand.

In places without the conveniences of civilization, the body suffers.

I used cooking tools to stir the contents of the bottle continuously until everything was mixed.

For an average person, this would take about 5 to 8 minutes until their shoulders ache terribly.

By then, I realized the contents in the bottle had reached the desired consistency.

Checking the contents, the ice, milk, and sugar were all mixed, and there were no noticeably large ice particles.

This seems good enough.

“Alright. It’s done. Let’s take it out.”

“Yeah. By the way, Kurt, you really work hard at cooking…”

“It’s not always like this…”

I called Serena, who had been watching me cook, and we returned to the table with the milkshake and French fries with ketchup.

.

.

Meanwhile, while Kurt was busy cooking.

Unlike Kurt’s serious cooking atmosphere, the atmosphere at the table where Mari, Arisa, Karina, and Serena were sitting was stiff.

To be precise, except for Mari, who was chattering away without a care, the other three were tense.

The reason for the icy atmosphere was Arisa.

Arisa, sitting at the table, was silently exuding an intimidating aura with her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.

Of course, it was just an intimidating appearance; her inner thoughts were completely different.

‘What should I do? I don’t know how to handle just Marisia, but now two more people have joined…! What should I say!?’

“….”

Already nervous in the unfamiliar setting of a meal invitation, the addition of Karina and Serena made Arisa even more uneasy.

Arisa was completely flustered.

In that panicked state, Arisa eventually gave up thinking and froze like a statue.

Her unintended demeanor gave off the sharp aura of a finely honed dagger, and the atmosphere at the table grew colder by the minute.

It felt like the temperature around the table had dropped by several degrees.

Finally, unable to bear the silence, Karina spoke up.

Of course, not to Arisa, but to Serena sitting next to her in a small voice.

“Isn’t that person the one who usually takes quests alone at the Adventurer Guild? Why is she here?”

“I don’t know. I thought she was a lone wolf who didn’t like to mingle with others…!”

Although they were of the same rank, Karina and Serena also remembered Arisa’s impression.

First, she was one of the few female adventurers in the guild, and as a Dark Elf, she had a strikingly unique appearance with her dark skin.

Moreover, what was even more impressive was that she was a solitary and proud woman who never formed parties and completed quests alone.

Because of these traits, Arisa was quite famous in the guild, despite being of the same rank and having no party.

She was often seen as an unapproachable flower on a cliff or a lone, noble wolf.

In that sense, Mari’s casual approach to Arisa was partly due to her unique, capybara-like friendliness, but also because she was new to the guild and unaware of the rumors.

So, when the famous Arisa suddenly joined the table to have snacks, the two couldn’t help but be flustered.

They began whispering to each other in small voices to understand the situation.

“I heard she took a quest with Marisia…”

“What? How did they form a party? She’s famous for hating to party with others!”

It’s not that she hates it; she’s just naturally a loner.

“How did Mari even form a party with someone like her? Honestly, her aura is hard to approach.”

“Right. I’ve seen her a few times during meals, and she always reads the quest details with a fierce look.”

She wasn’t reading the quest details but trying not to laugh at the jokes from the next table.

“I heard she has the skills to reach silver rank but only takes quests she can do alone because she hates mingling with others.”

She has the skills for silver rank, but she’s just not sociable and prefers to work alone.

“Eek! She’s glaring at us now!”

She’s running a simulation of greeting in her head.

But unaware of Arisa’s inner thoughts, the two were anxious about why she was glaring at them.

Anyway, though in different directions, Arisa’s nervousness made the two tense as well.

The atmosphere at the table was like an ice block.

Only Mari was completely carefree.

In that awkward, almost painful atmosphere, Kurt called Serena for help with cooking, and she, seizing the moment, shook off Karina’s grasp and fled to the kitchen.

Thus, only Mari, who was chattering away without a care, Arisa, whose mind had gone blank, and Karina, who found the situation unbearably uncomfortable, remained at the table.

So, Karina.

When Kurt announced the food was ready and brought it over, she sighed in genuine relief.

Clatter

“Here. Snacks are served.”

“Ah, ah… Kurt!”

Karina looked at Kurt placing the plates on the table as if she had met a savior, and the unbearably awkward atmosphere at the table finally began to thaw.

“The milkshake is cold, so eat it before it melts.”

Today’s snack menu.

French fries with ketchup and a milkshake.