284 – Secret Date (2)
Maria began to look around.
She was wearing a hood over her head to prevent her face from being seen, but I could clearly see the bright expression in her eyes as I was right next to her.
‘Do the vassals under the First Princess know that Maria makes facial expressions like this?’
“What’s bubbling over there, Martin?”
In 21st century Korea, even rich people can learn about how ordinary people live through the Internet or TV, but here, there is no Internet or anything, so there is no way to know.
“It’s a food called the stew of eternity. It is made by putting all kinds of vegetables, meat, grains, and fish in a pot and boiling it. When the amount decreases, you add other ingredients and water and continue boiling. “Anytime, day or night.”
It is a strange food that, once it starts boiling, you almost never turn off the heat or wash the pot.
Because of such characteristics, there is even a joke, not a joke, that inns, cheap restaurants, and eternal stews are the same age.
And among the things I ate when I was a low-level mercenary under Dalton, there was an eternal stew that had been brewing for ten years.
‘Surprisingly, it was quite delicious.’
From Noble mtl dot com
Maria tilted her head as she looked at it.
“Once you make it, if you use the same pot for days, even months… won’t that cause the food to rot?”
“It doesn’t rot because it’s continuously boiled. Since it continues to boil even while you sleep, there is no room for it to rot. “I once had a delicious stew that had been boiled for 10 years.”
If you keep boiling it over a fire, bacteria cannot live inside the stew, so it will not rot.
“Is this food that ordinary people often eat?”
For the serfs, who make up the majority of the population, this is quite a delicacy, but from the perspective of eating out, it is.
It’s an incredibly cheap meal that only costs 1 dong even if the two of us eat it.
“But this is going to be hard to eat, is it okay?”
Maria, who was born into the royal family, must have grown up eating only good food, but there is no way that this unique flavored stew would suit her taste…
I used to eat it often while I was a mercenary until a few years ago, but now my taste buds have become more sophisticated.
These days, it is difficult to eat even if someone gives it to you.
‘I thought I had to starve for two days to eat.’
“I came here this time to experience how the people live.”
But, since the food was really boiled for 24 hours, Maria wouldn’t get food poisoning if she ate it.
I took Maria with her and sat down in a corner of the store.
This is a fairly large city that Maria uses as her main base, so how can there be a restaurant like this?
Did it look exactly like the restaurant I went to the first day I joined the Whitebeard Mercenaries?
In particular, this chair is made from an old beer barrel, so it is far from comfortable and only helps you finish your meal quickly.
Maria continued to sit and look around her as if this place was very fascinating.
“Here, give me two bowls of stew.”
The restaurant owner, who had eaten the stew, asked back in a casual tone about the service spirit.
“Two bowls? Do you need anything else other than that? “Something like beer or bread.”
I don’t know if Maria has a strong stomach, but bread or beer from here is a no-no for Maria.
There is a high probability that there will be rocks in the bread, and the beer will come with a half-baked cheap beer.
I waved my hand.
“No need. “I’m going to eat quickly and leave.”
“It’s unusual that you don’t even have snacks or beer on a nice day like this.”
When the restaurant staff left grumbling, Maria asked me.
“But why don’t you order beer or snacks?”
I gently told Mary to listen to her, gesturing with her hand.
“Except for eternal stew, other foods are not edible because they are slightly spoiled or moldy. “The stew is boiled for 24 hours, so there is no problem eating it.”
This is a world where food hygiene laws do not exist, so some idiot may have added strange things like earthworms or rotten animal corpses…
If something like that gets in, you can tell just by smelling it, so just leave quietly.
If there was a fight, I would definitely win, but what would be my reputation if the viscount, who is serving the princess, fights in a place like this?
“Here are two bowls of stew. “Enjoy your meal.”
After he finished speaking, the man placed two bowls of stew and a wooden spoon in front of us.
Then, he looked closely at Maria’s face and asked.
“I don’t think she’s the kind of girl who would come to this place where the damn common people live. “Her breasts are big, her face is pretty, and a nobleman could be her concubine and be treated well…”
Maria, who had never experienced s*xual harassment like this before, didn’t even think about getting angry. She just blushed.
I have no intention of fighting, but as Maria’s (temporary) bodyguard, I have to deal with things like this properly, right?
With her entire body covered in aura, she thrust the blade of her hand into the owner’s neck.
The owner laughed heartily at first when I put my hand to his throat and threatened him.
“He’s angry now that he harassed his woman….”
But when I saw a huge amount of aura coming out of me, I froze in place.
“Ik, expert…? “Are you an expert?”
It is an expert, but it is a level that only a handful of people, especially upper-level experts and experts, can reach.
‘Are you s*xually harassing my woman? ‘You son of a b*tch.’
When they heard that the expert had appeared, everyone in the restaurant focused their attention on me.
I pulled out the dagger and released the aura.
As blue flames swirled around the dagger, everyone’s eyes were even more focused on me.
“The sword was on fire.”
“Aren’t you a monster?”
“Master, are you having a funeral today?!”
It is a situation where people can die, but in a street like this where people actually often die, even this seems like an enjoyable sight to see.
That said, I have no intention of killing people as they expected.
Because Maria will hate it.
I put the dagger in the desk and started a fire, but soon I put out the fire with a wave of my hand.
“She’s my girl. If you don’t want to be fooled, just close your eyes and quietly go away.”
The owner knelt in front of me and hit his head.
“Sorry! “I’m sorry, driver!”
Hearing those words, the other audience members looked sad and I lashed out at them for their disappointment.
“Did you enjoy the sights?”
They were startled by what I said and lowered their eyes as if they were about to hit their faces on a plate.
Well, if you don’t want to get your life erased after being wrongly viewed by an expert or higher level driver, you have to make the right decision.
Then I ate a spoonful of the stew.
Hmm, it tastes so bad.
The flavors of all kinds of vegetables, meat, and fish are mixed together, and although it is not spoiled, it tastes reminiscent of honey porridge.
Still, eating this makes me feel the same way I did when I first started my career as a mercenary.
‘It was really difficult back then.’
“It’s a nostalgic taste.”
On the other hand, Maria frowned for a moment after eating this.
As I expected, this kind of food was too much for a princess who grew up beautifully, wasn’t it?
“If it doesn’t taste good, you don’t have to eat it all, Maria.”
“That can’t be possible. Aren’t there many people in this territory who want to eat food like this but can’t and are starving?”
After saying that, Maria scraped up every last bit of her stew and ate it.
“It tastes peculiar, Martin. “The savory taste of meat, the scent of vegetables, and the smell of the sea from the fish all come together, and there is also a scent that I have never smelled in my life.”
“Really? “Did you have enough to eat?”
“It’s food made for people to eat, so it doesn’t mean you can’t eat it.”
Usually in movies, dramas, and novels, the princess who eats this kind of food says that the food of the common people is more delicious than the expensive food she eats every day…
‘No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.’
That’s because the common people of this world do not pursue taste in food, but simply value food that fills their stomachs and has large portions.
Not going hungry is the most important thing.
At that time, Maria pulled the hem of my clothes and said,
“You just said I was your girl again. Are you serious when you say that, Martin?”
I have also been in love with Maria for some time, so if she wants that.
“Once the civil war is over and the order of the empire is somewhat restored, let’s get married then. “I will have become a count by then, so I will be able to persuade the nobles somehow.”
If you become a count who has made numerous achievements, you can declare in front of your vassals that you will marry the emperor.
Because the position of the emperor’s husband is a position with great political power, anyone who wants to become her husband must have the proper qualifications.
‘If she is the emperor’s concubine, she can be any slave, but that’s because the emperor can take dozens of concubines.’
Maria blushed when she heard what I said.
She then gestured for me to come face to face with her, with an expression on her face as if she had made up her mind.
“Martin, Martin. “Bring her face closer and look at it.”
When I did as she said, Maria gently caressed my face with both hands and…
“Even if you are not my only man, I am your only woman. Ever since the last time you saved me from almost being assassinated.”
Then Maria kissed my lips with hers, her face blushing brightly.
It wasn’t a rich kiss that entwined her tongue like he did with her wives, but maybe it was because she felt like she was receiving Maria’s entire life?
It felt like a much heavier and more erotic kiss.
“Let us win without fail. And… someday I will have your child.”