Chapter 9: Six Months Later

The six months he had set for himself had passed.

The man carried a cake to the table and poured the herbal tea.
In a few days, renovations for the next restaurant would likely begin.

There had been many hardships—but it had been fun.

The business had not turned a profit.
Since he hadn’t started it for the sake of profit, that wasn’t really a problem.
More than anything, the greatest gain was the many experiences he had gained.

He took a bite of the cake.

Even if he said so himself, it had turned out well.
A moderate sweetness, with the accent of nuts and caramelized edible cockroaches.

He had designed the other dishes for this—because he wanted to see the look on their faces when they ate this cake.

With various appearances, he made them stop their hands.
But once they actually ate it, the taste was exceptional.

And so, what appeared at the very end was this cake with an outstanding appearance.
Ordinary people would eat it without worry.

And then—they were surprised.

The man smiled as he recalled that familiar scene he had witnessed many times.
Some had even doubted it and checked what was inside.

There were also those who, before ever reaching this cake, had gotten angry and left.

Come to think of it, when he had served it to the restaurant staff and his family, he had been scolded quite badly as well.
It wasn’t that long ago, and yet it felt strangely nostalgic.

Over the past six months, he had served dishes to more than four hundred customers.
Even among them, the one who left the strongest impression was—Ms. Ichinose.
Even after setting aside the fact that they were his first customers, the only one who enjoyed the appearance and was delighted by how good it tasted was that blond young woman.

The woman who had been with the young woman gave a rather ideal reaction.
That contrast, too, was wonderful.

The part of himself as an adventurer, and the part of himself as a chef.
She had fulfilled both.

Long ago, he had read a certain cooking manga.
It was the work that became the reason he aimed to become a chef.
All of its characters each had their own philosophy of cooking.

If anything, perhaps his own philosophy of cooking was “Cooking is an adventure.”
Dishes no one had ever seen, nor even imagined.
A realm one could never reach by thinking only about pleasing people.

As a chef, it might have been wrong.

The man let out a small chuckle.
And then, he set his next goal.

He would create a dish that would make that young woman hesitate.

A harsher adventure—now begins.