Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Perfect Escape Route

Panicking at times like this is the mark of a low-level person.

If I really had the mental age befitting Jean-Paul Durand's age, a person with a young mental age, I would have been scared out of my wits stuttering and trembling as if I had committed some great crime.

But what was actually inside this body was the worn-out late 30s Korean uncle Kim Cheoljin with a winding life history.

Such my intuition pierced through the contradiction and distortion felt in the king's statement in one go.

First, the king's time is much more precious than a lowly chef's time. But like a person with nothing to do he calls me on a holiday and interrogates? Does that make sense?

Second, catching the person to interrogate and bringing him to the palace and dressing him in good clothes and even spraying perfume? And that by calling a royal tailor with a knighthood? This is also a contradiction.

Third, the fact that the person who brought me and gave etiquette education was the Lord Chamberlain doesn't make sense from the start. Making the highest official of the palace run errands like a servant saying come and go? Without any meaning?

Fourth, really important so I'll put five stars only on this part. From the start I and the Holmes series have no relation at all. No, if the publication is delayed that's the writer's fault not my fault? Rather I fed delicious food even to an uninvited guest and sent him out?

Then the conclusion here was obvious.

These people, right now they were scheming to collude with each other and mess with me. Shall I check once if they're really angry? I first thoroughly wet my mouth with saliva, and took a deep breath.

"Oh, the lamp guiding the great empire and the glorious guardian of the Anglican Church, the pillar of noble and wise power and wisdom loved by all the subjects of England, the majesty of His Majesty who protects the honor and glory of the empire is fully spread across all of Europe, and resounds across the sea to numerous continents�"

"Stop! Stop! The words are long so make it short!"

A very slight sound of holding back laughter was heard. I could have checked if the status window opens just by seeing His Majesty's dragon face right now, but unfortunately it was a situation where I couldn't raise my head.

But for now I confirmed that my assumption was correct. If he was really angry he would have already struck the gong when I was listing exaggerated modifiers.

What bothered my mind was still His Majesty's last statement. Mentioning the 'Holmes series' right away as soon as he sees me at the first meeting? Good or bad for now it meant that the business about me was related to Mr. 'Arthur Conan Doyle.' And that with a very high probability. But there was really nothing I could guess.

Wait, is there really none? No, in fact there was a part I knew but buried in memory because I absolutely couldn't grasp the connection.

【 Main Quest: Change history with special food (6.22%) 】

The change degree that exceeded 5 percent a few months ago, rather than dropping after that even rose slightly. And this change degree soared tremendously the moment I looked into Mr. Doyle's mind.

Clearly at that time Mr. Doyle thought like this. He would fill the 'lost' manuscript of the Holmes series with the current 'new' experience.

And didn't that thought at that time cause a butterfly effect and summon me here 3 months later?

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

"Speak."

"It's exactly the story of that 'The Hound of the Baskervilles.'"

"Hmm...? Continue."

Even though I openly said the title he doesn't get surprised. It's a story that hasn't even been published through a magazine yet. One fact perfected here!

His Majesty, by some method has already read that new Holmes series Mr. Doyle wrote for sure!

I saw it! My perfect escape route!

"Your Majesty, did you know the fact that Mr. Doyle originally discarded that novel, and decided to continue serializing the Holmes series?"

"What?"

"I remember the day I first met Mr. Doyle. He was in a serious slump suppressed by the great success of the Holmes series to the point he couldn't think of an attractive story anymore. He continued writing other writings to escape the slump, but he said to me that now even writing is scary. But because I was also an avid reader of the Holmes series, I couldn't bear to watch such a situation and came to think of a clever plan..."

"Wait, is that word really true?"

"Yes, I swear to Saint George and the Virgin Mary and God the Father, truly there is not an inch of lie."

"Hmm, continue the story."

Sorry, God the Father. For now I have to live first, right? Later when I make a lot of money I'll go pay a donation.

"Anyway, Mr. Doyle showed me the unfinished manuscript. The words he said at that time are still vivid. 'Ah, His Majesty must be eagerly awaiting my novel! I'm very afraid of disappointing Him with a boring story! By any chance do you have a good opinion?' he said."

"Is that so! Hmm."

It worked! His Majesty didn't show a big reaction, but I felt from the tone that he was inwardly happy. As expected my reasoning was correct!

His Majesty is a tremendous avid fan of the Holmes series, has already read the unpublished manuscript, and clearly called me feeling curiosity about the fact that I influenced the content in some way!

What if my lie is exposed? Surely he won't make a face-to-face confrontation and even confirm the facts? If so from the start he would have called Mr. Doyle first not me. Isn't it because he can't call Mr. Doyle that he called me?

The psychology of an avid fan is similar then and now. They desperately want the result, but are reluctant to intervene in the process. If they wanted to see the result whether the work collapses or not they would have used power to harass Mr. Doyle for 7 years straight, but it wasn't, right?

"I only bestowed the fun of new deduction to Mr. Doyle with my unfinished recipe. If I have a sin it's only the sin of cheering so that Mr. Doyle can continue writing! Of course, there were times I added a few ideas to squeeze out the ending of the blocked latter part, but the sin of delaying the serialization, if I have such a sin heaven will drop a lightning bolt on me!"

My unique secret technique of avoiding the attacks of numerous malicious commenters in my previous life, exactly 'image reversal'!

I did wrong? No, in fact I did well! Deceiving like that is the core of this escape method! For example a reversal secret like thinking he was a miser but he was pouring all the money he earned into various orphanages!

I'm the cause of the delay in the serialization of the Holmes series? No! In fact without me there would have been no Holmes series either! Even bluffing so boldly I was shameless.

Of course a lightning bolt didn't fall on me. I held my breath for a moment and waited for the reaction of His Majesty Edward VII. At that moment�

Clap clap clap clap!

With a huge sound of applause His Majesty's laughter rang out.

"Hahahahat! I greatly misunderstood about you! It seems there was some error in information transmission somehow. Sir Jean-Paul Durand, raise your head now! I have a request for you."

Sir...? I don't have a knighthood? Anyway I quickly raised my head as ordered. And somehow, the moment I saw His Majesty's dragon face the stopped status window immediately activated.

[Albert Edward Wettin: If I press him like this this guy will be surprised and feed me delicious cooking until my stomach bursts too! / Emotion: Joy / Satisfaction: - ]

Oh dear... Like father like son His Majesty was also not an honest person like the prince.

###

In the end the cause of this incident was all with Mr. Arthur Conan Doyle.

Mr. Doyle who broke 7 years of seclusion and finally resumed writing the Holmes series, decided to go to London to keep the promise with His Majesty of showing the newly written manuscript before publication.

But somehow, the middle part of the manuscript he brought was in a disappeared state. Truly a mysterious loss incident! It was clear there was someone among Mr. Doyle's surroundings who didn't want the re-publication of the Holmes series.

However if Mr. Doyle accidentally left out the manuscript? If there's no culprit and it's a matter that happened with several coincidences overlapping? In the end he had no choice but to hurriedly return home to find the lost manuscript, and in the meantime he stopped by my restaurant to relieve hunger.

And my trying to do influencer marketing that doesn't suit my level and provoking Mr. Doyle worked too fatally.

Caesar salad! Peanut butter sandwich! Samgyeopsal! Peanut butter chocolate! A feast of crazy tastes unimaginable in 1901 Britain!

Once given he ate deliciously and coolly left, but the next day, and the day after that the taste didn't leave his head!

In the end Mr. Doyle who couldn't find the manuscript filled most of those scenes with descriptions of the 'taste' of my peanut butter dishes. On top of that he even committed the heaven-outraging act of inserting a new supporting character named 'Jean-Pierre Dumont'!

What's the occupation? He says a chef, a chef! No matter how I look it was a character sniping at me!

"This damn!"

"Sir Durand, what did you just say?"

"No, it's not. It was an exclamation of feeling good."

Korean curses are good at times like this. Because no one knows it's a curse.

Anyway, that Mr. Jean-Pierre unfolds a great performance together with Mr. Holmes and the story concludes with escaping Baskerville Hall. No matter how I look it's original work damage? Mr. Doyle, putting your hand on your chest was that the best?!

So what am I doing right now?

Thwack!

I swung the kitchen knife on the cutting board and sliced the meat. As expected the quality of the meat used in the royal court was amazingly good.

The reason His Majesty summoned me was as I first predicted. His Majesty who previewed the Holmes series before publication really got curious about my cooking.

The fact that the publication was delayed, the reason the serialization period increased while writing scenes for the new character, and that all those causes were due to the meeting with me His Majesty knew without missing a single thing.

That is, in fact even if I said nothing and just stayed still there I could have received His Majesty's praise and ended.

But unnecessarily displaying wit there and looking at an escape angle for nothing, my shamelessness perfectly suited the heart of His Majesty who likes mystery novels, a really amazing and nose-blocking story! In the end it meant I was being played on His Majesty's palm.

I should have noticed first when I saw that plump belly.

His Majesty who collected all the peanut butter that came out on the market and tasted it, and even reproduced the 'samgyeopsal' described in the novel as is, highly praised me as the most creative chef in Britain in Britain!

In fact samgyeopsal itself was already secretly spreading in London's lower class society. I thought just keeping Edith's mouth shut would be enough, but the method of making was too easy so even the newspaper sellers and the bands of my restaurant all copied the cooking method.

They even attached the name �Durand Grilling� and were dipping samgyeopsal in peanut sauce and eating. His Majesty had already grasped even that fact!

When I noticed it was already all late. Damn. When the Holmes series is newly published, it really looks like it'll become a mess what do I do?

But that's a later matter, right now solving the incident in front of my eyes was more urgent.

I was currently thoroughly paying the price of the bluff I made to escape the pressure of His Majesty Edward VII.

His great and wise Majesty Edward VII who mistook me for a chef with very creative and outstanding skills ordered a truly creative and fresh amazing cooking that would newly write British history, to be used at next year's coronation!

A great cooking befitting the status of the 20th-century British Empire that can satisfy all the British nobles attending the coronation, gentry who wield quite a bit of power in British society, diplomats of various European countries, royal families of other countries intertwined by blood, and even religious leaders!

At the point I found that out escape was already impossible.

A command skill only usable by the king of a pre-modern society, the skill effect is forced action activation of all NPCs with a citizen tag attached.

I was perfectly hit by that trap.

Like that I who was trapped as if taxidermied in the royal kitchen of Clarence House, was enduring the stinging gazes of the royal special chefs who kept glancing at me and frantically cutting on the cutting board.

I'm really in big trouble. What on earth does everyone expect from me? Why do incidents only keep getting bigger every day!?