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Yeah, apart from this guy’s caravan, which was very nice to us, ‌there were also two other caravans. By the way, both of them didn’t like my tea bribes yesterday. So I didn’t give them any tea during today’s break. Naturally, I’m not that stupid.

There’s no doubt that some people were glaring at us, but I was already under the protection of this leader. There’s no problem.

This person would handle the troublesome negotiations with them, so I should accept his request. Also, he would lend me several people to help in the preparation. I asked if Arle and the other kids could help me, and he agreed. It would take too much time to prepare lots of food, so it would be troublesome if he didn’t approve of that.

With 10 carriages, this person’s caravan had over 30 personnel. I didn’t plan to work myself to death.

… Actually, now that I have [Cooking] LV10, I could easily do it if I feel like it. But it’s a hassle…

That’s why I was temporarily hired as a cook. After that, we continued to move, arriving at today’s campsite with no problem.

Starting from today, I left the night camp preparation to everyone else, so I prepared the meal immediately. We had one freshly caught orc, so I wanted to make something from it. This orc was a stray monster that attacked us when we arrived at the campsite.

By the way, the goods in this caravan were food. They brought a sizable amount of wheat or something like that. They told me I could use them as much as I like, so I didn’t restrain myself. That being said, I had to make food for around 40 people including us… What should I make?

I found something familiar when I looked inside the cargo. It was a pasta machine.

Hmm, let’s just make pasta. Pasta was filling, and I was already tired of thinking too much, so I went with this. After that, let’s go with vegetable soup? I asked the caravan’s person in charge of cooking to make the soup.

It’s a pain to make elaborate foods, so let’s go with my specialty meat sauce. I asked those who had nothing to do to make a large amount of minced meat, then I made the sauce. Fortunately, they had dried tomatoes, so I could make do with this. Next, I kneaded a sizable amount of wheat to make the dough, made noodles using the machine, boiled it, then completed. I made the portion for each person slightly bigger, so they couldn’t ask for the second serving. If that’s not enough, please eat your own hard bread, okay?

The dinner ended with great success. Many people unreasonably begged for another plate.

No way, everyone got a big serving of pasta before… The leader scolded them, saying that they couldn’t eat too much of the product, and they finally became quiet.

The next morning, I made another dumpling soup using the boiled orc bone soup from yesterday as the base. If I wanted to make something that filled the stomach and warmed the body, my options were limited. Plus, the ingredients and the recipes I could use were restricted. It’s annoying….

We had to hurry during the day, so I made the lunch appropriately and tried cooking Peperoncino at night. As usual, I left the soup to someone else.

At first, many people were dissatisfied that I only added bacon in my cooking. But after eating a bite, they all shoveled it into their mouth silently. Fufu.

The next day, we were attacked by three orcs in the afternoon. However, the escorts were experienced and skillful. We had twelve escorts with us, so they beat the orcs easily after cooperating with each other. Let’s make these orc meats into today’s supper… What should I make?

The leader told me ‌we would arrive at O’Neill tomorrow afternoon, so this was the last supper… Hmm. Maybe I should make a nourishing dish? Should I go with that?

I collected the hard bread from the caravan and grated it to make bread crumbs. Then I cut out the meat from the orc and beat it to soften it. I taught the procedure to other people so I could leave this to them.

I added some seasoning to the meat and let it rest for a while, then I fried the orc fat to make a large amount of oil.

They gave me permission to use some eggs, even if those were high-class items, so I used the eggs and the breadcrumbs to dress the meat.

When I finished preparing lots of meat, I fried it in turns. Yes, this was a pork cutlet.
For now, I kept frying the meat. I cooked the meat of the three orcs, so everyone could have another serving. I had secured my portion, so there’s no need to worry. It seems like the remaining portion would be sold.

The stomach would hurt if they only ate meat, so I didn’t forget to prepare shredded cabbage. They could eat it as much as they wanted, be it sandwiching it between bread or directly.

Some tough guys insisted on only eating the meat, but it would be painful when they wake up tomorrow… But I didn’t really feel like taking care of them that much. I wouldn’t take responsibility. Let’s leave them alone.

“Is this the specialty food of Harula’s inn? But what I ate there wasn’t so tender. The taste and the texture are also ‌different… What I ate back then was greasy. The taste was more… how should I say this…”
“Oh, oh! Why are you making such a hard face! You shouldn’t eat this delicious food while using your head! Stop thinking so much and just eat it!”

Hmm. From the leader’s mutterings I heard, it seemed like he had eaten this at Harula? Fortunately, thanks to the bearded uncle who was the leader’s escort, he concentrated on eating without making any strange guesses… I guess I should be thankful that he didn’t misunderstand me? But if he asked me anything, I would play innocent.

The next day proceeded smoothly, and we could see O’Neill’s town wall from afar before noon. When we were approaching the branch road going south, I parted with them here.

“Are you sure? O’Neill is just right there. If you’re tired, we can take a short break here?”
“No, I have my circumstances…”

The leader of the caravan was worried about me, but I refused him. I couldn’t enter the city.

“…Haa. I guess each person has their own situation. It can’t be helped… I understand, we’ll part here. Don’t worry about your friends since I’ll send them to O’Neill.”

Then I’ll leave them under your care.

Anyway, I received the payment for cooking and left. I crept to the south with my carriage, and when I couldn’t see them anymore, I took a rest for a while. From there, I returned to the branch road on foot, entering the forest northeast of O’Neill.

I planned to take my house out there when I reached the depths of the forest.

I already told Triela and the others that I would camp there. And they would come to tell me about the town every two days, so this was perfect.

Now that my arrangements were complete, I should also prepare myself for the worst…