Chapter 55

So Kurt went to Jungwoo, who was waiting for the completion of the dish with the finished Hamburg set, and Wendy, who had taken care of Jungwoo.

Jungwoo was originally the reason this dish was made, so that’s understandable, but why was Wendy, the receptionist of the Adventurer Guild, also waiting for the dish?

It was because Kurt had asked her to take care of Jungwoo while he was cooking.

Wendy, who had seen Karina and Serena enjoying Kurt’s cooking deliciously, had wanted to try Kurt’s cooking at least once, so she readily accepted Kurt’s request, and in return, she decided to be treated to the dish Kurt made.

*Clink*

“It’s done. Eat up.”

“Wow…….”

“Wh-what is this dish…?”

The dish Kurt presented was something Jungwoo had never seen before in her young life.

Until now, when it came to delicious food, Jungwoo, who loved sweets, thought fruit honey preserves were the best, but she never expected something completely different—a dark, mysterious thing topped with ivory-colored sauce.

However, even though the dish defied her expectations, she wasn’t disappointed because of the cute carrot slices shaped like flowers and stars placed on top.

The adorable carrot shapes were so cute that even Jungwoo, who usually disliked carrots, wanted to keep staring at them forever.

Or perhaps it was the destructively enticing aroma wafting from the dish that captivated her heart.

And it wasn’t just Jungwoo who was left in awe.

Wendy, the Adventurer Guild receptionist who had been playing with Jungwoo, was also unable to take her eyes off the dish Kurt had brought.

The dish was something neither Jungwoo nor Wendy had ever seen before.

The deep meaty aroma emanating from the mysterious brown lump made it clear that it was a dish made with meat.

The golden-brown color of the surface also resembled grilled meat, but the appearance of the hamburg was overwhelmingly alien.

It looked like meat, but not quite like meat.

The mysterious something that seemed to mimic meat felt ominous, yet her instincts couldn’t tear her eyes away from the violent aroma wafting from the hamburg.

It was a dish so violently aromatic that if she hadn’t seen Kurt’s cooking skills at the reception desk, she would have thought it was some bizarre traditional Lizardman dish—blood-dripping meat with bitter, unwashed grass haphazardly served in a bowl.

“Wh-what is this dish?”

“It’s called hamburg. It’s a dish made by finely chopping meat, shaping it, and then grilling it.”

“You chop the meat and then shape it again? Why go through all that trouble…?”

“It’s because chopping the meat changes its texture, making it tender enough for even a child to eat easily.”

In addition, though not used in this hamburg, seasoning can be added to the meat mixture to enhance the flavor.

But even after hearing Kurt’s explanation, Wendy looked at the hamburg Kurt had made with disbelief.

The minced meat she knew didn’t come together in such a large form.

Of course not.

No matter how well you shape minced meat, it doesn’t stick back together once it’s been chopped, so naturally, minced meat ends up crumbly and is used in soups for meat flavor or sandwiched between bread for sandwiches.

At best, the only way to eat minced meat without breaking its form was sausages, made by stuffing minced meat and organs into animal intestines.

What method did he use to keep the minced meat from falling apart…?

“Lizardman uncle! Are you a mage, by any chance?”

Jungwoo’s innocent question, as if voicing Wendy’s confusion.

Of course, Jungwoo’s question had a different meaning from Wendy’s confusion.

“Huh? A mage? First, I’m a monster, and now a mage?”

“Hehe…….”

Kurt laughed as if he had heard a funny joke and lightly scolded her, and Jungwoo, embarrassed, covered her face with a fork and spoon.

“By the way, can I eat now?”

“Did you wash your hands?”

“Yes! I washed them!”

“Good. Then you can eat. I’ll cut it for you.”

With that, Kurt went to Jungwoo’s side and cut the hamburg into small pieces for her to eat in one bite.

“…Gulp.”

“Ah. Wendy, you should eat too before it gets cold. You must be hungry.”

Seeing Wendy hesitating, Kurt spoke apologetically, and she also carefully cut a piece of the hamburg patty with a trembling hand.

And as Kurt returned to his seat after cutting Jungwoo’s hamburg, Wendy cautiously cut a piece of the hamburg and put it in her mouth.

*Crunch*

The first thing she felt when she put the hamburg in her mouth was the crispiness of the outer layer.

It didn’t have the intense crispiness of fried food or the edges of chive pancakes, but instead, it had a strong meaty flavor that could only be felt in properly cooked meat.

Contrary to her worry that it might be overcooked, the crispy texture and the savory taste of the meat were so satisfying that she felt it was worth spending time playing with Jungwoo just to eat this outer layer.

But unlike fried food, the outer layer of the hamburg was very thin, so she inevitably had to chew the meat.

*Chew chew*

*Squish*

And as she chewed the hamburg, the meat’s juices burst out unexpectedly.

“Eek!”

Wendy was startled by the intense burst of juice and stiffened.

Then, realizing she had made a strange sound, she glanced at Kurt and Jungwoo, but the two were silently eating their food, seemingly uninterested in the small commotion she had caused.

With a slightly red face, Wendy began chewing the hamburg in her mouth again.

It wasn’t a mistake.

The juices that burst out with each chew were real, not her imagination.

Her first thought was, “How?”

Normally, minced meat doesn’t hold together well and quickly crumbles, so each piece is very small, and if the heat is too strong, the moisture inside evaporates, making it dry.

But this hamburg didn’t crumble at all, and the juices inside were as moist as chewing raw meat.

She didn’t know it, but the secret was the egg.

The egg, mixed with the meat, acted as a natural binder, preventing the minced meat from falling apart.

But her confusion didn’t last long.

With each bite, she felt a variety of flavors and aromas.

Using two different types of meat—Awakening Species and regular—the hamburg captured both the deep meaty flavor and the savory taste of fat, creating a taste that rivaled any meat dish she had ever tasted.

This was something she couldn’t understand with her common sense.

Minced meat in this world was made from leftover scraps after slaughter, roughly chopped and shaped into cheap meat.

Unpopular cuts, small leftover pieces, or meat with damaged quality—these were the kinds of meat used for minced meat.

It was the meat beneath the meat.

But how could a dish made from such cheap meat taste better than anything she had ever eaten?

With each chew, the aroma of the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer, aged for a week to maximize its umami, spread in her mouth.

It felt like the fresh scent of apples, yet also the deep aroma of grapes, and even a tangy, refreshing scent as if pineapple juice had been used to tenderize the meat.

Kurt hadn’t added any special sauce, but the meat of the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer revealed its presence in her mouth without needing any sauce.

And that wasn’t all.

The occasional texture she felt while chewing—when she noticed it, it was the subtle sweetness of onions and the umami from vegetables soaked in meat juices.

By stir-frying the onions to remove moisture and then adding them to the mixture before grilling, the onions’ natural sweetness and umami were maximized, creating a flavor so strong it was hard to believe it was the same onion she usually ate.

And the subtle savory taste, different from the meat’s flavor.

If she focused, she would realize it was the unique savoriness of dairy products.

‘Why? Dairy? Why?’

Amidst the unique aroma of minced meat, the scent of milk?

Thinking she might be mistaken, she checked two or three times, but it was unmistakably the savoriness unique to dairy products.

Even more ironic was that this alien milk aroma harmonized perfectly with the minced meat in this dish called hamburg.

*Chew chew*

“Phew…….”

As she swallowed a piece of meat, what flowed out was the satisfaction of having eaten such a delicious dish, resentment towards Karina and Serena for never offering her such a dish before, and the fear of how she would eat other dishes after tasting something so delicious.

But more than anything, what Wendy felt most strongly at that moment was the desire to keep eating this dish.

Just as she was about to cut another piece of hamburg to eat, she overheard Jungwoo and Kurt’s conversation.

“Wow! Uncle, it’s so delicious!”

“Is that so? Wipe the sauce off your mouth before eating.”

‘Sauce…?’

Sauce?

Instantly, Wendy’s eyes quickly scanned the plate in front of her.

And what she saw was a light ivory-colored gravy sauce.

‘There’s a way to make this already delicious dish even more delicious…?’

Unbelievable.

That there could be a way to make this dish even more delicious.

It couldn’t exist.

But Jungwoo, with sauce smeared all over her mouth and cheeks bulging as she ate the hamburg, clearly showed that eating it with sauce was even more delicious.

*Gulp…….*

Finally, with trembling hands, Wendy cut a piece of hamburg, dipped it in the sauce, and lifted it.

The gravy sauce clinging to the hamburg resisted gravity, sticking to the bottom but refusing to fall.

But its resistance couldn’t last forever.

As time passed, the ivory-colored sauce began to form droplets, threatening to fall onto the plate.

Staring blankly at this, Wendy instinctively put the piece of hamburg she was holding into her mouth before the sauce could fall.