Bonus Short Stories

Mukohda’s Cooking Class

Hmm, what should I do......

In front of me were the owner of this inn and his family. There was a gruff father, who apparently was an adventurer in the past; a well built hostess that was like a caring aunt; and, between them, their only child, a 12 year old daughter with bright eyes.

All three members of that family were currently staring at me with eyes full of hope.

Please don’t put all your hopes on me like that...

As for why this was happening, it was because I always used the backyard to cook myself instead of using the inn’s cafeteria.

One of the reasons I did that was to feed Fel and the others, but apparently their daughter was always watching as I cooked for myself in the backyard. I never noticed, though.

So then, the daughter apparently told her parents, “That person’s always eating something delicious looking.” Then, the next time both parents also joined in on peeking......

And of course, even I would notice if there were three whole people watching me.

So then I asked, “Do you need something from me?” And as soon as I asked that, they suddenly burst out with, “Please teach us your cooking!!”

After that, a lot of things happened and I was taken to the inn’s kitchen. After hearing them out in detail, apparently their inn’s cafeteria isn’t doing very well.

A lot of the people staying in their inn use the cafeteria, but outside of that they weren’t getting any business. Thinking in those terms, leaving the inn itself aside, the cafeteria was barely breaking even, or in some cases, running in the red.

“So? What is this place’s best dish?”

According to the father, who was the chef of the cafeteria, “Cockatrice sauté and stew.” Apparently they were quite confident of its taste.

“It’s true that father’s cockatrice sauté and stew is tasty, but the other places all serve something similar or just as good, so it’s not like they have to eat it here......”

“That’s right. There’s nothing that you can only get at this place, so no one other than the inn’s guests bother to come.”

“Ghh......”

I could see the massive damage the chef’s wife’s and daughter’s words were doing to him.

Well, grilling and boiling are the most popular ways of cooking in this world, so it doesn’t surprise me that there’s not much difference.

If orc meat was just a little above average meat, then cockatrice would be a small smidgen below that, so it wasn’t rare to see it in a cafeteria at all.

But thanks to that, I can’t just use a high-ranked monster’s meat, and as for the seasonings, I can only use what they can find in this world...

And so, we’re back at the beginning.

Essentially, I just had to teach them something that could become their cafeteria’s specialty......

If that’s the case, I can just teach them one of the cockatrice dishes I use a lot.

Cockatrice, huh? ............Hrm... Hm? I spotted something on the kitchen shelves. There, I noticed many different bottles of dried herbs.

“You certainly have a lot of different kinds of herbs, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I just end up wanting them when I see them. Thanks to my chef’s spirit.”

“You say that, but they all basically just sit there as decorations on the shelf...”

The father hung his head in shame at his wife’s stinging words.

Hahaha, so he doesn’t use them much, huh? But I can probably use these herbs. If there’s a lot of different kinds, I can probably use that: fragrant herb fried chicken.

The recipe was very simple. In my case, buying herbs by themselves was annoying, so I just used herb salt. Doing that results in the easiest and most delicious version, after all.

For the father to make it, he would have to mix the herbs and salt himself, so this time I would be using the store bought stuff when I showed him how to make it as well.

First off, I had the father gather the following ingredients:

Cockatrice meat. It could be any size, even already cut. It was fine to have it on the bone too.

After that, grated garlic. This world also had something that resembled garlic, so that should be fine.

Then, potato starch and wheat flour. These should be fine since I already saw something like potato starch that came from some type of potato or other when I was looking around earlier. As for the wheat flour, since this world uses bread as a staple food, there’s no way they didn’t have it.

Lastly, I needed olive oil to fry the meat in. As for this, they use olive oil normally in this world so there was no problem at all.

After all of that...... I sneakily moved some herb salt that was in my Item Box from its container to a wooden bowl. There was no way I could use the herb salt as it was in its plastic container, after all.

That being the case, once all the ingredients were gathered I started my cooking class for the three of them.

“We’ll be using cockatrice meat for your new specialty dish, which means I’ll be teaching you a new way to cook cockatrice. It’s a dish that is delicious even when eaten by itself, but also pairs well with ale.”

When I said that, the three of them nodded seriously.

“First off, put the cockatrice meat in here......”

Normally, I’d use a vinyl bag here since it would be easier and wouldn’t dirty my hands, but there was no such thing in this world, so I used a large wooden bowl I found in the kitchen instead.

“Then, add in the mixture of dried herbs and salt along with the grated garlic and massage the flavor into the meat. Depending on your use of these dried herbs both the taste and the smell will differ, so feel free to try different things out yourself.”

You have all these herbs on you so you should try things out for yourself, and find your own flavor, got it, dad?

“After that, let it sit for 30 minutes to allow the flavor to cement itself into the meat. Then, mix the potato starch and wheat flour together and knead it onto the meat. Once that’s done, fry it in olive oil until it completely turns a light brown and it’s done.”

“There. Now it’s done. It’s easy, right?”

Hmm...looks good. I can’t stand the herb smell! If I had some beer to go with this it would be great.

“““Gulp......””” I could hear the sound of the three of them swallowing their drool after staring at me cook. Especially the daughter, her eyes were sparkling wildly while she salivated.

“Go for it.”

When I proffered them the freshly fried chicken, they immediately reached for it.

*Crssp———*

“So goo—d!”

“It’s delicious!”

“Ohh, this is great!”

It seemed like all three of them loved it. I was a little relieved.

Now then, time for me to try.

“Yeah, it turned out well.” The crunch on the slightly thicker breading was irresistible. Since I breaded it right inside the pickling bowl, the breading was also flavored the same way, enhancing the taste. The cockatrice meat also properly carried the herb salt flavor and the nice fragrance of the herb salt went through the nose after each bite.

Really, using pepper would bring the flavor together a lot more, but since pepper was so expensive in this world, I didn’t bother. But still, this is completely fine even without it.

“It’s delicious—! This is so good!!”

The daughter was chomping into the meat with both hands.

“Wait a second, you’re being rude.”

“But it’s so good! This is definitely gonna be popular!”

“Yeah! I agree! It’s not that hard to make, so let’s start serving tonight!”

The father was very excited.

As a warning, I told him not to make them beforehand and store it. If it’s left alone for a while, the breading will become soggy and it’ll lose its taste. Not to mention the nice crunch of a freshly fried one is one of its best points.

When I returned to my room, thinking that it was nice that I was able to help them, Fel, Sui, and Dora-chan all demanded fried chicken since they smelled me making it.

In the end, I had to make huge amounts of fried chicken for Fel and the others in the backyard.

I was about to cry.

By the way, the fried chicken the father made became so famous that it started seeing the most business it ever had.

I am a Pixie Dragon. My Name Is...

“I’m so hungry......”

As I wandered around the forest looking for prey, I suddenly caught whiff of an unknown, but delicious smell. I decided to move, following the smell to its source.

After leaving the forest, I finally found the originator of the smell.

“Hm? Is that a Fenrir? How rare. Not only that, but it’s with a human.”

There, I found a human, a Fenrir, and a slime. It was quite a strange group combination.

“But still, it smells really good......”

It looked like the human was making something, and it was from there the delicious smell emanated.

Lured by the smell, I unsteadily flew closer. Of course I was found. The human who noticed me seemed surprised.

Well, I’m strong, after all. There’s no way I would lose to a human, so it should be fine.

Man, whatever that human’s holding seems so delicious...... I want to eat it.

“Hohh, a pixie dragon. That is quite rare.”

The Fenrir, huh? As expected of it, it knows I’m a pixie dragon.

“Kyui! Kyui!” (Hey, human! Let me eat that.)

I pointed at the delicious looking thing the human was holding.

That’s right, good.

*Chomp*

Ohhh! This is really good! It’s not bad for something a human made. Or rather, give me more. This clearly isn’t enough.

“Kyui! Kyui! Kyui!” (Hey, human, more! More! Give me more!)

“Here, you can have this.”

The human handed over a bunch of the stuff that smelled real delicious.

That’s right, that’s right. Good job, human.

*Chomp chomp* *Chomp chomp*

Yeah, yeah! This is good! Really good!

So humans regularly eat stuff this good, huh? If this was the case, I shouldn’t have been so prejudiced and interacted with humans more.

Right, now’s not too late.

“Kyui, Kyui.” (Hey, human, I’d be fine with getting along with you a little. Rather, give me more to eat.)

*Plomp*

I grabbed on to his easily handleable head.

“H-Hey, let go......”

The human separated me from his head.

《Hey, hey. This thing’s crazy good. I’m super hungry over here. Give me more!》

“Even if you say that... do I really have to go make more gyoza...... Wait, huh? Whose voice was that?”

Hohh, so this delicious thing is called gyoza, huh?

“You...... That pixie dragon has become your familiar.”

This voice must be the Fenrir. By familiar, did it mean me? The human’s? There’s no wa-......... Well, if I can eat something this good, I guess it’s fine. Human lifespans are short, anyway.

If I can eat something good while this human’s alive just by becoming his familiar, that’s just fine, or rather, I’m super okay with that.

《If I could eat something as good as this, of course, even becoming his familiar is a no brainer.》

When I said that, the Fenrir nodded.

“Indeed. This one’s food is especially delicious. Even something as long-lived as me does not see a bad side to becoming his familiar for some tens of years.”

That’s right. You get it, don’t you, Fenrir?

《Right—? At the very least, you’ll get to eat good food while you’re his familiar. You get it, don’t you, Fenrir?》

According to the Fenrir, I’d just formally become this human’s familiar.

Well, thanks to that, I won’t have to worry about food anymore, so it’s all fine with me.

As I was thinking that he should give me more food since I became his familiar, the human said, “Your voice is kinda different than how I thought it would be.”

《Different? How did you think it would have sounded?》

“How? I guess, a child’s voice, like Sui?”

Sui must be that small slime over there, I guess.

Tch, another misunderstanding, huh? Just because I’m small, don’t be all simple and think I’m a child, goddammit.

“You know, that pixie dragon is not a child. It is young, but it is fully grown.”

As expected, of course the Fenrir knows, he hasn’t lived that long for nothing.

《That’s right! It’s just that dragons of my type are small. I’m an adult over here, you see?》

After I said that, it looked like the human finally understood.

《Hey, more importantly, I’ve become your familiar now. Give me a name.》

I’d heard about it from an old pixie dragon I’d met a long time ago: that if I became a familiar, I’d get a name.

So since I’d already become one, I felt like I might as well get a name.

“You can’t just dump that on me so suddenly...... Hrm... well, you’re a dragon, so Dora-chan’s fine.”

Dora-chan? Because I’m a dragon? What a simple name!

《Whaaat? Give me a better, cooler, more fitting name—!》

“Huh? Doesn’t Dora-chan fit you perfectly?”

You just had to say it fits me, didn’t you?!

I’m just stunned at this human’s lack of sense! This fool!

《Don’t fuck with me! I’m no Dora-chan!》

There should be a more fitting, cooler name for me as a dragon! Think about it properly and seriously, you stupid human!

However......

I struggled to no avail, and my name was registered as, “Dora-chan.”

The Fenrir said it, so it must have been true.

Dora-chan, huh............

《But I wanted a cooler name......》

I’m getting depressed...

Lambert’s Wife Marie’s Shock

What is it? This nice scent......

Following the source of the smell, I was surprised to see it was my husband coming out of the bath.

“Dear, what did you use?”

“M-Marie, you’re too close! W-What, you ask? Just the soap in the bath......”

There’s no way that’s true. I’ve used the soap in the bath as well, that one didn’t have this good a scent.

Not only that, but when I looked closely at my husband, his hair also smelled nice, and the unruly hair he was always indifferent about had a gloss about it and looked smooth.

“Dear husband, lies will do you no good.”

“N-No! You see......”

At first he was flustered to the point of incoherence, but as I kept questioning him, he eventually caved and told me.

An adventurer he knew asked him if this kind of product would sell, and he had my husband test it.

“It seemed like it would be popular with women, so if it was good when I tested it, I was going to give it to you as an anniversary present......”

Oh, is that so? But now that I know, there’s no way I can wait that long.

“Dear, can you show me everything you got?”

When I said that, my husband reluctantly showed me all the products he received.

I understood the soaps, but the other ones were a mystery to me. When I asked my husband for an explanation, I heard about what that adventurer told him.

“So there’s two types of soap, and this one is the cheaper one, and this one with the elegant scent is the more high-class option, it seems. Although, that being said, both of them have a nice scent, surprisingly.”

It was just as my husband said. The “cheaper” white one also had a nice scent, to a surprising degree.

As for the faintly pink high-class soap, the scent was so entrancing I could spend all day enjoying it.

“This one is called ‘shampoo with conditioner,’ and apparently, just by washing your hair with it, it will become smooth and silky. I tried using it, actually, and it’s pretty good. It’s refreshing, and my usually stiff hair is now soft.”

It was true, my husband’s hair was clearly different from before.

“And this one is something that has a stronger effect than the shampoo with conditioner. This one is ‘shampoo,’ and you wash your hair with it. After you do that, this ‘hair treatment,’ is for putting in your hair for a while before washing it out. If you do that, it seems like your hair will regain its gloss and moisture.”

How... how wonderful!!

My biggest worry right now was the state of my hair, after all. It was so dried out and stiff. Like this, I might finally be able to do something about it!

“This last one is called a ‘hair mask,’ and it’s supposed to be a very special product. If you apply this for a while to your hair after washing it before rinsing it out, apparently it will return any hair, no matter how damaged, to a beautiful state like magic. Certainly, the shampoo with conditioner and soap I used were pretty good, but making hair beautiful in one shot like magic seems fake, doesn’t it?”

Beautiful hair, like magic.........Ohohohohohoho.

My husband said that it was probably fake, but I knew. That it would definitely work, that is.

After all, the hair that my husband never really took care of and was all dried and stiff became like that with just the shampoo and conditioner.

If the effect is supposed to be more powerful than that, then there’s no way it will have no effect. Not only that, but there’s also my woman’s intuition. It’s saying that this one’s definitely going to be good.

“Dear, I’ll go right now and try this as well. If it’s good, please give me lots of this as an anniversary gift.”

Taking all that my husband had, I hurried to the bath.

“First is my hair, right...”

I used the shampoo I got from my husband. I took the yellowish, clear and viscous substance into my hand from the bottle.

Is this some sort of flower? It’s got a wonderfully sweet scent.

And so I wet my hair and gently washed it.

And after I’ve washed my hair, this one is next, right?

“The best special product, the hair mask. What a pretty bottle it’s in.”

When I opened the lid on the clear bottle, an even thicker scent than the previous shampoo filled the air. Inside was a thick, white, mud-like substance.

I did just as my husband explained, and mixed it thoroughly into my hair and left it in for a while before rinsing it out.

“This is amazing......”

Even while still wet, I was shocked at the dramatic change in my hair. It was no lie that it would make hair more beautiful, like magic.

Before, I used the soap to wash my hair, but after washing out the suds my hair would grate and tangle together, it was quite a lot of work to fix. But now... I ran my fingers through my hair smoothly.

My hair’s regained its gloss, and I could tell that it was different just by touch.

“To think it changed this much...... I’m looking forward to when my hair is dried. Ah, I have to try the soap out, too.”

Of course, I would be using the light pink high-class soap. As I rubbed the soap against a cloth, it foamed up before my eyes.

“I wonder what flower this scent is supposed to be? It’s a very nice one. Also, this is foaming up really well. I wonder what worth our old soap even has compared to this.”

Not only was our usual soap very hard to lather up, it did not smell very good. Even so, soap was a high-class commodity, and was quite expensive.

However, comparing it to the soap I was using right now, I felt like even the act of comparing it was giving the old soap too much credit: it was just that bad, I knew.

After washing my whole body, I soaked in the tub.

“My whole body is so smooth!”

Not only my hair, but my whole body smelled nice.

While enjoying that scent, I also took my time and enjoyed the bath.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Dear.”

“Ohh, Marie, how was it? ......Wait, you smell really nice.”

“Hoho, right? All the stuff I tried using had good scents. Also, they linger on the body just like this. Wrapped in this nice scent, I feel just like a noble lady!”

“I-Is that so? I’m happy you like it.”

“By the way, dear, we of course are going to start selling these products at our store, right?”

“Huh?”

“See here, dear, you should definitely start selling these. This will definitely be popular amongst women. I guarantee it.”

“Huh? But......”

“Dear, if you don’t sell this, I’ll doubt your sense as a merchant. This needs to be sold at our store, get it?”

“G-Got it, Marie.”

Sui Fights a Wyvern

Sui came together with master and Uncle Fel to a place with lots of grass.

You see, right now, we’re going to fight. Sui’s gonna do Sui’s best!

“Hmph, so that’s them. Flying around as if they own the place.”

Uncle Fel said that while looking at the sky, so Sui looked at the sky too.

And then, there were a lot of weird things that looked like large bird-like lizards flying around.

“Gyaaghh! Gyaaghhh! Gyaaaghhhh!”

Those weird things were crying out. What weird voices~.

Ah, one of the weirdos noticed us. It’s coming—!

《Are we fighting those—?》

When the weird thing came, Sui, you know, jumped out of the leather bag Sui was usually in.

The weird one was super big.

《The huge things are flying, aren’t they~?》

“I shall teach you how to hunt flying prey. Come with me.”

It looks like Uncle Fel’s gonna teach Sui how to hunt. Sui’s so happy—!

“Sui, let us be off.”

《Yeesss!》

It seemed like master would be waiting here, and Sui would be going with Uncle Fel. Sui will go pew pew and beat those weird things~.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

The weird things were flying above Sui and Uncle Fel. Apparently, they’re called “wyverns.”

“Listen closely, Sui. When trying to hunt flying targets, first go for either the head or the wings. If you hit the head they die instantly, but the target is small, so the head is easy to miss. In those cases, go for the wings. Most things will fall to the ground if you hit their wings. And once they do, you can finish them off at your leisure.”

That was what Uncle Fel said. I see — so the head first, huh? And if Sui misses, aim for the wings.

《Got it. The head or the wings, right? Sui will try it!》

Uhmm... the wyverns are flying far away in the sky, so it might be better to go lo~ng and thi~n and go pew from there...

Ookayyyy, aim carefully............

*PEW———*

“Gyah! Gyaahhhh!”

The wyvern fell. But it looked like Sui hit somewhere other than where Sui aimed.

《Ahh~, Sui missed — and Sui went for the head too...》

Even though Sui aimed for its head... it looks like Sui hit its wings.

“What did I just tell you? The head is small, so it is easy to miss. But still, that was a pretty good hit, it seems. It looks like you got the base of its wings, so it will not be flying anymore.”

Ehehe...

Sui hit somewhere other than the head where Sui aimed, but Sui still got praised by Uncle Fel.

Sui’s gonna go hit some more of them—!

《Sploosh! Pow!》

Sui went pew, pew at all the wyverns. And then, Uncle Fel said, “I cannot just let Sui take all the credit. I will take action as well.”

Heheh, it’s because Sui’s gotten most of the wyverns...

*Pew* *Pew* *Pew———*

Sui and Uncle Fel shot down a—ll of the wyverns.

“There, now all of them have been shot down.”

《Yeah!》

“Once that is done, we have to finish them off, but their meat is delicious. That is why you must try not to harm them too much. In that case, the most effective way is to cut off their heads. Like this.”

*THWAP* *Thud* *Rollrollroll*

Wow, was that Uncle Fel’s magic?

The wyvern’s head fell and rolled on the ground. So you cut off the head like that for good meat, huh?

《Sui will try to do it like Uncle Fel.》

“These things have a little bit of magic resistance to them, so if you are going to use magic to cut off their heads, you will have to use a little more power than usual.”

《Okay!》

Alright then, Sui will do it just like Uncle Fel said, and use a little extra power—! Would water magic be good?

Take that!

Yay! Sui did it! Sui cut it—!

Sui will keep doing this, for good meat—!

“Gyaahhhss!!”

Ah, another wyvern. This one’s pretty big, huh?

“HEEEYYYY!!! FEL, DOOO SOMETHIIIINNGGGGG——————!!!”

Ahh! That wyvern is being mean to master! Sui has to go help—!

When Sui was going to go help, Uncle Fel already ran there like whoosh!

“So there was still one left. Die.”

*Zsshhh———*

Ah, Uncle Fel killed the big wyvern with magic!

《Wooww Uncle Fel is so stro—ng!》

Sui will definitely, definitely become strong like Uncle Fel—!

There were a whole bunch of wyverns that got beaten by Sui and Uncle Fel.

Uncle Fel said that wyvern meat is delicious... Sui can’t wait! Will Sui be able to eat it right away?

Sui tried too hard and got hungry.

A Certain Adventurer’s Testimony

My name is Lars. I’m an adventurer who mainly operates in the town of Karelina in my home country, the kingdom of Leonhardt.

The adventurer’s party that I lead, “Phoenix,” had accepted an escort mission from the familiar Lambert trading company, and headed out to fulfill it.

We went to the town of Uhland and returned, and were just about to reach Karelina when a certain incident occurred. It was thieves, even though the road we took was supposed to be relatively safe.

We were attacked by close to ten thieves. In order to protect our charge, Lambert and his group, the five of us fought desperately. However, on top of there being nearly ten of them, they were used to this kind of violence.

We were having quite a tough time. On top of that, the man who seemed to be the head of these thieves was quite skilled.

Honestly, I was prepared for death.

When I had finally started to think, “It’s over,” our god of salvation appeared before us.

*AWOOOOooooooo———*

I heard a howl that made me flinch for a second.

Then, it appeared. A silvery shining, and incredibly huge wolf.

That wolf threatened the thieves, and that alone caused them to become unable to move.

Right after, a man with black hair and black eyes, and from our perspective, a stick-like build, appeared.

That man commanded the silver wolf and a slime that was in his bag, which seemed to be his familiars.

The slime jumped out of the man’s bag, and aided the silver wolf in defeating the thieves one after the other.

It looked like that slime attacked by shooting out its slime-characteristic melting fluid. The fluid that it shot completely pierced through the thieves’ arms, after all.

You might wonder what the hell I’m talking about, but I’m only speaking the truth.

Honestly, even I would have thought it was impossible if I hadn’t seen it myself.

Then, the silver wolf started talking. He said, “You thieves, if you move one step, I will eat you whole. If you understand, throw away your weapons.”

All the thieves threw away their weapons, cowed.

Except for one.

That one being the thieves’ leader.

The largest in both body and skill amongst the thieves must have thought that there was no way he could ever lose.

Resisting until the end, the thieves’ leader raised his axe. And in that instant, his head was cut into pieces.

I’m not lying. It was from the silver wolf’s attack. It cut the thief into pieces with one swing of its front paw.

Not only that, but right after the slime covered him in its melting fluid. There was nothing left of the leader that even resembled a human. It was a miserable end.

Well, he got what he deserved.

At any rate, we were saved thanks to an unexpected savior. Thankfully, we managed not to lose a single member of our party.

We, who were saved for the moment, wasted no time in restraining the remaining thieves. It’d be bad if we failed to tie them up while they’d lost all will to fight, and they started rioting later, after all.

After all that, when our employer Lambert went to talk to the stick-like, black-haired, black-eyed man, we heard that he just happened to be passing by and decided to help.

That man called himself Mukohda. He had a foreign face unfamiliar to this territory, and a talking wolf.

That’s when it hit me.

Amongst all the rumors you hear flying around recently, there was one about an adventurer that managed to make a Fenrir his familiar. Amongst those rumors, some of them said that the adventurer had black hair and black eyes, if I remembered correctly.

When I said, “That familiar is a Fenrir, huh...? So the rumors were true.” Mukohda didn’t say anything in reply. He stayed silent with a troubled face, but that expression was basically confirming it.

When Mukohda asked where we were going and we replied that we were returning to the town of Karelina, he said that he’d like to go with us to town.

The offer was a godsend to us, too, so of course we agreed.

And that’s how we managed to get home to Karelina safely.

Mukohda’s familiar, that one was definitely a Fenrir.

I had thought that it was just a tall tale when I heard that someone made a Fenrir their familiar. However, I’d actually seen it talk. And the only wolf that talks that I can think of would be the legendary Fenrir.

Not to mention that bearing; there was no human alive that could even think of opposing it. The members of my party were doubtful of it until the end, though.

But I know for sure. That that thing is unmistakably a Fenrir.

Fel Hunts an Earth Dragon

We had come to the forest so that that guy could have a bath. It seemed like Sui would be joining him.

Of all things, I have no idea why they would want to do something like that.

Of course, in the meanwhile I would be hunting. We had come all the way to the forest; of course it had to happen.

As I was running through the forest, I felt a faraway presence.

“This does not belong to a normal monster, does it... This is...... a dragon?”

Tracking the abnormal presence, I ran through the forest. After a while, I started to be able to clearly feel it.

“This is an earth dragon, I can feel it.”

I had felt this type of presence several times before. Of course, that was not all: I had also fought them. Obviously, I was the winner.

An earth dragon’s meat is truly delicious. Though dragons were rare to find. It was lucky that I was able to notice it.

If I were to have him cook this good meat, I wonder just how divine it would taste? Heheheh, I am looking forward to it.

I’d moved quite a ways away from where that guy was, but it could not be helped -- it was to obtain the meat of an earth dragon.

I should hurry up and finish this hunt so I can go back.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

The earth dragon that was the owner of this presence had made its nest in a hilly area outside of the forest.

I tried to get closer to it while hiding myself, but I was noticed before I was able to land a sneak attack.

Earth dragons are said to be amongst the lower rungs of dragonkind, but I guess even rotten, a dragon is still a dragon.

Understanding that I planned to hunt it, the dragon entered an attacking stance. Planning to land a preemptive attack, the earth dragon charged at me with its huge body.

“Hmph, as if that would hit.”

I numbly jumped to the side and dodged the earth dragon’s charge. As I did that, the earth dragon handily turned around as if it knew that would happen, and tried to slam me with its thick tail.

*THUD———*

As the tail hit the ground, it threw up a cloud of dust and dirt.

“Mm?! How impudent, you are just a lizard!”

Of course, I easily evaded the attack. However, just the fact that it expected that attack to hit was extremely unpleasant.

Meanwhile, ignoring my feelings, the earth dragon tried to pursue me, using the cloud of dirt as a smokescreen to attempt a bite attack.

“As if a dullard like you would ever be able to bite onto me!!”

I used the earth dragon’s head as a stepping stool to jump backwards.

“Hmph! You seem to have gotten full of yourself. Next is my turn!”

Having made my declaration, the earth dragon, who understood I was going to attack, opened its mouth wide.

“Your breath, huh? However, a dullard’s breath like yours could never hit me!”

I jumped high, and stomped on the earth dragon’s head as hard as I could.

“Ghgaah!”

Having had its mouth forcibly closed by my feet, the earth dragon let out a pitiful cry.

“It is not over yet!”

I immediately continued my attack on the faltering earth dragon.

*Zzgagaahhhnn———*

A flash of lightning ran through the earth dragon’s head.

I dropped some lightning magic on that pretentious earth dragon’s head.

“Ghh... Ghaahh......”

The power left the earth dragon’s limbs, and its large body fell to the ground.

Looks like it is over.

“Going after the heads of pretentious ones like this really is the best.”

Most things die if you destroy their heads, after all.

“Now then, I think I should return back.”

I could lift up the earth dragon in my mouth, but it was a little too large.

“I suppose I will just have to deal with its tail dragging on the ground and getting in the way.”

Its meat was too good to waste.

I still had time before the sun set. It was a little more work, but I decided to take my time and return with my bounty.

I wonder just how good a meal I can have with this earth dragon’s meat? I am looking forward to it.

By a Hair’s Breadth

I had the encounter when I was returning to the inn after leaving the Adventurer’s guild.

As if fearing the eyes of other people, it was being done in the shade of a building at the edge of the street.

“Now now, stop crying. I’ll give you some candy, I’ll even help find your father. Just come with your uncle, now~”

There was a man who had the face of a thug and unshaven stubble with an evil look in his eye trying to coax a crying girl in braids who looked to be around 5 years old.

“Don’t wanna! No! Daddy! Daddy!! Waaaahhhhhhhh!!!”

“Tch! I’m trying to be nice over here, won’t you shut up, kid? Fine, but we’re going!”

The thug-like man grabbed the girl by her arm and tried to drag her away. The girl started crying even louder like there was a fire lit under her.

............That’s totally a kidnapping, right?

There was no way even I could just sit by and watch a girl that young get taken away.

“Fel, Dora-chan, we’re saving her. I’m counting on you if it comes down to it.”

“Mm, fine then, there is no other choice.”

《Sure, got it!》

《Hm? What what? Did something happen~?》

Sui must have caught on to the dangerous atmosphere, as it jumped out of the bag.

“Ah, Sui, look, there’s a girl who’s about to be kidnapped by some bad people. So we’re going to save her. If that bad person tries to be violent, will Sui help?”

《Yeah! Got it—!》

With Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui in tow, I called out to stop the man who was trying to drag the girl away.

“Wait a second, that girl isn’t liking what you’re doing.”

“Hahh? Stay out of this, you......”

When the thug-like man turned around, his eyes stopped on me, or rather, Fel, who was behind me, and he instantly stopped talking.

“You don’t know that girl, do you? She’s crying and everything.”

“Sh-Shut up! Th-This girl is the daughter of one of my friends. Hey, we’re leaving!” the thug-like guy said as he tried to drag the girl away again.

Nonono, you’re obviously lying. The girl’s been shaking her head and saying you’re lying this whole time, too. She’s even trying her best to shake you off.

“Uhmmm, no matter how I look at it, you’re lying. She’s saying so, too.”

“I don’t know him! I don’t! Liz doesn’t know this old man! Let go of me!!”

The girl denied it with all her might while shaking her head side to side as hard as she could. She was even hitting the thug-like man’s arms trying to get him to let go.

“So she says.”

“Hmph, s-so what!! It has nothing to do with you!”

I would have let him go if he just released her and left... Why the hell did he get mad at me?? If that’s the case......

《Fel, scare him a bit.》 I told Fel over telepathy.

“Grrrrrrrr...” Fel started baring his teeth and growling with a glare in his eye at the thug-like man. Dora-chan who was flying around us and Sui, who was at my feet were both also in battle mode.

“Hi-Hiihhhhh!!” The thug-faced man, who saw Fel’s expression, staggered backwards a little before letting go of the girl’s hand and running away at full speed.

“Nice one, Fel. You did great. Thanks to you guys, too, Dora-chan, Sui.”

“Hmph, you should have been able to chase a small fry like that off by yourself.”

《That guy’s way too weak, he ran off before we even did anything.》

《The bad guy went away—!》

“No, I mean, clearly Fel’s intimidation was the most effective here.”

Really, anyone would run away after looking at that. Not to mention, if he tried anything, both Dora-chan and Sui were around, too.

“Ahh! It’s a talking silver wolf!”

While Fel and I were talking, the pigtailed girl hugged tightly onto Fel. It seemed that between Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui, Fel’s furriness grabbed onto Liz’s heart.

“W-What do you want, child?!”

“Talking silver wolf~.”

Fel tried to shake her off, but the girl was firmly gripped onto his fluffy long fur, and wouldn’t let go.

“I am telling you to let go!”

“Talking silver wolf~!”

The girl didn’t comply, and even started burying her face into Fel’s fluffy fur and rubbing it around.

“Nwoaahhh! Stop rubbing your filthy snot all over me, you brat!”

Ignoring Fel’s cries, the girl kept rubbing her face into his fur.

“Khhehehe...... Just give up, Fel. I’ll wash you later.”

“Gnnrrrrnnrrrr...” Since Fel couldn’t well use his power to shake her off, he glumly accepted her affections.

Now then, it’s fine that we saved her, but what should we do now? Should I do the obvious and give her over to the knights? Although, if I try to take her anywhere and she starts crying again, I’ll be the one treated as a kidnapper this time. First, I need to figure out the situation by asking her questions and calming her down.

“Uhmm, I’m the owner of this silver talking wolf, and my name is Mukohda. What’s yours?” I knelt down so that my eye level was the same as the girl’s.

“Mm? What do you mean by owner? I am your familiar.”

“Fel, shut up for a second.”

“Gn...”

Try to read the mood just a bit, Fel.

“Uncle, you’re this talking silver wolf’s owner?”

U-Uncle...... uncle...............

Khh...this isn’t the time to be taking damage from things like this!

“Y-Yeah, that’s right. So? What’s your name?”

“Um, you see, Liz is Liz.”

“Liz, huh? You mentioned your father earlier, Liz; were you with him?”

When I asked her that, Liz made a sad face.

“Yeah...... Liz was with her dad, you know? But he disappeared before Liz noticed...... *Sniff* Liz searched a lot, *Sniff* but dad wasn’t anywhere......”

So she was with her dad, but got separated, huh?

After that, I managed to get a lot out of Liz. Summing it up, this was the situation: this morning, Liz left her village with her father by carriage and arrived in this town.

Her family was one of farmers, and they had come to sell the appools they had harvested. She said that they went to several stores, so they must have sold their appools to several eateries and merchant companies.

After that was done, her father showed Liz, for whom this town was a first experience, around. Liz was also really looking forward to her first time in town, and was having a lot of fun looking around since the town was so much bigger and more crowded than their village and also had so much more for sale.

So while they were looking around town, at some point Liz got separated from her father.

“You know, Liz really was holding hands with daddy and everything! But he was gone before I knew it......”

Yeah, she probably found something that caught her interest and let go of his hand while she was distracted, or something. This is definitely one of those really common patterns. But if they left this morning, then the village must be pretty close to here.

On top of that, they didn’t have any guards when they were travelling, so it must be especially close, since they could move around without even any guards.

Liz didn’t know the name of her village, but just from that I could make a guess as to which village she was from.

Now then, it looks like Liz’s calmed down, so it’s about time to take her to the knights.

“Liz, let’s go see the knights, okay? If we do that, they’ll help you find your dad.”

“Really?”

“Really. Also, I’m sure your dad is looking for you, too. If that’s the case, then he’ll definitely go ask the knights. The knights who protect this town know everything, after all.”

“Okay, got it. Liz will go to the knights. But I have a request.”

“What is it?”

“Uhm, Liz wants to ride on the talking silver wolf!”

Ohh, so that’s what she wants. But still, how fearless of her. To think that, not only is she not scared, but after latching onto him she wants to ride on his back.

“The talking silver wolf’s name is Fel, just so you know. If you want to ride on Fel’s back, then you have to ask him yourself, Liz.”

When I said that, Liz replied with a, “Yeah, okay,” and ran up to Fel with her short stride......

“Fel, let Liz ride on your back. Please.”

“Khh......... Fine, I shall let you. However, do not thrash around up there. Also, do not pull on my fur. If you cannot abide by these rules, I will throw you off, brat.”

Even Fel couldn’t refuse such a pure little girl’s request, it seemed.

With Liz riding on Fel’s back, we went together to the Knight’s station with Liz in a good mood.

“Hey, Liz, aren’t you afraid of Fel?”

Normal adults wouldn’t even think of getting near Fel after getting a look at him, though. Mostly they would just try to stay away.

“Yeah, he’s not scary. This talking silver wolf’s a good wolf, after all.” Saying that, Liz started telling us about a story from one of the grandmas from her village.

A long time ago, there was a ferocious four-armed bear living in the forest by the village. That bear would sometimes appear in the village, ravage the fields, and even eat the villagers. The villagers were utterly helpless in their troubles, and were starting to consider abandoning the village.

At that time......

“A talking silver wolf appeared in the village, right? And it beat the bear. So there’s a festival giving thanks to the talking silver wolf in the village, now.”

Huhh — so there’s that kind of story behind it.

I had no idea when this story took place, but Fel had apparently lived for 1000 years, so wasn’t that talking silver wolf just Fel?

《Isn’t that story about you, Fel?》

I tried asking Fel over telepathy, but he only replied, 《I do not remember.》 before falling silent in thought.

《A four-armed bear, huh? I have hunted several in the past............Ah!》

《Hm? Did you remember something?》

《Now that I think about it, I did hunt a four-armed bear somewhere around here about 300 years ago.》

That’s it!

According to Fel, the four-armed bear was literally named a ‘four arms bear’ and it was a nearly 10 meter tall huge bear with four arms.

Fel had sensed the bear’s presence and was hunting it, but it seemed that the bear had already invaded a human village and was rampaging around. Fel had just told the villagers in the way to “Move,” and he slammed the bear with lightning magic to defeat it, it seemed.

《And that four arms bear was......》

《Yes, of course I ate it. That bear’s meat is pretty good.》

Yep, I knew it......

In other words, the talking silver wolf that was a legend in Liz’s village was none other than Fel. I had heard that he was a legendary magic beast, but to think that he had actually had legends about him...

Meanwhile, we had reached the Knight’s station.

“Excuse me!”

After calling out to the knights, I explained what had happened. After confirming and checking for any inconsistencies with Liz, I was told it was okay for me to leave.

However............

“No! I want to be with the talking silver wolf~!” Liz was firmly latched on to Fel and wouldn’t let go.

Since they couldn’t just rip her off of Fel by force, we were made to stay with her until they found her father. Liz, realizing that she could stay with Fel, was satisfied.

While we were waiting in the station, Liz got to know Dora-chan and Sui. She alternated between hugging Dora-chan and Sui and was having quite a bit of fun.

Rather than getting along though, it was more like Dora-chan knew that she was just a child and so just gave up resisting. Sui, however, as a child itself, was having a lot of fun though.

And so, after a while one of the knights who was sent patrolling around the town came back with a man in tow.

Even before I got a good look at the man, Liz, who was being attended on by Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui, immediately ran towards him with her small stride and hugged him.

“Daddy!!”

“Liz!” Liz’s father picked her up in his arms and gave her a tight squeeze. “Liz! So you were okay... thank goodness......”

The father was tearing up: he must have just been that worried.

“Daddy! You know, Liz was saved by a talking silver wolf and an uncle. There was also a tiny dragon and a slime. It was fun!”

At Liz’s words, the father looked over at us. When he caught sight of Fel, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Hm? The wolf from the village legends? No, it can’t be... that was several hundreds of years ago......” He started muttering to himself.

“Uh-Uhmm, my name is Mukohda. That is my familiar......”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just surprised that your familiar wolf looks just like the one from my village’s legends. But it was from a very long time ago, so there’s no way that’s true.”

Well, that wolf actually was Fel. I won’t tell you, though.

“More importantly, thank you so very much for saving my daughter, Liz.”

After saying that, the father bowed his head deeply.

“I heard about it from the knight while we were coming here. If it weren’t for you, right now Liz would......” Liz’s father started shivering after saying that.

“I only stepped in because something seemed fishy. Thank goodness I made it in time.”

“Thank you! Thank you very much!” Saying that, he once again bowed deeply. “Liz, don’t wander away from me ever again, get it?”

“Yeah!” She must have been just that happy after seeing her father again, as Liz hadn’t let go of him this entire time.

“Well then, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Wait a second, Could you please wait for me a while?”

“Uhhh, that’s fine, but......”

Thinking that it was all over now that Liz and her father were together again, I tried to make myself scarce, but was stopped by the father.

After being told to wait, and doing as I was told, Liz and her father came back riding the carriage they had apparently parked somewhere nearby.

“Sorry for keeping you.”

Then, he placed a box filled to the brim with red fruits that was in his carriage in front of me.

“These’re appools from our farm. I’m sorry that these are all I can give you as thanks, but please take it.”

“This much? Is it really alright?”

“Of course.”

I gratefully accepted the appools that Liz’s family had raised, which were a red fruit that looked just like apples.

“Okay then, be careful as you go back, and stay healthy, Liz.”

“Yeah! Bye bye, talking silver wolf and tiny dragon and slime! Bye bye to you too, uncle—!”

Liz, who was sat beside her father on the driver’s bench of the carriage, waved her hands energetically.

Liz’s father also bowed in my direction again even while manipulating the horse.

After sending Liz and her father off, I stored the wooden box filled with appools into my Item Box.

“Well then, let’s go back to the inn, too.”

“Indeed, and then it will be dinner.”

《I’m also hungry—.》

《Sui is also hungry~.》

“Okay then, I’ll make dinner once we get back.”

In a slightly good mood for having done a good deed, I returned to the inn.

One Day in Agni’s Life

Lady Agni always wakes up at 7 in the morning. The habit is sunk into her body through long years of training.

Then, after grooming herself, she eats what breakfast her servant prepares for her. After a small post-meal break, she practices her spear skills in her palace’s large garden, just as she does every day.

“Hey, everybody’s gathered, right?”

In the garden were gathered several tens of Agni’s servants (underlings).

“Now then, let’s start. Come at me!”

“Okay then!” The first servant rushed at Agni.

“Hahh!!” Agni swings her spear with transcendent speed.

*Brkkiiinnnn!!*

“Ghuaaahhh!”

Without time to guard against it, the servant was blown away. Even though the spear was dulled for training, it still sent quite a shock.

“Okay then, next!”

“I’ll go!”

“Hah!”

*Boo———m*

“Gyaahh!”

“Hoh!”

*Schwiiinngg*

“Ghueghh!”

“Take this!”

*Schwingggg!!*

“Guooohhh!!!”

...............

............

......

This time was like hell for her servants. The training would last until noon. Even so, they must bear the sadness. It was one of the rules for Agni’s servants.

1: One must not defy Agni’s orders.

2: One most never defy Agni’s orders.

3: The male servants must always attend her morning training.

If these rules were not kept, something even worse than training was waiting for them.

One time, one of the servants overslept and was late. That day, the training that was supposed to end just before noon stretched on until the sun set, and Agni had a smile on her face the whole time.

That incident became a source of trauma for all the servants (underlings).

Thus, there were almost no servants who would even dare be late for training they’d rather not do.

“Hm, it’s almost noon. Training’s over~!”

The training ended when Agni said so. Her servants, no, her underlings, were all exhausted. However, that was the fate of all who became Agni’s servants (underlings).

For lower class gods, especially the males, becoming Agni’s servants was like losing the lottery, though Agni doesn’t know about it.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Puhhaa~! This ale’s great after working up a sweat!”

After washing off the sweat that she worked up in the bath, the alcohol lover Agni immediately drank some ale.

“Lady Agni, that is unseemly.”

One of her long-time servants chided her.

However, it had never worked.

“Shut up~. This stuff is like water to me, so it’s fine. More importantly: food.”

After heaving a resigned sigh, the servant went to prepare food.

“Yeah, yeah! This is pretty good. This salty grilled meat goes well with the ale. *Glgglgglg*” After fairly throwing the meat into her mouth, Agni chugged down some ale.

“Yeah, ale’s really the best for a meal...... That being said, that otherworld alcohol — beer, he called it? — was cold and way better. Tch, I’d ask for more if those three would just shut up about it.”

While griping like that, Agni had already finished her third cup of ale.

“Whew, I’m full.”

Once she’d eaten her fill after training, just as always, she set herself up in front of her water mirror with a cup filled to the brimfull-to-bursting with ale.

It was the same kind that was in Ninrir’s palace, and only higher-ranked gods were allowed to have them.

“Now then, what’s he doing now?”

While chugging down ale, Agni peered into her mirror.

Until now, Agni would look at her mirror every once in a while, but ever since she found out about some person named Mukohda who came from another world, she would look in on him almost every day.

He held a skill named, “Online Supermarket” that was never even heard of until now, and would offer otherworld goods to Agni and the other goddesses, so they favored him.

“Hm? So they’re hunting today?”

Mukohda’s party was in a forest.

The mirror showed Mukohda’s surprised face as he encountered a giant centipede.

“That slime’s weird no matter how I think about it. What the hell is with that acid shooting? Even for a special one, I’ve never heard of a slime that does that.”

Sui, a slime that even surprised goddesses.

It seemed that, even among special individuals, Sui was an even more special slime.

“Next is venom tarantulas, huh? Are they after the strings? Looks like they’re expensive in the lower world, after all.”

There were several venom tarantulas wriggling around in their nests that they set up amongst the trees.

“Oh, there they are.”

There were quite a few venom tarantulas, but all of them were met with lightning strikes. The venom tarantulas fell to the ground one after the other.

“The Fenrir’s Lightning magic, huh? He really is strong, worthy of his legendary status.”

She listened in on Mukohda’s and his slime’s telepathic conversation.

《Muhhh, what about Sui’s turn—?》

“Ahhh, Sui, just bear with it this time.”

《But Sui wanted to go pew pew and beat them—.》

“...............What an aggressive slime. Actually, is it really a slime? Isn’t it some kind of new species?” Agni wondered over the slime that was strange on many accounts.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

While relaxing in front of the water mirror, evening rolled around.

“Right, it’s time for food~. And also, otherworld alcohol~♪”

Agni had saved a bottle of the beer she received before.

*Psshhhht* *Glgglgglgglg———*

“Kkhhhh! That really hits the spot!” Agni enjoyed the cold otherworld alcohol, or “beer,” with great delight.

“I’ll have to think up something so I can get more of this, won’t I? Well, for now I guess I’ll try that stronger liquor that I got the other day. He said it was really quite strong, didn’t he......?”

At first, she tried drinking it straight.

“Khhh! Yeah, this one’s really strong! But it’s pretty good!”

Remembering that the otherworlder said that it was delicious even diluted with water, Agni decided to have it on the rocks and created some ice with magic to put in her glass.

Then, she poured in the strong, light brown alcohol, “whiskey,” in.

“Hohh, so the taste mellows out with some ice in it. It’s true that this is much better. However, this is certainly good, but I definitely liked the beer more.”

While thinking up ways for her to somehow obtain more of it, Agni emptied the bottle of whiskey in a single night.

By a Hair’s Breadth ~The Sequel: Let’s Make An Apple Pie~

“Hr—m, what should I do with this......?”

As thanks for saving a girl named Liz yesterday, I received a wooden box full of apple-like fruits called ‘Appools’.

I tried biting into one raw, but it was really acidic, and thus, very sour. It seemed like rather than eating, it was more suited to cooking into a jam or something.

“Cook it, huh? Jam is good too, but just making jam with this is...... Ah, what about an apple pie? That’s right, let’s make an apple pie.”

I’d seen my mother make it several times, so I should be able to. After all, it was as easy as boiling the apple until it was sweet, wrapping it in a frozen pie sheet, and cooking it.

But what should I do about an oven? I wonder if I can borrow the inn’s kitchen?

After negotiating with the inn’s hostess, I was allowed to use the inn’s kitchen when it wasn’t busy. That being the case, I was going to prepare the ingredients beforehand in my room and boil the apples into sweetness; that way, all I would have to do later was bake it.

First, I needed to get the ingredients with my skill.

I’ll need butter and sugar, and some lemon juice to boil the apples with, right?

I could just squeeze some lemons for their juice, though buying 100% lemon juice in a bottle would also be fine.

Since this time I would need less lemon juice due to the acidity of the appools, I decided to take this chance and use raw lemons.

Other than that, a lot of people would add cinnamon for taste, but I don’t, since my mom was bad with its fragrance. I don’t know if it was because of that, but I never got to like the taste of cinnamon much.

And so, I didn’t add cinnamon.

All I needed to get after that were the frozen pie sheets and some eggs to make an egg wash with.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, peel the skin off of the appools, then core them and cube them into about 1cm size pieces.

It’s fine to change the size according to preference, but the apple pie I make isn’t large and round, but rectangular, so this size was best for packing the filling in, according to my mom. Also, this size results in the perfect amount of apple texture in the pie for a person to bite down on.

By the way, apparently if you thinly slice the apples, then the texture becomes quite mellow.

Once all the appools are cut, all that’s left is to boil them sweetly.

Start off by heating up the appools in a pot with some butter. Once the butter is melted and well distributed, mix in the lemon juice and sugar. When the sugar is dissolved into the solution, boil until all the water is evaporated. Once all the water is gone, it should turn semi-transparent and glossy, and that is how you can tell it’s finished.

While the appools are boiling, take out the frozen pie sheet and cut it into 4 parts. The two to be laid on top should have about an extra 1cm of room, and cut 4 or 5 slits into the top with a knife.

After laying down the bottom sheets with no slits cut in, load it with lots of appool filling. Cover that with the two slitted sheets, and crimp the edges with a fork to properly close the pie. After that, scramble an egg to make an egg wash, and brush it on the crust.

~◇~◇~◇~

After making a lot of pre prepared pies, I stored them in my Item Box.

All that was left was to bake them in the oven.

After having been notified by the hostess, I was currently in the inn’s kitchen.

As I was baking the apple pies in the oven, the hostess, her husband who was also in charge of the kitchen, and their son of around 10 years old all watched what I was doing with great interest.

You know you don’t have to stare at me like that, right?

“It smells good~”

The son’s nose was twitching as he peeked into the kitchen.

Just wait a little. I’m already borrowing your oven, so of course I’ll share some with you.

“Right, it should be about done.”

Opening the oven, I took off the well-browned cover.

“Yeah, it’s nicely browned.”

Looking at the apple pie, the boy was already drooling.

Cutting the apple pie and putting them on three plates, I offered them to the hostess’ family.

“It’s your share. Please take it.”

The hostess immediately slapped away the hand of her son who cried, “Yayy!” and reached for it.

“Not yet! Say your thanks, first!”

“Fi—ne. Thanks, mister!”

After spouting out the words, the boy immediately grabbed the apple pie and bit into it.

“Hot! hawhhho, hawhhoo...... But it’s good! It’s crispy on the outside and sweet on the inside!”

The son continued to eat the apple pie, entranced.

“Hohh, this is nice and sweet!”

The hostess also seemed to like it.

Yeah. The stuff inside is... appool? Yeah, it’s good.”

As expected of the chef and husband, he noticed that the inside was appool.

“Can you teach us to make this?”

When the father asked, I couldn’t answer right away, since I used a pie sheet and lots of sugar. This world definitely didn’t have read-made pie sheets, and didn’t seem to have sugar, either. So when I told him, “I’m using a lot of honey, though,” he gave up, since honey in this world was a very high-class ingredient.

After sharing another three pieces with them, I kept the rest for my own dessert share.

“Here you go, dessert. I made it using the appools we got before.”

“Hohh, it is quite crispy and delicious.”

“Yeah, the combination of the crispy outside and the sweet inside is great.”

《Master — this is sweet and good!》

All three of them seemed to love it. It was the first time I cooked pie myself, but I was glad it went well.

The Disappointing Goddess Talks About Red Beans

Red beans.

The taste of happiness.

Red beans are what are used in my favorite red bean buns and dorayaki.

At first, I was surprised by the black color, but when I tried it, I fell captive to its charms in one shot.

I also like sweet cakes with lots of sweat cream on top, but pastries using red beans are just......

Among them, I especially just LOVE the pastry called dorayaki.

If I was told to only pick one, I would without question go with dorayaki, which has lots of red beans sandwiched within it.

It was a good pastry, truly unbeatable with a round and sweet dough both on top and on the bottom, and with lots of red beans in between. Both the sweet dough and the red beans come together in complete harmony to form an indescribable deliciousness......

*Drool* ............ Oh no, this is bad. I’m drooling just from remembering...

Ah well, that’s just how much I love it.

Apparently, red bean paste was made from a type of bean called adzuki, and was completed by boiling it with some sweet seasoning called sugar.

At first, I was surprised, hearing that it was made from beans, but that kind of astounding idea is just what I would expect out of this other world.

This red bean paste was delicious because it had a refined sweetness that was not cloying.

There were largely two different types of red bean paste, smooth and whole red bean paste.

Smooth red bean paste was made by crushing the beans and removing their skins so the paste was smooth, and whole red bean paste was, just as its name implied, made while keeping the red bean whole. Smooth red bean paste was great since its texture was so smooth and easy, but whole red bean paste had much more texture due to the whole beans.

Both have their good points and it’s hard to pick one, but for me when it comes to dorayaki it’s got to be whole red beans.

Well, dorayaki is delicious either way, though.

These sweets that used red bean paste were apparently called “Japanese sweets,” and it seemed that they were particular to the otherworlder’s country.

There’s a lot of different sweets that use red bean paste. There’s the dorayaki I talked about earlier, manjuu, daifuku, youkan............

“Manjuu” was something with thin, chewy skin and once again, lots of red bean paste inside, and it was also delicious.

The manjuu with some warm and sweet nut called “chestnut” was also delicious.

“Daifuku” is a lot of red bean paste stuffed in a chewy and stretchy white skin.

That one was also good.

That’s right, there was also a type of daifuku with the juice of some fruit called a “strawberry.” That one combined the refreshing acidic sweetness of the fruit with the red bean paste — and it was also delicious.

Unlike the other sweets, “Youkan” was a little strange. It was made by hardening red bean paste with something called ‘agar.’ However, it was also delicious. It was smooth, and you could really taste the red bean’s naturally awesome flavor.

Now that I think about it, this one also had that sweet nut named “chestnut” in it. It was good here, too.

Just like that, happily, there were a lot of different red bean treats.

Not only that, but from what I heard from the otherworlder, there were lots of other sweets that used red beans as well.

It was so nice to hear.

I wonder what new combinations of red beans and sweets I’ll come upon next?

I’m so excited.

Hahh, I’ve started really craving red beans now that I’ve been thinking about it so much.

If I remember correctly, there should still be some dorayaki left over from the last time the otherworlder gave me an offering. Now then, I should have left it here............

*Clonk* *Thud*

Ah! I ate it yesterday!! That means...there’s no more left!!!

Red beans... red bean sweets...... my dorayaki............ That’s right, an oracle! I’ll just send him an oracle!!

“This is the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir. I desire more dorayaki.”

What? ‘Again? I just gave you some the other day,’ you say?

“It can’t be helped, I’ve run out. Hurry up!”

‘Well that’s because you just kept eating without thinking,’ huh?

And you didn’t have to mention that I’ll get fat, you know?

“G-G-G-God’s don’t get fat that easily!! A-A-A-Also I’m not fat! Being slim and beautiful is my pride, you know! I’m definitely not fat!!”

‘Sure sure, fine. But please be careful about eating too much,’ you say?

“Y-Yeah. As long as you understand. I also plan to be careful that I don’t eat too much. However, the sweets from your world are far too delicious. There’s so many different varieties, and they’re all good! It’s more painful to resist it. There’s no way I could resist something that delicious!”

What? ‘Don’t get angry at me for that?’

“You!! You’re being way too annoying about these things! More importantly, hurry up with the sweets! ............I-I’d like sweets with red bean in them, okay? With lots of dorayaki, too.”

Ohhh! It’s here! Manjuu, daifuku, youkan...... there’s lots of red bean sweets here! There’s even lots of dorayaki!

Great, now first the dorayaki...... *Nom*

Mmmmmmmmmm! Dorayaki is just soooo good!!!

*Sigh* I’m so happy!

Let’s Eat Some Vegetables Sometimes, Too

Today’s dinner was meat.

At Fel 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 Dora-chan: miso-grilled orc bowl. It seemed that Dora-chan 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.

Apparently it was really hard to get sick thanks to the goddesses’ blessings, but I really did still worry about it.

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 Sui and Dora-chan would probably eat it, but I could see Fel 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.

~◇~◇~◇~

“I’m done—”

Everyone gathered at the sound of my voice.

“Here’s the miso-grilled orc bowl that Dora-chan 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 Fel would say that.

“I gave you less vegetables already, Fel. And there’s lots of meat on it, too, so eat it. It’s good.”

“No.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

While Fel and I were going back and forth like that, Dora-chan and Sui 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 goo—d!》

Right, right? Of course Dora-chan and Sui would have good taste. They totally get it.

“See? Both Dora-chan and Sui are saying it’s delicious. Try it, Fel.”

“You are too persistent. Fine, just one bite.”

Fel exasperatedly took a bit out of the pork shabu salad.

“Hmm?”

Fel started chewing it to better experience the taste.

“How is it? It’s good, right?”

“Mm? Well, it is alright for what it is.”

You could just be honest and say it’s good...

In the end, Fel 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 Fel 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 Fel’s hatred of vegetables could be cured one day.

The Goddesses’ Round Table

Kisharle: “Oka—y, I am the chairman, the Goddess of Earth, Kisharle~. I look forward to working with you all~.”

Ninrir: “Wa—it just a second! Why is Kisharle the chairman? This meeting’s about him, so I should be the chairman since I was the one who contacted him first!”

Kisharle: “Oh my, dear Ninrir. Do you think you can properly chair this meeting?”

Agni: “Ahahaha! It’s impossible for Ninrir, impossible! We won’t get anywhere with you.”

Rusalka: “............Not suited for it.”

Ninrir: “Grrrr... you guys...”

Kisharle, “Now now, don’t be mad, don’t be mad~. Let’s get started.”

Agni: “Sure—”

Rusalka: “......Yeah.”

Ninrir: “Hurry up!”

Kisharle: “Well then, about our first impressions of the otherworlder.”

NInrir: “He’s weak and a coward. If it wasn’t for my Fenrir, he’d be dead already.”

Agni: “Certainly! Well, it looks like he came from quite a peaceful world, so I guess it’s to be expected, but he’s a little too weak to live in this world.”

Rusalka: “......He’s weak, but it’s not a problem. With that slime that has my blessing. That one is very strong.”

Ninrir: “What are you saying? That slime’s a small fry compared to my Fenrir. He’s only healthy and happy because of my Fenrir.”

Rusalka: “Mmhh...... The slime is still newly born. That may be the case for now, but it will quickly grow so strong even your Fenrir will not be able to compare.”

Ninrir: “What?! Of course my Fenrir is stronger. That thing’s a legendary beast, you know!”

Rusalka: “......The slime is strong. It will eventually become an emperor slime even stronger than your Fenrir.”

Ninrir: “The Fenrir.”

Rusalka: “Slime.”

Kisharle: “Now, now. You two stop glaring at each other.”

Agni: “She’s right, stop fighting, you two.”

Ninrir: “Mhh......”

Rusalka: “............”

Kisharle: “Okay then, the next order of business is that otherworld boy’s unique skill. It’s amazing, isn’t it~? It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that, a skill to obtain goods from another world.”

Agni: “Yeah, it’s amazing. Not just that, it’s the best!”

Ninrir: “Heheh, right? Right? And I discovered him first!”

Rusalka: “......And then you tried to keep him for yourself.”

Ninrir: “Ghh......”

Kisharle: “Now, now. let’s leave that be, Ruka. We’ve also gotten to make connections with the otherworlder boy, ourselves, after all.”

Agni: “She’s right. Also, sooner or later she’d have got herself caught anyway. It’s impossible for Ninrir to keep a secret.”

Kisharle: “Ninrir’s so easy to understand, after all.”

Agni: “Exactly. Actually, we should be thankful that Ninrir got caught. If she was discovered by other, more annoying people, it would have been bad.”

Ninrir: “Grrrrnnrrr...”

Rusalka: ...............*Sigh*

Kisharle: “Let’s leave this conversation here, the subject should be about that otherworlder boy’s skill. It’s not just amazing, it’s wonderful!”

Ninrir: “I agree! Ahh, the wonderful sweets that don’t exist in this world... Red bean buns, dorayaki, cake, pudding, I can taste all of them and more flavors that could never exist in this world thanks to that skill!”

Rusalka: “I don’t like agreeing with Ninrir, but I do. The sweets from the other world are delicious. Cake is also good, but I especially like ice cream. It’s sweet even though it’s cold. I would never be able to eat something like that in this world. Also, their regular food is also delicious.”

Agni: “Woah! What a lot of words from our usually quiet Ruka! Well, the stuff from the other world is just that good, though. For me, it’s gotta be beer! That stuff is good. Cooling it before drinking it is the best! After drinking that, I don’t feel like drinking this world’s alcohol ever again!”

Kisharle: “For me, it’s got to be their beauty products~. Unlike this world that hardly takes an interest in beauty, the other world is so advanced! After using their shampoo and hair treatments, the stiff and damaged hair I was worried about turned smooth and silky in one shot! And their soap smells so nice! Compared to that, the soap in this world is trash, I say, trash! Not only that, there’s facial lotions, latex, and creams! Those are also amazing! Even though the only thing in this world for cleaning the face is just about some purified olive oil, the other world has specialized products for maintaining one’s face! Using that, my skin that used to be dried out is now tight and smooth and vibrant!”

Agni: “Y-Yeah, sure.”

Ninrir: “You’re way too excited.”

Rusalka: “............”

Kisharle: “Oh my, sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. At any rate, I just wanted to say that the other world’s products are just perfect.”

Ninrir: “Indeed, I agree.”

Agni: “Yeah, me too.”

Rusalka: “Of course, agreed.”

Kisharle: “Now that we know the greatness of the other world, there’s no way we could live without that stuff now, is there?”

Agni: “Of course. I couldn’t live without beer.”

Ninrir: “Naturally, I’m the same! I don’t even want to think about not being able to taste the other world’s sweets.”

Rusalka: “......I would definitely hate to have it go away.”

Kisharle: “So now that that’s settled, we have to make sure that otherworlder boy is healthy and happy. Although we can’t do anything about his lifespan, we can make sure he lives it out to its fullest. For our sakes, too.”

Ninrir: “Indeed, you’re right. Thinking like that, it might be right to think about strengthening his blessings. Our blessings are all (small), no? And there’s also his affinities to think about. It’s just mine, Kisharle’s, and Agni’s blessings, but what would happen if they all stack? There was never a human like that in the past, so we don’t know anything, right? His lifespan might just increase is all I’m saying.”

Agni: “Wow, that’s a great idea, Ninrir. As for blessings, we have to consider that the creator would find out, but some risks need to be taken. If we think it can be done I’m in for it.”

Rusalka: “Upgrading his skills is possible.”

Kisharle: “Just as Ruka has said, upgrading his skills is also a possibility. On top of that, we could also give him new skills and strengthen them. At any rate, we need that otherworlder boy to live a long and happy life.”

Agni: “Right. In the first place, he’s the one that gave us all this good stuff, so he has to take responsibility ‘til the end.”

Ninrir: “Indeed. His calling in life is to give us offerings for as looo~ng as possible.”

Rusalka: *Nod nod*, *Nod nod*

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Ahh, ah, ahchoo!!” I sneezed, hard.

And the accompanying chills -- I reflexively shivered.

“Ughh~, I wonder if I’ve caught a cold?”

Even though he couldn’t get sick due to his blessings, it was just like Mukohda to not notice that fact.