Chapter 1: I Unlocked a Tenant in My “Online Supermarket”

As soon as we resurfaced from the dungeon and came back to Dolan, we were forcefully taken to the Adventurer’s guild. And since the conversation with Elrand ran long, we ended up missing lunch.

The ones who raised the most fuss: the children in my party.

All three of them raised a huge ruckus over their empty stomachs. Thus, mealtime would happen as soon as we got back to the inn.

Since it would be properly filling and quick to make, I decided to go with yakiniku rice bowls this time. It was perfect since I had just enough rice left, given how much Fel and the others eat.

First, I used my skill to buy the requisite yakiniku tare and some daikon radish sprouts.

Since there’s a lot of different yakiniku tare being sold these days it’s fine to just pick your favorite. I’ve tried all kinds, but in the end this one was the one I liked the most. It’s one that’s been on sale for a long time, that I’ve gotten used to. The medium-spicy one is best here, I think. I never get tired of the flavor, or rather, there’s some kind of special thing to the sweetness of the sauce that makes yakiniku bowls really delicious. Let’s use this tare and quickly finish cooking these up.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, slice the bloody horn-bull meat slightly thicker than normal.

Oil up a heated frying pan and start grilling the bloody horn-bull meat. Grill quickly, and once the color changes, add in the tare and keep cooking while mixing the tare in so it coats the meat.

Then, mold the rice onto the deeper dishes, pile on the meat, garnish the center with daikon sprouts for color, and the food is done.

~◇~◇~◇~

It’s really simple, but yeah, it definitely looks delicious.

“Here.” As soon as I served the food to my three familiars, they all jumped on it and dug in, like they couldn’t wait any longer. They must have been really hungry; it looked like they were hypnotized by the food.

They’ll probably finish up and ask for more right away at this rate, won’t they?

Next, I went with wyvern meat for the bowls.

“More!” 《More—!》 《More!》

Just as I thought.

I served them the wyvern meat yakiniku bowls.

“Mm? This one’s meat is different.”

“Yeah, the last one was bloody horn-bull. This one’s wyvern.”

“This tare really goes well with meat. Either one becomes incredibly delicious when paired with it.”

Just as I’d expect out of Fel the meat lover. He totally gets it. Of course the yakiniku tare would go well with meat. It doesn’t matter how good the meat is, eating it with that tare makes it delicious, it really does.

“Hm, this must be tried with that, I think. Make the next one with earth dragon meat.”

Fel just told me to make the next bowl with earth dragon meat.

《What? You’re using earth dragon meat? Then I’ll take one, too.》

《Sui will eat too—!》

Yep, thought this would happen once earth dragon meat was mentioned. Everyone knows how good it is, after all. Even I want to know just how good the earth dragon meat would be mixed with some yakiniku tare.

And so, I ended up making yakiniku bowls with the earth dragon meat.

“Here you go.”

When I served the earth dragon yakiniku bowls to them, they all scarfed it down. Even compared to Fel and Sui, Dora-chan, who eats very little, was keeping up with them — even though he’d already had bowls with bloody horn-bull and wyvern meat.

But watching this is making me want to eat, too......

I layered on lots of earth dragon meat coated with yakiniku tare on top of the glossy rice.

It’s even putting out an absolutely brutal smell, like it’s just telling me to eat it, after all. Ahh, it’s no good. I can’t stop my drool. I can’t stop myself. I’m eating too.

Surround some earth dragon meat with rice... *Chomp*

.........S-So goooooddd!!!

What the hell, this is way too delicious! Earth dragon yakiniku and rice are way too good together. Nope, I can’t stop myself.

I ended up finishing the entire bowl all at once.

“Hahh~, man I sure ate. That was just the best......”

Truly, that might actually have been the best food I’d ever had. It was actually dangerous how good the collaboration between the yakiniku tare and the earth dragon meat was. It seemed like Fel and Sui were both done in by the taste as well, and they had more portions one after the other.

I still have about two-thirds of the dragon meat left, but I really will have to be careful how I use it, won’t I? After all, it seems like the meat will all get used up in an instant, even though it’s so precious...

Once everyone had eaten their fill, they immediately fell fast asleep.

Leaving Fel and Dora-chan in the shed, I took Sui up into my room with me. I gently placed Sui onto the futon I’d laid out on top of the bed.

I still had something I needed to do.

It’s annoying as hell, but they’ll be even more annoying if I’m late, those people (gods)......

“Uhhh — can everyone hear me?” When I called out to them like that, I was answered immediately.

＜OOHH—! We’ve been waiting!＞

＜You’re finally back~.＞

＜Yo! I’ve been waiting!＞

＜......Food, quickly.＞

＜Heyo! We’ve been waiting for you!＞

＜Finally. Make with the alcohol, quickly!＞

......L-Looks like everyone was waiting for me while wringing their hands, doesn’t it?

＜Let’s do this quickly. It’s my turn! You! What the hell was that ‘ice cream’ you ate in the dungeon?! What are you planning, hiding something that delicious from me?! I want to eat that, too!!!＞

Ahh, so the divine disappointment, Ninrir, was totally watching, huh? Well, I guess there’s no way she’d let that go.

“Ahh, fine, fine I get it. So the divine Ninrir wants sweets, and ice cream is among those?”

＜That’s right! Also, the usual Dorayaki. Don’t forget.＞

Sure sure, I know.

Opening my Online Supermarket, the first thing I did was cart some ice cream. Ehhmm, let’s see... this and this should be good.

I ended up picking a six-piece family pack of ice cream cups with three flavors in it, as well as another family pack of chocolate-coated ice cream bars. Other than that, I threw in some dorayaki and a random assortment of candy.

“Next, please.”

＜I’m next~!＞

This voice is Kisharle, yep.

＜The cream from last time was worth every coin! So you know how you said that the price reflects the number of beauty components inside, right? So it’s fine if it’s expensive; this time, I’d like to ask for a facial lotion.＞

Fuhahaha! Just like my sister. As soon as you get hooked on this stuff you just start to look for more and more expensive things, right? Say whatever you want about beauty products and stuff, I won’t get it at all. Well, it’s true that there’s probably better stuff inside to go along with the price, though.

Opening up my Online Supermarket, I picked up the facial lotion from the same series that I got the cream from last time. This was also 3 silver.

I guess this is still considered cute, compared to my sister. Although I can see her eventually saving up to spend it all on something really expensive...... It’s an online supermarket, so they’ve only got a certain level of price in stock, though.

“Next is......”

＜Yo, it’s me! Of course, I want alcohol. Just like before, get me a lot of different varieties, I’m counting on you.＞

It’s alcohol for Agni, huh?

Just like before I picked up a variety of alcohol from different makers for her. This time, I put more of an emphasis on foreign brands.

“Next......”

＜Food and sweets. I also want to eat ice cream.＞

Ahh, it’s Miss Ruka, huh? I don’t have anything premade right now, so I guess I’ll just buy some stuff from the Online Supermarket. Beef croquettes, ham cutlets, and also karaage, yakitori, chili shrimp, and macaroni gratin, right? Oh and also the usual white bread. And then I need to get ice cream, just like Ruka wants, right? I’ll get the same as I got Ninrir. And let’s just fill up the rest with some random sweets and candies.

Next is the alcohol-lover’s combo, huh?

“So next is Hephaestos and Vahagn, right?”

＜Yo, it’s us!＞

These two are gonna team up for alcohol, right?

＜Just like before, fill me up with whisky. And the War God wants vodka, I say. vodka!＞

＜Yep! That alcohol, vodka, is really good stuff. It totally hits hard — it’s the best!＞

These two really like their alcohol, huh? I can totally see them chugging down entire bottles of whisky or vodka or whatever hard alcohol they want one after the other. I only sometimes enjoy alcohol and always end up going with beer or something similar, so I don’t have it in me to drink the harder stuff like whisky, though. I did try some once, but just a little already made me want to vomit. But it’s probably irresistible to alcoholics.

I put the whisky and vodka the two of them wanted into the cart. This time I also made sure to pick three whiskies from different makers and areas. As for the vodka, there aren’t that many variations on it anyway, so for now I just picked up the first things I saw, one from Sweden, and the other from Russia.

Good, this should do it.

I checked out the cart. After sorting out what each god would get, I lined them all up on their cardboard altars.

“Ah, Ninrir, Miss Ruka, ice cream is a lot like ice, so if you don’t keep it cool it will melt.”

＜Got it—!＞

＜...... (Nod nod.)＞

“Okay then, please accept these offerings, all of you.” The various items lined up on their cardboard altars all disappeared. I could hear the overjoyed voices of the gods and goddesses. Among those were some especially loud and obnoxious ones.

＜Whoohhooo!! It’s alcohol, booze! War God, tonight’s gonna be the first feast in a while, got it?＞

＜I know already! Let’s drink as much as we please tonight!＞

Gonna drink as soon as you get it? You guys...... just how hard were you waiting? Hahh~ ...I feel so tired for some reason. Whatever, let’s just sleep. Especially since I’ll have to sort out all of the dungeon’s drops tomorrow, too, so that’s gonna be a lot of work.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After having breakfast, I used Appraisal on everyone since I wanted to check our statuses. They might have raised their levels quite a bit after all, since they destroyed so many dungeon bosses, that behemoth, and all those monsters in there.

First is Fel, yeah?

【Name】 Fel

【Age】 1014

【Race】 Fenrir

【Level】 921

【HP】 10003

【MP】 9637

【Attack】 9275

【Defense】 10001

【Agility】 9839

【Skills】 Wind magic, Fire magic, Water magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Holy magic, Barrier magic, Rending Claws, Body Reinforcement, Physical attack resistance, Magic attack resistance, MP Efficiency, Appraisal, Battle Boost

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir; Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn

H-Huh? I-I get the feeling that he’s around 10 levels higher than when I last appraised him before the 26th floor boss...... I heard from Fel that the higher you get in level, the harder it is to raise it...... W-Well, the dungeon boss was a behemoth, so with that I guess it’s not that unusual for his level to have raised by 10. His HP and Defense have even gone past 10k. Is there even anyone left who can stand up to Fel? W-Well, I guess it’s not a bad thing that he’s stronger... for me, anyway. Next is Dora-chan.

【Name】 Dora-chan

【Age】 116

【Race】 Pixie Dragon

【Level】 160

【HP】 1092

【MP】 3223

【Attack】 3115

【Defense】 1057

【Agility】 3893

【Skills】 Fire magic, Water magic, Wind magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Healing magic, Bombardment, Battle Boost

【Blessings】 Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn

Oh? Dora-chan’s level went up quite a bit. Probably around 30 levels. W-Was it really because of the behemoth? Next is Sui, and it seems like Sui should have grown the most......

【Name】 Sui

【Age】 2 months

【Race】 Big Slime

【Level】 88

【HP】 1489

【MP】 1467

【Attack】 1460

【Defense】 1464

【Agility】 1491

【Skills】 Acid Bullet, Potion Creation, Cloning, Water magic, Smithing

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Water, Rusalka; Blessing of the God of Blacksmithing, Hephaestos

Oaghh?! I-It leveled up a whole lot, somehow...... This has got to be because of the behemoth. All of them were S-ranked, after all. Especially the dungeon boss, the behemoth. It was stronger than Dora-chan and Sui, too. Since they defeated it, it makes sense that their levels rose a lot. Everyone’s so awesome...

......*Ahem* I guess... I should take a look at my level too, just in case. I always have my status open when I use my Online Supermarket, but I don’t really look at it, after all. Especially yesterday, since I was so busy because everyone was so hungry.

I confirmed my own status...

【Name】 Mukohda (Tsuyoshi Mukouda)

【Age】 27

【Job】 Victim from Another World

【Level】 20

【HP】 280

【MP】 273

【Attack】 254

【Defense】 252

【Agility】 232

【Skills】 Appraisal, Item Box, Fire magic, Earth magic, Perfect Defense, Familiars (Contracted Magic Beasts): Fenrir, Big Slime, Pixie Dragon

【Unique Skill】 Online Supermarket (+1)

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir (small); Blessing of the Goddess of Fire, Agni (small); Blessing of the Goddess of Earth, Kisharle (small)

My level’s gone up too, but as I thought it’s not as much as everyone else’s. W-Well, I basically did nothing during the behemoth fight, after all. It really couldn’t be helped, I guess. I-It’s not like I was expecting anything, okay? ............Khh! Okay, it was a lie. I was actually pretty hopeful, hahaha. I mean, I went down to the bottom floor of the dungeon, too, so shouldn’t it be fine to hope a little? Sadly, the gap between me and everyone else is just widening. As I thought, it really is best to just leave combat to everyone else, yeah.

...Wait, huh? What the hell? I didn’t notice this yesterday......

When I checked my status, I noticed that my unique skill had become, ‘Online Supermarket (+1).’ When I touched the (+1)......

【You have unlocked a Tenant for the Unique Skill, Online Supermarket】

【Please choose from the following:】

【WcDonald’s/Fumiya】

Wha? W-What’s this? W-W-What the hell? By t-t-tenants, does that mean the stores that are inside supermarkets? I-I do remember a WcDonald’s and a Fumiya......

*Gulp*

Which one should I pick? WcDonald’s huh? I might want some junk food, it’s been a while... but, the cakes from Fumiya......

I looked over at Sui, who was bouncing all around me. Sui loves sweet things, doesn’t it?

“Hey, Sui, you like sweet things, right?”

《Sweet like pudding and cake, right? Yeah, Sui loooooves sweet things!》

Right, let’s go with Fumiya. My sweet Sui’s saying this, so the only choice has gotta be Fumiya.

I touched the display on ‘Fumiya.’

【Contract with Fumiya as your Tenant?】

【YES/NO】

A contract, huh? Okay, YES.

【You have contracted with Fumiya.】

【You will unlock your next Tenant at level 40.】

【We will be waiting to be of service again.】

After that, the screen returned to the usual status screen.

It said that the next Tenant would be unlocked at level 40, but does that mean that the Online Supermarket leveled up, since I made a Tenant contract this time? I thought it would stay the same this entire time, since it didn’t seem like there’d be any real way for it to change......

Tenants, huh? And I’ll be able to choose more stores when I get to level 40, haha... W-Well, for now I just need to confirm this. Open the Online Supermarket... Fumiya, Fumiya...... ah, there it is. It’s right there in the menu.

When I picked it... Oohh!

All lined up were cakes and candy packs and stuff; I was looking at everything I would see in a Fumiya store. I have something I want to ask Sui to do after this, so let’s just buy a cake from Fumiya now as a reward.

“Fel, Dora-chan, I’ll be going back to my room to sort out all the dropped items now.”

“Understood. Do not forget lunch.”

《Right, right. Don’t forget our lunch, got it?》

“I know already. Sui, I have something I want to ask you to do, so can you come with me?”

《Got it—.》

I wanted to get Sui to make that before I sorted through all the dungeon drops. I used it too much, it’s already pretty much broken. It’s not like I can’t get it from my Online Supermarket, but it seems like it’ll be a lot hardier if I get Sui to make it out of mithril. And if I get Sui to make it a little bigger, I’ll be able to do a lot more stuff.

First, I need to get back to my room. I want to show one to Sui and find out if it’s doable.

I get the feeling that it’s possible for Sui, though.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hey, hey, master — what did you want to ask Sui?”

“Yeah, you see......”

I brought my mincer out of my Item Box. I’d been using it heavily to make humongous amounts of ground meat, so it was already falling apart. It hadn’t been that long since I’d bought it, but I was using it so much, after all...

“I want you to make one of these.” I handed the mincer over to Sui as I said that.

《Mmmnn, wait a little.》 Sui enveloped the mincer, inspecting it.

“So, you see, I’d like it if you made one bigger than that.” I used my hands to indicate something about one-and-a-half times the size of the mincer I handed over to Sui.

《Bigger, huh? It’s hard, but Sui will try...》

It seemed like it would be a challenge since there were a lot of moving parts, but Sui would do its best.

“Okay then, please.” Handing the mithril ore over to Sui, it absorbed the ore into its body.

The mincer was actually the one cooking tool I wanted Sui to make the most. It’d be nice if it turned out well. It’d definitely be hardy enough if it were made out of mithril, and more than anything, if Sui was the one making it, it should have a great cutting edge.

A mithril knife would be so sharp, it would likely cut my finger straight off if I made a mistake, and the chopping board probably wouldn’t be able to stand it either, so I gave up on that... but a mincer wouldn’t have any downside to being that sharp.

Other than that, as for cooking tools, I was considering asking Sui to make a larger frying pan as well. Currently, there were no problems, but I was thinking that it would be nice to have a slightly bigger one.

I also thought a little about a pot, but if it were to get any bigger I’d have problems stirring it unless the stove got magically shorter. So with that in mind, the current half-sized cylindrical pots I had were both the perfect size and I had enough of them that there wasn’t any need for me to get Sui to make any more. For now, it would be the mincer, and next would be a frying pan. After that, whenever I need something, I’ll just have Sui make it.

Still though, Sui is so skilled on top of being the absolute cutest. Let’s give it lots of the Fumiya cakes as a reward.

Now then, I need to sort out these drops. Hmmm, there’s so much, though... Let’s start from the skins and pelts, which I have the most of.

For orc skins... one, two, three, four, five............... 123, 124, 125.

Well, there were a huge number of them around.

Next, I had sixty-three lizardman hides. There were also over a hundred ogre hides — one hundred and two, to be exact. There was also a large amount of troll hides, numbering a hundred and thirteen pieces.

Continuing like that, I continued to sort out the dropped items.

《Master — Sui is hungry—.》

“Ah, sorry, sorry. Lunch, huh? Let’s head over to Fel and Dora-chan.”

《Umm, it’s not done yet...》

“Ah, that’s fine, totally fine. You can finish it after we eat.”

《Got it—! Okay then, Sui will start again after food.》

Along with Sui, I headed for the shed where Fel and Dora-chan were waiting.

“You are late.”

《You’re late!》

It seemed like both Fel and Dora-chan had been waiting a while, as they were both a little unhappy.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll make you what you want, so forgive me.”

“Ohh, if that is the case then that earth dragon dish you made yesterday would be good.”

《Yeah, I like that idea. That was really good.》

The yakiniku bowl using earth dragon meat from yesterday, huh? They did all like that a lot. It’s true that it was really good, too. I did say that I’d make what they wanted, so I guess I have no choice here...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

It seemed like Fel and Dora-chan were satisfied with the earth dragon yakiniku bowls I’d made for lunch, and they were both currently taking an afternoon nap.

After fitting in lunch, Sui and I went back to our work: me, sorting drop items, and Sui making a mincer.

“Still though, there really is quite a lot when I sort it all out like this......” I had a dizzying amount of dropped items. Well, everyone did do their best and defeated a whole lot of different monsters.

I want to finish this today, so let’s work hard.

“Whew~, it’s finally over......”

After continuing with the drop sorting, I’d finally finished, and this was the tally.

【Monster Materials】

Venom tarantula venom sacs x3, orc meat x56, orc testes x31, orc skins x125, lizardman hides x63, ogre skins x102, ogre magic stones (very small) x21, troll skins x113, troll’s poison claws x48, troll magic stones (small) x23, minotaur meat x42, minotaur horns x49, minotaur hides x88, minotaur’s iron axes x15, minotaur magic stones (small) x20, orc king testes x1, red ogre magic stone (medium) x1, spriggan magic stones (large) x5, giant killer mantis scythes x38, giant killer mantis magic stones (small) x7, murder grizzly pelts x21, murder grizzly magic stones (large) x3, cockatrice meat x10, cockatrice feathers x7, rockbird meat x6, rockbird beaks x10, rockbird feathers x13, paralyze butterfly paralyzing poison scales x42, giant dodo meat x3, giant dodo feathers x9, giant centipede shells x3, giant centipede magic stones (large) x2, wild ape pelts x61, killer hornet poison stingers x286, killer hornet’s royal jelly x1, vaasuki fangs x1, vaasuki hide x1, vaasuki magic stone (very large) x1, manticore fur x1, manticore poison barb x1, manticore magic stone (very large) x1, Gustav hide x1, Gustav fangs x1, Gustav spine x1, Gustav magic stone (very large) x1, giant sand scorpion poison stingers x6, giant sand scorpion magic stones (medium) x3, sand worm teeth x8, sand worm magic stones (large) x4, death sidewinder skins x7, death sidewinder venom sacs x5, death sidewinder magic stones (large) x3, giant sand golem magic stone (very large) x1, behemoth hide x1, behemoth magic stone (extremely large) x1, behemoth’s (dungeon boss’) treasure chest x1, mimic treasure chest (small) x1, mimic treasure chests (large) x2...

【Gems and the like】

Ruby (small) x1, emerald (small) x1, aquamarine (small) x1, garnet (small) x1, amethysts (small) x2, peridot (small) x1, gold ingot x1, imperial topaz (medium) x1, sapphire (medium) x1, alexandrite (medium) x1, diamond (large) x1, diamonds (medium) x2, diamonds (small) x2, yellow diamond (large) x1, diamond ring x1, tanzanite necklace x1...

【Magic Items】

Magic bag (small) x1, magic bag (medium) x1, Ring of Magic Recovery x1, Necklace of Antidotes x1, Magic Sword Caladbolg x1...

Even I was surprised once I’d finished sorting all of it. I didn’t think that I actually had this much.

The three of them were defeating monsters left and right, though. I basically devoted myself to collecting the dropped items, too. Man, it’s like, what should I do with all this, really?

Elrand did say that he’d take all of my skins and hides and stuff, but with this much...... And there were more gems and stuff than I thought I had, too. Well, I can just consult with Elrand about that stuff. For now, I’m done sorting out all the dropped items.

《Master — it’s finished—!》

“Oh! It is?”

I took the mincer from Sui. Ohh, this is pretty good.

I decided to immediately try it out.

Let’s start with some orc meat...... Oohh, ooohhh! This is great! It’s the same motion of putting in the meat and turning the handle to get ground meat, but the handle is so light, just so light! And it’s bigger than the last one too so I can grind so much meat at once!

I decided to try the bloody horn-bull meat next.

This one grinds easily, too.

After a while just mindlessly spinning the handle...... By the time I’d realized, I’d already made a huge amount of ground meat.

《Master — how is it?》

“Ahh, sorry, I lost track of myself. Sui, the one you made is really good! Just as I’d expect out of you, Sui. Thanks.”

《Ufufufu~, Sui was praised. So happy—!》 Sui happily bounced around.

“Yeah, we should go have dinner soon or Fel and Dora-chan will be mad. Sui, let’s go.”

《Yeah!》

“Ah, Sui, I’ll give you a good reward for making this after we eat. Look forward to it.”

《Something good—? What?》

“It’s for after we eat.”

《Got it—!》

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Sorry we took so long—”

“You are late!”

《You’re late, AGAIN!》

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll finish cooking soon so don’t be so mad.”

Let’s make something using the ground meat I just made, since I made so much of it. What should it be? Something that uses ground meat that I can make easily...... Ah, let’s make omelets with lots of ground meat in them, along with an eggplant and ground meat cheese bake. What I’ll need from the Online Supermarket are... onions and eggplants, right? And also eggs, cheese, cans of meat sauce, ketchup, and also several large-ish heat-resistant plates and dishes.

For now, let’s start with the omelets, I guess.

~◇~◇~◇~

Mince the onions first. Then, oil up a heated frying pan and cook the onions. Once they’ve turned clear, throw in the orc general and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat and continue cooking. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and flavor with some soy sauce and sugar.

Once the juices have cooked out, put the food onto a plate and let it cool.

Melt some butter in the hot frying pan and scramble some eggs into it. It will turn half-cooked after it’s been mixed a few times, and once that happens, add in lots of the ground meat and onions on top. Then, cover the frying pan with the plate and flip the whole thing over, and the extra-large omelet is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

“W-Well, this should do it.”

Let’s just say that the slightly broken egg layer adds character...

After making three of them, I threw ketchup on each one before serving the extra-large omelets with ground meat to my familiars.

“For now, eat this.”

The magic stove is really convenient in times like these since it has four burners and it can pump out some pretty strong heat. Well, I only used two of them, though.

Thanks to that, I was able to cook a huge amount of ground meat.

“Eggs and meat, huh? This one is pretty good for what it is.”

《Yeah, the eggs are gooey, which makes the whole thing taste great.》

《The eggs and meat are delicious.》

It’s great that they seemed to like the omelets.

While everyone was busy enjoying the omelets, it was time to start on the ground meat and eggplant cheese bake.

~◇~◇~◇~

Cut the eggplants into half-moon shapes, leaving the skin on. Then, oil up a heated frying pan, and start cooking the orc general and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat, lightly sprinkling it with salt and pepper.

Once the meat changes color, add in the eggplant, and once the water in the eggplant’s cooked out some, throw in the meat sauce. The meat sauce has a strong flavor, so watch out for that and adjust the amount that’s added.

Continue cooking while stirring the contents so that the meat sauce coats everything, and once the eggplant is thoroughly cooked through, place the contents of the pan onto a heat resistant dish.

Throw lots of cheese for melting on top of it, then bake the whole thing in the oven until the cheese is melted and is browned a little on top. Once that’s done, the ground meat and eggplant cheese bake is finished.

~◇~◇~◇~

“Here you go. It’s hot, so be careful.”

《Ho-! Owow... Whoohh! Kh... this is good!》 Dora-chan was eating while desperately blowing on it to try and cool the food down.

I thought I felt a breeze, and it turned out that Fel was using Wind magic to cool down his food.

“Hm, this should be fine. Let me see...... Ho-! ...It is still a little hot, but it is quite delicious.”

Sui must have been fine with the heat, as it enveloped the heat resistant plate, too.

《It’s good, especially since it has this gooey stuff on it. Also, it’s got a lot of meat. It’s so tasty—!》

Sui really does love cheese, after all. Ahh, this isn’t the time to be appreciative — I need to go make the next round of omelets.

After making several helpings of both dishes, everyone was finally done with dinner. While I was leisurely eating my own dinner by myself......

《Hey, hey, master — where is Sui’s reward?》

“Ahh, right. Wait a second.”

“Mn? What reward?”

《Yeah, what reward?》

Fel and Dora-chan were listening in on us with sharp ears.

“Ahh, that’s......”

Fel and Dora-chan moved really close to my face.

“What is the reward?”

《Yeah, what is it?》

“No, uhm, hey you guys are really close. Just calm down. You see, I had Sui make me a cooking tool earlier. So it’s a reward for that. I’ll give you guys the same thing too, don’t worry.”

“And? What is the reward?”

《What is it?》

“Cake.”

“By cake, do you mean the white fluffy sweet stuff that you have been offering to Lady Ninrir?”

Oh yeah, I gave Fel some cake before. And Fel liked sweet stuff more than I expected him to. He even scarfed down the red bean buns.

“That’s right. Uhh, you guys know that I have a skill that lets me buy stuff from my world, right? To tell you the truth, it leveled up, so I can buy more delicious cakes than what I gave you before.”

“What? Is that true?”

“Yeah. Sui likes sweet things, so I was going to give it to it as a reward for the cooking tool. Of course, I have some for you and Dora-chan too, so don’t worry.”

“Hmph! I was not worried at all.”

Haha, he’s acting tough even though he was so worried that he wouldn’t get any. I guess I’ll have to back up my words here with some delicious cake. There are even more variations than there were in the regular supermarket... Now then, what’s good......

Opening the menu for Fumiya through my Online Supermarket...

Uhhh, let’s see...... You really have to go orthodox here, can’t miss out on the strawberry shortcake, right? And then... Oh, they’re having a matcha fair. But Sui doesn’t like bitter tastes, so I guess that’s out. Oh, this white chocolate cake and this blueberry tart look good. And I have to include Fumiya’s custard pudding.

Looking at the cakes, I ended up wanting to eat one myself, so I got a matcha shortcake for myself as well.

Good, this should be it.

As soon as I checked out, a cardboard box appeared, just like always. When I opened it, inside were some take-out boxes. When I opened those, I found the cakes and puddings I’d ordered, all packaged nicely with some cooling packs. Removing the wrappers and stuff from the cakes, I plated them nicely. I let some air into the container of the pudding, and that allowed it to pop onto a plate.

W-Well, it did break a little, but that shouldn’t change the taste.

“Here.”

“Okay.”

《Ohh! So this is ‘cake.’ Let’s see......》

《Ya—ay!》

Everyone quickly dug in.

“Yes, as I remembered, this white one with the red fruit on top is the best one.”

So Fel likes the strawberry shortcake, huh?

《W-W-What the hell is this?! This jiggly thing is amazingly delicious! Hey, give me more!!》

Ah, Dora-chan seems like he really loves that pudding. But you should hold back from seconds, you know? Three slices of cake and a pudding is a bit too much food for Dora-chan.

《The cake is sweet and yummy! Sui wants to eat more and mo—re!》

Yeah, Sui really does love sweetness. You might be able to eat more, but more than this is no good, okay? Now then, as for my choice of matcha cake, the best thing for this has gotta be black coffee. But for black coffee, the non-instant kind would be...... ah!

I opened my Online Supermarket, found what I was looking for, and bought it.

It really is nice to have a convenient skill in times like this.

I bought some drip bag coffee. Just by pouring in some hot water, one can enjoy some real coffee with this.

Just set it up with a cup... there. Ah, now that I think about it, when I felt like drinking some good coffee and bought a huge pack of drip bag coffee, there was something with a good way to make the coffee written on it...... If I remember right, start with trickling in the hot water to first soak the entire bag in water, then slowly pour in the rest of it, right?

Using some hot water I’d had saved in my Item Box, I followed the half-remembered instructions to make the coffee.

The smell of coffee started gently wafting into the surroundings.

Mmnn~, what a nice smell. Let’s take a sip. Ahh, it really is different from the instant stuff. Let’s have a bit of this matcha cake now. This slightly bittersweet taste feels really adult... this is nice. And then another gulp of the coffee. Ahh, so good. Coffee and cake really do go together.

《Heyyy, hey I said! Give me more of this jiggly stuff!》

《Master — Sui wants more and mo—re of this cake!》

Yeah, Dora-chan, Sui, if you two could just be quiet now? Seems like Dora-chan’s addicted to the pudding, and Sui’s got the sugar in it and now it’s all hyped up. Speaking of hype, I feel like I’m forgetting something.........

...............Ah, the divine disappointment.

Ah — that person (god) is totally going to demand all of their catalogue, isn’t she?

Could I keep Fumiya a secr— No, that won’t fly. She’s probably peeking in right now, after all. Hahh... so annoying.

《Heeyyyy! This jiggly stuff!》

《More and mo—re cake!》

......Hahhh.

Chapter 2: Sui’s Special Elixir (Degraded Edition)

After breakfast, Dora-chan once again expressed his desire for pudding.

《Hey, won’t you give me that jiggly stuff? I wanna eat that.》

He must be really fond of pudding.

《Sui also wants to eat cake...》

Sui too, huh? It really does love sweet stuff... It’d be easy to just give it to Sui, but if I don’t properly set limits it’ll just want more and more... Eating too much would be bad for its health, too.

“Hmm, then I can give some to you, but I’m limiting pudding, cake, and other sweet stuff to two a day. This goes for all three of you.”

《Whaaaat, only two? Give me more, come onnn...》

《Only two, huh—?》

Both Dora-chan and Sui looked a little unsatisfied. But I’ll have to steel my heart here, draw a line in the sand.

“I can bring it down to one.”

《No, no, two is fine. Yeah, two.》

《Sui is also fine with two.》

Good, then it’s settled.

《I want to eat some of that jiggly stuff now.》

《What should Sui do~? Hmmm, Sui wants one, too. A different cake from yesterday would be nice.》

“Give me the white one with that red fruit on top.”

Ah, so everyone already wants one, huh? Actually wow, Fel just casually slipped in here. Well, whatever.

I opened my Online Supermarket and picked out some custard pudding and a strawberry shortcake, as well as a strawberry mousse cake for Sui. “Here you are.”

《Oohh! The jiggly stuff!》 Dora-chan scarfed down his desired pudding, not caring how messy the sides of his mouth got.

“Hm.”

Woah! Fel just ate the whole slice in one bite.

《Yayyy! It’s one Sui hasn’t eaten! Ah, this is sweet and a little sour — it’s delicious!》

Thank goodness the strawberry mousse cake matched Sui’s tastes. Now then, since everyone’s had their after-meal dessert, let’s go to the Adventurer’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had just arrived at the Adventurer’s guild. When we entered the building, it seemed that one of the employees had contacted him about it, as Elrand came flying over. “Now, now, let’s go to my room.”

Taken along by Elrand, we came to the usual guildmaster’s room.

“So, is this about having us buy what you gathered from the dungeon?”

“Yes. But you see, there was more than I originally thought there would be......”

“Hohh, that much, huh? By the way, what kind of things do you have? I’ll be deciding on what to buy depending on that, after all.”

It was just as Elrand said. Buying everything would be impossible, and even just buying all the hides and skins that Elrand wanted would be difficult for him, since there was a limit to the amount of money the guild could spend. On the other hand, I might be able to get him to buy some gemstones or magic items. I did take a memo of the results of my sorting yesterday...... Ah, found it.

While looking at the memo, I read out loud the entire results of our foray into the dungeon.

“Uhhh, let’s see... Venom tarantula venom sac x3, orc meat x56, orc testes x31, orc hide x125, lizardman skin x63, ogre hide x102, ogre magic stone (very small) x21, troll hide x113............ (and such, and so on) ............ and a Necklace of Antidotes x1.”

I was wearing the ring of magic recovery, so I left it out. Also, given that the magical sword Caladbolg is what it is, I decided to try and hide it, and only answer if asked.

It was such a long list that, around halfway through, Elrand’s mouth started to hang open as he took on a stunned expression. Looking at the beautiful elf’s gobsmacked face, I found it a little funny.

“W-What an incredible amount......”

Yeah... Everyone’s really strong... They were all happily beating every monster into the ground, so I ended up picking up heaps of items... I looked back on the events inside the dungeon.

“You know, my party also cleared down to the 29th floor of that dungeon, and amassed a pretty sizable number of drops and magic items, too... But that doesn’t even begin to reach your feat, Mukohda.”

“Man, rather than me, it’s more my familiars, you see. I basically just ran around collecting drops the entire time.”

Sadly, that’s the truth. Yeah, but I did fight a little. Just a little.

“I totally wanted to see it......... Dora-chan’s gallant fighting figure. Tch! If it wasn’t for that sub-guildmaster, I totally would have chased after you...... Aggghhh!”

“Tch”? Elrand...... It’s just troubling for you to chase after me, you know? Dolan’s sub-guildmaster really does have his work cut out for him.

“Well, leaving that aside, buying everything really will be impossible, as you suspect.”

Thought so, given the amount.

“However, the demand for dungeon-spawned hides is high, so we’ll be buying as many as we can. I’ll want to get all of your orc, lizardman, and ogre hides. I also want the troll hides......... Hmmm, it seems like I’ll have to consult with the sub-guildmaster about what we will buy... He’s already mad at me since I used too much of our budget...” he finished, whispering to himself.

Ah, so he really did get yelled at. I know I took the money, but I did feel like this guy was using up way too much of it for his own desires... Mainly in the dragon department.

“I don’t mind that. Ah, about that list, please ignore the meat, because I’ll be using that myself. Ah, also......”

I took out the (small) and (medium) magic bags out of my Item Box. “Hey, Fel. What’s up with time in these magic bags? Do you know with your Appraisal?”

After thinking about it for a while, I had the idea that the bags could be useful for cooking if time passed normally in them. My Item Box doesn’t allow time to pass, so that’s really convenient in terms of preservation, but there are some cases in cooking where that would be a bad thing.

When cooking, there are times when you need to let flavors marinate, or cases where the dish would become tastier after resting for a night. Usually, to let flavors soak into meat, I’d poke holes in the meat with a fork to allow that to happen in a shorter time, and if letting things rest for a night would make it tastier, I would leave it on a table while I slept, so depending on whether or not a magic bag allows the passage of time, it could have quite some use for cooking. For example, I could ferment lots of miso in a bag, and once it’s nice and ripe, I could move it to my Item Box. It would have a lot of uses.

My Item Box was like a special ability for otherworlders, so it was pretty strong, in my opinion. Thinking like that, magic bags allowing the passage of time seemed plenty possible. But since I couldn’t tell with my level of Appraisal, I asked Fel.

“Let me see, I will look at it for you. Hm...... both of them have time pass inside them as normal. Essentially, they are just bags that are really large.”

I see, so both of them allow the passage of time unchanged, huh? If that’s the case, let’s keep the (medium) one and sell off the (small) one.

“Elrand... wait, what’s wrong?” Looking at Elrand, I noticed that both his eyes were opened wide.

“U-Uhm, it can’t be, but... does that Fenrir... have Appraisal?”

Ah~, I see. Wasn’t it that the Appraisal skill is something that basically only happens in fairy tales, that heroes summoned from other worlds get? But you know, Fel is...

“Ah — you see, he looks like this, but he is in fact a legendary beast...”

“Mn, what do you mean by that?”

I mean, you know I’ve seen and heard a lot, right? Fel totally became my familiar because of my food, and I know how gluttonous you are.

“Ah, yes, now that you mention it... you’re right. He is a legendary Fenrir, something that normally no one would even get to see in their lifetimes.”

Right, right. So Elrand’s gotten used to this sight too, huh? This backdrop of there being a Fenrir and a pixie dragon and a special slime around...

“So okay then, could you also ignore the magic bag (medium) from my list too?”

“The meat and the magic bag (medium) right? Can I think of everything else as something for sale?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

If this is how it is, it might be okay to talk to him about that, too.

“Uhhmm, also, there’s something I didn’t include in that list, but being what it is, I’m kind of troubled over what to do with it......” I decided to consult with him about that.

“You see...... hup.” I brought out a heavy sword from inside my Item Box. “When we defeated the dungeon boss, the behemoth, I got this. The magic sword, Caladbolg.”

“Bpphhfffbbttt!” The beautiful elf, Elrand, did a spit take.

He totally did, with water and everything!

“M-Ma-Ma-Magic sword?!”

If Elrand’s this surprised by it, then it really is something dangerous.

“Still, a magic sword...... I did think it might be possible, since this dungeon is on the harder side, so if you cleared it......”

Listening to Elrand, it seemed that there were only four confirmed magic swords in the world.

The first one was from 700 years ago, when a hero chosen by the gods was said to have come back from a dungeon with it, the “magic sword Joyeuse.” And, it was currently being held under rigorous security in the head church of the Rubanov faith, in the Holy Kingdom of Rubanov.

The second was being held by the Geisler Empire, the “magic sword Blutgang.” This sword was apparently found about 400 years ago from a dungeon in the Geisler Empire, and it seemed that, in order to get it, the empire threw around 30,000 soldiers at the dungeon.

The third is owned by the kingdom of Marveil, the “magic sword Balisarda.” This one was said to have been brought back to the kingdom of Marveil from some dungeon somewhere by one of their S-ranked adventurers at the time, this was 300 years ago.

And so, it was said that the kingdom of Marveil bought it off of him, and it was also rumored that the price of it was equal to the current kingdom’s entire national budget.

The fourth is owned by this country, the kingdom of Leonhardt, the “magical sword Arondite.” Apparently, it was something that this country’s first king brought back from a dungeon within the kingdom (not from Dolan). I wondered just what kind of person that first king was, to be able to bring back a magic sword from a dungeon, so I decided to look that up whenever I was free.

And so, the “magic sword Caladbolg” that I brought back would be the fifth, but I wondered something...

“Uhm, so from what you said, all four magic swords are owned by countries......”

From Elrand’s explanation, what I was most concerned about was the fact that each one was owned by such-and-such country.

“Well, of course. When it comes to magic swords, which are said to be symbols of power, of course they would be preciously safeguarded by the country itself.”

What? Does that mean I have something normally entire countries would own?

“U-Uhmm, the price?” There’s no way I could use it: it was too heavy, and besides, I didn’t want to keep hold of something a whole country would normally safeguard.

At this rate, the only choice was to have it sleep in my Item Box forever, though.

“Don’t even joke. Of course I wouldn’t be able to buy a magic sword when its price equals an entire country’s national budget,” Elrand said, exasperated.

Yes, you’re totally right. Sorry for asking for the impossible.

“You know you can try using it yourself, instead of trying to sell it. For swordsmen, using a magic sword is like a dream among dreams.”

Man, but I’m not a swordsman, you know? And before that, just by having this, it’ll become a whole thing.

“Uhmm, this sword is too heavy. I could never use it.”

“Huh? Really? Can I try picking it up?” In response to Elrand’s request, I said yes, and Elrand took Caladbolg out of its scabbard and took a stance with it. “You’re right, it’s got quite the substantial heft. Although it’s not like I can’t swing it.” Elrand stood up and lightly swung Caladbolg.

So you’d try swinging it, Elrand. As expected of a former S-ranked adventurer. Even though it’s so hard for me just to pick it up.

“Also, it seems like it’s made of adamantite.”

“Bppphhbbt!” Oohh! Elrand did another spit take. “A-A-A-Adamantite?!”

“Apparently, that’s what Appraisal says.”

So, adamantite is something to be surprised over... I had thought that adamantite was probably a rare-ish expensive metal, a lot like mithril, since that one exists in nature too.

“Adamantite is a legendary metal, said to be unable to be damaged by anything......”

Ah, so it’s like this here, huh? Damn, I really should have let this sleep for eternity in my Item Box.

“W-Well, it’s not like I can use it, so I’ll just leave it in my Item Box for a while.”

“That might be for the best.”

Taking Caladbolg from Elrand, I shut it in my Item Box. Yep, it’s decided. The “magic sword Caladbolg” sleeps in my Item Box forever. W-Well, I might decide what to do with it eventually. I have no idea when that’ll be, though.

“Ah, right. There’s something I need to tell you. Mukohda, you’ve risen to A-rank.”

............Wha? Eh? Huh? Wasn’t I C-ranked? Why am I suddenly A-ranked?

“Huh? A-rank?”

“Yes. There’s no way we can let you, who conquered a dungeon, stay at C-rank, after all.”

So it was. Thus, my silver C-ranked card that I’d been using until now was confiscated by Elrand. Without having any input in the matter, a shining golden A-rank card was pushed into my hands.

They say that I conquered it, but I didn’t really fight at all, I just let everyone else do all the work......

“So, when will you decide what to buy?”

“I’ll be consulting with the sub-guildmaster, so I want to have it decided by around the day after tomorrow. I’ll have to hurry and report this to the main Adventurer’s guild branch in this country, as well as the palace itself, after all. So much work......”

Elrand, your real feelings are showing. All over the place.

Apparently, he had to give a detailed explanation on how the dungeon was conquered.

“Normally, it would be best for the adventurer who conquered the dungeon to come with me, but...” After saying that, Elrand shot me a quick, furtive glance.

“No, uhmm, I’m not great with that stuff. If possible, I’d like to refrain from going.”

Hard pass on having to meet higher ups from the guild, much less going to the royal palace. I’ll just get worn out from meeting them. Also, I don’t want them to pry with any weird questions and find out that I’m from another world.

“Thought so. I heard that you don’t really want to be forced into anything, and then a message came from the palace saying not to force you.”

Thank you, oh thank you, lord. Really, it’s great that this country’s king is so quick on the uptake.

“Oh well. I guess I’ll just be going to the capital by myself. If you were with me, Mukohda, that would mean that Dora-chan would be with me as well, so the trip would have been fun, though. Really, I’d rather take a long holiday or something, and tag along with you, Mukohda, but...... When I submitted my request for a break, the sub-guildmaster went and ripped it up! Don’t you think that’s just cruel? And he said, ‘If you’re going to keep doing whatever you want, guildmaster, I’ll boycott this job, got it?’ He’s totally threatening me.”

No, I mean, you’re the cruel one for not doing your job. No matter how you think about it. Sub-guildmaster, I feel your pain.

“W-Well, there’s still the matter of buying your dropped items and stuff, so I’ll still be in town, and if I get any more dragons, I’ll bring them here, so...”

When I said that, Elrand banged his hands on the table and shot towards me. “You’re not lying, are you?!”

W-Wait! You’re too close!

“Of course not.”

Or rather, this is basically the only place that’ll butcher a dragon. I don’t know if I’ll ever get any more, but if I do I’ll totally shut it in my Item Box and bring it over.

“It’s a promise, got it!!” Elrand had a firm grip on my shoulders as he said that, and I nodded fervently, many times in response.

“Th-Then, I’ll be back the day after tomorrow, when you’ve decided what to buy.” Leaving those words behind, I put the Adventurer’s guild behind me. It was starting to feel like if I stayed any longer, I’d get dragged into a long spiel about dragons by Elrand, after all.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After leaving the Adventurer’s guild, I had Fel take me outside the city to somewhere with no people.

“Okay then, I’ll start brushing.”

We had come to take the bath that we couldn’t indulge in the entire time we were in the dungeon. I also decided to clean Fel up along the way, since he also got quite dirty in the dungeon.

In order to prepare for that, I had to first give Fel a thorough brushing.

“Does this have to happen?” Fel asked, while I carefully teased out all of his tangled fur.

“No matter what. You know, the dungeon had swamps and deserts and stuff, so you’re really dirty right now.”

“Mn... I do not think I am that filthy, but......”

“No no, you’re filthy. Just touching you feels dusty, and see? Your feet are caked in mud and it’s all in your fur,” I said, while brushing him down to his toes. In response, Fel put on an unhappy face.

So he hates being washed that much, huh? But he’s all dusty, and I think it’d feel good to get clean...

Good, the brushing’s done, I thought, after paying special attention to the matted fur on Fel’s feet.

“Sui, I’ll make the hot water, so can you make some cold water?”

《Got it—.》

“Mn, there is no need for hot water. Cold water is fine, hurry up.” I was going to prepare hot water, but apparently Fel was impatient to get it over with.

“But the water will be cold, won’t you catch something?” The weather was currently neither hot nor cold, but with water in the mix...

“You fool. What do you take me for? As if that would happen just by soaking in some water. Also, I have the goddess Ninrir’s blessing. I will not get sick. More importantly, if you are going to do this anyway, at least make it fast.”

Ahh, so he’s saying that since he’s bad with water, and if it’s going to happen anyway, at least don’t use up time and do it fast, huh? If that’s the case, let’s just get this over with using cold water.

《Whaaaat, you’re using cold water? Even though hot water feels so good... Well, if Fel finishes up fast, that just means we can get in earlier, though.》

That was Dora-chan. It seemed like Dora-chan took to baths like a fish to water.

“Right? Would finishing faster not be good for you, too? Since that is the case, hurry up and finish this.”

“Fine, fine. Then I’ll just use water to wash you.”

“Very well.”

“Sui, can you spray water on Fel?”

《Are you sure?》

“Indeed. Sui, do it.”

《Got it—!》 Sui sprayed water at Fel. After washing off the filth and muck, I had Sui stop spraying water once Fel was thoroughly soaked. Then, just like when I washed Fel before, I still had some of the same shampoo left over, so I used that.

First, start with the back...

“Hey, use more power.”

Sure, sure.

I put more power into it and washed Fel vigorously.

“Use a little more power there, as well.”

Fine, fine. So it’s itchy here, too, huh? I scrubbed and scrubbed, powerfully washing Fel.

“Keep going there for a little.”

Ahhh fine, fine. A little longer here, right?

*Scrubscrub* *Scrubscrub* *Scrubscrub*

Although he said to do it quickly, as soon as I started, he’s been saying things like ‘a little longer here,’ or ‘a little more power there’ a lot.

Following those instructions, I thoroughly scrubbed every nook and cranny.

“Good, this is fine. Sui, start spraying Fel again.”

《Oka—y!》 Sui once again sprayed water at Fel. The foam and bubbles that had lathered up on Fel were washed away.

“Fel, we’re washing your face, too.”

“Mnn, do it fast.”

“Sui, lower the power a little and spray it like rain on Fel’s face. Can you do it?”

《Yeah, got it—.》 A gentler shower of water rained down on Fel’s face.

Now then, let’s clean off Fel’s face.

“Good, Fel, you’re fine.”

“Whew, finally.”

“Fel, w-wait a second! At least wait to do that until we’re out of range!”

Fel looked like he was about to start shaking himself, so I barely managed to stop him in time. Dora-chan, Sui, and I all evacuated from Fel’s vicinity.

“Okay, it’s fine!”

As soon as I said that, Fel started shaking furiously. Just like that, after shaking off the water, Fel produced a warm wind and dried his body.

“Well then, let’s take a bath.”

《Yeah!》

《Yayy!》

While I was preparing the bath, Fel, who had already completely dried himself, talked to me.

“I will be going hunting while you all take a bath.”

“Hm? That’s fine, but I just washed you, so be careful not to get too dirty.”

“Mn, I know already.”

“If you’re going hunting, birds, like rockbirds and cockatrices, would be good. I don’t have much of that meat left.”

“Okay then.”

“Ah, also, this.” I produced the magic bag (medium) from my Item Box. It was shaped like a shoulder bag, so it’d probably be easy for Fel to carry.

“A magic bag?”

“Yeah. It’d be more convenient for you to carry around if you catch a lot, right?”

“Hm, that is true. Then I will borrow it.” After saying so, Fel quickly ran off.

Of course, I didn’t forget to have him put up a barrier.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Whewieee~, this feels good.”

《Yeah, this is the best.》

《So go—od.》

After quickly finishing the preparations for a bath, Dora-chan, Sui, and I were all having a good soak.

Dora-chan and Sui were floating in the water, relaxing.

I was also stretched out in the tub, relaxing.

For the first time in a while, both my body and head were cleanly washed and feeling refreshed... baths really are great.

As a reward for clearing the dungeon, I put in a slightly expensive bath powder that was mixed with carbon dioxide, and it somehow feels like it’s gradually heating up my body, taking away all the exhaustion. It smells good, too.

Dora-chan and Sui leisurely enjoyed their bath time for a while.

“I guess it’s about time to get out now.”

《Yeah~.》

《Fi—ne.》

After getting out of the bath and changing, I gave Dora-chan and Sui some fruit-flavored milk, while I drank some coffee milk, and then, we rested.

“......He......lp me—!”

“Gyaahhhh!!”

I heard children’s voices... they were getting closer and closer.

I saw the owners of those voices. They were a boy and a girl, around 10 years of age.

“Iris, run away by yourself!!”

“No! Not without you, big bro!”

There were five orcs chasing after the boy and girl.

“Dora-chan! Sui!”

《Sure! Leave it to me!》

《Sui will do it!》

Dora-chan flew off immediately, and Sui set up its tentacles like a rifle.

*Dzsshh* *Dzsshh* *Dzsshh———*

*Byoo* *Byoo———*

Dora-chan, clad in Fire magic, pierced through three orcs, while Sui used Acid Bullets to bring down the other two.

“He—y, are you two alright?” When I ran and approached the two children, I found them staring dumbfounded at the defeated orcs. “Huff, huff... the orcs are already dead, you’re safe. Rather, where did you two come from?”

Setting aside that this was a forest near the city, this place specifically was pretty remote, so it was odd for children to be wandering around here.

Could it be that there was an adult with them? When that thought came to my head, the children started crying. It must have been a really scary experience, getting chased down by orcs.

“Ugh... *Sniff* ...Uwaaahhhh!”

“Ugh... Uuuu... Uueeehhh!!”

While I was panicking, wondering what I should do, Fel returned.

“What is with these brats?”

Looking at Fel, the children started crying all over again.

“Ah, aaahhh, you know this one is my familiar, so it won’t do anything. You’re safe.”

“Hey! What do you mean by ‘this one’?! Huh?!”

When Fel shouted a little, the two of them gave a start, crying even harder.

“Ahhh geez, stop with that loud voice. Just shut up a while, Fel.”

In order to calm down the two crying children, I kept repeating things like, “You’re safe now.” and “Fel and the others are my familiars, so they won’t do anything.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After somehow finally managing to calm them down, I listened to their story.

“What are your names?”

“*Sniff* ......I’m Darryl, and this is my younger sister, Iris,” said Darryl, sniffing. He was an intelligent-looking boy with brown eyes and hair.

Darryl’s little sister, Iris, who had brown hair just like her brother, worn in braids, and who seemed a little shy, was still clinging onto her brother’s arm.

“How old are you two?”

“I’m 10 years old, and Iris is 8.”

Just as I thought, they’re around 10. Why are children like them here?

“Did you come here with an adult?”

In response, Darryl shook his head no.

“What? Just you two?”

When I asked that, Darryl nodded.

“You came by yourselves? From where?”

“Dolan.”

“What? All the way from Dolan?” I had completely taken to the idea that they were from a nearby village, so I was honestly surprised. Especially since it would take around three hours to get here from Dolan on foot. And when it comes to children’s legs, it would no doubt take even longer. Looks like there’s some sort of reason, here...

“Why did you come all this way into the forest by yourselves? Did you have some sort of reason? Please, tell me.”

“If you’ll give me one of those orc bodies, I’ll talk.” Since Darryl said that, of course I agreed, and he started talking.

Right now, Darryl and Iris were living with their mother in Dolan as a family of three. Their father was an adventurer, but when Darryl was 6, he dove into the dungeon and never returned. Apparently, their mother was a skilled seamstress, so thanks to that they were able to live as a family.

However, around two weeks ago, their mother collapsed. After having her looked at by a temple priest, they also had him give her healing magic. Thanks to that, she became better for a time, but after a while, she once again fell ill.

According to the boy, the priest said, “The only things we can heal here are light, non-serious illnesses, and if her sickness is this powerful then you can’t hope for recovery unless you go to the capital and have her healed by a high-ranking priest.”

Since they’d heard that, in order to have that happen, they would have to offer an appropriately large sum of money, the two became desperate to earn some, and started gathering what herbs they could, coming to this forest.

“*Sniff*...” I made sure the two children wouldn’t be able to see me when I sniffled. So brave, what good children this Darryl and Iris are... I’m super weak to this kind of thing.

“What were you two doing for food?”

“......We did chores in the city, and somehow got food with that.”

Chores wouldn’t pay that much at all, and these two are good children who think of their mother, so these two would probably use even that pocket change for her... So that would mean they may or may not have food to eat on a given day, huh?

“You guys are hungry, right? We’ll be eating food in a little bit, so let’s eat together.”

“Food, huh? Good timing, I am just about hungry.”

《I was getting hungry, too.》

《Sui too—!》

Aahh, I wasn’t talking to you guys, though. Well, I’ll make your portions too, though.

What would be good for Darryl and Iris? Rather than unfamiliar rice, using bread which they’d eat regularly would be better, right? If that’s the case...... let’s make that.

I would be using teriyaki to make some teriyaki burgers. With this dish, I’d have enough ingredients just in my Item Box, so I wouldn’t have to use my Online Supermarket in front of those two, either. With that decided, the first step is to bring out the magic stove.

When I brought out the magic stove from my Item Box, both Darryl and Iris widened their eyes in surprise. “I have an Item Box too, but I wouldn’t be able to fit something that big......” Darryl whispered.

Oh, so Darryl has an Item Box. If that’s the case, won’t he have a lot of job options when he grows up?

“Iris doesn’t have one. Sounds nice,” said Iris, who was sulking a little.

Yeah, honest children like this really are the cutest. Well then, let’s get to cooking.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, grill the dungeon-spawned cockatrice meat until its skin is crispy, then wipe off any excess fat from the frying pan using kitchen paper.

Once that’s done, use the store-bought teriyaki sauce on the meat, and after simmering it for a while and mixing the sauce so it coats the meat evenly, the chicken teriyaki is done.

Halve some black bread, and load up one side with a bed of shredded cabbage and some mayonnaise. Lay the cockatrice teriyaki on top of that, and close the burger to finish the dish.

~◇~◇~◇~

Along with that, I poured some orange juice into a cup and served it to Darryl and Iris. “Here you go.”

They hesitated at first, but when I said, “If you don’t eat, I’ll have my familiars eat you,” they started scarfing down the food. They must have been quite hungry.

“So good!”

“Big bro, this is delicious! This drink is also sweet and good!”

Yep yep, eat as much as you want. Now then, I’ve still got food to cook...

After cooking up a huge portion of teriyaki burgers for my three familiars, I served it to them. Seeing that, Darryl and Iris were surprised.

“Waahh~, everyone eats so much.”

“Yeah. All of them are big eaters. More importantly, are you two done already? I have more,” I asked them, but it seemed that the two of them were full.

Hamburgers using black bread is really filling, after all.

“If that’s the case, what about drinks?”

Iris must have taken a liking to the orange juice, and seemed like she wanted more. However, she hesitated, trying to decide if it was okay to ask for more.

“Here, don’t hold back you two — keep drinking.” Having said that, I poured more orange juice into their wooden cups, and the two children happily started drinking it down.

After giving Fel and Sui several more helpings, the meal was finally over. And with that, Darryl and Iris once again shrank into themselves and started to act formal.

“Thanks, mister.”

“Mister, thanks.”

M-M-Mister, huh? I’m a mister............ What is this? It’s like I’m happy to be thanked, but also not happy at all... And correcting these two right now would be...... Mister, huh......?

From what I’d seen of this world, it seemed like once a person reaches 20, they’d probably already have one or two children.

Thinking like that, I guess being 27 would count as a “mister”............ Khh...... that’s a little sad.

“Bbff...... Seems like you are a mister, too, bbff!”

Hey, Fel. Don’t laugh. Actually, huh. So he was holding a grudge...

《Well, at the very least, you don’t seem like a big bro or anything.》

Dora-chan, are you saying that I’m old and decrepit? I’ll have to talk to you about that later, then.

《Mister? Master is master—.》

Yeah, Sui, only you can be my healing.

“Mister, you’re an adventurer, right?” Darryl asked.

“Y-Yeah. Kind of.”

Being called a “mister,” it just kind of stings...

“How much money is an orc body? Will we be able to go to the capital to see a priest with it?”

Ah, this is about getting a high-ranking priest from the capital to come over, huh? I feel a little sorry for them, but no matter how you think about it, one orc won’t be nearly enough money.

“Just one orc would be... a little impossible......”

“Then, how much would it be? Would all five of those be enough? If that’s the case I’ll do anything, so give them to me!” Saying so, Darryl bowed his head. When he did that, Iris followed suit.

If handing over five orcs would actually help them, I’d happily do it, but I don’t think five orcs would be enough to get a high-ranking priest to come over from the capital at all.

Just... this might be hypocrisy, but if I can save them, I want to. It wasn’t like I thought I could save anyone and everyone, but it must have been some sort of fate to have met Darryl and Iris here, too.

I want to save them, but what should I do......?

I thought about giving them one of Sui’s potions, but when I gave it some more thought, I remembered that the only things it worked on were wounds. Given that, and the fact that I hadn’t tested it against illnesses...... When I asked Darryl and Iris how their mother was doing, it seemed that her condition was bad enough that she couldn’t get out of bed.

If the sickness is that bad, then I feel like it won’t work unless it’s an elixir or something. Hmmm, what should I do? ...............Ah!

“Darryl, Iris, I haven’t introduced you to my familiars yet, have I? This fluffy one here is called Fel. And, this one is Dora-chan the pixie dragon, and this slime is Sui. Can you get along with everyone?”

“They won’t get angry if we touch them?” Darryl fearfully asked.

“They won’t. Right?”

“As if I would get angry over something like being touched by those whelps.”

“There you go. Fel can talk, so if you have something you want to ask you can talk to him. Dora-chan, you’re fine too, right?”

When I said that, Dora-chan landed himself in front of the two. Darryl fearfully reached out and touched Dora-chan, who was in front of him. As soon as he realized nothing would happen, Darryl started stroking Dora-chan over and over from his head to his back.

Iris seemed to have taken a liking to Fel, as she was poking at Fel’s back. When she realized it was okay, she started stroking Fel’s soft fur.

“Fel’s fur is fluffy and smells nice~.” Iris seemed to be enjoying Fel’s fur a lot.

While watching this happen, I quickly started a telepathic conversation with my three familiars.

《Fel, Dora-chan. I have something to do with Sui, so keep Darryl and Iris occupied. I don’t think it’ll take that long. Sui, I have something I want you to do, so can I have you come with me?》

Good, let’s leave this to Fel and Dora-chan.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Along with Sui, I separated from everyone a little and came to a different spot in the forest.

“Sui, can I get you to do something for me?”

《What~?》

“You see......” I took out two things from my Item Box. The first one was some earth dragon blood. The second was the earth dragon’s liver. From what I remember Elrand saying before, a dragon’s blood and liver can be made into a panacea of sorts. With that in mind, I thought that it might be possible.

I was hoping that, by having Sui take in the dragon’s blood and liver, and adding its own special potion on top of that, Sui could make some sort of new medicine. Of course, making an elixir would be a dream among dreams, but I had a hunch that it would at least make some sort of potion that would work on illnesses, too.

“You see, this is the earth dragon’s blood and liver. These can make medicines that work on a lot of illnesses and wounds. So Sui, can you use this with your ability to make medicine to make something that will cure illnesses? What do you think?”

《Hmm — Sui doesn’t know, but Sui will try.》

“I see, I see. You’ll try, huh? Thanks, Sui. Okay then, here, take this and this.”

《Yeah!》

I handed Sui a bottle of the earth dragon’s blood and some of the earth dragon’s liver. Half the liver was bought by the Adventurer’s guild, but even so, it was quite large, so I cut it into four pieces and handed one over to Sui.

Sui, taking in the earth dragon’s blood and part of its liver, said 《Uhmm, hmmm...》 while it was doing something inside its body.

I waited patiently, watching Sui work.

After about five minutes, Sui raised its voice. 《It’s done—.》

I handed over one of the empty bottles that I had left over in my Item Box to Sui. “Well then, can you put it in here?”

《Yeah, got it—.》 From the tip of Sui’s tentacle dripped a clear, reddish-purple solution into the bottle.

“Yeah, once you fill the bottle, it’s fine.”

《Master — there’s still around two bottles left.》 Sui, having just filled a bottle, told me that much.

“Then can you put it in here, too?” I handed Sui another two bottles.

Just like that, I got three bottles filled with a clear, reddish-purple liquid. For now, I should just appraise it, right?

【Sui’s Special Elixir (Degraded)】

Sui’s special elixir (degraded). Since it is degraded, it will not extend one’s life. Works on all illnesses.

“Bbpphhff! *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*”

《Hm? Master, are you alright?》 Seeing me choke in surprise, Sui approached, worried.

“*Cough*......I-I’m fine. I’m fine,” I said like I was trying to convince myself, while I stroked Sui.

...............It made an elixir. Sui, wow... It’s degraded, but it’s still an elixir. It even says it works on all illnesses.

It said, “It’s degraded, so it won’t extend one’s lifespan,” but does that mean that a real elixir would do that? W-What amazing medicines, elixirs are. I never thought that I’d be able to make one. W-Well, there’s no doubt that it cures illnesses. F-For now, we’ve succeeded.

Good, now Darryl and Iris’s mother will be fine. Right, since she’s recovering from an illness, let’s make that for her, too.

By “that,” I meant an easy-on-the-stomach egg porridge. Egg porridge would use only stuff bought from the other world, but... It will be fine if it’s to cheer up Darryl’s and Iris’ mom, who will just be recovering from an illness, I thought.

“Sui, can you wait a little? I want to make something for Darryl and Iris’ mom to eat.”

《Yeah, sure—.》

I have the seasonings, and I should have some rice left over...... Good, this should be enough for a portion for Darryl, Iris, and their mom. All I need to do is buy eggs with my skill... good.

~◇~◇~◇~

Put in a large-than-normal amount of water and the rice into a pot, and boil until the pot burbles. Then, add in some granulated dashi, and some soy dashi.

At this point, add in some beaten eggs and stir a couple times before turning off the heat.

Then, taste it, and if the taste is too thin, feel free to adjust it with more soy dashi or salt.

~◇~◇~◇~

Rather than rice porridge, which uses more water, I tried making it more like rice gruel, since that was my preference.

Good, this should be fine. The pot is something I used before, so I can just hand it over to Darryl as is. Darryl did say that he has an Item Box, after all. Let’s tell them to heat it up and eat it if his Item Box allows the passage of time, and it cools down. So let’s go back after I put this magic stove away.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Sorry for making you wait—.”

《You’re laaaate!》

“Mn, finally, huh?”

Oh my. Darryl and Iris must have gotten tired, as they were napping while leaning on Fel. Dora-chan was circling above them.

I guess it makes sense, since after walking all this way, they then got chased by orcs too.

“Well then, let’s go back.”

“Indeed.”

《Yeah.》

“Sui, get inside.”

《Yeah!》

When I opened my bag, Sui slipped inside. I didn’t want to wake the two up, but if we didn’t return soon, it would get dark.

“Darryl, Iris, sorry for waking you up. We’re going back to town.” I gently shook their shoulders to wake them up.

I have to hand over the finished “Sui’s Elixir” and the egg porridge I made, too.

“Mnn......” “Nnn~......” Darryl and Iris rubbed their eyes, still sleepy.

“Darryl, Iris, I have some medicine to make your mother better.” When I said that, the two opened their eyes wide.

“Mister, is that true?!”

“Mister, Mom will get better?!”

They desperately clung to me. The two of them must love their mother so much.

“Yeah, I remembered that I should have something like a medicine for illnesses, so I tried looking around my Item Box, and I found it.” When I said that, the two jumped up, overjoyed.

“But, I won’t give it to you for free.” When I said that, the two of them froze in place. Iris looked like she was about to wilt to the ground and cry.

“Darryl, you have an orc right now, right?”

“......Ah, yeah!”

Earlier, I handed an orc corpse over to Darryl so he’d talk, so right now he would have one. “Want to trade it?”

“The orc for the medicine?”

“That’s right. How about it?”

When I said that, Darryl suddenly grew a bright smile as he replied, “Yeah, of course!”

“Okay then, here’s the medicine. I think it’ll work on your mother’s illness. Give it to her as soon as you get home, okay? Also, here’s something extra. I think it’ll be easier for your mom to eat, since she’ll just be recovering from a sickness. I made some for you two, too, so eat it together.” Saying so, I handed Darryl the bottle of Sui’s special elixir along with the pot I made the egg porridge in.

“Mom will get better with this, right?”

“Yeah. She will.”

When I said that, Darryl’s eyes watered up. It was probably a mix of happiness since his mother would get better, and also remembering how hard it was until now.

“Darryl, you have an Item Box, right? If that’s the case, make sure to put these inside.”

Darryl nodded with a teary face, and he obediently put both of them into his Item Box.

“If the food gets cold, heat it up a little before eating it.”

“It’s in the Item Box, so it won’t get that cold. It’s fine.”

I replied, “I see.” And Darryl wiped his eyes on his sleeves and said, “Thanks, mister,” in a small voice.

I messed with Darryl’s hair in order to hide my happiness.

“Big bro, will Mom get better?” Having watched the exchange between Darryl and I with a confused and worried face, Iris asked her brother a question.

“Yeah, she will. I got a medicine to fix her sickness from this mister here.”

“Really?!! Yayy! So Mom will be happy like before! Thanks, mister!” Iris bounced around, looking truly happy.

“Okay then, the two of you, let’s go back to Dolan. Fel, can you give all of us a ride?”

“Hmph, nothing will change just by adding those two whelps on top of you.”

Yeah, yeah, is that so? Well then, I’m counting on you.

I climbed up on Fel’s back first, and I placed Iris in front of me, while Darryl got on behind me. Darryl and Iris were both excited to be riding Fel.

“Iris, make sure you hang onto Fel properly, okay? Darryl, make sure to hang on to me so you don’t fall off.” In response, the two of them said that they got it. “Fel, go slower than usual, okay?”

“I know already.” Then, Fel started moving towards Dolan quite a bit slower than normal.

Even so, we reached Dolan a good sight faster than if we had walked. I showed the guard my Adventurer’s guild card, while Darryl and Iris showed their citizenship cards for the town of Dolan, and we were let in.

“Darryl, Iris, where’s your house?”

“It’s not that far from here. It’s close to the wall.”

Near the wall? So where all the poor live, then.

“Should I see you there?”

“No, it’s fine since it’s so close.”

“I see.”

After a while, Darryl spoke, looking straight at me. “Mister, I’m not gonna become an adventurer. Rather than an adventurer that can’t steadily make money, I’m going to be a merchant that can. When I become 13, I’m gonna go to the Merchant’s guild, and become an apprentice to a merchant in town. I have an Item Box, so I think I’ll be able to go anywhere. So, one day I’m definitely gonna open my own store. And then, I’m definitely, deeefinitely, going to make my Mom and Iris happy............ Mister, one day I’m going to repay this favor. Will you wait until then?”

It was a declaration of determination from Darryl, who was only 10 years old. Even though he was bawling his eyes out from being chased by orcs, now he was looking a little more like a man.

“*Sniffle* ......Y-Yeah, I’ll wait, as long as you like.”

A 10-year-old kid just said that he’d definitely make his mom and little sister happy. Oh this is no good, I’m super weak to this kind of thing.

“Mister, really, thanks!” said Darryl.

“Thanks, mister!” Iris said the same. Then, the two walked towards their house, hand in hand.

“Do your best, Darryl. You too, Iris.” I whispered to the backs of those two.

“*Sniffle*......Ugh.........”

“Hahh, what are you even crying about?”

“*Sniiiffle* ......I’m not crying. I just have dust in my eye.”

The hell are you saying, Fel? This is, you know, dust in my eye. That’s all.

《Geez, don’t cry. You know, men shouldn’t cry unless it’s something really big.》

“Dora-chan, didn’t I just say that I just have dust in my eye? ......*Sniff*”

《Look at you breaking down like that. I can’t believe you’re trying to pass this off as dust in your eye.》

Shut up, Dora-chan. You should have some humanity at times like this and just leave it at that, right? Hm? Dora-chan’s not a human, it should be dragonity? Well, whatever, at any rate he should read the atmosphere here and leave things alone.

Darryl, you make sure you become a great man and support your family, you hear? Man, Darryl and Iris were such good children.

Filled with warm and fluffy feelings, I returned to the inn along with Fel and the others.

Gossip: Darryl and Iris, After the Fact

““We’re back~.””

Mom was asleep when we got home. Even though when she first got sick there were times when she was awake, recently she was asleep all the time.

“Big bro, hurry up with the medicine.”

“Yeah!” I called out to my sleeping mom. “Mom, I have medicine. Open your mouth and drink it.”

My words reached Mom, and she opened her mouth just a little. I poured in the medicine that I got from that man little by little so she could drink it.

After getting her to drink the entire bottle full of medicine, Mom’s body started shining white.

“Big bro!” Iris, surprised, grabbed on to me.

“It’s fine, it’s gotta be.”

I didn’t know why, but I trusted the medicine that man gave us. If it’s his medicine, it’ll definitely work.

While hugging onto Iris, we waited for the shining to stop.

“......Mn...... Darryl? Iris?”

““Mom!!””

Mom woke up. “Darryl, Iris... sorry for not helping.”

“*Sniff* ......M-Mom!! Uwaahhh!”

Iris must have been really relieved to see her mom awaken, since she hugged onto her and started crying. And as soon as she got tired, she fell asleep.

Today, we walked quite a ways away from town into the forest, and got chased by orcs, so she must have been really exhausted.

“Oh my, Iris is already asleep.”

“Mom, how are you?”

“Yes, I’m fine already. I still feel a little sluggish, but other than that there’s nothing wrong. It seems like I’ll be able to go to work again by tomorrow.”

“You’re still recovering, so you have to keep resting tomorrow. Oh, right, can you eat?”

“Yes, I’m actually feeling kind of hungry.”

I put some of the food that that man gave me into a bowl and handed it over to Mom.

“Oh my, such a nice smell. What is this?”

“The person who helped me today gave it to me. Eat it before it goes cold.”

Mom ate slowly, but did finish the entire bowl. The last time I saw her eat so much was a long time ago. If she can eat like this, she’s probably fine.

I felt relief from the bottom of my heart. “Iris and I will eat later. You stay in bed Mom, you’re still recovering.”

After tucking my Mom in, I picked up the sleeping Iris and carried her to her bed.

“Mom got... better...... that’s great, really............ *Snrf*” She was so relieved she started tearing up.

Mom, who got sick and lost her appetite, just finished off a bowl cleanly.

If she can eat that much, she’s already fine. It’s all thanks to that man. Since he gave us that medicine, Mom got better.

Even like this, I wasn’t stupid. I knew just how amazing that medicine that man gave us was, since it was enough to heal my Mom, who was that sick, in one shot. Even though we were told that only a big-shot priest from the capital would be able to do it......

He also saved Iris and I, who were being chased around by orcs. Even so, I......

I was desperate, so I said some rude things to him. Still, he even treated Iris and I to some food. He was a strange man with a huge wolf and a small dragon and a slime, but he was really kind.

That was why I wouldn’t tell anyone about the medicine. And I’d tell Iris to keep it a secret, too. And Mom didn’t seem to remember drinking the medicine, since she was barely awake at the time. I would keep quiet about the fact that that man gave me medicine. After all, that medicine was amazing, and probably really, really expensive. That man is kind, and gave it to us for free because we needed it.

But what if everyone knows that that man has an expensive medicine? There might be people who attack him to try and take the medicine by force. I know there are those kinds of bad guys out in the world.

My friend Stephan’s dad found a treasure in the dungeon and turned it into money at the Adventurer’s guild, and when he was going back home, some of those bad people attacked him and he died. I’ve also heard other similar stories.

That’s why I won’t tell anyone about that man. I don’t want any bad people to go for him, after all.

Just like I said to that man, I’d definitely repay the debt myself. Someday, I’d definitely have my own store, and then I’d definitely, definitely make Mom and Iris happy. And then, I’d also pay back that man.

Thanks, mister. Really, really... thanks.

Chapter 3: The Strongest Sub-Guildmaster

The next day, we had come to the Adventurer’s guild.

I went in order to have them butcher the five orcs from yesterday, as well as what Fel had caught when he went hunting.

The employees must have contacted him, because Elrand came over immediately. “Mukohda, we’re still discussing what we’re going to buy. I’ll try to finish it by tomorrow somehow.”

“Ah, that’s not it. I came here for something different. Yesterday, Fel hunted some more monsters, so I came to have them butchered.”

Inside the magic bag that I’d handed Fel yesterday were four cockatrices, a rockbird, and also some huge ostrich-like monster named a ‘giant talepo.’ I definitely need to stock up on more bird-type monster meat, since all I have on me are the drops from the dungeon...

“Ahh, I see. If that’s the case, I’ll take you there.”

“No, no, it’ll all fit in the window here, so it’s fine.”

“No, no, don’t feel like you have to hold back on me. Now now, this way.”

With those words, I was led to the usual storehouse by Elrand.

I mean, it’s not like I have that many things to sell, and it’s just orcs and cockatrices and stuff, so it’s not really special either; the sales counter would have been fine......

Unlike with the earth dragon, there were several butchers inside the storehouse. Under the circumstances, he probably did shoo away any other people at that time.

“Now, what did you get? Show me.” Elrand said, patting the top of the workstation.

“Huh? Guildmaster, is something the matter?” A butcher that seemed to be around 30 called out to us.

“Hey, Marcel. Sorry for barging in. I was just showing in Mukohda here.”

When Elrand said that, the butcher Marcel gave me a puzzled look. Most likely, he was thinking that I didn’t look important enough for the guildmaster to show me here himself. I probably shouldn’t be saying this about myself, but I would probably think the same thing in his position.

“You see, Marcel, Mukohda is the most talked about person in Dolan right now. You should know too if you work here, right? That the dungeon was recently conquered. And Mukohda here is the one that did it.”

Marcel looked at me, and then shifted his gaze to Fel and Dora-chan behind me, and everything seemed to click, as he went, “Ahh” in a small voice.

If it was just me, I wouldn’t make much of an impression, but with Fel and Dora-chan, I stand out quite a bit, after all. Even when I just got out of the dungeon, everyone was looking at us, so I guess they’d give it away.

“Since that’s the case, of course I’d be showing him here.”

No, not at all, there is no ‘of course’ anywhere here. Just using the trades counter in front would have been fine. I did say that already, you know?

“My intuition here says that Mukohda has something unusual.” When Elrand said that, Marcel replied with a, “Really?” and proceeded to stay there, full of interest.

“Since that’s the case, now, why don’t you show us what you have?”

You say that, but I have no idea what the case is...

Elrand once again patted the table, gesturing me to hurry up.

“You want me to show you, but Elrand, what about your job?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. As long as the sub-guildmaster’s around everything will work just fine, even if I’m not around.”

No no, it’s not fine. Do your job, Elrand, come on...... Actually, wait, won’t the sub-guildmaster get mad just by us shooting the shit here? I take no responsibility for this.

“Now. Now, now. Hurry up!”

Wow, if you’re that insistent I’ll do it, but don’t turn to me if you get yelled at.

I took out the monsters from my Item Box and laid them out on the workstation.

“Uhh, I’d like the meat back as usual, and I’d like to sell the rest. It’s five orcs, four cockatrices, a rockbird, and also a giant talepo.”

“A giant talepo?! As I thought, my intuition is on the mark.”

What? Is this ostrich really that unusual?

“W-Wow...... This is the first time I’ve seen a giant talepo......” Marcel muttered as well.

Hohh, so this ostrich is rare.

“But, where did you find one?” Elrand asked, so I looked over at Fel......

“Mn? That? I caught it in a field past the forest south of this place.”

“So he says.”

“There, huh? ......If I remember correctly, there was talk about one being sighted there four or five years ago, so it really was there. Well, even if it’s confirmed, it’s not like they’re easy to catch.”

From what I’d heard from them, giant talepos were flightless, but incredibly fast. That was just like ostriches, but it seemed that their speed was no joke.

“Finishing off a talepo that’s running away for real is impossible. To catch a giant talepo, you’d need an Earth magic user, and a damn good one at that, to surround and trap it straight away, and then finish it off inside. That’s the tactic.”

I see.

When I inquired further, it seemed that since one would either need a good Earth magic user already in the party, or to hire one — and on top of that, they’d need to make some careful preparations — giant talepos were rarely, if ever, caught.

“Fel, just how did you get this one?”

“There is no way it would be able to get away from me if I got even a little bit serious, right?”

‘Zat so? It’s already obvious, but Fel’s far too powerful.

“Hey, that’s a talepo, right? It’s the first time I’ve seen one.”

“Me too.”

“Isn’t this the first talepo any guild’s seen in a couple years?”

“Yeah. It’d definitely be the subject of rumors if one ever came in, and I haven’t heard any talk.”

The butchers other than Marcel had all crowded around us at some point.

“Yeah, this is perfect. Everyone, please get to work on these orcs, cockatrices, and this rockbird first. It’ll be good practice, so after that, let’s take this giant talepo apart.”

When Elrand said that, the other butchers all gave an excited shout and got to work.

Right in front of my eyes, the orcs were taken apart. I don’t handle gore very well, so I made sure not to look as much as was possible.

“Looks like everyone’s finished. Okay then, let’s start butchering this talepo. As our representative, Marcel, you start us off.”

“Okay!”

Marcel started butchering the talepo, while the other butchers looked on with serious eyes.

Elrand was giving various bits of advice, saying things like, “Here, you go like this,” or, “No, this is better.” As expected of someone of his years, he knew a lot, and seemed to have experience with butchering talepos.

Of course, I left the butchering to them, and didn’t really watch any of it.

“And it’s just about like that. These don’t come around very often, but this should have been a good experience.” When Elrand said that, all the butchers replied in the affirmative.

“Well then, let’s get to the calculations. Ah, Mukohda, there won’t be any charge for the butchering.”

“Guildmaster!! So you were wasting your time here!!!” The person who came plodding in was the slightly pudgy, sparse-of-hair old man that was the sub-guildmaster.

“U-Ugohl... W-Why are you......”

So the sub-guildmaster’s name is Ugohl.

“Don’t you ‘why’ me! When I came because one of the employees told me Sir Mukohda was here...... What do you think you’re doing when it’s so busy?!”

What are you doing Elrand? See, I knew you’d get yelled at.

“Ah, Sir Mukohda, I am this guild’s sub-guildmaster, Ugohl. Thanks to you, Sir Mukohda, this guild is prospering greatly. Thank you, truly.” Ugohl put on a smile as he said that, his earlier threatening attitude disappearing like a morning fog, and I replied with a, “Nice to meet you.”

“Guildmaster, thanks to Sir Mukohda, now is the most profitable time for the guild since its inception! We’re drowning in requests to buy that thing, from all the other guilds and even some nobles. The work just doesn’t end and I’d already accept even a cat’s help, so please do your work properly! We also have to decide what to buy from Sir Mukohda’s drops from the dungeon, and there’s requests from the Merchant’s guild about that, too. It’s all things we have to do everywhere we look, so don’t think you’ll be going home today, got it!”

“N-No, you see, I’m not great with that kind of work...... So, it would be better to leave it to you......”

“What are you saying?! Are you telling me to do all of your work for you?! If that’s the case then we don’t need you anymore, guildmaster. I’m busy with my own job, so at the very least you can do work that needs the input of a guildmaster properly, please. If not...... I’ll sell off that thing you stare at so dreamily every morning.”

“Wha-?! N-No, you can’t do that!! Anything but that!!! Y-You agreed to that too, didn’t you, that if we made that a sword it would draw people to the guild! So I’m going to make that into a sword and decorate the guild with it, just as planned!!”

“Yes, I agreed, I did. However, thinking about profits, of course selling it off would be best. If you don’t do your job, I’ll sell it, got it? If you don’t want that to happen, do your job! Because if you do your job properly, I won’t have to sell it. Do you get it? If you do, hurry on back to your room. Ahh, Marcel, I’ll leave things here to you. Also, make sure to waive any butchering fees for Sir Mukohda here while he’s in Dolan.”

Leaving those words behind, Ugohl dragged away Elrand, who’d completely lost all his earlier vigor.

That sub-guildmaster, no, Ugohl, is to be feared. From having to deal with Elrand every day, he knows veeerrryyy well how to handle him. And ‘that thing’ must be the earth dragon’s fang. What the hell are you doing with your life, Elrand, staring at that thing every morning...... Actually, isn’t he totally just treating it like his possession now?

“......Well then, I’ll calculate the total.”

Marcel, you...... Actually, it looks like all of the butchers hurriedly retreated the second Ugohl came in. Judging from those quick movements, it doesn’t seem like that’s a rare sight around here. Elrand just doesn’t learn, after all.

Having gotten back the meat, I had Marcel calculate the total sale price for everything else. All in all, it turned into 85 gold. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, I had stopped being surprised at this amount at all recently.

Taking the money from Marcel, we left the Adventurer’s guild.

It’s about time for everyone to complain that they’re hungry, so it’s time for food once we get back to the inn.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Now then, time to cook.

Of course, today I’d be using the giant talepo meat. Truthfully, I’d already eaten ostrich meat once before. I saw that there was ostrich on the menu of an izakaya or something, and ordered it out of curiosity. It was a red meat that didn’t have any funkiness to it, so I remember it as being good. I was thinking of trying to recreate that.

I would be making ostrich cutlets and ostrich tataki. Apparently, ostrich meat can actually be eaten raw. This was noted on the menu of the izakaya I ordered at, and there was also ostrich yukhoe and ostrich carpaccio as well as the ostrich tataki I ordered. I remembered having trouble deciding which one to go with.

By the way, though, both of these recipes went well with beer.

First though, I have to get the ingredients.

I was thinking of enjoying the tataki with ponzu, so I stocked up. As for the cutlets, I was planning to make them like milano-style cutlets. Since that was the case, I already had flour and herb salt, so what I needed were eggs, panko breadcrumbs, cheese powder... Oh, and adding olive oil and lemon juice to taste is good on it, so I’ll want lemons, too.

Oh, and can’t forget the beer.

Let’s get started on the tataki first. It’s fine if I just leave it in my Item Box when it’s done, after all. Oh, right. If that’s the case, I’ll need to ask Fel.

“Fel, you can use Ice magic, right?”

“Hm? Ice magic? Yes, I can.”

“Can it be used for cooking?”

“It will be trivial to do so.”

“Then, make some ice here, will you?” I pointed to a huge bowl that became more and more necessary as I started having to cook more for everyone.

“Understood. Here.” The ice made a sound as it fell into the bowl.

“S-So big...... If it’s like this, I’ll have to buy an ice pick and chip it down.”

When I said that, Fel replied with, “Is that too big?” And when I said yes to that, the ice suddenly broke down into dust. While I was struck dumb, Fel said, “Is this fine?” and I reflexively nodded over and over. It might be magic, but having it suddenly break like that is scary as hell...

Alright, let’s regroup and get to making this giant talepo tataki.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, season a lump of the giant talepo’s meat with salt and pepper. Then, quickly sear the meat on an oiled frying pan until the surface of the meat changes color.

Immediately cool the meat in Fel’s ice water. After that, use some kitchen paper to absorb some of the excess moisture out of the meat lump, and cut it into slices around 5mm thick. Line them up on a plate, add ponzu on top, and the dish is finished.

~◇~◇~◇~

I taste-tested an edge piece. Ohh! I can’t resist this soft and chewy texture.

A giant talepo was basically a huge ostrich, so I thought it would be basically the same as the ostrich I tasted before, but it seemed that I was wrong. I felt like it was closer to a cow’s red meat, but at any rate, the meat didn’t have any funk to it, and it was easy to eat. It went really well with the ponzu. In any case, it was a refreshing red meat with almost no fat in it, so it might be good fried.

Looks like I can look forward to the cutlet.

When I was about to store it in my Item Box for now......

“Hey, why are you putting it away? Give it here.”

Ahh, looks like the hunger brigade won’t wait.

“I’m planning to make another dish, so I was going to serve them together. Do you want this now?”

“Give it.”

Fine, fine.

I placed the plate of giant talepo tataki in front of Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui.

“Ohh! I can’t resist this texture!”

You totally get it, Fel. It’s so chewy since the inside is raw, right?

《This meat is so clean and refreshing, I can’t get enough of it!》

So Dora-chan likes it too. It really does go well with ponzu.

《Master — where’s the rest?》

So fast. So Sui’s already done?

After quickly making another round of ostrich tataki, I started on the cutlets.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, put the panko in a vinyl bag and pound it until the consistency is fine, then put it in a mixing bowl and whisk it with the powdered cheese and herb salt.

Then, pound the giant talepo meat so it’s thin and stretched, before seasoning it with salt and pepper. Coat the meat in flour and then a beaten egg, before coating it with the mixture of cheese, herb salt, and panko.

Create about a 1cm deep pool of olive oil in a frying pan, heat it, and start frying the breaded giant talepo meat. Once it’s well browned, it’s finished.

Since the breading itself is flavored with powdered cheese and herb salt, it’s fine even on its own. It’s also a good idea to add lemon to taste.

~◇~◇~◇~

After pumping out more and more cutlets, I served three each to Fel and Sui, and one to Dora.

“It’s fine on its own, but it’s also good with some lemon juice to add a bit of sourness. How do you guys want it?”

“Add the lemon on the next serving.”

《I’m fine like this. And I’ll probably be full after eating this.》

《Add the sourness on the next one too for Sui—.》

Sure thing.

After cooking up another serving of giant talepo cutlets for Fel and Sui, I started eating the tataki and milano-style cutlets I’d saved for myself.

And also, this......

*Psshhhht* *Glugglug*

Aaaaahhh~, beer’s great.

After a bite of some chewy, refreshing ostrich tataki, I took a draught of beer.

So nice~. This combo might be the best in hot weather, I think.

As for the cutlet, I had a bite of it as it was.

It’s so crispy, it’s delicious. Also, I can totally taste the cheese in this breading, wow.

It was a pretty refreshing type of meat already, so even fried, I felt like I could eat as many as I wanted.

Ahh, beer. I need some beer.

*Glugluglug* *Puhhahhh~*

I wonder why fried stuff and beer go so well together. Whoops, I need to try it with some lemon juice. I tried putting lemon juice on the remaining cutlets.

With the acidity of the lemon juice, it’s even more refreshing. Yep yep, it’s great.

“More.” 《More.》

I served Fel and Sui another round of cutlets with lemon juice on them. It didn’t look like they hated it, but it did seem like both Fel and Sui preferred it without the lemon juice.

After having another round of the cutlets without lemon juice, it seemed like Fel and Sui were finally satisfied.

It occurred to me that the giant talepo cutlets would do well with bread as well, like it would be good with some ketchup and some cabbage or lettuce in between two buns. And so, I made some extra giant talepo cutlets, storing them for later in my Item Box.

After that, I laid out the futons for Fel in the kennel and returned to my room with Sui. Sui fell asleep since it was full, but I still had something I needed to do.

In order to test the abilities of the magic bag, I was going to try marinating something. I would be making the standard miso marinade. This time, I wasn’t using just orc meat, but also bloody horn-bull meat.

After repeating the cycle of cutting the meat and adding it in to pickle, I ended up with several extra-large vinyl zip-up bags of pickling meat.

And into the magic bag they go. Let’s make some miso-pickled bowls tomorrow.

I also wanted to make some more ground meat, since the mincer Sui made for me was so nice. The handle turned easily, so I’d probably be able to make a lot of ground meat quickly.

After grinding out a large amount of orc and bloody horn-bull meat, I went to sleep.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had arrived at the Adventurer’s guild.

Elrand will probably come down for me due to a report from an employee, even if I don’t talk to anyone...

My business today was the sale of my drops from the dungeon.

I wonder if Elrand and Ugohl are done deciding? Well, if they haven’t, I can just come back tomorrow, though.

By the way, I made miso-flavored bloody horn-bull bowls for breakfast this morning, and the pickling was just right, so it was a winner.

It was about time to leave for the next town, though, since I’d already been through the dungeon.

No matter what, it’ll have to be after I make this sale, though. And I want to pre-make some food for the journey, as well.

“Mukohda, welcome. Now now, this way.”

“Today, I will be joining you.”

You’re here, Elrand. And I see Ugohl is here today, too. Well, he’s probably just here to keep an eye on Elrand. Since he’s got a... history.

The three of us headed for the familiar guildmaster’s room on the second floor.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“We’ll be buying all of your orc hides, lizardman skins, ogre hides, troll hides, minotaur pelts, ogre magic stones (very small), troll magic stones (small), minotaur magic stones (small), and giant killer mantis magic stones (small). Other than that, we’d also like to buy fifteen of your paralyze butterfly paralyzing scales, twenty of your wild ape furs, and also your magic bag (small) since it’s for sale.”

So said the sub-guildmaster, Ugohl. Apparently, materials for leather armor were needed everywhere. Because such materials from the dungeon were especially tough, they were popular — so they wanted to acquire as much as they could.

As for the magic stones, those would be useful no matter how many they had, and they wanted as many of the popular small ones as they could get. However, there was one person who went against Ugohl’s wishes......

“N-No you see, Ugohl, all the stuff you said earlier is fine and all, but you know... why not some more rare stuff...?”

Ugohl reacted to Elrand’s statement with a powerful glare. “Guildmaster, after that loooong talk we had yesterday about this, are you still going on about that?” Ugohl asked, glaring — but Elrand didn’t back down.

“W-Well yeah, I know that all the stuff you just said will bring this guild a lot of profit. But you know, I think the job of adventurer has a lot of dreams in it. In order to show off that dream of getting rich quick, we should get something like, say, the vaasuki fangs or hide on this list, or the manticore hide or venom stinger, or Gustav’s hide or fangs or spine would all be good, I think. By the way, my recommendation would be the vaasuki fangs, the manticore venom stinger, and Gustav’s fangs and spine. Ahh, it might also be a good idea to splurge and get the behemoth hide, too,” said the beautiful elf, smiling from ear to ear.

A woman might have been tricked in one shot by that, but his opponent was Ugohl — Ugohl, who held Elrand’s reins firmly, would never have been taken in by that. “Hmph! You say stuff like getting rich quick, but all the materials you just talked about, like the vaasuki fangs or Gustav’s spine are all materials for a sword, right? You’re just trying to fit in your own hobbies.”

Elrand started acting suspiciously in response to Ugohl’s accusation. “N-N-Nonono, th-that’s wrong, okay? Th-There’s no way I would do that.”

No, Elrand, you’re stuttering way too much to be believable. That’s basically like saying, “Yes, you’re right,” you know?

“You probably just want to make another sword and put it up with the earth dragon sword you’re going to make from what you just bought from Sir Mukohda here, right?”

Whaat? No way... I thought that, but Elrand reacted with a start and stiffened up, saying, “How did you......”

Wha? Really? For that dumbass reason?

“My god, you are...... You know, just how much do you think each of those things you wanted are? Each one is worth about half of the entire list I just gave to Sir Mukohda here, right? And not only did you spout that nonsense, you even said something as ridiculous as going for the behemoth’s hide. For that, not only would half not be enough, it’s worth more than the entire list I just said!”

*BANG*

Ugohl, clearly agitated, banged on the table.

Woah, Ugohl’s super mad. W-Well, I totally get it, though.

“C-Come on, Ugohl, you don’t have to be that mad. I just wanted to float the idea......”

Nonono, you didn’t float anything, weren’t you thinking you’d actually be able to get one?

“Hahh, whatever. Just shut up, guildmaster.”

Oh my, he was told to shut up.

“Excuse us for our miserable behavior, Sir Mukohda. The list of things we’re going to buy is just as I said earlier, is that okay?”

“Yes, of course. About the goods, what should I do, take them out here?”

“Given the amount, please do that in the storehouse. I will calculate the amount owed after inspecting the items, so we will be paying you tomorrow.”

Well, that makes sense, I guess. Since he has to check the items and stuff, too.

“Oh, also, I want to talk to you about something before you head to the storehouse......”

In short, Ugohl wanted to ask me if I would consider selling the items I got from the dungeon to the Merchant’s guild. Normally, anything an Adventurer gets and wants to sell goes through the Adventurer’s guild, but this time the rewards I got from the dungeon were too numerous, so the Adventurer’s guild couldn’t pay for everything.

It seemed like the Merchant’s guild knew that as well, and requested to be able to buy some items, even if it was after the Adventurer’s guild was already done.

“As you know, the Adventurer’s guild buys items from adventurers in order to protect them, since it would be pretty tough for an adventurer to square off against a sly old fox of a merchant. It wouldn’t be surprising for people to get tricked and get their items bought at a much lower price than their actual value. So this is in order to prevent that and protect adventurers, but there are times when it’s accepted, like when it’s a small amount, or in times like this.”

I see. A small transaction, just like what I did with Lambert before. Now that I think about it, Lambert did say, ‘Buying without going through the guilds is something that gets you marked by both of them, but if it’s a small transaction then they’ll close their eyes to it.’ So this is one of those times, since the Adventurer’s guild can’t buy it all, I see.

“The last time this happened, the guildmaster’s party — who had stopped just short of conquering the dungeon — came back with a lot of gemstones and the like, so it seems like the Merchant’s guild is looking forward to that kind of thing.”

I see. I do have a lot of gemstones and stuff. I don’t have to sell them off right away, but honestly I don’t have any interest in gems or anything. If they’ll buy it, I don’t mind at all.

“So, if you have time, I’d like you to come with me to the Merchant’s guild after this, or even tomorrow. There is no need to hurry, but there’ve been several messages from the Merchant’s guild already......”

“If that’s the case, I’m fine to go after this.”

“Really? That’s really helpful, thank you. Well then, after going to the storehouse, I will show you to the Merchant’s guild.”

After that proclamation by Ugohl, Elrand, who’d been silent up until now, chimed in.

“Wait a second. I’ll show Mukohda to the Merchant’s guild. It would be better for the guildmaster to do it.” Elrand said that like it was a matter of course, but Ugohl didn’t even bat an eye.

“What are you talking about? Are you trying to make up excuses to avoid doing your work again? I won’t let you do that, you know? Guildmaster, you stay here and do your job. Also, how are your preparations for going to the capital? I told you to do that, right?” In response to Ugohl’s question, Elrand suspiciously averted his eyes.

Oh no, he totally hasn’t done it.

“Hahh~, so you haven’t. You have some gall to be saying you’ll guide him, then.”

“No, after all...... I really don’t want to go at all, you know? It’s so much trouble......”

Don’t just say it’s trouble and leak out your real thoughts like that. You know you’re a guildmaster, right? At least in title. Oh, actually, I had something I wanted to ask him.

“Elrand, if you’re going to the capital, does that mean you’ll meet the king?”

“Yes. I’ll be having an audience with him.”

“If that’s the case......” I took something from the dungeon out from my Item Box.

“Please give this to the king. He’s been treating me really well, after all. It’s thanks to him that Fel, the others, and I can all be this free, and we’re not bothered by any nobles. I’m really thankful. Please tell him thanks, and to please keep taking care of me from now on.”

I thought of this since Elrand said that he’d be going to the capital and to the royal palace. It was thanks to the king’s decision that I was able to live this free, without any strange interference from any nobles, either. I was really thankful to him; also, I wanted to imply a message of, ‘Please keep treating me well.’

Well, in short, it’s an investment. If I’m able to secure my continued freedom like this, then it’s a small price to pay.

“Yes, that’s fine...... this is?” Elrand asked, looking at what I handed him.

“Ahh, that’s something I got from a treasure chest in the dungeon, a ‘Necklace of Antidotes.’”

When I said that, both Elrand and Ugohl were surprised. “This is a magic item! Are you sure?”

“I think it would be better for the king to have this.”

In a lot of ways. When someone is in a position as high up as a king, assassinations from poison seem like a possibility.

“Well, it would be an item that those in the palace would pay an arm and a leg for...... are you really sure? If you sold it, you’d get quite a lot of money, you know?”

“Of course. Please give it to the king.”

Thanks to Fel and the others, I was completely set for money, after all. Also, honestly, since we all had blessings from gods, something like a ‘Necklace of Antidotes’ was completely useless to us.

All hail nullifying status effects, and all that.

“See, guildmaster, not only do you have to give a report, you now have an important job. Now you have to take care of a wonderful item like this and give it to the king. It’ll be trouble if you take shortcuts. Now please focus and get your preparations ready, got it?” Ugohl put the nail in Elrand’s coffin. “Now then, let’s get to the storehouse.”

After waking up Fel and Dora-chan, who’d completely fallen asleep behind my chair, I went to the storehouse with Ugohl. By the way, Sui was still inside the usual bag.

“Now then, can you bring it all out?”

“Yes. First will be the orc hides, okay? Then, the lizardman skins, ogre hides, troll hides......” And so it went...... “...And fifteen of the paralyze butterfly paralyzing scales. Uhmm, what else was there?” The list was too long, so I forgot.

“Twenty of the wild ape pelts, and your magic bag (small).”

Ahh, right right. I produced the twenty wild ape pelts and the magic bag (small).

“I think this is all of it, but please make sure.”

When I said that, Ugohl, Marcel (who was also in the storehouse), and the other butchers that were free all helped to confirm the items.

“Looks like that is fine. And that too...... Sir Mukohda, I confirm that we have received everything. We will hurry with our assessment and make the payment tomorrow.”

Whew~, finally, I managed to get rid of some of the stuff from the dungeon. But there’s still quite a bit left.

“Now then, I will show you to the Merchant’s guild.”

That’s right. I still have to go to the Merchant’s guild after this.

Following after Ugohl, we headed for the Merchant’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

The Merchant’s guild in Dolan was quite a splendid building facing the main street. When I followed Ugohl into that building, a man in his late 40’s, with a good build that looked like the perfect image of a merchant, was waiting.

“We’ve been waiting. Now now, this way.”

Uhm, is it all right for Fel and the others to come along, too?

Seeing me hesitate a little, he said, “Your familiars are fine to come, too.”

As expected of a merchant, he really pays attention to the details.

We were lead to a room behind the reception counter of the guild. There was another room off to the side, and seeing some merchant-like men enter, it seemed like a room for making deals.

Just barely, Fel managed to make it into the room.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the guildmaster for the Merchant’s guild branch here in Dolan. My name is Adriano. Pleased to meet you.”

It felt like that was what would happen... So the guildmaster himself came all the way to greet me, huh?

“I’m Mukohda. The pleasure is ours.” Since I’m a member of the Merchant’s guild at least in name, I should be polite here.

“Sorry for all the repeated requests, Mr. Ugohl.”

“No no, I completely understand.”

“Well then, why don’t we get down to business: can I get you to show me the goods?”

“From what I heard from Ugohl, you’re looking for gems and the like — is my understanding correct?”

“Yes, please.”

Now that the subject was on me showing my gems, Adriano said that he’d like to call in an employee to appraise them, to which I agreed.

The person that came in was an old man in his mid-60’s with sharp eyes that gave off the impression that he was a veteran appraiser that’d been in the field for more than 10 years.

“Well then, I’ll bring them out.” I produced the gems and similar items that I’d gotten from the dungeon out onto a soft cloth that’d been spread out on the table.

“First are these rubies.”

The old man appraiser brought out a magnifying glass and stared into the small ruby I gave him.

Wait, so this world had lenses for magnifying glasses and stuff? Oh yeah, I have been seeing glasses every once in a while, haven’t I? Well, they’ve all been people that seemed like they had money, so they’re probably quite expensive.

“It’s small, but a brilliant red. As expected of something from the dungeon.”

Thank goodness, it matched up to the old appraiser’s standards. “Uhm, is it alright to keep bringing things out?”

Rather than bringing them out one at a time, would it be better to just reveal it all at once?

“No, these are the first gemstones from the dungeon in a while, after all. We’ll have to carefully appraise each one. It would be best for you to take them out one at a time for us so we can take our time.”

I see.

I did as the old appraiser asked, and brought out the goods one by one. Emerald, aquamarine, garnets: I produced gemstones one after the other.

“This is an imperial topaz.” When I said that and produced the imperial topaz, the old appraiser threw his eyes open wide.

“An imperial topaz!! How many decades has it been since I’ve seen this golden color? This is incredible! There are no flaws, and it’s larger than the ones I’ve seen before this,” said the old appraiser excitedly, getting closer to the imperial topaz with his magnifying glass.

“For Ruslan to get this excited... is it that good?” Adriano asked the old appraiser.

So the old man is named Ruslan, huh?

“Indeed. This is wonderful. More than anything else, imperial topazes are rare — it’s a very precious gemstone. Only those people in the know would get this gemstone, but those who do know of the imperial topaz’s worth will definitely want it. Also, this coloring is a slightly reddish gold. Gold is a color of good portents, so even if they don’t know of imperial topaz, there will be a lot of people who will want to buy it, I think.”

“Certainly. This clear golden color is very attractive,” Adriano said, nodding at Ruslan’s explanation.

I’m not too familiar with the prices of gemstones, but it seems that the imperial topaz is pretty expensive. Wait, if we stop here, this’ll end up taking even longer. There’s still a lot more, so I’ll keep bringing them out.

“Uhm, can I keep going?”

“Ohh, sorry. Next, please.”

I brought out the sapphires, alexandrites, and diamonds. Ruslan raised a cry for each new gem I brought out.

“Whoohh! As I thought, the gems from the dungeon are of a different level of quality.”

“Are they that different?”

“Yes. First of all, they have almost no flaws at all, and have clear, pure colors, without any cloudiness in them. Each and every one of them is a prime specimen.”

Hohh, so that’s what dungeon-produced gems are like? I did think that they’d sell for a lot since they were gemstones... So, they’re all high-quality, huh?

“Next is a diamond ring I got from a treasure chest.”

“Oh-hohh, so this has been made into a ring from the beginning I see. The design is a little dated, but the diamond is wonderful.”

It seems like the dungeon doesn’t keep up with the latest designs, huh?

“Next is a tanzanite necklace. This also came from a treasure chest.”

“The design of this one is just a little behind the times as well, but tanzanite is a rare and valuable gemstone. It has a slightly different color from sapphires, which are also blue, as tanzanite tends to be a little purplish. How exquisite.”

So the design of this one has some problems too, huh? But it looks like the stone itself is rare and valuable.

...And the last one. Personally, I feel like this one is the most valuable. It came from a treasure chest on the 29th floor, and it’s the largest one; even someone as disinterested in gems as I am thinks it’s pretty.

“And this one is the last. A yellow diamond that came out of a treasure chest on the 29th floor.”

I showed the large yellow diamond that’d been cut into a teardrop shape to Ruslan.

“Th-This is......” Ruslan reverentially took the yellow diamond into his hands, and carefully looked it over.

“R-Ruslan?!”

In response to Adriano, who called out to Ruslan in surprise, I also looked over at the old man. And of all things, he was crying.

“I feel so incredibly moved right now. Now, with most of my life behind me, to think that I would be able to lay my eyes on something like this......”

In response to Ruslan’s words, someone gave an audible gulp.

“First is the rarity of a colored diamond. Diamonds with colors are truly rare. Not only that, but this strong yellow color with this transparency is excellent. Since golden colors are auspicious, just like the imperial topaz, it will probably have crowds of people after it. Also, this size is also magnificent. You’ll only rarely find diamonds of this size. Not only that, but it’s colored, so I shouldn’t have to tell you more about that. Also, this cut can only be described as beautiful. It’s not inferior to ones cut by the most skilled craftsmen............ In conclusion, I’ve been looking at gemstones for a long time, but I have never seen one as wonderful as this one. It wouldn’t be too far to call this the pinnacle of gemstones, in the entire world. I will guarantee this one’s quality.”

............The peak. Th-That good, huh? I glanced quickly towards Adriano and Ugohl, and the two of them were wide-eyed in surprise at Ruslan’s words.

“W-Well then, we will be discussing what to buy, so please wait for a little while,” said Adriano, managing to regroup from the shock and taking Ruslan out of the room.

While we were waiting, an employee from the Merchant’s guild came in and served some tea.

This tea is great. It’s like Darjeeling tea, but it’s not like a cheap one from a tea bag, but a high-quality one that’s bought as a souvenir.

“As expected, after showing them something like that, of course the Merchant’s guild would put out the best tea,” said Ugohl, taking a gulp out of the tea.

“Huh? This is the highest quality of tea?”

“Yes. It’s called Dolrin tea, since it can only be found in a province named Dolrin in the Kingdom of Erman.”

Ohh, I see.

We waited for a while, drinking down the highest quality Dolrin tea.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Sorry for keeping you waiting.” With those words, Adriano and Ruslan stepped into the room. “Well then, as for what we want to buy......”

Summarizing what Adriano wanted to buy, it was a ruby (small), emerald (small), aquamarine (small), garnet (small), amethyst (small) x2, peridot (small), a gold ingot, imperial topaz (medium), diamond (large), diamond (medium) x2, diamond (small) x2, and the diamond ring. There were a lot of diamonds in the list, so it seemed like diamonds were popular in this world too.

Even so, it looks like they didn’t reach for the yellow diamond, huh?

“We want to buy the items we just listed; is that all right?”

When I answered in the affirmative, Adriano started explaining the prices. “The ruby (small) is 180 gold coins, the emerald (small) will be 170, the aquamarine (small) 140, the garnet (small) 120, the two amethysts (small) are 80 gold each and will total 160 gold, the peridot (small) is 110 gold, the gold ingot is worth 300 gold, the imperial topaz (medium) is worth 1600 gold, the diamond (large) 1500 gold, the two diamonds (medium) are 750 gold each for 1500 gold total, the two diamonds (small) will be 500 gold each, totaling 1000 gold, and the diamond ring will be 680 gold. The total for all of this is 7460 gold coins. These are my prices: are they to your satisfaction?”

............G-Gems sure are amazing. They’re this expensive in this world, too. He said 7460 gold... Amazing...... “Yes, it’s fi-”

“Please wait a minute.” When I tried to give my assent, Ugohl cut in. “About your prices, the price for the imperial topaz and the diamonds are clearly far too low. I am, in fact, working as the sub-guildmaster at the Adventurer’s guild, after all. In order to expand my knowledge base, I’ve made sure to see and listen to a lot of different subjects. The imperial topaz is one of those subjects, believe it or not. The imperial topaz has another name, the “phantom gem.” Among gemstone enthusiasts, it’s an extremely rare, highly esteemed object, right? And everyone knows that for gems, the larger it is, the more valuable. At this size, isn’t only 1600 gold for the “phantom gem” a little strange? The same goes for the diamonds. Diamonds are an extremely popular gem, and there’s a shortage of stock everywhere. You’ll have to put some more flavor on that price. Not only that, but the price is even too low for something not taken from the dungeon. Especially the large diamond, that one is the most undervalued. I’ve seen a diamond about this big that didn’t come from the dungeon priced at 1500 gold before. With that in mind, paying 1500 gold for a large diamond that came from the dungeon is just strange. These prices make a mockery of negotiations.”

O-Ohh... r-really? Wow, good thing Ugohl is with me. I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but if it was Elrand, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. I had no idea about the values of gems, so if it wasn’t for Ugohl, I would have totally just said “Okay.”

“Mukohda, you don’t really need to sell these gems right now, do you?” Ugohl turned the subject of the conversation towards me, and I nodded.

I’m not exactly troubled for money at the moment. So it’s not like I really need money right now or anything.

“If that’s the case, you can also sell these at an Adventurer’s guild in a different town. You’re an adventurer, after all, Sir Mukohda. This should have been the case in the first place, so wouldn’t it be fine if you did that?”

He’s right, that might be the way to go.

“Wait a second, please. You say that Sir Mukohda is an adventurer, but isn’t he also registered at the Merchant’s guild?” So argued Adriano.

Ugohl was a little surprised hearing that I was registered to the Merchant’s guild. But you know, Adriano, so what if I’m registered at the Merchant’s guild? Could you possibly be saying that since I’m registered to this guild, I should just let you buy them as is? Isn’t that asking just a little too much? I’m not troubled for money, but after hearing Ugohl’s explanation, I’m feeling like I’m being tricked here.

“It’s true that I’m registered at the Merchant’s guild, but I’m only Iron ranked. I’m pretty okay at cooking, so I registered, thinking it would be nice to set up a stand or something. But now I’ve got more familiars, so I’m acting mainly as an adventurer nowadays. It could be that I might not renew my membership at the Merchant’s guild.”

It wasn’t much, but I tried supporting Ugohl. In reality, thanks to Fel and the others, I’ve basically been solely an adventurer. And in any case, of the two, I’ve mostly been in the care of the Adventurer’s guild, too.

“There you have it. If you keep treating our adventurers this way, we’ll have to think up our own countermeasures, you see,” Ugohl said, an unfriendly smile showing on his face, glaring for a while at the similarly smiling Adriano. It was almost as if there were some invisible sparks jumping in between the two.

However, this time Adriano was at a slight disadvantage. Adriano said, “Please wait a little while,” and started whispering with Ruslan.

“Ahem. Excuse us. About our previously stated price, we’re thinking of revising it a little bit. The new price for the imperial topaz will be 2100 gold pieces, the diamond (large) 2000 gold, the 2 diamonds (medium) will be 1000 each for a total of 2000, the 2 diamonds (small) will be 700 each for a total of 1400, and the diamond ring will now be 800 gold. This changes the total to 9480 gold pieces: how about it?”

Ohh, it jumped quite a bit, somehow. Is this fine?

Shooting a glance at Ugohl, I saw him nod firmly. Great, this looks fine, then.

“Yes, please.”

When I said that, Adriano breathed a sigh of relief. “Well then, as for the payment, given the price, would it be all right to pay in white gold and large gold coins?”

“Yes, that’ll be fine.”

When I agreed, Adriano stood up. Now that I think about it, this’ll be the first time I’ve seen a white gold coin.

When Adriano returned, he was carrying some coinage that glowed blue-white on a tray. “Well then, with 94 white gold coins and 8 large gold coins, the total is 9480 gold. Please confirm the amount.”

Looks like white gold is made my mixing mithril with gold, huh? And there’s 94 of them, along with 8 large gold coins.

“Yes, the amount is correct. Well then, here it is......” I took the money, and handed over the gems.

“Yes, this is also correct.” Ruslan took the gems and left the room.

How quick.

“We’ve done some good business. Thank you very much.” said Adriano.

“The pleasure was ours.” I said that, and tried to return with Ugohl, but I was stopped by Adriano.

“Sir Mukohda, you’re registered to the Merchant’s guild, and you say you’re pretty good at cooking, so I have something I’d like to borrow your knowledge for......”

Huh? What could it be......?

It seemed that Adriano was hoping to hear about a new recipe. His problem was that, currently, he only had food that could basically be found at any restaurant. I guess it should be expected of the guildmaster of the Merchant’s guild. Even if you fall, you won’t get up for free, is it? Adriano?

Well, they did raise the price of the sale by quite a bit (though that was probably thanks to Ugohl pointing things out, from now on, they’d probably offer me much better deals), so if it was just thinking of a dish, I could do it.

Listening to our conversation, Ugohl understood that it had nothing to do with the Adventurer’s guild and quickly excused himself.

“Cooking is just boiling or grilling, so it can’t really be helped that everything turns out the same, though......” On top of that, for seasoning there was basically just salt and a little bit of pepper, and some herbs, so it might have been inevitable that every place ended up with the same food.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re from this country, Sir Mukohda, so since you can cook, I’d be thankful if you could teach me something new. This place has a lot of adventurers, so something that pairs well with alcohol would be even better.”

Hmmm, if I could use the seasonings I get from my Online Supermarket, then I could bring out any number of good dishes, but...... I can’t. Just salt and pepper for seasoning. From what he said, it seems like I should avoid expensive ingredients as much as possible, so pepper might actually be impossible. I get not using expensive ingredients, since normal restaurants don’t use them, either. But something that pairs well with alcohol...... This is hard.

Ah! Oh yeah, Adriano did just say that, “Cooking is just boiling or grilling,” didn’t he? If that’s the case......

“Mr. Adriano, what about frying?”

“Frying? What kind of cooking is that?”

“You fry food in oil. Uhhh, it’s like boiling in oil, I guess.”

“Frying in oil, boiling...... Hmmm, I don’t really get it.”

Oh, looks like there really isn’t any knowledge of frying here. If that’s the case, then I’ve thought of the perfect dish.

The most common oil in this world was olive oil. Apparently, there was a huge area that produced it which was thriving, so the price wasn’t that high. As for salt, since this country was bordered by the sea, it wasn’t that expensive, either. Thinking like that, the dish I thought of wouldn’t be that pricey. And it went well with alcohol. I even think it’d be perfect with the ale that was so common in this world.

“I did think of a dish, so should I try making it?”

“Ohh! That would be great! Everyone will probably want to know about this new dish, so shall I call people over?”

“That would be fine, but......” It’s a little embarrassing to be watched by people, but I guess there’s nothing for it. More importantly, I need a large space to bring out the magic stove...

When I asked about that, for some reason, the result was that I would be doing my demonstration on the large space in front of the reception desk of the guild. When I told him that I’d need olive oil and salt, he immediately procured it.

Well then, let’s get cooking, I guess.

First, let’s get this magic stove out in the open. When I did so, the gallery cried in surprise. After that, I could hear people saying things like, “That’s a pretty huge Item Box, huh?” or, “That’s the newest model of magic stove.”

I’m just gonna have to ignore them.

This time, I’d be making french fries. If it’s fries, the cooking’ll be simple, and the cost of the ingredients won’t be that high, and it’s perfect for a snack with alcohol.

First up is the potatoes, right? I still had the potatoes I bought before I went into the dungeon, so I picked some that hadn’t sprouted yet and washed them. If I remember right, they’re still called potatoes here, I think?

“Uhmm, after thoooroughly washing the potatoes and wiping them, cut them like this. If it’s properly washed, you can even leave the skin on. This time I’ll be cutting the potatoes like this, but you can cut them thinner or thicker as you like to change how it feels to eat. Please try experimenting on your own for that. Also, since you all use potatoes a lot you should already know, but if the potato has eyes, cut them out, and peel the skin deeper than normal, okay?”

With those words, I left the skin on the potatoes and started cutting them. Although the price of the ingredients wasn’t high, it would probably be a good idea to not use that much oil, so it’d take a while to cook. I guess I’ll just fry them in a pan.

“Then, put the potatoes in a frying pan and pour oil in it until it lightly submerges your potatoes. Once that’s done, put it on medium heat. And let the heat slowly warm up the pan.” The magic stove lit with a sound. Now let’s just leave things like this for a while.

“Once the oil starts bubbling like this and the potatoes start to float, turn the heat to high and fry until the surface is crunchy and the food starts to smell good. Once that’s done, take it out and make sure to get rid of any excess oil. Then, sprinkle on some salt, and it’s done. If you’re worried that the insides aren’t properly cooked, then once the potatoes start to float, you can take one out, split it open, and check. However, doing things this way will take some time, so preheating the oiled pan is also a way to do it. For oil, I used olive oil just now, but animal fat works as well. I think it’d be great to experiment with that along with ways to cut them. Ah, it uses oil, so be careful of fires.”

The method I just used was really only for home cooking, after all. If you were making it for a restaurant, then you’d need to make a larger amount, and the cutting style and oil all made for different textures and flavors. At least, that’s what I think. In my opinion, testing that stuff out for oneself would be best.

“Well then, please try some.” When I served up the freshly fried potatoes, the gallery all gathered around. “It’s hot, so be careful.”

Everyone was trying out the freshly made fries while blowing through their mouths.

“Ohhh! The outside is crispy, but the inside is nice and fluffy — it’s great!”

“The salt works well, and I can’t stop my hand from just reaching out for more.”

“This really does seem like it’d go great with ale.”

“More than anything, the ingredients don’t cost much, which is nice.”

“Not only that, but it’s simple, so we can even put them on the menu today, if we wanted.”

Looks like it’s generally going over well. Well, it’s not like I’ve ever heard of anyone who hates fries. All that’s left is to change how you cut it like I said before, but they’ll have to do that part by themselves.

“Maaan, Sir Mukohda, thank you, truly. I’m in awe at your idea to fry things in oil. Not only that, but the ingredients aren’t too expensive, and it goes well with alcohol. For you to teach us of such a wonderful dish, I’m truly grateful,” Adriano said after approaching me.

Looking at those smiling faces that continue from beginning to end, it looks like the fries are good. I did think that it was a little too simple, but this was the only thing that came to mind for something that was easy to make and only used ingredients available here. If they were this happy over me teaching them how to make fries, then I’m happy too.

“It’s not much, but my guild will pay for your renewal fees for the next year.”

“Really? That’s great.” Just for teaching them how to make fries, my next renewal was made free. That was lucky. Well then, my business here is done, so I guess I should clean up, wake up the familiars, and leave.

All three of them got bored and took a nap... Now then, once we’re back I’ll have to cook for them too, huh?

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Thank you very much.”

Saying my goodbyes to Adriano, we left the Merchant’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

First up is everyone’s food, huh? I had made a lot of ground meat out of orcs and bloody horn-bulls yesterday, so I was thinking of using that.

I would be making meatloaf. When I mulled over what to make, I figured that meatloaf would be a good idea since I already had the ground meat. And since meatloaf uses the oven, I can use the burners for something else. I was thinking of using them to steam rice, as well as make some minced meat with soy sauce for storage. It’d be convenient to have some made, after all.

It’s tasty, and goes great with rice. You can make it into a rice bowl, or even pack the meat into a rice ball.

Well then, let’s get cooking.

The meatloaf I’d be making was a simple one using only store-bought ingredients. As long as you could get stuff from the Supermarket, it was easy to make. I already had onions, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, and panko, but I had to buy everything else. That means I ended up with bacon, frozen mixed vegetables, packs of hard-boiled quail eggs, chicken eggs, butter, and also a pound cake mold.

After washing the rice and while I was letting it soak, I started making the meatloaf.

~◇~◇~◇~

After pouring some panko into a bowl, add some milk and let it soak.

Meanwhile, mince some onions, melt some butter in a frying pan, and start cooking the minced onions. Once the onions go a little clear, add in the frozen mixed vegetables while they’re still frozen, and cook until the vegetables thaw.

Add in the orc and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat along with the cooked minced onions and mixed vegetables, as well as some eggs, salt and pepper, and also nutmeg (if I remember the recipe correctly), and mix together until the result becomes sticky. This part is basically the same as if you were making a Hamburg steak. Just about the only thing that’s different is the presence of the mixed vegetables.

Once the base of the meatloaf is done, spread some bacon into the pound cake mold. Then, pack in about half of the meatloaf base tightly into the mold, so as to push out any bits of air trapped inside. With that done, line up 2 quail eggs each in the middle of the pound cake mold and push in the rest of the meatloaf mix. I used quail eggs this time, but of course regular boiled eggs would be just fine.

Fold in any pieces of bacon that have been pushed outside of the mold, cover the top with aluminum foil, and start baking in the oven. Around 30 minutes at 200 degrees would be best, but there was no way the oven in this magic stove would have a temperature setting, so the only choice was to watch it and see how it does.

~◇~◇~◇~

Whoops, I need to get to cooking the rice.

While cooking the rice on a burner on top, the meatloaf was baking in the oven on the bottom. Since it was big, I could make quite a lot of meatloaf all at once.

“It should be just about done.” I opened the oven and tried sticking a skewer into the meatloaf. I only see clear meat juice here, so this is done.

After that, I just needed to put on the sauce. I moved the built-up extra meat juice from the pound cake mold to a pot. There, I added in butter and some ketchup, chuno sauce, and red wine. After boiling it all together for a while, the sauce was done too.

I started cutting the meatloaf. Fel and Sui would get three portions of the pound cake-molded meatloaf, and Dora-chan would get two (I kept the end pieces for myself, though). After lining them up in dishes, I put on the sauce and they were finished.

“Heyy, I’m done.”

When I served up the dishes with the meatloaf in them, everyone quickly started eating.

“Mn, there are vegetables in this...... Well, it is not inedible, and the taste is... all right.”

Just how much of a meat supremacist is Fel? Wow. Sure there’s mixed vegetables in there, but they’re all chopped to bits. Come on, just eat it. Wait, he’s complaining but he sure is eating a whole lot anyway...

《This thick tare is good. Yeah... yeah, it’s pretty damn tasty!》

Dora-chan’s tongue has gotten pretty sharp lately. The thick sauce is perfect, right? I also think sauce with about this consistency is best for ground meat.

《Woww! There’s something in the middle! Is it an egg? You know, Sui loves eggs so Sui is happy there’s both meat and eggs.》

Ohh, I see I see. So you love it when there’s eggs, huh? It might be a good idea to make scotch eggs for Sui next time.

I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since it’d been a while since I made one, but in the end, Fel and Dora-chan were both wolfing the food down, and Sui was entranced by it, so it seems like the meatloaf was a success. Now let’s see, I should eat too.

It looked good. The surface of the cut showed the two lined up quail eggs, and it was putting on a somewhat fancy air. Now just wipe up some sauce and... nom! Ohh, the sauce is great! The butter and red wine make for a thick and rich sauce, and it pairs perfectly with the meatloaf. It’s the same with Hamburg steaks, but thick sauces like this really do make me think that they go best with ground meat. The vegetable medley mixed in adds a lot of texture, which is also great. The quail eggs are also a real treat in here. It would be fine even without them, but the eggs really do bring out a luxurious feel to the dish. Also, the bacon surrounding it adds saltiness and flavor.

“More.” 《More.》

Both Fel and Sui wanted more, huh? It looked like Dora-chan was satisfied with what he had, and was lying face up, saying something like, “Man, I sure ate.”

But I was fully prepared. The oven was large, so I could make a whole lot at once. This magic stove was super convenient. It was great that I bought it, really.

After that, Fel and Sui had two more servings and were full, but Dora-chan asked for the ‘jiggly stuff,’ so using that opportunity, it was now time for dessert. Of course Dora-chan had the pudding, Fel had his favorite strawberry shortcake, and Sui wanted something different again, so I went with a milk crepe this time.

They must all be part of the “sweets go into a different stomach” camp since it looked like they were enjoying the desserts immensely.

Even though everyone was finished eating, I still had lots to do. I needed to steam rice, and also make the minced meat with soy sauce for storage. I used the burner next to the one I was using to steam rice to make it.

~◇~◇~◇~

After putting some oil in a pot and heating it up, add in the minced orc meat and cook it until it starts forming distinct clumps. Then, throw in soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, and grated ginger (the kind that comes in tubes is okay) and cook until all the liquid is gone, and it’s complete. All that’s left is to cool it down and preserve it in an appropriately-sized container.

~◇~◇~◇~

Not only was it really simple, it was perfect for a small side-dish, so making some beforehand was really convenient. And for the meat, mixed meat, beef, or even chicken worked just fine. I’d personally been saved by this meal a lot in the days just before pay day.

Whew~, this much should be fine for today.

............Ah! Mr. Ugohl!

Mr. Ugohl really treated me well today. If he wasn’t around, then I would have ended up selling the gems for too low a price. Personally, I’m not in need of money thanks to Fel, and I don’t have a lot of knowledge on gems at all, so if Ugohl hadn’t spoken up, I would have just been fine with the first price they gave. Most likely, it would have been the same if Elrand was the one with me instead (since he seems useless for anything other than dragons).

If someone asked me whether or not I was angry at the Merchant’s guild at all for that, I’d have to say that I was. But, from their perspective, of course they’d definitely want to get it all for as cheap as possible, so with that in mind, I can’t really say that the price they first gave was really wrong, either. It’s not like I thought that they were trying to totally rip people off.

However, I’d painfully experienced just how much of a difference some knowledge makes; if I had known as much as Ugohl did, I’d be able to fight back. But that kind of knowledge didn’t just come immediately, so if I wanted to sell things off at a proper price, it’d probably be best to stick to selling to Adventurer’s guilds from now on.

Well, leaving that aside for now, I really was treated well by Mr. Ugohl today so I was thinking of a way to thank him.

Yeah, the only thing that comes straight to my mind for these sorts of things really is just sweets. I did hear in passing that Ugohl had both a wife and child, so something that he can share with his family would probably make him even happier. But still, it’s not like I can just straight up hand him a cake or something from Fumiya...... So it’d have to be handmade, but even though I cook quite a bit, I still haven’t really touched pastries or confections much.

As I kept thinking on it, I happened to look over at the pound cake mold I used to make meatloaf. “Ah! Right, I did somehow manage to make a pound cake before, didn’t I?”

Heheheh, don’t you dare underestimate my history part-timing in restaurants.

I worked part-time at a cafe while I was a student, and that place was pretty famous for having really delicious coffee. There, the most popular cake set was delicious coffee paired with either a pound cake, chiffon cake, or rare cheesecake. These cake sets weren’t just popular with the girls, old men were also fans of it. I was, too. Coffee also pairs great with simple hand-made cakes.

At any rate, I did make the cakes there before, so I do — at least somewhat — have skill in making pound cakes, chiffon cakes, and rare cheesecakes. It was quite a long while ago, but I still remembered the steps. And I already have a pound cake mold, so let’s just try making one.

The only thing I was worried about was that the ingredients would all end up being from my world, bought through my skill, so he’d end up being affected by it and have his stats buffed. But, from my experience cooking food like this before, it shouldn’t be that pronounced, I think. It’ll be fine if I just appraise the finished product, and quit while I’m ahead if it’s way too much. So, for now, I decided to just try making one.

What I needed was unsalted butter, sugar, low viscosity wheat flour and eggs, and also baking powder and vanilla essence. I already had eggs, but everything else I had to buy using my skill. I also picked up a whisk and a rubber spatula. I used a hand mixer in the store, but that wouldn’t be possible here.

The basic ingredients of a pound cake were flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. And the basic way to cook it was just to mix them all together equally. It was really simple, so it was easy to memorize. In the store, we also added baking powder to give it a lighter and airier feel. Also, we added vanilla essence for fragrance. I was planning to faithfully recreate that place’s pound cake.

~◇~◇~◇~

First are the preparations. Warm the unsalted butter and eggs to room temperature, sieve some flour and baking powder together, and lay a baking sheet in the pound cake mold.

Once all that’s done, put some warmed unsalted butter into a bowl and whisk until it forms a white, creamy consistency. Next, take the whitened butter and mix with sugar until it becomes fluffy and airy. At that point, take the warmed beaten eggs and add it in and repeat mixing before also adding in a little vanilla essence. Once the eggs are added, if it starts separating the whole thing will become a mess, so be careful.

Then, add in the sieved powder mixture, and quickly mix it all together with the rubber spatula. Once it stops being powdery, you’re fine. Pour the completed dough into the pound cake mold, and poke a dent into the middle before tapping on the sides of the mold to try to get rid of any trapped air.

Bake it at around 170 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. After around 10 minutes in the oven, score it with a knife. Doing so will make it look better when it’s done.

~◇~◇~◇~

I kept watch on it while it was cooking in the magic stove, and once I thought it was done I poked a skewer inside to check.

“Yep, looks done.”

Once it was done, I popped it out of the mold and cooled it off before wrapping it and putting it in storage.

When handing it over to Mr. Ugohl, I’d remove the wrap and put it on a plate. Oh yeah, it might be nice to buy a basket with a lid to put it in and just hand that over, huh? Even with Elrand being Elrand, he did also help me, so I made a portion for him, too. If he was like Mr. Ugohl and had a wife or children, he might have been happy for the sweets, but Elrand was said to be a broken-hearted single.

Ah, right. I need to appraise it.

【Pound Cake】

A pound cake made out of ingredients from another world. Raises magic power by 1% for 5 minutes.

1% for 5 minutes, huh? This much won’t really be a problem; it should be fine. Now, I have to go to the Adventurer’s guild tomorrow to get my money, so I’ll just hand these over then. And it would be fine to just buy a lidded basket on the way there if there happened to be a store that had one.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We were walking down the road toward the Adventurer’s guild.

“Mm? I smell cooking meat.” Fel said, his nose twitching.

《He’s right.》 Dora-chan, who was flying, also had his nose twitching.

Following the trail of the smell, we found it coming from a stall outside the store I was going to stop by on the way to the Adventurer’s guild. Fel and Dora-chan naturally made their way towards the stall.

“Woah!!” The man running the stall was surprised at the sudden appearance of Fel, the huge wolf, and Dora-chan, the tiny dragon.

“Ah, sorry. They’re my familiars, it’s okay.” Calling out to him, I saw the obviously relieved face the guy was making.

“Ohh, I see. It scared me, I thought that some monsters appeared in the middle of town. Hahaha!”

Fel and Dora-chan’s eyes were nailed onto the skewers that were being grilled in the stall. Lured by the smell, even Sui jumped out of the bag.

Sui’s a slime, but it looks like it can smell just fine, huh? It was a mystery how Sui did it, but Sui was already a ridiculous kind of slime anyway. After all, Sui could make medicine and blacksmith too. At this point, I’m pretty sure Sui could just about do anything.

Still though, all three of them were paying too much attention to those skewers. Even though I properly gave them breakfast in the morning...

“Ahh... want some?” I tried asking the three of them, as they were basically camped out in formation in front of the stall, staring at the meat.

《Yes.》 《Totally.》 《Eaaatt.》 Came everyone’s telepathic responses.

《How many?》

《I can do 30.》

《Hmm... I can do about 15?》

《Sui can also eat 30—.》

Damn, you all really eat a lot.

“Excuse me, can I get seventy-six skewers?” That was enough for all three of them, with one for me. I got done in by the smell of the charcoal grill too.

The skewers here had a little extra meat on them, with three pieces each, and were 7 iron coins a skewer. Including an annoyance fee for Fel and the others crowding the stall, I handed over 6 silver to the man running it.

“You can keep the change.”

“Really? Thanks, man. Then I’ll just hand over what’s finished now, and I’ll grill the rest.” Saying so, the guy handed over the fifty skewers that were already finished. I produced some dishes from my Item Box, and I separated the meat from their skewers and onto the plates. For now, I gave Fel and Sui twenty each and Dora-chan ten.

“Here you go.”

Everyone immediately jumped on the food.

《This is horn rabbit meat, I see. There is a world of difference compared to your cooking, but well it is not like this is inedible.》

What do you even mean not inedible? Weren’t you the one that got lured here by the smell?

《Don’t you feel sorry for that guy comparing this cooking to his? It’s a little hard and there’s only salt, but it hasn’t been that long since it’s been grilled, so it’s not like I can’t eat it.》

You say that too, Dora-chan, but you were also drawn here by the smell.

《The meat master cooks is the most delicious! But this... the meat is a little hard, but it’s savory in its own way and good!》

Thanks, Sui. The charcoal grill is its selling point, huh? It does make the whole thing smell and thus taste better.

I was wondering what meat it was... so this is horn rabbit, huh? According to the guy manning the grill, horn rabbit was a pretty popular meat. Apparently for stalls selling skewers, this was the most common. After hearing more, it seemed that the guy had just recently moved to Dolan, and just started his stall business today.

“Selling this much on my first day bodes well!” said the guy, happily.

All of these guys eat tons, after all. In the end, I bought a lot.

“Here you go, it’s done.”

Taking the finished skewers from the guy, I added another ten each to Fel’s and Sui’s dishes, and another five to Dora-chan’s. “It’s hot, so be careful.”

Now then, I should try this myself.

*Chomp*

The only seasoning here was salt, but since it was grilled with charcoal, the fragrance was great and it was pretty good. It’s tougher than the meat we usually eat, but this is certainly appealing in its own right. More than anything, the smell from the charcoal grilling was irresistible.

Charcoal grilled meat is tasty... I wonder how good it would be if I charcoal grilled orc meat, or bloody horn-bull meat, or wyvern meat...... If I make full use of the seasonings I can get with my skill, I should be able to make it even better, too. Ahhh, I want to have a barbecue. Meat is good, but a seafood barbecue would be nice too. And right now we’re heading for the fishing town of Berléand too.

Hmm... I might want a barbecue grill. If my Online Supermarket has the same barbecue grill that I saw in the home center I’d buy it immediately, but they probably don’t... I tried looking around, and I didn’t see anything, after all.

Well, even if they did, I probably couldn’t hope for one that was large enough. Fel and the others were around, so if I didn’t have a large one, it wouldn’t be of much use... Could I get Sui to make one for me? .........No, that’s no good. Every time I had Sui make something for me, I did so after showing it an example of what I wanted and asking if it could do it, but I didn’t have an example on me. I remembered the shape of the barbecue grill I saw before, so I could draw it and try explaining it to Sui, but that’d probably be too hard a hurdle.

Hmmm, I want a barbecue grill but I guess I’ll just have to give up on that. It’s too bad, though. Now then, looks like Fel and the others are done eating.

After cleaning up the plates, let’s stop by the store to pick up a basket before heading to the Adventurer’s guild.

Gossip: Three Heroes ~Escape from the Kingdom ①~

Recently, Rio had been acting strange. She didn’t really listen to us at all. I didn’t like admitting this, but between the three of us, Rio was the one who was usually the most reasonable. And even so, recently she’d been at Leonard’s beck and call.

Rio was in love with Leonard, and I knew that people liked to align themselves with the people they liked, but it was still kind of strange. How should I put it, rather than it being like interacting with the person you love, it’s more like...... right, like a master and servant. I couldn’t shake that feeling.

I tried telling this to Kanon too, and it seemed that she felt the same way, but she said, “Maidens in love are just like that,” and didn’t pay it any mind. However, with what happened recently, even Kanon couldn’t just explain it away anymore.

As for what happened, it occurred while we were out on a routine monster-hunting quest in order to raise our levels. The request we’d accepted from the Adventurer’s guild was to exterminate a band of orcs that had infested a village near the capital. Our methods involved Leonard coming up with a plan, telling us about it, and then we would go out to hunt the monsters. But this time, things didn’t go as planned.

Kanon came forward a little late. In the end, we managed to exterminate the orcs, but thanks to Kanon being late, we had a little more trouble than we should have. Kanon got reprimanded by the knights and told to exercise more caution. Kanon herself knew that it was her own fault, so she accepted it honestly. Kanon even said herself, “Today was my fault. I’ll have to do better next time.” She was reflecting on it seriously.

Even so...... As soon as it became just us three — Kanon, Rio, and I — Rio started blaming Kanon. “Why didn’t you do as Leonard said?! Are you stupid, Kanon?!” Starting with those words, she threw around other words like ‘fool’ as well. Angry like a raging fire, Rio laid into Kanon with the dirtiest words she could muster.

Kanon and I were simply confused by how far she was taking it. Rio wasn’t the type to do this kind of thing. At the very least, she wouldn’t berate her friends like this. Thanks to that, Kanon finally recognized that Rio was being weird.

When Kanon and I discussed why that happened, we couldn’t think of any standout reason.

“I feel like it’s got to be the stress.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. We did just get thrown here straight from modern Japan, after all.”

“But, if that’s the case then we’re the same......”

“Yeah. For just Rio to become like that......”

The idea that the stress was the biggest reason for her behavior came up and was the best one we had, but neither of us were really convinced by that......

In the end, neither of us could come up with a compelling reason and we spent our days in worry.

It was at that time. I ended up hearing the knights talking.

“Rio’s turning out well.”

“Yes. She’s loyal to what I say.”

“It might be about time for us to put the Dominance Bracelet on either Kaito or Kanon now.”

“If that’s the case I’ll put it on Kanon first. I want to hurry up and finish this annoying job after all. As long as I get this on her, she’s all mine. After all, the only ones who can take these things off are us, the masters.”

“Then next will be Kanon. And lastly......”

“Kaito, right? If I can put the bracelet on Kaito I can get promoted too. I’ll definitely get it done.”

I hid my breathing and listened in on Leonard, Aaron, and Louise’s conversation. When the three of them finally left, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

A ‘Dominance Bracelet’? From that name, it probably forces the wearer to comply to orders like a slave, right? And they put that kind of thing on Rio? I finally realized what this country was up to.

They were trying to use us up like slaves.

I immediately talked about it with Kanon. At first, she didn’t believe me, but she finally did after appraising Rio’s bracelet.

When I tried using Appraisal on the bracelet, it read:

【Dominance Bracelet】

It was the same whether Kanon or I appraised it. It was probably because our levels were still low, but we were only able to read the name. But nothing good could come out of anything named something like a ‘Dominance Bracelet’.

“At any rate, we need to leave this country as soon as possible.”

“I think so too, but what about Rio? From what you said, Kaito, only the master can take it off, right? The master must be Leonard. And he’ll probably never take that off......”

“You’re right...... Anyway, we’ll just have to think of a solution. But there might not be enough time.”

“Because Aaron wants to put one of those on me, too, right?”

“Yeah. If the situation ever goes that way, just put it off however you can. But I think it’ll only work once. It’s them we’re talking about, so if you have to do it two or three times, they’ll probably figure out that we know about the bracelets. If it comes to that, they’ll try to immediately put it on us by force.”

“Yes, you’re probably right. If he ever tries to put the bracelet on me, I’ll do whatever I can to put it off......”

A few days after that conversation, Aaron made an approach just like we were watching out for. Kanon somehow managed to get him to back off, but it seemed like there wouldn’t be a next time.

“Kanon, this is going to be pretty harsh, but please think of just running away with me and leaving Rio behind.”

As for Rio’s situation, no solution came to mind in the end. While feeling guilty and sorry for Rio, I could only figure out a way to run away — just Kanon and I, leaving Rio behind, since we were the only ones with free will. Kanon must also have not come up with anything regarding Rio, as she only quietly replied, “Got it...”

With little time to spare, Kanon and I started discussing where to go even if we did leave the country. We did things like sneak into the library to look at maps, and after gathering as much information as we could, we figured that the neighboring country of Marveil was probably the best place to go.

In reality I wanted to head for the kingdom of Erman or Leonhardt, but both of those were too far. We were said to be heroes, but we weren’t stupid enough to think that made us invincible. We knew that there were people and monsters that were stronger than we were. Assuming that we headed for either the Kingdom of Erman or Leonhardt, it would all be over if we encountered a strong monster on the way.

And even if we headed for Erman or Leonhardt from the kingdom of Reijseger, any country on the way would be too close to here. When I thought of being caught on the way there and being made to go back, or being caught up to by people chasing us, we ended up deciding that it would be best to first head to a country where Reijseger couldn’t reach. Since that was the case, the neighboring kingdom of Marveil would be the fastest.

Right now, the kingdoms of Reijseger and Marveil were close to war. The opening of hostilities was only a matter of time. And in that state, there was no way Marveil would ever help Reijseger. Even if it was found out that we were heroes, they probably wouldn’t return us to Reijseger anyway.

At any rate, we decided to look for an opportunity to leave, and then head for the kingdom of Marveil. So we would be able to run at any time, we started to stockpile food and clothing. The only regret was that we’d be leaving Rio behind.

Chapter 4: I Want a Barbecue Grill!

We had come to the Adventurer’s guild. I’d already put the pound cake in the basket I bought, and my preparations were complete.

He was probably used to it, as even without saying anything, Elrand immediately came over. And I was once again led to the familiar guildmaster’s room on the 2nd floor.

“Ugohl will be arriving too, so please wait a little. I did tell him I’d be fine by myself, though. But Ugohl wouldn’t listen, and kept saying he’d mediate......” said Elrand, seeming a little unsatisfied.

No, I get how Ugohl feels. You always immediately try to skip work and stuff.

“Sorry for keeping you two waiting.” I didn’t have to wait that long for Ugohl to come into the room. “Well then, getting to it, I want to hurry and hand over the money we owe you for the purchases we made yesterday. Ehhmm... the specifics are......” It looked like parchment, but whatever it was, Ugohl flipped through it as he confirmed the specifics of the sale.

“First are the 125 orc hides for 1000 gold, then the 63 lizardman skins for 630 gold, the 102 ogre hides for 2040 gold, 113 troll hides for 2486 gold, 88 minotaur pelts for 1672 gold, 21 ogre magic stones (very small) for 315 gold, 23 troll magic stones (small) for 460 gold, 20 minotaur magic stones (small) for 380 gold, 7 giant killer mantis magic stones (small) for 147 gold, 15 bottles of the paralyze butterfly’s paralyzing scales for 75 gold, 20 wild ape pelts for 160 gold, and a magic bag (small) for 280 gold makes for a total of 9645 gold. The amount being what it is, we would like to emulate the Merchant’s guild here and pay you with white gold and large gold coins. Would that be acceptable?”

When I agreed to their suggestion, Mr. Ugohl lined up 96 white gold coins, 4 large gold coins, and 5 gold coins on the table with a, “Well then.”

“This is the money, please confirm the amount.”

The white gold coins number 1, 2, 3...... 96, and there are 4 large gold and 5 gold coins. Yeah, this looks fine. “Yes, there are no problems.”

“This time, thanks to your efforts, Sir Mukohda, we’ve been able to acquire a large amount of hides and magic stones. Truly, thank you for your contributions,” said Ugohl with a smile.

“......It would have been better with the vaasuki fangs or the manticore poison barb or Gustav’s fangs or spine, though......” Elrand whispered.

“Guildmaster, did you say something?”

“No, not really.”

......No, what are you doing playing dumb? You totally said something, whisper and all.

“Well, whatever. I’ll let it go this time. I really did want to just punch you when I heard that you’d bought earth dragon materials without consulting me, but in the end you were right, and the blood and liver and stuff sold for more than I thought they would. Thanks to that, we’re able to buy a lot of what Sir Mukohda brought back from the dungeon like this.”

“Yeah, yeah, right? Wasn’t I right? I can do it when I try. So, I’m wondering, as a reward, if you could give me a budget to make the earth dragon’s fang into a sword right away?”

As soon as those words left Elrand’s mouth, a vein popped on Ugohl’s forehead.

Ahh, you said something you shouldn’t have.

All this guy does is make Ugohl mad. To an onlooker, he’s just a good-for-nothing, but Ugohl sure has it hard since he has to spend so much time with him. I pay respect to your hard work.

“Guildmaster, I did agree that you could make a sword out of the earth dragon’s fang and decorate the guild with it. Reluctantly, I must admit. However, consider the materials. Even if we were to order one, not just anyone would do. It doesn’t seem like you understand, but we do have a limit to our budget. As a guild, nothing would be better than to be able to make this as cheap as possible. To that end, we’ll have to have meetings and consultations in order to decide who we will be trusting with this task. And you’re saying that you want to step all over that decision, and simply throw large amounts of money around to get it done right away? Given the materials, I’m sure it’s possible if you just throw money around. By asking for funds right now, does that mean that you, as the guildmaster, want me to give you money that should be used to run the guild in order for you to satisfy your greed? Well, does it?”

Oof, he cornered Elrand with logic, there’s no room to counter like this.

“N-No, not especially. I didn’t go that far.” Elrand said, not meeting Ugohl’s gaze.

“Not that far, you say? That’s what giving you funds right now means, you know?”

It’s basically like an auction. I see... Ugohl wants to entrust the task to the main blacksmithing workshop that offers the best conditions.

“You know guildmaster, in the first place.........”

Oof, Ugohl started lecturing him. Elrand has a reluctant face on, he probably isn’t listening at all. W-Well, Elrand never learns, I guess. For now, he’s been treating me well too, so I guess I should help him out a bit.

“Uhm, Mr. Ugohl.”

“Ahh! Excuse me, Sir Mukohda. The guildmaster is so useless, I couldn’t help myself.”

Ah, Ugohl just called the guildmaster useless right in front of him. “No, it’s fine. More importantly, I have something I want to give to the two of you. Uhm......”

I placed the basket with the pound cake in it before the two of them.

“Mr. Ugohl, you treated me well the other day in the Merchant’s guild, and Elrand has been taking care of me ever since the earth dragon. So this is just a small token of my appreciation, something of a pastry. Please enjoy it.”

“Eh, is it really alright?”

“Yes, please.”

“Oh, this is great. My wife and child love these kinds of things.” And now Ugohl was smiling too. It seemed like I wasn’t wrong in choosing this, thank goodness.

“I’m also weak to sweet things, so I’m happy too. Let’s enjoy this now with some tea.” Surprisingly, it looked like Elrand liked sweets too.

“Guildmaster, what do you mean by that? You haven’t even started on your work yet — why are you taking time to enjoy tea?” Once again, Ugohl’s forehead lit up with some twitching veins.

“N-No, that’s not it. O-Of course I’ll do my work, don’t be silly... hahaha......”

Yeah, just do your work already, Elrand. You have to go to the capital too, so you have to make those preparations as well. Now then, it’s about time to leave, I think.

Wait, ah! Blacksmithing workshops came up earlier, and if I think about it couldn’t I get them to make me a barbecue grill?

When I asked Ugohl, it seemed that since this was a dungeon city, almost all of the blacksmiths here specialized in weapons.

“So I can’t get them to make me something that’s not a weapon?”

“There are a lot of stubborn ones amongst the blacksmiths, after all. I can’t say what will happen until you talk to them.”

As I thought. For now, I guess I just have to go there and try negotiating, then.

We left the Adventurer’s guild, and headed for the area where all the blacksmithing workshops are.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“YOU IDIOOOTT!!! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! DON’T YOU DARE SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN!!!”

I turned my back to the store I just got yelled out of. This was the 5th one.

Coming here to the blacksmith workshops after leaving the Adventurer’s guild was fine, but no place I went to would make me a barbecue grill. At first, they all said, “What kind of weapon do you want?” But when I replied with, “No, it’s not a weapon, I want something like this......” and showed them an explanation I drew on paper, every single one of them flipped out in the middle.

When I thought of blacksmiths, I imagined dwarves, and just like my imagination, all five of the places I’d went to were headed by dwarves. Just like their appearances suggested, they were stubborn old men, but they didn’t have to yell that loudly. Dwarves have fuses as short as their stature, huh?

Ugohl did tell me that this place’s blacksmiths were all stubborn and specialized in weapons, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad. Why not just make it, you know? It’s not like you can’t make anything other than weapons. Still though, what to do...

............Ah, alcohol! All these blacksmiths are dwarves. And “dwarves” means alcohol. If I show them some booze I buy with my skill......

Khheheheh, this’ll work. I can totally do this.

Now that that was decided, it was time to buy some booze. Entering a back alley where no one would see me, I opened up my Online Supermarket.

What would be good? It’s gotta be something that’s at least decently strong, right? If that’s the case...... whisky’s pretty safe, isn’t it? And speaking of whisky, it’s gotta be this. I don’t really drink whisky, but when I hear of it, I always think of this one. It’s a square-bottled whisky from a certain Japanese maker.

I bought a 700ml bottle. It was alcohol from another world, but I didn’t think it was that different from anything that could be found here. For now, let’s try appraising it.

【Whisky】

Otherworld whisky. High in alcohol content. Will lower HP by 2% for 5 minutes.

Oof, it’s a debuff, not a buff. So it’s not always a good thing to get something through my Online Supermarket, huh? 2% lower for 5 minutes, is it? Is that because it’s alcohol? Is being drunk a status effect? I didn’t really understand it, but it was good that I figured this out now. And it didn’t seem like anything would change that dramatically with this whisky.

Good, then let’s take this into the next place.

“Excuse meee?”

“Hm? A customer, huh? What is it?” When I entered the shop, there was a short, squat, but solidly built old-man dwarf with a scruffy beard and a stubborn-seeming manner.

Great, just like I expected. This might work. “Uhm, I want to order something......”

“Sure. What weapon do you want?”

As I thought, orders basically equal weapons for these people, huh? “Uhh, I don’t want to order a weapon...... can I just get you to listen to my request anyway?”

The old dwarf’s eyebrows wrinkled together as soon as I mentioned it wasn’t a weapon. “Not a weapon, you say...?”

“Yes. Putting aside whether or not you’ll make it, I’d appreciate if you’d at least listen to me.”

“Well, I’m free right now so I’ll at least listen. I’ll decide whether or not I’ll actually do it after that though.”

“Yes, that’s completely fine.”

I explained what I wanted while drawing on a piece of parchment that I’d bought from a store beforehand. “Around this large, and this drawer here would be for putting coal in. And you see on this side, you could put a net over it, but I’d like you to make a hole here. Doing that will help the coal that you put in the drawer burn better. Also, I’d like you to make the netting on top here removable, as I’m going to be grilling meat on it.”

There was also Fel and the others to consider, but I was also thinking that it’d be nice to open a stall with this in the future, so I asked for a bigger size.

“......Hahh~, just go home. You’re lucky I’m gentle for a dwarf. You know, if you were talking to any of the other bosses around here they’d blow you away.”

Well, they didn’t go quite that far, but...... “I’ve already been yelled out of several places.”

“What? So you’ve been to other places already? Then you understand, right? There’s no workshop here that’ll take your order.”

Hmmm, so the workshops here are completely devoted to weapons, huh? But you know, I understood that already after being told no so many times. This time, though, I have an anti-dwarf secret weapon with me. Will you still refuse?

“Changing the subject, do you like alcohol, boss?”

“You can tell just by looking at me, right? I’m a dwarf, you know? There’s no way I’d hate alcohol.” The old man was making a face like I’d just asked the extremely obvious.

So dwarves loving alcohol doesn’t even need to be said at this point, huh?

“To tell you the truth, I have one of these......” I took a cup and the bottle of whisky out of my Item Box and showed them to the dwarf. “This is a really rare type of alcohol, and it’s strong, so I think it’ll match your dwarven tastes.”

Looking at the bottle of whisky I had in my hands, the dwarven boss swallowed with an audible gulp.

“Feel free to try a cup.” I opened up the whisky and filled the cup. The scent of alcohol mixed with something sweet started wafting around. I proffered the cup filled with the amber-colored liquid to the dwarf.

When the boss accepted the cup in hand, drawn to it, he took a swig after taking in the scent of the amber liquid. “Kkkhhh!!! So good! What the hell is this?! This is the first time I’ve ever tasted alcohol this good!!!”

Khheheh, looks like the secret weapon works just fine.

“You see, this alcohol is made in small amounts in that group of small countries, so it’s hard to get a hold of. I have a little of it, you know? If you take my order, I can hand over five of these along with the regular payment.”

How’s this? Going from his reaction, it seems like he’s taken quite a liking to whisky. It looked like the old man was thinking my offer over.

“......Ten bottles. If you hand over ten bottles along with the regular payment, I’ll do it.”

Great! Looks like the whisky worked wonders. “Got it, I’ll give you ten bottles. And this will be thanks for taking the order.”

When I handed over the bottle I’d just opened, the old dwarf happily poured some into a cup. “Hahhh, so good. So there was liquor like this around.” Those words spilled out of the old dwarf’s mouth while he drank.

I said something random like, ‘it was made in small amounts in a part of the group of small countries,’ but it was actually from another world. I didn’t really drink whisky, so I wasn’t really informed about this, but this whisky had been popular for a really long time. And if it’s been loved for that long, it’s gotta be good, I think.

“How long will it take to finish?”

“Let’s see... three days. Come back in three days.”

“How much will it be?”

“It’s pretty big... along with the payment for the materials, around 350 gold, I’d say.”

That much won’t be a problem. “Well then, I’ll be back in three days, so I’m counting on you.”

“Sure. Don’t forget the alcohol, yourself.”

Not the money, but the alcohol, huh? Yep, he’s a dwarf, alright. I forced a laugh, saying, “Yeah, got it,” as I left the store.

As soon as I was out, I saw Fel and the others asleep outside. And Sui was always asleep in my bag in the first place.

《Heeyy, we’re going back,》 I said to the sleeping Fel and Dora-chan through telepathy.

《Mn...... are you done?》

《Huaahh~, you’re finally done, huh?》

《I kept you waiting. I don’t have anything else to do today, so let’s go back to the inn.》

《I am hungry, too. When we go back, make food.》

Wondering if it was really that late already, I found that the sun had dipped quite a bit. It seemed like explaining and negotiating ate quite a bit of time. Now then, what should I do for today?

I thought of the meat I had left in my Item Box. I’m running really low on orc general meat, right? I still have bloody horn-bull and wyvern meat, though, as well as the orc meat from the dungeon. Also, I have about half of the giant talepo that Fel caught, and also all the cockatrice and rockbird meat he got, too. Since that’s the case, I did want to try making that since the oven in the magic stove is so large. If it’s this oven, it’ll straight-up fit.

Right, let’s do that.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Now then, let’s start making dinner.

I would be making a simple whole roasted chicken stuffed with pilaf. I once tried making it for Christmas since I wanted to try eating one, and for some reason it started to become a tradition for me to make the roast chicken from then on for Christmas. Of course, I knew perfectly well how to make it.

Heheheh, I’ve been planning to do this someday ever since I bought this magic stove.

This time, I’d be using a whole cockatrice in my cooking. The cockatrice that had become just a lump of meat was about 1.5 meters in size, whole. As one might expect, roasting something like this whole should fill everyone up.

Opening my Online Supermarket, I bought some herb salt and frozen pilaf, and also a brush to spread the oil. Well then, let’s get to cooking.

Since I basically despise difficult things, the roast chicken I make is easy and simple. All it took was stuffing the frozen pilaf into a roast chicken and baking it. Making the pilaf from scratch just added work, but it might be a good idea if one had the time.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, thoroughly rub some herb salt into the whole of the cockatrice. Make sure to do so for the inside as well. Once that’s done, leave it alone for a while, and thaw the pilaf in the meantime.

Truthfully, it’ll be faster to just nuke it in a microwave, but as one might expect, it’ll just be impossible to do that here, so I’ll just cook it lightly in a pan to thaw it. I’ll be baking it in the oven too, so just lightly is fine.

Next, stuff the cockatrice’s belly with the thawed pilaf. Once the stuffing is done, close the opening with a skewer, and tie the legs together with some kitchen twine to prevent it from losing shape. Use a brush to paint olive oil over the entirety of the cockatrice, then put it on top of a baking tray that you’ve covered with a cooking sheet.

After that, just bake in a preheated oven. It’ll take slightly less than an hour at 200 degrees, but I’ll just have to eyeball it here.

While it’s baking, using the brush to baste the roast with its own melted fat will give it a good color and flavor, so I recommend it. Also, while it’s cooking, turning it over so it’s evenly browned will make the entire thing come out better as well.

If you’re worried about how it’s cooking, stick a skewer in somewhere where the heat doesn’t easily pass through, and if all you get out of it is clear fat, then you’re good.

Once it’s well browned, remove any skewers and the string to complete the roast.

~◇~◇~◇~

A whole roast chicken even by itself just looks extravagant, doesn’t it? On top of that, since it’s a larger cockatrice, the effect is even greater.

While I was looking at the finished roast chicken, I heard the voices of my hungry children.

“Looks good.”

《Give it to us already—!》

《It’s a huge chunk of meat~! Sui wants to hurry up and eat it...》

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the roast chicken.

“I’m going to take the bones and separate the portions, so wait a little.” While I deboned the roast, I also properly divided the meat and pilaf into everyone’s dishes.

“Here.”

As soon as I served up their food, all of them started eating, entranced.

“Mmm?! This is incredible!”

Right? Right? It’s good enough for even Fel to fall into a trance. Whole roasting it slowly in an oven really does make something completely different, huh?

《I love how the outside skin is so crisp! And this part has the flavor of that thing you call rice — it tastes amazing.》

Oh ho, so you totally get it, huh, Dora-chan? You’re completely correct! The crisp skin is irresistible, no? Also, the umami’s thoroughly soaked into the pilaf, so that’s great too.

《The skin is crispy, and the inside meat is soft and delicious, and all the meat juice just comes pouring out! This rice also tastes like the meat and is great, too—!》

As expected of Sui the gourmand, it knows. Both the crispness of the skin and the bursting juiciness of the meat is thanks to roasting the thing whole. And since the pilaf was stuffed into the meat and is now soaked full of its juices and flavor, one would never think that it’s just a frozen pilaf.

Looks like the roast chicken is a huge success. Now then, I should eat too.

I probably shouldn’t be saying this about something I made myself, but the melding of crispiness and juiciness is just too good. Being able to enjoy all the different parts of the chicken is one of the best parts of a whole roast, I think. Really, it’s so satisfying...

Fel and Sui both had another serving, and the roast chicken was cleanly finished off. All that was left were the bones. It looked like everyone enjoyed it, and they asked me to make it again. The dish was really simple, just stuffing and roasting it, so that might actually be a good idea.

《I’m counting on you for the jiggly stuff, got it—?》

“Dora-chan, I already told you that the jiggly stuff is called ‘pudding.’”

《Oh right. Give me some pudding. I haven’t had any yet today, so I want two.》

Dora-chan wants pudding, huh. And two at once... well he hasn’t eaten any yet today.

“I also want some. The usual.”

“By the usual, you mean strawberry shortcake, right? Do you want them both to be the same?”

“Yes.”

So it’s two of the usual strawberry shortcake for Fel I see.

《You know, Sui wants something Sui hasn’t eaten yet...》

So Sui’s looking for new flavors, huh?

I fulfilled each of their wishes through Fumiya: two custard puddings, two strawberry shortcakes, and for Sui, an apple pie and strawberry roll cake. I gave each of them their treats, and they all scarfed them down, making it all seem absolutely delectable. Having had their after-meal dessert, all of them were acting satisfied.

Personally, it’s a bit too early for me to be sleeping...... Ah, this is a good opportunity, so let’s have Sui make that. The thing I’ve been wanting Sui to make for a while now, a mithril frying pan.

“Sui, I have something I want to ask of you.”

《Wha~t?》

“This is called a frying pan, you see. I want you to make one that’s a little bigger; can you do it?”

As I showed Sui the frying pan, it touched the pan with its tentacle.《Yeah, Sui can make this thing right away—!》

If it’s a frying pan, looks like Sui can make one easily and quickly, huh?

I handed some mithril ore over to Sui.

《Uhhh... like this, and like this......... Here, it’s done—.》

Ohh, so quick. I tried picking up the mithril frying pan that Sui made and handed over to me.

How light. This is great. Let’s try it out right now.

I used the magic stove to heat up the mithril frying pan.

Huh? No, it’s too early to tell. Let’s increase the heat......... What’s going on? This thing’s not getting hot at all.

Putting my hand on the frying pan, I couldn’t feel any heat. “Why?”

For now, I tried appraising the mithril frying pan.

【Mithril Frying Pan】

A frying pan made of mithril. Since it’s mithril, it doesn’t conduct heat.

......‘Doesn’t conduct heat?’ What... it’s useless! If it doesn’t conduct heat there’s no point in it being a frying pan, is there? I thought it was nice since it’s so light, but like this, its usefulness is extremely limited!

With that in mind, the mincer I had Sui make before was actually reasonable since, if it won’t pass heat to the meat, you’d be able to grind it without damaging the meat. From now on, I’d have to remember the fact that it doesn’t conduct heat for any cooking tools I wanted to make...

At any rate, the frying pan is unusable, so I’ll have to remake it into something else, huh? But what would be good...... If it doesn’t conduct heat, I wonder if that means it’ll keep heat or cold inside... But thinking about Fel and the others, keeping heat might not be very necessary. It’ll be a whole thing if they start eating things that are way too hot anyway. It’d be better to cool it to the perfect temperature. So that would mean keeping the cold, huh? Let’s remake it into a cup for me, and also some deep dishes for Fel and the others for drinks, I guess.

“Sui, it looks like this doesn’t work for a frying pan, so can you remake it into one like this, and three like these?” I showed Sui the cup and the deep dishes we always used, and had it remake the frying pan.

《Here, it’s done—.》

“Oh! Thanks.” I quickly tried out the new mithril cup. Buying a bottle of iced coffee with my skill, I poured it into the mithril cup.

“Oh! Even without ice it’s cool.” Still though, I’d only just poured it in, so I decided to try it again after a while.

《Master — Sui also wants to try some of the fizzy stuff.》 Seeing me drink some iced coffee, Sui also asked for some carbonated stuff.

“Mn? Then I want some too.”

《Me too—.》

Both Fel and Dora-chan smoothly got on the bandwagon. Fine, fine, colas all around, huh? I bought cola for everyone with my skill.

“Here, I tried having this made so you could drink out of it. It’s mithril, so it’ll keep what’s inside cold.” I poured cola into each of their deep dishes.

“Hohh, it is true that this is still cool. However, you are about the only one who would have the notion to do something as frivolous as to make something like this out of a precious material like mithril.”

《Ahahaha! That’s no joke.》

《It’s cold and fizzy and sweet. I love it—.》

Say whatever you like. It’s not like you can only make mithril into weapons, so I’ll do whatever I like with it. It has a special attribute of not conducting heat, so it’s a little bit of a waste to just force mithril into being weapons. I’ll keep making cooking tools that seem like they’ll be perfect in mithril.

After finishing up the cola, Fel and Dora-chan both let out a yawn before lying sideways. Sui was also sleeping in the bag. I guess I should go back to my room, too.

By the way, the mithril cup kept the drinks perfectly cool, and the iced coffee I was drinking was as cold as it started until the end.

After returning to my room, I started on my other job. It’s about time for those people (gods) to get noisy if I don’t talk to them. And there’s the thing with the tenants, too. It’s really annoying, but there’s nothing I can do about it...... If I take too long with it, they’ll probably end up sending me an oracle, so I’ll just hurry up and give the goddesses and the others their offerings.

“Can you hear me, everyone?” When I called out to them, for some reason I got a bunch of noise and clamor back. You know I can’t understand you all if you keep talking all at once like that? “Uhm... if you all talk at once like that, I can’t understand you at all. Please, one at a time.”

I once again heard a bunch of noise and clamor. Then, those voices stopped all at once.

Looks like they reached an agreement.

＜I’m first! You! Th-Th-Th-That, that Fumiya?! What the hell is it?! Why isn’t that the stuff of dreams?! You did well in choosing that one! Good job! I give you my praise! Anyway, just give me all of Fumiya’s cakes! Fumiya’s cakes! Fumiya’s cakes! Hand over all of Fumiya’s cakes!＞

Ninrir, you divine disappointment, calm down. Well, I did predict that it would turn out like this though. Still though, this was... a lot.

＜Next is me! Y-You, just so you know, we know that you got to pick a Tenant because your unique skill leveled up. We know since we peeked in on your world — there should be an alcohol store among those tenants, no?＞

Grk!! That voice must be Hephaestos. It did seem likely that there could be liquor stores among the Tenants.

＜You unlock your next tenant at level 40, right? Great! Hurry up and go level. And reach level 40 as fast as you can. And make the next tenant a liquor store, got it?＞

Nonono, what do you even mean, go level? My level won’t raise that fast, you know? Actually, could you not just go demanding that of me?

＜He’s right. Go get to level 40 quickly. It’s fine if you do it like you intend to die. And go and get a liquor store tenant. And that way we’ll be able to get even more kinds of otherworld liquor. I’m tingling in excitement, wahahaha!＞

And this would be Vahagn. It’s fine if I do it like I intend to die, was it? ......Of course that wouldn’t be okay. I won’t do it, there’s no way, got it? I definitely wouldn’t do anything just to level up. It wasn’t like I was particularly inconvenienced right now, so I’d just level up incidentally while I lived my life as I would normally. Leave me alone!

＜Next is level 40, huh? With just that much, it should be fine to just go to another dungeon. Go. Go now. And it’s decided that your next tenant will be a liquor store.＞

Miss Agni...... I won’t go. I’ll say it again, never. I won’t go. What was she even saying, this goddess? I mean, she said the next one was decided to be a liquor store, but we didn’t even know what choices would show up next.

＜Wait a second~, please don’t just decide like that that the next tenant will be a liquor store. The next one’s got to be a drug store. I also looked in on the otherworlder boy’s world. Drug stores have a lot of makeup and beauty products, so I’ll be able to choose from a lot of those. The next one’s got to be a drug store, okay?＞

And this must be Kisharle, huh? You did some good research, to know about drug stores. But we didn’t even know if drug stores were an option in the first place. I didn’t even know what choices I’d get when I reached level 40 and could pick a new Tenant.

＜＜＜＜Anyway, just go get to level 40 ( got it?) ( go!) ( okay?) (right now!)＞＞＞＞

So everyone’s gonna say that in harmony, huh......? Please stop with this coercion. Doing it quickly is impossible. Utterly impossible. And it’s not like I’m inconvenienced in any way as I am. I don’t really need to level at all, I’m saying!

“Ahh— everyone, you’re telling me to hurry up to level 40, but I’m not really troubled as I am now, so I won’t be doing that. Leaving leveling while living your life aside, who would ever do something like going to gain levels specifically?”

I won’t do it, got it? Something like raising my level for Tenants.

＜What?! Who knows when you’ll get to level 40 if you say that?! You’re in a dungeon city already! Just go in again and get to level 40!＞

＜Right! Just go into the dungeon and hurry up to level 40! And no matter what, pick a liquor store for your tenant.＞

＜Yeah, it’s easy stuff since you have Perfect Defense and the ability to negate status ailments, right? Show us that you’re a man.＞

＜Right, right. Ignore the liquor, you should hurry up and get to level 40 so you can get a drug store as a Tenant~.＞

The gods Hephaestos, Vahagn, Agni, and even Kisharle were all just saying whatever they liked.

“Uhmm, I’m going to keep saying this, but I won’t do something like going out of my way to level up. If you’re going to force me into raising my level, I’ll just stop giving you offerings altogether, and return your blessings.”

As soon as I said that, Hephaestos, Vahagn, Agni, and Kisharle all started panicking.

＜No! You can’t do that! Definitely not! I’ll stop telling you to raise your levels!＞

＜R-Right! You don’t have to force yourself to gain levels.＞

＜Y-Yeah. You’re fine without leveling.＞

＜Y-Yes. After all, you’ll probably gain those levels naturally eventually anyway.＞

Good, seems like you all understand.

＜Oh yes! In exchange for us not bothering you to raise your level anymore, it’d be nice if you about double our allowance from 3 silver~. It looks like you’re making lots of money, after all.＞

Mm? Lady Kisharle, huh? How sharp.

＜Ohh! That’s a great idea.＞

＜Man, Kisharle, you sure come up with some good ideas sometimes.＞

＜Really!＞

＜I have Fumiya, so I don’t really care about Tenants, but doubling our allowance is a great idea.＞

＜......Double. Good.＞

All the gods were happy with Kisharle’s suggestion.

＜I shouldn’t be saying this myself, but I think it’s a great idea... Wait, Vahagn, what did you mean by ‘sometimes’? I always have good ideas~!＞

Well, Lady Kisharle, you said ‘in exchange’ when there’s nothing to exchange, though. Double of 3 silver. So 6 silver, huh? Hmmm, well I’ve been earning a lot of money recently, and even through all the quibbling, the gods have been giving me a lot, what with their blessings and skills and stuff...

“Understood. From now on, the allowance will be 6 silver. In exchange, no forcing me to raise my level, got it?”

After I made that announcement, I heard a bunch of cheers from their end.

“Okay, okay, quiet down. Now then, I’ll be taking your orders.”

＜Yes! Yeah, yeah! Me! First is me! Fumiya’s cakes! Their cakes, I say! I want all of them!!＞

Hahh~, that disappointment, Ninrir, did just say the same thing...

“Ninrir, 6 silver is way too little for all of them.”

＜Hmm? Is that so? Ah! Then I will choose them, so let me see all of them!＞

And now she wants to see, huh? It looked like she’d learned a bit about how my Online Supermarket worked. I guess she’s gotten smarter.

“Oh, fine. There are people after you, so be quick about it, okay?”

All of the gods and goddesses in line after her agreed with me in loud voices.

＜I know already. More importantly, hurry up and show me!＞

I had no other choice, so I opened up the menu so that Ninrir could see, too.

“If you want to try all kinds of them, then this would be the best.” I opened up the menu for cakes-by-the-slice.

＜Muhhoohh! S-So amazing! All of them look so good!!＞

They were all about 4 copper coins each, so that would be a total of fifteen cakes.

“If you choose from this menu, each one is at most 4 copper coins, so you’ll be able to get 15 of them.”

In response, Ninrir let out a loud, happy cheer. Is this goddess really fine?

＜Still, with this much to choose from I’m starting to feel lost...＞

“Then what about just choosing from top to bottom? Today you’ll get the top fifteen, and then the next time you’ll get the next fifteen, and so on.”

＜Ohh! What a good idea!! And just like that, I’ll conquer all of Fumiya’s products!!＞

Sure, sure. Whatever you like already. I loaded up Ninrir’s cake slices into the cart. “Who’s next?”

＜Of course, next is me—.＞

Lady Kisharle, huh?

＜I’m starting to run out of shampoo and hair treatment, so I’d like more of those. I’d also like to see what you have available.＞

Hmmm, Kisharle wants to see, too? Really, everyone had just gotten a little smarter and they were all already a lot more trouble. I couldn’t very well refuse to let Kisharle see when I allowed it for Ninrir, so I opened up the hair care page and let her see. When I did that, Kisharle started hitting me with questions like, ‘What kind of hair does this work best for?’ or, ‘What kind of scent is this?’

＜Ahh... They all look so good... Or rather, I never expected the other world to have so many kinds of shampoo and hair treatment. There’s even all sorts of fragrances... what should I do~?＞

Ahh, this is gonna take a while. It was the woman-specific “I-like-this-one-but-this-one-is-good-too” thing. This was the worst situation for people forced to carry their bags in the store or something. And if she takes too long......

＜Hey! Hurry up!＞

＜Yeah! You’re taking way too long!!＞

See? The liquor lovers are all annoyed.

And yet, Lady Kisharle paid no heed to those voices. ＜Really, I’m so lost. I can’t just count out the ones I’m using now since I like their scent...... Ahhhn, what to do~.＞

“If that’s the case, what about a refill pack for the shampoo and hair treatment you’re currently using, and then you can use your remaining allowance to buy two new bottles each for shampoo and hair treatment? That way, you can choose two of the series you’re most interested in. Then, you’ll be able to choose what to use depending on your mood.”

In response to my suggestion, Kisharle muttered something along the lines of, ‘According to my mood, huh? ......That works...’

“How about this new product here?”

When I tried calmly recommending a new product, Kisharle immediately latched on with a, “New, you said?!”

＜By new product, you mean ‘new’ and not ‘not used,’ right? Doesn’t that mean it’s better than the previous stuff?!＞

Well, since they’re new, they probably do mix in some new components and nutrients to make it better, yes. “I think that’s most likely......”

＜Then I’ll take that! Hey, is there anything else new?＞

“Ehhmm, there is. Looks like this one’s new too; do you want it?”

＜Yes, please.＞

“Then I’ll be getting these three.” I added the refills that Kisharle wanted, as well as the bottles of the new stuff. “Next please.”

＜It’s me, Agni. I want to get alcohol this time, too. I like beer the best, so I’d like to spend half on that. And use the second half on different stuff. I’m counting on you.＞

“You don’t care to see the menu?”

＜I’m good. It’s more fun to anticipate how things will taste while you’re drinking it.＞

I see, that does make some sense. Yeah, it’d be great if everyone was a little more like Agni. Alright then, let’s get to picking some out. She’s leaving it to me, and that’s making me want to get her something good. First is the beer, and that’s gotta be some of A-company’s premium beer (6-pack) and K-company’s premium beer (6 pack), right? Oh, also, Y-bisu beer (6 pack). After that...... Oh, there’s this, too.

There were some local beers too, so I chose those. A Takahara beer, three types of Echigo beer, and a beer from Yokohama. I also picked out an American whiskey, French rosé wine, and an Italian red wine. Great, this should have Agni set.

“Next......”

＜Ruka. I want the same as Ninrir.＞

Oh. Somehow, Ruka seems more aggressive than usual... “You also want Fumiya’s cakes today, Miss Ruka?”

＜Yes. Cake. Just like Ninrir, I want all different kinds.＞

So Ruka’s zeroed in on cakes this time too, huh? Seems like Ruka also likes sweet things, so I guess when she saw Fumiya’s cakes... So I guess I’ll just get the top fifteen, like with Ninrir. I put in a second set of the top fifteen cake slices, just like with Ninrir. Good, this should be it. “Next is......”

＜Yo! We’re next.＞

Last is the liquor lovers combo, Hephaestos and Vahagn, huh?

＜We want whisky and vodka, just like last time. But this time, we’ll be choosing ourselves. So hurry up and show us.＞

Fine, fine. I showed Hephaestos and Vahagn the whiskies that were on sale.

“These are the whiskies they have.”

＜Oh ho — so there were this many, I see. With this much, I understand being lost.＞

＜Man, otherworld alcohol is amazing. Each one of these is different, right?＞

“Yes. They’re all whisky, but they’re all different makers from different places. Ehhm, they all differ slightly in taste according to people, it seems.”

＜I see. How amazing. I want to try all of them, but we’re on a budget......＞

＜Yeah. So hey...... Would you increase our budget a little?＞

“No. I’ve already doubled it.”

＜＜Tch!＞＞

These two, did they just click their tongues at me?! They totally did.

＜By the way, out of these, which ones would you recommend?＞

“Hmm, I don’t really drink whisky...... Ah, it’ll be a little more expensive than the others, but I’ve heard quite a bit that this one is good. Also, I think it’s ranked at the top of the whisky world?”

Domestic whisky from S-company... If I’m remembering right, they were on the news because they got ranked the world’s number one whisky. And I’d been hearing that they were good from all the liquor fanatics I knew, too.

＜＜The world’s best whisky... *gulp* *gulp*＞＞

Somehow, they achieved beautiful harmony there... And I even heard them swallowing some saliva after that...

＜I want that world’s best whisky. Right, War God?＞

＜Yeah, of course. As if we could pass up drinking the world’s best whisky.＞

Yeah, yeah. So one, right? “What about the rest?”

＜What do you think, Blacksmithing God?＞

＜Hmmm, all of the alcohol from that world is good, but personally I like this black bottle here.＞

“By black bottle, do you mean this one?”

＜Indeed, that one.＞

Hephaestos pointed out a black bottle of whisky from S-company. This one was famous, too.

＜That one really was delicious. As for me, I liked this one with the art that looks like a bird.＞

Like a bird, like a bird...... is this the one that Vahagn was talking about? “Do you mean this one?”

＜Yeah, yeah, that one.＞

It was an American whiskey. This one is pretty popular too, I think. “Then should I take these two bottles?”

＜＜That’s fine.＞＞

“You two have 4 silver left. What should I do?”

＜What about vodka?＞

I opened up the vodka menu. “There isn’t a lot of vodka...”

That’s right. The menu only had four types. When it came to vodka, the Online Supermarket’s selection was extremely limited.

“You’re right. It’s very strong, and there’s not as much interest in it as whiskey.”

＜Which ones did we have before?＞

“The last time, I gave you this one and this one. And before that was this one, so this is the only one you two haven’t tried yet.”

After I said that, the liquor lovers combo started whispering amongst themselves. ＜Then we’ll take the one we haven’t tried, and also this one with the blue letters.＞

“Blue letters? This one?”

＜Yes.＞

Three whiskies and two vodkas huh? Ehhmm, they have 1 silver left. “You have 1 silver left. What do you want to do? You won’t be able to afford any vodka with it. There’s several whiskies you could get, though.”

＜Then make it a whisky.＞

Whisky, huh? If that was the case, they could get this 700ml bottle of Scotch whisky with the white horse label.

Great, and this completes it. I lined up everyone’s items on their own cardboard altars.

“Everyone, please take your offerings.”

As always, I started hearing the excited voices of the gods and goddesses.

＜Fumiya! Fumiya! Fumiyaaaaaaaaaa!!!!＞

＜With this, I can keep my beautiful hair~.＞

＜It’s the world’s best whisky! Yahhoo!!＞

＜Let’s hurry and drink it, Blacksmithing God!＞

And so on and so forth............... Hahh~, so tired.

And everyone kept telling me to show them, since they gained some cunning. Geez. Let’s just go to sleep already.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

At that time in the divine realm...

“Hey, Blacksmithing God.”

“What is it?”

“The otherworlder told us not to force him to level up, but I really think he should gain levels.”

“Yeah. So you thought so too?”

“I did. I mean, there were a lot of different kinds of alcohol there already, but what if we had a liquor store?”

“Indeed. As ones who love alcohol, there is no option to let him get away now that we know that.”

“Right? Just, if we start telling him to raise his level again, he’ll just say that he’s going to stop the offerings again. So, what about sneaking that skill in without telling him? He doesn’t look at his status too often, after all. And even if he does notice, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get mad about it, since it won’t get in his way or anything.”

“That’s a great idea, surely. By that skill, do you mean... that one?”

“Yeah. If we give him that, he’ll gain levels without even trying.”

“Gahahah!”

“Ahaha!”

“Gahahahahahaha!”

“Ahahahahahaha!”

“I’m looking forward to when he reaches level 40...”

“Yeah. And once that happens, of course the new Tenant will be a liquor store.”

And thus, Mukohda gained a new skill out of nowhere.

【Double Experience Gain】

Doubles gained experience. Obtaining this skill makes it easier to gain levels.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

I spent yesterday and the day before stocking up on premade food. We’d already conquered the dungeon, so I was thinking it was about time to leave town, after all. And part of the preparation for such a journey was pre-making food.

Fel and the others said they wanted to go into the dungeon one more time, but of course I flat out denied that. If we were to do that, we’d end up wasting time.

I made a lot of different food. From the fried foods that were fast becoming a staple, I made chicken karaage, as well as pork and Hamburg steak cutlets. Of course, I also made versions stuffed with cheese. And also, there’s wyvern and bloody horn-bull meat for rice bowls, right? And after that, beef stew and Hamburg steaks. Of course, those also came in cheese-stuffed versions. I also made some gyoza. Thanks to the mithril mincer, making ground meat was easy and really helped the cooking. Also, because it turned out great when I made it before, I made tonjiru and flavored soft boiled eggs.

I also tried making some new stuff that I hadn’t made before. A simple meat tofu recipe that only required sautéing and boiling: After sautéing some orc meat with onions thoroughly, add in water, granulated dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar before bringing it all to a boil. Then, add firm tofu and give it all a quick boil to finish.

I also marinated things in the magic bag that would taste better with the flavors of the tonjiru or stewed pork soaked in it, like the soft boiled eggs.

Since I had ground meat lying around, I also tried making meat-stuffed peppers. Well, the meat is just the same Hamburg base, though. All I did was wash the peppers well, halve them, and dig out the seeds before stuffing in the Hamburg steak meat. And after lightly sprinkling it with some wheat flour, I seared it with the meat facing down, and once it started showing some color, I mixed it into a solution of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar dissolved into water and let it steam for a while to finish.

And just like that, I spent two days — yesterday and the day before that — making food. Thanks to that, I’ve recovered quite a bit of premade stock, so I should be able to take it a little easy while we travel.

And now, I was heading once again into the area where all the blacksmithing workshops were, in order to receive the barbecue grill I ordered. Of course, I’d already stocked up on ten square bottles of the Japanese whisky from S-company.

I’m looking forward to see how well it turned out.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hello~.”

“Hey- oh. It’s just you. I finished what you ordered. It’s over this way.” The old dwarven head of this blacksmithing workshop led me with those words, and when we arrived, I saw the barbecue grill I had ordered placed snugly in a tight space.

I got closer and checked how it had turned out.

“Ohh! This is great! It’s just as I ordered.”

It was just as big as I wanted, and the place to put in the charcoal was made into a drawer, too. And there was a hole next to the drawer just like I’d asked for, so the passage of air looked good. The net on top was able to be removed now too.

Yeah, yeah. This is exactly what I asked for. It’s really good.

“Of course it is, you lout. Who do you think I am? I’m one of the top five blacksmiths in this place.”

Eh, really?! When I came before, I just started from whatever place was nearest, so I didn’t really pay much attention to that kind of thing... Given how many workshops there are in this place, isn’t that pretty amazing, to be among the top five? So this old dwarf was actually a really amazing blacksmith, huh? This old man’s name was Alesh, right? So this workshop is called Alesh’s Blacksmithing Workshop, huh? It was a coincidence, but I’m happy I asked him. He perfectly handled my request for a barbecue grill, after all.

“So, how are you planning on taking back something this big? Did you ask someone to help you carry it?”

“Ahh, I have an Item Box, so I’ll be fine.”

“I see. Okay then. But, did you bring that?”

He’s talking about that, right?

“Of course. You’re talking about this, right?” I produced the square whisky bottles from S company from my Item Box.

“Yeah, that. Do you know just how much I was looking forward to this?!” The old dwarf, or Alesh, jumped at the whisky I revealed.

He’s rubbing his cheeks on the bottle...... Wow, he really does like the stuff. “Ehmm, ten bottles was the deal, yes?” I took out the bottles one after the other and placed them in front of Alesh.

“Yahhooo! I’ve got some great stuff!” He was looking really happy...

“So, how much will it be?”

“Ahh, right. Well, it was my first time making this, so I estimated a little high at 350 gold, but with the materials, 300 gold will be fine.”

Oohh, it’s cheaper than what he told me. He’s one of the five best blacksmiths in Dolan, so I was thinking he’d raise the price compared to before, but I’m glad it’s 300 gold.

I took out a single bag with 300 gold in it from my Item Box. “Well then, here it is.”

“Sure.” Without even confirming the bag I handed over contained the promised amount, he just took it and carried it to a separate room.

“Uhh, do you not need to check what’s inside?”

“What? Are you trying to cheat me?”

“No, no, I would never.” That bag had 300 gold in it, and I hadn’t touched it at all. It should undoubtedly have 300 gold coins in it.

“If there’s not enough I’ll just come over to your place and take what I’m owed. Aren’t you that adventurer with the familiars that got famous for beating the dungeon here recently?”

Huh? Am I that well known?

“For some reason the Adventurer’s guild isn’t making a big deal of it, so I only heard about you recently, though.”

Ahh, because mouths, unlike doors, can’t be locked.

“Yes, well, I am, I guess. I don’t really want to become that big a deal myself, so if you could keep it quiet......”

“Well, I get that. If you do something like conquer a dungeon, lots of folks will try to get closer, after all. Wait, doesn’t that mean you have something that can become a sword? I shouldn’t really be asking, though.”

Apparently amongst all weapons, Alesh is particularly good at crafting swords, so he couldn’t help but be interested in it.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t......”

“Like what?”

“Uhh, just some stuff I got near the deepest level.”

“Near the deepest level, huh? If it’s a material for swords, I can see it. I guess it really would be impossible for me to buy...” Alesh said, disappointed.

It probably would be, since most likely those would run in the thousands of gold coins. But......

“Uhm, Alesh, you’re one of the five best blacksmiths here, right?”

“Yeah. I dunno about claiming that myself, but I have been told that.”

“If that’s the case, putting aside whether they’ll actually accept you, the Adventurer’s guild should come knocking soon.”

“Hm? Did they buy something that would warrant that?” I couldn’t answer him either way. But, from how Ugohl was talking about it, there were a limited number of people here who could render that into a sword, and they would be deciding who to ask for it after talking to each of them. And if Alesh really was one of the top five here, they should ask him as well.

While I stayed silent, Alesh picked up what I was putting down, and said, “I see... Ah, right, do you want to test that out now?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m planning.” I wanted to try it out as soon as I could, so I was going to do a barbecue today.

“Then do it here. I have charcoal and everything. I’m confident in my work, but this is the first time I’ve made one, you know? If there’s anything you don’t like about it, I’ll be able to fix it right away if you do it here. In exchange, let me use it a little too.”

Ohh, that’d be great. I decided to take him up on his offer and test the grill then and there. We went through the store to the other side of the building. Apparently, this space was usually used to test the sharpness of swords or spears or whatever.

It was decided to use this place to open up a barbecue with Alesh. Of course, Fel and Dora-chan, who were waiting outside, were here as well.

I prepared orc and bloody horn-bull meat to use. When I tried to prepare vegetables too, both Fel and Dora-chan said that “We don’t need vegetables.”

So, with no other choice, we ended up with a meat-only barbecue.

I was using the charcoal that was in the workshop. As soon as I laid the orc and bloody horn-bull meat onto the netting, the sizzling sounds of cooking meat started.

“Can I use it too?”

“Yes, feel free.” He asked me to use it earlier, too... what’s he going to grill?

“These sausages are homemade. I was the one that made them, and I used salt, so they’re pretty good, you know? This’ll go great with the liquor. You can try some too.”

Ohh, sausages, huh? He said it’ll go well with alcohol, so that means that he intended to drink while testing this all along... Well, whatever. More importantly, he said that it was homemade. How did he do it? Did he order the meat and then pack it himself? When I asked, apparently, butchers just sold the meat normally. Apparently, Alesh was using innards from a sheep monster named, ‘White Sheep.’ It seemed that for sausages, this kind of meat was most common.

I see. If you can just buy innards, then all I would need is salt and pepper to make some herbed fresh sausages. I learned something good today. Oh, the meat’s just about ready.

“Please try this meat too, Alesh. This is a traditional sauce from my homeland that goes well with meat. Once the meat is done, please eat it with this.” I used the longtime-selling yakiniku tare I was accustomed to and had in my Item Box. I put it in a container and handed it over to Alesh along with a fork.

“I feel bad for having you treat me. Ah, my sausages are also done. Here.” He gave me four of his sausages.

After plating both the orc and bloody horn-bull meat into dishes and adding the tare, I served them to my three familiars along with the sausages I was given. I also quickly tried Alesh’s homemade sausages. When I bit into it, there was a small, neat sound of it bursting. He only used salt, but meat juices gushed out from the inside of the thin casing, and it was pretty delicious.

“Kkhhh! This sausage really goes great with the stuff I got from you!” Alesh wasted no time in downing some whisky.

Hmm, does whisky go with sausages? If you think of sausages, wouldn’t that come to mind first?

“Please wait a second.” I moved somewhere where Alesh wouldn’t be able to see me and opened up my Online Supermarket. Canned beer is... A bottle would be less suspicious.

I bought five bottles of S company’s premium bottled beer for now.

“The meat will pair better with this. Try some.” I poured some of the premium beer into a cup and handed it over to Alesh.

“Mm? Ale? I don’t hate it, but the one I got from you is far better. It’s not even a contest...”

“It’s not ale. It’s one of the special alcohols I carry with me.”

“What? Then I’ll try it.”

*Glglgglglg* “Pphhhaaahhh!”

Good chug.

“So good! What the hell is this?! It’s like ale, but it’s completely different! Why is all the stuff you have this great?!”

Yeah, it’s gotta be beer with barbecue right? I’ll be drinking too.

*Glglglg* “Pphhaahh!”

Ahh, that hits the spot.

In the end, it turned into a day for drinking and barbecuing. All three of my familiars thought the barbecue was delicious, and ate silently.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had come to the Adventurer’s guild. Tomorrow we were leaving Dolan, so we came to inform them of that. The plan was to say our goodbyes to Dolan tomorrow, and then head to Nijhoff.

When I made that announcement, all three of my familiars wanted to go into the dungeon one more time, but of course I said no. I mean, we’d already conquered it. What need was there to go in again? Not to mention, if we did go in, who knew how long we’d be stuck in there.

We have to move on to Nijhoff from here, and then from there to our destination, the seaside town of Berléand. Also, since I had asked for a wyvern skin mantle to be made from Lambert in Karelina, we’d have to wrap up this journey before it was finished and go back.

With those things in mind, it was about time to move on.

I got booed by all three of them, but I somehow managed to calm them down by saying that there wasn’t any need to be attached to this specific dungeon, and that there were all sorts of dungeons in other places in the country to try out. And then, I promised that if we had a chance, we’d go to one.

Well, there’s no plans for any other dungeon at the moment, anyway.

“Welcome, Mukohda.” Elrand came over. And Mr. Ugohl was next to him.

“Welcome, Sir Mukohda.”

It looked like I was about to be taken to the guildmaster’s room on the second floor, but I said that I didn’t have any real business and managed to get them to stay here.

“I was thinking of leaving this place behind tomorrow, so I came to tell you about that.”

“Whaaaat?! You’re leaving already?! Come on, stay until I have to leave too—! I want to be seen off by Dora-chan,” Elrand said, sending hot gazes towards Dora-chan.

Being stared at like that, Dora-chan used telepathy to say to me, 《Wow, this guy’s kinda creeping me out...》 Dora-chan also hid behind me in an effort to not be in Elrand’s line of sight.

“Hahh, just as I was wondering what you would spout out of that mouth next... You......” Ugohl even sighed. “Sir Mukohda, feel free to just ignore what the guildmaster says. More importantly, thank you for the treats you gave us last time. My wife and child enjoyed it very much. On top of that being the first time they’d seen something like this, with how rare it is to eat something sweet, both of them were very happy.”

Ohhh, that’s great to hear. As I thought, nothing like pound cake exists here, huh?

“Ahh, that stuff, huh? I also ate it after I went home, it was delicious. I’m weak to sweet stuff, you know? I finished it all in two days.”

You ate it all in two days, Elrand? That really is too much sugar.

“That’s something made in a certain place in that group of small countries, so I get it occasionally. It’s great that you liked it.” I made it so that it came from the same place as my whisky.

“Ohhh, is that so? It was good, so I was hoping for more if you had any...” Elrand said, causing Ugohl to put on an exasperated expression.

“Thank you for such a precious item.”

“No, no, you’ve been treating me very well.” Elrand was kind of strange, but he did well with the earth dragon. And Ugohl didn’t even need to be expounded upon.

“Well then, take care, you two.” When I tried to leave since I was done, Elrand called out to me.

“Mukohda, please don’t forget about that case.”

What? What case?

“Whaaat, you already forgot? Didn’t you promise to come back if you got more dragons?”

Ahh, right. I think I promised him that because Elrand loves dragons. Or rather, Elrand’s probably the only one who can butcher dragons.

“I know already...... Ah, oh yeah, I’m heading towards Berléand, and we’re going to try and catch a sea serpent there. How about one of those?” Was a sea serpent a type of dragon?

“Sea serpents? I’ve hunted sea serpents myself, so I’m fine without. Rather than that, go get a leviathan! I’ll happily butcher one of those.” Elrand said, looking at both Fel and I.

Aren’t leviathans like bosses of the sea? Seems impossible, but Fel’s the one that’s going to be hunting.

“Fel, can you get a leviathan?”

“As if there would just be a leviathan lying around. Even I have only seen one about three times. Well, I did hunt one before, though. If we find one, I shall get it.”

So you did hunt one. W-Well, we’re talking about Fel, here.

“Really?! Please, pleeaaassse! I’m counting on you!!” After hearing Fel’s words, Elrand got really excited.

“W-Well, just like Fel said, that’s only if we find one. Please don’t expect too much.” I said that, but it didn’t seem like Elrand was listening; his head was too full of thoughts of leviathans.

“M-Mr. Ugohl......”

“Hahhh~, just leave that idiot alone.”

“S-Sure...... Okay then, you’ve been great to us. Thanks.”

Leaving the excited Elrand behind, we left the Adventurer’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After leaving the Adventurer’s guild behind, we headed for the city gates. Part of the reason was because Fel said that he wanted to go hunting. It was true that we’d been cooped up in the city for the past several days, and so it was decided for us to go.

While Fel was hunting, I’d be free, so I was planning to try out the method of making sausages that I’d heard from Alesh yesterday. Stopping at a butcher’s on the way out, I picked up some salt-pickled white sheep just like I was told to by Alesh. The price was pretty low, so I bought a lot.

“Now then, let us go.”

《Yeah, we’re off!》

This time, Dora-chan would be accompanying Fel on his hunt. Apparently Dora-chan needed some exercise. Well, he was a wild monster before we met him, at least in name. It seemed that, if he didn’t move around enough, it caused him stress.

“Ah, wait a second. If you’re both going, you should have this.” I got the magic bag out of my Item Box, and hung it around Fel’s neck. “We’re leaving Dolan tomorrow, so having them butchered into meat will have to wait until the next town. So you don’t have to get that much. Or rather, make sure you guys control yourselves.”

“Mn? Fine.”

《Whaaat? But I wanted to hunt a lot to make up for all the exercise I need.》

Why are you guys so gung-ho about hunting? You know we don’t need that much. “Okay then, make sure you guys don’t stay out too long.”

“I know.”

《I get it.》

With those words, Fel and Dora-chan dashed off into the forest.

Now then, let’s start making these sausages.

Truthfully, I’d actually made caseless sausages before. Those tasted great, so I did think that I wanted to someday try making real, cased sausages. And so, I looked up sites that taught methods for making cased sausages several times. I was planning on using those memories to make these sausages. Every site warned against letting the temperature get too high when kneading the ground meat. If the temperature got too high, the meat would dry out and refuse to come together, which would ruin the taste. Apparently the perfect temperature for kneading ground meat is lower than 10 degrees. I remembered that, and so that was why Sui was here.

Heheheh, right now I can get any number of heat-resistant cooking tools. And so, do your best, Sui.

“Sui, can you make this? And also......” I showed Sui the larger bowl I customarily used, and also drew plans for a metal mouthpiece to use for piping the sausages. I asked Sui to make several of the bowls.

《Got it—.》

I didn’t have a physical example of the clasp, but it was a simple thing, so Sui got it just from my explanation. When I handed over the mithril ore, Sui quickly finished a bowl and a metal mouthpiece for piping the sausages. “Thanks, Sui.”

Now then: first I need to make the ground meat. I started running orc meat through the mithril mincer. The ground meat was being dumped into the mithril bowl that Sui had just made. Turning the handle, I ground out more and more meat.

“Whew~, this should be good enough.”

After this, I still need to buy some spices and more cooking tools through the Online Supermarket... I had salt, sugar, and lemon juice (bottled), so I bought coarsely ground black pepper, herb salt, and a piping bag to use when stuffing the intestines into the casing. This time, I was planning to make two flavors, coarsely ground black pepper flavor, and herb lemon flavor.

First up is desalinating the white sheep intestines, right?

~◇~◇~◇~

After rinsing the intestines with water to wash off the salt, I let them soak in a bowl of water for a while.

Meanwhile, I seasoned the ground meat and kneaded in the flavors. This is the most important part. The ice water is necessary to keep the temperature from going up, so I make it with more ice than water. The ice, which I had Fel produce beforehand, was stored in my Item Box.

First up is the coarsely ground black pepper flavor. Pour the ice water with the ice still inside into the mithril bowl. Put the ground meat inside along with some salt, sugar, and coarsely ground pepper and knead until it becomes sticky. It’s surprising that you’re supposed to put the ice water directly in the bowl, but it looks like that’s in order to cool the meat. Of course, only a limited amount of water is used, just enough to coat the surface of the ice.

All that’s left is to cool your hands with the ice and knead the meat, apparently. It’s a bit hard since it’s so cold, but I power through it. It seems like the most important point of this step is to knead while not letting the meat’s temperature rise. Throw away the rest of the ice, and temporarily store the ground meat into my Item Box while it’s still cold.

Using the same method, I make ground meat flavored with herb salt and lemon juice, for an herb lemon flavor. With this, I’m done preparing the ground meat.

All that’s left is to pack in the desalinated white sheep intestines. First, attach the metal mouthpiece that Sui made to the piping bag. Then, insert the mouthpiece into the end of the sheep’s intestines, and reel the intestines in so that the mouthpiece is inserted completely.

Fill the piping bag with the flavored ground meat while making sure that there are no pockets of air inside, and squirt out just a little bit through the mouthpiece and then cut off that section. Apparently, that’s in order to make sure no air gets in when you’re filling the intestines.

Once that’s done, pull on the intestines that are attached to the bag, and tie off the end again while being careful not to rip the intestines, and continue to fill the casings. Once the meat is packed in, add in a little bit of space to the end and tie it off at an appropriate length before spinning the sausage around several times.

After cutting the spot where the casing is twisted, the sausage is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

I repeated that process several times, and made a large amount of sausages in both flavors. For now, I put the finished sausages in a lidded plastic container before throwing it all in my Item Box.

This sausage is pure fresh sausage that hasn’t been boiled... if I remember correctly, cooking it in a pan might cause the casing to break, so I should slowly cook it on a grill instead? Yeah, seems perfect for barbecue. If I’m using a barbecue grill, then just having sausages might seem kind of... dull. Let’s prepare some other meat too, I guess.

When we ate barbecue yesterday, we added the tare on top to eat, but maybe this time I’ll marinate it in the tare.

First, I need to buy the ingredients for the tare from my Online Supermarket. I already had soy sauce, sugar, and cooking sake, so I added garlic, onions, ground sesame seeds (in a pack), sesame oil, and 100% apple juice to the cart.

This time, I’d be grating raw garlic. Because for pickling, raw garlic is better. Then I minced the onions. Adding soy sauce, sugar, sake, grated garlic, minced onions, ground sesame, sesame oil, and apple juice as a secret ingredient in a bowl and mixing it all together completed the pickling tare.

Then, add in the bloody horn-bull meat, lightly massage in the flavor, and wrap the bowl and let it soak for around 20 minutes. Do the same thing for orc meat.

Hm, the sun’s set pretty far now, so Fel and Dora-chan should be back before long. Guess I should start getting the barbecue grill ready.

First I should get the charcoal. I bought the charcoal with my skill. Bringing out the order-made barbecue grill from my Item Box, I put the charcoal into the drawer and lit it. I started slowly grilling the sausages I’d just made on the grill.

The grilling sausages released an appetizing fragrance. Flipping them, I made sure to thoroughly grill all of the sausages.

I felt my shoulder getting heavier. Sui had got on before I noticed.

《Smells good~.》

“Yeah. It does.”

The sear marks are looking nice, should be just about done.

When I tried splitting one open, I found that the insides were cooked thoroughly — it was finished.

Let’s see, a taste. Ohh! Delicious!

The meat was really juicy, and since I made sure the flavor was a bit stronger than usual, it could be served as it was.

《Awww man~, Sui wants to eat too...》

“Here, try some.” Picking one up with my tongs, I handed the sausage over to Sui.

《Wah! Delicious~! The meat juice comes bursting out from inside this thin skin!》

It was the first time making cased sausages for me; it’s great that it turned out well.

《Ahh! Why are you guys eating first!》

“Mnn, I will not forgive you for eating without us.”

Oh, looks like Fel and Dora-chan came back at the perfect time. “No, I’m telling you, I just finished making this, so we were just taste-testing it. More importantly, how were your results?”

“We did moderately well. What did not fit in the magic bag, we left over there.” Following Fel’s line of sight, I saw two huge monsters on their side.

......Wha? I tried blinking rapidly several times before looking back at the scene, but as I thought, it didn’t change. That’s...... a rhino and a saber-toothed tiger, right? When I tried appraising them, the rhino was a 【Dim Gray Rhino】, and the saber-toothed tiger was just the same, a 【Saber-toothed Tiger】. Both of them were A-ranked monsters.

“......I did tell you to keep it in moderation, right?”

“No... you know, it was there, so we just......”

《It’s fine, isn’t it? I was the one that got the saber-toothed tiger. Aren’t I great?》

Fel, don’t ‘just’ me. Also, Dora-chan, you don’t have to act that smug. “Hahhh, well, let’s just leave hearing about the rest of your success for after our meal. Let’s eat first.”

“Ohh, that is a great idea.”

《We’re hungry after all that hunting, after all.》

Sure, sure. I’ll be opening up that magic bag after, though. I plated the finished sausages, and served them to my three familiars.

“Mm? This is delicious... I feel like I could eat an infinite number of these.”

《Just snapping open the thin skin, the meat juices inside come flooding out! This is great!》

《The meat juices just burst out, it’s delicious~. Sui loves this—!》

Oh man, these sausages are getting rave reviews. It’s great that I went with these.

I tried some more of the coarsely ground black pepper flavor I just ate, as well as the herb lemon flavor sausages. Ohh! This one is great too! The smell of the herbs and the lemon passes through my sinuses. This one’s got a refreshing sort of flavor.

If one were to name a drink that would pair well with this, it’s gotta be this.

I bought some beer from the Online Supermarket. This time I chose A-company’s dry beer, black variety. After immediately cracking it open and gulping some down, I smoothly took another bite of the sausage.

And then another draught. *Glglglg* Ppuuhhaahhh! So good!

Since it’s a cleansing beer that goes down easily, it pairs great with the sausages. This is bad, it feels like I can keep eating this combo forever.

And while I was absorbed in those thoughts, the demand for more came from the others. I plated more sausages for them.

Let’s start grilling the marinated bloody horn-bull and orc meat next. As I laid the meat down on the grill, the fragrant smell of cooking meat tickled my nose. Ahhh, what a good smell.

After flipping the meat and grilling it some more... It should be good now. Let’s try a bit.

Aaaaand down it goes.

Hahh, yeah, this tare tastes great. I’ve made it several times, but the sweet and spicy flavor with the taste of the sesame works so well. It’s great!

After plating the finished bloody horn-bull and orc meat on a different plate, I served them to my familiars. “Here, the meat’s done.”

“Ohh! This one also smells great.”

《I can still keep going—!》

《Meat~.》

Seems like they’re all still going strong, judging by how they’re chomping down on that meat. Yeah, yeah, charcoal grilling is great, right? I’ll eat too. Ahh, this one goes great with black beer, as well~.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meat until they were full. With the meal finished and after the cleaning up of the grill and other stuff was done, it was time to open up the magic bag.

What came out was a dim gray rhino and a black serpent, a giant dodo, and two cockatrices. This makes two dim gray rhinos... can you even eat rhinos? “Hey, are these dim gray rhinos edible?”

When I asked, Fel waffled: “No, well...”

《Bpbbphhaahahah! Dim gray rhino meat is tough, you can’t eat it. And Fel still got two of them!》

“Mn?! If we talk about hunting inedible monsters, did you not also hunt one, Dora? The saber-toothed tiger’s meat is too smelly to eat.”

《Gh......》

“*Sigh*~ ...You know, I’d really like you two to keep it to monsters we can eat if you have to go hunting.”

“Mnn, I understand.”

《Yeah, yeah. Got it.》

No, I mean, what with the dungeon, we already have more than enough money, so monsters that can only be sold for materials aren’t of much use. Edible monsters are much more useful to us right now...

I guess the dim gray rhinos and the saber-toothed tiger can just sleep in my Item Box for now. I’ll turn the black serpent, giant dodo, and cockatrices into meat at the next town.

“Now then, it’s about time we went back to town.” We made our way through the dim streets of the evening back to town. It was finally time: tomorrow we would make our way to the town of Nijhoff.

Gossip: Three Heroes ~Escape from the Kingdom ②~

Aaron had tried to put the Dominance Bracelet on Kanon. We managed to put it off this time, but there wouldn’t be a next. Kanon and I stayed vigilant, aiming for a chance for us to run. After some time, that chance arrived.

It happened while we were out hunting monsters in the name of leveling up, as usual. The request we’d taken from the Adventurer’s guild was to exterminate some ogres that had recently started showing up near a road leading to the capital. There was only one stray ogre that appeared, so the extermination concluded without any problems. It was during our return from that trip.

On our way back, all of a sudden a huge wolf suddenly blocked our path.

“Grrrrrrrr...”

“Ah, that’s an A-ranked great wolf......”

“Why is it here......”

“A-Anyway, we have to defeat it.”

Leonard, Aaron, and Louise all readied their weapons. From their reactions, and the fact that it was an A-ranked monster, I could tell it was really dangerous. It was probably at the level where we would somehow be able to beat it if all of us worked together to fight.

“Kaito, Kanon, Rio, your magic!!”

Leonard raised his voice, and the three of us started chanting our magics. “O blazing ball of fire, burn mine enemies......”

As we started our chants, the great wolf came at us at a terrifying speed.

The moment the gray wolf jumped on us—

“AAAAaaahhh!”

I heard a shouting voice from beside me. When I looked that way, Rio’s left arm had disappeared, from the elbow down.

“The great wolf uses Wind magic!! Quickly, shoot your magic!!!” I heard a voice shouting at us; it was most likely Aaron. The great wolf, hearing that voice, aimed for the three knights next.

This was a chance for us! We can take Rio, who lost the bracelet along with her arm, with us!

“Kanon, heal Rio!”

I immediately started chanting magic.

“O blazing ball of fire, burn mine enemies to nothing! Fireball!”

“O raging arrow of fire, pierce through mine enemies! Fire Arrow!!”

After unleashing a Fireball, I also followed up with the strongest attack spell I had at the moment, a Fire Arrow. The spells exploded on the spot where the great wolf and the three knights were.

“Kanon, Rio, let’s run while we can!!” When I told them that, Rio, who was unsteady on her feet, and Kanon, who was supporting Rio, started forcing their way through the forest along with me. We just recklessly moved our feet to go forward. While we were running, I talked to Rio.

“Rio! Are you all right?”

“............”

Rio’s face was colored bluish-white, and it didn’t seem like she could reply. However, her arm’s bleeding was already stopped, and some new skin had already formed on the stump.

“I used one of our potions, and also a Healing spell, and somehow managed to stop the bleeding! I don’t think she’ll die!” Kanon was the one that replied.

“Kanon! At any rate we need to head west. We’ll run west and into the Kingdom of Marveil!”

“Got it!”

The Kingdom of Reijseger’s capital was basically right in the middle of its territory. This was the road leading south of the capital. If we just head west from where we are, we should be able to make it to the kingdom of Marveil. I also snuck out a compass-like magic item out from the capital with us. At any rate, we went west.

As we desperately moved our legs to go farther, Rio’s legs finally gave out and she fell without power. It seemed that she lost consciousness due to the loss of blood. I carried the unconscious Rio on my back.

“Kanon, no matter what, we head west. Right now, we need to gain some distance, at all costs.”

“Yes. Let’s hurry.”

Wordlessly, we moved west through the forest.

......At that time, I shot my Fireball and Fire Arrow at both the great wolf and the three knights. The spells exploded where they landed, and the entire area was wreathed in fire. It was possible, that right there, I killed not only the great wolf, but all three of those knights.

It’d just be an excuse, but I was desperate then. If we stayed in that country, both Kanon and I would also be treated like slaves. Surely, we would have been forced into wars, and made to fight right at the tip of the spear. That was clear from the way they only sought combat ability from heroes. I definitely didn’t want to spend the rest of my life a slave like that.

Kanon probably also knew what I just did, but she didn’t say anything. That’s just how desperate we were. I’ll take a hard pass on being used by Reijseger as they please. As if I’d ever accept being a slave!!

Kanon and I frantically moved west in a bid to escape.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

When it got dark, we decided to spend the night in the cavity of a large tree. Having had a dinner of some black bread and water out of the food stocks we’d accumulated in our Item Boxes, Kanon and I decided to trade off turns to be on guard.

“I’ll be first. Make sure you rest when you can.”

“I know. Wake me up when it’s time to switch.”

I strained my eyes, staring into the darkness of the night. Every once in a while, I would hear the cry of some animal.

“I’ll never allow us to be caught......” My small voice echoed really loudly. “And, I’ll definitely protect you two.”

It was something like my determination. At first, I was going to abandon Rio, using the excuse that there was nothing we could do. However, the bracelet disappeared, and like that, we managed to run together. Rio lost her arm, but even that might go back to the way it was. There might be some kind of potion or magic to replace a lost arm. As long as we keep living past this point, we can just try to find something like that.

Like this, we managed to run away, all three of us, together. I’ll definitely protect these two.

After a slightly longer-than-planned shift, I switched with Kanon and rested myself.

The next morning, I woke up to find Rio also awake.

“Rio, are you all right?”

“Yes, somehow......”

“Do you remember what happened?”

When I asked, Rio said that she did, kind of. Apparently, after Leonard slipped the Dominance Bracelet on her, she started getting attacked by the feeling that she wasn’t herself after about three days. She started readily saying things she’d normally never say, and she had this kind of weird hazy sense that she wasn’t herself, like she was just watching a movie the whole time.

“The bracelet that you put on, Rio... apparently, that was a ‘Dominance Bracelet’. Once you put that on, you’ll follow the orders of the person that’s the master of the item, and it seems that only the master can take the bracelet off.”

“I see. So that’s why as soon as I put that bracelet on, I started listening to everything Leonard said...............”

“We won’t become anything like slaves. Never.”

“He’s right. Kaito, Rio, and I, all three of us will run away. As long as we get to the kingdom of Marveil, we’ll be able to make things work.”

“Yeah, because the kingdom of Marveil is just about to go to war with this country. Even if it’s found out that we’re heroes summoned from another world, I don’t think they’d send us back to this country.”

“............But, I’m missing an arm. I’ll just drag you guys down with me......”

“What are you saying?! As if that would ever be the case! You’re great at magic, right, Rio? Do you need your arm to use magic? You can fight just fine without your arm, right? Also, you’re by far the best at Healing magic, aren’t you? Rio?”

“Right. It’ll be no good if you aren’t around to use Healing magic, Rio. We’re going to the kingdom of Marveil together!!”

“Kaito, Kanon...... *Snff*”

“Let’s all get to the kingdom of Marveil, no matter what.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

We swore to each other to get to the kingdom of Marveil together, no matter what.

Chapter 5: Arrival at the Town of Nijhoff

I was riding on Fel’s back as we made our way down the road.

This morning, we left Dolan. For some reason Elrand was waiting at the gates making trouble by saying things like, “Dora-chan~!” and “You know what, I really will go with you!” but we somehow managed to get him to back down before we left.

The next town would be Nijhoff. If I remembered correctly, it was a town of pottery, and there were a lot of ceramics workshops around. Pottery, huh? I’m looking forward to it. It might be nice if I can find a lot of different dinnerware and cutlery in Nijhoff. Let’s thoroughly sightsee in this place.

《Heeeyy! It’s about time to stop for food.》

“Indeed, let us.”

The sun was at its highest point, so it was about time for lunch. We stopped at the side of the road for a break.

《Food! Food~!》Dora-chan said while flying around, before finally coming to a stop next to Fel.

《Food~!》Sui also jumped out of my shoulder bag.

Now then, what should I make? ......Hm, this and that with all sorts of ground meat, I guess.

First up, I needed some seaweed, white sesame, and eggs. I piled some steamed rice into the deep dishes and spread some shredded seaweed on top. And on top of that, I added the minced meat I made before, leaving a small cavity in the middle. There, I added an egg yolk before sprinkling some white sesame on it to finish off the minced meat bowl. Everyone ate a lot, so I gave them two yolks each.

Oh, let’s plate up some of those meat stuffed peppers I made before, too.

“Food!” As soon as I said that and put out the dishes, everyone jumped on them.

《Ohh, the yolks mixed in here make it pretty good. As for this, this green container is not needed.》

That’s right, Fel. The yolks round out the flavor. By ‘green container,’ does he mean the peppers? It’s stuffed peppers, so it wouldn’t be anything without the peppers...

《This salty-sweet meat and the egg go together great! The fragrance of these white bits brings out even more flavor, and the salty-sweet flavor is great here, too.》

The sesame makes for a good accent, right? Dora-chan, sorry for making both of them basically the same flavor. I mean, this kind of flavor pairs with rice the best, so it just ended up that way... It might have been good to just bake the meat-stuffed peppers and eat it with ketchup.

《Sui loves this meat and eggs~. It’s delicious—!》

I know, because Sui loves meat and eggs, right? Isn’t the mixture of the egg yolks and minced meat great?

Yeah, yeah, seeing you all enjoy this so much makes cooking it all worth it. Looking at everyone chowing down, there’s some sort of sense of accomplishment.

Now then, I should dig in too. The minced meat bowl is... yeah, it’s good. As I thought, the eggs were a good idea. The salty-sweet minced meat is rounded out by the mixed-in egg yolks~. There’s no way this wouldn’t go great with rice. The meat-stuffed peppers are also the same flavor, so that one pairs with rice, too.

“More!” 《More!》

《Give me more of this, too.》

I served up another serving of minced meat bowl and meat-stuffed peppers to Fel and Sui, as well as another minced meat bowl for Dora-chan. Fel and Sui also had several more servings after that.

After the meal, we all took a small break while I drank some tea, and everyone else enjoyed cider. “Now then, it’s about time to go.”

“Indeed.”

Once again climbing onto Fel’s back, we set off towards Nijhoff.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Five days after we left Dolan.

We were making good progress in our travels. According to Fel, we should reach Nijhoff before evening tomorrow.

“We are stopping around here for today.”

“Yeah.”

The sun was just about to set, so we would be camping here for today.

While I was preparing dinner, a merchant caravan with its accompanying guard of adventurers stopped on the road. Then, they pulled their carriages to the side of the road alongside us, and the coachman got down from his seat.

“Would it be okay for us to camp alongside you?”

“Go right ahead.” They weren’t exactly in our way, so I didn’t mind, but recently this stuff had been happening a lot... Somehow, every time we set up camp, some merchants that were behind us pulled up and camped right next to us. Yesterday, there were even two parties to either side. Well, it’s the road leading out from the dungeon city of Dolan, so I guess this happens because there’s just a lot of people around.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

The conversation of the merchants who set up camp next to Mukohda’s party:

“There really was an adventurer with familiars.”

“Yes. From what I heard, it looks like they were the ones who conquered the dungeon in Dolan.”

“Looks like it.”

“It’s not like I don’t trust you guys, but it’s comforting to know that there’s an A-ranked adventurer nearby. Those familiars look really strong, too.”

“We get it already. Of course we’ll keep watch too, but emotionally, having an A-ranked adventurer nearby will be a huge load off. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to do something like this if we have the chance.”

“Talk of the A-ranked adventurer with familiars is a hot topic among adventurers and merchants with good ears, after all. If you want to make a tough journey even a little easier, there’s no better way than riding on their coattails.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We’d finally arrived at the town of Nijhoff. It was probably because of the shiny new A-ranked Adventurer’s guild card, but even with Fel along, I was easily let into town. It was smaller than Dolan, but it was still lively in its own way. Just as the title of ‘a town of pottery’ would suggest, there were lots of stores selling pottery right on the streets. This is something to look forward to.

“Oh, there’s the Adventurer’s guild.”

We entered the Adventurer’s guild in the town of Nijhoff. Thanks to us arriving in Nijhoff faster than planned, the guild’s reception desk was empty. If I’m remembering correctly, Ugohl did say that he’d let the guild in Nijhoff know that we were coming, right?

“Excuse me, I’m Mukohda......” When I said that and flashed my A-ranked guild card, the receptionist lady replied, “Please wait,” before leaving her seat.

Yeah, looks like Ugohl properly contacted them.

After a while, a white haired, bearded, mountain hermit-like man in his 70’s revealed himself.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! You are Mukohda, yes? I heard about you from Ugohl in Dolan. I am the guildmaster for the Adventurer’s guild in this town of Nijhoff, please call me Jöran. Pleased to meet you. And the same to that Fenrir and the others over there.”

Jöran saw that Fel was a Fenrir in one shot. That means he must be pretty powerful.

Well, he was a guildmaster.

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Now, let’s talk in my room, shall we?”

We followed after Jöran. We were let through to the guildmaster’s room on the second floor of the Adventurer’s guild, and I was leisurely served some tea as we took a breather. Next to me, Dora-chan and Sui, who came out of my bag, were sat. Fel was sleeping in a corner of the room.

“Now then, let’s talk, why don’t we? You’re willing to take some high-ranking quests that have been sitting for a while now, right?”

“Yes.” Well, really Fel’s going to be the one doing them...

“I’m grateful, sonny. To tell you the truth there’s two of them that have been sitting around. One of them......”

According to Jöran, about a month ago, the quarry site for the clay they used for their pottery started being obstructed by a cyclops that had suddenly appeared, and no work was able to be done. Moreover, the three people that were working there at the time had become its victims, too. It would have been fine if the cyclops left for somewhere after that, but the cyclops developed a taste for humans, and so started to just squat in the quarry site.

There was another site for clay, so it was currently being dealt with by having the ceramics workshops limiting their requests for clay. However, there were already complaints being lobbied by the workshops. Apparently, if this situation continued, there was going to start being problems with their work. This town was said to be the town for pottery, so having their source materials for such work being blocked was bad.

“And also, the second one is......”

According to him, in a forest west of town, there had been a large outbreak of carnivorous plants called ‘evil plants.’ Apparently, due to the large number of them, it was too dangerous for regular adventurers to get close. The forest west of town was a source for part of the town’s firewood for their kilns, so there had been requests for the plants to be exterminated quickly.

The first one, the cyclops, is a one-eyed giant, right? Jöran said it was an A-ranked monster. For the second one, the evil plants are C-ranked monsters, but since there’s such a large outbreak, it’s predicted that there are evolved versions in their midst. By the way, the evolved evil plants are called giant evil plants, and they’re twice as big as regular evil plants.

Hmmm, it’ll most likely be fine with everyone, but I guess I should still ask. “Was everyone listening? They want us to exterminate a cyclops and some evil plants, is that fine?”

“Who do you think you are talking to? Of course it is fine,” Fel immediately replied.

《A cyclops, huh? Those slow and dull things aren’t even worthy to be my enemies. Of course, the evil plants, too!》

《Sui will do it too~.》

Dora-chan and Sui also replied using telepathy. Yeah, looks like everyone’s on board.

“Mr. Jöran, which one of the two would you like us to do first?”

“That’d be the evil plants in the forest to the west, sonny. I don’t mind if you save the cyclops in the quarry site until later, since we have another source of clay.”

“Well then, how far is the forest to the west from here?”

“About three hours walk.”

Three hours walk, huh? For Fel, that’ll be pretty much instant. Then, let’s just hurry up and finish what we can. That way I can take my time and sightsee.

“Fel, are you okay with doing it tomorrow?”

“Yes, that will not be a problem.”

“Dora-chan, Sui, are both of you fine?”

《Of course.》

《Sui is fine~!》

Then, I guess we’ll be off tomorrow. “Then tomorrow, we will go and exterminate the evil plants in the forest to the west.”

“Hohh, already? It’s nice that you’re so fast with your work, sonny.”

Ah, right. There was something I wanted to ask. “Uhm, I have a question...”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to rent a single house to stay in while we’re here; is there one?”

In response to my question, Jöran shot Fel a glance. “One that will fit a Fenrir?”

“Yes. One that I would be able to stay in with my familiars would be nice.”

There were inns that were okay with familiars, but it seemed like any size of kennel was too constricting for Fel. Fel’s our biggest earner, and it’s thanks to Fel that my wallet is so thick. Or rather, it’s enough money for me to play around my whole life, so even if it’s a little expensive, it’d be better to rent a place that can fit Fel. That was the idea that popped into my head while we were traveling from Dolan.

“If it was just rooms at an inn, the Adventurer’s guild could recommend you to any number of them... But if you want to rent a house, it’ll be quite the sum — is that fine?”

“Yes, I know that already.”

“If that’s the case, it would be better for the Merchant’s guild to show you some places. I’ll write you a letter of introduction right now, so just wait a little, sonny.”

After a small wait, Jöran handed over a written letter of introduction. “If you bring this to the reception desk at the Merchant’s guild they should accommodate you a little better.”

“Thank you very much.” After inquiring into the location of the Merchant’s guild, we left the Adventurer’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We arrived at Nijhoff’s Merchant’s guild. Since Fel’s around, we sure are the center of attention. Let’s hurry up and finish our business.

I went to the desk and showed my letter of introduction.

“Please wait a little.” The receptionist at the desk left her seat with the letter.

After a short while, an older man with a good build and short mustache who looked to be in his mid-40’s came over. “Sir Mukohda, it is a pleasure meeting you. I am the Nijhoff Merchant’s guild branch’s sub-guildmaster. Please call me Domenico. I will be in your care. Since you have a letter of introduction from the guildmaster of the Adventurer’s guild, Jöran, normally the guildmaster would be the one who would take care of you, but unfortunately he is out, so I will be in charge of this transaction.”

Looks like Jöran’s letter worked wonders. The sub-guildmaster not only came, but he’s treating me really respectfully while rubbing both his hands together.

“Thanks for being so polite. Well then, to get straight to the point......”

“You’d like to rent a single house big enough to stay in with your familiars, correct?”

“Yes. I’m thinking of renting it for about a week to 10 days while I’m in this town. I don’t mind if the price is a little high.”

Domenico, the sub-guildmaster, started confirming the listings by taking out documents from the back. “There are three listings that would fit with your conditions.”

Three huh? That’s quite a lot.

Domenico started to talk about each of the three houses. For the first one, it was Domenico’s recommendation, and it was a house that used to be owned by a master of a workshop, a 7LDK mansion — that is, seven rooms plus living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was also relatively close to the center of town, and also not that far from the Adventurer’s guild. It was a little smaller than the other two, but it was still big enough to easily fit Fel. Since the location of the place was good, the rental fee for this place would be 60 gold per week.

What do you even mean, a 7LDK is small? If that’s the case, then just how monstrously big are the other two?

The second one was a little ways away from the center of town, but it used to be a noble’s villa, so it was a huge mansion with a large garden, a 13LDK. The rooms in the center were also each made to be large, and since it was a noble’s the decorations had a gorgeous feeling to them. The houses here were all big, but since it was rather far from the center of town, the rental fee would only be 63 gold for the week.

For the third, this one was also rather far from the center of town, and it was a 10LDK mansion that used to belong to a merchant. Since this building was rather old, and also even farther from the center of town than the last, it was only 45 gold per week to rent it.

From what I heard, out of the three of them, the first seemed to be the best deal. Most importantly, it was close to the center of town and the Adventurer’s guild, and that was enticing to me. Even though Domenico said it was rather small, it was still a 7LDK, so to me it was a huge mansion. For now, I told Domenico to show me the first one that I was most interested in, and if I liked it, I would just stay there.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“This way.” Led by Domenico, we had arrived at the first listing.

After opening the gate, we stood in a pretty spacious front garden. With many red, yellow, and pink flowers blooming, the garden itself was a little small, but there was also a water fountain.

“It’s a bit modest, but as you can see, it is being properly maintained.” Huh? Did he just say that this was a small garden? It’s about two tennis courts big, isn’t that more than enough space?

“Well then, please, come inside.”

From the outside, the building itself was quite splendid, and from my point of view, it was like a dream house. The front doors were arched double doors, and even Fel could easily fit through them. Guided by Domenico, everyone entered the house.

After entering, we were in the entry hall, which was big enough to surprise us. The sense of openness from an atrium was added to the entry hall, and it was big enough for everyone to be able to sleep just here.

“This is pretty good.”

《Hohh~, this is pretty spacious, it’s great.》

《Yayyy!》

It seemed Fel liked it at first glance, and even Dora-chan was mirroring Fel’s opinions. Sui was also happily bouncing around.

There was a spiral staircase set flush into the wall in the wide entry hall. I’d only seen houses with spiral staircases on TV.

“I’ll show you around.” We followed Domenico into what seemed to be the living room, appearing to be 30 tatami large. After that was the dining room with a large dining table that might seat ten people. Not only that, but the chairs that came as a set with that table had very detailed work in some places and the design looked very expensive. And then, after the dining room was the kitchen. However, the size and equipment in the kitchen called to mind a restaurant’s kitchen, rather than a home kitchen.

“A magic stove, and this place even comes complete with a magic refrigeration unit.” The magic stove was the same model that I had, the newest one with four burners. As for the magic refrigerator, it was like a small three tatami room was just turned into one as is.

W-Wow, this place... It’s like a celebrity’s mansion or something.

After that, he showed us the rooms on the second floor, and the master bedroom was twenty tatami large, and had an expensive-looking carpet spread out in it. It even had a king-size bed with a canopy.

The other rooms on the second floor weren’t as large as the master bedroom, but each one had a carpet in them that looked just as expensive, as well as a queen-sized bed. When it came to houses of this class, of course it would have a bath, and it was about 1.5 times bigger than my bath, with a flower pattern. If I recall, ones with art on them are expensive, right?

Noticing my surprise, Domenico said a little boastfully, “Baths of this size don’t come around often, but this is the town of pottery, after all.”

It’s true that this town makes bathtubs, from what I’d heard. As expected from the town of pottery.

It looked like all three of my familiars liked this place, and of course I did too. Not only was it close to the center of town, it was also fairly close to the Adventurer’s guild, and having huge spacious rooms like this, along with a massive kitchen with its amazing equipment, was like a house straight out of my dreams. It was a perfect house.

For now, I signed a contract to rent this house for one week.

“Okay then, the fee will be 60 gold.”

I handed the payment over to Domenico.

“Yes, I have certainly received your payment of 60 gold. This is the key to the house. If you would like to extend your rental, please do us the favor of coming to the Merchant’s guild.” After handing over the key to me, Domenico returned to the Merchant’s guild.

Starting from today, this place would be our base for a week. Feels like I’m a celebrity already. Ah, right. It’s just about time for dinner, so let’s hurry up and try out that kitchen.

What should I make......... Ah! I should make that! The thing that I held back on making since the smell would be so strong. This house is detached, and if it’s here, we’re separated from our neighbors, so it seems like it’ll be fine. Now that I remembered it, I really want to eat it.

I’ll be making that for today’s dinner.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Mmmm, a spacious kitchen just feels so good... I’ll be making something for the masses, though. The dish I will be cooking is something that could be said to be the food of the Japanese masses, curry.

Of course, it was one of my all-time favorites. Maaan, I’ve been wanting to eat this ever since I came to this world. I’ve made curry-flavored tandoori chicken, but just having curry flavor alone means it’s something completely different. I like curry a lot, so I’ve been to specialized curry places, and also tried curry made by an actual Indian person, and those restaurant curries were also delicious.

However, in the end, what I returned to was homemade curry. It’s like the flavor of home that I’ve gotten used to, but never bored of. Or actually, I think curry just really fits a Japanese person’s palate, in the end. I’ll be making a completely normal, homemade curry, just like usual.

First thing is to get ingredients from my Online Supermarket. I already had potatoes and onions, so I just bought carrots and the all-important curry roux. I bought two kinds; these last couple years, using two different kinds had been my recipe. That way, the flavors become more abundant, I felt. It was just something of a habit for me.

The first curry roux I’d be using has been locked in for a while now, and that was the long-selling curry roux with apple and honey in it. This one’s been used by my parents too, and I just feel like it’s good. I’ve tried using other curry roux, but I really do just come back to this one every time. And the other curry I use depends on my mood, like a new product or something. Today...... let’s use this: a curry roux from G-company marked as ‘premium.’ This one’s got some richness to it, and I like it quite a bit. Considering Fel and the others, I’ve chosen the spicy versions of each of them.

“Ah, there’s this too. I made this before, and it’s both simple and really delicious......” While looking through the selection of curry roux, I happened upon a dry keema curry roux from a company famous for their spices. I’d made it before, and it was both really easy and really delicious. It went well with rice or even bread. I’d definitely like to make this to store for later. And so, I also decided to make some dry keema curry.

Let’s see, the last time I made it, the back of the box said that the basic ingredients were mixed ground meat, onions, tomato, and carrots, right? Let’s make it the same way this time, so all I’ll need is the dry keema curry roux and tomatoes.

Looks like this is it. I checked out everything in my cart.

Great, let’s start cooking. First up is the meat, definitely the meat. For the homemade curry, I’d be using thinly cut orc meat, and for the keema curry, I’d use bloody horn-bull and orc mixed ground meat. Once I cut the orc thinly, I’d use the mincer to grind it up.

I prepared a large amount of both types of meat. Then, I started to make the homemade curry first.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, peel the potatoes and the carrots. Cut the potatoes into small bite-sized chunks, and the carrots into ginkgo cuts. As for the onions, halve them before cutting them thinly.

Start sweating the onions in an oiled pot, and once the onions go half-transparent, add in the orc meat (since Fel and the others are here too, add in extra meat) and keep cooking. When the meat changes color, add in the potatoes and carrots and lightly cook once again before adding in water and setting it to boil. While scooping out the lye, once the water starts boiling, lower the heat and let it simmer until the potatoes and carrots become soft.

Once that happens, turn off the heat for a while, and melt both types of curry roux in the pot. When the roux is completely dissolved, turn on the burner and set it to low heat to simmer until some water evaporates and the whole thing gains some thickness to finish out the dish.

~◇~◇~◇~

“Mmmm~, what a nice smell. I wonder why the smell of curry stirs the appetite so much?” I want to put the curry on some freshly steamed rice right now and chow down, but no, I need to endure. I have to make the dry keema curry.

“Hm, it smells... strange.”

《It really does. It’s like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.》

《Ahh — Sui knows this smell—! Sui smelled this before—!》

Lured by the smell of curry, my three familiars came into the kitchen. Yeah, curry really does have a strong smell. Still though, Sui’s got quite the memory. Looks like it remembers the tandoori chicken I made before.

“Today’s dish is called curry. It’s a really, incredibly popular food back where I’m from.”

“Hm, and? Is it good?”

“I like it, so I’ll say it’s delicious, but for you guys, just try it out, and if you don’t like it, I can just grill some meat.”

They ate the tandoori chicken I made before, but this time is real curry. Although I do kind of wonder how the spiciness will go over with them.

“It smells strange, but I do not hate this smell. I understand, I will try it.”

《Yeah! I’m excited, it’s my first time eating this.》

《Sui will eat too~.》

Wait, everyone’s already fully ready to eat it? I was going to serve it once the dry keema curry was done, but I guess there’s nothing for it. After piling up some rice in their deep dishes, I poured a lot of curry on top.

“Here.” I served all three of them the curry.

“Mm? This is a little spicy...... but, I do not hate it.” While saying that, Fel was eating greedily, his face messy with brown.

《Ohh! It really is spicy, but it’s good! I like this!》

Looks like Dora-chan likes it, unexpectedly. Just like Fel, Dora-chan was eating greedily, his face stained brown.

《It’s spicy, but Sui can take this much—. It’s got a lot of smells and a lot of tastes, so Sui thinks it’s good. Sui also likes this—.》

I used some sweeter roux, but still chose the spicy kind, so I was wondering how it would go over, but it looked like Sui was fine with it.

I was a little worried about making curry here, since it uses so many spices, but looks like it’s going over well. Or rather, it looks like I’ll be able to keep making curry from now on, huh? Great! Okay then, while everyone’s eating, I should finish up this dry keema curry.

~◇~◇~◇~

Mince the onions, tomatoes, and carrots.

Then, start off by sautéing the minced onions in an oiled frying pan until it turns clear.

Next, add in the carrots and keep cooking. Once the carrots have wilted a little, add in the mixed ground meat and keep cooking. When the meat changes color, add in the minced tomatoes and keep cooking while crushing the tomatoes.

Stop the heat for a moment, and add in the dry keema curry roux while mixing well. Once done mixing, turn on the heat, and start cooking on low heat until the tomatoes lose all their water, making sure not to burn the dish.

~◇~◇~◇~

“Ohh~, this dry keema curry looks really good, too.”

“Mn? Something new? Give me that, too.”

《Me too!》

《Sui too!》

I already served them seconds of the curry while I was making the dry keema curry, though... I was going to save this for later...... Oh, fine.

After once again molding some rice in their deep dishes and adding a lot of the dry keema curry on top...... Hm, using that as a topping would make it taste better, I think.

I quickly got some eggs with my skill. As a topping, add an egg yolk right in the middle. Breaking the yolk, I mixed up the dry keema curry and served it. “Here.”

Everyone started eating.

“Ohh! It is several levels spicier than the last one, I feel, but it is good with the egg mixed in. I prefer this one.”

So Fel likes the dry keema curry more, huh? Seems like adding the egg yolk was a good idea.

《Yeah, yeah. This one really is spicier than the last one. But since the egg yolk is mixed in, it doesn’t feel too spicy. This one’s good too! I like both!》

So this one works for Dora-chan, too? Seems like he just likes the taste of curry.

《Thanks to the egg Sui can eat it, but Sui thinks this is a little too spicy.》

So it’s too much for Sui... This one’s medium spicy, after all. Adding in some grated apples might make it easier to eat for Sui... I’ll try it out the next time I make it.

Now then, I should dig in too. First is the homemade curry. Pour on some of the spicy smelling curry on top of this white rice... there.

Ah, I forgot something important. I bought some vegetables pickled in soy sauce with my skill, and added it to my curry. It’s perfect. Let’s see, a bite...

“Ohh~, this flavor! It’s the flavor!” Yeah, curry is great. I usually make it medium spicy, but mild is good too. There is no world in which this dense, spicy flavor wouldn’t go well with rice. With the pickled vegetables as a palate cleanser, man my appetite just goes and goes.

After putting down a whole plate in a flash, it was on to the dry keema curry.

“More. I want this one with the egg in it.”

《Sui wants more too~. Sui wants the goopy one—.》

《*Brrp* I’m good already. I ate a little too much.》

Fine, fine. Dry keema curry for Fel, and homemade curry for Sui, right? And Dora-chan had two plates of homemade and dry keema curry, so he’s good, I see.

After serving Fel and Sui their extra portions, I served up my own portion of dry keema curry. Let’s see...... Ohh, this one’s great too. My egg yolk topping was right on the money. It rounds and softens the dish, it’s delicious. Today I just used raw egg yolk, but par-boiled egg might be good too. Yeah, yeah. It’s great.

“Hahh — I totally ate.”

Even after that, Fel and Sui had more, and both the homemade and dry keema curry was cleaned out. “I should have made a little more...” I was a little hesitant about how the curry would be received, so I’d made a little less. That was a mistake.

Even though I was thinking that putting some dry keema curry in a bread roll to make a curry dog would be a great idea... Ah, putting some melty cheese on top seems delicious, too...

Ahh~, I should have made a little more of the dry keema curry...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After cleaning up the remains of dinner, it was time for a bath. I finally have a roomy and gorgeous bath, I’m going to get in every day while I’m here.

Ah, right. “Fel, I’m washing you, too.”

In response to my words, Fel gave a small start. “W-Why? It has only been a scant month since you last washed me.”

“I mean, you’ve been carrying around that smell ever since you ate that curry... It must have sunk into you.”

After hearing that, Fel started sniffing his own body. “Now that you mention it, I do smell that last meal, although it is not overbearing or unpleasant......”

“Right? This house’s bath is spacious enough that you can get in, so I’m taking this chance to wash you.”

“Fine. However, I will not get in hot water.”

“Fine, fine.”

We all went into the bathroom. This house’s bathroom was huge, around 8 tatami large, surrounded by walls of some marble-like smooth stone. There was also a horizontally long window up in a place where people would not be able to peek in, placed in order to vent steam. And, if I put in some magic here......

《Wow! It got bright—!》 Sui, excited about the brightness, started to bounce around.

Just what I’d expect out of a mansion this fancy, it’s got magic lights in all the perfect spots. Of course, there was one in the bathroom, too, and it lit up the place brightly just like a light bulb would, with just a little magic power.

From what Domenico said, here too...... I inserted some more magic into the top of a faucet near the bathtub. Hot water started pouring out of it.

“Ohhh! That’s awesome. So there’s magic tools like this, too, huh?”

Once the tub was appropriately filled, I started off by washing Fel. I’m also naked, so it’s no problem even if he shakes around and drenches me. Since it hadn’t been that long since I last washed him, there wasn’t too much tangled fur. I had Sui suck in the hot water from the bath and pour it over Fel. Thanks to Sui’s shower, Fel was actually getting soaked. Once Fel was thoroughly wet, I applied the vet-recommended shampoo I bought with my skill and started washing him.

*Skshh* *Skshh*

Fel usually asked me to put more power into it, so this time I went strong from the get-go.

“Hm, you are doing pretty well this time.”

Ah, ‘zat right?

*Skrshskrsh* *Sksshhskshh*

“Mm, keep on there.”

Sure, fine. He’s itchy here, huh?

*Skrshskrsh* *Skrshskrsh* *Sksshhskshh* *Sksshhskshh*

While listening to Fel’s requests, I washed his whole body thoroughly. “Great, this should do it. Sui, throw some more water on him.”

《Oka—y!》 Sui’s shower fell upon Fel.

After washing away the soap bubbles covering him, it was time for Fel’s face. “Fel, I’m going to be washing your face.”

“Mnn, hurry it up.”

While having Sui point its shower at Fel’s face, I started washing it. Because Fel’s mouth and the rest of his snout was filthy from eating the curry earlier, I concentrated especially hard there.

“Okay, I’m done. Make sure you shake off the water in here. We’re only borrowing this house so we can’t just soak everything.”

“I know already.” Fel shook his body vigorously, spraying water everywhere before drying himself off with Wind magic.

“Ah, if you’re going to sleep pick any room you like on the second floor.”

“Okay, understood.”

I had Sui clean up any hair and stuff that Fel had left behind.

Now then, let’s enjoy this bath to the fullest.

《Finally, a bath~.》

《Bath—!》

Dora-chan, you just said, ‘finally,’ but haven’t you been lazing around in the tub the entire time I’ve been busy washing Fel? I didn’t say anything, but I’ve totally been watching you. It’s fine, though.

I started to replace the hot water that got lost washing Fel. Meanwhile, I washed my head and body. I also lathered Dora-chan up and washed his entire body, and I did the same to Sui, although it didn’t look like the slime would get dirty at all. By the time everyone had rinsed away the soap, the bath had gained enough water.

I remembered that I actually still had some of those carbon dioxide-infused bath additives that I’d bought before, so I retrieved them from my Item Box. The bath was large, so I splurged and put in two of the additive tablets.

“Oka—y, let’s get in.”

When all three of us got in the bath, some of the water overflowed.

“Whoo~, baths are just the best.”

《Ohh, it feels so good...》

《So good—!》

Just like always, Dora-chan and Sui floated around in the bath.

This bath is nice... It’s big enough for all of us to fit with room to spare. Hahh~, yeah, baths are great. All my tiredness just seeps out of me.

“I’m gonna be getting in every day while we’re here,” I muttered to myself.

《Me too~.》

《Sui too~.》

It’s looking like both Dora-chan and Sui have converted into bathing believers.

While getting refreshed by the hot water and the smell of the bath additives, we all enjoyed our time in the bath. It’ll be so nice being able to get in every day. It might be nice to change what I put in the bath every day, now that I have the chance.

Oh, there’s that brand of water and hot spring bath additives too — it might be nice to try those and enjoy the feel of being in a hot spring. There’s a lot of different bath stuff being released right now, after all. Let’s shop for some different stuff before getting in again tomorrow. I’ve got more things to look forward to now.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After getting out of the bath, I went up to the second floor and looked for Fel. I was wondering where he decided to sleep, and it turned out he was on the floor in the master bedroom.

Even though there’s a nice and soft carpet on the floor, you know the bed is right there, you could have just got on.

When I said that, Fel replied that he didn’t want to, because it seemed like he’d fall off if he moved even a little. It’s true, seems like he’d fall off if he moved a little.

“I like my own bed. Give me my bed.”

So he likes his personal futon, huh? I did as Fel asked and laid out his futon after retrieving it from my Item Box.

《Sui will sleep here~.》 With those words, Sui bounced onto the king-size bed.

《I’ll sleep here too—!》 And Dora-chan also landed on top of the king-size bed.

《Master, let’s all sleep together~.》

I was going to sleep in a different room, but now Sui’s gone and invited me... I can’t refuse like this.

And so, we all ended up sleeping in the same room even though we had rented a huge mansion. Nothing changes, huh? Well, whatever.

Wait, there’s something I’ve got to do before I sleep. It’s just going to be really noisy if I do it here, so I guess I’ll move to another room.

When I tried to leave the room, Fel asked me, “Where are you going?”

“I have to go make offerings to those gods.”

“Mm? I see. Make sure you do it properly.”

It looks like Fel respects Ninrir, that divine disappointment, but you should know that she’s not worth it. She’s just a person with a huge sweet tooth. And the other gods are unexpectedly really faithful to their desires, too. They’re far more worldly than they should be.

Well, it was thanks to them being that way that I could be so carefree when interacting with them, although that was probably not a good thing. They’d given me their blessings, too, along with all three of my familiars, so I felt a little indebted to them as well.

That doesn’t mean I’ll spoil them, though. Now then, let’s get to offering them their allotted six silver.

“Is everyone around?”

As soon as I called out to them, the gods’ voices all rang out loudly.

“Okay then, I’d like to hurry up and listen to your requests, so will the first one be Ninrir, as usual?”

It’s best to hurry up and get these kinds of things over with.

＜Oohhh! I’ve been waiting! Just like you’ve said, I’m first! Those cakes from Fumiya before were just the best! Of course it will be more cakes for me, hurry it up!＞

Don’t you hurry me. I’ll only be sending it to you after hearing everyone’s orders anyway.

“Is it okay to just keep going down the list from before?” Let’s see, the last time I got her the first fifteen cake slices from Fumiya, right? Then next will be...... From the cake slice menu, there’s only eight more, huh?

“Ninrir, can you see the menu? If we continue from before, there’s only eight left. What will you do for the rest? Apparently they’re holding an ‘Early Summer’s Sweets Fair,’ so do you want something from that? It’s a time-limited menu, so you’ll only be able to get it now...”

＜What?! Time-limited?! Let me see!!＞ That was Miss Ninrir the divine disappointment’s command, so I let her see the Sweets Fair menu. ＜Muhhooohh! A-A-All of them look so good!! A-All of them, I want all of them!!!＞

Taking all of these would put her over her allowance... “Choosing all of these will be too much money, unless you sacrifice some cake slices. What do you want to do?”

＜Mm? Really? I want all of them, can I really not have them?＞

“You can’t. I can’t give you preferential treatment.”

＜Mnn~, you’re so cheap... Fine, prioritize the time-limited menu. Since I can only get these now.＞

“Understood.” I dumped the entirety of the limited menu for the Sweets Fair into the cart. A white roll cake that used salt, mont blancs, fruit gelatin cake: all kinds of cool and refreshing types of cake were lined up. At first I was surprised, thinking, salt in sweets? Oh yeah, that kind of stuff was pretty popular, wasn’t it? Apparently having just a little bit of saltiness made the sweetness stand out even more.

Using the rest of her allowance, I bought seven more cakes off of the cake slices menu. She’s off by one slice, huh? Well, she’ll just have to wait for next time.

“Next is Lady Kisharle, right?” Even I started to remember the order by now.

＜That’s right~. I’d like some facial lotion this time. I’m running out of what I got last time.＞

Last time? That kind of expensive stuff, right? Last time, it was the cream from the same line, I think? “Okay, but what do you want other than that? What about a facial cleanser from the same series?”

＜That’s a good idea. Let’s go with that.＞

I added the slightly expensive facial lotion and the cleanser from the same series into the cart. The cleanser was only 2 silver, so there’s still 1 left, huh? “Lady Kisharle, you still have 1 silver left, what do you want to do with it? I’d recommend some bath additives...”

＜Bath additives? Sounds good—. They smell nice, and adding them to a bath helps take your tiredness away, right?＞

Since there were a lot of different bath additives, and just showing it to her would be faster, I opened up the menu. “Can you see it?”

＜Yes, I can.＞

“I recommend this tablet-type that releases carbon dioxide. If you just want to enjoy the fragrance, how about this variety pack of herb scents?”

＜That sounds nice~, give me that, please.＞

“You can afford one more, I see. What do you want for the other one?”

＜Hmmm, is there anything to help make your skin smooth?＞

“If you’re looking for that kind of effect...... looks like those are in this section here.”

＜There’s a lot I see. I don’t know what to choose... Which ones do you think smell the best?＞

Hmm, even if you ask me that... “Ah, what about this one? It says it’s good for dry skin, and its scent is ‘sweet and fruity,’ so it smells like fruits.”

＜Oh my, that sounds nice. Get me that one.＞

With that settled, I added them to the cart.

“Ehhmm, next is Agni, right?”

＜Yep, it’s me. The beer from before was really good! Especially that pack of six. Give me that one again. Other than that, just give me whatever you think is best.＞

Ohh, looks like she liked the beer I picked out for her last time. It should have been A- and K-company’s premium beers, and also Y-bisu beer, right? I got a six pack of each.

Agni likes beer, so it might be a good idea to add some more beer to this, as well. Oh, there’s a new Y-bisu beer. It was a little expensive, but it looked good, so I added a six pack of that as well.

Oh, a black beer might be good too. I tried adding in the black version of the dry beer I drank from A-company the other day, as well as the black version of the beer everyone thinks of when they think of K-company, and also the black version of Y-bisu’s beer with the creamy foam as its selling point, and finally, S-company’s premium black beer.

There’s a lot more varieties on top of this... There’s quite a lot of domestic black beers, huh? Lastly, I used up the last of her allowance on a Chilean wine.

“Next is Miss Ruka, yes?”

＜The food you make looks delicious, but...... I’d rather have Fumiya’s cakes after all. Make it the same as Ninrir. I also want the limited stuff.＞

Miss Ruka’s being unusually talkative. She must really like Fumiya’s cakes. Having a limited time menu really does stir interest, doesn’t it? Just as Ruka wanted, I ordered her the same thing I did for Ninrir.

And lastly, it’s the liquor lovers combo. “Next is Hephaestos and Vahagn, right?”

＜Indeed, you are correct.＞

＜Right—!＞

“Well then, what will it be this time?”

＜The world’s best whisky from before. That one was so good it was surprising.＞

＜Yeah, that was my first time with alcohol so good.＞

Ahh, that domestic whisky from S-company, huh?

＜You definitely have to get us more of that. One for each of us, got it?＞

＜Yeah, I want to enjoy one as much as I like on my own.＞

Oh, looks like both of them are hooked on that domestic whisky from S-company, huh? “And what would you like apart from that?”

＜Whisky is all well and good, but there isn’t much left, right?＞ That domestic whisky from S-company was pretty expensive, after all. But even so, it was still the cheapest out of this lineup.

“Let’s see... There isn’t much left, no.”

＜What should we do, Blacksmith God?＞

＜If that’s the case, I think it’d be good to get something we haven’t tried before. What do you think, War God?＞

＜That’s a great idea. It’s always good to try new flavors.＞

“Then I’ll get you two some whisky you haven’t tried yet.”

Something they haven’t tried... I don’t really remember, but...... Ah, I don’t think I’ve bought this one before. It’s a domestic from K-company with a mountain on the label. “Have the two of you tried this one before?” I asked, pointing to the whisky from K-company that I was wondering about.

＜Let’s see... Mm, I don’t remember drinking this one, no. Eh, War God?＞

＜Yeah, I don’t remember this bottle.＞

“Then, I’ll get this one.”

There’s enough for one more... Ah, this American whiskey with the rose on the label seems new. “What about this one?”

＜Hmm, I also do not remember seeing this one... Right?＞

＜Yeah, we haven’t drunk this one.＞

Great, then this one it is. Hm, they can just barely afford one more of the cheap ones. This American one with the yellow label fits into the budget, and I probably haven’t bought this one either. “This will be the last one. Do you guys remember drinking this?”

＜Yeah, I don’t remember this one.＞

＜Me neither.＞

Great, then this is the last one. Then that’s it for all of them.

I lined up all the offerings on the usual cardboard altars. “Please everyone, accept your offerings.”

After saying that, the items on top of the cardboard altars all disappeared. I heard the gods all running for their items and raising a fuss over them.

Hahh~, it’s over. Let’s just go and sleep.

When I tried to leave the room with that in mind, I heard a throaty voice.

＜Right, you — what’s up with your level?＞

This is Hephaestos’ voice, right? “What’s up? I don’t think it’s changed since I haven’t fought at all since the last time we talked.”

＜Mn, is that right?＞

“All my familiars are strong, so there’s just no room for me to do anything...... Ah, but I’m going to be trying something tomorrow, so there might be a little combat.” Tomorrow we planned to exterminate the evil plants, and I had a small plan about that.

＜Ohh, I see I see. Do your best, you hear?＞

“Uhm, I don’t think I’ll be gaining any levels just be fighting a little tomorrow, though.” Hey wait a second, didn’t we all agree to not force me into raising my level?

＜Well, since you’re so adamant about it, we won’t say anything, but you should still try to raise your level a little. It’s your life on the line if your skills are dull when the chips are down.＞

This voice is Vahagn, right? Well, he does have a point. I’ve been leaving combat entirely up to Fel and the others, but if I can’t protect myself when the chips are down, then that’s just putting the cart before the horse.

＜Well, just do your best for now. Take care.＞

After Vahagn’s parting words, I heard the snapping sound of the connection being cut.

Hahh, it’s probably about the Tenants, but just with the evil plant extermination tomorrow... you know? It’s not like my level will raise all willy-nilly like that.

Hahh, well tomorrow will be busy. Let’s just sleep.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

At that time, in the Divine realm...

“Did you hear? War God?”

“Yeah. They’ll be fighting tomorrow.”

“Gahahahahaha! I wonder how much he’ll level up. It’s exciting, no?”

“Ahahahahaha! You got it. He has that skill that we sneakily put on him, after all.”

““Double Experience Gain, eh? (right?)””

“Gahaha!”

“Ahaha!”

“Gahahahahahaha!”

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Chapter 6: Request from the Guildmaster of Nijhoff

We had arrived in the western forest in order to fulfill our request to exterminate the evil plants.

According to Jöran, this forest will have a huge outbreak of evil plants every decade or so for some unexplained reason. And apparently, the outbreak this year was especially large, right? If there’s really that many it might be best to split into two groups and exterminate them faster.

“Fel, where are all the evolved ones gathered?”

“They are pretty spread out, but they are more common deeper into the forest.”

Deep in the forest, huh? If that’s the case...... “It seems like there’s a lot of them this time around, so let’s split into two groups. Can I get Fel and Dora-chan to take care of the deeper parts?”

“Understood.”

《Got it!》

If the deeper sections had more evolved forms, then it would be best to have Fel and Dora-chan take care of those.

“Sui, you’re with me.”

《Whaaat, but Sui wants to go pew-pew-pew and beat up lots too—!》

Sui had a powerful skill in the form of Acid Bullet, but compared to Fel and Dora-chan, its stats were the lowest. I decided to have it stick with me and take care of the shallower parts of the forest. Even though Sui was the weakest compared to Fel and Dora-chan, it was still clearly stronger than me. I was planning to have Sui work as my bodyguard.

“You can go pew-pew all you like. It would just make me happy if you stayed with me. I’m the weakest one here, so Sui needs to protect me. I’m counting on you.”

《Got it! Sui will protect master!》

This time, I had something I wanted to try, so I planned to fight. I have Perfect Defense, so I don’t think I’ll die, but it’s not like I’m used to combat, either. I’ll feel much better with Sui here.

“Fel, I’ll give you the magic bag.” I hung the magic bag around Fel’s neck.

According to the guildmaster, Jöran, evil plants start to wither immediately after dying. C-ranked evil plants don’t leave anything behind, but the evolved giant evil plants are B-ranked, so there were cases where they leave behind magic stones. “Fel, Dora-chan, it looks like there are a lot of the evolved giant evil plants, so if they drop magic stones, pick them up and put them inside.” Jöran did say they would pay for the magic stones.

“I understand. Let us go, Dora.”

《Yeah!》

Fel and Dora-chan proceeded further into the forest. On the other hand, I......

“Heheheh, it’ll be great if this works...” I took out an anti-evil plant weapon from inside my Item Box; that weapon was ‘herbicide.’

My Online Supermarket had a gardening supplies section, and I looked for it because it seemed like it’d be there. And when I checked this morning, it really was in stock. And on top of that, they even had several kinds of both the concentrated solution type and the spray type. I chose a spray type from among those. It seemed to be light and easy to use, and it was described as “kind to the environment” since it used compounds derived from food. Also, it said that it only affects what is sprayed, allowing one to only get rid of weeds they aim for, so it seemed perfect for the evil plants this time. I tried appraising it, and this is what came out.

【Herbicide】

A spray type herbicide from another world. Kind to the environment.

What I wanted to test was whether or not this ‘herbicide’ would work. It’s a plant-type monster, so it seemed like it would. If it does, it’ll become a powerful weapon for whenever a plant type monster shows up.

“Good — Sui, let’s go.”

《Yeah!》

Sui and I headed into the forest.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

《Master — a weird one came—!》

It was an evil plant, just as Jöran described: basically, a bug-eating Venus flytrap that looked like a clamshell with serrated edges. Only it was almost two meters tall, and had vines or something growing out of its stalk that moved freely, and its roots wriggled around endlessly, allowing it to move freely even though it was a plant-based monster.

“Sui, that’s an evil plant. We’re going to defeat it.”

《Got it. Then Sui will do it—.》

*Pew* *Pew**Pew* ——— Sui’s Acid Bullets hit right on the mark, and the evil plant withered away.

“Good job, Sui.”

《Eheheh~... Ahh, there! Master, there are lots of those wriggly things like before coming~!》

Following in the direction Sui’s tentacles pointed, I noticed ten or so evil plants approaching us. Oh my, that is a lot of them. Looks like it wasn’t joking when it said there were a lot of them.

“Ahh, there’s a lot of them, aren’t there? Sui, let’s go.”

《Yeah! Sui will go pew-pew lots and beat those weird wriggly grass things!》 Sui, in high spirits, started shooting Acid Bullets at the evil plants.

Great, I need to get in there too, with my anti-evil plant weapon, some Japanese-made ‘herbicide!’ Take this!

*Sshhhhh* *Shhhhh* *Shhhhh*——— I sprayed the herbicide towards the evil plant’s vines, which had been reaching out to ensnare me.

The ‘herbicide’s’ effect was immediate and dramatic. The vines that were hit with the spray immediately started to wilt, and that spread all the way through to the stalk; eventually, the entire plant withered away. It might have just been the effect of the food-based compounds from my world working their magic, but this world also probably didn’t have anything like herbicide, so I’m not sure what was responsible for how well this worked; at any rate it was really effective.

“Yeah! It worked!!”

《Master, that’s awesome! Sui won’t lose either! Sui will beat a lot of them!》

*Pew* *Pew* *Pew*

*Shhh* *Shhh* *Shhhhhhh*

Sui and I kept defeating the evil plants that gathered to try and eat us in endless droves...

“Wheww~, it’s finally over.” As soon as I thought that......

《Master — there’s more—. This time there’s a huge one!》

This time, there weren’t just evil plants, there was even a giant evil plant.

“S-So big......” Every single part of the plant was about two times bigger than on a regular evil plant; it was about four meters tall. However, the herbicides worked on the evil plants, so it should also work on this giant evil plant. And towards the giant evil plant’s fat, wriggling vines, extending forth to ensnare me...

“Take this!!”

*Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shhhhh*——— I sprayed a large amount of herbicide towards it.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The giant evil plant looked like it was in pain as it slammed the ground with its fat roots.

“Woah!” Jumping sideways at the last minute, I dodged it. “Damn! Hurry up and die already!!”

*Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shh* *Shhhhh*

I also applied a large amount to its roots. After that, it started to wither faster than when I targeted the stalk. So the roots are its weak point, huh? I turned around to try and tell Sui that, but......

Yeah, looks like Sui’s Acid Bullet doesn’t care about that. Whether it was the stalk or the roots, all of it melted away.

Good, then I’ll just concentrate on my end. It’s a good thing I was careful and bought a lot of herbicide.

Taking out another spray can of herbicide, I proceeded to fight, dual-wielding cans.

*Shwiiiiing* This is the way of dual-wielding herbicide. “Yahhahhh! I’m invincible with herbicide!!”

I, with a huge confidence boost due to how effective the herbicide was, charged into the horde of evil plants.

*Shh* *Shh* *Shhhh*——— I sprayed down evil plants left and right.

Three hours later...

“Ahh~, so tired.” I sat down so hard it was almost like I was falling to the ground.

《Master — are you okay—?》

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired. Still, it’s amazing that you’re still fine after beating so many, Sui.” Even though Sui should have fought and defeated even more evil plants than I did, Sui still seemed to be full of energy as it continued to bounce around everywhere.

《Eheheh~, Sui is still full of energy. Sui can still beat more and moooore of those weird wriggly grass things.》

Sui and I kept beating one evil plant after the other as they assaulted us. Evil plants did tend to gather together, but there really was no end to them. Most likely, I alone probably took care of over a hundred of them. And among those, there were even ten giant evil plants. Even though I just sprayed them with herbicide, I was understandably still tired. When I ran out of the herbicide that I had prepared halfway through, as one would expect, I started to panic. I somehow managed to get over the issue by hurrying to buy more, though. Still, though............

Looking around, the ground was laden with withered husks of evil plants. Looking at the sheer number of corpses, it seemed like Sui beat about double what I had to deal with. I looked over at Sui, who was still bouncing around. It doesn’t look like it at all, but Sui really does have a lot of fighting power...

《Hm? Whaat? Master—?》

“No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that Sui is amazing for beating so many.”

《Eheheh~, Sui is amazing?》

“Yeah, Sui is amazing.”

《Heheh, Sui is so happy...》 Sui happily started to bounce around me.

“Ah, right, Sui. Can you go find the magic stones and bring them over?” The giant evil plants are B-ranked, so there should be some with magic stones in them. Jöran did say that the guild would buy what magic stones I got...

《Magic stones? Do you mean those smooth rocks?》

“Right, those smooth rocks that come out when you beat monsters.” Evil plants wither away when they die, so any magic stones should just be lying on the ground where they perished.

《Got it—.》

“I’m counting on you.” I had Sui gather up the magic stones while I took a breather, of course — I was tired after today’s events. “I’ve been basically leaving fighting entirely up to everyone else, after all.”

When fighting monsters, you can’t lose focus for even a moment. Not only that, but today there were a lot of them, and Fel, my guardian god, wasn’t around, either. That really does make a difference to my mental state.

Vahagn did say, ‘It’s your life on the line if your skills are dull when the chips are down,’ and he really was right. Maybe I’ll try to participate in battles when I can from now on, if even only a little. Of course, I’ll only be ‘participating,’ though. If I’m going to be getting in the way, I’ll just stay quiet on the sidelines.

《Master — Sui picked them all up!》

“Ohh, thanks.” I took the sixteen magic stones that Sui handed me. If there were still sixteen when we weren’t guaranteed to get one, that meant that there must have been quite the number of giant evil plants around. They really did just pop up in huge numbers, like weeds.

While all that was going on, Fel and Dora-chan came back.

“How was it?”

“Mm, there were a lot of them.”

《Yeah. They weren’t strong at all, but their numbers... Also, evil plants gather towards anything that moves. They kept coming and coming... it was almost oppressive how many of them there were. Of course, we took care of all of them though!》

It looks like there were a lot of them on Fel and Dora-chan’s side, too.

“Dora and I eliminated all of them, so there is no need to worry.”

“So there are none left?”

“Indeed.”

Just what I’d expect. According to Jöran, given the numbers, it was impossible to expect a complete extermination... There were still evil plants around even in normal times, so it would have been fine as long as we whittled down their abnormally large numbers.

“Sui and I beat everything that was around here; are there any left?”

“Wait a second...... no, it does not seem like it. Hm, there are no evil plants in this forest anymore.”

“I see, that’s good. Then that means we’re finished with the request.” I felt a little relieved that it was over safely.

《Whaaat? It’s already over? Sui wanted to go pew-pew and beat more—!》 Ahh, looks like Sui’s still full of energy...

“Ahh, Sui, there’s still one more monster elimination request to do, so you can go pew-pew then.”

《Got it — Sui will do Sui’s best—.》

Cyclops, I’m sorry but please be the target of Sui’s Acid Bullets.

“Ah, Fel, Dora-chan, did you pick up the magic stones?”

“Yes.”

《Of course.》

Taking the magic bag off of Fel’s neck and checking inside, I found fifty magic stones...... Just how many of them did Fel and Dora-chan beat?

“Now then, we finished the request, so let’s get out of this forest and eat.”

“Indeed, I am hungry.”

《Food! Food~.》

《Sui’s stomach is empty—!》

Storing the magic stones and magic bag into my Item Box, I left the forest along with everyone.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After having some food, we were all lazily taking a break. By the way, our meal was some of the stuff I’d made when we left Dolan. I used most of it during our travels, but there was just a bit left of each dish, so I just brought them all out. So we had stuff like karaage, Hamburg steaks, and gyoza. It was a meal full of variety. All three of them were happy with all the variety they had to choose from. It was all leftovers from the stuff I’d made and stored for later, though... Among those, I had some ground meat and tofu along with some rice. The flavor was soaked through, so it was good.

Ah, right. As a reward for everyone working hard, let’s have some dessert. I want to eat something sweet too since I’m so tired, after all. Everyone did well this time, so let’s splurge.

I opened Fumiya’s menu in my Online Supermarket.

It’s gotta be this for Fel. I picked out Fel’s favorite, the strawberry shortcake; this time I got a large-sized whole cake. Fel will probably be happy with this size.

And of course, it’s gotta be pudding for Dora-chan. I picked out a pudding assortment meant as a gift. It had custard pudding, caramel pudding, and mango pudding in sets of four each, for a total of twelve. Dora-chan should be satisfied with this since he likes pudding so much.

Thinking of Sui, it really likes chocolatey things, right? So what I chose was a chocolate cake. It also seemed like Sui liked strawberries, so I got one that had strawberries on top. I made it the same size as Fel’s, a whole large sized cake. Sui should be happy with this, too.

What should I get...... I skimmed through the lineup of cakes.

Oh, that looks refreshing. Good, let’s go with this one. I chose a seasonally limited shiratama cream anmitsu jelly.

After checking out the cart, the usual cardboard box appeared. Take the cakes out... good.

“Hey everyone, come over!”

All three of them gathered around in response to me calling out to them.

“Everyone did their best today, so here.” I served everyone their reward.

“Mm, this is big. Can I really eat this?” Fel tried to act like it was nothing, but his tail was wagging furiously.

《Ohh! This is pudding? There’s so many!》 Dora-chan flew in circles joyously.

《Waahh! What a big cake!》 Sui frolicked around, bouncing all over the place at high speeds.

“Today, everyone did their best and exterminated an amazing amount of evil plants. So this is a special reward. You can eat it.”

As soon as I said that, Fel and Sui bit into their cakes. Ahh, Fel’s mouth is all sticky with cream. Sui also happily engulfed the chocolate cake.

“Ah, Dora-chan, which one do you want? There’s three flavors. This one’s a custard pudding, this one’s caramel pudding, and this one’s mango pudding.”

《Yeah, all of them.》

“You’re going to eat all three kinds?”

《Of course I will.》

Fine, fine. I opened all three types of pudding, plated them, and served them to Dora-chan.

《So good! It’s all delicious, but this orange one is the best!!》

Seems like he prefers the mango pudding, huh? It was decided for me to hold on to the rest of the puddings, and serve them after dinner.

Nice, nice. Everyone’s eating happily. Now then, let’s try this shiratama cream anmitsu I got.

“It’s been a while, but this is really delicious.” It wasn’t too sweet, so I could just keep plowing through it. Colorful fruits and white cream, and also chewy shiratama dango and sweet agar jelly, along with a combo of red bean paste, black sugar, and honey... I wonder why this is so amazingly good.

“Whoohh, that was delicious.”

Fel and Dora-chan must have been satisfied, as they were both licking around their mouths. Sui also seemed satisfied, and was already sleeping soundly in the usual bag.

“Well then, let’s go back to town.”

“Indeed.”

《Yeah.》

We, who had finished exterminating the evil plants, went back to town just like that.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After returning to Nijhoff, we headed for the Adventurer’s guild. When I showed the receptionist my guild card, I was led straight to the guildmaster’s room.

“Ohh, that was fast.” The one who said that was the guildmaster of this town, who looked like a mountain hermit, Jöran.

“Yes, everyone did their best.”

“For us, something like evil plants are not much of an enemy,” said Fel.

“Fuhahahaha! Is that so? True, it might not be a big deal when you set a Fenrir, a pixie dragon, and a special slime to the task, eh?”

Jöran, that must mean that you’ve been hearing a lot of stuff from the other guildmasters, if you know that Dora-chan is a pixie dragon and that Sui is a special slime, right?

Ah, well I did participate in that battle, you know, a little. At least in name.

“Still though, there really were a surprising amount, even though we already knew about the sudden large growth of them.”

“It seems this time there really were a lot of them... Thanks to that, it’s been hard going trying to exterminate them all. So you all’ve really saved us by taking this request.”

You’d need to gather quite a whole lot of adventurers if you planned to exterminate that many, after all. Well, since it was us, we managed to do something about it though.

“Ahh, right. We also have quite a few magic stones, although they’re all small. Is it all right to bring them out here?”

“Ohh, I see I see. Come on, show them to me.”

I dumped the giant evil plant’s magic stones onto the table. Sui and I managed to get sixteen from what we defeated, and Fel and Dora-chan managed to get forty-eight when I counted them. It was a total of sixty-four stones. Giant evil plants were only B-ranked monsters, so their magic stones were extremely small. This is just judging from the stones I’ve seen so far, but compared to stones like what I got from the dungeon, it didn’t seem like their quality was very high.

“They’re small, but it’s great to have this many. Hm, how about 4 gold for each one of them?”

So he’ll buy them for 4 gold each, huh? I’d expected they’d be cheaper. Of course it was all fine with me. “Yes, that’ll be fine.”

“‘Kay then, I’ll pay that along with the reward for exterminating the evil plants, so wait a second, won’t you, sonny?”

With those words, Jöran left the room, and came back after a little while. “Sorry for keeping you waiting. The reward for exterminating the evil plants this time is 430 gold. And the price for their magic stones will be 256 gold in total. All in all, that’s 686 gold. According to Ugohl in Dolan, paying you in large gold coins is fine with you, is that right?”

Nice job, Ugohl. Regular gold coins are too bulky and unwieldy, so this is better for me. “Yes, large gold coins will be fine.”

“‘Kay then, that’s 68 large gold coins and 6 gold coins. Please confirm it.”

1, 2, 3...... Yep, that’s 68 large gold coins and 6 gold coins. “Yes, the amount is correct.”

“Indeed. Sorry, but I’m counting on you for the case with the cyclops whenever it’s convenient for you lot.”

“Sure.”

There was also a request to kill a cyclops, right? But even we wouldn’t be able to get on that right away. Let’s see, it would be best to take tomorrow to rest, and then go the day after at the earliest, I think?

“We will be going to fight the cyclops tomorrow,” Fel said, suddenly.

“Wai- Fel, what are you saying? Tomorrow?” Personally I’d rather spend tomorrow resting, though...

“Indeed. The evil plants only had numbers going for them, and they were completely tasteless as far as enemies go.”

Tasteless, you say......

《I agree. It’s true that the evil plants yesterday didn’t offer any sort of challenge.》

Et tu, Dora-chan?!

《We’re fighting? Sui will go pew-pew and beat them!》 Sui, who had at some point crawled out of the bag, seemed motivated.

Hahhh~, looks like everyone’s just full of energy.

“Looks like everyone’s ready and raring to go for some reason, so we’ll go fight the cyclops tomorrow.”

“Hohh, that’s great for us, but are you sure you’re okay going back-to-back like that, sonny?”

“Yes, it seems like everyone else is fine, after all.” They all just have way too much energy. Well, unlike the evil plants today, it doesn’t look like the fight with the cyclops will have any room for me to participate, anyway. I’ll just leave it to everyone else.

“I see, then I’m counting on you all.”

“Right.”

And so, it was set that we would be going to fight the cyclops tomorrow. Hahhh, they’ve all got way too much energy on their hands. Let’s just hurry up and go home, eat, and take our time soaking in the bath to try and shed this tiredness.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

I couldn’t really be bothered with dinner so I just made yakiniku bowls, which would be fast and easy. Everyone loved this one, anyway.

In exchange, I used earth dragon meat for the first time in a while. Just as I remembered, earth dragon meat was really delicious. Everyone happily chowed down.

After dinner, Dora-chan, Sui, and I went to take a bath. I bought a hot springs bath additive and used it. It was the milky white clouded hot spring type; it basically had no fragrance at all, but somehow, it seemed nicer to my skin.

“Whooeeee~...” My muscles that had gone all stiff slowly unwound. “The bath sure feels nice.”

《Yeah, it’s the best~.》

《The bath feels nice~.》

Dora-chan and Sui were once again floating around in the milky white waters.

Yeah, baths are great...

We slowly and leisurely enjoyed our bath to the fullest.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After getting out of the bath, I was taking a small break on the sofa in the simply huge living room. I chugged down a sports drink in order to rehydrate. Dora-chan and Sui had fruit milk.

《This tastes really good drinking it after a bath.》

《It’s cold and sweet and delicious~.》

It seemed like both Dora-chan and Sui liked the fruit milk, as they were also chugging it down.

“Mn, that is unfair.” Fel came into the living room. Apparently he got impatient and came down since we wouldn’t go up.

“Do you want some, Fel?”

“Indeed.”

I poured some fruit milk into a deep dish.

《Hey, I still have pudding left over, right?》 said Dora-chan.

He’s talking about that assorted pack of puddings I got for him after lunch as a reward, right? “Yeah, you do.”

《Then give me three of them.》

After I plated one of each of the flavors and served them up, Dora-chan dug in, making it look really delicious.

《I’m so jealous...》 Sui muttered, seemingly envious of Dora-chan.

《Tch! Fine then, already. Hey, give some to Sui and Fel too.》

Wow, I never expected that to happen. Looks like Dora-chan’s sharing his favorite pudding. Not only that, he was sharing with Fel too, not just Sui who looked like it wanted some. “Are you sure?”

《Yeah. Well, Sui and Fel are friends, after all. You’re also my friend even if you’re also my master, so I don’t mind sharing some with you too, you know?》

Heheh, Dora-chan seems all spiky, but he’s really a nice guy, isn’t he? “No, I’m fine. I’m happy you feel that way, though. Thanks.”

Dora-chan must have gotten bashful over what I said, as his tail started to fidget back and forth. I took another set of three each for Fel and Sui, plated them, and handed them out.

“Here, Dora-chan said it was okay to share. Make sure you thank him.”

《Yaayyy!! Dora-chan, thanks!》

“Indeed. Thank you for this, Dora.”

Both Fel and Sui thanked Dora-chan and started on their puddings.

《Dora-chan, the pudding’s delicious.》

“Indeed. This one is also pretty good.”

《Heheheh, right? It suited my tastes, after all. Of course it’s good.》

It’s nice that my familiars are so close. Watching everyone is giving me the fuzzies.

“Oh yeah, the cyclops we’re going to beat tomorrow is a one-eyed giant, right? What kind of monster is it?”

“A cyclops is huge, but it is also slow.” When I asked about cyclopes, Fel answered.

“Fel, have you fought a cyclops before?”

“Yes. Several times. Of course, I won every time.”

He said, as if it was a matter of course.

《I’ve won against them, too,》 said Dora-chan. Apparently Dora-chan’s also fought cyclopes before. 《You know, cyclops are strong and tough ’cause they’re so huge, but just like Fel said, they’re all really slow. So if you attack first and land a really good blow they’ll all go down in one hit.》 Attack first and land a really good blow, huh? You say that like it’s easy, Dora-chan, but normally one wouldn’t be able to do that, I think.

“Indeed, it is as Dora says. Those things are slow, so it is probably best to just attack it first and defeat it before it manages a counterattack.”

So in other words, exactly the same as we always do? Just attack first and attack a lot, right? Yep, looks like I won’t be doing anything tomorrow.

《Sui will also go pew-pew!》

“Yeah, yeah. So tomorrow when we find the one-eyed giant everyone will attack it at once. Is that right, Fel?” That’s what he means by attack first and attack a lot, right?

“Indeed. As soon as we find it, we will defeat it.”

《Yeah.》

《Sui will work hard!》

Everyone’s raring to go, I see. Looks like the cyclops is gonna go down fast tomorrow. I’m starting to feel just a little sorry for the cyclops that’s gonna take all this violence, since he’s gonna go down without even being able to fight back. I whispered a short prayer for a cyclops I haven’t even seen yet.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had come to the excavation site in order to defeat the cyclops. The site must have previously been a mountain, as the site looked like it had been shaved away into steps.

Stealthily peeking into the site... It’s there.

“So that’s a cyclops......” The cyclops, which probably approached four meters in height, was strutting slowly around like it owned the place.

《It’s as big as always, huh?》 said Dora-chan, looking at the cyclops.

“However, it is just big. It is still slow. It is not worthy of being my enemy. Let us hurry and defeat it. Dora, Sui.”

“Ah, wait a second!” I stopped Fel just as he seemed about to run off.

“Mnn, what?” Fel seemed a little dissatisfied at me stopping him right before he was about to dash off all cool.

“It looks like the cyclops’ hide is some sort of material, so can you try to kill it without damaging it as much as possible?” According to what I heard from Jöran, the materials to be gained from a cyclops were its hide, its eye, and a magic stone since it’s A-ranked. Jöran told me that he’d really like to buy its materials, if possible.

“Without damaging it, you say? ......Hmmm.”

“It’s fine if you think it’s too hard.”

“Of course it is not hard. Understood. I will attempt to defeat it without damaging it as much as possible.” I must have hit his pride, since Fel immediately announced that he would attempt to not damage it.

“Dora, Sui, you were listening, right? We will be defeating that cyclops without damaging its hide. We are going!”

《Sure!》

《Yeah!》

When Fel jumped out first, Dora-chan and Sui followed him. I would just be in the way, so of course I sat back and watched.

“Gooaahhhh!!” The cyclops noticed Fel and the others, and raised its leg to try and squish them under its huge, fat foot.

*Blam!* In the span of one breath, or rather, in just a moment, the cyclops’ foot came crashing down.

......Yeah, it really is slow. Fel and Dora-chan said as much, but it turns out they weren’t lying. At that speed, it won’t even scratch any of them.

“Bow!” Fel cried out, and jumped up after an approach. And he used the cyclops’ arm as a stepping stone to climb all the way up to its head.

*SNAP*

Fel, who jumped all the way up, shot electricity from his front paw, and hit the cyclops directly in the cranium. It was like someone took a powerful stun gun right to the head.

“Gooaahhhhh!!” Painfully, the cyclops screamed out and fell to its knees. Then, Dora-chan used its small body and quick movements to close in on the cyclops. He got in close, and......

*BOO-ooomm!*

《Yahhooo! I aimed right for the heart and had it eat some lightning, baby!!》

D-Dora-chan, hitting a properly working heart with electricity will...... What a heartless attack.

“Gh...... Goahh......” The cyclops hunched forward, clutching its heart and at death’s door.

《Sui is next—!》 Along with Sui’s voice came an Acid Bullet shooting out of its outstretched tentacle.

*Pew*

The projectile of acid came shooting out at high speeds, and pierced through the cyclops’ gut.

“Ghh, ah.........”

*Thud*

The hunched over cyclops, having died just like that, fell over sideways. Aannd the cyclops disposal is complete.

“Hm, that was good work.”

《Haha, we did it! It’s no biggie when we’re on the job!》

《Yayy! We did it—!》

Fel, as if to say it was only natural, nodded his head. Dora-chan was flying circles with the smuggest look on his face. Sui was happily bouncing around, fast.

Still, that was really anticlimactic. I expected that, though. It took some shocks straight to its brain and heart, and died to having its gut pierced through, huh...... That was a grand way of dying, but well, when I think of how many of the people who worked here were killed by it, I guess the thing deserved it.

I headed to meet up with everyone. “Wow, nice work everyone, to kill it so quickly.”

“For us, this thing is worthless as an opponent,” said Fel, looking extremely smug.

Treating an A-ranked cyclops as worthless, huh? You know, if any adventurer who put their blood, sweat, and tears into ranking up heard you, they’d cry. Well, if all three of them teamed up, it seems like even a huge flying dragon would go down easily, though. And in reality, Fel already did hunt down an earth dragon. According to Elrand, who loves dragons, huge flying dragons include red dragons, and black dragons. Rumors say that they’re incredibly violent on top of being S-ranked, but with the team combination between these three, it’ll probably be fine. Well, from what I’ve heard there’s not really many of them at all, so we’ll probably never meet one though.

Now then, let’s store this cyclops. Giving the cyclops a once over, I found a slight burn where Fel hit the cyclops’ head with electricity, and one more on the chest where Dora-chan hit it. The part in the gut where Sui hit it with an Acid Bullet also had a hole around 2cm in diameter. That meant that the cyclops’ hide was basically spotless. Wow, they actually listened to what I said.

I shut the cyclops’ corpse into my Item Box.

“What now? This all ended really quick, so we could just head back to town?” It ended quickly, so the sun was still at its highest point.

“No, we eat before we go back.”

《I’m also hungry—.》

《Sui is also hungry—.》

Ahh, is that right? Well, it is about time. Okay then, let’s eat here before going back. Wait, we went through everything I had premade — what should I do?

I checked what was inside my Item Box. There’s only some steamed rice...... And of course meat. Rice rice rice, meat meat meat............ Ah, let’s do that.

What I thought of, when looking through all the meat and rice, was meat wrap rice balls. It was easy and tasty, and perfect for eating outside, in my opinion. In my case, I used yakiniku tare as flavoring when making meat wrap rice balls. It was simple, and most of all, delicious. This time, let’s make three kinds with orc, bloody horn-bull, and wyvern meat. It might also be nice to use several different kinds of yakiniku tare. If that’s the case, I’ll have to buy the tare first.

Open the Online Supermarket... And the first thing I got was the usual long-selling one I always used. This was the only one I wouldn’t compromise on. Since making it sweeter would probably fit meat wrap rice balls better, I chose a sweeter version. And also... Oh, this is good. It was a yakiniku tare from a famous chain of yakiniku places, and it was also on the sweeter side, so it seemed like it would go well with the dish. It would be nice to have about one more...... Oh, let’s go with this one. I chose a sweet yakiniku tare from a maker famous for their soy sauce. I’d tried the medium spicy version of this one, and it was pretty good. Lastly, I got some white sesame to sprinkle on top, and that’s all.

Now then, let’s get to making these meat wrap rice balls.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, cut each of the three meats — orc, bloody horn-bull, and wyvern — thinly. One might end up cutting a piece too thick, or run out in the middle, but that only gives the dish charm.

Even as I am, ever since I came to this world and since I’ve been cooking for Fel and the others, I’ve gotten much better with my knife skills. While I was at home, I still cooked, but in the end that was all for myself. Compared to that, I’ve started to also have speed to my knifework.

Once the meat is cut, next is the rice. Grip the rice to make the general shape. Since this is for Fel and the others too, I make them a little bigger than usual.

Once the shape is done, wrap the meat around it. This time, wrap it up completely so that no rice is showing. Leaving rice showing could allow the whole thing to collapse, so it doesn’t matter how many pieces of meat it takes, what’s most important is to make sure it is completely wrapped.

Oil up a heated frying pan, and start cooking the meat wraps starting with the tips on the bottom. Once that part of the meat wrap is properly cooked, start rolling it around to cook the rest of it. Once the whole thing has cooked, coat with the tare, and once the tare is cooked on its finished. Put the finished meat wrap rice balls on a plate, and lastly sprinkle some white sesame on top.

~◇~◇~◇~

“Heeyy, it’s done!” As soon as I called out to them, they were already gathered. “Here you go.” I placed dishes with the meat wrap rice balls in them in front of everyone.

“I smell the usual tare from when you cook meat.” Gh...... As sharp as ever, Fel. W-Well, I personally like the tare flavor, and it’s convenient so I use it a lot. Maaan, I knew that I was using the yakiniku tare too much, but since it pairs well with meat, it always just ends up like this... Anyway, I got some different tare from the one I usually use this time, too, so cut me some slack.

“Let me see...... Mm? This is... so you wrapped meat around that thing you call rice, I see. Ohh, this is fairly easy to eat. And it is also tasty.” With those words, Fel started to eat the meat wrap rice balls two at a time.

《Oh! So it’s wrapped in meat, huh? It’s great since it’s so easy to eat. I like it.》 Dora-chan scarfed them down while saying the same thing. The meat wrap rice balls are served in a very contained package, so it seems it’s popular with both Fel and Dora-chan since it’s so easy to eat.

《It’s the same flavor as always—, it goes great with meat, so Sui likes it—!》

You think so too, Sui? Right? Doesn’t yakiniku tare just go great with meat? Up until now, I’ve been using the same long-selling yakiniku tare due to my own tastes. However, I cook meat a lot now, so if I keep using the same thing, there’ll be some fatigue no matter what, huh? Now, I can choose spicier things, or even stuff that holds down the sweetness fort, there’s lots of different kinds of yakiniku tare so it might be nice to try them. I can get all kinds through my Online Supermarket, so let’s do just that from now on.

“More!” 《More!》 《More!》

They were fast with that today. Might be because it’s so easy to eat.

I cooked up some more meat wrap rice balls for them. This time, I used the tare from that famous chain of yakiniku places.

“Here.”

Everyone started chowing down again.

“Mn, this one tastes slightly different.”

Oh, so Fel noticed. “I used a slightly different tare than usual. How is it?”

“Yes. This one is also not bad.”

《Yeah, this one’s good, too. It’s great, and it’s got sort of a more savory flavor.》

《This one is tasty too—.》

Looks like both Dora-chan and Sui like it too. Let’s see, I should try one as well. Ohh! It’s pretty damn good. It’s got a rich flavor. It said that it had dark roasted sesame seeds in it, so that fragrance must accent it nicely, huh?

After that, Fel and Sui had several more helpings before mealtime was over. I also made some rice balls using the sweeter type of tare from that maker that’s famous for its soy sauce, and it was also delicious. Salty-sweet really is just the best flavor for meat wrap rice balls.

《Heeeyyy, give me pudding—.》 Dora-chan, who finished a little earlier, was the one who said that.

Oh yeah, I promised two desserts a day and he hadn’t eaten one in the morning yet, had he?

“Give me something sweet as well.”

《Sui too—!》

They must have started to want something sweet as well, as both Fel and Sui also asked for dessert. If that’s the case, let’s make it three this time since they’ve beaten the cyclops today and everything.

“Okay then, since everyone beat the cyclops today, you guys can have three just for today.”

When I said that, Dora-chan and Sui cheered loudly. Fel also seemed vaguely happy.

“What do you want?”

“I will have the usual white one.”

《Of course, I’m going with pudding!》

《Sui wants all different ones—!》

Fel wants the usual strawberry shortcake and Dora-chan wants the pudding, and as for Sui, it’s different cakes, huh? I opened the now familiar Fumiya menu in my Online Supermarket. So it’s three strawberry shortcake slices for Fel and pudding for Dora-chan, right? Hm... there’s something called a pudding sundae, I see. Okay, the pudding sundae has strawberry and banana so let’s get that and the usual pudding for Dora-chan. For Sui, I got the seasonal melon shortcake and blueberry tart, and also a chiffon cake with chocolate cream on top.

After plating the cakes, I served them out along with Dora-chan’s pudding sundae, which came in a glass container that was pretty on its own, so I left it as it was.

“Here you go.”

Fel downed an entire cake slice in one gulp and only said one word, “Delicious.” Looks like he really loves that strawberry shortcake.

After Dora-chan finished with his usual pudding, he started on the pudding sundae. He was using his front paws to dexterously hold up the glass container, sticking his snout into the container and using his tongue to lap up the dessert, while saying, 《This is great.》

Sui, who loved sweet things, was also happily enveloping the cakes one at a time. It said that every one was delicious, but Sui, who loved chocolate, also said, “This chocolate cake is fluffy and really really delicious!”

While watching everyone happily down their desserts, I conquered a can of coffee myself. It looked like everyone was just about done now, so it was nearly time to return to town.

“It’s about time to go back.”

“Indeed, you are right.”

《Yeah, let’s go. Once we’re back let’s get in the bath.》

《Bath—!》

Just like that, we, who had finished defeating the cyclops, returned to town.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hahh, that bath was great.”

《Yeah, baths really are awesome.》

《The bath felt good~.》

After getting out of the bath, Dora-chan, Sui, and I were lazing around on the bed in our bedroom. Fel was already lying down on his futons. After a quick glance this way, Fel raised his head slowly.

“Mn? Sui has evolved, I see.”

“What? Really? Let’s see......” Since Fel said that Sui had evolved, I tried using Appraisal on Sui.

【Name】 Sui

【Age】 3 months

【Race】 Huge Slime

【Level】 1

【HP】 1582

【MP】 1556

【Attack】 1548

【Defense】 1553

【Agility】 1581

【Skills】 Acid Bullet, Potion Creation, Cloning, Water magic, Smithing, Giganticize

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Water, Rusalka; Blessing of the God of Blacksmithing, Hephaestos

Oh, Fel was right, Sui evolved. It says “Huge Slime” now. Looking closely at Sui’s stats now, Sui had a new skill: “Giganticize,” it said. When I focused on that part, the power of my Appraisal must have activated, as an explanation popped up.

【Giganticize ...... A slime’s unique skill to become gigantic】

Wow, that tells me nothing. I wonder how big it’ll get when it uses Giganticize? I’ll need to test this out somewhere spacious. I’d planned to go to the Adventurer’s guild and report the defeat of the cyclops tomorrow, but after that I was free, so I’ll just have Fel take us out to a wide open place outside of town then to try it out.

“Sui, it looks like you got a new skill when you evolved; do you know what it is?”

《Hmm? Wait a second...... Ah, yeah, Sui knows. It’s like, Sui can become super huge—.》

Super huge, huh? Just how big, though...

“Okay then, tomorrow after we go to the Adventurer’s guild, let’s go see just how big you can get.”

《Yeah!》

Still, a huge slime, huh? Sui keeps on evolving, but just what is the end step for slimes? Fel might know. “Hey, Fel, it looks like Sui evolved into a huge slime, but will it keep evolving further?”

“Most likely. The last form for slimes is an emperor slime. I have also once faced one down, and it was quite strong.”

E-Emperor slime? What a s-strong sounding name.

“It has quite the magic resistance, you see. Half-assed magic attacks will not work at all. Not only that, but as long as part of its body remains it will quickly regenerate. Even I had a hard time with it. Ultimately, I put an end to it with my strongest lightning spell, though.”

It even caused Fel some trouble...... Wow. Well actually, he still beat it in the end, didn’t he? I wonder what kind of spell is Fel’s strongest lightning attack? ......Woah, I’m getting the chills just from imagining it.

“Given that Sui has evolved into a huge slime, most likely its next evolution will be an emperor slime. I have met several huge slimes, only one emperor slime. That is because most slimes get weeded out before then. There really are only an exceedingly rare few that get to evolve that far.”

That’s true. Slimes all start off really weak, after all. However, according to Fel, Sui’s already just one step away from its last evolution, becoming a huge slime, at only three months old. That’s amazing...... Wait, ahh, the otherworld trash. The trash from the stuff I get off of my skill piles up, and I have Sui take care of it at regular intervals, that must be why. It’s also been fighting a lot of monsters, so it all must help Sui level up really fast.

W-W-Well, it’s not bad that Sui’s getting so strong.

“However, if it is already a huge slime, then it might be hard for it to level up from now on.”

“Huh, really?”

“Indeed. I already told you that it becomes harder to level the higher level you are, yes? Just like that, those who have evolved into higher rungs of their own race find it harder to level.”

I see...... In the first place, do we also evolve? Out of all of us, Sui’s the only one who’s evolved so far. “About evolution, do people also do that?”

“No, humans do not evolve. Neither I nor Dora will, either.” According to Fel, whether or not someone evolved or not depended on their race. People, Fenrirs, and dragon types did not evolve apparently. It seemed like the reason for that is that our forms were already something like a final evolution. In the first place, it seemed like almost no high-ranking monsters evolved in the first place.

So, apparently, those that evolve and continue to get stronger are all those who are low-ranking monsters. And Sui, a slime, was originally the lowest rank, a slime. And it keeps evolving, and in the end it seems it will become an emperor slime.

Orcs and such were the same, and apparently their progression was: orc→orc leader→orc general→orc king. Although it seemed the environment also had an effect on how one evolved.

“I see. Ah, about evolution, at around what level does it happen?”

“Level 100, I believe. It is said that evolution happens the moment one reaches level 100.”

I see. If that’s the case, then Fel, who’s lived over 1000 years is in his 900’s, so the max level is probably 999, then.

“Since that’s the case, does that mean that the maximum level for you, Dora-chan, and I is 999?”

“Indeed. That is what is said. However......”

Hm? Fel’s being unusually quiet.

“What?”

“No, it is just something of a legend amongst us Fenrirs, but it is said that there was one that passed level 999, and got over level 1000. It is said that that one lived over 10,000 years and, tired of the world, went searching for unknown worlds by crossing the ocean.”

What? Crossing the ocean...... “Wait a second, crossed the ocean? There’s another continent besides this one?”

“I told you that it was a legend. However, no one has seen that Fenrir.”

“What? There’s no one that’s set off for a new continent or anything?” Like Columbus, you know?

“You will just be sunk by the monsters in the sea, you realize? Do you think there is anyone stupid enough to do that?”

Ah, I see. This world has monsters. So it’s not that easy.

“Well, it seems that you humans have discovered nearby islands and whatnot, though.”

Islands, huh? Well, since there’s monsters around, I guess it’s just too harsh to go into the deep sea. Still though, it wouldn’t be surprising for there to be more continents other than this one in this world. Well, since there’s no way to get there there’s nothing I can do about it, either.

“Level 999 is still far away, but I have also gained a level. That is why I started appraising the others, because I wondered how they were.”

Ahh, so that’s how he found out that Sui evolved. Let’s see, how is Fel now?

【Name】 Fel

【Age】 1014

【Race】 Fenrir

【Level】 922

【HP】 10019

【MP】 9652

【Attack】 9308

【Defense】 10020

【Agility】 9841

【Skills】 Wind magic, Fire magic, Water magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Holy magic, Barrier magic, Rending Claws, Body Reinforcement, Physical attack resistance, Magic attack resistance, MP Efficiency, Appraisal, Battle Boost

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir; Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn

As amazing a status as always. It’s always been ridiculous, so just going up a little doesn’t really make an impression.

“I had accrued some experience in the dungeon, after all. And after defeating so many evil plants, I probably finally leveled after today’s cyclops. In the end, dungeons really are best for gaining levels. I want to go to another dungeon. There are others in human towns, no? After we get to the sea we will go to a dungeon.”

No, no, don’t just decide on your own like that. I’m already done with dungeons. I won’t be going to one, got it?

“W-Well, we haven’t even gotten to the sea yet, so let’s just concentrate on that for now.”

I’ve got to somehow make that decision on dungeons ambiguous. If I don’t, I really will get forced into finding another dungeon city after we get to Berléand.

“More importantly, if both Fel and Sui have leveled, doesn’t that mean that Dora-chan’s also gained some levels?”

“Indeed. Dora’s level has most likely also raised.”

“Dora-chan...... Wait, he’s asleep? Sui’s gone too.”

While Fel and I were talking, Dora-chan and Sui had both fallen asleep.

“Pft! Wow, that’s some sleeping posture. Do dragons always sleep like this?” Dora-chan was sleeping belly up, exposing it to the world. His breathing was also heavy, sounding like, Ffsssss, ffssssss. Ah, he just scratched at his belly.

“There is no way a dragon would sleep like this. Dora is the only one. Pixie dragons are a rare race, and Dora is most likely considered strange even among them. In the first place, it is unthinkable for a pixie dragon to show itself to a human. At most, those who have seen one have done so only by coincidence. And this one was even the one to approach you. That means that Dora here is most likely considered quite strange amongst pixie dragons.”

Ahaha, Dora-chan’s being treated like a weirdo. Well, that’s been helping me out a lot, though. Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui make for the perfect tag team, they’re invincible. Let’s see, how’s Dora-chan doing?

【Name】 Dora-chan

【Age】 116

【Race】 Pixie Dragon

【Level】 164

【HP】 1120

【MP】 3262

【Attack】 3153

【Defense】 1081

【Agility】 3938

【Skills】 Fire magic, Water magic, Wind magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Healing magic, Bombardment, Battle Boost

【Blessings】 Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn

Oh, it’s gotten a little higher. Must be because he beat such a large number of evil plants. It was kind of amazing how many there were, wasn’t it? Although it wasn’t nearly as many as the others, even I put down a lot of them. Ah, oh yeah, I wonder what my level is now? It probably won’t raise that easily, but given how many there were... Let’s see.

【Name】 Mukohda (Tsuyoshi Mukouda)

【Age】 27

【Job】 Victim from Another World

【Level】 30

【HP】 324

【MP】 316

【Attack】 294

【Defense】 291

【Agility】 270

【Skills】 Appraisal, Item Box, Fire magic, Earth magic, Perfect Defense, Double Experience Gain, Familiars (Contracted Magic Beasts): Fenrir, Huge Slime, Pixie Dragon

【Unique Skill】 Online Supermarket

《Tenant》 Fumiya

【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir (small); Blessing of the Goddess of Fire, Agni (small); Blessing of the Goddess of Earth, Kisharle (small)

Ohh! I don’t know why but I gained a whole lot of levels! It must be because of all those evil plants I put down. Wait, hm? I’m not quite sure how, but it looks like at some point I got a new skill. Double Experience Gain?

............Hah?! H-H-Huh? What’s this? Since when did I get that skill?

“H-Hey, Fel, can you try using Appraisal on me?”

“I can...... Okay, it is done.”

“Do you see a skill called ‘Double Experience Gain?’”

“Hm...... Indeed, it is there. Is that a new skill?”

“Yeah. It’s a new skill, but I don’t know when I got it. Why did I suddenly get this skill?”

“Skills themselves increase or are gained in proportion to our experiences. Something probably happened that lead to your gaining that Double Experience Gain skill.”

Really? I don’t think I’ve done anything that would connect to that...... I turned my focus back to the Double Experience Gain entry.

【Double Experience Gain】

Doubles experience earned. This skill makes gaining levels easier.

Yep, right as it says on the tin...... but why do I have it? It makes gaining levels easier............ Ah! Those damn useless gods...... They all know that I’ll unlock my next Tenant at level 40, so it must have been one of them that put it on me. Or, rather than one of them, they might all even be in on it.

“I know what happened. Those gods put it on me. See, didn’t I say that my unique skill to obtain things from the other world leveled up?”

“Yes, you did, as I recall. If I remember correctly, you also mentioned that you would be able to obtain more delicious cakes than before, no?”

“That’s right. So you see, the next time my unique skill levels up is at level 40. The gods know that, and have been telling me to level up, so most likely those gods gave me this ‘Double Experience Gain’ skill. Geez, why won’t they just leave well enough alone?”

“What are you saying?! If that is the gods’ wish, then you should be obeying them!”

What? Why am I the one being yelled at?

“Also, is it such a bad thing to have that skill, that ‘Double Experience Gain’? Rather, having that makes it easier for you to gain levels so you should be rejoicing. A normal person would probably hand over their own soul for something like that. If you managed to get a skill like that you should be thankful.”

Urgh, now that you mention it...... It’s true that if I think about the “Double Experience Gain” skill, it’s not something that’ll cause trouble. In fact, since I’ll be gaining levels twice as fast as a normal person, there’s absolutely no downsides. But still...... I just can’t let go of the fact that they decided to give it to me all on their own. Okay, next time I send them offerings I’ll give them a good talking to!

Extra: Mukohda’s Village Revitalization

“It’s because you’re you that I am asking you this, Sir Mukohda. Of course, I will reward you for your efforts. So please, please think of it as saving this village, and lend us your knowledge.”

The one bowing and scraping in front of me was the head of Merelä village. Just how did it come to this......

In one of the towns I stopped by before I came here, I had heard that this place was famous for its honey, so all I did was decide to stop by because it was interesting... Stopping by with light feelings since I wasn’t in any hurry on my travels or anything came back to bite me on the ass.

The reason why the village chief was so desperate as to bow to me had to do with the honey that this village was famed for. In this world, honey was considered a luxury, but this land had always been abundant in greenery and flowers, and along with that came a large number of bees, so this place became known for its honey production, it seemed. However, once the Opatrný region that was located in the southern area of this country finally succeeded in their beekeeping, the situation turned around all at once. The honey from the Opatrný region carried the flavor and fragrance of the ohränge blossoms that were unique to that region, and suddenly became popular amongst nobles. And inversely, the sales of the honey here only plummeted.

Indirectly, if one asked a merchant, they would all apparently say, “Right now, speaking of honey, the ones from the Opatrný region sell.” And when it came to recent times, almost no merchants at all would come to stock up on honey. Since they also farmed at the same time, up until now they’ve somehow been able to survive, but I’ve been told that if by some chance their crops ever failed or they got a low yield, there were many families that would be driven to sell themselves off to slavery. And that’s the village that we unwittingly visited.

On top of that, since I bought a huge amount of the village’s special honey that hadn’t been selling recently, I was showered in attention. All three of my familiars were pretty fond of sweet things, and honey had many uses, and all of that just connected to me buying a lot. In the first place, I never planned to stay here for long. After getting the honey, I was about to leave the next day, but this time the village chief visited me.

In the first place, why me? When I thought that, the village chief said, “Please, teach us some dish that we can use our village’s special honey in.” This village didn’t have any inns, so we had asked the village chief to borrow an empty house outside of the village proper, and apparently that’s how I was caught cooking. Not only that, but it was right when I was using the honey to cook.

I had to prepare an enormous amount of food for Fel and the others, and I thought that it would be better to use the cooking utensils I was used to and that’s why I was cooking in the yard. We were outside the village, so I figured I wouldn’t so easily be discovered. At that time, I didn’t know that this village was so troubled, and I would never have thought I was being paid so much attention by the villagers. But, in reality there were villagers that saw me cooking.

And, having heard from the villagers that I was cooking something they’d never seen before using the honey, the village chief came to ask me that — “begging and scraping” quite literally. And that was because, since honey was such an expensive thing, its most common use was to just eat it as is, or if one felt like being really luxurious, they would add it to their tea, apparently. But I was using it in cooking. The village chief, who heard that, set his eyes on that novelty.

“Our village’s honey doesn’t taste bad, you know? However, compared to Opatrný’s honey......”

Apparently, everyone in the village once pooled together their meager resources and bought some of Opatrný’s honey, and they were all stunned into silence at the taste. True to the rumors, Opatrný’s honey had a wonderful fragrance and taste, and it was clearly several stages better than this village’s honey, everyone in the village agreed. Given that, the village chief figured that just selling the honey like the village has been up until now wouldn’t work, and so he started grasping for some sort of idea to get the merchants to buy their honey again. However, there was no way they would come up with an idea that quickly, so the village chief went to literally every merchant that had a connection to the village to somehow beg them to stock their honey, but he was coldly refused every time.

It was at that time that we appeared. And not only did we appear, we even used honey in cooking, not in tea or by itself. And that was how the village chief discovered the possibilities of honey.

“If we can communicate that Merelä village’s honey can be used like that, then I think we can gain an advantage.” The village chief explained that by his estimation, the Opatrný region’s honey was wonderful in both taste and smell, and thanks to that, the price of it could make someone faint just by hearing about it. Due to that fact, not even nobles could lightheartedly use it in cooking.

The honey made in Merelä village was also expensive, but it was only about half so compared to that from the Opatrný region, so one could buy from Opatrný if they wanted to just eat the honey, but from the village if they wanted it for slightly luxurious cooking. Splitting the uses like that lent some weight to the village chief’s logic. Also, according to the village chief, “There are a lot of nobles that enjoy new things, too.” And so, if they were to discover a new way of enjoying honey, there would be many who would want to try it out, and the village chief was expecting much out of that desire.

“So that being the case, Mr. Mukohda, please... PLEASE, lend us your knowledge,” the village chief begged, bowing his head so low it was like he was praying to me.

If he’s going that far, just coldly refusing would be a little... Still though, I can’t just teach the village what I made exactly as I made it. After all, I made teriyaki cockatrice using this village’s honey. Since I used soy sauce bought with my skill, there’d be no way for this village to replicate it. So a dish using honey that can be made using only ingredients from this world, huh? Well, it doesn’t have to be cooking, it can just be some way to enjoy it outside of just eating it or putting it in tea, right? I can think of several things, but I still want some time...

“Understood. I don’t know if you’ll be happy with it, but I’ll try thinking of some things.”

When I gave that reply, the village chief started worshiping me, saying, “Oh thank you, oh thank you!”

“No no, please raise your head.”

“No, this will save Merelä village. Thank you, oh thank you!”

Eeegghh...... “Save the village?” You’re making too big a deal out of this. And also, I’d really rather you not place so much expectation on me.

With the village chief worshiping me the way he was, it didn’t seem like I’d be able to talk to him, so I just said, “Please give me three days,” and had him give me time to think my own way of something to use and enjoy honey with.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Truly, thank you Mr. Mukohda, for listening to my unreasonable request.”

After the promised three days, I went to visit the village chief. All three of my familiars were left minding the house with lots of food to eat.

“Since this crisis involves the village, I gathered people who are like the headsmen of this place.”

True to the village chief’s word, there were eight old men and women around.

“Okay. I’ve thought of several things, so I think it would be best for everyone to try them so I can hear your opinions.” Since I’d also be cooking, I had to borrow the village chief’s house’s kitchen, so we all moved there.

“Okay then, first is something simple. I’ll be making a drink. What I’ll need is......”

...A lemoné fruit that I found here. It was exactly like a lemon, and in this world was used to clean a lot of different things. Apparently it was a fruit off of a short tree, and it was pretty common; in rural areas just about every house had a tree. As for this lemoné fruit, I stopped by a neighbor’s house before coming here and borrowed some. Other than the lemoné fruit, it was just this village’s honey and some water.

“Please wait a second. That’s a lemoné fruit, right?” The older lady looked at the yellow lemoné fruit and scrunched up her face. The villagers also started chittering, saying things like, “Isn’t that a cleaner?” and, “It’s probably not poisonous, but what are you even planning on doing with that thing?”

“Uhhm, just like she’s said this is a lemoné fruit. As you all know, this is very sour, and we will be using the fruit juice’s sourness. Of course, it’ll just be really sour with this, so we will combine it with this village’s honey. The taste is...... well I’ll be making it anyway, so it’ll be faster if you all just drink it.”

After mixing together the honey and the lemoné fruit’s juice, pour in some water to complete the honey lemon- no, the honey lemoné drink.

When I tried a little as a taste test, the lemoné’s refreshing sourness and the soft sweetness of the honey felt good on the throat.

“Here you go, everyone.” I poured it into cups and handed them out to the villagers. They all fearfully and hesitantly reached out for the cups...

“This is surprising. To think that that sour lemoné would become something like this......” said the lady who had previously scrunched up her face at the sight of the lemoné, surprised.

“It’s got an invigorating feel going down the throat, but the sweetness of the honey is properly there.”

“It’s delicious because the taste is so refreshing. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this.”

The impression of the villagers was all good. Honey lemon- I mean, honey lemoné was simple to make but really delicious to consume. It was perfect for slightly hot days like this.

“And lastly will be a meat dish that uses honey.” It didn’t seem like they were surprised since they’d probably heard that I had done this before, but it did seem like they were really interested in what was going to happen, as they were staring very fixedly. While thinking of something I could make with ingredients found in this world, I finally settled upon “chicken ham.” On top of it not taking too many ingredients, cooking it was simple since the only process was marinating the meat and then boiling it.

“First, I’ll start explaining from the ingredients. We’ll be using the breast of a cockatrice. We will also be needing salt, dried herbs to your liking, and honey. Okay then, I’ll start cooking.”

“After taking the skin off of the cockatrice’s breast, open it up with a knife and flatten it out so it’s of uniform thickness. Then, in order to help the flavor soak in better, start piercing holes into the meat with a fork.”

“Then, take a mixture of the salt and finely ground dried herbs, or handmade herb salt, and rub it into the meat along with the honey; let the flavors soak in for about thirty minutes. Truthfully, it would be best to also rub in pepper, but pepper is far too expensive in this world, so I’m leaving it out this time.”

Since letting it soak for half an hour would take too long, I simply took out a piece I’d prepared earlier from my Item Box. “Since time is short, I’ll just be using something I prepared beforehand.”

By the way, the piece of meat I just rubbed the herb salt and honey into will be used to fill Fel and the other’s bellies later.

“Wrap up the meat into a rod shape before wrapping it in the skin of an orange frog and tying the ends off with some hemp rope.”

Orange frog skin was something that was used in this world to wrap things. At first, I didn’t know of it, but the village chief told me about it when I asked him for something that would be used as a wrapping which was strong against heat. It was apparently the voice sac of an orange frog, a brightly-colored frog that lived in and around rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. At first, I was both surprised and disgusted hearing that it was the skin of a frog, but it seemed that it was thin, flexible, tough, strong against heat, and perfect for preserving food. If that was the case, then since the saying was, “In Rome, do as the Romans do,” I tried using it to make the chicken ham, and although it wasn’t as light and easy as normal wrapping paper, it still worked pretty well.

“Take the meat wrapped in the orange frog skin and......”

I had asked the village chief’s wife to boil some water in a pot already, so I put the flame to low, or rather, I took the pot off of the flame and dumped the meat in.

“After letting it boil for about five minutes, take the pot off of the flame, put on the lid, and let the whole thing simmer down until the water cools off. The heat should pass through the entirety of the meat slowly this way and that should finish the dish.”

“So, this is the finished product.” I took out the completed dish that I had done yesterday out from my Item Box. After unwrapping the orange frog’s skin, I started cutting the meat apart. The faint smell of herbs stimulated the appetite.

“Try it.”

The villagers scarfed down the meat, seemingly full of interest.

“This is good!”

“Soft!”

“Delicious!”

“This makes me want some alcohol!”

...Came the positive reviews. It was popular enough that the villagers couldn’t stop eating the “chicken ham.” All the villagers that tasted it gave it their stamp of approval, claiming that with this, they could be saved.

The women were also excited, saying that, “It’s easy to make, let’s go try it right now.” The men enthusiastically talked about getting the merchants to try it and showing them the appeal of their village’s honey.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Mukohda.” The village chief gripped my hands with his old and dry ones, and he had faint tears staining his eyes. “With this, our village will be saved.”

“Oh come on, you’re making too big a deal out of it. You haven’t even actually sold any honey yet.”

“No, if they try these, the merchants will come running.”

“That’d be great if it happened. Just like you saw earlier, honey can be used a lot of different ways. I think it’d be best if you all experimented on your own to find different ways of using it.”

The reward I received from the village chief was 2 gold pieces. Given the village’s financial situation, they probably worked quite hard to come up with that much money. Still, I accepted it gratefully. And, I used all of it to buy more honey. That was probably better for the village, too. The next day, we, who had managed to obtain lots of honey from Merelä village, left said village behind.

Half a year later—

“Mukohda, I’m sharing this with you.”

Lambert, a merchant I had befriended, said this as he handed over a small pot. Inside was amber colored honey, which gave off a sweet scent.

“This is honey from a village in the eastern region of the country named Merelä. Some of my merchant friends who deal in food have been pushing it recently, so I tried buying some. I had thought that, for honey, the stuff produced by Opatrný was the best, but the honey from this Merelä village is also pretty good. And it’s interesting, I was told a lot of ways to eat this honey......”

Lambert started talking about all the ways he was told. And among them, the one Lambert liked the most was...... “Just smear a whole lot of honey on some lightly toasted bread. It’s so......”

Lambert must have remembered the taste, as he started looking as if he was in a trance. “I had completely thought that the only way to enjoy honey was to eat it or put it in tea. At first, I thought it was a huge waste to smear it on bread, but when I actually tried it, not only did it feel very luxurious, but it was just the most delicious thing!”

I didn’t remember teaching the villagers about smearing honey on bread, so they must have invented honey toast on their own, huh? Nice going. Not only that, but they’ve got people this hooked. Good job. Also, you’re way too into it, Lambert. You’ve been going on for forever about how good honey toast is.

“So anyway, it’s a really delicious honey, so please try it.”

“Thank you very much. I will.” Since honey from Merelä has made it so far away to here, Karelina, that must mean that their village was saved. Personally, that makes me feel a little relieved.

Afterword

This is Eguchi Ren. Thank you very much for buying, “Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Volume 4: Barbecue and God’s Blessings!”

Finally, the 4th volume is on sale. It’s four volumes, you know? Four! I know full well that it’s thanks to all you readers that we’ve been able to have so many volumes. I am truly thankful.

This 4th volume has seen changes to Mukohda’s familiar skill, the “Online Supermarket,” and also has Sui showing off its amazing abilities, so it would make me happy if you enjoyed all of that. And, and, at the same time this 4th volume is released, the 1st volume of the comic has also gone on sale! I probably shouldn’t be saying this as the one that wrote it, but it’s really incredibly interesting.

I’m really grateful to my illustrator for the novels, Masa-sensei, and also Akagishi K-sensei, who is in charge of the comic. Even though I always just kind of halfheartedly express my thanks like this, they always deliver accurate work that’s even better than what I imagine, and I always feel like I’m blessed for having such awesome artists in charge of my series. Masa-sensei, Akagishi K-sensei, my editor, the great I, and everyone else at Overlap, thank you all so much.

And lastly, please continue enjoying the laid-back adventures of Mukohda, Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui in another world in “Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill” in WEB, novel, and comic form.

I am looking forward to seeing you all again in volume 5.

Bonus Short Stories

A Store Made Out of Dreams

“Mmheheheheheh...”

To think that guy’s unique skill had such a hidden function... I’m extremely lucky! However, I never would have thought that the other world would have such a sweets shop: Fumiya, a veritable dream store.

I scanned over all the different colorful sweets. Especially the cakes.

What is going on with all this choice?

All the cakes were far more colorful and gorgeous than the ones up until now. Not to mention, they all seemed truly delicious.

No matter what, I’m going to eat all of those cakes.

I looked back upon all those colorful cakes.

“Muhhaaahh! These cakes really are right in front of my eyes~♪ Mmheheheheh...”

There were fifteen colorful, tasty-looking cakes lined up in front of my eyes. A sweet scent tickled my nose, emanating from those cakes.

“Hahh, they all look so beautiful. And, they seem so unimaginably delicious...” I stared at the neatly lined up cakes, entranced.

“It’s fine to just look at them, but what I really need to do is taste them. Now, which one will it be? This one looks good, but that one also looks delicious. And this one here also looks amazing...”

In the end, after much deliberation......

“This one! The strawberry shortcake!”

I purposefully chose the strawberry shortcake, something that I’d already eaten before. And that was because this strawberry shortcake was different from all the ones before it. The red strawberry fruit was huge, and most importantly, it looked fluffy.

“At any rate, I have to try it.”

*Owm*———

“Mhhffhhooo! So good! The sweet and sour red fruit and the white cream, along with the light and fluffy dough all come together perfectly!”

The usual strawberry shortcake was delicious, but this one was even more so. Entranced by said deliciousness, I continued to eat.

“Whew, that was good... But I’m not satisfied just yet, I say! I’ll eat one more. Which one should I have next~?”

Playing the “what to choose” game once again, I looked over my choices.

“Next is, this!”

A stunning green-colored cake.

“If I’m remembering correctly, this cake that uses tea in it is called ‘matcha’ cake, no? This vibrant and pretty green is so eye-catching.”

After carefully and thoroughly inspecting the beautiful green cake, I took a bite.

“Mhmh?! What a complex flavor! It’s sweet but also somewhat astringent. This is a grown-up taste, isn’t it? Something that would work for someone not too fond of sweets. This is pretty good, but obviously I’d like something with stronger sweetness. Hmmm, so the other world has cakes like this, too...”

While feeling impressed at the complex flavors of cake that isn’t only sweet, I continued powering through it.

“Great. Next! I have yet to eat my fill! And so, next is~”

My eyes wandered this way and that, eventually settling on a brown cake topped with a strawberry, that red fruit.

“This thing is called a ‘mille-feuille,’ right? It seems to have a different type of dough from the usual fluffy cakes. Let’s see......”

*Kshh*———

When I bit into it, the crisp feeling was...

“Mhhooohh! This is delicious! This crisp dough is really good!”

In between the crisp dough, there was a cream that was a little richer and more yellow than white cream. This richer cream worked perfectly with the crisp dough.

*Kshhh* *Kshh*———

“Ohh! Eating this red fruit with the rest of it is so nice! This sweet yet sour fruit, this rich cream, and this crisp dough! It all strikes such a wonderful and perfect balance!”

Even though it was my third one, I polished it off with ease.

“I can still keep going. The next cake will be...... This one!”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

That day, Ninrir ended up with 6 cakes in her stomach. And she still kept going on, like, “1 or 2 more, I feel like I can keep going for that long, but I’ll leave it here for today.”

And then......

“Mmheheheheheh, Fumiya, my own personal dream store! I’m going to try all the cakes there! I’m so looking forward to it! Heheheheheheheh”

Rather than sating Ninrir’s thirst for sweets, her appetite was rising rapidly. An unsettling and creepy laughter continued to reverberate throughout Ninrir’s palace that entire day, causing the servants working there to shiver.

An Audience with the King

“Ahhah, in the capital by myself, huh......” The one who just complained was the guildmaster for the Adventurer’s guild in the dungeon city of Dolan, Elrand. In order to give a report that Mukohda and his party conquered the dungeon, as well as offer to the king Mukohda’s present, he was currently heading for the capital on horseback.

“Maaan, I wanted to travel with Mukohda and the others...”

He was cleanly and clearly told “No” by Ugohl, who could be said to be the true guildmaster of Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild. And, just like that, he set off towards the capital, but it seemed he still hadn’t given up on joining Mukohda and his party.

Though, truthfully, he was probably more interested in the pixie dragon than Mukohda and the rest of his party.

“It was a strict order from Ugohl, and honestly, it can’t be helped that I have to go to the capital, but let me just hurry and finish what I need to do so I can go back.”

He wouldn’t be able to meet Dora-chan, but Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild still had the earth dragon’s fang that he had bought from Mukohda. It was Elrand’s coveted treasure, something that he could look at every day and never get tired of. The plan was actually to make a sword out of the fang, and a blacksmith would have to be selected to entrust with the job. The materials being what they were, they couldn’t spare any effort in weeding out the unworthy.

“There’s a lot of candidates, but none of them really stand out...... Well, I can just think about that once I’m back in Dolan. For now I should focus on the capital. Giddyup!”

When Elrand lightly kicked the sides of the horse, it started running towards the capital.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Still, to just hand out a magic item like that... How generous of him.”

The one who said that was the king of this country, sitting on his throne. With his closely cropped golden hair and a well-groomed beard, along with his muscular build and sharp eyes, he looked far more fit to be a general than a king.

“Not only that, it’s a Necklace of Antidotes.”

Just as Mukohda thought, a magic item that could negate poison was something those in this country’s court would want so badly they’d sell their own children.

“Your Majesty, do not forget that the effect is very strong. It is almost a miracle.” The one who said that was this country’s prime minister, who stood by the king’s side. The king agreed, nodding in satisfaction.

Naturally, the Necklace of Antidotes that Mukohda offered had already been appraised with a magic item. Of course, the royal family in this kingdom already had a magic item that could negate poison, but it wasn’t this powerful. That was why even the king’s close aides were extremely happy.

“So, Elrand, what kind of man is Mukohda?”

The kingdom, boasting a particularly skilled intelligence organization, quickly grasped the movements of the person who tamed a Fenrir — including that he was headed into this country.

“I suppose I could call him harmless and good-natured; he’s that sort of person.”

“‘Harmless and good-natured,’ huh? However, he has a Fenrir following him — a most powerful being said to have destroyed entire countries.”

Although he could be classified as ‘harmless,’ due to his having tamed a Fenrir, there was no way either king or country could just leave him alone. But, they understood that Mukohda didn’t want to make contact with those in power.

Hence why Mukohda was told “Please spend your time in our country freely” and the nobles in the country had also been warned not to force the man into doing anything. Of course, this was with the condition that, should some emergency arise, he would lend his aid. On top of that, to make sure Mukohda wouldn’t get too full of himself, some skilled spies were always tracking him. It seemed like they were found out by the Fenrir in question, but since the spies were given strict orders not to take any direct action against Mukohda’s party, the Fenrir ignored them.

The reason for telling him that he could spend his time freely even while following him with spies was, of course, to not allow the Fenrir — quite possibly the strongest military force in the world — out of the country. Hounding him and driving him out of the country would be putting the cart before the horse. As an enemy, he would be the worst. But, if it was possible to keep him close and use his power, then doubtlessly, there could be no better ally.

“I’m sorry to say, Your Majesty, but the Fenrir is not the only thing following him.”

“You’re right. I have heard of this. It was a pixie dragon and a special slime, yes? I’ve been told that they all conquered the dungeon together, so not only must that pixie dragon be strong, but there is no way that the slime is just a normal slime, either.”

“Indeed. I don’t like saying this, but Mukohda himself is not that strong. However, I have felt strength beyond our means in his familiar Fenrir, of course, along with the pixie dragon and the special slime. Also......”

Elrand explained the relationship between Mukohda and Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui. He felt that Mukohda’s party’s relationships were stronger than any traditional tamer, and rather than a master and servant relationship, it was closer to a relationship of mutual benefit. Also, their sense of camaraderie was strong, and if anyone should lay a hand on any of them......

“They would not be let off lightly, huh?”

“Yes.” Elrand, having been faced with Fel’s attention, could say that with certainty. That is, if Fel were to ever feel like it, he would not stop at just one country. In particular, if anything were to happen to Mukohda, this country would probably be headed straight to the afterlife.

After the king got the gist of it, he started stroking his beard in thought. “He probably wouldn’t say ‘yes’ if I were to offer to protect him, would he?”

“My king, would not just maintaining the status quo be the best move for now? From what I hear, that Mukohda person has a very peaceable personality. I do not think he will cause that much trouble. Most importantly, if we were to approach him ourselves, I do not think that Mukohda person would look kindly on it.”

The king nodded in agreement at the prime minister’s words.

“Being too persistent and driving him away from this country would be the worst thing that could happen, after all. Elrand, you have actually met Mukohda; what do you think?”

“Yes! If I were to express my personal opinion......”

Elrand told the king that the presentation of the Necklace of Antidotes this time was to express his gratitude for his freedom, as well as his desire to carry on like this from now on. He also said that it seemed Mukohda didn’t want to stand out too much, and that he had taken a liking to this country, and so, at this point in time, he didn’t have any plans to leave. Also, his familiars enjoyed the fact that a human town was built around a dungeon, and they wanted to go to other dungeons, too.

“Given all those things, even if he were to travel to the kingdom of Ermann for dungeons in the future, at the moment they would not leave this country. Especially since he’s said that the most important reason he came to this country was due to its stability.”

“‘Stability,’ huh......? Well, I can understand thinking like that, if one were to be suddenly summoned into a country like that.”

“I agree.”

The king and the others had already figured out the fact that Mukohda was a person from another world, summoned by the Kingdom of Reijseger’s Hero Summoning ritual, as well as the fact that, since he had no usable skills, he was quickly driven away.

“After thinking about it, it does seem like maintaining the status quo is the best move.”

“Yes, of course......”

“Indeed, it’s obvious, I think.”

Of course, with oversight from their spies.

“Still... so the Fenrir has gained an interest in human dungeons, huh?”

“Yes. Not just the Fenrir, but it seems the pixie dragon and the slime also share the interest.”

“To have conquered an as-yet fully unexplored dungeon in such a short time. It’s so impressive it’s scary.”

“It’s thanks to that that Dolan is experiencing a boom of unseen proportions, though.”

With those words, the prime minister turned to look at Elrand. “Yes, even the Adventurer’s guild was able to buy quite a lot of dungeon-spawned products. The Merchant’s guild did not lose out in that respect, either.”

“It seems like high-grade gems from the dungeon are circulating around Dolan, no? Even my wife tried to beg me for some, although in a roundabout way.” The king let out a strained laugh after saying that.

“Your Majesty, if we were to leave that Mukohda person free without any careless interference, then he might offer a gemstone the next time he conquers a dungeon.”

“Hahaha! That would be nice! My wife would be happy. Well, jokes aside, having the Fenrir and the others develop an interest in dungeons is a happy accident. I’d like him to dive into more and more dungeons, and bring prosperity to all those cities.”

It’s Gotta Be This For A Cold Day, Right?

While traveling to the next town, when we decided to make camp for the day in an empty space on the side of the road, I felt some chills run down my spine as I dismounted Fel.

“It’s kinda cold today, isn’t it?”

《You’re right, I thought so too,》 said Dora-chan while clamped onto my head.

“No no, you’re in the way Dora-chan.”

《But it’s cold, I can’t help it!》

“Is it really as cold as you all claim?” Fel chimed in out of nowhere, but of course he couldn’t feel it.

“You’re covered in that warm-looking fur, so of course you don’t feel cold.”

《He’s right. Those of us without fur feel cold. Isn’t that right, Sui?》

《Yeah! It’s probably a little cold. That’s why Sui will be here—.》

Oh! So Sui’s going to hole up in his bag, huh?

“I guess I’ll make something warming for dinner.”

《Oh, that’s a great idea! If that’s the case, for something warming, that, what was it... that! Uhhh...... hot pot! Yeah, hot pot! Make hot pot!》

“Hot pot... that soupy one...? Hm, that was pretty good. A hot pot would be nice.”

《Sui also wants hot pot—!》

I’ve made hot pot for Fel and the others several times already, huh? Yeah, it’s gotta be hot pot for a cold day like this.

“Then it’s hot pot for today. Okay then, when it’s done I’ll call you guys over, so you can do what you want for now. Actually... hey, Dora-chan, get offa me.”

《Tch! Fine,》 Dora-chan said, flying towards Fel. This time, he stuck himself onto Fel’s back.

“Hey, Dora, you are being irritating. Get off me.”

《Whaaat, just a little is fine, isn’t it?》

“Now now, it’s cold for us who don’t have fur, unlike Fel. Let him steal some warmth off of you. I’m counting on you for Sui too, while I’m cooking.”

“Mnn... Fine. If that is how it is going to be, take out the futon.”

When I brought out Fel’s personal futons and spread them out, he quickly plopped himself down. Dora-chan wasted no time in digging himself into Fel’s flank, and even Sui left the bag for a spot.

《Hahhh, so warm...》

《Warm~》

And alongside Fel and the others, I was busy preparing dinner.

“What kind of hot pot should I do...? The meat I have most of in storage is......” Confirming the contents of my Item Box, I found that orc meat was the most abundant. “If it’s orc meat, then I should add in lots of vegetables and make it a miso hot pot.”

And so, it was decided to have an orc meat miso hot pot.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After buying some vegetables with my skill, I started cooking. Although, all it really is is cutting the ingredients and boiling them. I took out my pride, the magic stove I bought, out of my Item Box, and I was fully prepared.

For the ingredients, other than orc meat, I had bok choy, spring onions, garlic chives, shimeji mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and fried tofu.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, cut the orc meat into thin slices so it’s easier to eat. Then, chop the bok choy into large chunks before cutting the spring onions diagonally and the garlic chives into pieces about 5cm in length. As for the shimeji and enoki mushrooms, cut off their feet and untangle them before cutting the fried tofu into eighths. After that, all that’s left is to boil it all in a clay pot.

~◇~◇~◇~

But of course this time I’ll be using store-bought hot pot broth. “No matter what anyone says, this stuff is both easy and delicious, after all.”

Right now, every company is putting out their own flavors, so on my — that is, the consumer’s — end, there was also the fun of choosing. I was making miso hot pot, so you’d figure miso would be a must, right? But then I saw a tonkotsu miso flavor that looked tasty, so I went with that instead.

~◇~◇~◇~

Fill the clay pot with the optimal amount of water, throw in the bouillon cube, and once the broth is brought to a boil, add in the orc meat in untangled strips and quickly boil until the color changes. Then, add in the spring onions, mushrooms, and fried tofu.

Once everything’s been cooked through, put in the bok choy and the garlic chives and continue to boil for a while to finish off the dish.

~◇~◇~◇~

The smell of miso wafted about the area. “Hahh, I just love the smell of miso. Everyone, it’s dooone— Wait......”

All three of them were already on standby right next to me, lured by the smell of the food.

“Great, time to eat.”

《Oohhh!! I’ve been waiting!》

《It smells good~.》

“Yeah yeah, wait a second.” I placed a clay pot in front of each one of them. “It’s tonkotsu miso hot pot using orc meat. It’s hot, so be careful when you eat.”

“Mm, there are quite a lot of vegetables in here.”

“Yeah — but there’s also a lot of orc meat, so don’t complain.”

“Mmnn...”

Fel and Dora-chan used Wind magic to cool off the food, and Sui was completely fine with hot stuff, so they all started eating the piping-hot food.

《So good!》

《Ahh~, this is delicious. It totally warms me up...》

《Hm, there are a lot of vegetables but it is still fine.》

“Ah, there’s still the finale, so be sure to save the broth.”

Now then, I should eat too. First, the soup.

*Sssllrrrrp*———

It really wasn’t a mistake to use store-bought broth. The food brands all research flavors for their products, so there’s no way it’d be bad. The thick tonkotsu soup and the rich miso combined together for a deep flavor which, combined with the umami of the orc meat and vegetables, made for a sublime taste.

“Ahh~, so good.” Without thinking, I let those words leave my mouth.

“Next is the meat and vegetables.” After blowing on the food to cool it down, I ate some of the orc meat and vegetables. The tonkotsu miso broth flavor was properly picked up by the meat and vegetables, and it was delicious.

“Hot pot really is great for cold days like this~. It just warms you up; it’s the best.”

“Okay, more.”

《Me too!》

《Sui too!》

“Fine, fine. Wait a little, okay? I’ve got some more servings for all of you.”

After stuffing ourselves full and enjoying the finale with udon as well, we were very satisfied, as our bodies had warmed up.

By the way, the udon we used for the finale paired great with the tonkotsu miso soup.

Mukohda’s Cooking Class III

When we visited the guildmaster’s room, Elrand was just in the middle of a meal.

“Ahh, Mukohda. Excuse me, I’ll finish quickly.” Elrand was stuffing down some sort of grilled skewered meat that seemed to have been cooked to release lots of fragrance.

Now now, stop looking at it so jealously, the three of you. Didn’t we just eat lunch earlier? Still though, I never knew that this world’s elves ate meat. Looks like Elrand likes it, too. Or rather, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy eat anything other than meat...

“It sure seems like you love meat, Elrand.”

“Haha! Meat is my favorite food. I know that eating vegetables is better for my body, but no matter what I do my eyes always go for my favorites, and I end up just eating meat.”

Well, I’m the same when it comes to meat, so it’s not like I can blame him. The three of my familiars are also meat lovers, or rather, meat is like their life, so our meals always end up full of it. And since I have to eat with them, it just naturally ends up that I also eat lots of meat. I did make lots of vegetable soup and made sure to drink some every morning, but as one would expect, I’m still lacking in vegetables.

No, wait a second. If even I feel like I’m lacking in vegetables when I try to drink vegetable soup, does that mean that Elrand hasn’t been eating any vegetables at all, since he said that he just ends up eating meat?

“Elrand, have you been eating any vegetables?”

“Maaan, I gotta say, not at all. Since I can’t cook at all, I get all my food from restaurants and stores, and since that’s the case I always get......”

Well, I understand how you feel. If you’re going to pay for food, of course you’d want to get something you like, right?

“Your house has such a good kitchen in it, you should try to cook for yourself every once in a while.”

Even though, from what I saw of his kitchen when I went there before, he had a good magic stove that must have cost quite a sum, befitting of a guildmaster’s house — he never used it. True to his declaration that he couldn’t cook, it was almost impressive how much nothing there was in that space and how little it looked to have been used.

“Heh, don’t underestimate my cooking skills. After all, I have been yelled at after I peeled some vegetables, saying, ‘There’s nothing left to eat! Just don’t touch anything!’”

No no, that’s not something to be proud of, okay?

Wait, from there? He’s failing already from the peeling stage?

“Right, if that’s the case, why don’t you teach me how to cook, Mukohda? Since you’re so good at it. You know, something that even I can make.”

Whaaaat? Teach a person that fails to peel things? That just seems like too much work...

“Yeah, what a great idea. I’ll be able to see lots of Dora-chan that way, too. Heheheheheh...”

Uhmm, your real intentions are leaking all over the place. Dora-chan’s super creeped out, too. He’s even telling me, “REFUSE!” through telepathy.

“Great! Now that that’s decided, let’s all get a move on and go to my place.”

“No no, aren’t you still working, Elrand?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Ugohl is here, so it’ll all go swimmingly.”

I don’t think it’s fine at all, though. You’re definitely going to get it from Ugohl later, you know?

“Now then, let’s go!”

With me being pulled along by the enthusiastic Elrand, and my familiars reluctantly following me, we all left the Adventurer’s guild behind.

　◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Now now, what are you thinking about?”

“Since we’re already here I’ll teach you, but it’s not my fault if you get yelled at by Mr. Ugohl, got it?”

“Are you still on that? I’ve said before that Ugohl is extremely skilled, so it’ll all work out fine if we just leave it to him”

I know that already. Ugohl is extremely skilled, and it’s all thanks to Ugohl that the Adventurer’s guild here in Dolan works, it’s obvious to see. That’s not the point — you’re the guildmaster, at least in title, so it’s natural that you’ll get yelled at for skipping out on work and throwing all of your job onto someone else, which is something that you’re doing right now.

Well, Elrand was the one who was going to be yelled at, so I didn’t really care though. I won’t help you, you know? I refuse to get caught in the middle.

“Hahh, if you’re going to go that far, I understand. If you’re talking about something that will allow you to eat vegetables that even you can make, Elrand, that would be vegetable soup. With this, even if you make a lot, it’ll keep for a while.”

Since Dolan right now was neither really hot nor cold, if you continue to heat it, the soup should last like two or three* days, I think?

“If you boil in some sausages too, it should satisfy a meat lover like you, Elrand, I think.”

“I see, that’s good!”

When it comes to vegetable soup, it’ll need a consomme roux base, right? But, it’s not like I can use that since I’m the only one that can obtain it. If we’re talking something easy that can stand in for that...... Ah, they have dried meat so I think I can make a reconstituted stock out of that...

“Do you have any dried meat?”

“Yes, here is what I have......”

Taking the dried meat that Elrand brought out, I cut the hard chunks into thirds.

“First, reconstitute this dried meat in water.”

“The dried meat?”

“That’s right. The umami of the dried meat will dissolve into the water, so using it to make soup will make for a delicious base.” It’s not consomme, but it shouldn’t be bad. “And the next step is peeling the vegetables, got it?”

“Uhhh, did you hear my story earlier?”

“Of course I did. I have a secret weapon that will allow even you, Elrand, to peel vegetables easily, so it’s fine.”

What I brought out of my Item Box when I said that was......

“This is called a peeler. If you use this, you’ll be able to easily peel vegetables. I’ll do it first, so please watch closely.”

Let’s start with a live example, first. After washing a carrot I got from my Item Box, I placed it sideways on the board. Holding it by the head, I slid it sideways across the peeler, and......

“Ohh! It’s being peeled beautifully.”

“Peel them like this. With this, even you’ll be able to do it, right Elrand?”

“Yes, it seems like I’ll somehow be okay with this.”

“For potatoes, in truth it would be easier to hold it in your hand to peel, but in Elrand’s case I feel like that would be a little dangerous, so just use it in the same way as you are now. Like this, peeling larger things should be much easier, I think.”

Just like with the carrot, I first showed an example of peeling a potato. If someone was used to it, holding the potato to peel would be much faster and easier. However, for Elrand, who is not only a first timer but also so bad at cooking as to feel completely useless, I felt that not picking up the potato would be much safer, so I showed that method.

“I think you get how to peel things, so let’s keep on going.”

I also helped in peeling carrots and potatoes using a peeler. It looked like Elrand was fully intent on feeding Dora-chan, so I decided to make a larger portion so Fel and Sui could also try some. It’s time to make up for some of the daily vegetable deficiency here.

“Good, now they’re all peeled.”

I was the one that peeled around 80% of them, but since Elrand looked like he tried his best even though he wasn’t used to it, I decided to let it go.

“After that, it’s the oni- uhh, oneons and cabbaggs, yes?”

That was close. Here, onions were oneons, and cabbages were cabbaggs.

“For oneons, just peel off the brown outer layer like this. Cabbaggs just need this first outer layer of leaves taken off.”

Elrand imitated me and peeled some onions and cabbages.

“After that, you need to cut the vegetables, so first is the cabbaggs. For this one, cut some openings around the hard core in the center......”

I cut the vegetables as I explained my methods. I cut the cabbages into large chunks, and cubed the carrots, potatoes, and onions. It’s okay to only have a rough estimation in these cases. In reality, the stuff that Elrand cut was almost all mismatched, but it was fine. Even if it’s a little big, as long as the heat passes through and it becomes soft, then it’s all fine, after all.

I had cut the sausages diagonally and in half, and all that was left was to boil them.

“Well then, I’ll begin boiling. First, add the carrots, potatoes, and oneons into the pot with the reconstituted dried meat stock in it along with some salt before bringing it to a boil.”

I let it boil for a while.

“Once the vegetables have become soft enough, throw in the cabbagg and the sausages, and continue to boil some more. After that, once the vegetables go completely soft, add in salt and pepper to taste, if you like, to finish it up.”

I left the finishing touches up to Elrand.

“Is this good enough?”

Yeah, both the potatoes and carrots are boiled soft.

“Yes, now the salt and—”

“And pepper, right? I do have some. It’s expensive, but just throwing in a shake will make it tastier, right?”

Just what I expected out of this gourmand of an elf. He even has pepper ready. Elrand adjusted the soup with salt and pepper while watching the flavor.

“How is this?”

Urged on by Elrand, I gave it a taste.

“Yeah, that seems good.” It was different from consomme, but it was a pretty tasty vegetable soup in its own right.

“Well then, let’s all enjoy some together.”

　◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Elrand was staring at Dora-chan.

《H-Hey, do something about this guy. Having him stare at me is making it really hard to eat; I just can’t deal with it.》

《Even if you ask me that, he definitely won’t listen to me. I know how you feel, though.》

“Tch! Fine.” Reluctantly, Dora-chan started eating the soup while being stared at by Elrand.

《Mn? This isn’t bad.》

“Indeed, I hate vegetables, but this is not inedible.”

《It would be better with more meat, but it’s delicious—.》

Oh, looks like it’s not going over too badly. I might have to make vegetable soup with sausages in it whenever I want these guys to eat vegetables, huh?

“M-Mukohda! What did Dora-chan think?” It seemed like Elrand was curious as to Dora-chan’s opinion.

“Ahh, Dora-chan likes meat, but he said that it wasn’t bad.”

“Really!!?”

W-Wait a second why are you so desperate?

“Th-Then, please, form a familiar contract with me!!”

Ahhh, that’s why. Because he was told that he could get a contract if he could cook. It’s true that all three of them became my familiars because they were after food, but changing their minds with just this would be...

《What the hell is this idiot saying? I did say that this wasn’t bad, but there’s a limit to how conceited you can be, asking for a familiar contract when all you can make is this.》

Wait, Dora-chan, that’s too harsh.

《Dora, these ones are very annoying. Just leaving them alone is the best way to deal with them.》

《You have a point. He’ll just be happy if I give a reaction, after all.》

Everyone’s treatment of Elrand is just awful.

《Master— more—.》

Yeah, yeah. Wait a little, Sui.

“Mukohda! How was it?! Will I be able to make a familiar contract with this?!?!”

Having been asked that, I tried to think of an answer while I got Sui its extra helping.

“Mukohda!!”

I know already. Dora-chan’s words were too harsh as they were, so let’s soften the blow a little.

“Ahh, it’s impossible. According to Dora-chan, being able to make just this isn’t good enough.”

“Come ooonnnnnnn!”

The Old Dwarf’s Secret Enjoyment

After finishing my work, I downed some of the amber alcohol that had recently become my biggest source of enjoyment.

“Kaahhhh! This alcohol is just so good!”

It was something I got for accepting the order of some adventurer that just came waltzing in out of nowhere. He was called Mukohda, and he had familiars with him as well as a flat face and black hair that one didn’t see around here. I was amazed, since he told me, a blacksmith in this dungeon city of Dolan, to make some meat-grilling tool called a “Barbecue Grill.”

However, he paid me properly, and even showed me this alcohol. It was an amber-colored liquor inside a clear bottle that I’d never seen before. It was just my instinct as an alcohol-loving dwarf, but the moment I saw that bottle I just knew: “This alcohol is definitely amazingly delicious.”

“Feel free to try some first.” With those words, Mukohda poured some of the amber alcohol into a cup. From that cup rose a mysteriously sweet alcoholic smell.

There was no way I could resist.

Taking the cup in my hands, after enjoying the aroma for a moment, I took a gulp. As soon as it entered my mouth, a sweet fragrance shot through my nostrils. And there was a rich taste that didn’t lose to that scent. It was a delicious alcohol that stayed that way all the way into my gut.

It was the first time I’d ever tasted alcohol this good. I thought so from the bottom of my heart.

When I asked, apparently this alcohol was produced carefully in that group of small countries. If I were to make the “Barbecue Grill” that Mukohda wanted, he would give me five bottles of this delicious alcohol along with the normal payment.

I understood that it was a precious and rare alcohol, but five wouldn’t be enough. I wanted to be able to taste as much of that delicious alcohol as I could. Such was the nature of an alcohol-loving dwarf, after all.

Even while feeling a little guilty about it, I offered to do it for ten bottles. I really did think that I would be fine with making that “Barbecue Grill” for ten of those bottles, after all. I thought he’d hesitate, but Mukohda easily accepted.

From how Mukohda described it, the “Barbecue Grill” was large, but its mechanisms weren’t that complicated, so I managed to finish it within three days. And that was how I managed to obtain ten bottles of the amber colored delicious alcohol.

It was really good liquor, but the amount was small. I felt bad for the other masters, but I don’t plan on handing this alcohol over to anyone.

And so, after work, I was currently sipping on this delicious amber treat alone. And that was my secret bit of enjoyment recently. Once again, I took a mouthful of the amber liquor I had in my hands.

“Kkhhh! This stuff is so good no matter how many times I drink it!”

As I was secretly enjoying this amber liquor alone......

“Yo, Alesh! So that’s where you were. We’re all going to go drink over at Victor’s. I came to invite you!” That was the voice of a familiar face, my fellow workshop master, Kenneth.

*Gulp*———

While attempting to hide the amber liquor, I turned around.

“K-Kenneth! Oh, and Wessel and Altti, too. G-Got it. I’ll be coming by later, so go ahead without me.”

Not only Kenneth, but Wessel and Altti were there, too.

“Hm? Why are you being so fidgety, Alesh? Do you need ta piss? Gahahahah!” Altti teased me thanks to how I was acting.

“O-Of course not! More importantly, hurry up and go. I’ll be right after you.”

“Waaait a second. Hey, don’t you guys smell alcohol?”

Tch! ......Damn that Wessel, his nose is only sharp in situations like this. Even though I somehow managed to seal the bottle in the heat of the moment.

Prompted by Wessel’s words, both Kenneth and Altti started to sniff the air.

“Mm, now that you mention it I do smell alcohol in the air.”

“Yeah. It’s not very strong, but I do smell it.”

All three of their eyes concentrated on me.

“Hey, Alesh, what kind of alcohol were you drinking?” asked Wessel, the first one to smell the alcohol.

As if I would honestly answer that question! “N-No, I wasn’t really drinking anything.”

“Really?”

I tried to trick them, but it didn’t seem like the three of them believed me. Geez, dwarves are really persistent when it comes to alcohol.

“Something seems fishy here...”

“Indeed. I think he’s hiding it behind his back.”

“Okay! Alesh, my friend. Won’t you show us your hands?”

“W-Why do I have to do that?! I already told you I don’t have any alcohol!”

“That attitude... you’re getting more and more suspicious... Hey, Kenneth, Altti, hold Alesh down!”

“Got it!”

“Leave it to me!”

I was caught in Kenneth and Altti’s vicegrip. And......

“I wonder what this is? It reeks of alcohol, though.”

“Wai—! Give that back! That’s mine!”

The amber liquor went into Wessel’s hands. Finally, I was found out.

“For Alesh to be this desperate, that means this must be some damn good alcohol, huh? Okay, I’m gonna drink it!”

“Don’t you dare! I told you that that’s mine!”

“Hmph! It’s your fault for hiding this good stuff. Right?”

“Right! Right!”

“Good alcohol should be shared. Everyone knows that.”

“Don’t you fuck with me! What’s wrong with drinking what’s mine by myself?!” I argued, but there was no way those three would let it go with just that......

“Hohhoohh! What the hell is this delicious stuff!?”

“Khaahh! So good!”

“Delicious! It’s delicious!”

“Ahhh~............”

At last, the delicious liquor that was just for me was revealed. Not only that, even though it was mine, Kenneth, Wessel, and Altti were all downing it like water while exclaiming how delicious it was.

“Hey! I said that’s mine! You’re drinking too much of it!”

“Now now, Alesh. Keeping all this good alcohol to yourself isn’t cool.”

“Shut up!”

“Hey, there’s none left.”

The three of them had already finished the bottle of amber liquor that had originally been more than half full.

“Fuck! It’s all gone now, so leave already!”

“Hey, Alesh, I get it. You still have more of that stuff, right?”

I gulped when Kenneth, who had known me the longest, said that. I’d been enjoying the stuff slowly, so there were still seven bottles of the stuff left.

“I-I don’t!”

“That means, you do... If you’re going to hide something precious to you... it’s there!”

Kenneth, who figured it out by himself, made a beeline for a hidden shelf in the back of the workshop.

“Kenneth, you bastard!”

“I found it!”

In the end, all the alcohol that I had saved so preciously was found.

“Heeyyy, you guys were slow, so I came to get you!”

All the other workshop bosses that didn’t usually come over entered in droves, worried about us.

“Yo! Everyone came! To tell you the truth, Alesh here has been hogging some really good stuff.”

“What?! Good alcohol?!”

“Give me some!”

“Me too!”

“Hand over the good stuff!”

All the bosses got worked up at the mention of good alcohol.

“Of course! Let’s all enjoy some good booze!”

““““““Yeah!””””””

None of them held back and downed that amber liquor, the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted.

“Khhahhh! So good!”

“Yeah, this is my first time with something like this!”

“This stuff is the best!”

...............

“I ALREADY TOLD YOU GUYS, THAT BOOZE IS MIIIIINNEEE!!!!”

Christmas in Another World

As soon as I opened the menu for my Online Supermarket, a cute illustration jumped out at me. It was a decorated fir tree, bells and wreaths with ribbons on them, and a chibified Santa Claus riding a sleigh, complete with reindeer. And a message danced on the screen, saying, “Today is Christmas! Let’s all have a feast with family!”

“Hmm~, so it’s that time of year.”

It would be an exciting day for those with family, or a lover, but for me, who’s been single a long time, the only reaction that’ll get out of me is, “Oh, so it’s that time of year” — since, other than celebrating with family and getting presents as a kid, I didn’t really have any memories of it.

I would probably have just been celebrating alone, having a lonely Christmas anyway. Screw that.

“Mm? That time of year? What time of year do you mean?”

“Woah! ......Don’t just call out to me like that, it’s surprising.”

“And? What time of year do you mean?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking that in my world, it’s Christmas already.”

“‘Christmas’?”

“Uhhh... It’s hard to explain......”

It was originally a holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ, but honestly, Christianity doesn’t have much meaning in Japan, at all. And so, I told Fel about the Japanese style of Christmas, which had basically no Christianity in it at all.

“Well, those with families spend time together and feast, right? Also, it’s a day for children to get presents. Those with lovers can go on a date to a slightly expensive restaurant to eat some fancy food and enjoy themselves, and everyone else...... Ahem, well, let’s just leave it at that. At any rate, as a whole, it’s a day for eating good food and enjoying yourselves.”

“Ohh! What a great idea, to have a day for eating good food and having fun! Right, we will be doing that Christmas or whatever, too!”

“What? No, what?”

“Okay, you go prepare some good food. Of course, when I say good, I mean meat. Meat, got it?”

《Hey, I heard you guys talking about good food. Does that mean better food than we usually eat?》

《Good food? Yayy!》

Having heard my and Fel’s conversation, both Dora-chan and Sui came over.

“No no no, it’s impossible this late. Also, we’re in the middle of traveling, right? We don’t have that kind of time, I’ll just make a normal dinner.”

If I was to try and do that sort of thing, I’d use up an entire day and we wouldn’t get anywhere. Not to mention, the entire reason why I opened my Online Supermarket in the first place was because I didn’t have enough ingredients for dinner. I had pork cutlets that I’d already prepared, so I was planning to make cutlet bowls for dinner and was just going to buy eggs...

“W-What......?!”

《Awww, man, we’re not having a feast?》

《There’s no good food to eat—?》

All three of them looked immediately and obviously disappointed.

I’ve started to feel like the bad guy here for some reason...... If you’re all going to act so disappointed, it’s just making things really awkward for me...

“Aahhh, fine! I get it! Tomorrow, I’ll make a feast for all of you tomorrow! But in exchange, we aren’t moving at all tomorrow, got it?” I said that without thinking as I looked at everyone, and......

“That is good. I can easily make up for a day. More importantly, tomorrow’s dinner will be a feast! It is decided!”

《Yahhooo! I’m looking forward to that feast!》

《Yayy! Yayyy! Good food to eat!》

It’s fine that you’re all happy about it, but Fel, I don’t think you should be wagging your tail like that, you look like a dog. You know you’re a Fenrir, the stuff of legends, right? At least in name. Dora-chan’s an adult too, and yet he’s frolicking around. Don’t keep flying in circles like that. Sui, you too. You need to watch yourself and stop bouncing around at top speed like that.

I kind of feel like everyone’s put one over on me, but I already said I’d do it, so oh well. It’s thanks to everyone that I can travel safely like this, so I guess it’s fine to treat everyone to a feast as thanks. Now that that’s decided, I guess I’ll just have to do my best for tomorrow’s dinner.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Whew, this should be it. I’m finally done.”

I tried really, really hard. I did my best, being watched by all three of my familiars with hope and expectation in their eyes.

For breakfast and lunch, I just made do with stuff I had pre-made, and I was working on the feast right from the morning. Cooking everybody’s one desire, meat. They like meat, after all......

I prepared a Christmas feast that was within my means. Since it’s what everyone thinks of when talking about a Christmas feast, I made roast chicken, or rather, roast cockatrice. Of course, it was whole. And I even used one for each of them. I also used a larger chunk of bloody horn-bull to make roast beef out of. Each of them got their own chunk out of that one, too. After chicken and beef, it’s gotta be pork, so I made some large hunks of roast pork using orc meat. Also, I cooked some beef stew using the minotaur meat from the dungeon. I shouldn’t be saying this about my own work, but it’s moving how good it turned out; I slow boiled it gradually so that the meat is so soft it dissolves in your mouth. Also, I made a meat pie using mixed ground minotaur and orc meat, as well as a layered bake using the same meat as well as some potatoes and lots of cheese. And for the main course......

“Should it be about this thick?”

“More.”

“More? This much?”

“More.”

“No no, if I make it any thicker, rather than rare, the inside’ll just be raw. If you get greedy just because it’s earth dragon meat and spoil it, then you’re just wasting meat.”

“Mmrgh, fine. That thickness is fine.”

《I want that thickness too!》

《Sui too!》

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll cook it now, so wait a little.”

With all the meat dishes, as well as the extremely thick earth dragon steak I was about to grill in front of their eyes, all of my familiars’ eyes were sparkling, although it looked a bit more menacing and predatory than that. They were just waiting for the thick earth dragon steak to be cooked, as if they were children, constantly asking, “Is it ready yet? Is it?”

“Here.” I served a plated dragon steak in front of each of them.

“Ohh! This really does have to be the first, no?”

《Yeah.》

《Dragon meat~.》

I cooked my portion as well, so I took a bite out of the dragon steak myself. I only seasoned it simply with salt and pepper, but yeah, this was as good as always.

“Indeed, this dragon meat is delicious!”

《I absolutely love that every bite and chew just bursts with meat juices.》

《Dragon meat is delicious~.》

After everyone put down the super-thick dragon steak in a lick, they all started methodically consuming the meat dishes.

Fel was chomping into the roast cockatrice, and Dora-chan was tasting the beef stew while thoroughly dirtying the areas around his mouth. As for Sui, it had completely encompassed a whole chunk of roast pork.

And even after that, all three of them continued to single-mindedly enjoy the meat dishes.

“*Brrp*......Yes, that was good.”

《Whooew~, feelin’ full...》

《Sui is soooooo full. That was delicious!》

It looked like all three of them were happy with the multitudes of meat I made. But, I have dessert too...

“Heheheh, when talking about Christmas, there’s still one thing that can’t be left out. This!”

《Waah~, it’s a huge cake!》

It really wouldn’t be Christmas without this. And so, I got a whole Christmas cake from Fumiya for each of them. Looking at its whole cake, Sui, who loves sweet things, had its excitement meter hit MAX all at once. Fel and Dora-chan looked at their cakes, and started licking their chops.

For Fel, I got a special Christmas strawberry shortcake complete with lots of Japanese Amaou strawberries on top. Dora-chan had a special pudding cake that consisted of pudding and cream sandwiched between sponges, topped with fruits like pears and peaches and fresh cream, decorated in a Christmas style. Sui got the Christmas standard, a deluxe bûche de Noël, with fresh chocolate cream and a luxurious amount of Japanese Tochiotome strawberries.

“And lastly, something sweet, huh? It is perfect to fix the palate. This is delicious.”

《I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, but pudding really does go in a separate stomach!》

《It’s sweet and delicious! Sui loo~oves cake!》

All three of them salivated at their cakes.

“Christmas comes with presents, so I prepared some. Here you all go.” I placed a package wrapped like a present in front of each of them. In a convenient turn of events, anything that’s ordered in this season comes with an option to have it gift wrapped.

“Mm? You are giving me this?”

《What? What is it?》

《Yaaayyy!》

Everyone dexterously undid the wrapping. And inside was......

“What is this? It feels airy and soft, so it is not bad, but......”

《Yeah, this feels good on the scales.》

《So fluffy~.》

“Heheheh, those are blankets. You use them when you sleep. For Fel, it’d be fine to just lay on top of it, too. As for Dora-chan and Sui, wrapping yourself in it while you sleep is really warm, you know?”

I gave everyone blankets as a present. After thinking a lot, I thought this would be good, since it could be used every day. Fel got a stoic deep green blanket, Dora-chan got wine red, and for Sui, I chose a watery blue.

“Okay, I will be trying this now.”

Yeah yeah, the futons, right?

After laying out Fel’s futons, I also spread out Fel’s blanket. And Fel just plopped down sideways on top.

“Ohh, this is nice.” It looked like Fel quickly took a liking to the blanket.

《This is super warm!》 Dora-chan, who was wrapped up in the blanket with only his head poking out, seemed utterly charmed by it.

《So fluffy............ Zzz-Zzz...》 And Sui... was already asleep.

“Christmas is nice. We can do this every day, I do not mind.”

《Yeah, yeah. It’s nice......》

So said Fel, full and with his eyes closed sleepily, as well as Dora-chan, who was nodding off even now.

“No no no, Christmas only comes once a year.”

“I see, that is too bad......”

《Too... bad...... Zzzzz...》

So Fel and Dora-chan fell asleep too, huh?

I breathed out a small sigh of relief. “If I had to do this every day, I’d die. Christmas is nice since it’s a special day that only comes once a year. Hahh... Let’s just leave the plates in the Item Box and leave the cleaning for tomorrow, I just want to sleep.”

The Suffering Man of Dolan’s Adventurer’s Guild

I am named Ugohl, and I’m employed as the sub-guildmaster of the Adventurer’s guild in the dungeon city of Dolan.

Lately, my causes of worry were my recently balding head and my growing stomach. My kids ask me if it’s really true, but even though I looked like this, I used to be a B-ranked adventurer.

I never became an A-ranked adventurer, but as a retiree who used to be B-ranked, I was aware that I’d done well for myself. After all, I managed to climb all the way up to being the sub-guildmaster of the Adventurer’s guild in a large dungeon city like Dolan. That was what I was like, and I was blessed with a not-pretty-but-good-natured woman whose smile truly fit her as a wife, as well as two kids after I retired, and I’d gained the most happiness I’d ever had in my life.

On the other hand, truly, on the other hand......

I had a huge problem in the workplace. In other words, in Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild.

My boss, the guildmaster, was an ex-S-ranked adventurer whose accomplishments were more than enough for the job, but he was a person who did so little work that I just wanted to shove his face in it.

How should I put it? He is extremely selfish? Or rather, he only does work that interests him.

The guildmaster was an elf, and one of the special characteristics of elves was that they were always free and uninhibited, and therefore a lot of them marched to the beat of their own drummer — or rather, they always forged their own path, and the guildmaster was that trait personified. That’s how he was, and he constantly threw his work to the wayside and went wandering around.

When one climbs as high as guildmaster, one’s work becomes almost entirely desk work. Yet, even though there were things that needed the guildmaster’s approval, or important matters that had a definite deadline, as soon as I took my eyes off of him even a little, he’d throw his work to the side and wander off to who knows where, both inside and outside of the guild. It was truly troubling.

And ultimately, he’ll say something like, “I’ll just leave it all to you Ugohl, so wrap it up properly.” It makes me want to spend like an hour just lecturing him on the fact that he’s the guildmaster, so all that work is HIS JOB!

In reality, I had reached the limits of my patience and yelled at the guildmaster before, and although he acted remorsefully in the moment, he would always revert back to his old self before long. He just never learns, and it drives me up the wall, truly.

Still though, this was the Adventurer’s guild for the dungeon city of Dolan. We had a lot of adventurers, and leaving things alone like that would affect our ability to run things, as well as cause trouble in each department. Since there was no other way, I would do my best to take on as much of the guildmaster’s work as I could so that somehow his truancy wouldn’t affect the guild.

Even so, documents and matters that needed the guildmaster’s approval and acknowledgment kept popping up...... And even though that still happens, that guy!

Recently, a certain adventurer arrived here in Dolan, and that adventurer was a tamer with a rare familiar called a ‘pixie dragon’. Truthfully, the guildmaster was an unrivaled dragon lover to a troubling degree...... The guildmaster, who heard about the pixie dragon from somewhere, ignored his work again and went all the way to greet him. If it was only that, I wouldn’t mind turning a blind eye to it, but on top of that, that man......

Along with the pixie dragon, that adventurer also had a legendary Fenrir as a familiar, as well as a slime that was — from what I’d heard — a special one, and was at any rate just out of the norm in every way. Rather than just the pixie dragon that the guildmaster was so devoted to, it was the fact that he had a Fenrir as a familiar was what was being reported to all the Adventurer’s guilds.

Of all things, that adventurer had an earth dragon carcass, and wanted to sell it here. An earth dragon, you know? An earth dragon!

That being so, it seems that he was recommended to get it butchered and sold here, in Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild. The guildmaster, who heard about the earth dragon, immediately approved the purchase, and, without waiting for any second opinion, went right on to butchering it.

No, I mean, even I know that buying materials from a monster as powerful as an earth dragon can only serve to enrich this guild, and of course I wouldn’t object to that. Still though, one must think of the funds needed to buy something like this, and I feel like I deserve a say in the matter. After all, I’ll be the one having to scrape up the money for it. Truthfully, a job like this would also be for the guildmaster, but of course, that guy wouldn’t care about it.

Well, I could see that leaving it up to him would only drive this guild to bankruptcy, so I had no other choice than to oversee it myself, and that was the current state of things.

Of course, when I blamed the guildmaster for selfishly deciding to purchase on his own, he started to argue back at an amazing pace, saying things like, “It’s an earth dragon! An earth dragon, you know?! Isn’t it obvious to buy it immediately!? The guild will definitely profit!”

I wasn’t objecting to the purchase, I just wanted a say in the matter.

Then, the guildmaster started spouting stuff like, “Then I’ll consult with you on this; give me three days. I want to take my time butchering the earth dragon by myself. Not to mention, I’m about the only one who can butcher something like an earth dragon in the first place...”

I felt so exasperated I couldn’t help but say, “What the hell does this guy think he’s saying?” There was no way a guildmaster could just abandon his work for three whole days, so I said, “Just give instructions, and you can leave the rest to the butchers, can’t you?”

But......“Please, I’m begging you! It’s an earth dragon! An earth dragon!! I might never get another chance, so let me do it! Please, Ugohl!” The guildmaster said, crying.

And he’s a fully grown man...

Of course I was creeped out, but the guildmaster must have been desperate, as he kept begging over and over again, and there was no end to it, so I relented in the end.

Then, once the butchering was somehow finished, the guildmaster and I argued once again about what to buy. Since, naturally, there was no way we could afford to buy all of the materials from something as valuable as an earth dragon carcass. Personally, I wanted as much of the blood or innards as we could possibly get, since they had the highest profit margins. A dragon’s blood or innards were prized as ingredients for medicine, and even small amounts had an effect, so divvying them up into smaller portions for sale would bring in huge profits.

But even though that was the case, the guildmaster went and said, “For the earth dragon, I want the eyes and fangs, and if possible the claws, too...”

I reflexively fired back, saying that that was just what he wanted for himself. Still, since we couldn’t know when the next earth dragon would come around, if it ever even would, the guildmaster was so persistent about it as to be obsessive.

He must have realized that having all of it would be impossible, so he aimed for what he must have wanted most and gave a concerted push, saying, “What do you think of making a sword out of the earth dragon’s fang and decorating the guild with it? I think it’s a great idea! I mean, it’s a sword made out of an earth dragon’s fang, you know?! It’ll be a masterpiece not many people get to see! So there’ll definitely be more people that come over to get a look at it!”

He certainly did have a point. A sword made out of the earth dragon...

When talking about making a sword out of dragon materials, it would be safe to say that it would be equal to, or might even surpass, a magic sword.

Since Dolan had a dungeon, it was visited by adventurers more than other towns. However, it was true that there hadn’t been much progress in conquering the dungeon recently. Having more adventurers would definitely mean more progress in conquering the dungeon, so having a reason for adventurers to gather other than the dungeon wasn’t a bad idea.

It pained me to consent to one of the guildmaster’s ideas, but I agreed to buy the fang. I agreed, but......

After the sale was over, when I wondered where the fang went, it turned out that the guildmaster was monopolizing it. He kept it near him and would stare at it fixatedly, as though in a trance. It was honestly disgusting.

“Guildmaster, I’m telling you this now. That is not yours, got it? That is very definitely the property of the Dolan Adventurer’s guild.”

“I-I know already. I was just looking at it a little.”

“It’s not just ‘a little.’ You’ve kept it and have been staring at it all day long.”

“Ghh...... Ahh, ah, right! I-It’d be nice if M-Mukohda comes back soon! He’ll definitely be bringing back lots of drops from there!”

It felt like he was trying to forcefully change the subject, but let’s just go with it. I was feeling nice right now, after all, since the earth dragon materials we’d bought off of that adventurer, Mukohda, were flying off the shelves. Thankfully, this Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild was the most profitable it had ever been.

“You’re right, if it’s that man, he’ll probably bring back lots of materials. It looks like we’re going to be making quite a profit off of the earth dragon’s materials, so it’d be nice if we can buy a lot of it.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Still though, I’m so bored... Dora-chan’s not here, either. I wonder if Mukohda’ll be back soon...”

............*Snap*

“‘Bored,’ you say?”

“What? N-No......”

“There’s no way you’re bored, right? Guildmaster, your work has been piling up, right? Look, right there on top of your desk. Those are documents waiting to be processed, they’re forming a mountain, aren’t they? Are you still saying you’re bored, even after looking at that?”

“Uh, uhhhh, you know...”

“I am already taking on some of your responsibilities, guildmaster, but even still there are some things that absolutely need you to look over them, or documents that you need to approve; don’t I keep telling you that?”

“N-Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

“Guildmaster, you need to watch your words, please. No matter how mild mannered I am, there are limits to my patience.”

“Limits? Aren’t you just permanently mad at me?” he said, tearfully.

“YOU IDIOT GUILDMASTER!! You’re the one that always makes me mad, don’t you get it?! WHY WON’T YOU LET THAT SINK INTO YOUR GODDAMN HEEAAADDD!!”

Miss Ruka the Capable Goddess

The Divine Realm, in the Goddess of Water, Ruka’s palace———

She looked like a beautiful girl, at an age where it would not be inappropriate to call her a grade schooler. However, in contrast to that, amongst the goddesses that Mukohda was becoming familiar with, she could be said to be the most calm and thoughtful of them all.

Ruka, the subject of all this, had recently formed the habit of almost always holing up in her room after dinner... in order to make sure nobody got in the way of her recent daily enjoyment.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Today will be this and this.”

All the colorful otherworld pastries that Mukohda offered up to her, called, “cakes,” were lined up on a table, and she chose two of them for today out of that lineup. The rest were stored preciously and securely in an Item Box unique to gods.

The ones she chose were a chiffon cake laden with lots of fresh cream and a strawberry, and a fruit tart that had lots of fruits on it like peaches and oranges, which gave off a luxurious feeling.

“Heheh, looks delicious.” A smile came through on that quiet and unchanging face.

She didn’t neglect to choose a tea that would pair well with the cakes, too.

The first one Ruka laid hands on was the chiffon cake. When she stuck a fork into the cake......

“So fluffy...”

Making sure to get a lot of the large amounts of fresh cream on the fluffy cake, Ruka put it all in her mouth.

“............Delicious.”

The light and airy texture, along with the mellow sweetness, spread throughout her mouth. Seeking more of that texture and sweetness, Ruka took bite after bite.

“Too bad, it’s already gone. But, it was really good.”

Although she felt regret for the chiffon cake that disappeared all too soon, the goddess was very satisfied with it. Before going on to the next cake, she cleansed her palate with some tea.

“Next cake.”

Of course, the next cake was the fruit tart.

“So pretty......”

The cake, studded with a variety of colorful fruits, was so beautiful it was almost a waste to eat.

“But, I’ll still eat it.”

Using the fork to take out a big chunk, Ruka stuffed her mouth full of this pastry also.

“This one is delicious too.”

The crisp and short dough, the rich custard cream, and on top of that, the juices from the fresh, juicy, and refreshing strawberries, oranges, and peaches among other fruits that topped the tart all combined and spread throughout Ruka’s mouth.

“Happiness.”

Eating delicious things makes one rejoice. And that joyousness leads to happiness. Truly, the taste of cakes is the taste of happiness.

One bite after another, the goddess enjoyed the taste of happiness.

“It’s over......”

She wanted to eat more, but now was the time for restraint.

“I am different from that stupid Ninrir.”

Her colleague, the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir also liked sweets and would often get the same things as Ruka from Mukohda. However, Ninrir’s desire for sweets had no end to it, and she would constantly go through all her offerings in three days or less. And, without any cakes to tide her over until the next offering......

“Ninrir always comes wheedling at me for cakes. How annoying — as if I would give her any.”

“Do you still have any cakes? How much?” That was how Ninrir would obstinately ask about Ruka’s sweets. And, as soon as she learned that there were some left, she’d come nagging for cake, saying things like, “You’re younger than me, give me cake,” or, “It’s my once-in-a-lifetime request!”

“You say that, but how many once-in-a-lifetime requests have there been, Ninrir?”

Using Ninrir as an example of what not to do, Ruka would fastidiously manage her cakes, limiting herself to two a day so as to have them last until the next offering.

Cakes from the other world were truly delicious. That was why Ruka could understand the desire to eat more and more of them. However, it was a matter of course that doing so would shorten the length of time one could enjoy them.

And even so, Ninrir would come wheedling after Ruka’s portion, even though there was no way she could give her any.

“Ninrir deserves what she gets.” Remembering the cakes she had left, Ruka let a small laugh leak out.

Which ones should I eat tomorrow? Just thinking about that was fun.

Self-control and management. Even for gods, these were important. And Ruka, who could do those things, was a capable goddess.

The God’s Round Table II

Kisharle: “Let the second round table begin~!”

Agni: “Yo! I’ve been waiting!”

Rusalka: *Clapclapclap*

(The sound of applause.)

Kisharle: “The chair this time shall be me, the Goddess of Earth, Kisharle. I will be in your care.”

Ninrir: “Yes yes yes yes - here! Here I say!”

Kisharle: “Geez, what? Ninrir you’re being really noisy.”

Ninrir: “Why is the chair Kisharle again? I don’t agree with this! I’m the one who made contact with that guy first, so it only makes sense that I should chair these meetings!”

Kisharle: “I. Said. This. Before. Whoever contacted the otherworlder boy first doesn’t matter.”

Ninrir: “That’s not true! I’m the one that found him first!”

Agni: “Sure you say that, but that’s just coincidence, right? What does that have to do with anything? Also, there’s no way you have the ability to chair a meeting in the first place, Ninrir.”

Rusalka: “......I agree with Agni.”

Kisharle: “That’s how it is. So I am the chair.”

Ninrir: “Grrrrrrrraaahhhh!”

(Ninrir, or rather, “the divine disappointment,” stamps her feet in frustration.)

Kisharle: “So that’s how it is. Let’s just leave Ninrir alone and continue on. Today, we have gathered these two here as well.”

Hephaestos: “Hey, War god, why are we even here? I can’t keep up with these young’uns.”

Vahagn: “That’s a coincidence, Blacksmithing god. I was just thinking that. It seems that we’ve come somewhere we don’t belong.”

(The male gods shrink in the face of the goddesses that are raising an even bigger ruckus than when they get offerings from Mukohda.)

Kisharle: “Okay then, the first topic for discussion is this! Celebrating the otherworlder boy’s conquering of Dolan’s dungeon~!”

Agni: “I was a little worried about what would happen, but they totally did it! I’m okay with giving him some praise for that.”

Rusalka: “............It was almost all thanks to his familiars, though. The slime with my blessing played a huge part.”

Ninrir: “Mgh. If you’re going to say that then my servant, the Fenrir, did even more!”

Hephaestos: “If that’s the case, then the slime also has my blessing, and the other two have War god’s blessing, too.”

Vahagn: “Yeah. I have the Fenrir and the pixie dragon.”

Kisharle: “Geez, what is everyone talking about? We all gave blessings to the otherworlder boy or his familiars, so if we start talking like this there’ll be no end to it.”

Agni: “She’s right. It’s just as Kisharle says. Those guys spread their blessings left and right, after all. Hahaha!”

Kisharle: “And so, let’s leave this blessing talk alone, and move on to the next subject. Well, it has a lot to do with the otherworlder boy conquering the dungeon and leveling up, but what everyone’s most excited about is the Tenants, right? The Tenants!”

Ninrir: “Fumiya!!!! That guy did a great job picking that store! That was a good choice! It’s like a dream store made just for me!”

Rusalka: “I hate agreeing with Ninrir, but that store is divine.”

Agni: “Leaving aside whether that store is good or bad, I was surprised that that unique skill had such an ability.”

Kisharle: “Indeed. But, it sure gets me to dream. The next Tenant unlocks at level 40, right? At any rate, we need to make sure that the otherworlder boy levels up as fast as possible.”

Hephaestos: “I agree with that, too.”

Vahagn: “Of course.”

Kisharle: “The next Tenant has to be a drug store. If we get a drug store from the otherworlder boy’s world, then I’ll be able to get so many different beauty products. Ufufufufufu.”

Hephaestos: “That’s wrong. The next tenant is decided to be a liquor store.”

Vahagn: “That’s right. Not having a liquor store is unthinkable.”

Kisharle: “Hah? What are you spouting? Of course it’s going to be a drug store!”

Hephaestos: “I say, ‘Hah?’ to that myself! A liquor store is a definite must!”

Vahagn: “That’s right! There’s no other choice than a liquor store!”

Kisharle: “Drug store!!”

Hephaestos & Vahagn: ““Liquor store!!””

Kisharle: “Drug store!!!”

Hephaestos & Vahagn: ““Liquor store!!!””

Kisharle: “Drug store———!!!!”

Hephaestos & Vahagn: ““Liquor store———!!!!””

Ninrir: “Hah! They all made fun of me, but aren’t they the idiots for arguing over something like this? Wow.”

Rusalka: “......Certainly.”

Agni: “Now now, you two, don’t talk like that. The only reason the two of you can say that is because you both lucked into the perfect store on the first try.”

Ninrir: “That might be true, but don’t you want a liquor store too, Agni?”

Agni: “What, me? Of course I’ll be happy if he gets a liquor store, but I might just not be as desperate as Hephaestos or Vahagn. In the first place, unlike those two, I only like beer. The beers that the otherworlder has given me have spanned all kinds, and I’m perfectly happy with that. I don’t really have any complaints as long as I can keep getting beer. Well, I do think that a liquor store would be completely better than the drug store that Kisharle wants for the next Tenant, though.”

Ninrir: “Hmmm~, is that so?

Rusalka: “............What do we do... about this?”

(Kisharle, Hephaestos, and Vahagn are all still arguing on the other side of Agni, Ninrir, and Rusalka.)

Kisharle: “The next one is definitely, definitely a drug store!!!”

Hephaestos: “No! It’s definitely a liquor store!!”

Vahagn: “Right! It’s definitely gotta be a liquor store, I say!”

Agni: “......Well, let’s just leave them be.”

Ninrir: “You’re right. I don’t want to just barge in and get called an idiot again.”

Rusalka: “............Can I leave?”

　◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Urrgghh” I suddenly felt some chills run up my spine.

“What happened all of a sudden? It’s not like I’m feeling off or anything...... Wait, I have blessings, so I shouldn’t actually get sick. That’s strange...”

Mukohda never thought that the cause of those chills could be the very gods that gave him those blessings.

A Pleasant Life Even in Another World ~IF Mukohda Stayed with the Three Heroes~

The four people forcefully brought to the kingdom of Reijseger through the Hero Summoning ceremony were Mukouda Tsuyoshi, Saitou Kaito, Oono Kanon, and Yoshida Rio. All of them quickly realized that the kingdom was planning to use them like puppets, and ran away from the castle at their first opportunity. And, while being careful even to the utmost height of caution, they finally managed to reach the kingdom of Ermann.

“We’re finally here......”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank goodness the Adventurer’s guild card was useful.”

Mukouda, Kaito, Kanon, and Rio all stepped foot safely into the Ermann kingdom’s town, Zilanov.

What was useful this time was the guild card they got from registering at the Adventurer’s guild, which was something they had to do for training. Thanks to that, the four of them smoothly managed to enter the town.

“If we’re this far, even that country won’t be able to get to us easily.”

“Yeah, it’s just as you say, Mukouda. After all, this country is the exact opposite of that one, with its policy of human supremacy.”

“Also, it looks like this country is allied with its neighbor, the kingdom of Leonhardt, and more than anything, its army is really really strong, I’ve heard.”

“Right. And, I don’t think that country has the free time to bother about us, right?”

The four of them escaped Reijseger with perfect timing. Right when Reijseger was about to go to war with the kingdom of Marveil, all four of them, Mukouda, Kaito, Kanon, and Rio, received a royal order to head for a town near the border to Marveil. And, while fulfilling that order, they saw an opening and ran away en route to that town.

“Still, that was close.” Kaito, who said that, received nods from the other three.

“Yeah. But, thanks to Rio’s magic, we somehow managed to escape. Really, I’m thankful.”

Kaito and Kanon both agreed with Mukouda’s words.

“You’re right, Mukouda. Really, it’s all thanks to Rio. If we didn’t have her Illusion magic then, it would’ve been impossible to escape with such perfect timing.”

“Kanon, if you’re going to say that, then Mukouda, who told us that Reijseger is no good, deserves the most thanks. If it was just us, we might not have noticed at all, and we would have been deceived, and it would all have been too late.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Yeah. It’s all thanks to Mukouda, who kept explaining things to us so earnestly and patiently even though we didn’t believe him, huh?”

“N-Naww... Well, I’m a bit used to that kind of thing. Or rather, I learned it from all the web novels I’ve read.” Mukouda felt a bit embarrassed being put up on a pedestal by everyone.

“Also, it’s all thanks to Mukouda that we don’t have to worry about our lifestyle. It’s already unthinkable to live without you.”

“Me too. Honestly, if I was told to just make do with the cooking from this world every day, I might die. And that’s not an exaggeration.”

“Yeah, I’m the same. And it’s not just for food, the other stuff we use every day wouldn’t be available here either. I don’t like saying this, but living like these people, without bathing every day and wearing the same clothes all the time to boot... I definitely couldn’t do it.”

Kaito, Kanon, and Rio gave those heartfelt words, thinking back to their life on the run.

“Man, but it’s not all for free, you know? See, I’m not as strong as everyone else, so it’s thanks to everyone defeating monsters and earning money that we’re all able to live like this.”

“No, that’s just because we were traveling, right? With your ability, Mukouda, you could probably earn as much as you want just by reselling the things you get from your Online Supermarket. If you did that, you’d definitely earn more than we do, I think.”

“Yeah, I thought that too. Since stuff like pepper here is so expensive, it’ll make your eyes pop out your head. I know I made fun of your skill at first, Mukouda, but thinking about it, it’s way more useful than our combat skills.”

“Right! Pepper’s expensive, but soap was also the same. Not only that, but they all smelled weird. If Mukouda were to sell soap from his Online Supermarket, they’d be worth double, right?”

“You might be right. Well, I also thought a little about selling the stuff from my Online Supermarket. I registered as an adventurer too, but I’ll just drag everyone down, so I was thinking that if we found someplace to live, I could register as a merchant. Then, I could put up a stall or something. If I do that, then even I can earn enough to eat on my own.”

“W-W-W-Wait a second! Are you planning to leave us, Mukouda? Aren’t we going to live together?” Kanon and Rio’s eyes went wide with surprise at Kaito’s words.

“N-No way! Don’t leave us, Mukouda!!”

“Yeah! What will we do without you, Mukouda!?”

Mukouda was losing to the pressure put up by Kaito and the others.

“No no, I’m not leaving you all behind or anything. We’re all comrades from the same place, after all. Of course, we’ll all be relying on each other. That’s why we planned to all live in the same town. Of course, I’ll still buy things from my Online Supermarket if you ask.”

But he wouldn’t be living together with them. Mukouda considered that a matter of course. There was no way he could live under the same roof as two high-school-aged girls, and more importantly, the both of them liked Kaito. There was no way a person ten years their elder, who a high-schooler would consider an uncle or something, could live with them. Or rather, Mukouda could at least read the room that much.

“But! ......”

“We’ll be living in the same town, and even in the same neighborhood. It’ll be fine. Like that, nothing will change, okay?”

There were things that even Mukouda wouldn’t let go of, and he pushed that part through and made them understand.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

In the town of Dahlberg———.

The town that the four of them, Mukouda, Kaito, Kanon, and Rio, chose to live in was a middling town near the Ermann Kingdom’s capital. The fact that it wasn’t that far from the capital, or Brixt, this country’s only dungeon, helped the decision. And most importantly, the public order of the town was well maintained.

Mukouda and the three high-school heroes, Kaito, Kanon, and Rio, all ended up as neighbors, since the three of them felt so lonely. It was lucky that a perfect set of properties was available: two neighboring houses each with a bath. Thanks to the bath, both properties were fairly expensive, but everyone managed somehow.

“Hahhh~, so tired...”

“Really. We hunted quite a bit today.”

“Yeah. We have to do our best to buy the house.”

They were in the dining room of Mukouda’s house. It was routine for the three high-schoolers to eat dinner here after they finished their adventurer activities for the day.

At first, Mukouda invited them, but afterward it became habit for some reason, and it was a good thing, since Mukouda himself would just feel lonely eating by himself. Most importantly, Mukouda was happy that the other three always happily ate whatever he cooked while saying it was delicious.

“Here you go, sorry for keeping you waiting. You guys said you wanted to eat fish, so today’s main dish is pickled tuna bowls.”

The three of them cheered in response to Mukouda’s words.

“There’s also this foil-baked white-meat fish, miso soup with deep-fried tofu-and-seaweed, and some pickled cucumbers and seaweed.

“Woaahh~, it’s a feast!”

“No, it’s not at all. They’re all foods that you can make easily and quickly, and the basics of my cooking are easy and rough, after all.”

“No no, there’s no way that’s true. Everything Mukouda cooks is delicious!”

“Yeah, I don’t hate cooking myself, but making this many dishes would take so long for me. Respect.”

“You’re still fine because you can cook, Rio. I’m terrible at it.”

“Kanon, you really shouldn’t be bragging about that.”

“What? Kaito’s even worse than me, you know? He even burns eggs black when all you have to do is cook them.”

“Hahaha! Cooking? As if I could do something like that.”

“Kaito, you shouldn’t be bragging about that either.” As soon as Rio said that, laughter spread around the four of them at the table.

“Now now, let’s eat before it gets cold.”

““““Let’s dig in!””””

“This rice bowl is great!”

“I love tuna! The flavor in this rice bowl is soaked into everything and I love it!”

“We’re so lucky to be able to eat raw pickled fish even here.”

Just as I’d expect out of people in their teens. They’re brimming with appetite; the pickled tuna bowl that I made extra-large for them disappeared in a moment.

“Try this foil-baked white-meat fish, too. Ah, put the ponzu on when you open up the foil, okay?”

“Oh right, there was that too.”

The three of them opened up the foil, and poured on the ponzu.

“This is good too! The ponzu goes super well with this fish!”

“You’re right! I love this. Please teach me how to make these, Mukouda.”

“Sure, but today’s stuff was really simple. For the pickled tuna bowl, just pour some soy sauce and mirin into a pot and boil it at low heat, right? Then, once all the residual heat cools off, put in some lean tuna and let it marinate for about twenty minutes. After that, all that’s left is to pack in the rice for the bowl and spread around some shredded seaweed. This dipping sauce goes well with salmon and amberjack... well, it basically fits most fish, so it’s good to remember it.”

“I see. That’s good to know. I might want to eat some pickled salmon bowl next.”

“I agree with Rio!”

“Me too! I want to eat salmon!”

“Haha! Man you guys sure are lively. So, next is the foil-bake. This one’s simple too. Just take your spread out foil, and line up whatever vegetables or mushrooms you like cut to an appropriate size, and then put a white-meat fish seasoned with salt and pepper on top. Close up the foil and steam it, and it’s done. I used ponzu today, but butter and soy sauce or herb salt, or even using miso and making it like a soy-marinated salmon works too. Also, adding in some melty cheese and mayonnaise for a thick and creamy flavor is good too.”

“*Sshlrrp*...............Sounds good.”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Rio, make that for us next time we have to go travel!”

“I thought that too. Please, Rio!”

“Hm? Is it already that time?”

The three high-school heroes were already C-ranked adventurers. The three of them mainly subsisted on the permanent orc hunting request that allowed them to return home within the day, but when one becomes C-ranked, sometimes they’re given requests by the guild. And all of those requests would require multiple days of travel.

“Yeah, it’s about time, it feels like. Although I really don’t want to go... If it’s something like an escort mission or something else that we have to do with other parties, the food is just a tragedy......”

“Don’t say that, Kaito...... Since other people are watching, we can’t just freely eat the food we bring with us... Ahh~, I don’t want to goooo, we won’t be able to eat Mukouda’s cooking.”

“I think that too, but it’s a request from the Adventurer’s guild, so we just have to suck it up Kanon. I’ll try my best and cook stuff too, so we can eat it when we stay at an inn or whenever other people aren’t watching. There’s no other way to get through this.”

All three of them looked dark and gloomy when the subject of those requests came up.

“Now now, I’ll help you guys out too when it’s time for you to go travel.”

“Really?! Then give us lots of snack buns! We can eat those in secret, and it’s way better than those terrible rations!”

“Those sweet buns are nice, but I’d like some sandwiches, too.”

“Yeah! Sandwiches would be good too. I want to eat cutlet sandwiches or something filling like that.”

“Okay okay, snack buns and sandwiches, right? If you tell me when you all have to go then I’ll get some for you.”

“Woohoo!”

“This should make traveling at least a little bit bearable.”

“Really.”

“Oh right. Changing the subject, you know your alcohol is becoming the stuff of rumors, Mukouda. The dwarves at the Adventurer’s guild were all talking about it.”

Kanon and Rio both nodded in response to Kaito’s statement.

“They were really passionate about saying it was ridiculously good or something like that.”

“Yeah. The other dwarves were even demanding to try some with a scary look on their faces.”

“Haha, that’s right. Thankfully, the whisky sells especially well with dwarves. Well, it’s not just whisky, though. Any strong alcohol gets bought by dwarves no matter how much it costs.”

“So dwarves really are alcohol lovers, just like their stereotype, huh?”

Mukouda started renting out a small store in the shopping district. He mainly sold alcohol. Since selling pepper not in small amounts, but large ones and constantly stocking it in his store would cause people to try and figure out where he was getting it, he stopped trying that.

As for the alcohol he bought from his Online Supermarket, not only was it rare since it was so strong, when he started noting that it was made in small amounts in a certain area in the group of small countries, it was unexpectedly easily accepted. No one doubted it for a second. Since that was the case, Mukouda had Kaito move the alcohol he bought from his Online Supermarket to bottles made in this world. Since the alcohol was too strong, it wasn’t too popular with the common populace, but dwarves loved it, so Mukouda was making some pretty good money.

“Just a bit more and I’ll be able to buy this house.”

“What, already?!”

Both of their houses were available for purchase, and that was what Mukouda and the other three were aiming for.

“Yeah, business has been better than I thought it would be.”

“Ahh — Mukouda’s skill really is way more of a cheat than our skills.”

“Right?”

“I’m so jealous.”

“Hahaha! But, I’m not strong like all of you, so if I were to see a monster outside of these walls, I’d just die.”

“I’m still jealous though.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, there’s no point in begging for what you don’t have; we’ll just have to do our best on our own. We’re definitely getting the place next to Mukouda’s!”

“You’re right. Yeah, let’s do our best!”

“Yeah!”

The three of them put up a shout.

“Ah, right, Mukouda, can I ask you for something after this? My facial lotion and milky lotion are about to run out.”

“Of course, Kanon.”

“I need some too, Mukouda. I’m about to run out of face-washing foam and body soap.”

“Ahh, me too me too. I’m about out of my usual shampoo.”

“Okay okay, I get it already. One at a time, please.”

The three of them continued to use their usual products even after coming to this world. No, the four of them. Even though they were forcefully brought to this world from Japan, thanks to Mukouda’s “Online Supermarket,” they were still able to lead relatively comfortable lives, Mukouda included.