Chapter 4: I Want a Barbecue Grill!

We had come to the Adventurer’s guild. I’d already put the pound cake in the basket I bought, and my preparations were complete.

He was probably used to it, as even without saying anything, Elrand immediately came over. And I was once again led to the familiar guildmaster’s room on the 2nd floor.

“Ugohl will be arriving too, so please wait a little. I did tell him I’d be fine by myself, though. But Ugohl wouldn’t listen, and kept saying he’d mediate......” said Elrand, seeming a little unsatisfied.

No, I get how Ugohl feels. You always immediately try to skip work and stuff.

“Sorry for keeping you two waiting.” I didn’t have to wait that long for Ugohl to come into the room. “Well then, getting to it, I want to hurry and hand over the money we owe you for the purchases we made yesterday. Ehhmm... the specifics are......” It looked like parchment, but whatever it was, Ugohl flipped through it as he confirmed the specifics of the sale.

“First are the 125 orc hides for 1000 gold, then the 63 lizardman skins for 630 gold, the 102 ogre hides for 2040 gold, 113 troll hides for 2486 gold, 88 minotaur pelts for 1672 gold, 21 ogre magic stones (very small) for 315 gold, 23 troll magic stones (small) for 460 gold, 20 minotaur magic stones (small) for 380 gold, 7 giant killer mantis magic stones (small) for 147 gold, 15 bottles of the paralyze butterfly’s paralyzing scales for 75 gold, 20 wild ape pelts for 160 gold, and a magic bag (small) for 280 gold makes for a total of 9645 gold. The amount being what it is, we would like to emulate the Merchant’s guild here and pay you with white gold and large gold coins. Would that be acceptable?”

When I agreed to their suggestion, Mr. Ugohl lined up 96 white gold coins, 4 large gold coins, and 5 gold coins on the table with a, “Well then.”

“This is the money, please confirm the amount.”

The white gold coins number 1, 2, 3...... 96, and there are 4 large gold and 5 gold coins. Yeah, this looks fine. “Yes, there are no problems.”

“This time, thanks to your efforts, Sir Mukohda, we’ve been able to acquire a large amount of hides and magic stones. Truly, thank you for your contributions,” said Ugohl with a smile.

“......It would have been better with the vaasuki fangs or the manticore poison barb or Gustav’s fangs or spine, though......” Elrand whispered.

“Guildmaster, did you say something?”

“No, not really.”

......No, what are you doing playing dumb? You totally said something, whisper and all.

“Well, whatever. I’ll let it go this time. I really did want to just punch you when I heard that you’d bought earth dragon materials without consulting me, but in the end you were right, and the blood and liver and stuff sold for more than I thought they would. Thanks to that, we’re able to buy a lot of what Sir Mukohda brought back from the dungeon like this.”

“Yeah, yeah, right? Wasn’t I right? I can do it when I try. So, I’m wondering, as a reward, if you could give me a budget to make the earth dragon’s fang into a sword right away?”

As soon as those words left Elrand’s mouth, a vein popped on Ugohl’s forehead.

Ahh, you said something you shouldn’t have.

All this guy does is make Ugohl mad. To an onlooker, he’s just a good-for-nothing, but Ugohl sure has it hard since he has to spend so much time with him. I pay respect to your hard work.

“Guildmaster, I did agree that you could make a sword out of the earth dragon’s fang and decorate the guild with it. Reluctantly, I must admit. However, consider the materials. Even if we were to order one, not just anyone would do. It doesn’t seem like you understand, but we do have a limit to our budget. As a guild, nothing would be better than to be able to make this as cheap as possible. To that end, we’ll have to have meetings and consultations in order to decide who we will be trusting with this task. And you’re saying that you want to step all over that decision, and simply throw large amounts of money around to get it done right away? Given the materials, I’m sure it’s possible if you just throw money around. By asking for funds right now, does that mean that you, as the guildmaster, want me to give you money that should be used to run the guild in order for you to satisfy your greed? Well, does it?”

Oof, he cornered Elrand with logic, there’s no room to counter like this.

“N-No, not especially. I didn’t go that far.” Elrand said, not meeting Ugohl’s gaze.

“Not that far, you say? That’s what giving you funds right now means, you know?”

It’s basically like an auction. I see... Ugohl wants to entrust the task to the main blacksmithing workshop that offers the best conditions.

“You know guildmaster, in the first place.........”

Oof, Ugohl started lecturing him. Elrand has a reluctant face on, he probably isn’t listening at all. W-Well, Elrand never learns, I guess. For now, he’s been treating me well too, so I guess I should help him out a bit.

“Uhm, Mr. Ugohl.”

“Ahh! Excuse me, Sir Mukohda. The guildmaster is so useless, I couldn’t help myself.”

Ah, Ugohl just called the guildmaster useless right in front of him. “No, it’s fine. More importantly, I have something I want to give to the two of you. Uhm......”

I placed the basket with the pound cake in it before the two of them.

“Mr. Ugohl, you treated me well the other day in the Merchant’s guild, and Elrand has been taking care of me ever since the earth dragon. So this is just a small token of my appreciation, something of a pastry. Please enjoy it.”

“Eh, is it really alright?”

“Yes, please.”

“Oh, this is great. My wife and child love these kinds of things.” And now Ugohl was smiling too. It seemed like I wasn’t wrong in choosing this, thank goodness.

“I’m also weak to sweet things, so I’m happy too. Let’s enjoy this now with some tea.” Surprisingly, it looked like Elrand liked sweets too.

“Guildmaster, what do you mean by that? You haven’t even started on your work yet — why are you taking time to enjoy tea?” Once again, Ugohl’s forehead lit up with some twitching veins.

“N-No, that’s not it. O-Of course I’ll do my work, don’t be silly... hahaha......”

Yeah, just do your work already, Elrand. You have to go to the capital too, so you have to make those preparations as well. Now then, it’s about time to leave, I think.

Wait, ah! Blacksmithing workshops came up earlier, and if I think about it couldn’t I get them to make me a barbecue grill?

When I asked Ugohl, it seemed that since this was a dungeon city, almost all of the blacksmiths here specialized in weapons.

“So I can’t get them to make me something that’s not a weapon?”

“There are a lot of stubborn ones amongst the blacksmiths, after all. I can’t say what will happen until you talk to them.”

As I thought. For now, I guess I just have to go there and try negotiating, then.

We left the Adventurer’s guild, and headed for the area where all the blacksmithing workshops are.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“YOU IDIOOOTT!!! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! DON’T YOU DARE SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN!!!”

I turned my back to the store I just got yelled out of. This was the 5th one.

Coming here to the blacksmith workshops after leaving the Adventurer’s guild was fine, but no place I went to would make me a barbecue grill. At first, they all said, “What kind of weapon do you want?” But when I replied with, “No, it’s not a weapon, I want something like this......” and showed them an explanation I drew on paper, every single one of them flipped out in the middle.

When I thought of blacksmiths, I imagined dwarves, and just like my imagination, all five of the places I’d went to were headed by dwarves. Just like their appearances suggested, they were stubborn old men, but they didn’t have to yell that loudly. Dwarves have fuses as short as their stature, huh?

Ugohl did tell me that this place’s blacksmiths were all stubborn and specialized in weapons, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad. Why not just make it, you know? It’s not like you can’t make anything other than weapons. Still though, what to do...

............Ah, alcohol! All these blacksmiths are dwarves. And “dwarves” means alcohol. If I show them some booze I buy with my skill......

Khheheheh, this’ll work. I can totally do this.

Now that that was decided, it was time to buy some booze. Entering a back alley where no one would see me, I opened up my Online Supermarket.

What would be good? It’s gotta be something that’s at least decently strong, right? If that’s the case...... whisky’s pretty safe, isn’t it? And speaking of whisky, it’s gotta be this. I don’t really drink whisky, but when I hear of it, I always think of this one. It’s a square-bottled whisky from a certain Japanese maker.

I bought a 700ml bottle. It was alcohol from another world, but I didn’t think it was that different from anything that could be found here. For now, let’s try appraising it.

【Whisky】

Otherworld whisky. High in alcohol content. Will lower HP by 2% for 5 minutes.

Oof, it’s a debuff, not a buff. So it’s not always a good thing to get something through my Online Supermarket, huh? 2% lower for 5 minutes, is it? Is that because it’s alcohol? Is being drunk a status effect? I didn’t really understand it, but it was good that I figured this out now. And it didn’t seem like anything would change that dramatically with this whisky.

Good, then let’s take this into the next place.

“Excuse meee?”

“Hm? A customer, huh? What is it?” When I entered the shop, there was a short, squat, but solidly built old-man dwarf with a scruffy beard and a stubborn-seeming manner.

Great, just like I expected. This might work. “Uhm, I want to order something......”

“Sure. What weapon do you want?”

As I thought, orders basically equal weapons for these people, huh? “Uhh, I don’t want to order a weapon...... can I just get you to listen to my request anyway?”

The old dwarf’s eyebrows wrinkled together as soon as I mentioned it wasn’t a weapon. “Not a weapon, you say...?”

“Yes. Putting aside whether or not you’ll make it, I’d appreciate if you’d at least listen to me.”

“Well, I’m free right now so I’ll at least listen. I’ll decide whether or not I’ll actually do it after that though.”

“Yes, that’s completely fine.”

I explained what I wanted while drawing on a piece of parchment that I’d bought from a store beforehand. “Around this large, and this drawer here would be for putting coal in. And you see on this side, you could put a net over it, but I’d like you to make a hole here. Doing that will help the coal that you put in the drawer burn better. Also, I’d like you to make the netting on top here removable, as I’m going to be grilling meat on it.”

There was also Fel and the others to consider, but I was also thinking that it’d be nice to open a stall with this in the future, so I asked for a bigger size.

“......Hahh~, just go home. You’re lucky I’m gentle for a dwarf. You know, if you were talking to any of the other bosses around here they’d blow you away.”

Well, they didn’t go quite that far, but...... “I’ve already been yelled out of several places.”

“What? So you’ve been to other places already? Then you understand, right? There’s no workshop here that’ll take your order.”

Hmmm, so the workshops here are completely devoted to weapons, huh? But you know, I understood that already after being told no so many times. This time, though, I have an anti-dwarf secret weapon with me. Will you still refuse?

“Changing the subject, do you like alcohol, boss?”

“You can tell just by looking at me, right? I’m a dwarf, you know? There’s no way I’d hate alcohol.” The old man was making a face like I’d just asked the extremely obvious.

So dwarves loving alcohol doesn’t even need to be said at this point, huh?

“To tell you the truth, I have one of these......” I took a cup and the bottle of whisky out of my Item Box and showed them to the dwarf. “This is a really rare type of alcohol, and it’s strong, so I think it’ll match your dwarven tastes.”

Looking at the bottle of whisky I had in my hands, the dwarven boss swallowed with an audible gulp.

“Feel free to try a cup.” I opened up the whisky and filled the cup. The scent of alcohol mixed with something sweet started wafting around. I proffered the cup filled with the amber-colored liquid to the dwarf.

When the boss accepted the cup in hand, drawn to it, he took a swig after taking in the scent of the amber liquid. “Kkkhhh!!! So good! What the hell is this?! This is the first time I’ve ever tasted alcohol this good!!!”

Khheheh, looks like the secret weapon works just fine.

“You see, this alcohol is made in small amounts in that group of small countries, so it’s hard to get a hold of. I have a little of it, you know? If you take my order, I can hand over five of these along with the regular payment.”

How’s this? Going from his reaction, it seems like he’s taken quite a liking to whisky. It looked like the old man was thinking my offer over.

“......Ten bottles. If you hand over ten bottles along with the regular payment, I’ll do it.”

Great! Looks like the whisky worked wonders. “Got it, I’ll give you ten bottles. And this will be thanks for taking the order.”

When I handed over the bottle I’d just opened, the old dwarf happily poured some into a cup. “Hahhh, so good. So there was liquor like this around.” Those words spilled out of the old dwarf’s mouth while he drank.

I said something random like, ‘it was made in small amounts in a part of the group of small countries,’ but it was actually from another world. I didn’t really drink whisky, so I wasn’t really informed about this, but this whisky had been popular for a really long time. And if it’s been loved for that long, it’s gotta be good, I think.

“How long will it take to finish?”

“Let’s see... three days. Come back in three days.”

“How much will it be?”

“It’s pretty big... along with the payment for the materials, around 350 gold, I’d say.”

That much won’t be a problem. “Well then, I’ll be back in three days, so I’m counting on you.”

“Sure. Don’t forget the alcohol, yourself.”

Not the money, but the alcohol, huh? Yep, he’s a dwarf, alright. I forced a laugh, saying, “Yeah, got it,” as I left the store.

As soon as I was out, I saw Fel and the others asleep outside. And Sui was always asleep in my bag in the first place.

《Heeyy, we’re going back,》 I said to the sleeping Fel and Dora-chan through telepathy.

《Mn...... are you done?》

《Huaahh~, you’re finally done, huh?》

《I kept you waiting. I don’t have anything else to do today, so let’s go back to the inn.》

《I am hungry, too. When we go back, make food.》

Wondering if it was really that late already, I found that the sun had dipped quite a bit. It seemed like explaining and negotiating ate quite a bit of time. Now then, what should I do for today?

I thought of the meat I had left in my Item Box. I’m running really low on orc general meat, right? I still have bloody horn-bull and wyvern meat, though, as well as the orc meat from the dungeon. Also, I have about half of the giant talepo that Fel caught, and also all the cockatrice and rockbird meat he got, too. Since that’s the case, I did want to try making that since the oven in the magic stove is so large. If it’s this oven, it’ll straight-up fit.

Right, let’s do that.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Now then, let’s start making dinner.

I would be making a simple whole roasted chicken stuffed with pilaf. I once tried making it for Christmas since I wanted to try eating one, and for some reason it started to become a tradition for me to make the roast chicken from then on for Christmas. Of course, I knew perfectly well how to make it.

Heheheh, I’ve been planning to do this someday ever since I bought this magic stove.

This time, I’d be using a whole cockatrice in my cooking. The cockatrice that had become just a lump of meat was about 1.5 meters in size, whole. As one might expect, roasting something like this whole should fill everyone up.

Opening my Online Supermarket, I bought some herb salt and frozen pilaf, and also a brush to spread the oil. Well then, let’s get to cooking.

Since I basically despise difficult things, the roast chicken I make is easy and simple. All it took was stuffing the frozen pilaf into a roast chicken and baking it. Making the pilaf from scratch just added work, but it might be a good idea if one had the time.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, thoroughly rub some herb salt into the whole of the cockatrice. Make sure to do so for the inside as well. Once that’s done, leave it alone for a while, and thaw the pilaf in the meantime.

Truthfully, it’ll be faster to just nuke it in a microwave, but as one might expect, it’ll just be impossible to do that here, so I’ll just cook it lightly in a pan to thaw it. I’ll be baking it in the oven too, so just lightly is fine.

Next, stuff the cockatrice’s belly with the thawed pilaf. Once the stuffing is done, close the opening with a skewer, and tie the legs together with some kitchen twine to prevent it from losing shape. Use a brush to paint olive oil over the entirety of the cockatrice, then put it on top of a baking tray that you’ve covered with a cooking sheet.

After that, just bake in a preheated oven. It’ll take slightly less than an hour at 200 degrees, but I’ll just have to eyeball it here.

While it’s baking, using the brush to baste the roast with its own melted fat will give it a good color and flavor, so I recommend it. Also, while it’s cooking, turning it over so it’s evenly browned will make the entire thing come out better as well.

If you’re worried about how it’s cooking, stick a skewer in somewhere where the heat doesn’t easily pass through, and if all you get out of it is clear fat, then you’re good.

Once it’s well browned, remove any skewers and the string to complete the roast.

~◇~◇~◇~

A whole roast chicken even by itself just looks extravagant, doesn’t it? On top of that, since it’s a larger cockatrice, the effect is even greater.

While I was looking at the finished roast chicken, I heard the voices of my hungry children.

“Looks good.”

《Give it to us already—!》

《It’s a huge chunk of meat~! Sui wants to hurry up and eat it...》

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the roast chicken.

“I’m going to take the bones and separate the portions, so wait a little.” While I deboned the roast, I also properly divided the meat and pilaf into everyone’s dishes.

“Here.”

As soon as I served up their food, all of them started eating, entranced.

“Mmm?! This is incredible!”

Right? Right? It’s good enough for even Fel to fall into a trance. Whole roasting it slowly in an oven really does make something completely different, huh?

《I love how the outside skin is so crisp! And this part has the flavor of that thing you call rice — it tastes amazing.》

Oh ho, so you totally get it, huh, Dora-chan? You’re completely correct! The crisp skin is irresistible, no? Also, the umami’s thoroughly soaked into the pilaf, so that’s great too.

《The skin is crispy, and the inside meat is soft and delicious, and all the meat juice just comes pouring out! This rice also tastes like the meat and is great, too—!》

As expected of Sui the gourmand, it knows. Both the crispness of the skin and the bursting juiciness of the meat is thanks to roasting the thing whole. And since the pilaf was stuffed into the meat and is now soaked full of its juices and flavor, one would never think that it’s just a frozen pilaf.

Looks like the roast chicken is a huge success. Now then, I should eat too.

I probably shouldn’t be saying this about something I made myself, but the melding of crispiness and juiciness is just too good. Being able to enjoy all the different parts of the chicken is one of the best parts of a whole roast, I think. Really, it’s so satisfying...

Fel and Sui both had another serving, and the roast chicken was cleanly finished off. All that was left were the bones. It looked like everyone enjoyed it, and they asked me to make it again. The dish was really simple, just stuffing and roasting it, so that might actually be a good idea.

《I’m counting on you for the jiggly stuff, got it—?》

“Dora-chan, I already told you that the jiggly stuff is called ‘pudding.’”

《Oh right. Give me some pudding. I haven’t had any yet today, so I want two.》

Dora-chan wants pudding, huh. And two at once... well he hasn’t eaten any yet today.

“I also want some. The usual.”

“By the usual, you mean strawberry shortcake, right? Do you want them both to be the same?”

“Yes.”

So it’s two of the usual strawberry shortcake for Fel I see.

《You know, Sui wants something Sui hasn’t eaten yet...》

So Sui’s looking for new flavors, huh?

I fulfilled each of their wishes through Fumiya: two custard puddings, two strawberry shortcakes, and for Sui, an apple pie and strawberry roll cake. I gave each of them their treats, and they all scarfed them down, making it all seem absolutely delectable. Having had their after-meal dessert, all of them were acting satisfied.

Personally, it’s a bit too early for me to be sleeping...... Ah, this is a good opportunity, so let’s have Sui make that. The thing I’ve been wanting Sui to make for a while now, a mithril frying pan.

“Sui, I have something I want to ask of you.”

《Wha~t?》

“This is called a frying pan, you see. I want you to make one that’s a little bigger; can you do it?”

As I showed Sui the frying pan, it touched the pan with its tentacle.《Yeah, Sui can make this thing right away—!》

If it’s a frying pan, looks like Sui can make one easily and quickly, huh?

I handed some mithril ore over to Sui.

《Uhhh... like this, and like this......... Here, it’s done—.》

Ohh, so quick. I tried picking up the mithril frying pan that Sui made and handed over to me.

How light. This is great. Let’s try it out right now.

I used the magic stove to heat up the mithril frying pan.

Huh? No, it’s too early to tell. Let’s increase the heat......... What’s going on? This thing’s not getting hot at all.

Putting my hand on the frying pan, I couldn’t feel any heat. “Why?”

For now, I tried appraising the mithril frying pan.

【Mithril Frying Pan】

A frying pan made of mithril. Since it’s mithril, it doesn’t conduct heat.

......‘Doesn’t conduct heat?’ What... it’s useless! If it doesn’t conduct heat there’s no point in it being a frying pan, is there? I thought it was nice since it’s so light, but like this, its usefulness is extremely limited!

With that in mind, the mincer I had Sui make before was actually reasonable since, if it won’t pass heat to the meat, you’d be able to grind it without damaging the meat. From now on, I’d have to remember the fact that it doesn’t conduct heat for any cooking tools I wanted to make...

At any rate, the frying pan is unusable, so I’ll have to remake it into something else, huh? But what would be good...... If it doesn’t conduct heat, I wonder if that means it’ll keep heat or cold inside... But thinking about Fel and the others, keeping heat might not be very necessary. It’ll be a whole thing if they start eating things that are way too hot anyway. It’d be better to cool it to the perfect temperature. So that would mean keeping the cold, huh? Let’s remake it into a cup for me, and also some deep dishes for Fel and the others for drinks, I guess.

“Sui, it looks like this doesn’t work for a frying pan, so can you remake it into one like this, and three like these?” I showed Sui the cup and the deep dishes we always used, and had it remake the frying pan.

《Here, it’s done—.》

“Oh! Thanks.” I quickly tried out the new mithril cup. Buying a bottle of iced coffee with my skill, I poured it into the mithril cup.

“Oh! Even without ice it’s cool.” Still though, I’d only just poured it in, so I decided to try it again after a while.

《Master — Sui also wants to try some of the fizzy stuff.》 Seeing me drink some iced coffee, Sui also asked for some carbonated stuff.

“Mn? Then I want some too.”

《Me too—.》

Both Fel and Dora-chan smoothly got on the bandwagon. Fine, fine, colas all around, huh? I bought cola for everyone with my skill.

“Here, I tried having this made so you could drink out of it. It’s mithril, so it’ll keep what’s inside cold.” I poured cola into each of their deep dishes.

“Hohh, it is true that this is still cool. However, you are about the only one who would have the notion to do something as frivolous as to make something like this out of a precious material like mithril.”

《Ahahaha! That’s no joke.》

《It’s cold and fizzy and sweet. I love it—.》

Say whatever you like. It’s not like you can only make mithril into weapons, so I’ll do whatever I like with it. It has a special attribute of not conducting heat, so it’s a little bit of a waste to just force mithril into being weapons. I’ll keep making cooking tools that seem like they’ll be perfect in mithril.

After finishing up the cola, Fel and Dora-chan both let out a yawn before lying sideways. Sui was also sleeping in the bag. I guess I should go back to my room, too.

By the way, the mithril cup kept the drinks perfectly cool, and the iced coffee I was drinking was as cold as it started until the end.

After returning to my room, I started on my other job. It’s about time for those people (gods) to get noisy if I don’t talk to them. And there’s the thing with the tenants, too. It’s really annoying, but there’s nothing I can do about it...... If I take too long with it, they’ll probably end up sending me an oracle, so I’ll just hurry up and give the goddesses and the others their offerings.

“Can you hear me, everyone?” When I called out to them, for some reason I got a bunch of noise and clamor back. You know I can’t understand you all if you keep talking all at once like that? “Uhm... if you all talk at once like that, I can’t understand you at all. Please, one at a time.”

I once again heard a bunch of noise and clamor. Then, those voices stopped all at once.

Looks like they reached an agreement.

＜I’m first! You! Th-Th-Th-That, that Fumiya?! What the hell is it?! Why isn’t that the stuff of dreams?! You did well in choosing that one! Good job! I give you my praise! Anyway, just give me all of Fumiya’s cakes! Fumiya’s cakes! Fumiya’s cakes! Hand over all of Fumiya’s cakes!＞

Ninrir, you divine disappointment, calm down. Well, I did predict that it would turn out like this though. Still though, this was... a lot.

＜Next is me! Y-You, just so you know, we know that you got to pick a Tenant because your unique skill leveled up. We know since we peeked in on your world — there should be an alcohol store among those tenants, no?＞

Grk!! That voice must be Hephaestos. It did seem likely that there could be liquor stores among the Tenants.

＜You unlock your next tenant at level 40, right? Great! Hurry up and go level. And reach level 40 as fast as you can. And make the next tenant a liquor store, got it?＞

Nonono, what do you even mean, go level? My level won’t raise that fast, you know? Actually, could you not just go demanding that of me?

＜He’s right. Go get to level 40 quickly. It’s fine if you do it like you intend to die. And go and get a liquor store tenant. And that way we’ll be able to get even more kinds of otherworld liquor. I’m tingling in excitement, wahahaha!＞

And this would be Vahagn. It’s fine if I do it like I intend to die, was it? ......Of course that wouldn’t be okay. I won’t do it, there’s no way, got it? I definitely wouldn’t do anything just to level up. It wasn’t like I was particularly inconvenienced right now, so I’d just level up incidentally while I lived my life as I would normally. Leave me alone!

＜Next is level 40, huh? With just that much, it should be fine to just go to another dungeon. Go. Go now. And it’s decided that your next tenant will be a liquor store.＞

Miss Agni...... I won’t go. I’ll say it again, never. I won’t go. What was she even saying, this goddess? I mean, she said the next one was decided to be a liquor store, but we didn’t even know what choices would show up next.

＜Wait a second~, please don’t just decide like that that the next tenant will be a liquor store. The next one’s got to be a drug store. I also looked in on the otherworlder boy’s world. Drug stores have a lot of makeup and beauty products, so I’ll be able to choose from a lot of those. The next one’s got to be a drug store, okay?＞

And this must be Kisharle, huh? You did some good research, to know about drug stores. But we didn’t even know if drug stores were an option in the first place. I didn’t even know what choices I’d get when I reached level 40 and could pick a new Tenant.

＜＜＜＜Anyway, just go get to level 40 ( got it?) ( go!) ( okay?) (right now!)＞＞＞＞

So everyone’s gonna say that in harmony, huh......? Please stop with this coercion. Doing it quickly is impossible. Utterly impossible. And it’s not like I’m inconvenienced in any way as I am. I don’t really need to level at all, I’m saying!

“Ahh— everyone, you’re telling me to hurry up to level 40, but I’m not really troubled as I am now, so I won’t be doing that. Leaving leveling while living your life aside, who would ever do something like going to gain levels specifically?”

I won’t do it, got it? Something like raising my level for Tenants.

＜What?! Who knows when you’ll get to level 40 if you say that?! You’re in a dungeon city already! Just go in again and get to level 40!＞

＜Right! Just go into the dungeon and hurry up to level 40! And no matter what, pick a liquor store for your tenant.＞

＜Yeah, it’s easy stuff since you have Perfect Defense and the ability to negate status ailments, right? Show us that you’re a man.＞

＜Right, right. Ignore the liquor, you should hurry up and get to level 40 so you can get a drug store as a Tenant~.＞

The gods Hephaestos, Vahagn, Agni, and even Kisharle were all just saying whatever they liked.

“Uhmm, I’m going to keep saying this, but I won’t do something like going out of my way to level up. If you’re going to force me into raising my level, I’ll just stop giving you offerings altogether, and return your blessings.”

As soon as I said that, Hephaestos, Vahagn, Agni, and Kisharle all started panicking.

＜No! You can’t do that! Definitely not! I’ll stop telling you to raise your levels!＞

＜R-Right! You don’t have to force yourself to gain levels.＞

＜Y-Yeah. You’re fine without leveling.＞

＜Y-Yes. After all, you’ll probably gain those levels naturally eventually anyway.＞

Good, seems like you all understand.

＜Oh yes! In exchange for us not bothering you to raise your level anymore, it’d be nice if you about double our allowance from 3 silver~. It looks like you’re making lots of money, after all.＞

Mm? Lady Kisharle, huh? How sharp.

＜Ohh! That’s a great idea.＞

＜Man, Kisharle, you sure come up with some good ideas sometimes.＞

＜Really!＞

＜I have Fumiya, so I don’t really care about Tenants, but doubling our allowance is a great idea.＞

＜......Double. Good.＞

All the gods were happy with Kisharle’s suggestion.

＜I shouldn’t be saying this myself, but I think it’s a great idea... Wait, Vahagn, what did you mean by ‘sometimes’? I always have good ideas~!＞

Well, Lady Kisharle, you said ‘in exchange’ when there’s nothing to exchange, though. Double of 3 silver. So 6 silver, huh? Hmmm, well I’ve been earning a lot of money recently, and even through all the quibbling, the gods have been giving me a lot, what with their blessings and skills and stuff...

“Understood. From now on, the allowance will be 6 silver. In exchange, no forcing me to raise my level, got it?”

After I made that announcement, I heard a bunch of cheers from their end.

“Okay, okay, quiet down. Now then, I’ll be taking your orders.”

＜Yes! Yeah, yeah! Me! First is me! Fumiya’s cakes! Their cakes, I say! I want all of them!!＞

Hahh~, that disappointment, Ninrir, did just say the same thing...

“Ninrir, 6 silver is way too little for all of them.”

＜Hmm? Is that so? Ah! Then I will choose them, so let me see all of them!＞

And now she wants to see, huh? It looked like she’d learned a bit about how my Online Supermarket worked. I guess she’s gotten smarter.

“Oh, fine. There are people after you, so be quick about it, okay?”

All of the gods and goddesses in line after her agreed with me in loud voices.

＜I know already. More importantly, hurry up and show me!＞

I had no other choice, so I opened up the menu so that Ninrir could see, too.

“If you want to try all kinds of them, then this would be the best.” I opened up the menu for cakes-by-the-slice.

＜Muhhoohh! S-So amazing! All of them look so good!!＞

They were all about 4 copper coins each, so that would be a total of fifteen cakes.

“If you choose from this menu, each one is at most 4 copper coins, so you’ll be able to get 15 of them.”

In response, Ninrir let out a loud, happy cheer. Is this goddess really fine?

＜Still, with this much to choose from I’m starting to feel lost...＞

“Then what about just choosing from top to bottom? Today you’ll get the top fifteen, and then the next time you’ll get the next fifteen, and so on.”

＜Ohh! What a good idea!! And just like that, I’ll conquer all of Fumiya’s products!!＞

Sure, sure. Whatever you like already. I loaded up Ninrir’s cake slices into the cart. “Who’s next?”

＜Of course, next is me—.＞

Lady Kisharle, huh?

＜I’m starting to run out of shampoo and hair treatment, so I’d like more of those. I’d also like to see what you have available.＞

Hmmm, Kisharle wants to see, too? Really, everyone had just gotten a little smarter and they were all already a lot more trouble. I couldn’t very well refuse to let Kisharle see when I allowed it for Ninrir, so I opened up the hair care page and let her see. When I did that, Kisharle started hitting me with questions like, ‘What kind of hair does this work best for?’ or, ‘What kind of scent is this?’

＜Ahh... They all look so good... Or rather, I never expected the other world to have so many kinds of shampoo and hair treatment. There’s even all sorts of fragrances... what should I do~?＞

Ahh, this is gonna take a while. It was the woman-specific “I-like-this-one-but-this-one-is-good-too” thing. This was the worst situation for people forced to carry their bags in the store or something. And if she takes too long......

＜Hey! Hurry up!＞

＜Yeah! You’re taking way too long!!＞

See? The liquor lovers are all annoyed.

And yet, Lady Kisharle paid no heed to those voices. ＜Really, I’m so lost. I can’t just count out the ones I’m using now since I like their scent...... Ahhhn, what to do~.＞

“If that’s the case, what about a refill pack for the shampoo and hair treatment you’re currently using, and then you can use your remaining allowance to buy two new bottles each for shampoo and hair treatment? That way, you can choose two of the series you’re most interested in. Then, you’ll be able to choose what to use depending on your mood.”

In response to my suggestion, Kisharle muttered something along the lines of, ‘According to my mood, huh? ......That works...’

“How about this new product here?”

When I tried calmly recommending a new product, Kisharle immediately latched on with a, “New, you said?!”

＜By new product, you mean ‘new’ and not ‘not used,’ right? Doesn’t that mean it’s better than the previous stuff?!＞

Well, since they’re new, they probably do mix in some new components and nutrients to make it better, yes. “I think that’s most likely......”

＜Then I’ll take that! Hey, is there anything else new?＞

“Ehhmm, there is. Looks like this one’s new too; do you want it?”

＜Yes, please.＞

“Then I’ll be getting these three.” I added the refills that Kisharle wanted, as well as the bottles of the new stuff. “Next please.”

＜It’s me, Agni. I want to get alcohol this time, too. I like beer the best, so I’d like to spend half on that. And use the second half on different stuff. I’m counting on you.＞

“You don’t care to see the menu?”

＜I’m good. It’s more fun to anticipate how things will taste while you’re drinking it.＞

I see, that does make some sense. Yeah, it’d be great if everyone was a little more like Agni. Alright then, let’s get to picking some out. She’s leaving it to me, and that’s making me want to get her something good. First is the beer, and that’s gotta be some of A-company’s premium beer (6-pack) and K-company’s premium beer (6 pack), right? Oh, also, Y-bisu beer (6 pack). After that...... Oh, there’s this, too.

There were some local beers too, so I chose those. A Takahara beer, three types of Echigo beer, and a beer from Yokohama. I also picked out an American whiskey, French rosé wine, and an Italian red wine. Great, this should have Agni set.

“Next......”

＜Ruka. I want the same as Ninrir.＞

Oh. Somehow, Ruka seems more aggressive than usual... “You also want Fumiya’s cakes today, Miss Ruka?”

＜Yes. Cake. Just like Ninrir, I want all different kinds.＞

So Ruka’s zeroed in on cakes this time too, huh? Seems like Ruka also likes sweet things, so I guess when she saw Fumiya’s cakes... So I guess I’ll just get the top fifteen, like with Ninrir. I put in a second set of the top fifteen cake slices, just like with Ninrir. Good, this should be it. “Next is......”

＜Yo! We’re next.＞

Last is the liquor lovers combo, Hephaestos and Vahagn, huh?

＜We want whisky and vodka, just like last time. But this time, we’ll be choosing ourselves. So hurry up and show us.＞

Fine, fine. I showed Hephaestos and Vahagn the whiskies that were on sale.

“These are the whiskies they have.”

＜Oh ho — so there were this many, I see. With this much, I understand being lost.＞

＜Man, otherworld alcohol is amazing. Each one of these is different, right?＞

“Yes. They’re all whisky, but they’re all different makers from different places. Ehhm, they all differ slightly in taste according to people, it seems.”

＜I see. How amazing. I want to try all of them, but we’re on a budget......＞

＜Yeah. So hey...... Would you increase our budget a little?＞

“No. I’ve already doubled it.”

＜＜Tch!＞＞

These two, did they just click their tongues at me?! They totally did.

＜By the way, out of these, which ones would you recommend?＞

“Hmm, I don’t really drink whisky...... Ah, it’ll be a little more expensive than the others, but I’ve heard quite a bit that this one is good. Also, I think it’s ranked at the top of the whisky world?”

Domestic whisky from S-company... If I’m remembering right, they were on the news because they got ranked the world’s number one whisky. And I’d been hearing that they were good from all the liquor fanatics I knew, too.

＜＜The world’s best whisky... *gulp* *gulp*＞＞

Somehow, they achieved beautiful harmony there... And I even heard them swallowing some saliva after that...

＜I want that world’s best whisky. Right, War God?＞

＜Yeah, of course. As if we could pass up drinking the world’s best whisky.＞

Yeah, yeah. So one, right? “What about the rest?”

＜What do you think, Blacksmithing God?＞

＜Hmmm, all of the alcohol from that world is good, but personally I like this black bottle here.＞

“By black bottle, do you mean this one?”

＜Indeed, that one.＞

Hephaestos pointed out a black bottle of whisky from S-company. This one was famous, too.

＜That one really was delicious. As for me, I liked this one with the art that looks like a bird.＞

Like a bird, like a bird...... is this the one that Vahagn was talking about? “Do you mean this one?”

＜Yeah, yeah, that one.＞

It was an American whiskey. This one is pretty popular too, I think. “Then should I take these two bottles?”

＜＜That’s fine.＞＞

“You two have 4 silver left. What should I do?”

＜What about vodka?＞

I opened up the vodka menu. “There isn’t a lot of vodka...”

That’s right. The menu only had four types. When it came to vodka, the Online Supermarket’s selection was extremely limited.

“You’re right. It’s very strong, and there’s not as much interest in it as whiskey.”

＜Which ones did we have before?＞

“The last time, I gave you this one and this one. And before that was this one, so this is the only one you two haven’t tried yet.”

After I said that, the liquor lovers combo started whispering amongst themselves. ＜Then we’ll take the one we haven’t tried, and also this one with the blue letters.＞

“Blue letters? This one?”

＜Yes.＞

Three whiskies and two vodkas huh? Ehhmm, they have 1 silver left. “You have 1 silver left. What do you want to do? You won’t be able to afford any vodka with it. There’s several whiskies you could get, though.”

＜Then make it a whisky.＞

Whisky, huh? If that was the case, they could get this 700ml bottle of Scotch whisky with the white horse label.

Great, and this completes it. I lined up everyone’s items on their own cardboard altars.

“Everyone, please take your offerings.”

As always, I started hearing the excited voices of the gods and goddesses.

＜Fumiya! Fumiya! Fumiyaaaaaaaaaa!!!!＞

＜With this, I can keep my beautiful hair~.＞

＜It’s the world’s best whisky! Yahhoo!!＞

＜Let’s hurry and drink it, Blacksmithing God!＞

And so on and so forth............... Hahh~, so tired.

And everyone kept telling me to show them, since they gained some cunning. Geez. Let’s just go to sleep already.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

At that time in the divine realm...

“Hey, Blacksmithing God.”

“What is it?”

“The otherworlder told us not to force him to level up, but I really think he should gain levels.”

“Yeah. So you thought so too?”

“I did. I mean, there were a lot of different kinds of alcohol there already, but what if we had a liquor store?”

“Indeed. As ones who love alcohol, there is no option to let him get away now that we know that.”

“Right? Just, if we start telling him to raise his level again, he’ll just say that he’s going to stop the offerings again. So, what about sneaking that skill in without telling him? He doesn’t look at his status too often, after all. And even if he does notice, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get mad about it, since it won’t get in his way or anything.”

“That’s a great idea, surely. By that skill, do you mean... that one?”

“Yeah. If we give him that, he’ll gain levels without even trying.”

“Gahahah!”

“Ahaha!”

“Gahahahahahaha!”

“Ahahahahahaha!”

“I’m looking forward to when he reaches level 40...”

“Yeah. And once that happens, of course the new Tenant will be a liquor store.”

And thus, Mukohda gained a new skill out of nowhere.

【Double Experience Gain】

Doubles gained experience. Obtaining this skill makes it easier to gain levels.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

I spent yesterday and the day before stocking up on premade food. We’d already conquered the dungeon, so I was thinking it was about time to leave town, after all. And part of the preparation for such a journey was pre-making food.

Fel and the others said they wanted to go into the dungeon one more time, but of course I flat out denied that. If we were to do that, we’d end up wasting time.

I made a lot of different food. From the fried foods that were fast becoming a staple, I made chicken karaage, as well as pork and Hamburg steak cutlets. Of course, I also made versions stuffed with cheese. And also, there’s wyvern and bloody horn-bull meat for rice bowls, right? And after that, beef stew and Hamburg steaks. Of course, those also came in cheese-stuffed versions. I also made some gyoza. Thanks to the mithril mincer, making ground meat was easy and really helped the cooking. Also, because it turned out great when I made it before, I made tonjiru and flavored soft boiled eggs.

I also tried making some new stuff that I hadn’t made before. A simple meat tofu recipe that only required sautéing and boiling: After sautéing some orc meat with onions thoroughly, add in water, granulated dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar before bringing it all to a boil. Then, add firm tofu and give it all a quick boil to finish.

I also marinated things in the magic bag that would taste better with the flavors of the tonjiru or stewed pork soaked in it, like the soft boiled eggs.

Since I had ground meat lying around, I also tried making meat-stuffed peppers. Well, the meat is just the same Hamburg base, though. All I did was wash the peppers well, halve them, and dig out the seeds before stuffing in the Hamburg steak meat. And after lightly sprinkling it with some wheat flour, I seared it with the meat facing down, and once it started showing some color, I mixed it into a solution of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar dissolved into water and let it steam for a while to finish.

And just like that, I spent two days — yesterday and the day before that — making food. Thanks to that, I’ve recovered quite a bit of premade stock, so I should be able to take it a little easy while we travel.

And now, I was heading once again into the area where all the blacksmithing workshops were, in order to receive the barbecue grill I ordered. Of course, I’d already stocked up on ten square bottles of the Japanese whisky from S-company.

I’m looking forward to see how well it turned out.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hello~.”

“Hey- oh. It’s just you. I finished what you ordered. It’s over this way.” The old dwarven head of this blacksmithing workshop led me with those words, and when we arrived, I saw the barbecue grill I had ordered placed snugly in a tight space.

I got closer and checked how it had turned out.

“Ohh! This is great! It’s just as I ordered.”

It was just as big as I wanted, and the place to put in the charcoal was made into a drawer, too. And there was a hole next to the drawer just like I’d asked for, so the passage of air looked good. The net on top was able to be removed now too.

Yeah, yeah. This is exactly what I asked for. It’s really good.

“Of course it is, you lout. Who do you think I am? I’m one of the top five blacksmiths in this place.”

Eh, really?! When I came before, I just started from whatever place was nearest, so I didn’t really pay much attention to that kind of thing... Given how many workshops there are in this place, isn’t that pretty amazing, to be among the top five? So this old dwarf was actually a really amazing blacksmith, huh? This old man’s name was Alesh, right? So this workshop is called Alesh’s Blacksmithing Workshop, huh? It was a coincidence, but I’m happy I asked him. He perfectly handled my request for a barbecue grill, after all.

“So, how are you planning on taking back something this big? Did you ask someone to help you carry it?”

“Ahh, I have an Item Box, so I’ll be fine.”

“I see. Okay then. But, did you bring that?”

He’s talking about that, right?

“Of course. You’re talking about this, right?” I produced the square whisky bottles from S company from my Item Box.

“Yeah, that. Do you know just how much I was looking forward to this?!” The old dwarf, or Alesh, jumped at the whisky I revealed.

He’s rubbing his cheeks on the bottle...... Wow, he really does like the stuff. “Ehmm, ten bottles was the deal, yes?” I took out the bottles one after the other and placed them in front of Alesh.

“Yahhooo! I’ve got some great stuff!” He was looking really happy...

“So, how much will it be?”

“Ahh, right. Well, it was my first time making this, so I estimated a little high at 350 gold, but with the materials, 300 gold will be fine.”

Oohh, it’s cheaper than what he told me. He’s one of the five best blacksmiths in Dolan, so I was thinking he’d raise the price compared to before, but I’m glad it’s 300 gold.

I took out a single bag with 300 gold in it from my Item Box. “Well then, here it is.”

“Sure.” Without even confirming the bag I handed over contained the promised amount, he just took it and carried it to a separate room.

“Uhh, do you not need to check what’s inside?”

“What? Are you trying to cheat me?”

“No, no, I would never.” That bag had 300 gold in it, and I hadn’t touched it at all. It should undoubtedly have 300 gold coins in it.

“If there’s not enough I’ll just come over to your place and take what I’m owed. Aren’t you that adventurer with the familiars that got famous for beating the dungeon here recently?”

Huh? Am I that well known?

“For some reason the Adventurer’s guild isn’t making a big deal of it, so I only heard about you recently, though.”

Ahh, because mouths, unlike doors, can’t be locked.

“Yes, well, I am, I guess. I don’t really want to become that big a deal myself, so if you could keep it quiet......”

“Well, I get that. If you do something like conquer a dungeon, lots of folks will try to get closer, after all. Wait, doesn’t that mean you have something that can become a sword? I shouldn’t really be asking, though.”

Apparently amongst all weapons, Alesh is particularly good at crafting swords, so he couldn’t help but be interested in it.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t......”

“Like what?”

“Uhh, just some stuff I got near the deepest level.”

“Near the deepest level, huh? If it’s a material for swords, I can see it. I guess it really would be impossible for me to buy...” Alesh said, disappointed.

It probably would be, since most likely those would run in the thousands of gold coins. But......

“Uhm, Alesh, you’re one of the five best blacksmiths here, right?”

“Yeah. I dunno about claiming that myself, but I have been told that.”

“If that’s the case, putting aside whether they’ll actually accept you, the Adventurer’s guild should come knocking soon.”

“Hm? Did they buy something that would warrant that?” I couldn’t answer him either way. But, from how Ugohl was talking about it, there were a limited number of people here who could render that into a sword, and they would be deciding who to ask for it after talking to each of them. And if Alesh really was one of the top five here, they should ask him as well.

While I stayed silent, Alesh picked up what I was putting down, and said, “I see... Ah, right, do you want to test that out now?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m planning.” I wanted to try it out as soon as I could, so I was going to do a barbecue today.

“Then do it here. I have charcoal and everything. I’m confident in my work, but this is the first time I’ve made one, you know? If there’s anything you don’t like about it, I’ll be able to fix it right away if you do it here. In exchange, let me use it a little too.”

Ohh, that’d be great. I decided to take him up on his offer and test the grill then and there. We went through the store to the other side of the building. Apparently, this space was usually used to test the sharpness of swords or spears or whatever.

It was decided to use this place to open up a barbecue with Alesh. Of course, Fel and Dora-chan, who were waiting outside, were here as well.

I prepared orc and bloody horn-bull meat to use. When I tried to prepare vegetables too, both Fel and Dora-chan said that “We don’t need vegetables.”

So, with no other choice, we ended up with a meat-only barbecue.

I was using the charcoal that was in the workshop. As soon as I laid the orc and bloody horn-bull meat onto the netting, the sizzling sounds of cooking meat started.

“Can I use it too?”

“Yes, feel free.” He asked me to use it earlier, too... what’s he going to grill?

“These sausages are homemade. I was the one that made them, and I used salt, so they’re pretty good, you know? This’ll go great with the liquor. You can try some too.”

Ohh, sausages, huh? He said it’ll go well with alcohol, so that means that he intended to drink while testing this all along... Well, whatever. More importantly, he said that it was homemade. How did he do it? Did he order the meat and then pack it himself? When I asked, apparently, butchers just sold the meat normally. Apparently, Alesh was using innards from a sheep monster named, ‘White Sheep.’ It seemed that for sausages, this kind of meat was most common.

I see. If you can just buy innards, then all I would need is salt and pepper to make some herbed fresh sausages. I learned something good today. Oh, the meat’s just about ready.

“Please try this meat too, Alesh. This is a traditional sauce from my homeland that goes well with meat. Once the meat is done, please eat it with this.” I used the longtime-selling yakiniku tare I was accustomed to and had in my Item Box. I put it in a container and handed it over to Alesh along with a fork.

“I feel bad for having you treat me. Ah, my sausages are also done. Here.” He gave me four of his sausages.

After plating both the orc and bloody horn-bull meat into dishes and adding the tare, I served them to my three familiars along with the sausages I was given. I also quickly tried Alesh’s homemade sausages. When I bit into it, there was a small, neat sound of it bursting. He only used salt, but meat juices gushed out from the inside of the thin casing, and it was pretty delicious.

“Kkhhh! This sausage really goes great with the stuff I got from you!” Alesh wasted no time in downing some whisky.

Hmm, does whisky go with sausages? If you think of sausages, wouldn’t that come to mind first?

“Please wait a second.” I moved somewhere where Alesh wouldn’t be able to see me and opened up my Online Supermarket. Canned beer is... A bottle would be less suspicious.

I bought five bottles of S company’s premium bottled beer for now.

“The meat will pair better with this. Try some.” I poured some of the premium beer into a cup and handed it over to Alesh.

“Mm? Ale? I don’t hate it, but the one I got from you is far better. It’s not even a contest...”

“It’s not ale. It’s one of the special alcohols I carry with me.”

“What? Then I’ll try it.”

*Glglgglglg* “Pphhhaaahhh!”

Good chug.

“So good! What the hell is this?! It’s like ale, but it’s completely different! Why is all the stuff you have this great?!”

Yeah, it’s gotta be beer with barbecue right? I’ll be drinking too.

*Glglglg* “Pphhaahh!”

Ahh, that hits the spot.

In the end, it turned into a day for drinking and barbecuing. All three of my familiars thought the barbecue was delicious, and ate silently.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We had come to the Adventurer’s guild. Tomorrow we were leaving Dolan, so we came to inform them of that. The plan was to say our goodbyes to Dolan tomorrow, and then head to Nijhoff.

When I made that announcement, all three of my familiars wanted to go into the dungeon one more time, but of course I said no. I mean, we’d already conquered it. What need was there to go in again? Not to mention, if we did go in, who knew how long we’d be stuck in there.

We have to move on to Nijhoff from here, and then from there to our destination, the seaside town of Berléand. Also, since I had asked for a wyvern skin mantle to be made from Lambert in Karelina, we’d have to wrap up this journey before it was finished and go back.

With those things in mind, it was about time to move on.

I got booed by all three of them, but I somehow managed to calm them down by saying that there wasn’t any need to be attached to this specific dungeon, and that there were all sorts of dungeons in other places in the country to try out. And then, I promised that if we had a chance, we’d go to one.

Well, there’s no plans for any other dungeon at the moment, anyway.

“Welcome, Mukohda.” Elrand came over. And Mr. Ugohl was next to him.

“Welcome, Sir Mukohda.”

It looked like I was about to be taken to the guildmaster’s room on the second floor, but I said that I didn’t have any real business and managed to get them to stay here.

“I was thinking of leaving this place behind tomorrow, so I came to tell you about that.”

“Whaaaat?! You’re leaving already?! Come on, stay until I have to leave too—! I want to be seen off by Dora-chan,” Elrand said, sending hot gazes towards Dora-chan.

Being stared at like that, Dora-chan used telepathy to say to me, 《Wow, this guy’s kinda creeping me out...》 Dora-chan also hid behind me in an effort to not be in Elrand’s line of sight.

“Hahh, just as I was wondering what you would spout out of that mouth next... You......” Ugohl even sighed. “Sir Mukohda, feel free to just ignore what the guildmaster says. More importantly, thank you for the treats you gave us last time. My wife and child enjoyed it very much. On top of that being the first time they’d seen something like this, with how rare it is to eat something sweet, both of them were very happy.”

Ohhh, that’s great to hear. As I thought, nothing like pound cake exists here, huh?

“Ahh, that stuff, huh? I also ate it after I went home, it was delicious. I’m weak to sweet stuff, you know? I finished it all in two days.”

You ate it all in two days, Elrand? That really is too much sugar.

“That’s something made in a certain place in that group of small countries, so I get it occasionally. It’s great that you liked it.” I made it so that it came from the same place as my whisky.

“Ohhh, is that so? It was good, so I was hoping for more if you had any...” Elrand said, causing Ugohl to put on an exasperated expression.

“Thank you for such a precious item.”

“No, no, you’ve been treating me very well.” Elrand was kind of strange, but he did well with the earth dragon. And Ugohl didn’t even need to be expounded upon.

“Well then, take care, you two.” When I tried to leave since I was done, Elrand called out to me.

“Mukohda, please don’t forget about that case.”

What? What case?

“Whaaat, you already forgot? Didn’t you promise to come back if you got more dragons?”

Ahh, right. I think I promised him that because Elrand loves dragons. Or rather, Elrand’s probably the only one who can butcher dragons.

“I know already...... Ah, oh yeah, I’m heading towards Berléand, and we’re going to try and catch a sea serpent there. How about one of those?” Was a sea serpent a type of dragon?

“Sea serpents? I’ve hunted sea serpents myself, so I’m fine without. Rather than that, go get a leviathan! I’ll happily butcher one of those.” Elrand said, looking at both Fel and I.

Aren’t leviathans like bosses of the sea? Seems impossible, but Fel’s the one that’s going to be hunting.

“Fel, can you get a leviathan?”

“As if there would just be a leviathan lying around. Even I have only seen one about three times. Well, I did hunt one before, though. If we find one, I shall get it.”

So you did hunt one. W-Well, we’re talking about Fel, here.

“Really?! Please, pleeaaassse! I’m counting on you!!” After hearing Fel’s words, Elrand got really excited.

“W-Well, just like Fel said, that’s only if we find one. Please don’t expect too much.” I said that, but it didn’t seem like Elrand was listening; his head was too full of thoughts of leviathans.

“M-Mr. Ugohl......”

“Hahhh~, just leave that idiot alone.”

“S-Sure...... Okay then, you’ve been great to us. Thanks.”

Leaving the excited Elrand behind, we left the Adventurer’s guild.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After leaving the Adventurer’s guild behind, we headed for the city gates. Part of the reason was because Fel said that he wanted to go hunting. It was true that we’d been cooped up in the city for the past several days, and so it was decided for us to go.

While Fel was hunting, I’d be free, so I was planning to try out the method of making sausages that I’d heard from Alesh yesterday. Stopping at a butcher’s on the way out, I picked up some salt-pickled white sheep just like I was told to by Alesh. The price was pretty low, so I bought a lot.

“Now then, let us go.”

《Yeah, we’re off!》

This time, Dora-chan would be accompanying Fel on his hunt. Apparently Dora-chan needed some exercise. Well, he was a wild monster before we met him, at least in name. It seemed that, if he didn’t move around enough, it caused him stress.

“Ah, wait a second. If you’re both going, you should have this.” I got the magic bag out of my Item Box, and hung it around Fel’s neck. “We’re leaving Dolan tomorrow, so having them butchered into meat will have to wait until the next town. So you don’t have to get that much. Or rather, make sure you guys control yourselves.”

“Mn? Fine.”

《Whaaat? But I wanted to hunt a lot to make up for all the exercise I need.》

Why are you guys so gung-ho about hunting? You know we don’t need that much. “Okay then, make sure you guys don’t stay out too long.”

“I know.”

《I get it.》

With those words, Fel and Dora-chan dashed off into the forest.

Now then, let’s start making these sausages.

Truthfully, I’d actually made caseless sausages before. Those tasted great, so I did think that I wanted to someday try making real, cased sausages. And so, I looked up sites that taught methods for making cased sausages several times. I was planning on using those memories to make these sausages. Every site warned against letting the temperature get too high when kneading the ground meat. If the temperature got too high, the meat would dry out and refuse to come together, which would ruin the taste. Apparently the perfect temperature for kneading ground meat is lower than 10 degrees. I remembered that, and so that was why Sui was here.

Heheheh, right now I can get any number of heat-resistant cooking tools. And so, do your best, Sui.

“Sui, can you make this? And also......” I showed Sui the larger bowl I customarily used, and also drew plans for a metal mouthpiece to use for piping the sausages. I asked Sui to make several of the bowls.

《Got it—.》

I didn’t have a physical example of the clasp, but it was a simple thing, so Sui got it just from my explanation. When I handed over the mithril ore, Sui quickly finished a bowl and a metal mouthpiece for piping the sausages. “Thanks, Sui.”

Now then: first I need to make the ground meat. I started running orc meat through the mithril mincer. The ground meat was being dumped into the mithril bowl that Sui had just made. Turning the handle, I ground out more and more meat.

“Whew~, this should be good enough.”

After this, I still need to buy some spices and more cooking tools through the Online Supermarket... I had salt, sugar, and lemon juice (bottled), so I bought coarsely ground black pepper, herb salt, and a piping bag to use when stuffing the intestines into the casing. This time, I was planning to make two flavors, coarsely ground black pepper flavor, and herb lemon flavor.

First up is desalinating the white sheep intestines, right?

~◇~◇~◇~

After rinsing the intestines with water to wash off the salt, I let them soak in a bowl of water for a while.

Meanwhile, I seasoned the ground meat and kneaded in the flavors. This is the most important part. The ice water is necessary to keep the temperature from going up, so I make it with more ice than water. The ice, which I had Fel produce beforehand, was stored in my Item Box.

First up is the coarsely ground black pepper flavor. Pour the ice water with the ice still inside into the mithril bowl. Put the ground meat inside along with some salt, sugar, and coarsely ground pepper and knead until it becomes sticky. It’s surprising that you’re supposed to put the ice water directly in the bowl, but it looks like that’s in order to cool the meat. Of course, only a limited amount of water is used, just enough to coat the surface of the ice.

All that’s left is to cool your hands with the ice and knead the meat, apparently. It’s a bit hard since it’s so cold, but I power through it. It seems like the most important point of this step is to knead while not letting the meat’s temperature rise. Throw away the rest of the ice, and temporarily store the ground meat into my Item Box while it’s still cold.

Using the same method, I make ground meat flavored with herb salt and lemon juice, for an herb lemon flavor. With this, I’m done preparing the ground meat.

All that’s left is to pack in the desalinated white sheep intestines. First, attach the metal mouthpiece that Sui made to the piping bag. Then, insert the mouthpiece into the end of the sheep’s intestines, and reel the intestines in so that the mouthpiece is inserted completely.

Fill the piping bag with the flavored ground meat while making sure that there are no pockets of air inside, and squirt out just a little bit through the mouthpiece and then cut off that section. Apparently, that’s in order to make sure no air gets in when you’re filling the intestines.

Once that’s done, pull on the intestines that are attached to the bag, and tie off the end again while being careful not to rip the intestines, and continue to fill the casings. Once the meat is packed in, add in a little bit of space to the end and tie it off at an appropriate length before spinning the sausage around several times.

After cutting the spot where the casing is twisted, the sausage is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

I repeated that process several times, and made a large amount of sausages in both flavors. For now, I put the finished sausages in a lidded plastic container before throwing it all in my Item Box.

This sausage is pure fresh sausage that hasn’t been boiled... if I remember correctly, cooking it in a pan might cause the casing to break, so I should slowly cook it on a grill instead? Yeah, seems perfect for barbecue. If I’m using a barbecue grill, then just having sausages might seem kind of... dull. Let’s prepare some other meat too, I guess.

When we ate barbecue yesterday, we added the tare on top to eat, but maybe this time I’ll marinate it in the tare.

First, I need to buy the ingredients for the tare from my Online Supermarket. I already had soy sauce, sugar, and cooking sake, so I added garlic, onions, ground sesame seeds (in a pack), sesame oil, and 100% apple juice to the cart.

This time, I’d be grating raw garlic. Because for pickling, raw garlic is better. Then I minced the onions. Adding soy sauce, sugar, sake, grated garlic, minced onions, ground sesame, sesame oil, and apple juice as a secret ingredient in a bowl and mixing it all together completed the pickling tare.

Then, add in the bloody horn-bull meat, lightly massage in the flavor, and wrap the bowl and let it soak for around 20 minutes. Do the same thing for orc meat.

Hm, the sun’s set pretty far now, so Fel and Dora-chan should be back before long. Guess I should start getting the barbecue grill ready.

First I should get the charcoal. I bought the charcoal with my skill. Bringing out the order-made barbecue grill from my Item Box, I put the charcoal into the drawer and lit it. I started slowly grilling the sausages I’d just made on the grill.

The grilling sausages released an appetizing fragrance. Flipping them, I made sure to thoroughly grill all of the sausages.

I felt my shoulder getting heavier. Sui had got on before I noticed.

《Smells good~.》

“Yeah. It does.”

The sear marks are looking nice, should be just about done.

When I tried splitting one open, I found that the insides were cooked thoroughly — it was finished.

Let’s see, a taste. Ohh! Delicious!

The meat was really juicy, and since I made sure the flavor was a bit stronger than usual, it could be served as it was.

《Awww man~, Sui wants to eat too...》

“Here, try some.” Picking one up with my tongs, I handed the sausage over to Sui.

《Wah! Delicious~! The meat juice comes bursting out from inside this thin skin!》

It was the first time making cased sausages for me; it’s great that it turned out well.

《Ahh! Why are you guys eating first!》

“Mnn, I will not forgive you for eating without us.”

Oh, looks like Fel and Dora-chan came back at the perfect time. “No, I’m telling you, I just finished making this, so we were just taste-testing it. More importantly, how were your results?”

“We did moderately well. What did not fit in the magic bag, we left over there.” Following Fel’s line of sight, I saw two huge monsters on their side.

......Wha? I tried blinking rapidly several times before looking back at the scene, but as I thought, it didn’t change. That’s...... a rhino and a saber-toothed tiger, right? When I tried appraising them, the rhino was a 【Dim Gray Rhino】, and the saber-toothed tiger was just the same, a 【Saber-toothed Tiger】. Both of them were A-ranked monsters.

“......I did tell you to keep it in moderation, right?”

“No... you know, it was there, so we just......”

《It’s fine, isn’t it? I was the one that got the saber-toothed tiger. Aren’t I great?》

Fel, don’t ‘just’ me. Also, Dora-chan, you don’t have to act that smug. “Hahhh, well, let’s just leave hearing about the rest of your success for after our meal. Let’s eat first.”

“Ohh, that is a great idea.”

《We’re hungry after all that hunting, after all.》

Sure, sure. I’ll be opening up that magic bag after, though. I plated the finished sausages, and served them to my three familiars.

“Mm? This is delicious... I feel like I could eat an infinite number of these.”

《Just snapping open the thin skin, the meat juices inside come flooding out! This is great!》

《The meat juices just burst out, it’s delicious~. Sui loves this—!》

Oh man, these sausages are getting rave reviews. It’s great that I went with these.

I tried some more of the coarsely ground black pepper flavor I just ate, as well as the herb lemon flavor sausages. Ohh! This one is great too! The smell of the herbs and the lemon passes through my sinuses. This one’s got a refreshing sort of flavor.

If one were to name a drink that would pair well with this, it’s gotta be this.

I bought some beer from the Online Supermarket. This time I chose A-company’s dry beer, black variety. After immediately cracking it open and gulping some down, I smoothly took another bite of the sausage.

And then another draught. *Glglglg* Ppuuhhaahhh! So good!

Since it’s a cleansing beer that goes down easily, it pairs great with the sausages. This is bad, it feels like I can keep eating this combo forever.

And while I was absorbed in those thoughts, the demand for more came from the others. I plated more sausages for them.

Let’s start grilling the marinated bloody horn-bull and orc meat next. As I laid the meat down on the grill, the fragrant smell of cooking meat tickled my nose. Ahhh, what a good smell.

After flipping the meat and grilling it some more... It should be good now. Let’s try a bit.

Aaaaand down it goes.

Hahh, yeah, this tare tastes great. I’ve made it several times, but the sweet and spicy flavor with the taste of the sesame works so well. It’s great!

After plating the finished bloody horn-bull and orc meat on a different plate, I served them to my familiars. “Here, the meat’s done.”

“Ohh! This one also smells great.”

《I can still keep going—!》

《Meat~.》

Seems like they’re all still going strong, judging by how they’re chomping down on that meat. Yeah, yeah, charcoal grilling is great, right? I’ll eat too. Ahh, this one goes great with black beer, as well~.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meat until they were full. With the meal finished and after the cleaning up of the grill and other stuff was done, it was time to open up the magic bag.

What came out was a dim gray rhino and a black serpent, a giant dodo, and two cockatrices. This makes two dim gray rhinos... can you even eat rhinos? “Hey, are these dim gray rhinos edible?”

When I asked, Fel waffled: “No, well...”

《Bpbbphhaahahah! Dim gray rhino meat is tough, you can’t eat it. And Fel still got two of them!》

“Mn?! If we talk about hunting inedible monsters, did you not also hunt one, Dora? The saber-toothed tiger’s meat is too smelly to eat.”

《Gh......》

“*Sigh*~ ...You know, I’d really like you two to keep it to monsters we can eat if you have to go hunting.”

“Mnn, I understand.”

《Yeah, yeah. Got it.》

No, I mean, what with the dungeon, we already have more than enough money, so monsters that can only be sold for materials aren’t of much use. Edible monsters are much more useful to us right now...

I guess the dim gray rhinos and the saber-toothed tiger can just sleep in my Item Box for now. I’ll turn the black serpent, giant dodo, and cockatrices into meat at the next town.

“Now then, it’s about time we went back to town.” We made our way through the dim streets of the evening back to town. It was finally time: tomorrow we would make our way to the town of Nijhoff.