The Omnipurpose Restaurant in Dungeon City

Fiona Valen is a knight.
And as a knight who often deals with both monsters and people, she could pride herself on being quite familiar with bones as a body part.
Literally, seeing bones, cutting them, even breaking or burning them wasn’t that uncommon.
But.
“A dish made by stir-frying bones…”
She honestly never thought there would be a dish that involved eating the bones themselves, let alone that she would be eating it.
“I’ll confirm one last time, but is it really okay to eat this dish?”
“Yes, really. If you just put aside your prejudice, it’s delicious, I tell you? Let’s try it quickly before it gets cold.”
“I’m willing to let it slide even now if you say it’s a joke.”
“If it turns out to be inedible food, I won’t mind if you arrest me as a suspicious person right away.”
Although she tried to probe half-jokingly and half-seriously, the owner’s confident attitude of even betting on it without seeming to have anything to fear was quite impressive.
The owner’s face full of confidence.
And his confident tone.
‘He really believes that bones can be eaten.’
Twitch-
Fiona’s eyebrows curved slightly without her realizing.
To Jin, who was an expert analyst, it could be classified as a form of competitive spirit.
“Very well. You’re not lacking as an opponent.”
“No, it’s just eating food, why so grand about it.”
“For a knight, even a meal is a battle.”
“Why are you suddenly talking like a soldier?”
“I am a soldier, though?”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, that’s right.
The female knight Fiona Valen, belonging to a knight order under a lord, was indeed a soldier if you think about it.
There wasn’t much to say when a soldier said they would eat like a soldier.
“Well, then enjoy your meal… militarily.”
All he could do was wish her a good meal with a touch of pity that somehow arose upon hearing she was a soldier.
“…? I understand?”
While feeling puzzled by Jin who suddenly looked at her with pity, Fiona started her meal.
‘The color is suspiciously red.’
Is it a sauce using wine?
No, it’s a slightly different red from wine.
‘It must be related to the spiciness he asked about earlier.’
Probably the ingredient that gives spiciness has a strong red color.
Since the sauce is red, it certainly has a strong intimidating presence.
Especially for Fiona as a knight, as it’s a color more familiar as blood or fire.
Conversely, it means she won’t be intimidated by just that.
Lightly passing over the appearance, it was now time for the smell.
‘I wonder how it smells? Earlier, it had quite an appetite-stimulating aroma.’
Sniff sniff-
She lifted a piece of bone with her fork (it was a bit hard, but she pierced it with brute force. Jin, who was considering offering chopsticks, got a bit scared) and smelled it.
The first thing she noticed was a subtle smoky aroma.
But it wasn’t the scent of wood smoke used for smoking.
‘It’s similar to the aroma that came from meat roasted whole over a campfire.’
Not the scent of smoke from smoking, but the intense aroma created when oil meets fire.
It was an aroma Fiona personally liked.
Add to that the complex aroma of the seasoning’s flavor components melting in.
Gulp-
Her mouth watered enough to momentarily forget that this was a dish made by stir-frying bones.
“You certainly have reason to be confident.”
“At least when it comes to cooking.”
“I look forward to seeing how that confidence holds up after I taste it.”
She had an intuition that it would be delicious enough just with this sauce.
But that alone isn’t enough to call it a dish.
In the end, after all is said and done, the core is this bone called cartilage.
There’s no choice but to eat this bone and judge.
Fiona put the cartilage in her mouth with half doubt and half expectation.
Crunch-
“….!”
As soon as she bit into the cartilage, she raised her eyebrows in surprise and asked Jin:
“Is this really bone? Not something else?”
“Didn’t you see it before I cooked it earlier? It’s really bone.”
She thought it would be hard and sharp pieces according to her common sense about bones, but it was completely different.
There was a bit of resistance, but it was smoother than expected and could be chewed softly without difficulty.
If she had eaten it without knowing, she would have thought it was some kind of unique nut.
It was enough to make her feel embarrassed about thinking she might need to surround her teeth with mana to chew it.
‘And the texture is amazing too.’
Crunch crunch-
It’s not just simple crispiness.
A sound that gives a heavier yet refreshing feeling than light crispiness resonated through her eardrums.
The vibration that resonated in her teeth with each crunch gave an incomparable, wild pleasure beyond chewing meat.
A unique texture she had never experienced in her life.
But if that was all, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
When the savory and sweet seasoning and the umami of the meat slightly attached to the bone were added to the texture, it created a fantastic combination that perfectly filled in any lacking parts.
Especially the meat attached to the bone tasting better was common knowledge even Fiona knew. Though the amount was small, its taste was supreme.
‘The slight spiciness is good too.’
Even the slight spiciness felt not as simple pain, but as a sophisticated technique that stimulates the tongue and prevents the food from becoming boring.
“Alcohol, no, never mind.”
All elements made her crave alcohol, and she almost naturally ordered some.
She could understand why the owner said it was a drinking snack.
If the knights of the knight order ate this, a drinking party would soon break out.
After eating a few more pieces of cartilage, Fiona opened her mouth.
“I believe you. You really are a genuine chef, owner.”
“Oh, do you believe me now?”
“Yes, I can’t doubt after eating such food.”
“Did you like the food?”
“Of course. It was excellent food, hard to believe it came from such an abstract order.”
“I’m glad.”
To Fiona who was sincerely praising, Jin asked once again.
“Then now that the verification is over, do you feel like talking about your worries?”
“…Alright. A promise is a promise.”
After pondering for a moment, Fiona seemed to make up her mind, firmly set her eyebrows, and began to speak.
.
.
.
“…That’s how it is.”
“I see.”
To summarize, it was about the issue of flexibility.
She had been told by those around her, and even by people she respects, that she lacks flexibility, but.
Honestly, it was hard for her to understand. She didn’t know why following rules was a problem.
“Hmm, to be honest, Lady Valen hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes, in fact, all Lady Valen has done is follow the rules, right?”
If she had broken the rules it would be different, but you can’t fault someone for following them.
Especially if she’s not just strict with others but also thoroughly follows them herself.
“But humans aren’t golems. Sometimes they make mistakes or break rules without ill intent. Don’t you think it might be okay to give a little breathing room in such cases?”
“Humans aren’t golems…”
“Ah, I didn’t mean to say anything about Lady Valen.”
“Yes, I know you didn’t mean to mock my nickname.”
Whew-
Jin, who almost made a slip of the tongue for a moment, let out a small sigh and continued.
“And you mentioned there are now obsolete rules, right? Like that, rules aren’t perfect and can change according to time and circumstances.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t blindly follow rules, but leave room for consideration depending on the situation?”
“Not every time, but there might be times when that’s the case.”
“But, won’t the gaps grow larger as rules become more flexible? In the end, rules might lose their meaning.”
“I think that’s a difficult aspect for me too, but.”
Jin smiled bitterly at Fiona’s almost obsessive worry and said.
This is a problem that hasn’t been perfectly solved even in the modern world where laws have developed.
Therefore, there’s no need for Jin to clumsily provide an answer. He’s not capable of that either.
Jin just presented a real case.
“At least thanks to Lady Valen’s flexible response, I was able to avoid being arrested as a criminal.”
“That’s…”
“And because of that, we’re now able to eat this delicious stir-fried cartilage, right?
Like this, sometimes it can lead to better results.”
When he pointed at the stir-fried cartilage they had been enjoying until just now, Fiona smiled as if relieved of tension.
“Come to think of it, what exactly is this cartilage? I never knew there were edible bones.”
“Ah, it’s cartilage.”
“Cartilage?”
“It’s bone that’s softer than regular bones, but less flexible than muscle.”
While it plays a role in supporting the body as bone.
Conversely, because it’s soft, it also helps the body move smoothly by connecting bones to bones.
It also absorbs shock.
As he was explaining about cartilage like this, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
“That’s right. How about Lady Valen becomes like this cartilage?”
“Become like cartilage? What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, how about Lady Valen acts as a bridge, like cartilage that’s hard but a bit flexible?”
A bone that’s too hard alone can’t move properly and is prone to breaking.
But without bones, there’s no support and things collapse.
So Jin’s argument was that hard yet flexible cartilage is needed to connect bones to bones.
“If Lady Valen is in charge of discipline, shouldn’t you be the cartilage that connects the hard bones of rules without breaking them?”
Because if Fiona becomes an equally hard bone, everything might end up breaking.
“Cartilage…”
Fiona fell into serious thought at Jin’s words.
Crunch-
Crunch-
Fiona, who had been silently crunching on the cartilage, finally raised her head.
“To be hard and flexible at the same time, somehow it feels like my mission has become even more weighty than before.”
On her face was a smile with eyebrows curved so much that it could be clearly recognized even without a strategy guide.
Although she said that, Jin responded with a smile to Fiona, who seemed to be smiling as if liberated from a burden rather than burdened.
“The higher the position, the more responsibility one has to bear, that’s how it is.”
“That’s true. But it’s hard to just take on such a weighty mission, I might need to have a drink with this cartilage.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t drink during work hours?”
“Work hours just ended. And wasn’t it you, owner, who said to be more flexible with rules?”
“I’m sorry, but our restaurant hasn’t received a liquor sales permit yet, so we’re not selling alcohol~”
“That’s a shame.”
Fiona, who was exchanging jokes with a smile, now looked closer to a human than a golem.

“Then I’ll be going now. How much is the food?”
“You can just go if you’d like?”
“Wouldn’t that be a bribe? I don’t want to arrest you for bribery since it’s a good restaurant.”
“Then it’ll be 1 silver.”
“Isn’t that too cheap? My suspicion has grown again because of this.”
“Haha, you’re joking, right?”
“…”
“It is a joke… right?”
“I’ll keep coming back to watch.”
While subtly hinting at a return visit, Fiona finished paying.
“Then, Lady Valen. Take care. I’ll make sure to get the permit by the time you visit next.”
“Fiona.”
“Pardon?”
“Call me Fiona. You even helped resolve my worries, Lady Valen is too stiff.”
“Haha, I understand. Then, Fiona-ssi. Please come visit again.”
Ding-a-ling-
Fiona stepped out of the store, receiving Jin’s farewell.
As she felt the hot midsummer air again, it felt as if she had returned to reality from a dream.
“I ended up resolving my worries in an unexpected place.”
Is this what they call a fortuitous encounter?
If so, it could be called a fortuitous encounter for the entire Griffin’s Claw Knight Order.
Because from today, the rigid discipline officer Fiona was going to become a bit more flexible, just as they had wished.
“Next time, it would be nice if I could have a drink with the cartilage.”
For that to happen, Jin would need to get the permit, but.
Fiona didn’t even think that the unique owner wouldn’t be able to get the permit.
“Well then, I should do my part too.”
First, I should go back to the knight order and propose removing or modifying useless obsolete rules.
‘Ah, I should also ask the commander for a sparring match.’
Perhaps now I might be able to show the flexibility the knight commander talked about.
With that, Fiona started heading towards the knight order with lighter steps.
It was a few hours later that the knight order members and the commander, surprised by Fiona’s sudden change in personality, recommended she take a vacation.