EXTRA CHAPTER 3: COOKING WITH RURO

“Princess, I’d like to learn how to cook.”

Lily was speechless when she heard the Beastman Saint, Ruro of the Wolf, say that to her. The Head Maid of the Holy Palatial Gardens was doing something in the kitchen, when the Holy Lady approached her to request that she taught her in cooking.

“Err…uhm, Y-Your Holiness! What do you want to cook then?”

“Well, you see…” Ruro began, “…I was looking into my master’s thoughts the other day and—”

“Your Master? You mean, Kuro?”

The Beastman Saint nodded, “Of course. He’s the only one in my heart.”

“Oh…”

“So anyway, as I was saying, I was reading his thoughts the other day, and I realized that he’s missing his own world.”

“What?!”

“Yes…Master’s not saying anything, but he’s a bit sad about his old world,” Ruro then grabbed a nearby spatula. “So I figured out that I should do something for him…you know, after all the bad things I did.”

“Ah! So, you thought of cooking his old world’s dishes?” Lily asked.

“Right on spot, Princess!”

“Don’t worry!” the Head Maid fixed her apron. “I’ll gladly help you, Your Holiness! I want to make Kuro happy as well. Coincidentally, I knew a dish from his world that we can cook. And it’s quite easy to do as well!”

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And so, the Princess Head Maid and the Beastman Saint prepared for their task for the day. Lily, who was keeping a diary filled with various menus, took out Kuro’s dish from his old world—the ‘Adobo’. Meanwhile, Ruro didn’t like the spices and other food stuffs that the Holy Palatial Gardens’ Kitchen Department had stocked. For her master, she claimed, she’d like only the best of the best ingredients available, so she went out to gather them at a moment’s notice.

“…”

It took her an hour, but Ruro did return with the ‘best’ ingredients she searched for.

“Let’s see…” Lily immediately went to check what the Beastman Saint had brought back, “Garlic…wow, these are Chersean gold garlic Your Holiness! It’s really rare.”

“Of course! Kuro deserves only the best!”

“How about the onions? Hmm…these are?”

“Brown Light Shallots,” Ruro told her. “It tastes better than your regular onions, so I got that instead.”

“And these are the potatoes?”

“Heh, not just your ordinary potatoes…those are Red Potatoes, a rarity even in the land of the elves, where those are farmed.”

“So, you even went to Cherwoods to get these?”

The Beastman Saint smiled.

“I wish I could do that as well…Kuro would certainly be happy!”

“Anyway, Princess, how do we cook this…err…’Adobo’ thing?”

“Well first, let’s prepare the meat,” Lily went to the freezers, “We’ll use chicken and pork for this.”

“Hold on!” Ruro stopped her, “What, are you using the common chicken and pork for that?”

“Is there any problem?”

“Nonsense!” the Beastman Saint then pulled something from her chest, “We’re using this as meat instead!”

“Err…what’s that?”

“Cherwind Sea Dragon Meat!” Ruro proudly declared. “This is an ultra-rare delicacy of my world. We’re cooking this instead of that bland chicken and pork!”

“Uhh…” Lily was having her second-thoughts. In the first place, she had no idea what the Cherwind Sea Dragon meat taste like. However, the Beastman Saint was insisting that they use it, so in the end, the Head Maid had no other choice but to go along with her.

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“Okay, so to start with, let’s sauté the garlic until it is golden brown…” After cutting up the ingredients, Lily and Ruro proceeded to the cooking part. Well, though the Beastman Saint said she would do it, the burden largely fell on the Head Maid, as Lily was uncomfortable of letting Ruro cook herself.

“Golden brown, huh?” the Beastman Saint peered at the sizzling cauldron. “Uh, don’t you think it’s already golden as it is, Princess?”

“It’s a gold garlic, so of course it’s already gold.”

“Eh? How do you know it’s already cooked?”

“Actually, I thought you’re the one who knew how to cook this. You brought this, after all.”

“Aren’t you the Head Maid? Why don’t you know about it?”

“Ha?” Lily’s face was going pale. “I can cook, alright. But not with exquisite ingredients like this! Only the Kitchen Head Maid is qualified to do it.”

“Then let’s call her.”

“That’s…err…the problem.”

“Why?”

“She’s visiting her country for a while.”

“We’re so dead.”

“Haha…” Lily then took the plate with the chopped onions, “In any case, I think it’s been cooking long enough; I’m hoping so. I’m going to add the onions, Your Holiness.”

“R-Right…please do.”

“Now we’re going to wait until the onion turns white…or, this onion doesn’t turn white, Your Holiness?”

“Those are called Brown Light Shallots. It never turns white.”

“And let me guess, you don’t know how to cook them.”

“Back in Cherwind, I always ate the fruits growing around my palace, or Kashca Telis would cook something for me.”

“Figures. We’re dead, part 2.”

“Uh…can you just estimate the cooking time then, Princess? I believe in your skill!”

“Thank you, Your Holiness…” Lily was now confused on what they were doing. Nevertheless, she steeled her resolve and said, “I’ll try my best!”

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Almost an hour and a half after they started cooking, Kuro and Maddie appeared at the kitchen’s doorway. They actually rushed there, after they smelled something weird coming out of that place.

“What the heck?” was Kuro’s words the moment he opened the door and thick, black smoke immediately escaped from the inside.

Maddie quickly chanted a wind spell that cleared the kitchen, and near the stove, they saw Lily and Ruro. Their faces were full of soot and their clothes disheveled.

“What happened here?” the Human Saint asked.

“We’re just cooking something, Maddie…” Ruro answered.

“Yeah, and that something turned into charcoal,” Lily quipped sarcastically.

“Indeed…it’s burned to a crisp,” Kuro looked inside the cauldron. “What’s this, anyway?”

“Err…” the Beastman Saint and the Head Maid exchanged stares.

However, it was Maddie who dropped the truth. “Hey, Kuro, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Huh? What?”

“You’re missing your old world’s food!” the Human Saint explained, “That’s why Ruro and Lily tried cooking ‘Adobo’ for you!”

“Oh?!”

Ruro and Lily nodded.

“Ah…sorry about that,” Kuro bowed, “…but yes, I’m kind of missing my old world. But you guys don’t have to do it for me, you know? Or at least, you should’ve called me.”

“We wanted to surprise you,” the Beastman Saint admitted. “Turns out, our attempt is a failure.”

Kuro then noticed that Ruro’s hands were full of cuts.

“Her Holiness Lady Ruro helped me with the ingredients,” Lily revealed. “That’s why her hands became like that.”

“Ah…thank you for your efforts, Ruro. However, a beautiful lady like you should be careful of her hands,” he uttered a quick healing spell and the wounds immediately vanished.

“Y-Y-You’re a lady-killer, y-you know that, Master?” the Beastman Saint turned her gaze away from him. Nevertheless, everyone could see that Ruro was flustered by Kuro’s words.