NOVEL WEB Chapter 290
The sealed communal space where Wales was contained was completely devoid of embellishment. Dull stone walls—that was all there was.
It was practically a prison after all. However, within less than a month of being liberated, it had transformed into something entirely different.
The once dusty floors and walls were now adorned with marble, decorated in the splendid and intricate style of the Ancient Palatino Empire.
And even more eye-catching were the mountains of gold and silver spilling over onto the floor.
Amidst the brilliantly shining treasures, various pieces of equipment, magic tools, and books were displayed like exhibits, selected based on certain conditions.
Each item was a treasure so valuable that anyone who recognized its worth would be willing to sell their soul to obtain it.
Wales, the owner of all these possessions, was buried amidst the piles of gold and silver, reclining as if half-laying down.
“…It feels like time isn’t passing.”
Wales lamented with a hint of self-deprecation.
Once a month.
The number of times he was to receive a meal from Karem through a contract with Catherine.
Initially, Wales thought that would be sufficient.
A month is a long time only for lesser beings.
For a dragon like him, it was a mere instant.
So, it was more than enough time for Karem, and Wales himself was quite satisfied as he could eat fairly regularly.
“Ughhh.”
That was a delusion.
An oversight.
It should have been set to once a week, not a month.
Of course, he hadn’t been lying sprawled among the pile of gold coins, suffering the pains of a wait he had never experienced before.
He had entertained himself with the persona of a lower noble’s eldest daughter, fresh from the countryside to the city, enjoying merriment in Bendleig.
However, that was the problem.
“Who would’ve thought it would be more shabby than I imagined.”
“Ahem. Ahem. Um, Sir Wales? I have brought the food you ordered.”
Marta suddenly appeared from the entrance of the communal space. Wales, in his draped position amidst the gold coins, received the dishes Marta presented using only telekinesis.
A serving of freshly fried fried chicken.
It was a dish ordered from a restaurant in the outer castle.
“So, this is the chicken from a well-known house in the outer castle?”
“Yes. It’s freshly fried, straight out of the fryer from the servants.”
“Great. Then let’s dig in.”
Wales grabbed a leg of the generously salted fried chicken and took a big bite.
It was just as Marta had said.
The crispy coating shattered with a crack!!
The crispy texture, dressed in savory goodness, broke apart, releasing flavorful juices as the tender meat inside was torn apart.
“And how does it taste?”
“It’s bland.”
Yes, it was bland.
The salt sprinkled heavily on the coating?
After a few chews, it vanished.
The taste of the chicken was so plain, merely the tasteless flesh, devoid of any seasoning or aroma.
Initially somewhat crispy, the batter had strangely turned soggy far too quickly as if it had been poorly cooked.
“This is not good.”
No, it wasn’t just this.
Most of the dishes he had ordered via Marta from the outer castle in Bendleig were very disappointing.
A third were soggy, a third tasteless, and a third lacked seasoning as much as this fried chicken.
Marta, hands on her hips, looked at the shredded fried chicken, then back at Wales, who had just incinerated it with his flames.
“You could just have some famous dishes from my inn or the inner castle dining hall, you know?”
At first, Wales had brushed off Marta’s words as the petty complaints of someone ignorant of merriment.
After all, the start of joy is to savor the local cuisine.
Of course, that didn’t mean Wales didn’t enjoy noble cuisine.
No, even in the past, he had managed to get the seasoning right!
What he’d had so far from the civilian markets in Bendleig was far too bland.
Except for steaks, roasts, and whole chickens.
Those were still enjoyable like in the old days.
The rest were utterly lacking.
“At this rate, I have to seriously consider this. The food from Seophone Island wasn’t like this before.”
This was largely influenced by the Demon King’s army. The lands south of Iceland had been devastated by them, resetting the food culture as well.
Unless he was curious and investigated it, it was natural for Wales to be unaware.
“Hmm. I’m not pleased, but it can’t be helped.”
“Finally! Ahem. Ahem. I’ll bring more right away!”
Having already troubled her subordinate with unnecessary duties, Marta quickly left to fetch the dessert.
Churros.
Long, star-shaped fried pastries.
Wales’s pride stung as he caught a whiff from the large bowl of churros.
The intense scents of cinnamon and sweetness intertwined with the aroma of freshly fried goodness were worlds apart from the shoddy imitations he had smelled since Karem had left town.
“Ah, small being. You’ve done well to dissuade me from thinking of leaving just now. I shall commend you for that. Keep it up!”
“Then… shall I take my leave now?”
“Quickly, go away.”
Wales hurriedly shooed off Marta and picked up a churro to give it a proper taste.
The bowl was glistening with butter caramel sauce, jam sauce, custard cream, and whipped cream, all glimmering in the light of the communal space.
The churros, coated in sugar, sparkled like the sands of the coast under midday sun, even more than the pile of gold and silver he lay sprawled upon.
“Frying dough in oil. Why couldn’t those arrogant imperial fools come up with such a simple cooking method?”
Of course, frying methods did exist back in those times.
However, what Karem promoted wasn’t just tossing battered ingredients into the oil but something else entirely.
Even Wales, sealed for thousands of years with the sensibilities of an ancient civilization, sometimes felt his dragon heart thump in excitement when he witnessed modern frying techniques.
As Wales admired the churros, he felt them beginning to cool on his fingers.
‘That won’t do.’
Fried food is best enjoyed while hot. Should he dip it in sauce? No, for now, let’s savor its pure taste.
So thinking, Wales shoved the long churro into his mouth and bit down.
Crunchy and chewy, the warm, moist churro felt extremely soft with its tiny holes all over it.
The moment his teeth fully met.
The taste of sugar spread, and the sharp fragrance of cinnamon exploded.
The rough sugar and cinnamon crumbled and melted, offering a savory and sweet twist.
Just as the intense flavor and aroma flooded in, the crispiness disappeared along with the untouched sugar.
With sweetness and savoriness sliding down his throat, all that remained was the cinnamon that tingled in his nose.
“Hmm. Yummmm. This is a taste that the imperial fools, so focused on appearances, could never create.”
A dragon wasn’t one to talk about pretentiousness, surely.
Nevertheless, it was rare for anyone to challenge a dragon’s words.
At any rate, what mattered now was the churros in front of him. This time, Wales hesitated to dip it in sauce.
He tapped the bowls of sauce and cream, contemplating which to dip it in.
Wales made his decision.
He loaded up the churro with the white whipped cream. As a result, that once pristine cloud of cream was soiled with sugar and cinnamon.
“Ha, being sealed for thousands of years, this food has made my heart race so much!”
How would it have been if he had lived unsealed?
At the very least, he wouldn’t be so wrapped up in the whims of food.
He would probably have cavorted on the pile of gold and silver he lay upon instead.
However, after filling his long-empty stomach with dust from the communal space and the smell of corpses from the catacombs, his perspective changed.
The fleeting pleasure of food?
That was what made it all the more precious.
Just like the soft sensation of melting whipped cream in his mouth, it vanished in an instant.
Next, he sampled the jam sauce, which was marmalade-based. The bright citrus of the orange swept away the heaviness left on his palate by the churro and whipped cream, spiced with cinnamon.
What covered his now-cleansed tongue was an even stickier combination of caramel and butter that enveloped him more than the sugar itself.
For a moment, the excessive sweetness numbed his tongue.
After the creamy custard had passed, his tongue returned to the subtle taste of vanilla.
Yes, at this moment, the stimulating dessert in front of him felt more valuable than gold and silver.
Though it was simpler than the dishes he had received from Karem, compared to the wrecks from the civilian markets of Bendleig.
‘So now for the custard cream—huh?’
Wales glanced around the bowl. There was nothing but the sauce bowls filled with sugar and cinnamon.
“Hmm. Did I finish it all already?”
Wales took a finger and scooped up sugar and cinnamon, even dipping it deep into the sauce bowl.
He was still unsatisfied.
Moreover, it felt like something had been lacking compared to what Karem had brought.
He couldn’t call Marta back for that, though.
There was no way he could show such disgraceful behavior to his subservient magic beast.
Even if his thoughts had changed from the past, a dragon’s pride still felt an aversion to it.
‘…Should I grab a house fairy or something?’
He hesitated for a moment.
It was impractical for the moment.
Especially since brownies were rarer than fairies like Nerayde or Sylph, so even if he tried searching, it would take quite some time.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible with dedicated searching.
Wales faced one major problem.
He was just too lazy.
“Who would have thought there would come a day when I envy lesser beings…”
In that moment, Catherine’s house fairy came to mind.
Of course, he had no intention of kidnapping it.
Wales’s pride was far too large for such actions.
The risk was too great to even consider closing his eyes and acting.
The fairy’s contract magic was treacherous and bizarre enough that even someone like her, a Dragon Lord, couldn’t guarantee the outcome.
“How unfortunate. How unfortunate.”
Honestly, he should have set it to once a week.
He never would have imagined feeling a month to be so long.
“…Ugh, suggesting this feels…”
Nevertheless, Wales was calculating the rewards and conditions he would offer when a proposal arose in his mind.
Things like reducing the quantity in exchange for a shorter waiting period or throwing in a bit more reward.
“…No, no.”
Wales shook his head.
What kind of bliss would he feel at the moment of consuming the dishes he cherished after piling up all this longing and disappointment? Just imagining it made him unable to stop smiling.
To adjust the periods just because he couldn’t wait for a mere month felt so frankly humiliating.
“Hmm. The scale of the caravan, the wagon…That means I will have to wait even longer.”
Time, please pass quickly. With that wish, Wales let out a sigh while buried amidst the gold coins.