Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious - Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious chapter 2

2 – A knight’s restaurant established after running away to live

If you head far south from the empire’s central area, you can reach the Viscount of Bratten.

This country estate was ranked among the poorest in the empire, a title that would undoubtedly show up in any such list.

In the rural village with only five knights and thirty soldiers, all that was left were beautiful mountains and narrow patches of land.

There was no particularly outstanding specialty, it wasn’t a fertile region, and there wasn’t even a mine. It was a tiny estate.

Unlike the northern barbarians who invaded the empire annually, the western front where wars broke out regularly, and the eastern front where battles took place with different tribes and monsters, there were no enemy forces or invading monsters in this peaceful land that opposed the empire.

‘If the absence of invasion is an advantage, it is an advantage.’

One reason for the peace in the region was due to its thirty soldiers.

The Viscount of Bratten, the owner of this land, also aimed to protect it rather than expand his territory, making it a peaceful land devoid of war.

The only positive feature of this rural estate, where the weather was the sole highlight, was chosen as the settlement.

This was not my hometown.

If you asked why I chose this rural area that wasn’t my hometown, it was because…

‘Even if Diana becomes a tyrant in the future, this land will be free from her tyranny, and even if a rebellion occurs, this land won’t be affected by the fight.’

Safety.

It was because this land would be 100 percent safe from any upcoming tragedies.

Since I told Luke that I went back to my hometown, I won’t be dragged into being in the reserve forces.

I don’t even have a resident registration certificate here, so how would they figure out my whereabouts?

The loopholes in the empire’s administration, what a sweet honey.

‘Diana becoming a tyrant and a rebellion occurring in the empire isn’t a future that a single knight can stop.’

Rather, the possibility of being swept up by a huge storm was the highest.

If I can’t fix it with my own hands, I’ll run away to the safest place.

That was my plan.

‘This is a success.’

I was sure that the tyranny of the absolute tyrant would never reach this place.

-Knight’s Restaurant.

I nodded my head as I looked at the sign attached to the building exterior.

Such a lovely name.

I made the sign for the restaurant myself.

The nostalgic sentiment given by the four characters engraved directly in Korean rather than the common language of the empire here tickled my heart.

Just looking at the sign’s name filled my heart.

“What does this mean?”

A female manager named Liana, dispatched from the Lord of Britten, asked while standing next to me.

She had been the manager who had been investigating me since I came to Britten.

-It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an outsider here. As you can see, it’s really not an attractive neighborhood, quite rural… What brought you here?

She meticulously dug into everything about me, which was hair-raising.

When a knight who had lived in the empire’s capital returned to his hometown, the Lord of Britten sent a manager to investigate my personal information.

Where I had lived, what I had done before, what my name was, and if I had ever committed a crime in the past.

I thought the countryside would be relaxed, but it was more strict than I expected.

It was a thorough management that I hadn’t experienced even in the capital.

I belatedly realized that Riana valued her territory management system more than anyone else.

Since I was a retired knight, she even offered to buy me a house.

‘It seems like she wanted to recruit me as a formal knight.’

I understood her intentions, but I had no intention of joining as a knight in the House of Britten.

If I sign a contract here, there’s no doubt that Commander Luke would come after me.

Telling me to return to the princess’s Royal Guard immediately.

I wonder how disappointed he would be when he finds out later that I came here not to be a knight, but to open a shop.

– If you change your mind later, please let me know. The House of Britten will be waiting for Duke Lucas.

He didn’t seem to be giving up yet.

Having left my past behind, I answered Riana, who was staring at me with twinkling blue eyes and nicely tied pink hair.

“In my hometown, we call this a Knight’s Restaurant.”

“A Knight’s Restaurant? Hmm, that’s interesting. Is it a restaurant only for knights? But it’s a little shabby for that.”

Shabby, huh.

I made this place even with my retirement funds.

It hurt one side of my heart.

“It’s not just for knights, but it means a good restaurant.”

“A good restaurant…? I don’t quite understand what you mean. Should I think of it as food that knights from the capital often eat?”

How should I explain this?

In my previous life, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the word good restaurant was a Knight’s Restaurant.

The Bulgogi Bibimbap from a Knight’s Restaurant that was broadcasted on a famous TV program was the beginning of this name.

The Bulgogi Bibimbap on TV looked irresistibly delicious.

Captivated by the sight of celebrities eating Bulgogi Bibimbap, I had looked for a Knight’s Restaurant.

The taste of the Bulgogi Bibimbap I ate back then…

The image was still vivid in my mind.

‘If it’s hard to express in words, the only way is to let them try it themselves.’

I looked at her.

“Would you like to try it?”

“Isn’t it expensive? If it’s knight’s food…”

“It’s not that expensive. 10 silver coins will do.”

The price of a meal at the restaurant was exactly 10 silver coins.

If a newly opened restaurant set the price too high from the start, it would not be competitive.

First, it was necessary to win people’s hearts with a reasonable price.

They should try it to know the taste, and if it’s delicious, they will come again.

“10 silver coins are not a burdensome amount.”

“As a token of gratitude for helping us until the opening of this restaurant, we will serve it for free to our first customer, Ms. Liana.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Just make sure to promote our restaurant widely, that a new knight’s restaurant has opened.”

“Understood.”

The interior resembled a typical restaurant structure seen in Korea.

I had bought an abandoned building and hired a carpenter to design the interior according to my wishes.

How hard it was for me to decorate this place with the carpenters.

Half of the tables were designed for sitting with chairs, and the other half were designed for sitting on the floor where customers had to take off their shoes.

Why go through such trouble?

Not only was it my way to never forget my hometown, but it was also a weapon to give a sense of uniqueness to those who visited this place.

‘I’ve used up a significant portion of my retirement funds to build this.’

How much could a Knight’s retirement fund possibly be?

After opening a store, I was left with very little money after being taken away by expenses like supplies and operating costs.

I wonder if I can hold out for a year when considering logistics and operating costs.

“Excuse me, then.”

Liana sat at a table close to the kitchen.

From where she sat, she could see the entire kitchen.

“How interesting. You can see the inside of the kitchen.”

“Watching the chef cook is one way to enjoy the dining experience.”

“Can you really enjoy the experience just by watching? Isn’t the joy of dining usually from eating the food?”

I smiled at her.

This is the narrow-minded thinking that most imperial citizens have.

Believing that the only pleasure in dining lies in eating.

Today, I will strip her of that narrow view on dining.

To show her that the joy in dining is not only for the taste buds.

“You’ll understand once you watch.”

“Is it really alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“I feel like it would be rude…”

In the empire, it was considered good manners to have the kitchen hidden from view.

Just as magicians had their unique vision magic and knights had their family vision swordsmanship,

Chefs also had their own vision cooking techniques.

Perhaps due to the imperial custom of valuing individual visions, restaurants and kitchens in the empire were always concealed, operating in secrecy.

No matter how valuable the customer, entering the kitchen was against imperial rules without the chef’s permission.

Under such circumstances, an open kitchen was nothing short of a shocking sight for imperial citizens.

“It’s fine for you to watch. On the contrary, I left it open to show it off.”

“Really?”

“By doing so, you can see that our restaurant’s food is prepared in a clean environment. And as you watch, you’ll understand why I chose this open setup.”

I handed her the menu.

“This is our house menu.”

-MENU

-Bulgogi Meal – 10 Silver

“Is there only one menu item? Bulgogi? Meal? What is this? Are you cooking the meat with fire?”

“It’s one of the restaurant’s pride dishes. It was a popular menu item enjoyed by the Knight Order.”

There were no other ingredients available for now, so the menu only had one item.

I’ll have to add more menu options once I get more ingredients.

“I have no choice then. I’ll have the Bulgogi Meal, please.”

“Understood.”

For hygiene, I wore a headscarf.

I washed my hands with water, preparing the ingredients, when Riana asked.

“But are you really okay with it? This is a humble territory for someone who held a knight’s position in the capital.”

“I wasn’t exactly a knight, to be honest.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was a cook.”

Every day, I was responsible for 200 meals for the Princess’ Knight Order, 300 for the Royal Knight Order, and occasionally 30 more for the guests who came to train.

A total of 530 meals were handled by the invincible cook knight, which was me.

I swung the giant ladle more often than the sword.

Of course, being a cook wasn’t all bad.

I was exempt from training, morning roll calls, evening roll calls, personal maintenance time was ensured, and during working hours, most of the jobs were off-limits unless something special was happening.

Some guys might say I had it easy, but what could I do?

You try frantically stirring the soup with a ladle.

The problem was that I woke up earlier than anyone else and worked alone while others were resting.

“Even so, the fact that you were a knight doesn’t change.”

I was having trouble suppressing the corners of my mouth from rising at the soothing, gentle voice comforting my heart.

“There’s no need for a knight to be in a glamorous place.”

“I see.”

Before preparing the meat, I first washed the rice.

It wasn’t exactly the same as the rice from Korea, but I had found a similar grain in my hometown.

Rice from my hometown of Rohan.

This rice was the reason I was able to start cooking Korean food in this new world.

‘I can cook the dishes from my previous life.’

I remembered that I had immersed myself in Korean food because I didn’t have to forget my past memories completely.

I lit a fire in the mini rice cooker, which was a modified version of the existing pot, and poured in the washed rice.

Sizzling.

I took out the frozen meat from my mana refrigerator and placed it on a cutting board.

Thud!

Then, I slammed a large Chinese cleaver onto it.

Smack!

“Then, I’ll start cooking.”

I grasped the handle of the Chinese cleaver stuck in the frozen meat.