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Time can never be separated from cooking.

Cooking takes time, especially when you put care into it, and naturally, the more time you spend, the tastier the dish becomes.

Calculating the exact amounts, prepping the vegetables, simmering the broth, cooking the meat, and whipping the egg whites and yolks—all these processes require you to shed impatience and embrace patience one step at a time.

The cooking duration varies greatly depending on the dish, sometimes extending comfortably over several days.

Quick meals and convenience food?

What about combat rations, which could be considered the original of convenience meals?

And the various preserved foods that are practically the origin of combat rations?

Even meals that drastically reduce cooking time to the point where they can be eaten without even heating require time to prepare and often take even longer to ensure they stay preserved.

Of course, it’s not just the cook who needs to abandon impatience and exercise patience; the diners also can’t escape this reality.

“Time is really dragging.”

Karem eagerly envisioned the invisible shape of the steak lying beneath the tightly closed lid, locked away by Zigmeser.

Zigmeser seemed to be displaying his own form of impatience in his own way.

“Time is really dragging.”

“Karem, abandon your impatience. Impatience makes for tough steak.”

“Could you stop rubbing your jaw like that? You’re going to wear the skin off.”

Zigmeser seemed to realize something and quickly pulled his hand away. His smooth jaw was already flushed red.

“…Sitting still is only making me more impatient.”

Alfred paused his trembling feet and began to look back and forth at Karem and Zigmeser as if to seek agreement.

“Then Karem, may I ask you something?”

“Feel free to ask anything.”

“How old are you?”

“Uh… I’m 11 this year.”

When I met Catherine last year, I was 10. Having spent a year in Iceland, I was definitely 11 now.

“Can you really apply that age to your current body?”

“Uh… I don’t quite understand what you mean?”

“I’m referring to you, who has matured owing to the Curse of Aging.”

Alfred said this while looking at Karem. He then lowered his gaze to about the height of Karem’s old physique.

“Based merely on appearance, it seems you must have had your Coming-of-Age Ceremony ages ago.”

“Yes. I’ve been told I look about at the end of my youth.”

Most villagers in Moston, an insufferable serf village, would typically have their Coming-of-Age Ceremony when they turn 17 since it is still a place where people reside.

Still, since it’s part of Kingsland, I would assume the age for a Coming-of-Age Ceremony there is around the same.

“It’s customary for those who have reached the age of 17 to go through at least a simple Coming-of-Age Ceremony, so this is a rather unusual case.”

“What do you mean by an unusual case?”

“A case of someone who survived the Curse of Aging and still managed to live normally.”

“Oh.”

“Of course, I’m speaking comparatively.”

The Curse of Aging is known for making its victims age and die instantly.

Since it activates as soon as it’s cast, survivors are rare.

Olivier’s speculation that there is only one person who remains alive after such a curse was still chilling.

“According to tradition, men and women who reach the age of 17 are granted recognition as adults after their Coming-of-Age Ceremony. I wonder how that applies now that you’ve turned into an adult at 11.”

“At 11, my thoughts were still childish. Shouldn’t it take more time to become an adult?”

“Are you saying that when you were 11, you were practically an adult?”

“Um…”

Actually, if I were to think back to my previous life, I had reached an age that allowed me to cook up a decent meal long before the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

Fortunately, there were only two who knew about it.

“My lord, let’s save the complicated discussions for later. Karem too.”

“Oh, does that mean…?”

Zigmeser didn’t answer the question.

Instead, he silently lifted his arm to remove the lid.

As soon as the lid vanished, a cloud of white steam exploded forth, cascading like dry ice hitting water, swirling around the plates and tables before disappearing.

Even from a respectable distance, the tangy, nutty, refreshing aroma of mammoth steak once again swept over the kitchen.

“Ughhhh. Ahh, the aroma seems to have deepened.”

Zigmeser, who had been enveloped in smoke, paused for a moment as if holding his breath before speaking. And indeed, it was as he said.

The steak’s fragrance was so rich and diverse that one might think to eat it even without sauce. Usually, when a scent is too strong and varied, it quickly fatigues the nose, but I felt none of that here.

However, one cannot linger forever just smelling the deliciousness.

Karem respectfully delivered the steak plate and cutlery that Zigmeser had offered towards Alfred before receiving his own share.

‘Even if the shape is peculiar, the visuals are top-notch.’

Despite the gloomy scenery beyond the kitchen window, the deep brown crust of the mammoth steak shimmered like jewels, glistening with juices that had yet to be absorbed.

Even after a decent resting period, the lingering warmth finally revealed the rich, deep aroma of meat.

Grrronk…

Perhaps having been drained dry, my belly rumbled silently, resonating as if eagerly awaiting nourishment.

Crack, crackle- sizzle, sizzle—

Triggered by the crackling sounds of the crispy crust, I turned my head to see Alfred and Zigmeser already moving their cutlery.

In sync, I quickly followed suit, and the sensation felt on the tip of my knife sent a shiver down my spine.

The mammoth’s flesh, which looked like a cluster of pure muscle with not a speck of fat earlier, now felt closer to slicing through a slightly frozen butter as I glanced with my fork and knife.

With each movement of the knife, the subtle crunch of the crust echoed through my hand in tantalizing promise of what’s to come.

“Seems like the aroma has intensified.”

“The juices absorbed during resting reveal themselves through the cut surface, contributing to that.”

“Is that so?”

Karem replied to Zigmeser’s words while taking a bite of the square-cut mammoth steak.

Other than its unique cheesy scent formed by undead aging, what I had noticed as the greatest feature of mammoth meat so far were three points: the tastes combined advantages of beef, chicken, and pork.

Mammoth steak was no different in a broad sense.

However, the flavor that Karem had expected exceeded anything he had tasted before.

“The nose is truly a delicacy. It really is something…”

The flavor reminded me of my favorite cuts from each of the three meats as if they were all packed into one.

The moment it touched my tongue.

No, even before it touched my tongue, my mouth was already flooded with juices.

What I felt there was akin to perfectly seasoned, freshly fried fried chicken.

When I chewed through my favorite thigh meat right after the breast, the sweet and salty burst of juices overwhelmed my senses.

As the flavor pressed forward, my teeth began to move involuntarily.

Crunch, sizzle—

The moment I bit into the meat, the crispy crust crumbled, resonating through my teeth; yet the sensation felt entirely different from slicing through the meat with a knife.

The medium-rare pink meat crumbled with each bite, falling apart beautifully.

And then came the chewy texture that contrasted with the softness that resembled frozen butter, swirling together with the crumbling crust.

It was crispy yet chewy.

The chewiness was reminiscent of chicken thighs.

The rest evoked memories of pork belly.

For Karem, pork belly was a source of nostalgic love and heartbreak.

In my previous life, I shed tears while paying extravagantly for pork belly as prices steeped to absurd heights until going to a big discount mart was a relief; here in this life, I had not even laid my eyes on pork since before Catherine found me.

With each chew, I could feel the delightful chewiness beneath my teeth.

After some resistance, tender pork flavor began to break through.

‘Hmm!?’

Suddenly, without resistance, the meat began to break apart smoothly.

The chewiness I had just felt dissolved completely.

It was far from the chicken-like juiciness I had encountered before. Instead, it showcased the rich flavor of beef tenderloin despite holding no fat.

Along with that, a bold essence of beef enveloped me.

Then, flavors of citrus fruit, nuts, and cheese that I hadn’t noticed while chewing began to emerge, teasing my tongue like a sauce.

Despite its softness, the umami grew deeper with each chew, and the juiciness gushed forth like groundwater.

“What… kind of meat is this…?”

“Are you starting to understand my feelings? Ah, Karem.”

Karem nodded at Zigmeser, who was cutting his meat with a devotion akin to a priest in prayer, swallowing absentmindedly.

To swallow a piece of meat without even chewing it!

And then there was the feeling of ‘nothing at all’ in my mouth.

The steak I had just been chewing seemed to have vanished as soon as it slipped down my throat, leaving no taste, aroma, or tactile sensation behind.

The last remnants of the beef’s umami lingered until my next breath swept it away like a refreshing forest breeze.

But even that scent didn’t last long and soon disappeared from my mouth.

The pain of losing what I had.

The emptiness, the desolation, the anger I felt immediately after being reborn.

Yet that emotion waned quickly.

After all, there was still plenty of steak left to enjoy.

Karem’s rationality wanted desperately for even more steak.

Having cut a bigger piece faster than before, Zigmeser patted Karem’s shoulder reverently.

“So, you acknowledge it as a delicacy?”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Alright, alright. There’s plenty, so eat your fill.”

Karem, having brought it in himself, knew he was to share it with Iona, but didn’t have a moment to complain when Zigmeser indicated it as his own.

Karem recognized the three who sang praises for the mammoth’s nose.

Iona, who couldn’t bring herself to eat even with the meat before her.

Richard, probably eating in some distant northern land.

And Zigmeser, who had already devoured half beside him.

Having discovered the unique qualities of mammoth meat from the past, he already had a strong grasp of what to expect.

The flavors combined the strengths of beef, chicken, and pork, the very essence of taste and aroma.

I had thought there could be no better taste than this, yet lo and behold!

The nose of the mammoth was truly deserving of the three’s glorification.

“I can’t even recall when I last ate this. The flavor is much richer than from before.”

Alfred continued chewing while immediately slicing into the next piece.

“But don’t you think one steak isn’t enough?”

“The refreshing aroma eliminates the residue of taste in the end, so I almost feel like I can eat endlessly.”

Alfred pointed at Karem with his fork as if to say that was the case, eagerly taking another piece of steak.

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

Zigmeser laid down his empty plate and then patted the large piece of mammoth nose on the table with a thud.

“With the thickness we have now, everyone can still have another piece.”

“One more piece, huh. Plenty is plenty, but too little is too little…”

As Alfred’s words trailed off, his eyes, once filled with longing, began to glint with envy.

Now that I think about it, we had each taken one piece. And Zigmeser just declared we could all take an additional one.

Adding one more for Alfred, making it a total of two for him.

One more for Zigmeser, making it four.

One more for Karem, making it six.

And then…

‘That means there are two pieces left for Elder Iona?’

It seemed everyone was sharing the same thought. As Karem glanced around, Alfred and Zigmeser, meanwhile, keenly observed the remaining meat.

Thump-thump-thump.

“Haah. My lord. I’ve returned. Zigmeser, open the door swiftly.”

With that statement, someone let out a disappointed sound from the kitchen.

Unbeknownst to herself, Iona began to guard her steak possessively.

 

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