“AHHH!” followed by a “gwashann” and a loud sound echoed through the kitchen in the morning.
The chefs, busy doing something, heard the sound, but none of them even bothered looking.
It has been a week since Digo arrived and such a scene had already become a routine.
「What’s wrong, Digo?」
「I’m sorry, master……the flour bag is torn and the warehouse is covered in flour……」
「Go outside, get a broom, sweep it up clean.」
「Y-yes…..」
What can I say? Chef aside, he’s a very dangerous man.
Day after day, he broke dishes, smashed flour, cut his fingers while peeling with a knife, and mistook sugar for salt.
He made mistake after mistake as if he was showing a book example of failures and the cheery mood of the people in the kitchen cooled down like a peperoncino in a colander……
Now, everyone was already treating him not as a nice guy but as a pest.
「Seele-san, won’t Digo have to stay here for ten years if he keeps what he’s doing?」
Chidol, the vice head chef, said with an indescribable look on his face while pointing at the white footprints of Digo on the floor.
「If things continue as they are, there will be a major problem before he can even run a restaurant.」
「What did master say?」
「He said “by the end of spring if possible”.」
「Hiiieee, that’s impossible.」
I can only shrug my shoulders as I hit Chidol’s butt as I turned my back.
「……I guess he’ll really take a decade at this rate.」
I rethought the plan in my head as I looked at Digo’s face as he came back with a broom.
-0-
When I was sold here at the age of seventeen, I was a novice cook who could only cook a little.
However, after Hunt and I were suddenly made chefs, I was in a state of frenzy.
I went to the market every morning, rubbing my sleepy eyes, and learned to stock up desperately despite many failed attempts, cooking selflessly to fill the bellies of the adventurers who are like hungry wolves.
If master had an idea and suddenly asked to cook a new dish, we would stay in the kitchen until late at night.
Whenever I was handed ingredients I don’t even know, I repeatedly cooked and tasted them, crying over the pimples that formed on my face.
And then, I found myself the head chef of a kitchen of a big headquarters.
Come to think of it, I’ve come a long way.
……anyway, there are things I know because I’ve done them myself.
If you can’t do it, you have to do it again and again until you can!
「So, starting today, Digo will have special training every night.」
「Yes! Master, I’ll do my best!」
Ugh, dazzling……!
I nodded at Digo, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes and pointed to the basket of potatoes.
「First of all, you need to learn how to use a knife! From now on, every night, you must peel a basket of potatoes before you go home! Ah, and be sure to remove the sprouts.」
「Yes!」
「When you get the gist of it, I’ll teach you the next thing.」
「I’ll do my best!」
First, with cheap potatoes, I let him learn how to use a knife.
It’s not good for a chef to be injured with a knife, right?
Well, in our house, even if you cut off your fingers in the worst case scenario, you can easily grow them back……
-0-
「…………」
Next to Digo, who is fighting desperately against potatoes, I started to make the candy that master has asked me to make.
Next to the sound of the candy cooking, I can hear the sound of potatoes being peeled.
There is hardly any conversation, not even a pickup line.
The night where a man and a woman alone slowly fade away.
-0-
「Master, how about this?」
「Yeah, I’d prefer something chunkier. Onions that are round, hard, and heavy are less likely to spoil.」
「Round, hard, and heavy, is it……」
At the market on a still chilly spring morning, I was teaching Digo the basics of vegetable selection.
Being a restaurant owner is not just about being able to cook.
The owner is responsible not only for the taste of food but also for the ingredients, hygiene, and the relationships among the staff.
At the moment, he still has his hands full with cooking…..
If I don’t teach him these things, he won’t be able to open a restaurant anytime soon.
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