Chapter 9: Kaerton, Who Does Not Understand Delicacy

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Crisp lettuce, orange carrots, pale-green cucumbers… The collection of colorful vegetables filled the room with vitality.

Su Ye made a signal toward Maester, indicating “after you.”

Maester was too eager to keep his decorum. He reached out with trembling hands, grabbing a serving of Greece’s first true salad and putting it in his mouth. He closed his eyes and sealed his other senses, focusing completely on his sense of taste as he chewed and enjoyed all the subtle flavors of the dish.

Even though eating a salad by the handful looked rather crass in Su Ye’s eyes, Maester’s movements looked incredibly elegant to everyone else in the room.

“This deliciousness far exceeds the limits of my imagination! Su Ye, your family is the Prometheus of the culinary world!”

This comment shocked everyone in the room, Kaerton included.

Prometheus had immense status within Greece.

Not only did Prometheus steal fire for humanity and lower the difficulty of making offerings, but he also made many other significant contributions to the human race.

Finally, Prometheus angered the deities for the sake of humanity and was imprisoned on Caucasus Mountain.

Kaerton extended his hand doubtfully to grab some of the salad.

“Wash your hands first!” Su Ye smacked Kaerton’s hand with a bone spoon, then extended his own to grab the salad.

Kaerton froze. Was there now a second person who would dare to defy him in the Dolphin River?

He glanced involuntarily at the five assistants. The five men immediately turned their heads and acted as if they hadn’t seen anything.

Kaerton stepped away from the table and washed his hands in frustration, then grabbed a handful of salad. He placed it in his mouth and chewed deliberately.

When he took that first bite, he was fully prepared to be unimpressed with the dish. As he chewed, however, his body relaxed and a glimmer appeared in his eyes.

This was wholesome and fulfilling in a way that his impoverished Greek palate had never before experienced.

Even though he was hailed as a gourmand and had tasted as many delicacies as Maester, he was still overcome by the experience of this salad.

He thought back to how Su Ye had struck his hand and grunted coldly, “I’m not sure how much a delicacy like this is worth, but I don’t agree with calling you the Prometheus of the culinary world.”

Maester turned to look at Kaerton with a mixture of resentment and impatience. He then turned his back on Kaerton, not wanting to say another word.

Kaerton was dumbfounded. What the hell was that? Compared to the gaze Maester had just given him, Kaerton’s criticism had been like a spring breeze.

Why did the reputable boss of Dolphin River, a powerful Silver Warrior, have to suffer through such indignity!

“You need not be angry, Lead Chef Maester,” Su Ye said. “What does a boss of a restaurant like him know about delicacy?”

Maester nodded his head forcefully in full agreement.

The five assistants lifted their heads to look at the magic lights.

Kaerton was dumbfounded.

“What does he mean by saying that I don’t know about delicacy?” Kaerton thought.

Su Ye added on, “Let’s do it this way. Maester, can you make some roasted meat and fish, then pair it with the salad as a main course? That way, he can understand the true effects of the salad.”

“Please give me a moment, both of you.” Maester happily left the room to prepare dinner.

The five assistants looked at each other and smartly shifted toward the wall furthest away from Kaerton. They formed a line and continued looking up toward the magic lights.

At this point, Kaerton wasn’t sure what to think.

Su Ye took stock of the dishes on the table and searched his memory for foods that the Greeks ate. He realized that Greece hadn’t yet acquired tomatoes, which meant that the quality of any Thousand Island dressing he could make would be greatly reduced. However, the Greeks were famous for loving anything sour.

Europeans had developed a taste for sweet and sour foods due to the influence of the Italians, and the Italians had acquired most of their palate from the ancient Greeks.

Luckily for him, even though there were no tomatoes, the tables held pickled cucumbers and fruit vinegar. Thus, Su Ye started slowly combining them and finally came up with a salad dressing that was both sweet and sour. Even though it paled in comparison to a Thousand Island dressing, it would definitely suit the palates of the Greeks.

However, Su Ye wasn’t prepared to replicate more famous varieties of salads like the Caesar salad.

Also, Su Ye was going to ask for a higher price for the equally popular Italian vinaigrette.

Su Ye mixed another plate of salad with his new sour salad dressing, then placed it in front of Kaerton.

“Try it again.”

Kaerton hesitated for a few seconds. He gave the salad a light sniff and detected the acidity. His mouth began to water, and he swallowed.

“Alright.”

Kaerton kept his aloof expression in place, his head raised and posture straight in a demonstration of control. He carelessly extended his hand and grabbed a handful of salad. When he shoved some of the salad into his mouth, though, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The first salad dressing had been on the sweeter side, but this one was more acidic. He liked it much better.

“Is it delicious?”

“Mm… It’s good…” Kaerton realized that he had made a slip of the tongue and quickly closed his mouth.

Kaerton reached out for another handful after he was done with his first, but Su Ye smacked his hand with a bone spoon again.

“Wait until the main dishes are served before you continue.”

Kaerton silently pulled his hand back, but this time, he wasn’t upset.

All he wanted was to have dinner as soon as possible.

The five assistants suppressed the smiles that tried to form on their faces and continued looking up at the magic lights.

Su Ye had spent a considerable amount of time making the sour salad dressing. Soon, Maester walked in carrying a tray. He placed a large portion of roasted pork chops and tuna belly on the table, then walked out in a hurry before carrying in another tray of food.

There were many items on the tray, including a rare and expensive wheat bread, pickled squid, eel with herbs, and a bowl of homestyle vegetable soup.

Maester carved up the pork chops and tuna before placing portions onto three porcelain plates.

“Thank you,” Su Ye said, pulling over his plate.

The aroma of the roasted meat instantly filled the room. The five assistants couldn’t stop themselves from swallowing as the delicious smells wafted past. They could no longer focus on the lights, and their gazes floated toward the delicacies on the table from time to time.

In Greece, even small-time merchants who had money rarely ate beef, lamb, and pork. Such meats were expensive, but there were also other factors that kept them from being eaten commonly, including difficulties in preserving the meat.

The laws of Athens mandated that a butcher could only sell meat after it had been offered to the gods, so most people only ate meat after it had been offered during a festival.

Even the Dolphin River sometimes had trouble purchasing fresh meat.

However, Greece was surrounded by the ocean, so fish were plentiful.

Pork and tuna were famed for their fat. Their flesh would sizzle as they were roasted, with grease flying everywhere. Their color was alluring, and their fragrance whetted the appetites of the group.

Kaerton, whose appetite had already been whetted by the sour salad, didn’t care about how hot the meat was. He reached for the food.

Su Ye and Maester looked at Kaerton with narrowed eyes, unable to hide their disdain.

Kaerton chewed his food in frustration. He wanted to tell them that he wasn’t in a hurry to eat the meat, but he instead wanted to test how the roasted meat and salad complemented each other. That would be a primary factor in determining if he could attract the attention of the nobles.

“This is a new variety of salad dressing?” Maester asked as he looked at the second plate of salad.

“This is something I created with a stroke of inspiration. You can give it a try. This flavor is even more suited to the Greeks,” Su Ye said.

Maester grabbed a handful of vinegar-flavored salad, then nodded furiously as he ate.

Maester was full of praises after he swallowed the last of the salad.

“Not bad! I believe that we can subjugate even more people with this sweet and sour flavor. Su Ye, would you consider joining the Dolphin River?”

Kaerton stopped chewing and looked at Su Ye with a complicated expression. He then reached for more of the vinegar-flavored salad.

“I enjoy magic more,” Su Ye said politely, rejecting Maester’s offer.

“That’s unfortunate. However, there will always be a position for you in the kitchen of the Dolphin River.”

Kaerton chewed on his food in frustration. A position in the kitchen. Even he hadn’t received such treatment before.

The three of them ate silently, while the five assistants stared at the magic lights, their mouths watering.

Kaerton was only realizing as he ate how large his appetite was. Furthermore, his stomach didn’t feel upset at all.

After finishing the last piece of meat, he reached out with his hand, only to find that the two bowls of salad had been emptied.

Finally, the gazes of the eight people in the room fell on the already cooled vegetable soup.