Chapter 3: The Strongest Sub-Guildmaster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Now. Now, now. Hurry up!”

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

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

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

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

What? Is this ostrich really that unusual?

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

Hohh, so this ostrich is rare.

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

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

“So he says.”

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

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

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

I see.

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

“Fel, just how did you get this one?”

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

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

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

“Me too.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“U-Ugohl... W-Why are you......”

So the sub-guildmaster’s name is Ugohl.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Now then, time to cook.

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

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

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

First though, I have to get the ingredients.

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

Oh, and can’t forget the beer.

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

“Fel, you can use Ice magic, right?”

“Hm? Ice magic? Yes, I can.”

“Can it be used for cooking?”

“It will be trivial to do so.”

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

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

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

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

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

~◇~◇~◇~

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

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

~◇~◇~◇~

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

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

Looks like I can look forward to the cutlet.

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

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

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

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

“Give it.”

Fine, fine.

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

“Ohh! I can’t resist this texture!”

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

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

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

《Master — where’s the rest?》

So fast. So Sui’s already done?

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

~◇~◇~◇~

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

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

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

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

~◇~◇~◇~

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

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

“Add the lemon on the next serving.”

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

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

Sure thing.

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

And also, this......

*Psshhhht* *Glugglug*

Aaaaahhh~, beer’s great.

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

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

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

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

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

Ahh, beer. I need some beer.

*Glugluglug* *Puhhahhh~*

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

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

“More.” 《More.》

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had arrived at the Adventurer’s guild.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Today, I will be joining you.”

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

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wha? Really? For that dumbass reason?

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

*BANG*

Ugohl, clearly agitated, banged on the table.

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

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

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

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

Oh my, he was told to shut up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh no, he totally hasn’t done it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All hail nullifying status effects, and all that.

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

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

“Now then, can you bring it all out?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

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

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

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

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

“No no, I completely understand.”

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

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

“Yes, please.”

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

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

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

“First are these rubies.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

I see.

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

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

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

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

So the old man is named Ruslan, huh?

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

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

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

“Uhm, can I keep going?”

“Ohh, sorry. Next, please.”

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

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

“Are they that different?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“R-Ruslan?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ohh, I see.

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

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, please.”

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

“Yes, that’ll be fine.”

When I agreed, Adriano stood up. Now that I think about it, this’ll be the first time I’ve seen a white gold coin.

When Adriano returned, he was carrying some coinage that glowed blue-white on a tray. “Well then, with 94 white gold coins and 8 large gold coins, the total is 9480 gold. Please confirm the amount.”

Looks like white gold is made my mixing mithril with gold, huh? And there’s 94 of them, along with 8 large gold coins.

“Yes, the amount is correct. Well then, here it is......” I took the money, and handed over the gems.

“Yes, this is also correct.” Ruslan took the gems and left the room.

How quick.

“We’ve done some good business. Thank you very much.” said Adriano.

“The pleasure was ours.” I said that, and tried to return with Ugohl, but I was stopped by Adriano.

“Sir Mukohda, you’re registered to the Merchant’s guild, and you say you’re pretty good at cooking, so I have something I’d like to borrow your knowledge for......”

Huh? What could it be......?

It seemed that Adriano was hoping to hear about a new recipe. His problem was that, currently, he only had food that could basically be found at any restaurant. I guess it should be expected of the guildmaster of the Merchant’s guild. Even if you fall, you won’t get up for free, is it? Adriano?

Well, they did raise the price of the sale by quite a bit (though that was probably thanks to Ugohl pointing things out, from now on, they’d probably offer me much better deals), so if it was just thinking of a dish, I could do it.

Listening to our conversation, Ugohl understood that it had nothing to do with the Adventurer’s guild and quickly excused himself.

“Cooking is just boiling or grilling, so it can’t really be helped that everything turns out the same, though......” On top of that, for seasoning there was basically just salt and a little bit of pepper, and some herbs, so it might have been inevitable that every place ended up with the same food.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re from this country, Sir Mukohda, so since you can cook, I’d be thankful if you could teach me something new. This place has a lot of adventurers, so something that pairs well with alcohol would be even better.”

Hmmm, if I could use the seasonings I get from my Online Supermarket, then I could bring out any number of good dishes, but...... I can’t. Just salt and pepper for seasoning. From what he said, it seems like I should avoid expensive ingredients as much as possible, so pepper might actually be impossible. I get not using expensive ingredients, since normal restaurants don’t use them, either. But something that pairs well with alcohol...... This is hard.

Ah! Oh yeah, Adriano did just say that, “Cooking is just boiling or grilling,” didn’t he? If that’s the case......

“Mr. Adriano, what about frying?”

“Frying? What kind of cooking is that?”

“You fry food in oil. Uhhh, it’s like boiling in oil, I guess.”

“Frying in oil, boiling...... Hmmm, I don’t really get it.”

Oh, looks like there really isn’t any knowledge of frying here. If that’s the case, then I’ve thought of the perfect dish.

The most common oil in this world was olive oil. Apparently, there was a huge area that produced it which was thriving, so the price wasn’t that high. As for salt, since this country was bordered by the sea, it wasn’t that expensive, either. Thinking like that, the dish I thought of wouldn’t be that pricey. And it went well with alcohol. I even think it’d be perfect with the ale that was so common in this world.

“I did think of a dish, so should I try making it?”

“Ohh! That would be great! Everyone will probably want to know about this new dish, so shall I call people over?”

“That would be fine, but......” It’s a little embarrassing to be watched by people, but I guess there’s nothing for it. More importantly, I need a large space to bring out the magic stove...

When I asked about that, for some reason, the result was that I would be doing my demonstration on the large space in front of the reception desk of the guild. When I told him that I’d need olive oil and salt, he immediately procured it.

Well then, let’s get cooking, I guess.

First, let’s get this magic stove out in the open. When I did so, the gallery cried in surprise. After that, I could hear people saying things like, “That’s a pretty huge Item Box, huh?” or, “That’s the newest model of magic stove.”

I’m just gonna have to ignore them.

This time, I’d be making french fries. If it’s fries, the cooking’ll be simple, and the cost of the ingredients won’t be that high, and it’s perfect for a snack with alcohol.

First up is the potatoes, right? I still had the potatoes I bought before I went into the dungeon, so I picked some that hadn’t sprouted yet and washed them. If I remember right, they’re still called potatoes here, I think?

“Uhmm, after thoooroughly washing the potatoes and wiping them, cut them like this. If it’s properly washed, you can even leave the skin on. This time I’ll be cutting the potatoes like this, but you can cut them thinner or thicker as you like to change how it feels to eat. Please try experimenting on your own for that. Also, since you all use potatoes a lot you should already know, but if the potato has eyes, cut them out, and peel the skin deeper than normal, okay?”

With those words, I left the skin on the potatoes and started cutting them. Although the price of the ingredients wasn’t high, it would probably be a good idea to not use that much oil, so it’d take a while to cook. I guess I’ll just fry them in a pan.

“Then, put the potatoes in a frying pan and pour oil in it until it lightly submerges your potatoes. Once that’s done, put it on medium heat. And let the heat slowly warm up the pan.” The magic stove lit with a sound. Now let’s just leave things like this for a while.

“Once the oil starts bubbling like this and the potatoes start to float, turn the heat to high and fry until the surface is crunchy and the food starts to smell good. Once that’s done, take it out and make sure to get rid of any excess oil. Then, sprinkle on some salt, and it’s done. If you’re worried that the insides aren’t properly cooked, then once the potatoes start to float, you can take one out, split it open, and check. However, doing things this way will take some time, so preheating the oiled pan is also a way to do it. For oil, I used olive oil just now, but animal fat works as well. I think it’d be great to experiment with that along with ways to cut them. Ah, it uses oil, so be careful of fires.”

The method I just used was really only for home cooking, after all. If you were making it for a restaurant, then you’d need to make a larger amount, and the cutting style and oil all made for different textures and flavors. At least, that’s what I think. In my opinion, testing that stuff out for oneself would be best.

“Well then, please try some.” When I served up the freshly fried potatoes, the gallery all gathered around. “It’s hot, so be careful.”

Everyone was trying out the freshly made fries while blowing through their mouths.

“Ohhh! The outside is crispy, but the inside is nice and fluffy — it’s great!”

“The salt works well, and I can’t stop my hand from just reaching out for more.”

“This really does seem like it’d go great with ale.”

“More than anything, the ingredients don’t cost much, which is nice.”

“Not only that, but it’s simple, so we can even put them on the menu today, if we wanted.”

Looks like it’s generally going over well. Well, it’s not like I’ve ever heard of anyone who hates fries. All that’s left is to change how you cut it like I said before, but they’ll have to do that part by themselves.

“Maaan, Sir Mukohda, thank you, truly. I’m in awe at your idea to fry things in oil. Not only that, but the ingredients aren’t too expensive, and it goes well with alcohol. For you to teach us of such a wonderful dish, I’m truly grateful,” Adriano said after approaching me.

Looking at those smiling faces that continue from beginning to end, it looks like the fries are good. I did think that it was a little too simple, but this was the only thing that came to mind for something that was easy to make and only used ingredients available here. If they were this happy over me teaching them how to make fries, then I’m happy too.

“It’s not much, but my guild will pay for your renewal fees for the next year.”

“Really? That’s great.” Just for teaching them how to make fries, my next renewal was made free. That was lucky. Well then, my business here is done, so I guess I should clean up, wake up the familiars, and leave.

All three of them got bored and took a nap... Now then, once we’re back I’ll have to cook for them too, huh?

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Thank you very much.”

Saying my goodbyes to Adriano, we left the Merchant’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

First up is everyone’s food, huh? I had made a lot of ground meat out of orcs and bloody horn-bulls yesterday, so I was thinking of using that.

I would be making meatloaf. When I mulled over what to make, I figured that meatloaf would be a good idea since I already had the ground meat. And since meatloaf uses the oven, I can use the burners for something else. I was thinking of using them to steam rice, as well as make some minced meat with soy sauce for storage. It’d be convenient to have some made, after all.

It’s tasty, and goes great with rice. You can make it into a rice bowl, or even pack the meat into a rice ball.

Well then, let’s get cooking.

The meatloaf I’d be making was a simple one using only store-bought ingredients. As long as you could get stuff from the Supermarket, it was easy to make. I already had onions, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, and panko, but I had to buy everything else. That means I ended up with bacon, frozen mixed vegetables, packs of hard-boiled quail eggs, chicken eggs, butter, and also a pound cake mold.

After washing the rice and while I was letting it soak, I started making the meatloaf.

~◇~◇~◇~

After pouring some panko into a bowl, add some milk and let it soak.

Meanwhile, mince some onions, melt some butter in a frying pan, and start cooking the minced onions. Once the onions go a little clear, add in the frozen mixed vegetables while they’re still frozen, and cook until the vegetables thaw.

Add in the orc and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat along with the cooked minced onions and mixed vegetables, as well as some eggs, salt and pepper, and also nutmeg (if I remember the recipe correctly), and mix together until the result becomes sticky. This part is basically the same as if you were making a Hamburg steak. Just about the only thing that’s different is the presence of the mixed vegetables.

Once the base of the meatloaf is done, spread some bacon into the pound cake mold. Then, pack in about half of the meatloaf base tightly into the mold, so as to push out any bits of air trapped inside. With that done, line up 2 quail eggs each in the middle of the pound cake mold and push in the rest of the meatloaf mix. I used quail eggs this time, but of course regular boiled eggs would be just fine.

Fold in any pieces of bacon that have been pushed outside of the mold, cover the top with aluminum foil, and start baking in the oven. Around 30 minutes at 200 degrees would be best, but there was no way the oven in this magic stove would have a temperature setting, so the only choice was to watch it and see how it does.

~◇~◇~◇~

Whoops, I need to get to cooking the rice.

While cooking the rice on a burner on top, the meatloaf was baking in the oven on the bottom. Since it was big, I could make quite a lot of meatloaf all at once.

“It should be just about done.” I opened the oven and tried sticking a skewer into the meatloaf. I only see clear meat juice here, so this is done.

After that, I just needed to put on the sauce. I moved the built-up extra meat juice from the pound cake mold to a pot. There, I added in butter and some ketchup, chuno sauce, and red wine. After boiling it all together for a while, the sauce was done too.

I started cutting the meatloaf. Fel and Sui would get three portions of the pound cake-molded meatloaf, and Dora-chan would get two (I kept the end pieces for myself, though). After lining them up in dishes, I put on the sauce and they were finished.

“Heyy, I’m done.”

When I served up the dishes with the meatloaf in them, everyone quickly started eating.

“Mn, there are vegetables in this...... Well, it is not inedible, and the taste is... all right.”

Just how much of a meat supremacist is Fel? Wow. Sure there’s mixed vegetables in there, but they’re all chopped to bits. Come on, just eat it. Wait, he’s complaining but he sure is eating a whole lot anyway...

《This thick tare is good. Yeah... yeah, it’s pretty damn tasty!》

Dora-chan’s tongue has gotten pretty sharp lately. The thick sauce is perfect, right? I also think sauce with about this consistency is best for ground meat.

《Woww! There’s something in the middle! Is it an egg? You know, Sui loves eggs so Sui is happy there’s both meat and eggs.》

Ohh, I see I see. So you love it when there’s eggs, huh? It might be a good idea to make scotch eggs for Sui next time.

I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since it’d been a while since I made one, but in the end, Fel and Dora-chan were both wolfing the food down, and Sui was entranced by it, so it seems like the meatloaf was a success. Now let’s see, I should eat too.

It looked good. The surface of the cut showed the two lined up quail eggs, and it was putting on a somewhat fancy air. Now just wipe up some sauce and... nom! Ohh, the sauce is great! The butter and red wine make for a thick and rich sauce, and it pairs perfectly with the meatloaf. It’s the same with Hamburg steaks, but thick sauces like this really do make me think that they go best with ground meat. The vegetable medley mixed in adds a lot of texture, which is also great. The quail eggs are also a real treat in here. It would be fine even without them, but the eggs really do bring out a luxurious feel to the dish. Also, the bacon surrounding it adds saltiness and flavor.

“More.” 《More.》

Both Fel and Sui wanted more, huh? It looked like Dora-chan was satisfied with what he had, and was lying face up, saying something like, “Man, I sure ate.”

But I was fully prepared. The oven was large, so I could make a whole lot at once. This magic stove was super convenient. It was great that I bought it, really.

After that, Fel and Sui had two more servings and were full, but Dora-chan asked for the ‘jiggly stuff,’ so using that opportunity, it was now time for dessert. Of course Dora-chan had the pudding, Fel had his favorite strawberry shortcake, and Sui wanted something different again, so I went with a milk crepe this time.

They must all be part of the “sweets go into a different stomach” camp since it looked like they were enjoying the desserts immensely.

Even though everyone was finished eating, I still had lots to do. I needed to steam rice, and also make the minced meat with soy sauce for storage. I used the burner next to the one I was using to steam rice to make it.

~◇~◇~◇~

After putting some oil in a pot and heating it up, add in the minced orc meat and cook it until it starts forming distinct clumps. Then, throw in soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, and grated ginger (the kind that comes in tubes is okay) and cook until all the liquid is gone, and it’s complete. All that’s left is to cool it down and preserve it in an appropriately-sized container.

~◇~◇~◇~

Not only was it really simple, it was perfect for a small side-dish, so making some beforehand was really convenient. And for the meat, mixed meat, beef, or even chicken worked just fine. I’d personally been saved by this meal a lot in the days just before pay day.

Whew~, this much should be fine for today.

............Ah! Mr. Ugohl!

Mr. Ugohl really treated me well today. If he wasn’t around, then I would have ended up selling the gems for too low a price. Personally, I’m not in need of money thanks to Fel, and I don’t have a lot of knowledge on gems at all, so if Ugohl hadn’t spoken up, I would have just been fine with the first price they gave. Most likely, it would have been the same if Elrand was the one with me instead (since he seems useless for anything other than dragons).

If someone asked me whether or not I was angry at the Merchant’s guild at all for that, I’d have to say that I was. But, from their perspective, of course they’d definitely want to get it all for as cheap as possible, so with that in mind, I can’t really say that the price they first gave was really wrong, either. It’s not like I thought that they were trying to totally rip people off.

However, I’d painfully experienced just how much of a difference some knowledge makes; if I had known as much as Ugohl did, I’d be able to fight back. But that kind of knowledge didn’t just come immediately, so if I wanted to sell things off at a proper price, it’d probably be best to stick to selling to Adventurer’s guilds from now on.

Well, leaving that aside for now, I really was treated well by Mr. Ugohl today so I was thinking of a way to thank him.

Yeah, the only thing that comes straight to my mind for these sorts of things really is just sweets. I did hear in passing that Ugohl had both a wife and child, so something that he can share with his family would probably make him even happier. But still, it’s not like I can just straight up hand him a cake or something from Fumiya...... So it’d have to be handmade, but even though I cook quite a bit, I still haven’t really touched pastries or confections much.

As I kept thinking on it, I happened to look over at the pound cake mold I used to make meatloaf. “Ah! Right, I did somehow manage to make a pound cake before, didn’t I?”

Heheheh, don’t you dare underestimate my history part-timing in restaurants.

I worked part-time at a cafe while I was a student, and that place was pretty famous for having really delicious coffee. There, the most popular cake set was delicious coffee paired with either a pound cake, chiffon cake, or rare cheesecake. These cake sets weren’t just popular with the girls, old men were also fans of it. I was, too. Coffee also pairs great with simple hand-made cakes.

At any rate, I did make the cakes there before, so I do — at least somewhat — have skill in making pound cakes, chiffon cakes, and rare cheesecakes. It was quite a long while ago, but I still remembered the steps. And I already have a pound cake mold, so let’s just try making one.

The only thing I was worried about was that the ingredients would all end up being from my world, bought through my skill, so he’d end up being affected by it and have his stats buffed. But, from my experience cooking food like this before, it shouldn’t be that pronounced, I think. It’ll be fine if I just appraise the finished product, and quit while I’m ahead if it’s way too much. So, for now, I decided to just try making one.

What I needed was unsalted butter, sugar, low viscosity wheat flour and eggs, and also baking powder and vanilla essence. I already had eggs, but everything else I had to buy using my skill. I also picked up a whisk and a rubber spatula. I used a hand mixer in the store, but that wouldn’t be possible here.

The basic ingredients of a pound cake were flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. And the basic way to cook it was just to mix them all together equally. It was really simple, so it was easy to memorize. In the store, we also added baking powder to give it a lighter and airier feel. Also, we added vanilla essence for fragrance. I was planning to faithfully recreate that place’s pound cake.

~◇~◇~◇~

First are the preparations. Warm the unsalted butter and eggs to room temperature, sieve some flour and baking powder together, and lay a baking sheet in the pound cake mold.

Once all that’s done, put some warmed unsalted butter into a bowl and whisk until it forms a white, creamy consistency. Next, take the whitened butter and mix with sugar until it becomes fluffy and airy. At that point, take the warmed beaten eggs and add it in and repeat mixing before also adding in a little vanilla essence. Once the eggs are added, if it starts separating the whole thing will become a mess, so be careful.

Then, add in the sieved powder mixture, and quickly mix it all together with the rubber spatula. Once it stops being powdery, you’re fine. Pour the completed dough into the pound cake mold, and poke a dent into the middle before tapping on the sides of the mold to try to get rid of any trapped air.

Bake it at around 170 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. After around 10 minutes in the oven, score it with a knife. Doing so will make it look better when it’s done.

~◇~◇~◇~

I kept watch on it while it was cooking in the magic stove, and once I thought it was done I poked a skewer inside to check.

“Yep, looks done.”

Once it was done, I popped it out of the mold and cooled it off before wrapping it and putting it in storage.

When handing it over to Mr. Ugohl, I’d remove the wrap and put it on a plate. Oh yeah, it might be nice to buy a basket with a lid to put it in and just hand that over, huh? Even with Elrand being Elrand, he did also help me, so I made a portion for him, too. If he was like Mr. Ugohl and had a wife or children, he might have been happy for the sweets, but Elrand was said to be a broken-hearted single.

Ah, right. I need to appraise it.

【Pound Cake】

A pound cake made out of ingredients from another world. Raises magic power by 1% for 5 minutes.

1% for 5 minutes, huh? This much won’t really be a problem; it should be fine. Now, I have to go to the Adventurer’s guild tomorrow to get my money, so I’ll just hand these over then. And it would be fine to just buy a lidded basket on the way there if there happened to be a store that had one.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We were walking down the road toward the Adventurer’s guild.

“Mm? I smell cooking meat.” Fel said, his nose twitching.

《He’s right.》 Dora-chan, who was flying, also had his nose twitching.

Following the trail of the smell, we found it coming from a stall outside the store I was going to stop by on the way to the Adventurer’s guild. Fel and Dora-chan naturally made their way towards the stall.

“Woah!!” The man running the stall was surprised at the sudden appearance of Fel, the huge wolf, and Dora-chan, the tiny dragon.

“Ah, sorry. They’re my familiars, it’s okay.” Calling out to him, I saw the obviously relieved face the guy was making.

“Ohh, I see. It scared me, I thought that some monsters appeared in the middle of town. Hahaha!”

Fel and Dora-chan’s eyes were nailed onto the skewers that were being grilled in the stall. Lured by the smell, even Sui jumped out of the bag.

Sui’s a slime, but it looks like it can smell just fine, huh? It was a mystery how Sui did it, but Sui was already a ridiculous kind of slime anyway. After all, Sui could make medicine and blacksmith too. At this point, I’m pretty sure Sui could just about do anything.

Still though, all three of them were paying too much attention to those skewers. Even though I properly gave them breakfast in the morning...

“Ahh... want some?” I tried asking the three of them, as they were basically camped out in formation in front of the stall, staring at the meat.

《Yes.》 《Totally.》 《Eaaatt.》 Came everyone’s telepathic responses.

《How many?》

《I can do 30.》

《Hmm... I can do about 15?》

《Sui can also eat 30—.》

Damn, you all really eat a lot.

“Excuse me, can I get seventy-six skewers?” That was enough for all three of them, with one for me. I got done in by the smell of the charcoal grill too.

The skewers here had a little extra meat on them, with three pieces each, and were 7 iron coins a skewer. Including an annoyance fee for Fel and the others crowding the stall, I handed over 6 silver to the man running it.

“You can keep the change.”

“Really? Thanks, man. Then I’ll just hand over what’s finished now, and I’ll grill the rest.” Saying so, the guy handed over the fifty skewers that were already finished. I produced some dishes from my Item Box, and I separated the meat from their skewers and onto the plates. For now, I gave Fel and Sui twenty each and Dora-chan ten.

“Here you go.”

Everyone immediately jumped on the food.

《This is horn rabbit meat, I see. There is a world of difference compared to your cooking, but well it is not like this is inedible.》

What do you even mean not inedible? Weren’t you the one that got lured here by the smell?

《Don’t you feel sorry for that guy comparing this cooking to his? It’s a little hard and there’s only salt, but it hasn’t been that long since it’s been grilled, so it’s not like I can’t eat it.》

You say that too, Dora-chan, but you were also drawn here by the smell.

《The meat master cooks is the most delicious! But this... the meat is a little hard, but it’s savory in its own way and good!》

Thanks, Sui. The charcoal grill is its selling point, huh? It does make the whole thing smell and thus taste better.

I was wondering what meat it was... so this is horn rabbit, huh? According to the guy manning the grill, horn rabbit was a pretty popular meat. Apparently for stalls selling skewers, this was the most common. After hearing more, it seemed that the guy had just recently moved to Dolan, and just started his stall business today.

“Selling this much on my first day bodes well!” said the guy, happily.

All of these guys eat tons, after all. In the end, I bought a lot.

“Here you go, it’s done.”

Taking the finished skewers from the guy, I added another ten each to Fel’s and Sui’s dishes, and another five to Dora-chan’s. “It’s hot, so be careful.”

Now then, I should try this myself.

*Chomp*

The only seasoning here was salt, but since it was grilled with charcoal, the fragrance was great and it was pretty good. It’s tougher than the meat we usually eat, but this is certainly appealing in its own right. More than anything, the smell from the charcoal grilling was irresistible.

Charcoal grilled meat is tasty... I wonder how good it would be if I charcoal grilled orc meat, or bloody horn-bull meat, or wyvern meat...... If I make full use of the seasonings I can get with my skill, I should be able to make it even better, too. Ahhh, I want to have a barbecue. Meat is good, but a seafood barbecue would be nice too. And right now we’re heading for the fishing town of Berléand too.

Hmm... I might want a barbecue grill. If my Online Supermarket has the same barbecue grill that I saw in the home center I’d buy it immediately, but they probably don’t... I tried looking around, and I didn’t see anything, after all.

Well, even if they did, I probably couldn’t hope for one that was large enough. Fel and the others were around, so if I didn’t have a large one, it wouldn’t be of much use... Could I get Sui to make one for me? .........No, that’s no good. Every time I had Sui make something for me, I did so after showing it an example of what I wanted and asking if it could do it, but I didn’t have an example on me. I remembered the shape of the barbecue grill I saw before, so I could draw it and try explaining it to Sui, but that’d probably be too hard a hurdle.

Hmmm, I want a barbecue grill but I guess I’ll just have to give up on that. It’s too bad, though. Now then, looks like Fel and the others are done eating.

After cleaning up the plates, let’s stop by the store to pick up a basket before heading to the Adventurer’s guild.