NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66. The Capital Tournament (3)
To hire these two may also benefit them in a way and will benefit us a lot. It has been a long time since I have tasted a dish that had a unique taste that is hard to replicate by others, especially this sauce which I can guarantee is their own secret recipe.
“What do you think about hiring the two to cook for Flora’s little party?” I whispered into Mana’s ear as she looked at them for a second, staring back at me as she nodded.
“The kebabs do taste unique; it has this sourness and also this sweetness mixed together which makes it delicious, the only downside is the meat used is a bit of the lower quality, if the meat were of a bit higher quality then it would definitely be a delicacy,” Mana responded while biting onto her kebab.
There was also the fact that the meat used was a bit of lower quality. It was a bit chewy to eat compared to the higher quality boar meat we tend to buy but considering that these two possibly came from far away with little preparations or could have been of the poor working class of this world, then it would be odder if the meat was of higher quality.
“I see, are you in favor of the suggestion or not?” I inquired before she took another piece and bit on it while looking at me with her head tilted to the side, chewing the meat for a few seconds before she nodded out of the blue.
“There aren’t any disadvantages to the suggestion, so why not? Not to mention, it would be of our benefit to be able to give more hospitality to Flora’s little friends considering this little girl tends to have a lack of friends,” Mana responded, patting Flora’s head before adding.
“Not to mention, we didn’t buy much for the meals other than some ingredients for cupcakes and cookies. It would be nice to have more food especially ones that Flora likes since we might never know when she will start stealing food from her little friends…”
After ending her statement, she looked at Flora who was innocently chewing on her food, staring over at the distance as she kicked her feet in the air like her mind was wandering off. Her eyes were a bit sleepy as she turned towards us with a yawn.
“How about you, Leisha?” I looked at Leisha who was also like Flora, biting on her kebab with a peaceful atmosphere. Her free hand was moving in the air, drawing some stuff that looked like numbers which scared me a bit as she turned towards me.
“What were you asking…?” she asked with a confused expression on her eyes.
“I was asking about hiring these two to cook for Flora’s little party, what do you think about it?” I whispered onto her ear as she pinched her cheeks, nodding.
“There isn’t any downside to hiring them, the dishes are unique enough that the chances of finding a similar taste in this city are low. Replication is also possible but that takes a few sneaky moves since it seems like there are more ingredients involved than just some sour water paired with some soy sauce,” she said.
It seems like the two are in agreement; her answer also makes sense, from my initial taste, the sauce had this lemon taste, but it wasn’t lemonade but more like calamondin which in my world would be unique to only the southeast.
“I see then the answer is already clear,” I said as the two of them nodded at the same time while Flora looked at us confused, pinching Mana’s cheeks with her other fluffy hand trying to get an answer from her but Mana was too strong for her.
After receiving both of their answers, I soon stood up and looked at Mana and Leisha who were all smiling as if they were telling me to ‘convince them yourself’ which was what I would expect especially Mana since she likes to laze around, I haven’t known Leisha that long though, but she should also be the same.
Having resigned to my fate, I started walking towards the elderly lady who looked at me a bit surprised as she asked, “Is there an issue?” before I shook my head.
“It’s not an issue but more like an offer; do you two want to work for us a bit… you see, we have this mini party for the little girl’s friends tonight and we are kind of looking for someone to cook. Are you two perhaps available?”
The elderly lady couldn’t hide her surprise as she looked at the little girl beside her who was also stunned as the elderly lady looked back at me and answered, “I would love to… but I don’t think we are qualified enough to serve honorable guests…”
I was a bit loss of words at this point and it was only the start; this is the reason why I am bad at negotiating especially with people who tend to look down on their skills. Mana can do this much better though since part of nobility is to be able to persuade the people.
“There aren’t any such honorable guests, at most, the only people you will be serving are us and some other children. It should be fine with those, right?” Mana came to rescue, pulling me back as she looked at the elderly lady with a smile.
“I… I don’t think we are qualified enough as cooks… what if we serve them something they don’t like; we might have our heads chopped off…” the elderly lady said as Mana chuckled a bit.
“There is no such thing in this city; the nobility isn’t able to attack their citizens, the higher classes must also adhere to the kingdom laws. I do not know which kingdom or empire the two of you perhaps came from, but I wish to tell the two of you that we have no such intentions to even do so,” Mana smiled before she continued.
“How can I trust you…?” The elderly lady said as she looked at Mana with a dubious expression before Mana smiled with pride as she walked back towards me, saying.
“You can trust me if you want but if you also don’t want to trust me then it’s up to you.”
Almost like in a webtoon, the elderly lady stopped Mana who looked at the elderly lady with her prideful aura on her as the elderly lady shook a bit before saying, “Okay… I will trust you…” as Mana looked at me with a wink. I do not understand how that worked but I guess it worked out… or so I want to say.