The Beachside Hut and Andvara Falls Episode 2 Part 2

Narration picks up by mentioning that you received permission to use one of the Glamping Area lots to have a barbecue. Ryouta notes that the tent there has an air conditioner built into it and says Andvari’s so nice to let you guys do this. Moritaka says Chouji and Zaou have made it to the resort, then says the smell is making him hungry.

Chernobog tells Moritaka it’ll still be a bit longer, but should be done by the time Chouji and Zaou arrive as he puts things on skewers. You either offer to help, mention that he’s doing so in a way that’s still kind of dangerous, or stay quiet. Chernobog says there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just that if he states listening he’ll stop moving his hands.

Goemon asks if it’s that thing where you can’t focus on what’s in front of you when you’re talking with someone. Chernobog can’t give a straight answer to that, which Goemon finds odd.

Anyways Chernobog says he’s still inexperienced but he thinks it’s ready to go. Then he presents the food to everyone, dramatically saying that you should let your blood rile and eat your fill, and yell as you please.

Goemon enjoys the speech and thinks Chernobog is acting. He calls it cool and feels the current age is about entertainment. You either get excited about the food, say he feels good, or try to explain Chernobog really was an overlord before. Chernobog asks if his behavior is also becoming a discussion topic, which he is pleased about if true.

Goemon asks him where he learned to act and if he has any secrets to teach him. Chernobog doesn’t understand him but says he just acted the way the world wanted him to. Goemon asks him to explain, but Chernobog struggles to find the words.

Kengo complains asking if things are ready yet because he’s starving. Chernobog says they can talk later then. Some time later Ryouta is amazed by the special spot you guys got. Kengo flounders around trying to say something until he says it’s nice you got a good spot. He does however loudly ask why the Berserkers are in the next lot over.

Claude finds this rude and explains that they’re there because he’s one of the investors. Andvari gave him what he said was the best spot, and the big surprise would be happening to run into you guys there. You either say Andvari gave the okay, suggest you all eat together, or question if the spot you took really that great.

Pollux tries suggesting that you guys try to get along. Macan complains about wanting meat. Snow comes over with some things for Claude and Macan, and for Macan’s case at least he cooked it rare. Kengo points out that it doesn’t look barbecued and struggles to remember that one French word, so it’s probably been cooked bleu. Chernobog compares the plates Snow brought out to restaurant quality and mentions not wanting to make an enemy of him.

Macan comments that the meat looks like someone just killed the thing and butchered it. He finds it weird in that he could have just done it himself. Pollux says it’s just how barbecues are and starts eating. Macan does too, and the Shinjuku gang drools as they watch. Pollux tries to come up with a way to describe it, while all Macan has to say is “it’s okay.” Ryouta is shocked by this underreaction, so Pollux says this isn’t different from what they eat at Ikebukuro so it’s kind of disappointing.

Snow understands and says he didn’t want to serve Claude anything rustic. He then figures this means the cooking wasn’t surprising enough and takes it to consideration. You either say they have refined palates, note that they eat stuff of that quality all the time, or say that cooking with the equipment here was already surprising.

Snow takes it as a compliment and says this was an opportunity to try something new. Goemon asks why they look like that over such good looking food, since he’s the type to go on and on about how good it is. Chernobog is quiet, which Goemon notices and is confused about. Around this time Chouji and Zaou turn up. Chouji talks about the smells and Zaou still seems reluctant to be there. You either are shocked Zaou is in a swimsuit, say the beach is nice too, or say you wished Durga could see this.

In A Zaou’s embarrassed and says he also has a swimsuit of course. In B he says it goes against his pride to classify things as good so easily and starts trying to compare the beach to the mountains. This shocks Ryouta with his stubbornness.

In any case Chouji asks why Chernobog looks unhappy, so he explains that he doesn’t feel his cooking measures up to Snow’s. Chouji encourages him and says he’s doing good with the skewering and that the cooking is about ready. He should have some confidence and serve everyone now. Chernobog hands out the plates, and every gets ready to dig in.

Group consensus is that the food is awesome. You comment on the plentiful flavors, the juicy meat, or the aromatic veggies. Chernobog is happy you like it and mentions he did it ‘the way he was told to.’ The Berserkers look on with some envy, and Andvari turns up to greet them. He is however shocked to see you guys having a barbecue there though.

You’re confused by this and tell him Nomad said he gave you the okay to do this. It turns out that Nomad didn’t tell Andvari which spot was cancelled earlier. He can’t bring himself to take it back but he does demand that you guys don’t ruin the spot and cost him anything from it. Macan interrupts to accuse him of tricking him. Andvari is outraged and says he supplied them with the best quality meat available.

Pollux tries to calm things down, and Snow speaks up in support of what Andvari has said about the ingredients. Chernobog then picks up some more kebabs and offers them to the Berserkers, saying he made them the way everyone’s ‘voices’ asked for. Macan and Pollux take them after putting on some spice onto the food.

Claude prompts them for comments after they take a bite as he enjoys watching them. Pollux eventually yells out that it’s great, but describes the fat on it with vague sound effects, which Kengo points out. You either yell about Pollux’s vocabulary disappearing, say it seems to be delicious if incomprehensible, or ask what Macan thinks.

In B and presumably A, Pollux manages to say this is what he wanted in meat. It’s filled with what was missing, and he wonders how he can be so understood despite Chernobog not being Castor. Then he turns to Macan and prompts him to say something since he’s been chewing this whole time.

Macan chews some more before swallowing, then compares the time he was chewing it with feeling like he was in a forest. This baffles Pollux, and Macan goes on to describe feeling a forest breeze, as if the morning of a misty forest came into his mouth. You freak out about this sudden shift in his vocab and speech pattern and ask if he’s okay in alarm.

Macan snaps back to reality and says he feels like he ate something that let him dream of things from long ago in a dream he can’t remember anymore. Snow tries a bite too, then shakes in surprise. The meat quality is the same, but the excess fat has been cooked off and the juices have been contained. The smell is perfect as well, removing any clingy meat scents and whetting the appetite.

Claude is surprised that Snow would speak so highly of it since that would mean it’s that good. He asks for some himself, so you can either give it, prompt him to use standard Japanese manners, or offer to hand feed him. He finds it funny if you pick C, saying he’d normally never allow but will since today is special.

Claude says there’s a wildness to the food but also harmony, so he can see how it got to be popular. He asks Andvari why they haven’t gotten anything like this if this is what his stores have. Andvari is nonplussed by this as he says nothing’s particularly different, then asks if Chernobog is cooking the way he was taught to. He also says if anything the food trending is a really recent development.

Claude shrugs and asks Chernobog about the spice he used since it mentally sent Macan to the jungle. Chernobog answers that it’s Japanese pepper. It’s strong on beastmen, so using as a secret spice tends to remind them of things. Snow says it is a little unpleasant to their noses, but the way Chernobog mixed it is excellent. Everyone sees how Macan reacted to it, after all. Macan does take note and says it sounds like they’re saying he eats trash all the time.

Andvari thinks this is even more odd since Japanese pepper is pretty common in Tokyo. Chouji figures it out and says it’s his own homemade pepper that he’s shared with people, which baffles Andvari. Chouji says Zaou got it for him from somewhere, and he went on to process it himself. Since there was so much he brought some for the school cafeteria and for Chernobog.

Chernobog says he used pepper from the stores but they ran out, so he asked Andvari to use these instead. Andvari does sort of remember being asked this sometime after the big rush. Zaou then asks Chernobog if he’s getting obsessed with the sea, but he says he still remembers the joys of the mountains. It’s just that he’s also learned of things to enjoy that aren’t part of the mountains. Then he offers him some squid and mushrooms.

You talk about how seafood and food from the mountains are great and wonder if the pepper is what’s making things popular. Zaou is still reluctant to give a thumbs up to the place but thinks he needs to join in on the fun of you guys are so insistent. He’s never thought about combining the blessings of the sea and mountains together and thanks Chernobog for showing him.

Chernobog is happy as a kouhai he said so and turns to you. You’re happy for him, say it’s the hiking soul, and/or high five him. Chouji thinks some more and says while the pepper does have a nice aroma there seems to be more to it. Andvari sidles up to him attempting to butter him up for business reasons. Chouji is surprised and asks if he means to sell the pepper, and Goemon blabs that it must be because of the pepper that the barbecue was selling so well. Andvari gets upset he might leak the secret.

Macan thinks what Goemon says is genius and suggests trying it out. They take a bit of the pepper and put it on some stuff Snow is grilling. Macan says it’s not as moving as the first bite he had, and Goemon has numbed his tongue. Chouji says that with its strength you shouldn’t sprinkle it around like that.

Chouji then notices an open grill and suggests Chernobog try making something. As he does so, Chouji then talks about how the cooking method and the monitoring of the coals matter too. Chernobog says he’s just doing what Nomad taught him to do, and that he doesn’t think he’s doing anything special.

Speaking of Nomad he shows up at this point to bring more meat, which I think is for the Berserkers. It’s for someone in the area anyways. That aside, Nomad says it was Chernobog’s idea to use the pepper and that he’s very familiar with mountain ingredients.

Chernobog denies being that familiar, saying all he did was listen to the voices and abide by what Andvari told him. Andvari says this doesn’t ring any bells, so Chernobog says he was told that his job is to make customers happy one by one. You ask him to explain it more specifically.

Chernobog starts by addressing you and Zaou and bringing up his origins. He was trapped in Bald Mountain, and yet that too could be a form of love. It’s something he feels he started to understand a bit. The mountain has always provided him with the best it could offer, whatever it was he lacked in terms of food. He was a part of the world, and it protected him from the outside. So what the mountain did for him, he tried doing that for the customers.

Snowflakes fly around Chernobog, and he talks about listening to the pepper on how to best use them. He also listened to people’s bodies as they tell him what they wanted. He does all this because he wanted to repay Tokyo for the happiness he was given, and he just wanted to make everyone else happy.

Chernobog figures that if what he’s feeling is love, then that must be what Bald Mountain felt too. Goemon thinks over what Chernobog said about ‘giving what the other side wants’ and ‘the wish to make everyone happy,’ then goes quiet. You can either ask him about this, say just selling the pepper wouldn’t be good, or compliment Nomad as a coach.

In A Goemon says it’s nothing. In C Nomad waves it off at first saying it’s not really his work that lead to things turning out this way and it’s thanks to Chernobog the flavors were protected. Then he gets pissy again about insisting he’s a detective and that he’s not happy about being complimented like so.

Chernobog talks some more saying that if what he feels is love, then Andvari must have even more love. Andvari is shocked and confused by this idea, so Chernobog starts getting closer to him as he talks about how generous, open minded, and filled with love Andvari is. This upsets Andvari to the point he runs off insisting he loves only money and that he doesn’t want to be complimented like this.

You note that Andvari ran off crying, say it’s such a sweet misunderstanding, or say Chernobog won. Claude watches and makes a reference to the tale of the North Wind and the Sun. Snow says he’ll take that knowhow for future reference, then suggests to Claude to let Chernobog handle their grill too.

Claude agrees and asks Chernobog to cook for them. You support the idea, so Chernobog agrees to it as well. He tells you about how happy he feels for everything he’s learned since coming to Tokyo and for the ability to give others happiness. He’s grown since leaving the mountain and learned how to live outside it.

As he turns things on the grill, everyone starts getting hungry. Ryouta gets ready to grab everything, and Moritaka notices so he gets as motivated too. Pollux treats getting some food here to be a battle too, even if he has to beat Kengo for it. Claude also picks up on everyone’s hunger and figures it’ll be a battle to behold. The battle then starts.