"Welcome, young master-nim."
As soon as the teleportation flash subsided, he was greeted by the Molan duo. Ron naturally handed a cup of warm lemon tea to him. Choi Han and the Molan duo still did their silent greeting with just a slight nod and the deadly glare. Cale looked at the butler and his son as he sipped on the welcome tea. Both of the Molans were looking fit and healthy despite having eyebags underneath their eyes. It must be due to the recent busy times for the inn and also the the day-to-day administration of the Molan household. He can't help but to frown at the bitterness and suspected that Ron purposely did not put honey in it as a reminder to his young master for overworking them.
"Thanks Ron. It's... very refreshing."
"Serving you lemon tea is my pleasure, young master-nim."
"... ..."
- Looks like Granpa Ron and Chef Beacrox are doing great, human. But, what're they doing over-
"Welcome! Young master-nim!"
"Er... Thank you?"
Cale was surprised to hear the loud greeting from the bandits. With an irritated expression, Beacrox immediately shooed them away to their duties and the bandits quickly escaped from the lounge without knowing the reason for them being chased off.
"Young master-nim, all the ingredients have been prepared in the kitchen."
"Thank you, Ron. Let-"
Bang!
The front door of the inn suddenly burst open and the people just casually walked in. When Cale saw their faces, he instantly had a migraine. Cage, Taylor and Bud. The odd and loud group, well, except for Taylor. But the three of them were definitely drinking buddies.
"Young master-nim! Are you alri- Huh?"
Lock ran to the lounge upon hearing the ruckus and saw the uninvited guests. Cale sighed at that crowded inn and was already looking tired before they even get to start doing anything. His plan was to make some Korean food in peace. Now, forget about the peace, he didn't even know if they will get anything done by today.
"Hi, Lock. Were you in the kitchen?"
He was wearing an apron with stains and he smelled like onions. Seemed like Lock had grew even taller. Cale had to tiptoed and stretched his hand all the way up to take out the spring onion that was sticking out from the thick hair. Beacrox looked disapprovingly at that werewolf boy while he handed a clean handkerchief to Cale. This bit of cleanliness standard did not bother Cale much but looking at the stoic face of Beacrox, he quickly took the handkerchief and wiped his hand clean. After properly greeting Cale, Lock sheepishly scratched his head before running back to the kitchen.
When he looked back at the lounge, the three uninvited guests had made themselves at home. Cage had taken the glasses from her sleeves and placed it on the table while Bud opened a bottle of wine to fill the empty glasses. Only Taylor had some courtesy to greet the owner first.
"Young master-nim, I'm sorry that we've came without notice. But they wanted to have a meal at the inn today, that's why..."
Taylor smiled apologetically to Cale before he was being urged back to the table. Cage happily brought a glass of wine to Cale.
"Young master-nim, please, have a drink. This is the most delicious wine from that Bud buddy."
She pointed at the seemingly already drunk Bud who was pouring himself the third glass.
Cale politely refused the drink and told them to enjoy their meal and drinking session. He wondered where did they hear his news of visiting the inn. They even closed the inn for the day just to conduct food experiment.
"How do you guys know that I'm coming?"
"Hmph! Are you even my friend? If I'm not the Mercenary King, I wouldn't have found out that my friend is coming here to cook. And we're here to eat delicious food!"
"Wait? How do you know that I'm coming to cook?"
"Uhm... Cough! T-this winie iss gg-ooodds. Hehhheheh. Hiccup!"
Bud instantly diverted his attention to the drink and pretended to be drunk. While Cage clicked her glass with Taylor's, acting as she was totally uninterested in that conversation. Ron sent Bud chills with his benign smile while Beacrox acted as if he was annoyed with the crowd and offered to leave for the kitchen first to prepare. Raon was circling round the ceiling and Choi Han averted his eyes from Cale. The cats were busily digging in the desserts that were served by Beacrox. Cale scanned all of them and felt the atmosphere was weird.
'Hmmm. Odd, very weird. Others are acting fine but Choi Han Raon, their behaviors are telling me that something is very wrong.'
"Young master-nim, shall we head to the kitchen now?"
Before Cale can interrogate Bud, Ron cleverly suggested them to start working as he put an apron over Cale. Although they had become much closer now, Cale still listened well to Ron. Except for the uninvited guests, all of them hurriedly followed Cale to the kitchen before his suspicion kicked in again.
When they can no longer hear the footsteps, Cage exhaled in relieve. She then punched Bud on his arm. Instead of complaining, he looked apologetic and quietly rubbed his sore arm. She then whispered in a low voice to him.
"Bud, my friend, please be more careful next time. We can't let him know about that."
Taylor nodded his head in agreement before adding on.
"If he knows about us having a private group chat that shares his daily schedule with everyone, we'll be dead."
"Alright, I'll be more careful next time. But I think it'll be fine even though he finds out later since it wasn't us who made it. It's created by the crown prince."
Bud replied to them as he filled their glasses with wine. Cage thought what Bud said could be right. She loosened up and chugged down more wine. Taylor and Bud followed suit, and they had completely forgotten about the group chat crisis.
When they reached the kitchen, they were amazed with the preparation works. It was clean, tidy and organized. Just onions itself, there were diced, sliced, and quartered. The chili powder that was requested by Cale had already been made ready for use. Even the noodles were steamed, then fried or dehydrated as samples for making instant ramen. Beacrox and Lock proudly showed the cooked noodle samples to Cale. As the kitchen was off-limit to the other staff of the inn, Raon had turned off his invisibility.
"Wow, human, is this noodles? They look different to the noodles that we usually eat!"
- They look good. How I wish I can taste them!
Raon and the glutton exclaimed their excitement at the experimental noodles.
"This is called ramen. They are springy and can absorb the flavors from the soup well. Most importantly, they only require short cooking time."
- I didn't know you're so knowledgeable in food production line, child.
"Wow, that's amaziing, human!"
"This is the best invention nya~"
"Uh-huh, I think you can start selling this product soon nya."
While the glutton and the children chimed in their opinions, Ron had sharply caught Cale off. This had directed everyone's attention to Cale.
"Young master-nim, seems like you know quite well about Choi Han's hometown delicacies."
'Ah, I'm being carried away when I saw the ramen samples. I'll need to tune down a bit. Let Choi Han do the talking.'
"Well, it couldn't be help since I've been researching the food with Choi Han together over a few weeks now. I can be counted as half an expert by now. Right, Choi Han?"
Cale turned away from Ron's benign-interrogative smile and elbowed the dazed Choi Han. Cale was looking forward to hear how Choi Han would backed him up. But to Cale's disappointment, Choi Han couldn't respond well without a script that he ended up stuttering.
"Uh, t-that's right."
And that was the end of his sentence. Cale was face-palming himself so hard, internally. He was sorry that he couldn't make up a script on the spot for Choi Han but he had expected more from him. He swore that he needed to sign Choi Han up for an acting class. His spontaneity was too weak to be his crime partner.
"Is that so, young master-nim?"
When he met Ron's inquisitive gaze, he knew that he needed to end things there.
"Of course. Not to mention that I'm a better cook than Choi Han. It's only natural that I learn this fast."
Probably due to the group having flashback to Choi Han's first attempt of making green onion pancakes with the dragon half-blood, they all nodded agreeably to Cale's words. After succeeding in persuading them, Cale clapped his hand once and started to divide the tasks.
"Alright. Now, let's split the tasks and finish it up fast so that we can have our lunch on time. Ron, you'll guide the children on preparing the spice paste that we'll be using for the kimchi."
"Yes, young master-nim."
"Oh, we're in the same group as grandpa Ron!"
"I'm so excited nya."
"I've never cooked before. Should be fun nya."
"Lock and I will be in charge of rinsing the salt off the cabbage. Beacrox and Choi Han are in charge of cutting them into smaller pieces."
While the others happily received their tasks, Beacrox and Choi Han were reluctant and glared at each other with contempt. Choi Han then suggested that they can marinate the cabbage as it was without cutting them into smaller pieces. But Cale said that they would wanted an instant version and smaller pieces will make it coated more evenly. Actually, Cale knew that there was tension between the two even though they had worked together multiple times. He intended to helped them resolved their bonding by putting them in a group. After providing another few good reasons, they finally accepted the task and moved to their station.
Not even 10 minutes into work, there was already a commotion.
"Are you really trying to help?"
"Of course. What's wrong?"
When Cale turned towards the source of the noise, he saw Choi Han was wielding his sword. Wait, a sword in the kitchen! While he was walking towards them, the conversation continued.
"Do you need me to teach you how to use a kitchen knife?"
"It's unnecessary. Anyway, with my sword, it'll be much faster to cut up all the cabbage."
"Scoff! Are you cutting it on the benchtop? There's no chopping board at the size of your sword."
Before they can start fighting, Cale and Lock reached their station and started mediating. Cale thought that Choi Han was wrong this time. Why would he be doing such a ridiculous act in front of the chef, who treated the kitchen and food with full respect.
"Choi Han, please, put that sword away. The kitchen knife is more than enough. If it's too slow, we'll come over to help cutting them in a moment."
"Cale-nim, I've sanitized my sword. So don't worry about food poisoning."
'Is that even a problem now? Yes, Beacrox is a clean freak but using the sword that was used to kill people... Moreover, in front of Beacrox, the 5-star chef!'
"Hey, what's with the greatsword now, Beacrox? Stop fighting. Are you guys not going to start cutting the cabbage?"
"Yes young master-nim, I'm going to cut some Choibage now."
"What?"
"Hmph, good with me. I'll cut some cabBea then."
'What are they? Twelve years old kids?'
While Cale was holding Choi Han down and Lock was holding on Beacrox, the children had rushed over and thought the situation funny. They flamed the situation in a worst possible way.
"Go, Choibage! I'm betting on you!"
The youthful voice of the black dragon reached Cale's ears. He wondered if he had brought them up the wrong way.
"Then, we'll bet on cabBea nya! Right, noona?"
"That's right. We'll support the Molan nya."
Cale was dumbfounded. He did not know since when the children had learnt betting. And what was up with the patriotism for the Molans. While they were struggling to hold back those two fired up swordsmen, Ron threw the daggers to both sides, planting them right beside their foot. In that instant, Choi Han shielded Cale at his back while Lock and Beacrox jumped to the side. They froze for awhile after recognizing the warning threat. The cheers went quiet and the children obediently sat on the benchtop, looking up at Ron, like some good students in class.
"Now, thank you for paying me attention. As you all know, we're making kimchi today. According to the recipe, it's cabbage marinated in red spice paste. But if you're keen to make the kimchi red with your own blood, save the ruckus as I can bleed you guys well with my crafty hands."
Ron was playing with the kitchen knife, shining the reflected light on their face, one by one. Chills run down their bones. When Ron was not smiling, it was scary, but when he was smiling like this, it was creepy.
"So, are we following the original recipe or are we going for the improvised version, children?"
Shhhrt. Thud.
Choi Han and Beacrox immediately kept their swords at that question. Their actions had already decided on the answer. They went back to their station and cut the cabbage with kitchen knifes. Cale quietly applauded for Ron.
'As expected. An experienced butler is on a whole different level when it comes to managing household affairs.'
"I wonder what has happened between them. They're always at each others' throats but not at this level like now."
Ron heard Cale's mumbling and resolved his curiosity.
"Young master-nim, you might not aware that ever since the green onion pancake incident, Choi Han and my son have been competing with each other in the kitchen."
"You mean showcasing their cooking skills?"
"That's right, young master."
"Sigh. These two..."
Cale can only shook his head at them.
"Let's resume our work."
"Yes, young master."
The whole kimchi making process went on without much ruckus after that except for a few occasional nasty remark exchanges from the cutting station.
"Wah, human, this looks greeaaatt!"
"It's red like me nya."
"It must tastes good with anything nya."
"That's right, On. It's quite a versatile dish that compliment any types of carbs, from rice to noodles. It also can be made into pancakes or mixed into fried rice."
- I'm already drooling. Hey, do you think it's possible for me to taste it?
"Young master really is knowledgeable in Choi Han's hometown food."
The glutton and Ron had been giving Cale lots of headache today. One had been pestering him about her hunger while the other had been suspecting him all day long. And Choi Han, he was too immersed in the competition against Beacrox that he wouldn't explain the food without being cued. Cale had basically given up on entertaining them and did whatever he felt less tiresome. His attention turned to the next dish.
"Yeah yeah. I'm quite good at this. While we let the kimchi soaks up the flavors, shall we move to the ramen?"
"Young master-nim, here's the powder that you asked for."
Beacrox handed Cale a small bottle of white powder. Raon flew over to have a closer look at it.
"Human, what's this?"
"This is the essence for everything. It's called MSG."
"Wow, Cale-nim, I didn't know it's possible to be made over here."
"Right? Thanks to Beacrox, we'll have rich flavors for our food now."
As much as Choi Han wanted to deny Beacrox's skill, he had to agree that this was one of the best creation in the food production line.
"MSG? What's that for human?"
"You just need to sprinkle a little bit of this on any dish and they'll become delicious immediately."
"That means I can cook nice food too as long as I have this MSG nya?"
"That's right."
"Wow, you heard that, noona? I can cook too nya~"
While they were being amused by the MSG, Cale had started to plan for the ramen menu. Beacrox was preparing the prawns, baby octopus, fishcakes, etc. While Choi Han was preparing the enoki mushroom, spring onions and the soybean sprouts. Cale was waiting for the water to boil while the others were observing intensely in the kitchen, waiting for the amazing food to be served.
When the water started boiling, Cale put in some chili paste in one of the pots while the fresh seafood products went into the other pot. He then placed the ramen into both pots. Using chopsticks to stir them loose from time to time. The vegetable went into both pots. Cale then sprinkled MSG into the ramen that only contained of chili paste before adding two eggs into the pot. He closed the lids and turned of the heat. After waiting for 10 seconds, the lids were removed and spring onions were placed on top as garnishing. Cale put in a spoonful of chili powder into the MSG pot and half spoon of it into the seafood pot. He then presented the two ramens to the crowd.
"Wow, the aroma smells so good, human."
"Can I have some please, nya?"
"Young master-nim, I didn't know you were such a good cook."
"Cale-nim, it smells just like the ramen that we used to have."
Luckily all of them were too distracted by the ramens that none of them caught Choi Han's slip of a tongue. Cale quickly stirred the soup and distributed the ramens evenly for them. Taking out the kimchi from the fridge (yup, they made a cold storage with magic), he told them to try the ramen's original taste first before eating it with kimchi. He picked up the bowl an tasted it.
'Wow, the MSG is real good. Kimchi is nice too though I missed the ones from the convenient store. Maybe we can do different types of kimchi next time. Maybe we can really start selling ramens soon. It's convenient, cheap and fast to prepare.'
Sluuurpp!
For some time, only the slurping sound can be heard in the kitchen.
"Ahhhh. This is yummy nya!"
"Human! I love the soup! Can I have another bowl of the really red soup one?"
"Raon, you can't drink too much MSG. Just eat the ramen alright?"
"Okay."
Cale put another scoop of noodles into Raon's bowl and added the seafood on top. While the black dragon was happily receiving his full bowl back, Beacrox gave his evaluation.
"Young master-nim, this is good. The seafood ramen has rich flavors despite not having any MSG or salt in it. The chili powder added a nice kick to it. On the other hand, the MSG is really amazing as the seasoning. The ramen does not need any other ingredients to create such deep flavors. This will make any cooking much easier yet tastier. I'll try to make a variety of MSG and see if we can mass produce it."
"Thank you, Beacrox. Your evaluation is appreciated. And that's a good suggestion. If we can make a variety of powder seasonings, then cooking will not be a hassle anymore. What do you think, Choi Han?"
"This is just like the ramen cup that I have back at home, Cale-nim. The kimchi too. It's been a long time since I last remembered their flavors."
"That's good to know. Then, we'll be able to explore more of your hometown food after having all the basic ingredients now."
"Thanks, Cale-nim."
"Don't mention it. I've to thank you too for letting me taste such delicacies."
By this time, Choi Han was thankful that Beacrox was skilled in cooking. Only Choi Han and Kim Rok Soo knew how much they had missed those food. But in future, they'll be able to make their own kimchi pancake, bibimbap, or even spam. They wouldn't have to to crave for those food anymore.
"Great Beacrox."
"Yes, Raon nim."
"Can you make those kimchi, ramen and MSG into takeaway food?"
"Well, it's possible. I'll try."
Although that was Cale's intention, but when it comes from Raon, he had a bad feeling about this idea.
"Raon, why are you in such a hurry to pack them up?"
"Cause they're yummy and you like them too, human. I'm thinking about storing a variety of food for you when you're fainting! You must be sick of apple pies now, don't you?"
"Wh- I, I see."
So Cale's biggest nightmare has came. He will need to make sure that he won't choke on those spicy hot food when Raon stuffed them into his mouth next time. Well, as long as he was still on this slacker life project, there won't be a time that he will overuse his power and faint, right? Cale threw the scary thoughts to the back of his head and started to cook more for the uninvited guests. The others naturally helped out.
When they brought out food from the kitchen, Cage was the first to respond.
"Hmm-mmh. Smells good. Hey Taylor, did you smell something tasty?"
"Huh? Yeah, it smells appetizing."
"Wow, it's food!"
Bud rushed to them with swaying footsteps while Ron dragged him back to the table. They placed two big pots on the middle of the table and served the extra fishcakes and kimchi as side dishes.
"Just the right dish for you to sober up."
"Wah, thanks young master! You're the best!"
The three uninvited guests quickly scooped the ramen into their bowls and gobbled up the food. There were lights in their eyes as soon as they tasted the soup. Bud was sobered now and grabbed Cale's hand, which had caused the others to glare at him with murder intent but he didn't care.
"Cale, my friend. If you're going to open a restaurant, please count me in. This, this food and side dishes are so complimentary to alcohol. Imagine that I'll in charge of the drinks while you're in charge of the food. We'll make huge business."
Cale pushed Bud's up close face away from him.
"Thanks, but we've decided to invest on consumable products instead."
"Huh, no restaurant?"
"No. Just by selling those will earn us enough profit. Why do we need a restaurant. Plus, we'll be the one owning the patent for all these products for the next 20 years."
"2-20? That's insane, man. Will you count me in as investor?"
"I'll think about it."
"Why? Is it already loaded with funds?"
"The biggest investor is the Henituse Household and also the Molans."
"That- Isn't that cheating? It's basically you."
"I don't know what you mean. This Sir Ron over here is the head of Molan Household. While Duke Deruth is the head of Henituse Household. I'm just the entrepreneur of this project."
"Y-you-"
Knock, knock! Creak!
The front door was opened again. This time, Cale was sure that the migraine he was experiencing was not just a psychological effect as he heard the voice of the intruder.
"Hello, everyone. Oh dongsaeng, I didn't expect you to be here. Did you cook all these? Then, I must try them."
"Oh, it's your hyung? Then, it's my hyung too. Come, come. I'll pour you a drink!"
Bud pulled Bob towards the crowd while he shamelessly walked in with a wide smile and sat at the table. Serving himself with the chopsticks and bowl that Choi Han had set for him. He nodded at the three guests as greeting. All of them were smiling stiffly back at him. Cale glared at the dark skinned elf.
'You didn't expect I was here but you came to this inn as Bob at this time?'
"Hmmm. This is delicious, dongsaeng. Choi Han, I've heard about your hometown food and they taste as great as you've described."
"Thank you."
"Dongsaeng, are you not happy to see me here?"
"... No. Why are you here?"
"I was attracted by the food, of course."
Cale scoffed at that half-hearted answer.
'He must have heard from someone that I was coming to cook some sample. It won't be Ron or Beacrox. Not Lock...'
As he looked over to the three uninvited guests, Bob spoke again.
"Well, can I join as an investor, dongsaeng?"
Alberu whispered just enough for Cale to listen. Cale really wanted to stuff the kimchi down his throat before Raon can actually try that. He knew that Cale needed his approval to get the patent for those food and look at this guy, sneaking into the contract to seize a piece of the cake. Of course Cale was willing to give him that much since he had been helping them so much with his convenient identity as the crown prince. But he didn't want to make it easy for him. He put on the scamming smile that Raon wanted to learn.
"Hyung, you know I have no power in such decision. I'll need to discuss with Duke Deruth first while you can discuss this matter with another main shareholder, Mr Ron Molan over here."
- Are we visiting human's papa, mama, Basen and Lily?
Cale nodded and asked Beacrox to pack some of the food for him to bring back home.
"Well, since you're visiting home, shall we all go together? Is that alright, Mr Ron?"
Ron looked at Cale for his order. No matter how much he wanted to say no, Cale knew Alberu will still visit his family so he nodded to Ron.
"Sure, Mr- Bob."
'Urgh, I'm going to puke out blood again. He sure loves role playing.'
- Human, you alright?
And so, their next destination was set.
***
Next: A Rather Peaceful Family Gathering (?)