Irina's words from last night still lingered in a corner of Kuroki's mind. "I ran away. From the tower." That was all the conversation had been. He hadn't pursued it. He didn't know why. It felt like not pursuing was the right call——or rather, his instinct at that moment had told him to wait. Even in his previous life's kitchen, dashi rushed and hastily prepared would turn cloudy. The umami that should be drawn out only came with time. The third morning at Ginkgo Tavern began in the pale light when the sea breeze from Ende Sea slipped through the window gaps. It was bright enough that there was no need to light the dissolution lamps. Kuroki waited for the familiar sound while chopping vegetables for prep work. A gecko-like presence crawling out from under the table. There. Right on schedule——or rather, at a level where it could be written into a daily planner, Irina appeared at the kitchen entrance. Her long silver hair was slightly disheveled from sleep. Her mismatched gold and blue eyes blinked sleepily. Compared to the day before yesterday, her expression seemed just a little——truly just a little——softer. And today, something different happened. Irina came inside the counter. Kuroki's knife hand stopped for a moment. "……Today, I'll do my best" Her voice was small, but the words were firm. They came from inside the counter, not from under the table. The girl who had spent two days observing the world from that spot was now standing there on her own feet. (Oh.) Kuroki was impressed. Genuinely impressed. He thought: well done for coming. "Thank you" He replied calmly and resumed chopping vegetables. Today's prep included demon boar bone broth and butter-grilled river shrimp. Plus the prep work for the daily special——the meat of what this world called "wing-running birds," poultry similar to chickens——remained. Irina stood beside him and tried to grip a knife, mimicking his movements. That was the moment. The pot on the stove floated up. One centimeter. Exactly one centimeter above the stove's flame. Completely floating. The bone broth simmering since last night was bubbling at the proper temperature inside, yet the container alone defied physics and hung suspended above the stove. Kuroki stopped his knife. He looked at the pot. "……It's become independent" It was a quiet murmur to himself. Irina noticed. She peered into the pot. The pot floated higher. This time five centimeters. She took another step closer. Ten centimeters. The moment she tried to peer in at face level——the pot reached face height. Still bubbling, it slowly rotated while suspended in mid-air. (Your dissolution is completely leaking out.) Kuroki thought this while pulling out his notebook. Irina gasped and pulled her hand back. CRASH!!! The pot fell back onto the stove. Broth splashed. Some landed on Kuroki's apron. "Ah……s-sorry!" Irina went pale. Her mismatched eyes opened to their limit. The next instant, she vanished under the counter at sonic speed. The growth she'd built up over two days was likely erased in approximately 0.3 seconds. Kuroki wiped the broth stain from his apron with a cloth while writing in his notebook: "Dissolution overload: possible correlation with emotional excitement (tension/panic). Does control break when emotions rise? Requires observation." "Back under again" He murmured it not to anyone else. Just as confirmation. From under the counter came only an apologetic presence. --- Two hours after opening, the lunch rush at Ginkgo Tavern was filled with the laughter of sand-rank adventurers. Three regulars——a well-built A, a talkative B, a laid-back C——occupied their usual seats, cycling through "what's today's special," "do you still have yesterday's river shrimp," and "I'll take anything." Other tables were full too, and the stone Ginkgo Tavern was warmed pleasantly by the heat of people. Then the door swung open forcefully. "Here I come! Time for Ginkgo Tavern's food!" It was loud. A whirlwind of an entrance. Reddish-brown short hair, a sun-tanned face. Broad shoulders and a physique that seemed impossible for a sand-rank——this was Red, a sand-rank adventurer in his early twenties. He always came in loudly, one of the noisiest regulars at Ginkgo Tavern. He proudly claimed his name came from his reddish hair color. Irina jumped at his voice. A table's plate floated up. Soup floated up. A complete daily set——soup, main plate, side dish, bread——rose gently into the air and began to trace slow circles. Not a single drop of soup spilled. Physics operated by different laws in that space alone. The plates danced elegantly, as if on a serving tray. The shop fell silent. Everyone stood up. Applause erupted. "Amazing! A new presentation!" "Ginkgo Tavern's evolving!" "The plates are dancing! Beautiful!" "There is no such presentation! Physics!" Kuroki stuck his head out from the kitchen and shouted, but it didn't seem to reach anyone. "Don't be modest, Kuroki!" "There's no other chef on the continent who could do this!" "Much obliged!" The applause continued. Kuroki came out from behind the counter saying "It's really not a presentation," only to have everyone respond "You don't need to be modest!" This exchange went back and forth three times before Kuroki gave up. At another table, the butter-grilled river shrimp plate began to tremble. Irina happened to be staring in that direction, frozen. "Oh! Still alive! Fresh!" The elderly adventurer's eyes went wide with emotion. Kuroki flatly stated "It's dead." "But it's moving!" "It's moving after death" "I think its eyes met mine" "Dead fish have no eyes" "But I think they met" "You only think they did" "They did meet! The eyes!" This argument continued for a while. No conclusion was reached. The river shrimp was delicious, so everyone was satisfied. By the time Irina managed to take a deep breath and her dissolution leak subsided, the plate landing on the table, it was afternoon. --- At that timing, Red leaned his elbow on the counter. "Hey, Kuroki" "Yes?" "Is there food that makes you stronger?" Kuroki stopped his hands. "……What do you mean by that?" "What do I mean? I mean exactly what I said!" Red pulled a folded paper from his pocket and spread it out. A list. A bulleted list. "First, I want to get ripped. I also want better explosive power. Mental strength too. If possible, height as well" "Height is impossible" It was an instant answer. He didn't hesitate for even a second. "That was fast!" "Food increases height only until the growth period ends. After entering your twenties, it's a matter of skeletal structure" "I'm only twenty-two!" "You're done" "That's cruel!" Red held his head. But Kuroki's gaze had already drifted elsewhere. He began muttering to himself. "The dissolution density in demon boar muscle fibers is twice that of normal species……to efficiently absorb that high-density protein structure……gray-scaled lizards——the creatures that inhabit the outer edges of the Shadow Wastes——if I adjust the mixing ratio with their outer material……" His eyes had changed. Not a chef's eyes, but a researcher's eyes. He walked toward the kitchen, opening his notebook. Irina peeked out from behind the counter and looked at Red. "……That person doesn't stop" It was the first thing she'd said of her own volition today. Red's eyes lit up. He was about to shout "She spoke!!" ——but in that instant, Irina retreated under the counter. Red stared at the afterimage. "That girl spoke, right……?" he confirmed with B. B answered "I heard it too." C added "Wasn't she cute?" A said "I'm recording it in my notes" and pulled out a handbook. --- Thirty minutes later. "It's ready" What Kuroki placed on the counter was a jet-black soup. Its surface gleamed faintly. The light was a color mixing green and silver——something difficult to describe. Steam rose from it, but even that steam seemed abnormal. You could tell even at a glance that some kind of high-concentration dissolution, packed with magical power, was condensed in that single bowl. Everyone took a step back. "……Is this safe?" "Theoretically, there are no problems" "What does 'theoretically' mean?" "Since it's an experimental dish, I can't guarantee complete safety, but" "You can't guarantee it?!" "However, the taste is definitely delicious" Red stared at the black soup. Stared. Stared again. After a long silence, he said "A man acts on courage!" and drank it all in one go. Silence. Nothing happened. Red let out a breath. "Huh, there's no effect——" Shhhk. A single thread flew from a seam in his shirt. Shh-shh. The seam on his right sleeve burst open with a pop. Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh!!!! Red's arms swelled before everyone's eyes. His shoulders bulged. His chest thickened. Every seam in his shirt burst in a chain reaction——pop! pop! pop!——and three seconds later his shirt had become nothing but scraps. "Whoa! Huge! Massive!!!!!" Red screamed, staring at his own arms. "Ahhhhhhh!!!!" "What is this!!" "A god!!" The shop erupted. Red's physique had transformed into something like a bear before departure. Muscle had swelled without leaving even a trace of his clothes. An armored adventurer compared his own arms to Red's and fell silent. "With this I can do anything! Going on a request!" Red stood up with momentum, looking like he might kick the door open, but Kuroki said "Please open the door normally," so he opened it normally and left. His back was truly massive. The remaining adventurers looked at the black soup. Looked at Kuroki. Looked at the soup. "……Me too" "Please wait" "I'm drinking it" "Just a moment" "Me too, me too, me too!!!" "I need to confirm the possibility of side effects first——" The warning didn't reach them. Five people drank the soup in turn. Five people became ripped in turn. Five people burst their shirts in turn. Five people said "I'm the strongest!!" "This request is easy!!" "You're paying for my shirt!!" while leaving——the last one directed at Kuroki——and disappeared from Ginkgo Tavern. Kuroki, left alone, opened his notebook in the now-quiet shop. "Post-consumption, confirmed temporary muscle tissue expansion due to rapid dissolution density increase. Duration unknown, side effects require confirmation. Additionally, note that customers should remove clothing before drinking" He wrote it down and set down his pen. "……Something will happen in three hours" Just a face emerged from under the counter. Irina. Her mismatched gold and blue eyes quietly watched Kuroki's profile. --- The prediction came true. Three hours later, they all came back. Scrawny. "This is fraud!!" "Give me my money back!!" "Pay for my shirt!!!!" "Give me back my honor!! (Came back during the request)" Ginkgo Tavern was engulfed in chaos. Kuroki looked at everyone in turn. "The taste was delicious, wasn't it?" Everyone stopped. Long silence. "……It was delicious" A single word wrung from the depths of his belly, reluctantly. The other four almost simultaneously said "……It was delicious" "……Well, it was delicious" "……I admit it" "……It was delicious, that's a fact." "Then I'll accept payment" Everyone protested. Chatter filled Ginkgo Tavern. Ultimately, as compensation for the shirts, Kuroki paid three copper coins per person (reluctantly), and received ten copper coins each for the soup (breaking even), and peace was established. As they left, Red turned back. "I want to drink it again" "Next time, please remove your clothes before drinking" "Got it!!" The remaining four said "We'll drink it too" "I'll place an order" "I'll be prepared next time" as they left. A face slowly emerged from under the counter. "……Did we get the money back?" "We broke even" Irina quickly withdrew. --- The evening rush continued into the afternoon. Two adventurers came for evening air, an elderly man stopped by for