The sun set behind the Manchester Mountains to the west.
Night fell.
A wonderful aroma drifted out from the kitchen.
Ron had pan-fried two steaks, grilled a few chicken wings, and deep-fried two bowls of popcorn chicken, carefully plating everything on the living room dining table.
Back in college, when he'd rented a place with classmates, they'd experimented with all kinds of food and seasonings together. So Ron had a decent theoretical foundation in cooking.
Usually, Ron's role had been to sit nearby and shout praises while others cooked—then happily eat the results. So when it came to practice, he really only had theory.
But after working hard over the past few days, his cooking was starting to look halfway decent.
Ron took off his apron and followed the sound of footsteps to his study.
Lyle was there, browsing through a book, seemingly quite absorbed.
Most of the books in the study were about theory, history, and botany. By all logic, none of that should interest someone like Lyle, right?
Curious, Ron walked over to take a look—and his face immediately darkened.
On the open page, an elf lady in tattered clothing posed beneath sunlight on a sandy beach, looking as alluring as a ripe fruit.
It was the uncut edition of the Elven Illustration Book—a gift from the bookstore owner…
Ron sighed and covered his face. Why didn't I remember to hide that?
Hearing Ron behind him, Lyle let out a small cough, his face slightly red. He casually closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.
"Ron, you've got good taste," Lyle said, giving Ron a knowing smile and a brotherly pat on the shoulder.
Ron responded with an awkward-but-polite smile. "Dinner's ready. Come taste my cooking."
The two left the study and sat down at the dining table in the living room.
"Wait!" Ron stopped Lyle just as he began to cut into his steak.
"What's wrong?" Lyle froze, confused.
"Before eating, pour this over the steak." Ron picked up a small bowl near Lyle's right hand and drizzled the dark sauce evenly across Lyle's steak.
The moment the sauce hit the steak, it sizzled loudly.
Lyle's eyes widened, and he leaned back slightly as a rich, mouthwatering aroma surged to his nose. "What is that?!"
"That's black pepper sauce," Ron explained as he set the bowl down and picked up his own. "It's a special seasoning I made myself—sort of like salt."
Since Lyle's shop only used salt as seasoning, Ron had to use that as a reference to make the explanation easier.
Curious, Lyle cut a piece of steak with the black pepper sauce and took a bite.
The rich flavor of the beef, combined with the punchy black pepper sauce, created tiny explosions of taste on Lyle's tongue.
"This is amazing!"
"By the heavens!"
"How did you make this?!"
Lyle marveled between bites, chewing as if he'd never eaten anything so delicious in his life.
Ron hadn't expected such a dramatic reaction and chuckled. "You're just surprised because it's your first time trying black pepper sauce. Once you get used to it, it's not that special."
After all, the steak itself was just average quality, and his cooking skills weren't that great. It couldn't possibly compare to the authentic roasted meats from Lyle's own shop.
"This is a thousand times better than salt!" Lyle declared as he practically inhaled the steak.
"You should try the wings and popcorn chicken too," Ron said, pointing to the other dishes on the table. "I made special sauces for those, too—one's salad dressing, the other's ketchup."
Lyle's eyes lit up, and he dug in immediately.
"Mmm…"
"This is incredible!"
He couldn't stop exclaiming.
—Ten minutes later—
After finishing the meal, Lyle slumped on the couch, still looking a little unsatisfied.
These seasonings were just too amazing.
Before tasting them, he never imagined flavors like that could even exist in the world.
Ron cleaned up a bit, then sat down beside him and thanked him again. "Thanks a lot for helping out the past few afternoons. Starting tomorrow, I won't be going out much, so I won't trouble you anymore."
"No worries. After a meal like that, I'd say I came out ahead." Lyle waved it off, but then hesitated, his expression uncertain. "Ron, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Of course," Ron nodded.
"I'd like to know how you make those sauces. Would that be okay?" Seeing Ron's puzzled look, Lyle quickly added, "I know it's probably a valuable secret, so I'm not asking for it for free—I'll pay you!"
Ron thought for a moment and quickly understood what Lyle meant. "You want to use these sauces in your BBQ shop?"
"Yes! I think they'd be a huge hit!" Lyle said excitedly, though he quickly calmed down and looked seriously at Ron. "But it's fine if you don't want to share the recipe. I can just buy the finished product directly from you. How about that?"
"Uh… no need to go that far," Ron said, shaking his head with a smile. "If you want it, I'll just give it to you. It's not that big of a deal."
To Lyle, black pepper sauce, salad dressing, and ketchup were magical and mysterious—but to Ron, they weren't anything out of the ordinary.
The people of this world had simply grown accustomed to using only salt for flavor, and hadn't explored much beyond that in terms of food. That's why Lyle thought these sauces were so valuable.
But in truth, the cost of making any one of them was less than ten copper coins.
And if produced in bulk, the cost would be even lower.
"No, no, no! I can't accept something that important for free!" Lyle shook his head firmly. "Ten gold coins! I'll pay ten gold for your sauce recipes. How about it?"
Ron looked at Lyle, and from his serious tone, he could tell he was sincere.
Ten gold coins—for seasoning recipes—that was a pretty generous offer.
Don't be fooled by Ron selling Nether Orchids for 20 gold a piece—those were sold to mages, a completely different social class.
The wealth gap between ordinary people and mages was like the difference between heaven and earth.
For a shop like Lyle's, making a dozen silver coins in a day was already excellent.
So a ten-gold offer from Lyle was extremely generous.
But Ron wasn't the kind of person to get blinded by money. And honestly, ten gold coins wasn't that much for him—it would only convert to enough Wealth Points to flip a single elf girl's skirt.
Maintaining good relations with his neighbor was worth more than that.
So Ron made a suggestion: "Ten gold is too much. How about this—just one gold coin, and I'll tell you everything I know about making these sauces."
"Uh…" Lyle looked tempted, but also a little embarrassed.
Ron could tell—dwarves were clearly a prideful race. So he added with a grin, "But I do have one condition. If I ever come to your shop and you're using my sauces, I'm not paying for the food."
Lyle's eyes lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Deal! My BBQ shop is always open to you for free! Ron, I'm proud to call you a friend!"