I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 91: Ice Cream After Dinner

During dinner, when I went to the dining hall alone, Arnault and Gaspard looked at me with resentful eyes.

“What’s up? Do you have something to say?”

Although I knew the reason, I pretended not to and addressed them.

“This is outrageous, Captain! In the end, more than half of our portion was taken by others!?”

“Yeah, we contributed to the ingredients, but our share was taken without us doing anything… because of what you said, Captain!!”

“…You two, come to my room after dinner.”

“Eh!?”

I said in a deliberately low voice, and since the two of them froze, I left them alone and headed to the counter to get my own dinner. The reason for calling them to the room was that the ice cream in the freezer would be ready soon, but they didn’t know that, so they must be quite anxious.

“Captain Vandière, well done! You made such a nice smell earlier. I overheard the conversation earlier, so if you’d like, shall we make dessert as one of the menu items?”

As I was choosing my meal, the head chef approached me. Certainly, it might be nice to have something easy to eat for dessert, like fruit or jelly, in addition to just fruit. It would probably be too much trouble to make decorative sweets, though.

“Ah… Th-that’s right. Dessert recipes are not something that can be easily taught. Even though you’ve already taught us seasoning methods we’ve never had before, it’s luxurious to ask for more…”

It seems the head chef misunderstood while I was thinking.

“Oh, no, that’s not it. I was just thinking of something easy to make in between cooking and easy to eat after meals. Since they usually use a lot of sugar and butter, we can’t make them frequently, but it wouldn’t be a problem to serve them as a reward after joint training or returning from an expedition.”

As I answered, the head chef’s face brightened up.

“So, can we have the recipe for the sweets!?”

“If you’re going to do business with it, you need to register with the commercial guild, but there should be no problem making it in this dining hall. I’ll lend you the book I have, so you can read it.”

“A recipe book!? Borrowing such a high-class item…!”

Although I bought the recipe book at a bookstore, it certainly had a different price range from the home cooking books known by housewives.

“Use it since it will make the subordinates happy. Well… it’s expensive enough to cost gold coins, so you need to be careful with it.”

When I mentioned gold coins, the head chef’s throat made a slight noise. The book itself is still a luxury item, and it might be understandable to say that there are no bookstores in the commoner district. Among them, books on technical matters are generally protected by magic so that only the preview part can be read until purchased.

“I’ll bring the book tonight or tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much!”

After finishing my meal and returning to the room, Simon and Marius came to visit as if they had timed my arrival.

“Captain! Is it ready!?”

“We couldn’t wait any longer!”

“Ah, it’s already done, but wait until Arnault and Gaspard arrive. Shall we just prepare the plating first?”

“Oh, I’ll help!”

Marius immediately volunteered, probably aiming for the spoon used for plating. The spoon used for plating was icy cold, so tasting with it would be exceptional. Just as I finished plating the ice cream, there was a knock on the door.

“Simon, it’s probably Arnault and Gaspard. Let them in.”

“Okay!”

As Simon, who had been happily playing with Jest, responded, Marius and I began to arrange the ice cream on the table in my room.

“Huh? Why is Simon here too? Did he mess up something? …Wait, is that!?”

Arnault’s voice sounded skeptical at first. But soon he noticed the ice cream and, surprised, entered the room.

“I made another dessert, milk ice cream. Isn’t it perfect for after-dinner dessert?”

With a smirk, Arnault looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Captain~! I believed in you, Captain!”

“Just a moment ago, you were suspecting if he was actually an evil god, weren’t you? Hahaha.”

“Oh, is that so? Is that so? So you guys were saying such things.”

“Yay! Is this ice cream? It’s starting to melt! I need to eat it quickly! …Mmm, it’s cold, sweet, and delicious~!”

…I’ll let Jest enjoy it happily for now.

While everyone savored their ice cream, I reached for the liquor cabinet.

“You guys… Pouring this on it makes it exceptional.”

“Captain… A genius…!?”

“Are we allowed to do such a thing…!?”

The ones who reacted were Arnault and Simon, both in my squad and known for their love of alcohol. And what I had in my hand was a bottle of brandy. Ideally, I’d prefer coffee or chocolate liqueur, but whiskey and brandy also taste good.

The two quickly offered me cups, but the other three seemed content to keep eating as they were. Well, even if you asked me to, I couldn’t pour it for Jest. But I poured whiskey on top of my own ice cream and scooped it with a spoon, letting it slide into my mouth.

The sweetness of the ice cream and the tingling sensation of the brandy coexisted on my tongue, and as I swallowed, I felt both the cold and warmth in my throat and stomach simultaneously.

Yes, this is it. It’s delicious after all.

“Wow, what’s this, it’s too good…!”

“Alcohol goes well with sweet things too! I didn’t know!”

After that, Arnault and Simon clung to my legs until I promised to make ice cream again.