Chapter 21

Chapter 21
Chapter 4: ‘Ice Fishing’
[SYSTEM | ‘Find a chef for Orsha Palace’ (4) Progress (30/30)! Completed.]
It seems everyone ate the “Looks Somewhat Clumsy But Tastes A-grade! Chocolate Chip Cookies!” I had distributed, as one of the quest conditions was satisfied.
I smiled contentedly as I activated the communication device I had received from the system some time ago and tidied up my desk.
It hadn’t even been a week since I arrived here, but my office and bedroom were already full of papers.
It was because of the documents I had brought to read before bed.
Just then, there was a clicking sound from the communication device.
-Sis, it’s been a while…
“Ijin, are you busy?”
-…It’s 2 AM here, but I’m not busy.
I was worried he might be sleeping, but seeing him answer so readily, it seems he still has a lot of work.
I’m glad I’m not the only one this busy.
If we have to suffer, it’s better to suffer together.
I skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
“Is our Bread interested in changing jobs?”
Bread is the chef of the Count Seike family.
He was falsely accused somewhere and almost died, but his younger sibling came to me crying. After pleading here and there, they finally came to me, the Count’s representative.
I felt sorry for the sibling crying to save their brother, so I looked into it a bit.
Fortunately, I was acquainted with the heir of the opposing family and was able to save Bread.
That’s when I felt that even though I was bankrupt, I was still a noble.
Bread pledged his loyalty to me and cooked for me, and that’s how he became Seike’s chef.
-Why Bread all of a sudden?
“The food here doesn’t suit me at all.”
To fulfill the quest, I needed a new chef, but I didn’t think I could find a suitable one easily.
-…I’m hanging up.
“Aah, Ijin, wait a moment.”
I heard a sigh through the communication device.
-I need to make a living too, so Bread is difficult, sis.
“Is there a decent chef somewhere? I never thought I’d suffer because of food in my life.”
Ijin was quiet for a while before speaking.
-Sis, do you remember Apple?
“Who’s Apple?”
-Bread’s younger sibling.
“Ah!”
So that little snotty kid was Apple.
I heard a sigh from far away at my small exclamation.
-When they pledged loyalty to you in their childhood, you said what loyalty, and put them on a ship to the Eastern Continent, telling them to go get some experience.
That’s right…
-Apple has returned.
So that baby has returned.
-They came back as a master chef.
“What? Send them here right away.”
And so, I found a new chef for Orsha Palace more easily than expected.
They said they’d come to the North within a week, so I should be able to complete the quest without much problem.
‘Things are going too smoothly.’
[Isn’t it always like this?]
It is usually like this.
When the system and quests were involved, things tended to be resolved easily and haphazardly like this.
Often, things that seemed insignificant at first would come to me as quests, and these sometimes had a big impact on my life later on.
I think they might be like “foreshadowing” in novels, movies, or games.
In that sense, I thought the “Ice Fishing Quest” might be similar.
* * *
[SYSTEM | Quest ‘Irina’s Ice Fishing Competition’ has been updated.]
[Irina’s Ice Fishing Competition
Ah-!
There’s a huge lake behind the Grand Duke Luwin’s mansion.
Even though winter in the North hasn’t properly arrived yet, the lake is already frozen solid.
How do you feel when you look at that lake?
Don’t you want to do some fishing?
Don’t you feel like… there might be something amazing hidden under the lake?]
The quest the system gave me was truly absurd.
[Miss Irina Seike, let’s find the secret hidden under the lake.
To find the secret, let’s hold an ‘Ice Fishing Competition’!
Reward: The incredible secret of the Grand Duke Luwin’s territory lake, which I can’t tell you about.
Reward 2: Two slot expansion for inventory.]
“……”
At first, I was confused by this out-of-context quest to “hold a fishing competition!”
[Irina is so slow.]
‘Huh? Why?’
[You’ve completed so many quests, you should know the pattern by now.]
‘…I didn’t do quests I didn’t like even if you gave them to me.’
That’s true.
In the beginning, these twin gods of mine would throw quests at me as easily as breathing, saying it was their first time giving quests.
[Hahaha, so this is how you give quests!]
[This is so interesting, hahaha!]
As a result, rather than thinking about how this might affect the distant future, I often just checked the quest and did it if I felt like it, and didn’t if I didn’t.
‘Still, isn’t ice fishing a bit much all of a sudden?’
[We can’t help it.]
[Time is tight. We need to earn money quickly to pay off the debt.]
I kept my mouth shut and asked something I’d been curious about.
‘But what’s an inventory?’
[We’re telling you we’ll expand your inventory by two slots.]
[Do you know how big two slots are?]
I blinked.
‘I don’t have an inventory yet.’
[…We haven’t given it to you yet?]
‘Nope.’
[……]
After a moment of silence, another system window arrived.
[SYSTEM | An additional reward has been added to ‘Irina’s Ice Fishing Competition’.]
[SYSTEM | Reward 3: Inventory Skill.]
I had whined for two years about why they didn’t give me an inventory at the beginning, and then gave up, but I never thought I’d receive it like this.
With a thumping heart, I grabbed the invitation I had been given earlier and left the room.
In the reception room, I saw a familiar blond head.
[Already familiar?]
‘I think I’m more comfortable with this person than with Cassis.’
[People are usually more comfortable with strangers than their boss.]
Is that how it works…?
There was a whiskey glass on the table.
Judging by the ice still clinking in it, it seemed he hadn’t been drinking for long.
As I approached, I saw a green leafy potted plant in his arms.
What’s that?
A houseplant?
“Hello, Irina? You’re here?”
I smirked at his brightly smiling face.
The heir to the Lemiere Duchy seems to be a lightweight.
“Here.”
I first handed him the invitation.
I don’t know what’s so special about this greenhouse that this young noble is interested in my invitation, given that I haven’t even been in the North for a week.
Isiel stared blankly at the invitation I held out, making no move to take it.
“……”
I politely changed from holding it out with one hand to two hands.
Only then did Isiel let out a deep sigh and take it.
“Irina, do you often hear that you’re not very perceptive?”
“Me? That can’t be.”
I’m a business person, after all.
It would be troublesome if I weren’t perceptive.
However, Isiel frowned and picked up the glass on the table.
“Yeah, right.”
“Why are you complaining when I’m giving you something?”
“Right, right, thank you.”
He spoke insincerely and lifted the glass, asking,
“Want a drink?”
“I’d be grateful if you’re offering. Is it Rangia?”
I checked the whiskey as I sat across from him.
20-year-old Rangia.
I was impressed.
“This is my first time seeing this.”
“Really? There’s a lot of this stuff in Luwin.”
Isiel grinned and was about to add ice to the whiskey glass.
“Ah, I’m fine without ice.”
“Irina, you’re good with alcohol, huh?”
“Thank you.”
As the owner of a winery, it would be a shame if I couldn’t handle alcohol.
[…Irina was so bad we had to give her a skill.]
[I remember her crawling on the floor after one glass of wine.]
[That’s right.]
[I remember. She was crawling around the vineyard saying ‘I’m a dog.’]
“……”
There was a time when I couldn’t handle alcohol.
That’s when the system gave me the ‘Steel Liver’ skill, clicking their tongues.
After acquiring that skill, I rarely get drunk easily anymore.
I sat across from Isiel, lightly clinked my glass against his, and took a sip.
Isiel stared at me blankly and then hugged the potted plant in his arms more tightly.
Looking at him hugging that unidentified plant, he seems quite drunk.
I thought to myself that Cassis should come before the young noble in front of me becomes a dog, while I sipped the Grand Duke mansion’s alcohol little by little.
I thought that even if I sold ten thousand bottles of this alcohol, I still couldn’t pay off the debt.
“So when are you going to cook for me?”
“But I’m not a chef?”
“You’re not?”
“No.”
[He’s drunk.]
A young noble speaking formally…
He must be the second male lead.
I smiled brightly and sipped the free alcohol.
“What do I have to do to get you to cook for me?”
Faced with his sparkling expression, I was about to say ‘I don’t want to,’ but then I changed my mind, thinking of the quest.
Originally, I had no intention of holding an ice fishing competition, but because of the ‘Inventory Skill,’ I became determined to complete the quest somehow.
“…Do you like ice fishing?”
“No?”
“I’m going to hold a competition, and I’m thinking of putting my cooking as the grand prize.”
Isiel blinked.
Even if there’s only one participant, a competition is still a competition, right?
I just need to hold the competition, after all.
If I just hold the competition and get Isiel to participate, the quest should be fulfilled.
[…Don’t you think you’re being a bit of a scoundrel?]
In my sixth year of being chosen by the system, the only thing improving is my craftiness.
[Idelbach, Irina is indeed a scoundrel.]
I practically forced the idea of ice fishing onto the slightly dazed, drunk Isiel.
“Ice fishing?”
Startled by the voice from behind me, I stood up abruptly.
Cassis waved his hand, telling me not to stand.
I sat back down obediently and watched cautiously.
Although Isiel is comfortable to be with regardless of his status, Cassis is my boss, so the situation isn’t as comfortable.
Cassis looked at the bottle and glasses on the table and skillfully poured himself a drink.
“You seem to have gotten quite close with Isiel.”
“He’s been very friendly.”
“……”
Cassis downed his drink with a somewhat displeased expression.
“You seem to handle alcohol well, Cassis?”
“I’m from the North, after all.”
“I thought that was just a stereotype.”
“Unfortunately, it’s the truth.”
Cassis answered nonchalantly and asked in return.
“And you’re quite strong with alcohol, Irina?”
“A little bit?”
I answered like that while checking my ‘Steel Liver’ skill.
The ‘Steel Liver’ skill is a passive skill consisting of a single ‘long gauge bar.’
When that bar fills up completely, I lose it.
The length of the bar changes depending on my condition, but it’s okay because I can see and understand it to some extent.
Moreover, my bar tends not to fill up easily even if I drink quite a bit.
“I see.”
“Yes, but if I drink too much, I tend to go down quickly.”
There was one time when that bar filled up completely, and that time I almost… died.
The doctor said it was almost at the level of poisoning.
“Cas, can I go ice fishing tomorrow?”
“…Do it if you want.”
Cassis nodded after a moment of silence.
“Can I do it with Irina?”
“……”
But there was no response for a long time to Isiel’s question mentioning me.
“Irina, are you very busy?”
“I am quite busy.”
“Oh no…”
“But I think I’ll be fine after dinner.”
At my answer, Isiel’s expression brightened considerably, while Cassis closed his mouth with a sunken expression.
‘Is he trying to hint at me not to because I came here to work but I’m always playing around?’
[Haha, Irina, be mindful.]
[No, just don’t mind it.]
Well, what am I supposed to do?
I watched cautiously with an expression that said, “Why on earth is this person acting like this?” while Isiel cheerfully listed the foods he wanted to eat.
I just laughed, “Haha,” and rejected them all.