Volume 2Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – To the Port Town

Yesterday was genuinely hard going. After lunch I was set on by everybody, all of them interested in what I know, and asked about magic on top of it, and by the time I noticed it was night. Thoroughly tired. Except that today I’m keyed up enough not to feel any of it. Because today’s the day we go to the port town!

Food from the sea to look forward to. Maybe I’ll get to see the sea and some boats for the first time in a long while. I finished getting ready in a fidget the whole time. The ones coming to the port town are Lucien and Lord Frederick, Lord Richard and Lady Catherine. Everyone else apparently prefers taking it easy at home to anything the sea has. Passing up seafood is unthinkable to a Japanese person.

At a glance Roger looks as expressionless as ever, but his face is softer than usual and you can tell how much he’s looking forward to seeing the sea.

“Roger, we finally get to see the sea.”

“Yes. I am glad to be in Master Leon’s service. I am very much looking forward to it.”

Roger’s eyes are shining brightly enough that I want to ask what happened to the usual blank face. Being told he’s glad to be in my service is lovely, except that if the reason is getting to see the sea then it wouldn’t matter whose service he was in! I’ve lost to the sea. That’s a bit deflating…

“Er, that is. Serving Master Leon is very enjoyable. Master Leon gives thought to the servants as well, and expresses his gratitude, and it makes the work rewarding. To be able to see the sea besides is why I am glad to be in Master Leon’s service.”

Roger seems to have worked out why I’d deflated, and said it in something of a hurry. So that’s what he thinks… That’s rather nice. Very nice, in fact. He does still finish on the sea, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that part.

“I’m glad you think that, Roger. Here’s to more of the same.”

“Yes. I shall serve you with all my heart from now on as well.”

“Thanks. Then it’s about time, so shall we go?”

“Certainly.”

So Roger and I made our way to the drawing room beside the entrance hall. I was first there, but all five of us gathered almost at once. Lord Richard was last.

“Everyone is here. Then let us go.”

The five of us got into the carriage and set off for the port town. It apparently takes about three hours to get there. A day trip would be hard going, so the plan is to stay a night in the port town.

“Is the port town a large town?”

“Let me see… it is not especially large, but it has life in it. Nearly everybody there makes salt or fishes, so there are a great many rough-built men. They do heavy work and eat a great deal, so there is no shortage of restaurants.”

Lord Richard answered my question. I can more or less picture it. A different feel from the capital, and it sounds like fun.

“Do the people of the port town eat food from the sea?”

“Yes, every day, so I hear. Those who live inland do not know how good it is, though, so it does not occur to them to buy it or to come and eat it. As a result almost none of it is sold to other towns. Dried fish could be sold at a distance, but there is no demand for it.”

It’s a waste that something good doesn’t spread. Even if fresh is impossible, dried fish is good too. Anybody who tried it should notice… Or maybe the look of it puts off people seeing it for the first time? True enough, on Earth as well, in places that don’t eat seafood people used to call the look of it revolting. I still think if they ate it they’d understand.

“It would be good if food from the sea reached the other towns as well.”

“I attempted it once when I was duke, but taking dried fish to the royal capital never really caught on.”

So it has been tried. Why didn’t it catch on…? I’d have thought some people would take to it if they ate it.

“Was there nobody who tried it and got a taste for the dried fish?”

“There were a few, but it was not accepted by any great number. They said it was awkward to eat, that there were few places to eat it, that it smelled.”

Well, there are bones, and it is more awkward than meat. And there’s less flesh on it. I don’t think the smell would trouble anybody much if you grilled it, though it may depend on how the fish is dried.

I’d teach them a way of drying fish that kills the smell if I could, except that I don’t know the first thing about drying fish. With no phone to hand, I really am scraping the bottom of what I know. If I only had a phone I could look anything up. It shows me exactly how much I leaned on the thing.

Anyway, the upshot is that for most people dried fish isn’t a taste worth forcing down. And I suppose if you aren’t used to it you never do notice how good dried fish is.

“I see. Are you fond of food from the sea, Lord Richard?”

“Yes, I am fond of it. Though I prefer the cooking one eats in the port town to dried fish.”

“I like it too. It’s a different sort of flavor from meat, and it’s good.”

“I love it as well. Though I do not often eat dried fish.”

So Lord Frederick and Lady Catherine like it too.

“Lord Lucien, have you ever eaten food from the sea?”

“Neither my father nor my mother eats it by choice, so I never have. Which is why today is something to look forward to.”

“Then I am very much looking forward to it as well. Let us eat a great deal of it.”

“Let us!”

Then three hours of swaying along in the carriage, and it seems we’ve reached the port town. I opened the carriage window and a sea wind came in. …The smell of the sea! Something about the smell takes me straight back. The sea smells the same even in a different world. The carriage went on through the town for a while and stopped in front of a house slightly grander than the ones around it. This seems to be the town’s deputy’s residence.

It isn’t a large town, so the residence is a smaller thing than the ones we’ve stayed in. There are apparently just barely enough rooms for us. Not having many rooms seems to be one of the reasons Lord Christophe and the others didn’t come. And what rooms there are aren’t grand ones.

In front of the residence stood a sun-browned, healthy-looking man. Built extremely solidly.

“It has been a long while, all of you. And a first meeting for the young gentlemen. My name is Tony.”

“I am Lucien.”

“I am Leon. I am glad to meet you.”

Tony is apparently a commoner deputy. Small towns don’t get a semi-noble hired for them; instead the ablest and best-liked among the commoners are educated at the ducal residence and sent out to the towns as deputies.

“I expect the house is a cramped one for all of you, but we’ll entertain you with everything we have.”

“Thank you, Tony. Only the one night, but we shall be glad of the rest.”

“Please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll show you to your rooms.”

The room I was shown to wasn’t grand, but it had been cleaned beautifully. A deputy’s residence with no noble in it doesn’t have the sewer laid on, though, so the toilets are the kind you empty by hand, several of them about the house, and there was no bath. Well, in a small town out in the country there’s nothing to be done about it. For the moment, making one toilet completely clean only costs about half the mana I currently have, so I may as well.

Which is another thing. My mana capacity has grown a great deal, and making a single toilet clean still uses half of it, so Purification’s efficiency is terrible. It would help to have a good image for it. I got the toilet gleaming. Clean as new, not a mark on it. Purification is impressive stuff. Incidentally, cleaning the toilet pleased everybody more than I’d expected. That kind of toilet is filthy and it smells, so I understand it. I dislike them too. Using one indefinitely is more than I could stand.

After that we were to rest in our rooms until lunch, so I spent it drinking tea slowly to get the travel out of me. Then lunchtime came and we all gathered in the dining room. The food is about to be brought in.

“I was told all of you wanted food from the sea, so I had the cook make a lunch with plenty of it. I hope it pleases you.”

Excellent, fish at last! Presumably nothing raw. Then again, if it’s fresh there may be a culture of eating it raw. And if not raw, grilled? Even plain grilled fish would make me very happy!

I was waiting in a fidget of anticipation when the servers brought the food in. The meal here isn’t in courses; everything for one person is laid out at once. At a glance there’s nothing raw, so that culture doesn’t exist. A slight shame, though raw is dangerous unless it’s genuinely fresh and handled carefully, and cooked is safer and better.

“Then let us eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

I started with a soup that was giving off a wonderful smell. …Delicious! That flavor is prawn, definitely. It’s a prawn stock. This is dangerously good. I feel as though I haven’t tasted proper stock in a very long time. The capital’s cooking has developed, but it had no stock in it. I drank the soup straight down.

“Master Leon looks very happy eating that. Prawns are at their best about now, once it starts to get cold.”

Tony said it, and I’m embarrassed… Though it is fantastic, so there’s nothing to be done about that.

“It is delicious. Excuse me, what is this white fish?”

“That’ll be Spanish mackerel. It’s mostly caught in the hot season, but we still get it this time of year. It suits any dish you like.”

“Ah. Then I shall try this next.”

Extremely good-looking Spanish mackerel. I took one mouthful on the fork and put it in. Mm, that’s good! This is cooked in butter. The butter comes up through your nose and the flesh of the fish is sweet, and luxurious, and better than it has any right to be. I finished the Spanish mackerel in butter without looking up.

Two dishes left. One is octopus leg grilled with salt exactly as it is. The other is grilled scallops. Octopus first. Chew, chew… That’s a very springy octopus. But the more you chew the more the flavor comes out, and it’s good. Deep-fried, this would be superb, I’m certain of it.

Is there no deep-frying here? Not much of it, maybe? Then again I’ve eaten something plain-fried once, so the method must exist. In that case there’s nothing so strange about me making some deep-fried octopus. If they’ll let me use the kitchen later, I want to make it! And if I’m frying, crumbed fish would be good as well. I’ll ask this evening.

Last, the scallops. Bite… Delicious! Butter here as well. They must have grilled the scallops and melted butter over them. Enormously good. Even the liquid left behind is good. I’m thoroughly satisfied. I really am Japanese: I like meat too, but it’s food from the sea I find myself wanting.

Then, after an excellent lunch and a short rest, the afternoon found me swaying along in a carriage toward the sea. Lucien’s with me. Everyone else has seen it already and doesn’t feel the need to go and look.

“I am very much looking forward to this. The sea is so wide you cannot see the end of it, is it not?”

“Something to look forward to, right!”

There’s nobody in the carriage but Lucien and me, so no need for formal speech. The valets and guards are apparently following on foot. The town isn’t big enough for a carriage to get up much speed, so walking keeps pace.

“Lucien, after the sea I’d like to go to the market and the food stalls where they sell things from the sea. Is that all right?”

“Walking about and looking a while should be all right. Jacques is with us as guard.”

“Really?! Excellent!”

“Is there something interesting there?”

“I thought if I bought some good-looking fish they might use it for dinner. And there’s something I want to cook myself, so I want to buy the ingredients for that too.”

“Leon, you can cook?”

Lucien is quite startled. Which reminds me… I never told him my family runs a restaurant.

“My family’s place is a restaurant.”

“Is it. Then I should like to eat something Leon has cooked.”

“Then if they let me use the kitchen when we get back, I’ll make something.”

“In that case we shall buy a great deal. I have money from my grandfather.”

“Have you? Then I’ll spend it without holding back.”

We laughed about that. Then a while more of swaying along and it seems we reached the shore. I got down from the carriage and the wide sea was spread out in front of me.

…The sea, after so long. The wind off it feels wonderful. The sea is the same enormous thing in any world. I catch myself wishing the impossible, that Japan were on the other side of this water. The sea is genuinely beautiful, and something about looking at it brings an ache up in me.

I looked at it quietly for a while, and when I’d had my fill I turned round toward Roger. Roger was gazing at the sea with his eyes shining. He has a child’s face on. That’s another one I’ve never seen.

“Roger, what do you make of the sea?”

“Ah, Master Leon. It is extraordinary! To be so wide and so beautiful. I am glad to have seen it.”

“It really is beautiful. Roger, you were watching it with a face like a child, all lit up.”

“I… I am certain I was not making any such face.”

Roger is denying it with everything he has. There’s no need to deny it that hard. And now the usual blank face is back. He’s changed a great deal from the start, though. His expression moves often these days, so he must be letting his guard down with me. I’m glad we’ve got closer than we were. There’s no awkwardness in being together any more, either.

“I think you were.”

“No. I was not. More to the point, Master Leon, were you not going to collect sand?”

Roger turned the subject on me. But that matters too. I’d thought I’d take some of the sand from the beach and some shells home as souvenirs for Marie and Martine. The beach here isn’t wide, but there’s sand enough to collect plenty.

“That’s right. Could I have a sack?”

“Please use this.”

“Thanks.”

I got a sack from Roger and went over to Lucien.

“Lord Lucien, the sea is very wide and very beautiful.”

“Leon, it is extraordinary! To think there is this much water. It is so wide, and beautiful.”

Lucien is gazing at the sea with his eyes shining. Seeing it for the first time does move you. What moves me is how much I miss it.

“It really is beautiful… Lord Lucien, I was thinking of collecting some of the sand here to take home. Might I go and gather some?”

“Take it home? The sand here is fine and clean, certainly.”

Lucien answered while running his hand through the sand.

“Yes. I thought it would make a good souvenir.”

“That is a fine idea! I shall collect some as well.”

Lucien had his valet get a sack ready too. Whatever else he is, Lucien is a child as well. Which I can hardly say, when I’m collecting sand myself.

“If we are collecting, let us find clean sand. Over there looks better. Leon, come on!”

“Yes. If there are nice shells we should pick those up too.”

“Quite so. Let us look for those as well.”

Then for some tens of minutes Lucien and I enjoyed collecting sand and hunting for shells. Partway through it may have turned into simply playing in the sand, but we did collect plenty of both. I’m thoroughly satisfied. Playing like this now and then really is good.

“Master Leon, I shall carry that sack.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Leon, the market next.”

Once Lucien and I had finished with the sand and were content, we got back into the carriage and went to the market near the harbor. Getting down, the entrance to the market was right in front of us. It’s full of life and the feel of it is thoroughly enjoyable.

“Lord Lucien, may we stop if there is a shop I am curious about?”

“Of course! I want to see a great many shops as well.”

“Then let us go.”

At the market they had wooden boxes filled with water, with fish and shellfish and octopus sorted into them by kind. First I want octopus, since I want deep-fried octopus. Then a white fish for the crumbed fish. But which fish would be right? Hmm, no idea, so the Spanish mackerel from lunch will do. Anything ought to be good. And if I’m crumbing things, crumbed horse mackerel is good as well. If they have horse mackerel I’ll buy some. And yellowtail if they have it. Salt-grilled yellowtail was a great favorite of mine.

I was walking along looking over the stalls with that in mind when I found one selling octopus.

“Lord Lucien, may I buy some octopus?”

“Of course. Let us go to that shop.”

“Thank you.”

We went over, and I spoke to the fellow standing out front.

“Hello. I’d like to buy some octopus.”

“You wouldn’t be nobility, would you…?”

He said it half under his breath, and looked at us with a shade of anxiety.

“I’m not, but this is Lord Lucien of House Townsend.”

“House Townsend, that’s the lord of the domain! To have you come to a place like this, I’m grateful, I’m sure…”

He started bobbing his head at Lucien over and over. Maybe nobles never come round here.

“Forgive us for arriving without warning.”

“Not at all, not at all, we’re grateful.”

“Do nobles never come round here?”

“Course not, a town this small and the market of all places! Even House Townsend only ever came as far as the deputy’s house.”

He told me that in a low voice, meant for me alone. So I’ve done something out of the ordinary again. Lucien nodded so easily when I said the market that I’d assumed Lord Richard and the others came too.

Sorry about this, Lucien… Though I expect there’ll be more of it.

“I see. Lord Lucien is a good sort of noble, so there’s nothing to worry about. So can I buy the octopus?”

“Course you can. Better than that, having nobility buy from me is something to be grateful for. There’s some lively ones in today. Let me see… the ones in that box are the best.”

“Then three good ones out of that box, please. And I want Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel and yellowtail. Where would I go for those?”

“Three along from here, they land good lively ones.”

“Do they? Thanks.”

So I bought the octopus, had Roger carry it, and went to the next shop.

“Hello. I’d like Spanish mackerel, horse mackerel and yellowtail.”

“Right you are! How many of each?”

“Hmm. Three Spanish mackerel, one yellowtail and six horse mackerel, please. Pick good ones.”

The woman at this next shop was full of energy. She isn’t troubled in the least by what we’re wearing. She may take us for merchants’ children.

“These do you?”

“Yes! They look wonderful.”

“That they do. My man’s good at the fishing.”

So I bought fish from a thoroughly cheerful woman, and the mission’s accomplished. I made ice in the wooden box Roger is carrying, where nobody could see me do it. Now I don’t have to worry about time.

The shopping’s done, so next is eating our way along the stalls. This market doesn’t only sell fish; there are things you can eat as you walk about too.

“Lord Lucien, is there anything you would like to buy?”

“I do not really know what there is, so I shall follow Leon. All of it is new to me and enjoyable.”

“Then shall we eat our way along a little? Or would that be out of the question for Lord Lucien?”

“No, today of all days it should be all right.”

Excellent! Lucien’s valet had a face that wanted to stop him, but since Lucien is clearly enjoying himself he seems to have decided not to. What to eat. There’s fish cut open and grilled, octopus on skewers and grilled, shellfish grilled. Hard to choose, but what I want right now is shellfish.

“Lord Lucien, shall we have scallops?”

“Ah, the ones we had at lunch today. I liked those.”

“Then let us make it scallops.”

We went over to a shop selling scallops. Coming up to it, a wonderful smell of grilling seafood rolls out and opens a hole in your stomach at once.

“Hello. Could we have some scallops? How many… will all of you eat?”

I asked Lucien’s guards and valets. They shook their heads straight away.

“No, we are on duty, so we shall decline.”

“No, you should all eat. Once in a while is all right.”

“But…”

“There is no need to hold back.”

“We are on duty, however…”

Lucien and the valet each seem entirely unwilling to give ground. The man who put an end to that fruitless struggle was Jacques.

“We’ve got the chance, so let’s all have some. Thank you, Lord Lucien.”

That seems to have settled everybody on eating. Roger’s the same way; are valets mostly this serious-minded?

“So how many is it?”

“Er… five, please!”

“Five it is. I’ll grill them now, so wait a bit.”

The woman at the stall grilled five scallops for us as soon as we’d ordered. Then she worked the meat out of the shells with something like an iron skewer and salted them. They’re still hot enough to be hissing. This looks fantastic.

“There, they’re done.”

“Thanks! Lord Lucien, please. Ah, should somebody taste it first?”

“I shall do it.”

Lucien’s valet ate a little and checked it, then handed the scallop to Lucien.

“Thank you. Then let us eat.”

“Yes! Itadakimasu.”

I got my teeth into the scallop properly. The meat’s so big I can’t finish it in one bite. What is this, it’s outrageously good! Chew and the flavor comes flooding out and fills your whole mouth. Only a little salt, so the taste of the thing itself is doing the work, and it’s wonderful. Food from the sea really is about freshness and coming straight off the grill.

The scallop was big, and I finished it in no time. That was the best.

“Lord Lucien, that was very good indeed!”

“It was so good it startled me! If I were hungrier I should have wanted more.”

“Then let us buy scallops to take back as well. Could we have twenty scallops?”

“Course you can. Thank you kindly.”

So we carried our spoils back to the deputy’s residence in armfuls.

Getting back, there were two hours left until dinner. Preparations for it will presumably start before long. If I can I want to cook with what we bought, and I want to eat what I cook at dinner. I asked Roger to arrange a meeting with Lord Richard, and decided to ask, with nothing much to lose, whether I could make dinner.

The meeting was allowed at once, so Roger and I went to Lord Richard’s room.

“Master Leon is here.”

Roger knocked and announced me, and Lord Richard’s valet opened the door. I sat on the sofa I was offered.

“Lord Richard, I am sorry to come without warning.”

“There is no need to mind that. Any time at all is fine where you are concerned, Leon. Now then, what is it?”

“Thank you. The truth is that there are things I should like to make with the food from the sea for dinner, and I wondered whether I might have permission to use the kitchen.”

“You would make them, Leon?”

“If permission were given…”

“You can cook?”

Lord Richard said it looking considerably surprised. Right, to a noble, cooking is entirely the cook’s work, so somebody who isn’t a cook not being able to do it is the normal case. Not that my cooking is good enough to call being able to cook.

“My family’s place is a restaurant, so a little. And I thought I should like to cook with the food from the sea, so might I have permission? And if I may be greedy about it, I should be grateful for the cook’s help as well.”

“Cooking by Leon. That is something to look forward to. Then I shall tell Tony and the head cook that you will be using the kitchen. And I shall ask the head cook to help you. Go along to the kitchen a little later.”

“Truly?! Thank you very much!”

Excellent, now I get to eat the seafood dishes I want!

After that I went back to my room, killed a little time, put on an apron to cook and went to the kitchen. Inside was a gentle-looking man of middle years.

“Master Leon. I am the head cook. My name is Nasser.”

“I am Leon. Thank you for letting me use your kitchen.”

“Not at all. I hear Master Leon knows dishes that are unusual in this country. I am very much looking forward to seeing what they are. I shall be helping, so please ask me for anything at all. This wooden box holds what you purchased.”

“Nasser, thank you. I do not really know how to prepare things from the sea, so may I ask you to do it?”

“Of course.”

Nasser smiled and nodded. I’m glad he’s a kind man. If he’s helping, the cooking should go smoothly.

First I made the ice disappear where Nasser couldn’t see it, and checked over what we’d bought. Octopus, Spanish mackerel, horse mackerel, yellowtail, scallops. The octopus, Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel are going to be fried. The octopus deep-fried, and I want the Spanish mackerel and horse mackerel crumbed. Which means they need cutting up first.

“Nasser, would you prepare the Spanish mackerel and the horse mackerel?”

“Certainly. In what form should I cut them?”

Hmm, crumbed fish had the tail on and was a sort of triangle shape, wasn’t it. Would having the horse mackerel opened out flat do it? Except these are fairly large and thick. Half of an opened one may be better.

“Could the horse mackerel be opened out flat? And then I would like that split in half. A two-piece fillet, would that be?”

“Entirely possible.”

“Then the horse mackerel that way, please. The Spanish mackerel is very large, so… could you cut it to about the same size as a halved horse mackerel? And I would like both of them boned.”

“Certainly. I shall have them done quickly.”

Nasser set about the fish, and his hands were quick and neat. That really is what practice looks like. A professional, obviously… Right, my turn to get ready. The crumbing first. Crumbed fish was flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then fry, if I remember.

I put flour out on a flat dish, broke eggs into a bowl and beat them. Then I got yesterday’s leftover bread from Nasser and worked at chopping it fine. There was no grater, so I did it with a knife, and it was hard going. The crumbs came out a bit coarse, but that gives them some bite, so it’s fine.

“Master Leon, they are all prepared. What should I do next?”

That was fast! Nasser is astonishing. Then next… I’ll have him cut up the octopus.

“Then could you cut the octopus into chunks? About one bite each, please.”

“Certainly. Octopus needs preparing first, so it will take a little time. Is that all right?”

Octopus needs preparing? Of course. The only octopus I know is the kind they sell in a supermarket. That must come already prepared. Come to that, supermarket octopus wasn’t raw octopus in the first place.

“Yes. Please go ahead. May I watch how it is prepared?”

“Of course.”

I decided to watch a while and learn how it’s done. Nasser used the knife deftly to take out what looked like the innards, then rubbed salt all over the octopus and worked it in. He kept at that for a while, and once a good deal of slime had come out he rinsed it away with water. Then he set about cutting it into chunks. So the innards and that slime are what have to come off.

“Would this size do?”

“Yes. About that, please.”

“Certainly.”

Nasser had the octopus done in no time as well. I took the chunks and rubbed salt and pepper into them to season. Pepper being simply kept in stock is impressive. Among commoners it’s expensive enough that nobody ever uses it. Right, and then flour on them just before frying.

Next… come to think of it, crumbed fish has no flavor of its own, does it? Salt again would be dull, so can’t I make some kind of sauce? Hmm, the only thing I can think of that this world can make is tomato sauce, but can you get tomatoes this time of year? At my house the cold-season vegetables were mostly radish and cabbage, I think. No tomatoes.

“Nasser, are there tomatoes at this time of year?”

“Tomatoes? I would think the season for them is well past…”

“I see… Then tomato sauce is out.”

“It is tomato sauce you want, rather than fresh tomatoes? In that case it can be made.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. We keep dried tomatoes in oil, so with those I believe a good tomato sauce can be made.”

“Then may I ask you to?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Nasser took it on with a smile. Genuinely grateful. Now the crumbed fish can be eaten properly too. Oh, but before that I want the yellowtail cut up…

“Nasser, I am very sorry, but could you prepare the yellowtail first?”

“Of course, that is no trouble.”

Without Nasser, cutting these up would have taken me an age and come out a mess. It would certainly have been several grades less good. I really am glad Nasser is here. And I’d like to learn how to cut fish myself.

“Nasser, may I watch you prepare the yellowtail as well?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

I watched his hands closely, and Nasser kindly taught me the knack of it as he went. I think I have the general method now. Whether I can actually do it is another question.

“I shall leave the yellowtail here. The tomato sauce next.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

While Nasser made the tomato sauce I got on with the scallops. What I want to make with those is baked scallops. I loved them in Japan and always ordered them at the restaurant near us. I’d tried to reproduce them at home too, so I have a rough idea of how it goes. I don’t know how the oven here works, but I’ll leave that to Nasser. Thank you very much, Nasser.

Oh, does the oven need lighting in advance? Better to tell him early.

“Nasser, I should like to use the oven. Does it need lighting in advance?”

“It does. There is a little time between lighting it and its being usable. Shall I get it ready?”

“Thank you. Please do.”

I left the oven to Nasser and started on the scallops. For baked scallops you separate the shell from the meat first. Then wash the hollow half of the shell, and wash the meat too and pat it dry. The black part of the meat comes off, if I remember. Then the scallop goes back in the shell and it’s the seasoning. The seasoning I like is the garlic one. Do they have garlic?

“Nasser, do you have garlic?”

“Garlic? It is over there, but that is for making the smell of beef less noticeable.”

That’s all it’s used for?! Now I think of it, I don’t think I’ve had a single dish with garlic in it.

“It is not used for anything else?”

“Not to my knowledge. It only came to be used in cooking at all quite recently.”

“Ah. But this dish is much better for garlic. May I use it?”

“I leave it to Master Leon. Though might I watch how you use it?”

“Of course.”

Garlic is a hugely useful thing to cook with, and I want Nasser to learn how to use it and go on to develop more dishes with it.

“You chop the garlic fine, like this, and putting it into a dish makes it a great deal better. It is good in tomato sauce, and good in stews as well.”

“In tomato sauce, and in stews… I shall try it.”

“Please do! It suits almost anything, so use as much of it as you like.”

I chopped the garlic fine and put it over the scallops. Then salt and pepper, and breadcrumbs on top. That’s them finished. Nothing left but the oven.

“Nasser, is the oven usable now?”

“Yes. Are those going into the oven?”

“They are.”

“It is dangerous, so please leave that to me.”

Nasser took the scallops from me, laid them on an iron sheet and put them into the oven.

“We shall look at how they are coming along in a while.”

“Please. Then in the meantime I shall finish the other dishes. The yellowtail is to be grilled with salt. May I ask you for that?”

“Simply salted and grilled?”

“Yes. I want something plain as well.”

“Certainly.”

While Nasser grilled the yellowtail, I got on with the frying. I was given oil, put it in a pot and heated it. And while the oil was heating, the last preparations. Flour on the octopus; flour then egg then breadcrumbs on the horse mackerel and the Spanish mackerel.

By the time the preparations were done the oil was hot, so I fried everything in turn. That sound frying makes. That sound is what starts you off. …I’m hungry.

Ten minutes or so and everything was fried. By then the baked scallops were done and the yellowtail had been grilled as well. That’s everything! It’s entirely thanks to Nasser, but I think it came out better than I expected. Now they only have to find it good and it’ll be perfect.

“Nasser, thank you very much for helping. Without you I could never have made any of this half so well.”

“I am a cook, so helping is a matter of course. It is I who got to see a great many new dishes, and I have learned a great deal from it. Thank you. Now, Master Leon, please go along to the dining room. The servers and I shall carry the food in.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

I thanked Nasser again and left the kitchen. Roger was waiting outside, and one glance at me and his face pulled into a frown.

“Master Leon, let us change your clothes in your room before you go to the dining room. They are dirty.”

“Are they?”

Looking down at myself, there is flour on me and there are crumbs of bread. Yes, dirty.

“You’re right. Let’s be quick, or it’ll be dinner.”

I changed in my room and went to the dining room. I changed in quite a hurry, and everybody was already seated when I got there.

“I am sorry to be late.”

“No, you were making our dinner, were you not, Leon? Being late is only natural. And your cooking is something to look forward to.”

“I am very much looking forward to it as well. I have never eaten anything Leon has made.”

Lord Richard and Lady Catherine seem to be looking forward to it a great deal.

“You used what we bought earlier, did you? I am looking forward to it too.”

“Will it be different from what we usually eat? I have hopes.”

Lucien and Lord Frederick look thoroughly eager as well. Expectations this high are quite a weight. What if they find it no good…?

I went a bit weak at that and was about to say “please don’t expect too much,” and then the food arrived. Nothing left but to pray it suits them. From the little I tasted it was extremely good, so it should be all right.

The dishes the servers brought in were beautifully arranged on the plates and looked like expensive cooking. I can’t believe I made them.

“I do not know whether it will suit you, but I hope you will eat.”

“It looks very good indeed. Then let us eat.”

“Itadakimasu.”

Everybody started with whatever had caught their eye most. Lord Richard began with the crumbed horse mackerel.

“What… what is this? The crispness of it is new and interesting. And the flesh is plump and very good. It goes with the tomato sauce as well. This is beyond anything…”

“It truly is… I have never had better.”

What Lady Catherine is eating is the crumbed Spanish mackerel. The crumbed fish seems to be rating highly.

“L-Leon, this is far too good! Is this the octopus?”

Lord Frederick has evidently eaten the deep-fried octopus. Deep-fried octopus is at the level of making you ask why it’s this good. I understand completely.

“It is octopus cut into chunks, seasoned with salt and pepper, and deep-fried.”

“It is genuinely delicious… I could eat it every day. It would go with drink as well.”

Deep-fried octopus is the very type of the thing you eat with a drink. So you arrive at that opinion in another world as well.

“I like this one! This is the scallop, is it not? Why is it this good?”

Lucien seems to have taken to the baked scallops. He’s already onto his third.

“The crispness of the breadcrumbs and the flavor of the garlic make the scallop better still. Other seasonings are possible as well, adding butter and so on.”

“This is genuinely extraordinary. I could eat it every day.”

“Is it as good as that? Then I shall have one as well…”

So everybody ate the dinner I’d made and looked thoroughly happy doing it. That makes me very glad. And of course I enjoyed an excellent dinner myself.

Which of them was best is a hard question, but for me it’s the baked scallops. The crisp bite and then the flavor flooding your mouth. The garlic working, and the salt, and it was genuinely superb. The salt-grilled yellowtail was good as well. Though the salt-grilled yellowtail may have been a slight mistake, because it made me want white rice more than anything. Salt-grilled fish does go with hot white rice. It would be good if there were rice somewhere in this world, but I never see it anywhere and everybody I ask has never heard of it. Finding rice may have to be one of my goals someday.

So a thoroughly satisfying dinner ended, and I was tired enough that day to fall asleep at once.