Appraiser 8

Test

I Seem To Caught Their Stomachs

Ali finished his miscellaneous tasks and headed to the cafeteria for a slightly late dinner. The cafeteria in this hideout is connected to the kitchen. Connected might not be the right word. It's more like a cafeteria in which the kitchen is set up to pass food directly. Why such a setup? Because many people are living here. The number of tables gets set up so that everyone can eat together, theoretically. It's rare for everyone to gather, even if they're a clan of treasure hunters delving into dungeons.

Come to think of it. It's the end of the month, Ali thought gloomily as he walked. Not only did he end up dealing with a troublesome "find" today, but it's also the end of the month. It's been discovered that the food is running out, and there won't be enough for a decent meal. While Ali and the others were in the dungeon, it seems the apprentice idiots went ahead, and cooked quite a lavish meat lunch. Thanks to that, there's hardly any food left, Ali figured.

"...Sigh. Looks like it's boiled sweet potatoes tonight..."

Yak, who is currently the lowest-ranking member, is a remarkable boy who understands the importance of food and how crucial its distribution is, having grown up in a rural area. However, he's not the only one on kitchen duty. Tearfully, he tries to make meals to balance out the dwindling food supply caused by the extravagant use of food by the idiotic seniors. Therefore, when it's Yak's turn to cook, it often becomes a set of potatoes, eggs, and milk. It's not Yak's fault. It's just that those three, along with bread, are plentiful in supply.

While heading to the cafeteria, Ali noticed an unusually large presence. The people would have finished dinner quickly and retreated to their rooms, but it seems some are still here. The feeling in the cafeteria is that of about ten people. Apart from Ali, it's everyone currently remaining in the hideout.

"...What's going on?"

Walking with a puzzled expression, he thought maybe they were welcoming newcomers. Today, they accidentally picked up an extraordinary lost child in the dungeon. At first glance, he seemed like an unremarkable, unassuming teenager with no sense of danger. If that were all, Ali would've just felt like he had done a good deed by protecting the lost child and would've felt a little proud.

If only it were just his unremarkable appearance.

Let's not dwell on it, Ali thought. He couldn't consult anyone about it. After all, this was beyond Ali's capabilities. If he were to consult someone, it would have to be someone like the leader of the adventurers' guild or the top of the appraiser's association. He didn't want to meet them because he felt it would be troublesome.

"Ah, Leader! Welcome back!"

Ali swallowed the retort that almost came out of his mouth. Let's not sweat the small stuff. That's what he thought. He hoped he had misheard, but unfortunately, Ali had good ears. And good memory. The voice he heard was undoubtedly that of the lost child they picked up today.

The one who greeted Ali upon entering the cafeteria was the entire Scarlet Lynx currently in the hideout. All of them. Before Ali could question them about what they were doing, his companions shouted loudly.

""Leader, don't kick him out of the group!""

Especially the lower-ranking members seemed desperate. Glancing at Brook and Frau, who seemed perplexed, Ali saw that both seasoned adventurers with whom Ali had a long history, smiled wryly. Though they smiled wryly, neither of them criticized their remarks. Once again, Ali couldn't understand the meaning.

"Well, you'll understand once you eat, Ali."

"Huh?"

"Yak was in trouble, so Yuuri helped with dinner. Well, I'd say Yuuri pretty much made it."

"...What's he up to..."

Ali sighed at Brook's explanation. What was he doing, working without even assigning work yet? But then, there was a glimmer of hope for Ali. He knew that Yuuri had Cooking skills.

And then.

"Sorry for the wait. Be careful, it's hot."

"...Yeah."

With a smile, Yuuri brought the meal. They were unfamiliar objects, but they definitely smelled delicious. There were two types of fried items, one with a distorted shape and the other oval. The soup served in the bowl was white. Ali narrowed his eyes slightly at the soup. He had never seen the soup before. As usual, there was bread on the plate.

He thought about appraising it, but he realized that would be rude. This absent-minded boy wouldn't poison them. Also, from the reactions around her, he understood that it was safe to eat.

"Alright, let's dig in."

As Ali speared the oddly shaped fried item with his fork and brought it to his mouth, everyone watched with keen interest. It had a peculiar texture. It's crispy and crunchy. And upon chewing, he understood it was vegetables fried until crisp. The seasoning was probably just salt, but that simple flavor brought out the sweetness of the vegetables.

"...What's this?"

"We only had leftover vegetable scraps, so I made tempura out of them."

"...Tempura?"

"It's a dish from my hometown. It's seasoned with just salt, but is it okay? If it's not enough, I can bring more salt."

"No, it's fine. It's delicious, actually."

"I'm glad."

Ali was impressed by the simple seasoning of the crispy tempura. As instructed, various vegetables were used, all finely sliced. Probably because there wasn't much left, to begin with.

Next, Ali reached for the oval-shaped lump, freshly fried. He cut it into bite-sized pieces with a knife and fork. Contrary to its fox-colored surface, the inside was whitish. It felt soft. Wondering if the brown bits here and there were meat, he took a bite.

The sweetness of potatoes, the savory taste of meat, and the crispiness from frying made Ali widen his eyes. First, it was almost miraculous that he even realized it was potatoes. Somehow, the texture reminded him of mashed potatoes (a bland object made by mashing boiled potatoes). Also, the crispy outer texture was inexplicably delicious.

"...What's this?"

"It's croquettes made from minced potatoes and meat from leftover bones. Since we didn't have breadcrumbs, I grated some bread to make the coating."

"...Breadcrumbs?"

"Yes, breadcrumbs."

Ali decided not to ask for further details from the smiling Yuuri for now. He just wanted to enjoy this delicious meal unexpectedly served instead of just boiled sweet potatoes. He should savor it.

While alternating between the croquettes and tempura, Ali reached for the pure white soup. There were chunks of potatoes floating in it. Indeed, it seemed only potatoes remained as proper vegetables, and Ali sympathized with Yak. Also, he respected Yuuri for creating such dishes under such circumstances.

Though the mysterious white soup was a bit strange-looking, since it smelled fine, Ali decided to taste it. It was a truly strange taste. The savoriness of meat, the mellowness of milk, and the seasoning of salt, pepper, and herbs combined to create an indescribable flavor. However, it was strangely gentle and warming from the body's core. When he ate the large pieces of potatoes inside, they were soft and incredibly delicious, absorbing the flavor.

Ultimately, Ali quietly continued his meal. It was delicious. It was really, really delicious. It was so delicious that he couldn't believe he could eat such a meal in this hideout. It was like a meal you'd expect to pay for at a restaurant.

And when Ali finished his meal, the lower-ranking members shouted again. They sat on the floor and earnestly pleaded.

"Leader, don't send him away!"

"Please, Leader! It's painful to lose his cooking!"

"It's painful for me to give up this meal too."

"Me too!"

"...You guys..."

They were being so persistent. Ali understood their feelings. He understood, but even though they were adventurers, being so easily captivated by food and pleading desperately, Ali wanted to say something. But among them, there was a boy who just looked at Ali with serious eyes. Yak.

"...Yak, what's wrong?"

"Leader, Yuuri is amazing. His cooking is incredible. And he can make dishes from leftovers."

"Yeah. You'll understand when you see this. If it were just you, making such dinner would've been impossible."

"Yeah... So, Leader, I want Yuuri to stay here. And I want to learn various things from him."

While the others wanted Yuuri to stay for their meal situation improvement, Yak wanted to apprentice himself to Yuuri to improve himself. Ali thought letting him join them was definitely the right decision. Yak was still young and skinny enough to need to build up his body, but his eyes and thoughtfulness were fitting for Ali's standards. Even now, he was the only one looking forward.

Ali ruffled Yak's head with a chuckle. Unlike the other idiots, this newcomer with a keen eye was cute to Ali. Also, he didn't plan on kicking Yuuri out of here. Because he didn't know what he might do if Yuuri got kicked out.

"Yuuri."

"Yes?"

"It was delicious. Thanks for the feast."

"No, no, it was my pleasure."

Yuuri's face, smiling as if he was pleased with Ali's happiness, looked like a young child. If he didn't know about this and that, Ali would find it simply heartwarming. But there was nothing he could do about it.

"For now, you'll work on grunt work with Yak. In between, we'll teach you various common sense."

"Thank you. Does that mean things like cooking and cleaning with Yak?"

"That's right. Yak, he doesn't know a lot of things. Teach him."

"Yes!"

"Nice to meet you, Yak."

Yuuri and Yak exchanged happy glances, clasping their hands together. Apparently, they bonded over cooking together. Although Yuuri lacked various common sense, Ali judged that leaving it to Yak would be fine. Yak was sharp, and when he was at home, he even took care of his younger siblings, so he was good at teaching others. Since the two seemed to get along well, Ali decided to leave the minor details to Yak.

Then Ali glanced at the apprentices who were happy about Yuuri staying. He couldn't believe they still didn't understand the importance of ingredients, those idiots.

"You guys, learn cooking thoroughly from Yuuri. Especially about how to use ingredients."

""Huh?""

"Because every time, your thoughtless use of ingredients ruins any chance of a decent meal. You guys won't become proper adventurers like that."

""Understood!""

As Ali delivered his words with narrowed eyes, the apprentices nodded vigorously. They knew the seriousness of their usually foul-mouthed but caring leader when he was truly angry. Thus, Yuuri became the cook for the Scarlet Lynx.