"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 Hajime 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 Hajime 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 Hajime. 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 before you head to the storehouse..."
In short, Ugohl wanted to tell me news about Melromarc.
"By the time the third wave had begun, Shield Hero's good deeds (like saving Riyute Village) had inspired other people to follow him, despite his terrible reputation compared to the other heroes. Some soldiers joined him and fought together against the enemy. It turned out that despite the fact that Shield Hero didn't have the support of the king and his equipment was inferior, his overall performance during the wave was far superior to that of the other heroes. At one point, Spear Hero, Sword Hero, Bow Hero and their party members couldn't defeat the final boss and had to rely on Shield Hero's help. Even though Shield Hero successfully defeated the final boss of that wave, the portal did not close." Ugohl said.
"A mysterious woman who calls herself Glass appeared and challenged all the heroes to a fight to the death. It's hard to tell if she's that strong or if the three legendary heroes are weak, because she only defeated them with one attack. When Shield Hero fought her, she couldn't do any damage to him, so she started targeting his party members."
'I'm sure my food help here'
"Despite the clear advantage, Shield Hero gave in to desperation and activated the powerful Curse series skill. The mysterious woman survived by a hair's breadth. She used an unknown magic item and managed to escape as the timer for the wave ran out."
And here is where the complications begin.
"After the wave, King Aultcray demands to know the source of Shield Hero's power. Shield Hero agrees on the condition that the king bows to him. The king refused and kicked Shield Hero out of the castle. Shield Hero and his party left the city and set off on a journey."
"Another piece of information is that Shield Hero has been accused of kidnapping the second princess, he is also wanted as a kidnapper and the whole kingdom is looking for him.
'Wow, first he was accused of trying to rape the first princess and now he has kidnapped other princess. Why doesn't anyone find this suspicious?'
"I have heard from unofficial sources, it is only gossip, that Shield Hero's party was only able to escape the Melromarc soldiers and the other heroes thanks to various Shadows loyal to Queen Mirellia. It is said that Shield Hero is on his way to make a bargain with this mysterious Queen Mirellia."
When I heard that as the name of the Queen of Melromarc, it gave me a chill and a strange feeling, though I don't know why.
"If I find out or hear anything more, I'll let you know," Ugohl said.
I thanked him and we left the Adventure Guild. It's been an hour, and Hati and the others must be getting hungry.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
'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.
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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. Hati and Groot would get three portions of the pound cake-molded meatloaf, and Razsegath 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 Hati? 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!]
'Razsegath'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, Groot loves eggs so Groot 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 Groot 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, Hati and Razsegath were both wolfing the food down, and Groot 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 Hati and Groot wanted more, huh? It looked like Razsegath 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, Hati and Groot had two more servings and were full, but Razsegath asked for the 'jiggly stuff,' so using that opportunity, it was now time for dessert. Of course Razsegath had the pudding, Hati had his favorite strawberry shortcake, and Groot 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.'
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
We had come to the Adventurer's guild. 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 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 Hajime, 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 Hajime 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 Hajime. 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."
"Now lets enjoy some tea" Elrand said.
"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 Hati 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 Hati and the others asleep outside. And Groot was always asleep in my bag in the first place.
[Heeyy, we're going back,] I said to the sleeping Hati and Razsegath 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?
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
At Hati and the others' requests, I was always cooking meat. Thinking about it, I was eating meat not only every day, but basically every meal. Not only that, but it was all rich and strong in flavor.
Today's meal was at the request of Razsegath: miso-grilled orc bowl. It seemed that Razsegath was quite attracted to the flavor of miso.
'This miso grilled orc bowl is good, but it's also rich and heavy in flavor...'
With every meal being this rich and dense, I personally wanted to eat something refreshing and light for once. Also, I got the feeling that just eating meat all the time was bad for health.
'The most refreshing and healthy thing I can think of is vegetables, but none of my familiars like that very much...'
If I were to make something using vegetables as the main ingredient, both Groot and Razsegath would probably eat it, but I could see Hati complaining, "Why did you even make this?" before going, "I don't want it."
'Actually, it's pretty much confirmed that he hates vegetables, isn't it? If that's the case, it has to be something with lots of vegetables, but still with meat and with a refreshing taste on top of all that...'
'If that's the case... the only thing I can think of off the top of my head would be pork shabu, I guess? It would be nice to make it into a salad so it's easy to eat. I have orc meat, too... Right, let's make pork shabu salad.
Now that that's decided, I'll need to buy some vegetables. I'll need lettuce and mini tomatoes, cucumbers, red and yellow paprika... and I think that's it.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
First up is the meat. Cut the orc meat into thin slices and coat thinly with potato starch.
Add some sake and salt to boiling water, and quickly boil the potato starch coated meat. Then put the meat into a strainer and let it cool.
The important part is to coat it in potato starch, and also to let the meat cool naturally. Coating it in the starch prevents the meat from drying out, and cooling the meat naturally helps prevent it from becoming too tough.
While the boiled meat is cooling, prepare the vegetables. Rip the lettuce into appropriately sized pieces, cut the cucumbers into thin discs, and chop the paprika finely.
After that, just serve the vegetables in a dish and layer a lot of meat on top.
As for the dressing, I would recommend either japanese-style dressing or some sort of sesame based dressing. It's fine to make the dressing yourself, but it's a lot of work and they sell perfectly delicious dressings commercially anyway.
This time, I used a refreshing yuzu-flavored japanese dressing.
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"I'm done"
Everyone gathered at the sound of my voice.
"Here's the miso-grilled orc bowl that Razsegath wanted. And also... I thought that eating something with a refreshing taste every once in a while would be nice, so I made some pork shabu salad."
I served everyone some miso-grilled orc bowl and pork shabu salad.
"Mm, I do not need any vegetables."
'I knew Hati would say that.'
"I gave you less vegetables already, Hati. And there's lots of meat on it, too, so eat it. It's good."
"No."
"Come on, don't be like that."
While Hati and I were going back and forth like that, Razsegath and Groot were already digging in to the pork shabu salad.
[Ohh, this is pretty delicious. It's got a refreshing fragrance and taste.]
[It's true! This is good!]
'Right, right? Of course Razsegath and Groot would have good taste. They totally get it.'
"See? Both Razsegath and Groot are saying it's delicious. Try it, Hati."
"You are too persistent. Fine, just one bite."
Hati exasperatedly took a bit out of the pork shabu salad.
"Hmm?"
Hati started chewing it to better experience the taste.
"How is it? It's good, right?"
"Mm? Well, it is alright for what it is."
'Tsundere, you could just be honest and say it's good...
In the end, Hati had another serving of the pork shabu salad. Though he also had more than one extra serving of the miso grilled orc bowl. Even so, it was still a feat to get the vegetable hater Hati to want another serving.
If he can eat pork shabu salad, then I might be able to introduce more vegetables into our meals from now on. My current goal was to add more vegetables into our regular menu along with the meat.
It would be nice if Hati's hatred of vegetables could be cured one day.