A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

24 – SSS-level Chef

It was only natural to conduct market research before starting a business. I sent people to the commercial district of Porto and the restaurant area of Lord Elon’s territory to gather information and understand the current issues in the food industry.

Carl Hansen briefed me on the situation.

“First of all, there are hardly any professionally trained chefs. Many of them are just regular people who set up restaurants using the basic cooking skills they practiced at home.”

“Really?”

“Yes. As a result, there are often cases where the flavor combinations become strange. It has become a situation where easily obtaining a lot of spices has become toxic. People who have never dealt with spices just cook by indiscriminately adding spices that they think are good.”

“…….I know because I’ve tried it myself. It’s a horribly tasteless taste.”

“Moreover, people who have lived in extremely impoverished areas have rarely had the opportunity to properly eat meat.”

“Don’t they eat chicken or pork? It doesn’t make sense that they have never even eaten meat.”

“Of course, they do. But even that is mostly looted by the nobles.”

“……. “

“Very occasionally. When they are really lucky, they can eat chicken or pork, but even then, there’s not much meat, so they cook in a way that focuses on increasing the quantity rather than the taste. But they don’t really care. Their goal was not to starve to death. The reason they eat, even at this low level of food, is because the customers’ expectations are that low, so the restaurant can keep operating.”

I sighed.

“So, there are no properly trained chefs, they don’t know how to handle spices, and they don’t know how to handle meat. Yet they just randomly open restaurants in a haphazard manner and make up the restaurant district?”

“Yes. The most important thing for the restaurant district is to have dirty and tasteless restaurants. The only advantage is that the officials of the Ardhan faction take care of their hygiene, so the hygiene in the restaurants is not bad. If there is a hygiene violation, they mercilessly suspend the operation of the restaurant, showing how much they care about hygiene.”

“Other than that, everything is miserable, right?”

“No taste, strange cooking methods, chaotic operations, lack of knowledge in handling ingredients, and the most miserable part is the menu.”

“The menu?”

“The menu types are limited to survival-type dishes that consist mainly of what ordinary people usually eat. Meat porridge that tastes like the meat was just soaked in water, bread that is quickly ground and turned into a coarse and unpleasant texture. Even if they try to enhance the taste of such miserable dishes by adding spices, well…. it just becomes even more miserable instead of improving.”

“It’s a long way to go.”

I let out a deep sigh.

“What if we bring in famous chefs from the capital and have them teach the restaurant owners…?”

“The high-end dishes that capital chefs handle are too complex and difficult for ordinary people to learn. It also requires a highly organized kitchen staff to make those dishes, so it’s not a suitable dish for ordinary people to make in reality.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“Furthermore, capital chefs have never made commoner dishes before. They don’t understand what commoners want or what their demands are. Even if we bring them in, it won’t raise the level of the restaurant industry.”

I scratched the back of my head.

“In the future, as more golden plains are cultivated and a tremendous number of domesticated animals enter the western continent, it won’t be good for the most populous people here to be eating food at a miserable level. They should be properly fed for the hard work they’ve done.”

“What then… what should we do?”

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“If we find someone who knows what kind of food ordinary people want, who also has a good understanding and skill in handling spices and meat like a capital chef, and who can develop simple yet delicious dishes that ordinary people can easily learn, and if that person has experience running a restaurant, that would be great…”

“This is not a novel… Finding such a person is nearly impossible…”

Surprisingly, the answer to our question came from Karia, who often came to my office and lay down on the sofa after a day’s work.

“There is such a person. There is one in the Iron Blood Corps.”

At her words, Karl’s and my eyes widened.

“Karia, Princess. Is that true?”

“Yes. Rendor. He was a famous chef from the capital city, but when his family fell, he voluntarily enlisted in the army. He was a cook, but he decided to cook in order to make the terrible-tasting preserved food provided by the military more delicious. He is also very skilled with spices.”

“Really?”

“Yes, during the Northern Expedition, spices were very valuable. Occasionally, when the Imperial Palace held a public banquet, they would summon the cook and have him prepare the food. I remember it was an amazing taste. All the officers in the army lined up to try his cooking.”

“……..”

“He said he also had experience running a restaurant as a chef.”

He seemed qualified enough.

But a cook is not proven by words, but by cooking.

“I want to try the rice he ate. Can I have a taste as well?”

I requested to try the rice that he normally makes. Carya nodded obediently, and the next day…

“Welcome to the Manin Corps. Rendor-nim. hahahaha.”

I visited the legendary cook of the Manin Corps.

The Ilam Empire’s military composition can be broadly divided into two categories.

The territorial armies led by the lords of each territory.

And the Imperial Army directly operated by the Emperor.

The Iron Blood Legion belonged to the Imperial Army, and it was also evaluated as the largest and most powerful Imperial Army in history. When the monsters in the north rose up, the Emperor called out the elites from the territorial armies, known as the Huangming, and they were incorporated into the Imperial Army. That’s how the Iron Blood Legion, composed of 200,000 soldiers, was formed.

Since they were selected from each territory, their ceremonies and levels of training were different, so they could not be simply called elites. But Carya turned this mediocre Legion into the strongest army in history during the two-year Northern Expedition.

Divided into units called Ten Men Unit, Hundred Men Unit, Thousand Men Unit, and Ten Thousand Men Unit, she personally appointed the officers leading each unit. Through the war, those officers and soldiers under her command became loyal beings who were willing to charge into a pit at Carya’s command.

Although in the original novel, their loyalty was used to massacre the Empire’s people.

Anyway, the Iron Blood Legion represented the power of the Empire itself, occupying more than half of the Imperial Army. However, their position was currently in a somewhat strange situation.

Although they received their salaries from the Imperial Palace, their actual duties were to protect my personal territory, essentially acting as a territorial army.

Their main missions were to maintain the security of the Lord Elond and the Portu Commercial District. And if enemies were to attack, the Dragon Rider Knights and the soldiers under my command would block their passage, preventing them from passing through the trade routes. That goes without saying.

“I apologize for the sudden visit, Captain of the Ten Thousand Men Unit.”

“hahahaha, no need for apologies. Rendor-nim, you are always welcome.”

Because of that, they were essentially treating me as their lord. They received their salaries from the Empire, but it seemed that I provided them with their residential areas, living environment, hazard allowances, and so on.

As is usual when a high-ranking individual visits, the soldiers were standing at attention, and the Manin Corps buildings were sparkling clean.

“You came to meet the cook… Sebastian, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Captain of the Ten Thousand Men Unit.”

“Since it’s mealtime, he has prepared the food. It might not be as fancy as the high-end cuisine in the capital, but it is a dish that has gained a reputation within the corps. hahahaha!”

The Captain of the Ten Thousand Men Unit led me to the dining hall. I insisted on eating with the regular soldiers rather than receiving special treatment, so I ended up standing in line with the soldiers.

“R- Rendor-nim.”

“Don’t worry and have your meals. hahahaha.”

I began eating the legendary military rice that Sebastian had prepared in the iron mess tin with the soldiers.

Today’s dish was meat porridge.

I smelled it first.

“At least the smell passes. Appearance is also good. For military rice… it’s quite decent.”

The reactions of the other soldiers were equally enthusiastic. Soldiers eating with exaggerated delight, as if it was incredibly delicious. I took a bite too.

“Tastes good.”

It was really delicious.

Perfectly combining well-flavored spices in the right proportions, Sebastian created an amazing taste. The combination of meat and other ingredients made the mouth happy.

The ingredients themselves were nothing more or less than the usual military rations, but by accurately understanding their characteristics, he created a dish that could produce the best synergy.

“It’s him!!!”

The feeling came to me the moment I took just one bite.

After the meal, I, the commander of the legion, called Sebastian, the cook, along with Caria.

“Uh, did you call for me?”

Sebastian seemed very tense. Even for the soldiers, the commander was a daunting figure, but when I, the legion commander, and Caria, the overall owner of the territory, appeared, he seemed extremely nervous.

I approached him, patted his shoulder, and smiled to ease the tension.

“Nice to meet you, Sebastian. I tried the dish you made today. It was really delicious.”

“Oh, is that so? Thank you.”

“I want to talk about cooking a bit. Is that okay?”

Sebastian sat down with a look of curiosity about what I would say regarding cooking.

“I want to start a food business. Have you ever tried the dishes from the Portu Commercial City and the cuisine of the Elond Marquisate?”

At my words, Sebastian’s expression turned instantly grim. I could understand that expression. Even I, who thought of it as emergency rations, found the taste revolting. What would it be like for Sebastian, a sensitive chef?

“That’s not cooking. It’s closer to livestock feed for endurance.”

I burst into laughter and nodded in agreement.

“A chef’s cool evaluation! Quite an apt expression, I must say. Yes, it’s almost not worthy of being called food. I want to elevate the standards of the food industry in Portu Commercial City and Elond Marquisate. I want to create a place where chefs with proper spices and cooking skills run restaurants. What do you think?”

Sebastian’s tense expression changed at my words.

“That’s truly… a truly admirable ambition. I would like that too. Frankly, as a chef, the current standard of the establishments is unbearable to witness.”

“Is that so? That’s what I thought. So here’s the thing. I want to hire you. I have quite a few ideas about cooking, and if you can turn them into practical menu items, that would be great.”

“All right. Let’s try. There’s nothing I can’t do, right?”

“Thank you. Let’s together bring a revival to the food industry!”

I shook Sebastian’s hand firmly and looked at Caria. Caria smiled mischievously and nodded her head.

“Soldier Sebastian, you have worked hard in the Legion. I acknowledge your official discharge.”

“Thank you! Legion Commander!”

Sebastian smiled brightly.

Now he no longer had to cook for hundreds of people, and his expression was filled with joy.

So he was discharged and began working under me.

I gave him an empty building in the commercial district of Portu and collected various spices, meats, grains, and vegetables. Luckily, this world had magically powered refrigerators, so it was possible.

“Develop foods that common people can eat easily. Foods that can be quickly prepared and served at a low price. I’ll give you a few ideas.”

Delicious foods.

To be more precise, foods that I liked.

Fried chicken, hamburgers, pizza, pasta, ramen, curry, and so on.

Having tried various cuisines from different civilizations in the real world, I had no limits when it came to ideas.

“H-How did you come up with these dishes…?!”

“You’ve had plenty of fancy cuisine in the capital, right? I thought about it back then. Develop menus that can be easily implemented and taught among these options. You understand, right?”

“It’s not a proper capital-style meal… nor is it a traditional working-class meal with large portions. What should we even call this?”

The name had already been decided.

“Affordable food made in large quantities that can be quickly and easily consumed by commoners. I named it fast food. It should be operated as chain restaurants in the dining area.”

To use modern cuisine to captivate the disguises of the people of this world.

Isn’t it a norm in this world for food from another world?