SWNOVELXO Chapter 392
“I’m so happy we could meet again like this!”
After an emotional reunion between Daria and Aila, the people gathered in the restaurant started to regain their composure little by little.
Daria had been through intense interrogation while locked up in prison, but she wasn’t completely in the dark.
She had caught snippets of conversations during her questioning that mentioned Aila and Kurt doing everything they could to rescue her.
As Daria recalled this, she suddenly felt a sense of discomfort and lifted her head.
“…But it seems like one person is missing.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I don’t see Kurt. Has he not come?”
If that were the case, she understood, but Daria felt a slight pang of disappointment.
Of course, it wasn’t reasonable to expect him to risk everything just to come for her, but isn’t that just the nature of human emotion?
Knowing Kurt’s personality, she didn’t think he’d shy away from such a situation, even if he wasn’t the most proactive of Lizardmen…
“No. Actually, that’s not it; Kurt is in the kitchen and can’t be seen.”
But before she could stew in her disappointment, Arisa corrected her misunderstanding.
“Huh? In the kitchen?”
Upon hearing that, Daria let out a bemused chuckle at how quickly she accepted that explanation despite her initial confusion.
“That certainly sounds like something he would do…”
“What are you talking about?”
As the old saying goes, mention a Shavel Tiger and it will show up.
“Long time no see, you two.”
Kurt appeared from the kitchen, treating them like relatives he hadn’t seen in ages, while beside him stood Lynette, back in her human form but looking somewhat displeased.
Seeing Kurt’s carefree demeanor made both women feel a sense of relief, and it finally hit them that they were free from the prison and back to their ordinary lives.
After finishing their simple but characteristically Kurt-like reunion greetings, everyone’s gaze naturally shifted toward Kurt.
Or rather, more accurately, toward the dish that Kurt and Lynette had brought.
During their touching reunion, they had tried to hold back their excitement, but the indescribable delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen had continuously piqued their appetites.
Especially for Daria, who hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time because of her time in prison.
She hadn’t wanted to show how much she prioritized eating over the reunion, so she had gritted her teeth and pretended not to care, but with time, her thoughts had increasingly focused on the food Kurt and Lynette had brought.
“Perfect timing. The dish is just finished.”
To be precise, he had started cooking right when Daria and Aila entered Lynette’s mansion, thanks to his superhuman hearing.
“Really… Is that all you have to say to someone who’s just gotten out of prison?”
“Since you’ve been locked up for so long, I thought it was only right to serve you a proper meal. Otherwise, are you not going to eat?”
“Well… no, of course not.”
“We have plenty of time, so let’s chat later. For now, let’s eat. It would be a shame to serve a cold dish for your first meal after coming out of prison.”
Saying this, Kurt placed the dishes on the table, accompanied by a Lynette who looked somewhat dissatisfied.
The dish he set on the table came on a plate made of both cast iron and wood.
The scorching hot cast iron was steaming, and atop it was something that looked like steak but was, in essence, something completely different, sizzling and emitting an enticing aroma that filled the air around them.
‘I’ve seen this somewhere before…’
Daria couldn’t help but ask at the dubious yet familiar sight of the dish.
“Um… what is this dish? It seems vaguely familiar but also like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
“You’ve eaten this several times before. It’s Hamburg.”
“Hamburg…? Now that you mention it, it does look like Hamburg. But something seems off…”
“Yeah, this Hamburg is Hamburg, but it’s a special kind of Hamburg.”
“A special… Hamburg?”
Daria stared at the dish once more, stumped by Kurt’s riddle-like words.
After all, she had eaten Hamburg a few times before when she was in Astram, thanks to Kurt’s cooking.
Generally speaking, Hamburg is one of those universally liked dishes, and its frequent appearance on the table made complete sense.
However, the Hamburg in her memory was a well-cooked dish of minced meat with a rich brown color, sometimes filled with cheese or vegetables.
But this Hamburg that Kurt had brought looked…
Upon closer inspection, it didn’t exactly lack meatiness, but compared to the rich brown dishes she was used to, it had more of a whitish hue and seemed less meaty.
That subtle unease had made her unable to recognize it when she first laid eyes on it.
Kurt said, sporting a somewhat mischievous smile.
Daria felt a twinge of unease at his playful grin but realized her stomach was reaching its limit.
What this special Hamburg was, and what Kurt’s meaningful smile meant, were beyond her contemplation. She had been cooped up in prison for too long, completely detached from the outside food scene.
After all, the Holy Kingdom, which was established on humanistic principles, didn’t employ torture during interrogations, yet they also didn’t hone in their hospitality toward defendants facing religious trials.
While there may not have been physical torture or humiliation, the harsh interrogation methods were enough to wear down a person’s spirit, and the poor conditions and meals in prison only exacerbated that despair.
This was her first meal after being locked up, and not just any meal but a Hamburg prepared by Kurt, making the allure all the more potent.
Gulp.
“Well, if you went through the trouble of making it for me and Aila, I guess I should enjoy it.”
In the end, Daria decided to succumb to her instincts and picked up a fork and knife.
With careful reverence, she cut the Hamburg into a bite-sized piece, slightly larger than what she would usually eat.
Swipe, swipe.
It may not have looked like a typical Hamburg at first glance, yet as soon as the knife touched it, she felt the familiar bounce of real meat beneath her fingertips.
‘This sensation… it’s a real Hamburg…’
It felt uncannily similar to the texture of the Hamburg she had eaten so many times before.
Just as imagining the taste of a lemon can make one’s mouth water, feeling the texture of the Hamburg made the taste almost revive in her mouth.
‘It’s been ages since I had a proper meal…’
With trembling hands, she lifted the carefully cut piece of Hamburg to her lips.
The moment it got close to her mouth, the rich aroma of the Hamburg wafted in, and for Daria, who had only been afforded the bland, watery soup and meager bread in prison, it felt intoxicatingly sweet.
The heavy fragrance wafting from the protein reacting to high temperatures, the intense aroma of melted pork fat that melded with its juices, and the subtle scent of the finely chopped vegetables that didn’t overshadow but rather complemented the meat created a complex and rich smell.
She didn’t need to taste it to know.
This would absolutely be delicious.
The only thing nagging at her was the truly unidentifiable yet delicate scent mixed in the Hamburg’s patty.
Though she’d eaten Kurt’s Hamburg several times before, even she couldn’t pinpoint the secret ingredient’s identity.
Yet she vaguely suspected that this mysterious aroma was the very source of the unease she felt regarding this Hamburg, and it likely contributed to the lighter color compared to the Hamburg she was familiar with.
Daria’s curiosity about the hidden ingredient mixed into the dough didn’t have the luxury of time for it to fester.
Since the moment she stepped into the mansion and caught whiffs of that alluring Hamburg aroma, her patience had waned more and more.
With the piece she had cut now hovering inches from her lips, she could no longer afford to be indulgent.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she popped that ‘special’ Hamburg into her mouth.