Chapter 59

The three of them returned to the Adventurer Guild with triumphant expressions, ready to boast about their exploits.

“We not only defeated the monsters but also perfectly uncovered why they were acting so strangely!”

Mari, in particular, was the most excited. Being new to adventuring, she had never experienced anything like this before. Becoming an adventurer and going on adventures had always been her dream, so today’s events were something she was incredibly proud of.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s amazing.”

“Kurt! Why does your reaction sound so insincere?!”

“Haha. Must be your imagination.”

I gave Mari a half-hearted response while thinking to myself.

A monster addicted to narcotic substances? That’s quite an unusual situation.

While wolves are generally intelligent, the Black Ink Wolf is a highly intelligent monster. If something like a narcotic substance that disrupts the pack’s order were to appear, the leader would immediately ban or destroy it to maintain the pack’s harmony.

Perhaps the leader of the monsters Mari and her group defeated was quite incompetent.

“Karina! Serena! Kurt is ignoring me!”

“Hahaha. Well, Kurt has been a hunter for a long time, so something like this is probably no big deal to him.”

“If Kurt had gone with us, we wouldn’t have struggled so much and would’ve finished it in no time.”

“Exactly!”

Mari looked shocked, as if even the two people she thought were on her side were now defending me.

“Well, anyway, it’s dinner time. Let’s eat.”

“Dinner…! Oh.”

At my words, Mari’s face lit up for a moment, but then she seemed to remember something and hesitated.

And it wasn’t just Mari who reacted to the word “dinner.” Karina and Serena were the same.

I didn’t need to ask what they were thinking.

They were probably worried about their weight.

“You didn’t eat breakfast, and I doubt you had a proper lunch.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“I know what you’re worried about. But don’t worry. I prepared a meal that won’t make you gain weight.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. When have I ever lied about cooking?”

With that, I left the excited Mari, as well as Karina and Serena, who were trying to hide their excitement, and headed to the kitchen.

By the way, a monster addicted to narcotics…

That’s quite an interesting story.

I was a little intrigued, but since they had already completely wiped out the pack, it probably wouldn’t involve me.

I should just forget about it and focus on cooking.

.

.

.

Once in the kitchen, I prepared to cook.

The dish I was making was meatballs using the breast meat of a Three-legged Fowl, which is high in protein and low in fat.

Chicken breast is one of the most popular and side-effect-free diets for weight loss.

However, while chicken breast is nutritionally excellent, other parts of the chicken aren’t as great.

The texture is dry, and since chicken breast itself has no fat, the meat’s flavor is lacking.

This dry texture can be somewhat compensated by grinding the meat and forming it into meatballs.

But even then, the lack of flavor in the chicken breast remains.

Of course, even if the natural flavor is weak, using seasonings and spices can overcome this, but since today’s goal is weight loss, I wanted to avoid relying too much on seasonings and spices.

Seasonings can surprisingly be quite high in calories.

So, as a substitute for seasonings, I used mushrooms.

Mushrooms actually have almost no nutritional value, which makes sense when you consider the environment they grow in.

They don’t eat like animals or photosynthesize like plants.

In fact, sunlight is even harmful to mushrooms.

All they need is the right amount of moisture and temperature.

Depending on the type, the conditions may vary, but most mushrooms grow well with just that.

And since they don’t require much nutrition to grow, mushrooms themselves don’t contain much nutrition.

In reality, mushrooms are just food with flavor and aroma.

For the lower classes or commoners in this world where food is scarce, this is a disadvantage, but for the purpose of weight loss, it’s perfect.

Plus, it adds flavor to the otherwise bland chicken breast.

First, the meatballs.

I took only the breast meat from the Three-legged Fowl and removed the skin.

Then, I finely chopped the remaining breast meat.

This process wasn’t much different from making the hamburger we had for lunch.

Next, the ingredients to mix with the chicken breast: carrots and onions.

These two vegetables were also finely chopped, but not to the point of being powdered.

When making hamburgers, I sauté the onions to remove moisture before adding them to the meat mixture, but this time, I was making meatball soup.

Since the meat itself isn’t sautéed, sautéing the onions separately would only create a strange texture.

Plus, since the soup will add moisture anyway, removing the moisture from the onions is pointless.

Finally, the mushrooms.

The mushrooms I used were Mad Dancer Mushrooms.

I had many types of mushrooms, but I chose this one because its texture is similar to king oyster mushrooms, and it has the strongest aroma.

However, since the aroma is so strong, using too much would overpower the other flavors, so one mushroom was enough.

After finely chopping the mushroom, I mixed all the ingredients together.

To help the mixture bind, I cracked a Three-legged Fowl egg, separated the yolk, and added only the egg white to the mixture.

Then, I formed the mixture into bite-sized balls, completing the meatballs.

Next, I prepared the soup broth.

Normally, I start cooking just before mealtime, but today was different.

Since I stayed at the Adventurer Guild without going outside Astram, I had time to prepare in advance.

Preparing the Three-legged Fowl was one such task.

But what I really prepared wasn’t just the chicken.

The bones left after deboning the chicken.

I used those bones to make the broth.

That was the concentrated essence of chicken stock.

Chicken stock.

Normally, using both bones and fat would enhance the flavor, but here, I only used the bones to make the broth.

I started making the stock right after eating the hamburger, so it had been simmering for at least a few hours.

To extract the maximum flavor from chicken stock, you’d need to simmer it for a whole day, but a few hours was enough for now.

The once-clear water in the pot had turned a cloudy white from the flavor extracted from the chicken bones.

Originally, using the guild’s kitchen required paying a fee, and you could only use it at specific times. But after eating the hamburger for lunch, I consulted with Wendy, and she quickly got permission from the guild to extend my kitchen usage time.

At first, I was warned to only use it during designated times, but now they readily extended my usage time. I guess I’ve gained some trust as an adventurer.

This also means I can now make dishes that require long simmering times.

The variety of dishes I can make has expanded.

Anyway, after straining the broth through a sieve to remove the bones and impurities, I was left with a pure chicken-flavored broth.

To season the broth, I added a bit of salt and pepper.

Then, I added the meatballs and poured in the egg yolks I had separated earlier, stirring gently in a circular motion.

This created long strands of egg yolk, similar to egg drop soup.

I continued to simmer the soup until the meatballs were fully cooked, then turned off the heat and served the dish.

Finally, I garnished the soup with chopped green onions.

Today’s dinner menu.

Chicken breast and mushroom meatball soup.

.

.

.

Clatter.

“Here, it’s done. Eat up.”

The three of them looked at the dish Kurt had prepared with a mix of admiration and doubt.

The aroma wafting from the dish was the familiar strong scent of Three-legged Fowl, but there was no visible meat from the Three-legged Fowl in the dish.

Mari, who had only recently started eating meat, was the most curious and asked Kurt.

“What is this dish?”

“It’s a soup made with chicken breast meatballs.”

“Meatballs?”

“Yeah. It’s a dish where you grind the meat, then shape it into balls.”

“Huh? Come on, don’t joke with me. If you’re going to shape it back, why grind the meat in the first place? I may not know much about human society, but I’m not that gullible. I’m not a fool.”

“Good judgment.”

“Hehe. See, I knew it! …Wait! You were just messing with me, right?”

“Alright, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

“…Thank you for the meal.”

“Let’s eat.”

“Kurt! Answer me! You weren’t calling me a fool, were you?”

Kurt lightly ignored Mari, who was making a fuss, and urged everyone to start eating. The other three slowly picked up their utensils.

Another peaceful day.

.

.

.