Chapter 60

Karina, who had placed a meatball on her spoon, looked at it with suspicious eyes.

Unlike Mari, who wasn’t used to eating meat, Karina was well aware of dishes made with minced meat.

Of course, there were no dishes shaped into round balls like the ones Kurt made, but what Karina was concerned about wasn’t the shape of the dish but the fact that chicken meat was used.

In this world, minced meat was made from leftover parts, low-quality scraps that couldn’t even be identified as coming from any specific part of the animal.

Therefore, minced meat was considered cheap, but chicken, which was cheaper than beef or pork, wasn’t included in minced meat.

The reason was simple.

If you slaughtered a Three-legged Fowl, there would be no leftovers after the whole family shared it for a meal.

Even if one person ate it alone, it would only be enough for one meal for a human with a large appetite.

Therefore, the concept of minced chicken made from leftover parts didn’t exist.

But here, Kurt had gone out of his way to mince chicken and cook it.

Given Kurt’s obsession with cooking, it was unimaginable that he would use minced meat to save money.

So, the fact that he had minced chicken breast to cook meant there was a reason beyond saving money…

Karina, with a mix of anticipation in her eyes, slowly lifted the spoon.

*Slurp*

And then, along with the broth, she put a large meatball into her mouth.

What she felt first wasn’t the meatball but the warmth of the broth, filled with the rich aroma of chicken and the scent of eggs.

The scent of eggs was understandable.

The egg yolk was floating on the broth in a strange, easily recognizable shape.

But why was the chicken aroma so strong?

Simply using chicken breast couldn’t explain such a rich chicken flavor.

Karina, who usually preferred chicken breast when eating fried chicken, knew that chicken breast itself didn’t have such a strong aroma.

The chicken aroma comes from the meat itself, but more importantly, from the fat within the chicken.

The oil that seeps from that fat is what completes the chicken’s aroma.

Therefore, the most flavorful parts were the legs and wings.

How could such a rich chicken broth flavor come from chicken breast, and not even the breast itself but the broth cooked with it?

She couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of magic he had used.

Of course, the secret was the bones of the Three-legged Fowl used to make the broth.

Not just chickens, but all kinds of animals have their aroma in the skin, bones, and meat, in that order. Although not as strong as the skin, the bones also held a strong aroma.

And the lack of aroma compared to the skin was overcome by simmering for a long time.

Although the bones had less aroma than the skin, simmering them for an extended period created a broth so rich it was as if an entire chicken had been melted into it.

The color of the broth was a light golden hue, and just looking at it, the rich aroma of meat stimulated her senses.

The broth, when slurped, had such a rich meaty flavor that it felt like an entire chicken had been stewed in it.

But the weight and aftertaste were significantly cleaner than beef or pork.

Especially since fat was intentionally not used in the broth-making process, the richness might be lacking, but it left little oil on the tongue, leaving only a faint aroma after each spoonful.

The warm broth flowed down her throat, gently seeping into her body.

It was a taste that, no matter how much you ate, you could keep eating endlessly.

Karina, who hadn’t eaten breakfast and only had a small amount of preserved food for lunch while searching the mountains, was particularly hungry.

Her stomach, which hadn’t received the necessary nutrients all day, was growling, and hearing that the dish was low in fat and wouldn’t make her gain much weight, she couldn’t resist any longer.

Feeling her stomach awaken to the warm, rich broth, Karina couldn’t help but bite into the meatball she had been holding in her mouth.

Then, the meatball, which she couldn’t believe was made from chicken breast, crumbled with a tenderness she hadn’t expected.

“Is this really chicken breast…?”

The meatball, made by mincing the meat and using egg whites as a binder, crumbled softly in her mouth.

And it wasn’t just soft.

Having absorbed the broth, it released the rich flavor of the chicken broth with each chew, making even the chicken breast moist and flavorful.

Moreover, it wasn’t just minced chicken breast.

In between chews, she could taste the subtle sweetness of onions and carrots.

That faint, almost imperceptible sweetness subtly complemented the salty flavor of the broth.

And the mushrooms.

The finely chopped mushrooms, when chewed, released a strong aroma that completely covered the otherwise mild flavor of the chicken breast.

No, it wasn’t just covering it.

As she had noticed when eating Mushroom Hotpot, mushrooms and meat broth had an excellent synergy.

The mushrooms, having absorbed the rich flavor of the chicken broth during cooking, were the essence of flavor embedded within the meatball.

The subtle aroma of bamboo and chicken that spread with each chew.

To Karina, who belonged to a Western civilization in Kurt’s past life, it was an exotic, Eastern flavor, but it wasn’t a flavor that caused any rejection.

Rather, despite being exotic, it was a taste that seeped into her body without any resistance, incredibly comforting.

Forgetting her initial resolve to lose weight, Karina, as if possessed, mindlessly inhaled the meatball soup from her bowl.

And it wasn’t just Karina; Mari and Serena were the same.

They too had skipped breakfast and only had a simple preserved food for lunch, so the warm broth, which absorbed into their tired stomachs like water into a sponge, was irresistible.

Thus, the three of them, like diet failures experiencing a yo-yo effect in a single day, ate their fill of the meatball soup.

As a result, they ended up overeating, trusting Kurt’s words that it wouldn’t make them gain much weight, realizing only after finishing the meal and hearing Kurt’s explanation that they had eaten as much as a normal meal.

But at least, while mindlessly inhaling the meatball soup, the three of them looked perfectly happy.

Well, as long as they’re happy.

Seeing them enjoy the meal so much, Kurt, who was about to advise them not to eat too much, stopped and quietly continued his meal.

…

A few days later.

As usual, I went to find Wendy to borrow the guild’s kitchen and ended up having a conversation with her.

Normally, we didn’t talk much beyond kitchen use or ingredient purchases, but after eating hamburgers together a few days ago, we had grown closer and often chatted about various things.

“Abnormal behavior of monsters?”

“Yes. Recently, there have been increasing reports of monsters acting restless and causing trouble. Because of that, requests to the Adventurer Guild have increased, so business is booming, but…”

“Hmm. Abnormal behavior… Could it be related to the recent extermination of the Black Ink Wolf pack?”

“We’re still investigating the exact cause, but currently, that seems highly likely.”

The likely cause was either the disappearance of the Black Ink Wolf and new monsters filling the void, causing ecological disruption.

Or, perhaps the Pink Hallucination Wool we dealt with last time was still lingering in the forest, causing mass intoxication among the monsters.

Either way, it was hard not to connect it to the recent monster extermination.

Or, perhaps it was neither, and some human had artificially caused the incident, but that line of thought could go on forever.

“…So, a request has been issued to investigate the cause of the monsters’ abnormal behavior. Are you interested, Kurt?”

“Well, if it’s not about hunting edible monsters, not really.”

“Hahaha. I thought you’d say that.”

“Ah. I’ll decline, but Mari, Karina, and Serena might take it.”

“Those three?”

“Yeah. They’ve been diligently taking requests lately.”

Ultimately, they had concluded that weight loss through dieting was impossible and had been taking requests almost every day.

According to them, the food I made was too addictive, making it impossible to reduce their meal portions.

Such drama.

“Then I’ll ask Karina if she’s interested in taking this request.”

“Sure. Good luck.”

With that, I ended my short chat with Wendy and went into the kitchen to cook.

It seemed like an important matter, but it had nothing to do with me, so I didn’t care.

Someone as skilled as Karina would handle it without any issues.

Thinking that, I soon stopped worrying about it and started cooking.

One morning…