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.
Hati 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, Hati and Razsegath, 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 Hati and Razsegath 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.
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, Hajime." Elrand came over. And Mr. Ugohl was next to him.
"Welcome, Sir Hajime."
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 Razsegath," Elrand said, sending hot gazes towards Razsegath.
Being stared at like that, Razsegath used telepathy to say to me,
[Wow, this guy's kinda creeping me out...] Razsegath 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 Hajime, feel free to just ignore what the guildmaster says."
'Ohhh, that's great to hear.'
"Well then, take care, you two." When I tried to leave since I was done, Elrand called out to me.
"Hajime, 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 Hati and I.
'Aren't leviathans like bosses of the sea? Seems impossible, but Hati's the one that's going to be hunting.'
"Hati, 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 Hati, here.'
"Really?! Please, pleeaaassse! I'm counting on you!!" After hearing Hati's words, Elrand got really excited.
"W-Well, just like Hati 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 Hati 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 Hati 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, Razsegath would be accompanying Hati on his hunt. Apparently Razsegath 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 Hati'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, Hati and Razsegath 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.
'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 Groot 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 Hati 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 Groot 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 Hati and Razsegath 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. Groot 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~, Groot wants to eat too...]
"Here, try some." Picking one up with my tongs, I handed the sausage over to Groot.
[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 Hati and Razsegath 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 Hati'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?]
'Hati, don't 'just' me. Also, Razsegath, 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~. Groot 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, Hati waffled: "No, well..."
[Bpbbphhaahahah! Dim gray rhino meat is tough, you can't eat it. And Hati 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.