Published: August 10, 2026
Right after returning from Chadelan Territory, Lord Cyrus headed out to the Central Market in the royal capital.
The wool we had discussed in the territory couldn't be harvested right away. First, he needed to visit the shops that granado trading company had been supplying and propose products to replace the woven goods shortage.
There was nothing I could do if I went along, so I stayed behind at Granado Castle with my daughter. She was in a bit of a mood because Daddy had finally come home, only to head out again, but there was nothing to be done.
Honestly, I was lonely too... but I couldn't afford to stay down forever. I had my own work to do.
—All right, let's do this!
I stood in the kitchen of Granado Castle, facing a vivid red mass of meat on the cutting board.
"Um... Marie, what is this...?"
The one who asked was Cecilia, the eight-year-old maid apprentice. I rolled up my sleeves and smiled.
"Lamb thigh meat. Ceri, have you never eaten it before?"
"I-I've eaten meat before, but raw meat... and such a huge chunk, this is my first time."
"That's normal, isn't it? And this is lamb, which is much smaller than mutton."
"I-I see... Somehow, with this size, it really feels like... meat..."
Her slightly pale face made it obvious she wanted to leave right this instant.
Ah, is the smell of lamb bothering her?
I picked up the bundle of herbs placed neatly at the corner of the worktable and said,
"It'll be fine, Ceri. If you use herbs like these, the gamey smell almost disappears. I'll make it properly delicious, so just look forward to it."
"...I mean, I didn't expect Marie to be totally unfazed while butchering something like that... It's kind of a surprise, character-wise."
"Character?"
I asked back, though now that I thought about it, Lord Cyrus had said something similar to me before.
I didn't really understand. Maybe it was because Lord Cyrus and Ceri were both city people.
...Still, just worrying about other people's expressions wouldn't get anything done. I picked up a meat tenderizer.
Facing the slab of lamb, I coughed once.
"Ahem. Now then, we begin our research cooking for the tasting event to find a solution to Dirts Kingdom's food problem: lamb dishes. Head chef, I look forward to your guidance and instruction."
"Yaaay! Tonight's menu is lamb cutlet! A steak of lamb thigh meat!"
Chef Toppo shouted in a weirdly cheerful voice and bounced in place.
Here in Dirts Kingdom, food resources were never very abundant to begin with. Because of that, preservation and processed meat techniques had developed well, and such goods circulated cheaply.
On the other hand, raw meat was hard to come by, so steak was a luxury only available in restaurants. People already recognized it as something delicious. If it could be made cheap and easy enough to eat often, demand would surely grow.
"Lamb should be easy to distribute even to the royal capital. We can bring the lambs alive."
"............"
Ceri went completely silent.
Toppo and I were full of energy. Toppo rolled up his sleeves, exposing his plump white arms.
"For simple dishes like this, the most important thing is prep work!"
"Right, you cut the fibers with the meat tenderizer."
"Yep, exactly. You want it soft and squishy, about as soft as Toppo's upper arm. Here, try touching this!"
"Yes!"
Without hesitation, I grabbed Toppo's arm.
Wow, it's plump and squishy, and yet springy...!
"Ah, I get it. This is the feel of delicious meat, Head Chef. Yes, it looks very tasty!"
"Ufufu, all right, madam, let's aim for this and pound it!"
"Yes!"
I took Toppo's arm, no, the slab of lamb, and pounded the hell out of it with the meat tenderizer.
The game meat thudded and collapsed under the blows.
"............"
For some reason, Ceri's face turned even paler, but I ignored it.
"Is this about right? Toppo, how is it?"
"Yep, looks good! All right, next: salt and pepper."
"When do we add the herbs to remove the smell?"
"If we put the leaves in too early, they'll burn when we sear it, so a little later!"
"Got it, understood!"
"...What is with you two and this vibe?"