Chapter 6: Negotiation

By lunch time the ribs were falling off the bone and I was ready to drool down my shirt. They were tasty and Ricardo gave them a passing grade, but I think he likes bacon more than I do. I already put some into spatial storage so I told him he could make the rest for everyone at the estate.

Shortly thereafter, a new side dish was distributed for testing. Father popped in to taste everything and enjoyed the bacon, but he was enamored with fall off the bone rib meat.

“If you weren’t my heir you’d have the finest restaurant in the capital young man!” father boasted.

Right, the eldest son gets screwed in this world. I’ll have to sort that out before I go to school in a few years.

***
Our typical dinner was cancelled on account of mass meat sweats from all the boar I was experimenting with. The smaller roasts were done two hours after the ribs and another round of taste testing for the family and attendants took place. I was unconvinced that the sweet rub would taste good, but Ricardo isn’t a chef for nothing. It was the better of the smaller roasts. The other one was basic with salt, pepper, garlic and something that smelled like thyme. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t incredible. Oliver and mother seemed to prefer it, but that may have been a show for my benefit.

It was nighttime before the larger roasts were finished. Most of the family had given up on consuming any more, but Ricardo, Father, Shayna and my brother’s attendant Anna were intent on trying everything. The first roast came with a warning, I wanted something with a kick to it.

I rubbed the meat with salt, pepper and garlic as a base then finely chopped and added a dried pepper Ricardo said he used sparingly because it was potent. I’ve never wanted a tortilla more. And some kind of salsa. I haven’t seen any tomatoes in this world, but that’s going on my list of must finds.

Anna must also love spice because she couldn’t get enough. Father, Ricardo and Shayna turned red after a single bite. If I want spicy meals, it seems I’ll have to cook them for myself.

The final installment for boar day was a combination idea from myself and Ricardo. We started again with a base of salt, pepper and garlic then added a little sugar and a very finely chopped small red pepper that wasn’t known to be particularly spicy. This nearly tied the bacon for first place on the day. It wasn’t too sweet nor too spicy, and the cut for this roast was a little fattier than the rest so the meat was juicy and tender. I’ll have to remember to include more fat on the roasts when processing.

Father and Shyana were as happy as I’ve ever seen them as they munched on the final roast. Or perhaps eating something normal after the level of spice I subjected them to explains it better.

Father suggested I spread the spicy roast around my training grounds in the forest to prevent future animal encounters. It seems to have made an impression on him, but I received enough praise for my cooking that everyone should believe I can feed myself during a hunting trip. Ricardo cooked some of the sausage earlier and also gave it a passing grade, so there’s only one item left.

Kodasku. Or is it kotaku? Every Japanese travel blog includes breaded and fried fatty pork loin, but I don’t remember what it’s called. I have eggs, flour, bread and leftover boar fat I saved to fry this very meal. I start by taking slightly stale bread and cutting away the outer crust that’s too hard. I dice the firm inner bread until I have breadcrumbs then bake them in the oven, but I stop short of browning.

Breading meat and frying it must not be popular in this world, because I don’t remember ever having it and Ricardo is watching me like a hawk. I guess if you use fat to fry everything it’d be more expensive, but I’ve got plenty of it.

I slice the loin into a number of thick pieces, then trim more fat from the loin than a Japanese restaurant would, but it’s not like they can come and yell at me for it. I dry each slice with a cloth then coat with flour, dip in beaten eggs and fully coated with my fresh breadcrumbs. I also asked Ricardo to come up with some kind of sweet sauce to go with this, he seemed to understand sweet things, so I have high hopes.

I don’t have a thermometer to check the oil so I heat it until it makes wood bubble after about a second then add the meat. It looks like the temperature is on the low side, but I’d rather not get everyone sick with undercooked boar, so this is fine. The loin chops aren’t completely submerged so I flip them after a few minutes to reveal a nice golden brown on the bottom. When the other side looks the same, I take them off and place them on a cloth to drain the oil.

After a short rest I slice the thickest cut in half to ensure they’re done, it’s ever so slightly pink which I think is fine. I slice the rest of that piece and Ricardo drizzles the sweet sauce over top. Looking at the golden-brown exterior reminds me of the number of chicken tenders I consumed in my last life, which makes me all the more ravenous to try this.

The crunch is perfect, the meat is juicy and to Ricardo’s credit, the sweet sauce ties it all together. I’ll have to get him to teach me that sauce, with some adjustments I could recreate even more dishes from my old world.

I suppose it’s natural for a chef to enjoy food, but Ricardo really likes kadako or whatever this is called. Shayna stopped by when she heard the excitement and taste tested as well. I think she enjoys crispy textures like I do because she really seemed content. Before long another round of taste testing drew in the family and attendants. To my surprise, father and mother weren’t in love with it. But Oliver, my little sister Sara, Anna and Celia’s faces lit up at the flavor combination.

***
It’s been a week since I brought that boar home and it’s time for the big ask. Last week should’ve laid an effective foundation, but father’s behavior reminded me that he still views me as his child. Which, yea I am, so that makes sense.

Knock Knock

“Father do you have a moment?” I ask at father’s office door.

“Alfred come in, do you need something?” he responds from behind his desk.

I step into his office and take a quick breath.

“I’d like your permission to venture further into the forest behind the estate and spent a night or two there while hunting” I request.

“Hmm I see, did slaying and cooking that boar have an effect on you?” father asks with intrigue.

“In a sense father, handling a boar of that size came with a significant amount of work so I don’t think I’d target one of that large. But I’d also like to try deer which tend to be closer to the mountains. It would be impossible to hunt them on a day trip and likely even difficult with an overnight trip. If I’m allowed to spend two nights camping out while hunting I believe I can be effective..” I explain.

“Is that all this is about? You simply want to be a better hunter?” father asks.

He normally can’t smell bullshit, but I must not be selling it..

“That’s a large part of it. I’d also like to explore the area, I may be able to build a camp to frequent” I reply.

“It could be a good experience for you, and in times of war talented nobles need such skills to lead armies. Though this is a rather peaceful continent.. hmm..”

Well the direct approach is going ok, I don’t think I’ll get a complete refusal here, but I need to use my secret weapon..

I fidget with my hands and look at the ground before me.

“Father, I also umm.. think it would be fun, I’d like to do something fun” I say then pull my gaze from the floor to meet my father’s.

“Fun.. yes, well you’re diligent with your training and studies. You’ve been that way far longer than most at your age" father says with a hum, "I’ll allow it, but I have conditions..”

“Really? Thank you father, what are your conditions?” I ask excitedly.

“First, if you encounter significant danger you run. You fell a large boar in a single stroke of the sword and that may make you overconfident. It’s unlikely you’d run into bandits or the like in this area, but especially if you encounter dangerous people, I want you to run before you fight – is that understood?” he asks.

“Yes father, that’s not a problem” I say with a smirk.

I’m lying, but no one would ever find the bodies so it’s fine.

“The second condition is regarding your little brother Oliver. He’s only four now, but he’s a timid child. The exact opposite of you. When he’s a bit older I want you to take an active role in building his confidence. Show him the sword, maybe take him hunting. All children are different, so I don’t expect him to follow your exact footsteps, but he’s already worrying me with how attached to Anna he is. At that age our only concern with you was slowing you down, perhaps we treated Oliver differently than we should have. But in exchange for convincing your mother you won’t die in the forest, I want your help with Oliver” father says with elegance.

Sometimes he reminds me he’s a noble with a territory under his watch, I still kind of see him as the glowing giant I thought was going to eat me. Though he looks much smaller now that I’m not a baby.

“Understood father, Oliver is timid, but he’s full of joy. I can channel that energy into confidence with a bit of work” I respond, accepting his conditions.

“I hoped you would say that, but be prepared to hear about this from your mother, she never liked you training in the forest to begin with” father says with a stern expression.

“Right, I’ll do my best to convince her I won’t be in any danger” I reply.

What kind of elder brother am I going to be to Oliver? He’s always at Anna’s side and I really don’t spend much time with him outside of family dinners. It’d be useful to have an assistant for my training, but I don’t think I can trust him to hide things from our parents. Maybe he’ll do something awful in the future that I can rescue him from and use it as blackmail? Blackmailing a four-year-old is a bit dark. I’ll think about it more once he’s older.