The Omnipurpose Restaurant in Dungeon City

When Jin first selected pasta as the menu, Seria’s initial emotion was bewilderment.
And for good reason – pasta?
Isn’t pasta just a simple noodle made from kneaded flour, not a dish?
At best, it’s in a similar position to bread.
‘In reality, it’s treated as a substitute or preserved food when it’s difficult to eat bread.’
At least bread is recognized as a staple food.
Pasta was closer to the concept of sustenance to avoid hunger rather than a dish or food.
This could be seen from the fact that one of the biggest consumers of pasta was the military.
‘It’s good in terms of nutrition and storage.’
But for a chef in a restaurant to recommend such pasta?
If this had been a place she was visiting for the first time today, or if Seria hadn’t tasted the dish Jin made last time.
It could have been taken as an insult, as if saying, “We have no proper food to serve you, so just eat this and get out.”
‘Will the others be okay with this?’
Seria herself was just an ordinary receptionist, and she was fine with it because she had tasted the tteokbokki Jin made last time.
But weren’t the other two a hot-tempered dwarf and a high-ranking person famous in the knight order?
She thought there might be a fight, thinking they had been insulted, but fortunately, things didn’t escalate that far.
The other two had also experienced dining here before. So it seems they thought there would be something different.
And that thought was correct.
“Here’s the aglio e olio. Please sprinkle the parsley and cheese I provided on the side according to your taste and enjoy it together.”
The pasta Jin confidently served was completely different from the pasta Seria and the others had known before.
“This is pasta?”
Unlike the previous pasta that was just boiled.
This aglio e olio pasta, tossed in a sauce with a subtle aroma of olive oil and garnished with garlic and peperoncino, definitely felt like a ‘dish’.
“Oh… it looks quite presentable.”
“Indeed, the smell and appearance are clearly different from the pasta I used to eat.”
Not just Seria, but the other two seemed to think so too, as they showed quite favorable reactions even before eating.
Seria and Fiona were turning the dish around, seemingly fascinated by how familiar ingredients had transformed into a different-looking dish.
Seeing this, Jin smiled slightly as the reaction he had initially expected finally appeared.
Growl-!
“Sorry, but can we start eating now? I’m hungry since I didn’t eat breakfast.”
“Ah, I’m sorry!”
“Oh my, it seems we’ve kept you waiting too long.”
There was also an incident where a loud sound resonated from Miley’s stomach once again.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s been like this since earlier. Oh right, shall we use that instead of a fork to eat?”
True to her dwarf nature, Miley didn’t mind at all and said to Jin as if she had just remembered something.
“By ‘that’, do you mean the auxiliary chopsticks?”
What Miley was referring to were the auxiliary chopsticks Jin had asked her to make along with the signboard yesterday.
These are chopsticks with a ring attached to make them easier to use while also correcting the grip.
Until now, they had no choice but to use forks, but since some foods are more convenient to eat with chopsticks, these were specially made.
He ordered easy-to-use auxiliary chopsticks on purpose because customers might not be able to use regular chopsticks if given.
“Yeah, that. We’ve made them, so we should try using them.”
From Miley’s perspective, having crafted an unfamiliar eating utensil, she seemed to have developed a desire to try it out.
“Chopsticks? Miley-ssi, what are those?”
“They’re utensils made of two long sticks. I heard you use them like tongs to pick up food?”
“If they’re like tongs, we should be able to grab things that are hard to pierce with a fork. It sounds quite useful based on the description.”
The other two also looked at Jin with interested eyes after hearing Miley’s explanation.
“If that’s what you all want, I don’t mind.”
Jin shrugged once and took out three pairs of auxiliary chopsticks to distribute.
‘It feels a bit awkward that the first time they’re using chopsticks is for pasta.’
Well, there’s no law saying you have to eat pasta with a fork, right?
The taste won’t change even if eaten with chopsticks, so it wouldn’t be bad to try a new experience.
“This is… quite usable. It requires more finger strength than a fork, but if you can handle it well, it seems better for delicate operation.”
Fiona, who received the chopsticks, quickly got used to them and seemed to like them quite a bit after turning them around.
“Uh… it’s a bit difficult for me. I think it would have been hard to use without this ring.”
“If it’s difficult, don’t force yourself to match us. Feel free to use a fork.”
“No, I’ll give it a try. I think I can do it even if it’s a bit difficult.”
Seria was a bit awkward but managed to use them just barely.
“Hey, give me regular chopsticks instead of these. I can use those.”
On the other hand, Miley, perhaps due to the dwarven dexterity, got used to the auxiliary chopsticks after using them a few times and decided to use regular chopsticks.
“Well then, let’s try eating now.”
Now that the utensils were ready.
Taking Miley’s words as a signal, all three picked up some aglio e olio with their chopsticks.
Slurp-
First, to taste the original flavor, the sound of noodles without parsley and cheese being swallowed overlapped.
“Owner, is this really pasta?!”
“Hey, this taste makes me want to drink!”
“…To think that the pasta I ate could be this delicious. I feel a bit cheated.”
When they swallowed the noodles, exclamations burst out simultaneously.
“The aroma of olive oil is really fragrant.”
If the fresh olive scent spread in their mouths first, making their mouths water.
“I never knew roasted garlic could be this savory and flavorful. The slight spiciness also cuts through the richness, making it easy to eat without being overwhelming.”
The taste and aroma of garlic and peperoncino dissolved in olive oil followed, diversifying the potentially simple taste of the oil.
“When eaten with this sauce, it seems to elevate the taste of the pasta noodles as well.”
When the sauce, perfectly emulsified with the pasta water and imbued with umami, harmonized with the texture of the noodles and the unique sweetness of the grain.
“How’s the taste?”
“It’s really delicious! It’s hard to believe this is pasta!”
“I find it delicious too. I wish I had known about this earlier.”
“Hey, give me a bottle of beer. Eating this without alcohol is criminal! Criminal.”
In response to Jin’s question, all three answered enthusiastically, indicating it had turned out to be a delicious dish.
“Haha, I’m glad you find it delicious.”
Jin, who had proven that pasta could be a delicious dish, added with a smile.
“Now try adding the parsley and cheese. You’ll be able to experience another new taste.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Yeah, we had these too.”
“I wonder which will taste better, with or without them added.”
Reminded of the additional ingredients they had forgotten by Jin’s mention, the three immediately started tasting with them added.
“I think I prefer adding just parsley. The added aroma of parsley makes it feel much fresher.”
“I like adding a lot of this cheese. The aroma might be a bit weaker, but it goes much better with alcohol.”
“I like adding both moderately. It balances both the aroma and taste well.”
Seeing them enjoy the remaining aglio e olio according to their preferences, which reflected their personalities, Jin inwardly struck a victory pose.
The normalization of pasta was successful.

“Ahh~ That’s refreshing. How about it? It’s really different from beer in other restaurants, right?”
“It truly is. I never imagined you’d be selling such high-quality beer so cheaply. This restaurant continues to surprise me.”
After enjoying the unexpected pasta dish, aglio e olio.
Miley and Fiona were drinking beer.
More precisely, Miley, who was drinking beer with the aglio e olio, had persuaded Fiona to have a drink too.
“I want to try that beer too….”
However, Seria couldn’t drink alone as she was still on duty before getting off work.
“Hahaha! You can’t drink while working, no no. Just watch us drink quietly. Or take a vacation like Lady Fiona.”
“Ugh, but Miley-ssi, aren’t you working too!”
“I’m a dwarf, so it’s fine. This is just like a soft drink to me.”
“This is really racial discrimination…”
“It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. You can come and drink next time, right?”
“But you and Lady Fiona won’t be here then~”
And as you can see from their friendly conversation.
Miley, Fiona, and Seria had become quite close, unlike when they first met a little while ago.
“By the way, rumors really can’t be trusted. Lady Fiona, I heard rumors about you being some kind of golem or something, but you’re not that fussy at all?”
“Right! I was needlessly scared because of those rumors too.”
“Haha, well, those rumors weren’t entirely incorrect…”
Whether it was because they had a meal together while talking, or because they shared the experience of eating a special dish together.
All three decided to think of this as another connection made by this amazing restaurant.
“Well, since it’s come to this, why don’t we come eat pasta together again next time?”
So it wasn’t that strange for Seria to suggest this to the other two.
“Owner! You said this aglio e olio pasta is the most basic pasta, right?”
“Hm? Yes, I did.”
“Then that means there are other pasta dishes too? Let’s come eat a different pasta next time.”
Seria proposed a regular pasta dining meeting.
“Oh, that sounds good! It’ll be fun to discover one menu at a time.”
“I like that idea too. Meals become even more delicious when shared with people you get along with.”
Miley and Fiona agreed, and thus the so-called Pasta Party was born.
After making their pasta resolution, the three soon began chattering about what kind of pasta they might eat next.
Watching this harmonious scene, Jin suddenly remembered something he had forgotten and asked.
“Come to think of it, Seria-ssi, what was that message you wanted to tell me? Wasn’t that why you came?”
“Ah! My goodness. I almost forgot. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, what is it about?”
To Jin, who expressed his curiosity, Seria said happily as if it were her own news.
“A group reservation has been made for the Omnipurpose Restaurant!”
“What?”
A wave in the form of a group of customers suddenly approached the peaceful Omnipurpose Restaurant and Jin.