Chapter 1: No Way, God of All Creation!
Chapter 1: No Way, God of All Creation!
“All right then. We are leaving.”
《Right on, let’s go!》
《Master, we’re leaving~.》
“Sure, sure, have fun.”
All three of them dashed off into the forest and disappeared.
Like yesterday, we were spending the day at a forest near Aveling. Personally, with all the shocking events that had happened yesterday, I couldn’t really muster any motivation though.
Hahhh~, to think Feodora’d be almost 200 years old with four kids and a grandkid......
By the way, from what I’d heard, her grandkid in Dolan was a ten-year-old boy. Apparently, since elves aged slower than humans, he still only looked five.
He was Feodora’s first grandchild, so she doted on him a lot. It seemed that the reason her party had ended up staying in Dolan close to a year was because Feodora hadn’t wanted to leave him.
My love died before it really got a chance to bloom.
Heh, I wonder if it’s just my fate to be like this wherever I go......
No, it’s still too early to give up. One day, one day surely, I’ll...!
“Excuse me, how about we start butchering?”
“Huh? Ah, ahh... Yeah. Let’s start. Let’s start now.”
Oh yeah, Elrand’s here. Whew, okay. Let’s change gears and get to work.
This time, on the table that I’d made with Earth magic yesterday, there was a red boar that was just under two meters long. It was one of the monsters Fel and the others had hunted down yesterday.
First thing is always draining blood, so take this vampire knife and in the body it goes. I have no idea how it works, but it’s sucking in blood really fast.
Yep, this knife’s doing work today, too.
The knife, which seemed extremely dangerous and evil, compelled me to use Fel’s super-high-powered Appraisal on it, but this is how it ended up:
【Vampire Knife】
A knife made using magic iron with vampire bones mixed in. This knife, which hungers for blood, will suck blood without end. Wounds made with this knife are more difficult to heal from and won’t clot well either. Depending on circumstances, it can become lethal.
It was just a knife, but it was pretty brutal.
‘Depending on circumstances, it can become lethal’? If wounds are harder to heal and clot, that means even the slightest ones can kill, right? But still, as a blood draining knife it’s extremely convenient to have. I still have my doubts, but, w-well, it should be fine as long as I don’t hurt myself with it...... probably.
Once I was done draining the boar’s blood, Elrand started his butchering lecture.
“First, open up the belly while making sure not to damage the innards. Be careful, if you damage the innards here it ruins the meat.”
From Elrand’s explanation, it was best to do this with the blade of the knife tilting upwards, so I did as he said.
“Right. That’s right. It’s fine to take it slowly at first. What’s important is that you don’t damage the internal organs.”
I did as Elrand said, and slowly cut an opening while making sure not to damage any organs.
Yeah, this is going well.
The belly opened wide, exposing the boar’s innards.
Oh, this really is different from a cockatrice. The red boar’s innards are bigger and seem more tightly packed. It’s honestly gory and gross. Still, it’s been totally drained of blood, so I’m somehow managing to hold on to my composure.
After taking a deep breath, I looked straight at the red boar.
“This organ and this organ both contain feces, so be especially careful when handling them. For this part that contains fecal matter, remove it along with the surrounding meat and skin, and dispose of it along with this other feces-containing organ that’s connected to it.”
As I thought, this part’s filthy, so we’re getting rid of it.
“The other organs would normally be disposed of too...... Are you going to eat them?”
“I’d have to take a look, but maybe.”
I did plan to eat them, but that would have to happen after appraising them.
I’m leaving it to you, Mr. Appraisal.
............From what I could see with Appraisal, red boar organs were completely useless.
Too bad.
Almost all of them came with the sentence, “Edible, but is extremely smelly, and has an awful, gamey taste.”
So, they could be eaten, but given that it says right there that it’s bad, there’s no need to go out of my way to eat them.
Thus, I removed all of the useless organs and tossed them in a hole I made with Earth magic. After that, under Elrand’s instruction, I cut off the head and gently peeled off the skin so that I wouldn’t damage anything.
“Now that we’re this far, all that’s left is to separate the meat into cuts. So we’re almost done.”
As I thought, when it comes to something huge like a red boar, it takes a lot of time. I do think I did fairly well for my first time, though.
Just when we’d reached a decent stopping point, Fel and the others came back from the forest.
Lunch ended up being yakitori rice bowls using the leftover yakitori from yesterday. It was a simple dish; I just put shredded seaweed on rice and laid a bunch of yakitori pieces with sauce on top.
Once they were filled up, Fel and the others happily went back into the dense forest. As for Elrand and I, we reopened the butchering class.
Once we’d finished separating the red boar’s meat into cuts, we started on a second boar.
After draining its blood, I opened up the belly while being careful not to damage anything......
“Whew, it’s finally over.”
With Elrand’s instructions in mind, I somehow managed two entire red boars.
It only occurred to me after I started butchering these: Is it really fine to do as we’ve been doing? Just eating the meat immediately after getting it from the Adventurer’s guild? The monster meat has been delicious even though we’ve been doing that, so I haven’t really cared before, but don’t they say that beef and pork and stuff is better after having some time to age and mature? I’ve heard stories of hunters leaving boar meat in a cold stream after draining them and taking out the innards, too. I know I shouldn’t be making one-to-one comparisons between monsters and earth animals, but what if it actually makes the meat better?
“Elrand, aren’t we going to age the meat?”
“Age? What’s that?”
Looks like Elrand doesn’t know.
“Uhh, you see, when you store meat for a certain amount of time in a cool place, it becomes more delicious. Or so I’ve heard......”
“Hahaha~, no way. We do use cold storage places to preserve the freshness of meat. But in the first place, monster meat is always more delicious the fresher it is.”
From what Elrand said, for monsters as the freshness drops, the flavor also drops. So as long as you didn’t use salt and turn them into jerky, the meat would turn black and start emitting miasma in about seven-to-ten days.
Of course, once that happened, it would become inedible, and would just start to rot from there. Given that, conventional wisdom apparently suggested that the fresher monster meat was, the more delicious it would be.
I see. Up until now, all I’ve done is receive the meat from the Adventurers guild and stuff it into my Item Box, so to be honest I have never really been concerned about that.
The biggest problem is that the meat could rot, but with the time-stopping effect of my Item Box, it hasn’t been a problem, after all. So freshness is the most important thing for monster meat, huh? Thank goodness my Item Box stops time, then.
“So will today’s dinner be something using this fresh red boar?” Elrand hit me with a look full of hope and expectation.
Please stop expecting so much out of me. Still, I did finally manage to butcher a red boar on my own.
Red boar... its taste is somewhere between pork and wild boar, right......? Pork, boar, pork, boar............ maybe a miso-flavored botan hot pot?
Okay. Tonight’s dinner will be botan hot pot!
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Once we got back to the inn, I got what I needed with my skill and started preparing dinner. The recipe for botan hot pot was something I’d learned from watching a neighbor back at my parents’ home when he’d made it and shared it with us after catching a boar.
Fel and the others were singing a chorus of hunger, so I concentrated on speedy cooking.
~◇~◇~◇~
Take a clay pot filled with water and add bonito, seaweed, dashi base (powdered), grated ginger (from a tube), sake, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and miso, bringing the mixture to a simmer. When the time is right, take some freshly butchered red boar meat, cut it into thin slices and add them to the pot, cooking the meat at a low heat. Carefully scoop out any scum that forms, and once the meat is partially cooked, add in the vegetables.
To prepare said vegetables: cut some daikon radishes and carrots into strips so that they easily cook, untangle the shimeji and enoki mushrooms, cut some Chinese cabbage into bite-sized chunks, and cut the spring onion diagonally.
Lastly, once the vegetables are cooked through, add some potherb mustard and it’s finished.
~◇~◇~◇~
All it takes is cutting the ingredients and boiling them, so it’s super easy.
It went well with greater burdock too, but I didn’t want to bother washing any, so I decided to go without today.
I made many pots for my three familiars.
“Here. It’s hot so be careful~.”
Fel started eating after cooling it down with Wind magic, and Dora-chan did the same thing. Sui seemed to be just fine no matter how hot it was.
“I was a little disappointed hearing we would be having red boar, but this is pretty good.”
《The meat is soft and delicious.》
《So gooood!》
Thankfully, the botan hot pot went over well.
“Now, let’s eat too.”
Elrand and I shared a single pot. “I always thought red boar meat was to be grilled... But it’s good boiled too~.”
Yep, yep, it’s good. Red boar meat is delicious, but more than anything this soup is amazing. It’s perfect, with the sweetness of the vegetables and the juices from the meat seeped into it. Heheheh... I’m looking forward to the after-dish.
After Fel and the others had several pots’ worth, it was finally time for the finisher.
Lastly, use the remaining soup with some udon...... Simmer it gradually... and great. This should do it.
“This is the final hurrah of hot pots. The udon finisher.”
I thought they would have a hard time with their first taste of udon, but the chewy feeling was well received by everyone.
Personally, I was greatly satisfied by my first udon in a while.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Elrand and I had come to the Adventurer’s guild next door to our inn. It was finally time to sell the dungeon drops.
(My three familiars were waiting at the inn. I had left them lots of snacks just in case, so even if we went a little long, it should be fine.)
When we reached the receptionist, we were quickly led to the guildmaster’s room.
“Sorry for taking so long; we’re eager to get started. Oh, and we have another guest here as well.”
Next to Nadiya, who came to greet us, there was a small, neatly-dressed white-haired old man who looked to be in his late sixties.
“Let me introduce you to the guildmaster of the Merchant’s guild, Hanson.”
Having been introduced by Nadiya, Hanson put on a smile and introduced himself once again.
“Yes, I’m Hanson, the Merchant’s guild guildmaster here in Aveling. Pleased to meet you.”
I suppose it really is the mark of a huge town’s Merchant’s guild guildmaster. His attitude is humble, and he even treats a younger person like me politely.
“My name is Mukohda. Pleased to meet you. This is the guildmaster from Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild, Elrand. We were the ones who conquered Aveling’s dungeon.”
“I’m Elrand. I’m usually in Dolan, but due to ‘circumstances,’ I joined Mukohda on his exploration of the dungeon.”
It wasn’t ‘circumstances,’ Elrand......
“Sorry for rushing this, but let’s move on to the sale. We’re busy right now, you see. So, what we want to buy is......”
Since the Adventurer’s guild and Merchant’s guild were cooperating to buy things, they listed quite the amount.
The list went as follows: corrosive liquids, fragments of skeleton bone, white caterpillar strings, gray caterpillar strings, anesthetics, killer ant jaws, killer ant knight shells, killer mantis scythes, giant killer mantis scythes, killer hornet venomous stingers, killer hornet (special individual) venomous stingers, killer hornet queen venomous stingers, venom tarantula strings, venom tarantula (special individual) strings, giant centipede shells, killer camel cricket teeth, giant cockroach shells, giant cockroach claws, ghoul poisoned claws, big bite turtle shells, big bronze iguana skins, red killer crocodile teeth, and red killer crocodile skins. Additionally: dark balls x30, black serpent skin x30, black anaconda skin x15, red serpent skin x5, and crimson asp skin x10.
They also wanted all the very small, small, and medium-sized magic stones, and all the gemstones like rubies, sapphires, and diamonds.
Lastly, they wanted the magic bag (medium), although it didn’t come from this dungeon.
When I actually heard the list, I was surprised at the amount they were buying.
Of course, I expected it from the Adventurer’s guild, but it looks like the Merchant’s guild also decided this was the time to spend big since they could buy it directly from an adventurer.
As Nadiya put it: “There’s not that many chances to buy so much all at once, you know? We can’t just let that opportunity pass.” And Hanson apparently felt the same way.
It seemed that the Adventurer’s guild definitely wanted the bug-type materials that would become weapons and armor, and that the Merchant’s guild wanted the strings and skins, as well as gemstones, no matter what. For the extremely useful magic stones, both sides wanted as many as they could get. And as for the magic bag, it seemed that both guilds had wanted it, but after some negotiation, it had been won by the Adventurer’s guild.
Nadiya had a very satisfied face as she said, “You don’t see magic bags around that often, you know?”
It looks like a regular somewhat dirty cloth bag, though. At any rate, I’m just grateful that they’re buying so much, since they’d just waste away in my Item Box otherwise.
“That’s what we want to buy — are there any problems?”
“I’m fine with it. What about you, Elrand?”
“Yes. Of course I’m fine with it.”
“Then let’s confirm the goods. Given the amount, let’s move to the storehouse.”
Led by Nadiya, all of us moved to the storehouse.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Once we reached the storehouse, I found employees of both guilds waiting for us.
“Okay then. Will you show us the goods?” Nadiya asked. So I brought out all the drop items from my Item Box that were on the list. The goods I brought out were all confirmed on the spot by the employees of both guilds.
“There’s no problem with any of it, guildmaster. In fact, they’re of amazing quality.” An older-looking Adventurer’s guild employee reported to Nadiya after confirming the drop items.
“Same here. These gems are especially wonderful. Just as one would expect out of a dungeon.”
And right afterwards, a person that looked to be a Merchant’s guild employee reported to Hanson.
“If there’s no problem then, would the price we talked about before be all right, Hanson?”
“Yes.”
While Hanson nodded, Nadiya whispered something to a nearby employee.
“Alright, Mukohda, Elrand, I’ll break down the sale for you.”
Elrand and I responded, “Yes,” so Nadiya started immediately.
“Uhh, then let’s start with the corrosive liquids. These go for 7 silver each, so all of them will come out to 23 gold and 8 silver. Next, the skeleton bone fragments are 5 silver each, so all of them will be 13 gold. Next, white caterpillar string is worth 2 silver each, so that’s 27 gold and 6 silver. Next, gray caterpillar string is 4 silver each, so all of it will be 12 gold. Next...............”
Given the amount, Nadiya’s breakdown lasted a long while.
“Continuing on, the opal (medium) will be 260 gold, the amethyst (medium), will be 150 gold each for a total of 300 gold, and the aquamarine (large) will be 490 gold. All together, that comes to 21,200 gold.”
...............Wha? Twenty... one thousand and... two... hundred?
...............WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!
“Th-This is... Wow, what an amazing number it’s become......”
While my surprise was a matter of course, Elrand also seemed shocked.
“Hahahah! So Dolan’s guildmaster is surprised, too? Well, chances to buy so much at once don’t come often. Both our guilds really splurged.”
“That’s right. For the Merchant guild, this is a rare chance to get high quality dungeon items directly. We’d fail as merchants if we held back here.”
Well that’s just grand, I guess. Still, 21,200 gold...... Like, my Item Box already has so much gold in it I’ll never be able to spend it all. Even if I was sharing this with Elrand, there’s so much gold. Like, what are you telling me to do with it?
“Then let’s get the payment finished. There’ll be way too many coins if we try to pay in regular gold, so we’ll be paying in platinum coins. This is 212 platinum coins. Please confirm the amount,” Nadiya said, handing me a heavy-looking bag.
When I looked inside, it was stuffed full of platinum coins. With Elrand’s help, we counted the money.
White gold coins: one, two, three, four, five...............
Elrand counted 100; I counted 112. So in total, it came out to 212 platinum coins.
“Y-Yes, there’s no problem.”
“That was a good deal. Thanks.”
“You have the Merchant’s guild’s gratitude as well.”
“Now then, it’s gonna get busy from now on.”
“The same for the Merchant’s guild. We’ve managed to obtain so many good items. Right now, there are many people from our guild waiting with bated breath for this,” Hanson said, laughing.
Looks like they’re happy to be busy. These two are hard workers to their roots, huh? Unlike a certain person next to me.
With the deal done, both Elrand and I returned to the inn.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
When I got back to the inn, I found my familiars hungry.
“......So you’re hungry, huh?”
“Indeed.”
《Food, quick.》
《Master — Sui is hungry—.》
Honestly, I would rather quickly give Elrand his portion of the money first, but it looks like I won’t be allowed to do that... Oh well, it’ll have to wait until after food.
All three of my familiars were staring at me silently.
The pressure to hurry up and cook is......
I still had some rice I steamed in the morning, so I guess it had to be rice bowls.
Don’t call me a one-trick pony. It’s simple and fills you up and is delicious. I think rice bowls are the best.
Let’s use the red boar meat I butchered yesterday. So what would be good............ Okay, let’s do that: super-spicy rice bowls, starring gochujang chili paste as the main flavor.
After buying vegetables and gochujang with my skill, I quickly started cooking.
~◇~◇~◇~
Cut the carrots into vertical strips around 3cm long, and cut garlic chives to the same length. Then lightly wash some bean sprouts. (It’s a hassle, so I’m the type to not remove the root ends of the bean sprouts. I hear that they have some nutritional value, too. I do sometimes actually take the time to trim them if I feel like I’ll be bothered by them in a soup though.)
Oil up a heated frying pan, and start cooking thin-cut slices of red boar meat. After a quick sear and once the color of the meat changes, add in the carrots and bean sprouts and continue frying until they wilt before adding in the garlic chives.
After that, add a mixture of soy sauce, sake, gochujang, sugar, grated garlic, and sesame oil, and cook while coating everything in it.
Once that’s done, layer a bunch of the spicy meat and vegetables on top of the rice bowls, top with white sesame seeds, and the super-spicy rice bowl is done.
~◇~◇~◇~
“Here. It’s done.”
When I placed the food in front of them, they jumped on it as if they couldn’t wait any longer.
“Mm? This is good. The spiciness tingles on my tongue. It whets the appetite.”
《Yeah. I like spicy things a lot, so this is great for me.》
《It’s spicy, but Sui can handle this much. It’s delicious!》
I made the next batch with less gochujang so that Sui could enjoy it too. That seemed to be the right call.
Elrand and I had our own normal-sized bowls. “Here you go. Your share, Elrand.”
“Oh my, this smell is really appetizing, isn’t it~?”
True to his word, Elrand immediately stuffed his face full.
Well then, I should start eating too...
Yeah — this is simple, but as good as always. I just love the spiciness of the gochujang.
“This spiciness goes really nicely with this white ‘rice.’ I feel like I can eat more of this than usual.”
Yeah, but your concept of ‘usual’ is anything but, isn’t it? I’m starting to think that I might as well give Elrand as big a bowl as Fel and the others.
The spiciness of the dish must have driven their appetites higher, as all three of my familiars, and Elrand as well, had more servings than usual.
After they’d filled up on the spicy rice bowls, we took a break to digest. Elrand and I had roasted green tea, while Fel and the others had cider.
“Ah, right. I need to hand over your share of the money from earlier, Elrand.”
“I don’t need any of it as long as you sell the rest of the dark balls to Dolan, though.”
“No no, that’s not good. We went through the dungeon together.”
“If that’s the case, then like we talked about earlier, I’m fine with about a third of the treasure out of the hydra’s treasure chest.”
“No, that’s way too little, isn’t it? Let’s be fair and split this evenly.”
“No, no, I’m saying that’s way too much.”
“Then I’ll give you a third of it. I won’t go any lower than that.”
“No, no, one third is still way too much.”
“No no no. It’s not too much, I’m telling you. I’m going to make you accept this.”
After a while of chorusing ‘no’ at each other, Elrand and I finally reached an agreement of 50 platinum coins. I wanted to push through to a third no matter what, but Elrand just wouldn’t assent to that. So I broke down, and suggested 50 platinum coins even though it didn’t amount to so much as a fourth of the amount. Somehow, I managed to get that one to pass. I was still left with a huge amount of money, though.
It’s nice that I never have to be troubled for it, but having too much money is also another problem. It probably seems like a truly first-world problem to be troubled that you have too much money, though. At least, from someone else’s perspective.
For me, I just keep amassing more and more money. I have no idea what to use it on, and I’ve never had so much money, so I’m actually scared that I’m too rich. There’s nothing I really want these days, and there’s only so much money I can spend on my Online Supermarket, so maybe it’s best to buy something big to lessen the burden on my wallet.
After that, I handed the 50 platinum coins to Elrand before we started talking about our future plans.
“Let’s quickly head for Dolan.”
“Whaaat? Why can’t we take it easy here for a bit longer?”
“What are you saying? ‘We’ aren’t really in a hurry, but you have to be, right Elrand? You’ve been leaving it all up to Ugohl until now.”
“That’s true, but I think Ugohl will be fine...”
I know that Ugohl is really good at his job. With Ugohl around, I bet that things will run smoothly for a while. But you know, you are the guildmaster of Dolan’s Adventurer’s guild. At least in name. Without you, I think there are a lot of things that can’t be decided upon.
“If you’re any later than this, Ugohl will be super angry, you know? Actually, I think he’s angry right now......” I said, and Elrand sunk into thought for a little bit.
He must have remembered something, as he muttered, “Oh yeah, he did say to take care of things quickly or something, and to come back immediately, I think......” Elrand’s face got visibly whiter by the second.
“W-We should probably go back quickly......”
Right?
As a result of talking with Elrand, we decided to prepare for the journey tomorrow and set off early in the morning the next day for Dolan.
Personally, for my preparations, it would just be preparing lots of food. Let’s make some now, and spend tomorrow cooking a huge amount.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
After yesterday and today, my preparations for travel were perfect.
I used all of the cockatrice and red boar I’d butchered to make the usual karaage and other fried foods, as well as miso-marinated meat, ginger-fried meat, and ground meat for Hamburg steaks and meat soboro.
I used the rest of the red boar and golden-backed bull meat to make mixed minced meat. I used it to make a ton of gyoza — it had been a while since I’d made any. I tried making grilled gyoza, fried gyoza, and even gyoza soup with lots of vegetables in it: a simple but delicious soup made with gyoza, vegetables, and chicken stock.
Other than that, I made some more fried seafood with the fish we got in Berléand, as well as a soy sauce and butter-flavored foil bake with tyrant fish and lots of vegetables.
Because sometimes, you just really want seafood right? Speaking for myself, anyway.
Since I got the Cook job in my stats, my movements had gotten a lot smoother and faster. I ended up getting a little full of myself and making a lot of food. I even made a cream stew using cockatrice meat.
I’d never made cream stew until now since I preferred demiglace stew, but it was still good in its own right, and there are times when you just crave it. I used a roux brimming with the blessings of Hokkaido, the same one that we used back at home, so the flavor came out relaxing and nostalgic.
Secretly, I ended up getting a bit sentimental while tasting the stew. I won’t be able to go back to my world anymore, huh......
After I finished cooking all the food for our travels, I went with Elrand to the Adventurer’s guild before it got dark to tell Nadiya we’d be leaving tomorrow.
When we did, I gave Nadiya both plain and matcha pound cakes that I’d made in Berléand, saying, “It’s sweet, so try it whenever you need a break.” She was really happy with it.
The female employees looked really jealous seeing that, so I left some for them, too. They all raised a cheer, even though it was still work hours.
For girls who are weak to sweets, pound cakes are a great present.
After returning from the Adventurer’s guild, it was time for dinner. I made a rice bowl using the pork cutlets I fried up in the afternoon along with some sauce.
Lay some shredded cabbage over rice, then cover in a sauce made from chuno sauce, ketchup, mirin, and sugar mixed together. And then, lay a pork cutlet that’s been roughly coated with a katsudon sauce on top of that......
Yeah. It’s really good.
The sauce-drenched katsudon was well received by everyone, enough that I was asked to make it again.
After everyone filled up, Dora-chan, Sui, and I enjoyed a bath before we had to go out and travel. This time, Elrand was with us, so we wouldn’t be able to leisurely take a bath on the road like usual.
So the day was spent busily like that, but I still had one thing left to do.
Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Dolan, and I’d honestly like to go to sleep already... But even though everyone else has already gone to sleep, here I am on my own, still awake.
The thing I had to do was fulfill a promise.
It’s annoying, so let’s get this over with quickly.
“Are you guys here? Everyone~?”
As soon as I called out to them, I heard the thudding sounds of many running feet.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Just like always, I lined up what the gods wanted on cardboard altars.
Ninrir wanted Fumiya’s cakes, like always. She chose a huge amount of cakes and sweets today, enough to give me heartburn just by looking.
Kisharle also asked for beauty products, as usual. She was worried about the lack of luster in her skin, so I got her some rinse-off facial packs. I also got her some more bath additives, including some fairly expensive German bath salts.
For Agni, it was her favorite beer. This time, I bought her a case of Y-bisu beer. For the rest, I got several six-packs, including A-company’s premium beer and S-company’s black label beer.
Ruka had Fumiya’s cakes and ice cream. She also asked for the Hamburg steaks that I made, fried seafood, and gyoza.
Hephaestos and Vahagn, the liquor-loving duo, of course asked for more booze from the Tenant, “Liquor Shop Tanaka,” focusing on whiskey. Apparently, they had their eyes on a lot of different ones due to having me tell them about the rankings last time, so they decided relatively quickly this time. I had to spend more time telling them all about the daily and weekly whiskey rankings, though.
After checking out everything in the cart, I put everything on the cardboard altars......
Great, this should do it.
“Here you go, everyone.”
The items on the cardboard altars disappeared one by one, and I heard the gods cheer.
Whew, it’s over.
＜＜HOLD YOUR HORSEESSSS!!!＞＞
As soon as I was about to go to sleep already, I was stopped by a pair of deep voices.
“Geez, what?”
＜What do you mean, ‘what?’!!! Did you forget your promise?＞
＜That’s right! Didn’t you say that we could each get something we like extra? I won’t let you forget!＞
............Ah. Oh, yeah — I did say that, didn’t I? I totally forgot.
Sorry.
＜Hey, what’s this?＞ I heard one of the goddesses say.
It seemed like the liquor-loving duo was explaining what happened to the goddesses.
＜What?!! Is that true? So you guys can do something useful sometimes.＞
I heard Hephaestos and Vahagn object to Ninrir’s words, saying, ＜What do you mean, sometimes?＞
＜More importantly, does that include us?＞ Agni asked.
“Ahh, yeah. Sure. Of course it includes you.”
Well, it’s basically like a special bonus for the gods.
“However, it’s one each, and only something up to around 1 gold.”
＜Oh~? ‘Around 1 gold’... that means we can go over, right?＞
The one who reacted so shrewdly was Kisharle.
“Just a little. I’ll refuse anything that exceeds it by too much,” I answered, to which the goddesses all cheered.
“Then I’ll be taking your orders, so... ah, remember what I said. One each.”
First was Ninrir.
＜I’ve already decided! Heheheheheh, I’ve been wanting to eat this since I saw it. That huge square cake with lots of red fruit on top!＞
Square-shaped huge cake............ This?
There was just one strawberry cake on the whole menu that seemed to fit the bill exactly. It was a cake for a huge party and many people.
“This one, Ninrir?”
＜That’s right!! That one!＞ shouted Ninrir, excitedly.
This one? It’s really huge, you know?
The price was about right, at 1 gold and 1 silver.
Well, it’s within limits, but more than that, is she planning to eat this all by herself?
............Given her history, that useless goddess Ninrir actually would. Yeah, she’d totally eat it, while doing that ‘Muhhaaah~’ noise she does. It seems like it’s hard for gods to get sick, but they did say that it’s not like it never happens, right? I hope she’s watching out for diabetes.
......She should have been reading my thoughts, but she’s so excited she just hasn’t noticed, huh? Hahaha, Ninrir really is just awful as a goddess.
With those thoughts running through my head, I added the whole cake to the cart.
＜I’m next! Heheh... to tell you the truth, I’ve also wanted a certain cream for a while now...＞ Kisharle said happily.
Hey now, I said around 1 gold, okay? The more expensive beauty products really are expensive, so control yourself.
From what Kisharle said, it was a cream for use during the night.
“Uhh, do you remember who makes it?”
＜It should be...... That one. Right there.＞
I was pointing out the items in order from the menu, and Kisharle spoke up around the SHISYOUDO section.
So, for creams to be used at night, she must mean night cream, right?
I looked at the night creams, and Kisharle spoke up once again.
＜There! That one!＞
Huh? This one?
...Whoa! Expensive!! It’s 1 gold and 2 silver! Wait, it’s that expensive and you only get 50 grams......?
W-Well, if it’s this much I’m okay with it. But still, 1 gold and 2 silver for 50 grams...... Beauty products sure are something.
“Next is......”
＜Me!＞ Agni’s energetic voice resounded in my head.
“Will it be beer for you, Agni?”
＜Yeah. But I only get one, right? A case of beer won’t cost an entire gold, so I’m feeling like I’m losing out.＞
True. Even on the more expensive side, with A-company’s premium beer or a box of Y-bisu, beer doesn’t go all the way up to 1 gold. Oh, wait......
I had seen something in passing while I had been looking through my new Tenant, the liquor shop Tanaka.
Uhhh............ Oh, there it is.
As I flipped through the menu for liquor shop Tanaka, I saw what I was thinking of.
“What about this?” I introduced Agni to a slightly expensive gift set of beer, coming in a black bottle with a golden label. It was 1 gold for a case of thirty.
“It says, ‘A dream beer obsessed over by brewers,’ here. It goes on: ‘Its taste is slightly bitter and deep, a taste that surpasses other beers.’”
＜Ohh! That sounds good! Dream beer’s a great name! I’ll take that.＞
Slam that in the cart, there.
“Next is Ruka.”
＜............I want something delicious I can eat now.＞
Something she can eat now? So something that’s already been cooked? I did say only one each, and there probably isn’t anything the Online Supermarket sells that costs an entire gold............ Ah!!
I thought of a certain possibility and switched over to the gift menu.
Oh there’s a lot here, isn’t there? There’s domestic brand-name beef for sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and grilling, too. They all look good. Wait, Ruka wants to eat it immediately, so ham would be better, I think. Let’s see............ Oh, this might be good.
“How about this one?” I pointed Ruka to a pack of domestic, carefully selected name-brand ham and roast pork. “With this, you’ll be able to just cut it and eat it as-is, or you can cut a thicker piece and grill it to make some ham steak. Both are delicious.”
＜Meat from... another world......... Good. *Schlrp*＞
Hey, did you just suck back some drool? Given Ruka’s reaction......
“Should I get this?”
＜Yes.＞
That was quick.
I’ve gotten it before as a gift for Obon or year’s end, and high grade-ham like this is truly great. It’s the best as a snack with beer when you cube some and cook it lightly before flavoring it with some grainy mustard... Oh crap, I need to move on.
“Next is Hephaestos and Vahagn, right?”
＜Yup! It’s us. You already know what we want, right?＞
＜Yeah. Give us that.＞
＜＜We want the twelve-year version of the world’s best whisky!＞＞
Thought so. The twelve-year version should be 1 gold and 2 silver, right? Beyond that, the eighteen-year version jumps upwards in price, and the twenty-five-year was over 100,000 yen, wasn’t it?
W-Well, compared to that, 1 gold and 2 silver is pretty reasonably priced, I guess.
“So I should get you a bottle each?”
＜Indeed. A bottle each.＞
＜Yeah. I really want to take my time tasting this one.＞
And so, I added two bottles of the twelve-year aged version of the world’s best whisky, made by a Japanese distiller.
Great. This should do it.
I once again lined up all the items on cardboard altars.
“Well then, please take them, everyone.” And with those words, the items on the cardboard altars disappeared.
Once again, I could hear the gods cheer. And right after............
＜What’re you all doing, gathered around like that?＞
I clearly heard a hoarse old man’s voice.
＜NWHOA!＞
＜Whoa!＞
＜Kyah!＞
＜Ah!＞
＜GUOH!＞
＜Geh!＞
And I heard all the gods make surprised noises.
＜＜＜＜＜＜G-God of All Creation............＞＞＞＞＞＞
W-What...!!!
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
＜So? What are you all doing?＞
In front of the highest-ranked god of all, the God of All Creation, the gods could only hem and haw.
＜Ninrir, you have to be the one to explain things here. You were the one who met the otherworlder boy first, after all.＞
＜Yeah, yeah!＞
＜......Ninrir is best.＞
＜You’re the one who found him first, right?＞
＜In these cases, the one who’s known him the longest has to speak.＞
The other goddesses and the liquor-loving duo both pushed all responsibility onto Ninrir.
Wow, that’s just heartless.
＜W-Why is it me that has to do it?! Why can’t it be one of you?!＞
＜What are you saying? You were the first one to give your blessing to the otherworlder boy, so you have to do it!＞
That seemed to be Kisharle’s voice.
＜Hey, are you done figuring this out yet?＞
＜Sorry for making you wait. Ninrir will explain for the rest of us.＞
＜Grrrr... Kisharle... all of you... I’ll remember this,＞ I heard Ninrir speak grudgingly.
＜So Ninrir will be the one speaking? Well? Go on.＞ The Creator God’s voice mercilessly pressed her for an explanation.
＜No, uhh, you see............＞ Against her will, Ninrir started to recount what had happened with me up until this point.
＜So, if I’m hearing this correctly, Ninrir, you realized that an otherworlder summoned here through the ritual of hero summoning had a mysterious unique skill called ‘Online Supermarket,’ which is able to obtain food and other things from his world. So you gave him a blessing as an excuse for extorting him for things from the other world? Then, knowing this, Kisharle, Agni, Rusalka, Hephaestos, and Vahagn all joined in?＞
All the things the Creator God was saying were completely true, and since none of them could deny it, they had no choice but to stay silent.
＜YOU IIIDIIIOOOOOOOOOOTS!!!!＞ His angry cry was loud enough to surprise me. The Creator God’s thunderous wrath struck the other gods.
＜You’re all gods, so what were you thinking, ganging up on one of the subjects you’re supposed to protect!!＞
＜N-No, we weren’t ganging up on him! No, wait, we really weren’t. We all properly gave him blessings, so......＞ Ninrir was completely freaked out and speaking with the Creator God without any sense of formality whatsoever.
＜Even though you granted him your blessing, the fact that you’re extorting offerings itself is wrong!! Have any of you asked for anything from the ones you’ve given blessings to up until now? Hm? How about it?＞
＜Ummm......＞
＜Th-That’s......＞
＜Uhhh......＞
＜............＞
＜N-No, you see......＞
＜No, uhhh......＞
The Creator God only seemed more imposing by the minute, and the other gods couldn’t even get out a straight answer.
＜The fact that you won’t answer means that you haven’t, right? In the first place, blessings are something you give to those you recognize will better the world. You all should know that already.＞
It seemed like the other gods couldn’t even respond to the Creator God’s point.
This whole time I’d only been talking to them and hadn’t actually met any of them face-to-face, meaning I didn’t know how any of them looked, but I could just imagine them all simultaneously drooping their heads in shame.
＜Have goods from this other world really led you that far astray? Okay, I will see myself. Let me look.＞
I heard some rustling noises. It seemed like the Creator God was looking through all the different things I’d sent over to them.
＜You... You all have been receiving things like this......? As a punishment, I will be confiscating all of it.＞
＜＜＜＜＜＜Noooo!＞＞＞＞＞＞
Oh... Oh my. All of it, huh? They’ve all gotten completely addicted to this stuff, are they gonna be okay? I don’t think Ninrir can survive without cakes at this point. And Kisharle just got that night cream she was looking forward to, too. Even Agni told me she started drinking beer every night with her meals. Ruka always gives the weakest reactions, but she seemed really interested in that gift set of ham. As for the liquor-loving duo, I can’t even imagine them living without whiskey at this point.
With that in mind, if all of it gets confiscated, even I’m starting to feel a little sorry for them. It’s true that it was a lot of bother to do it once a week, but the blessings and things they gave me did in fact help a lot. Especially when we went into dangerous dungeons and things. Since we’ve been involved all this time, I guess I should help them out a little.
“E-Excuse me... God of All Creation, is it?” Fighting through my nervousness, I called out to the God of All Creation.
＜Ohh, so you’re the rumored otherworlder? I am the creator of this world. You may call me Demiurge. Sorry for causing you so much trouble.＞
“My name is Mukohda. Pleased to speak to you. And it wasn’t that much trouble...... When I was first summoned to this world, I really was lost on what I should do, but I’ve met some nice people, and I’m living properly now.”
Yes - now I have Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui too. I’ve met a lot of different people, and it’s been pretty fun. In any case, the whole reason I ended up here was because of the country of Reijseger, who did the hero summoning ceremony. So if there is anyone to blame, it would be that fucking shady-ass country.
＜The king pig, huh...... That country really never does anything decent, but the current king is even worse than usual.＞
Oh... Right, everything I think is clear as day to the gods. Sorry for being so crass.
＜It’s not wrong to call him a king pig, since he only puts effort into growing his own profits and has fattened up because of it. You know, I too was thinking it was about time to do something about that country. Truthfully, gods shouldn’t be interfering too much with the lower world, but...... It’s just... You know that country’s trying to use the taboo hero summoning ritual once again?＞
“What? They’re going to try again after us?”
＜Well, you see............＞
After that, the God of All Creation told me all about that shady king pig, the country of Reijseger which he led, and the three high schooler heroes who had been summoned along with me.
＜You know that Reijseger is currently in a war, no?＞
“Yes. It should be against the neighboring country of Marveil, if memory serves......”
One of the reasons I had been in such a hurry to get out of that place was because it looked like they were about to start a war.
＜That’s right. And, they were planning on sending in those three heroes into the middle of the war.＞
Wow...... Wait, no, that country just might do it. With their stats, if they just level up a little, they could probably clean up pretty handily on the battlefield.
“So, what happened to the three of them?”
They hadn’t been that nice to me, but we were all from Japan, so I was curious. If they really had been sent out to war......
＜They’re fine. They realized they were being deceived with filthy lies, so the three of them ran away.＞
From what the Creator God said, the three of them had been assigned beautiful men and women as instructors, and as they had grown close, the teachers had tried to “gift” each of them with a magic tool called a “Dominance Bracelet” which would have turned them into something like slaves. And actually, one of them, the girl named Rio (the short cute one with the bob cut, if I’m remembering right), had been successfully fitted with one, causing things to seem pretty bad for a while.
But while they were out hunting monsters to level up, her left arm with the “Dominance Bracelet” on it had gotten cut off in battle...... Whether that was good luck or bad, it seemed to have brought that Rio girl back to her senses, and along with the other two who had already gleaned what was going on, she had managed to escape the kingdom of Reijseger.
“So, where are they right now? Also, if that Rio girl lost her left arm......”
From what I’d learned, even if they did flee, the surrounding countries weren’t all that great, either.
＜Don’t worry. Right now, the three of them are in Marveil. They became adventurers like you and formed a party together.＞
Oh, is that so? I’m a little relieved. But, Marveil, huh? Isn’t that the country that’s right in the middle of a war with Reijseger? They have the title of “hero,” so I wonder if they won’t just be used by the nobles and royalty of Marveil instead?
＜In that respect, they’re fine for now. The royal palace knows of them, but hasn’t tried to make contact. Marveil is a powerful country in its own right, you know? It has lots of people who are much stronger than the three “heroes” right now, so they don’t really feel the need to talk with them. In fact, they actually feel it would be dangerous to do so — if they send the three heroes out to war now, there’s a danger of Reijseger accusing them of kidnapping or something.＞
That makes sense. From what I’ve heard, they’re not above kidnapping or using magic tools for subjugation, so making accusations is certainly the kind of underhanded thing that kingdom would do. Man, they’re just the worst.
＜Indeed. It’s just as you think. After all, that kingdom has failed to realize their own merits and instead tries to increase their territory through underhanded means. It seems that they’ve done these kinds of things so many times that they’ve finally angered Marveil’s king, too.＞
Apparently Marveil was pretty angry, and they were planning to completely destroy Reijseger through this war.
＜This time, the country of demonfolk is moving too.＞
Oh yeah, both Marveil and Reijseger border the country of demonfolk.
Marveil was basically treated as untouchable by the demonfolk territories, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t interact at all, so it seemed that the demonfolk were helping with Marveil’s plans to destroy Reijseger in the imminent war.
Just neighboring that country brings no end of trouble, so of course the demonfolk would happily help, huh?
＜Even if I don’t help, Reijseger will probably be destroyed in the near future.＞
Well, with that king, sure.
“Ah, so, you said that the three of them were adventurers. So the girl who lost her left arm too...?”
＜Indeed. It seems that girl specializes in support magic, so even with one arm she’s doing pretty well for herself.＞
I see, that’s good.
...Wait, no it’s not. There’s still the fact that a teenage girl lost an arm. It’d be nice if I could do something......
I mean, I technically could. I do have Sui’s special elixir. But, to the kingdom of Marveil......? Hmm, what should I do.........?
With Fel, it isn’t impossible to get there, but that country’s right between us... If I pass through with Fel, they’ll definitely try something. It’s a place that’s just nothing but trouble, so I don’t want to get anywhere near if I can avoid it... Hmm, if I just offer the item, is it possible to ask the God of All Creation to deliver it to them?
＜What, are you concerned about the girl who lost her arm?＞
“Yes — they’re people from my homeland, after all. Also, while it’s different here, in my world they would still be considered children. Letting a child — especially a girl with a future ahead of her — be maimed would be......”
＜You really are too kind, aren’t you? Well, that is one of your good points. All right. I shall deliver that elixir for you.＞
“Really?”
＜Don’t worry, doing this much is no problem at all, I say. However, just handing it to them will probably raise their suspicions. You know, it seems those three are about to get married, so they’re traveling to the church in Marveil’s capital. And it looks like they’re going to enter a nearby dungeon on the way, so let’s make it so they ‘luckily’ find an elixir.＞
...............Hm?
“W-W-W-W-Wait a second. Did you just say, married?”
＜I did indeed: those three are getting married.＞
...............Married? The three of them?
＜Polygamy isn’t especially rare in this world, you know.＞
...............Polygamy. That pretty-boy high schooler... with two beautiful girls............
＜Overcoming harsh trials together brings men and women closer and fosters love. Oo-hoo-hoo-HOO!＞ the Creator God said, laughing.
...............WHAT THE HELL?!! Married? Huh?! I shouldn’t have sympathized! They’re totally fuckin’ happy!
Ah, but I guess it’s still nice that Rio girl is gonna get healed. But also, I’ll never forgive that damn pretty-boy high schooler getting two cute girls! Fuuuucckkkk! Even though I can’t get a girl myself!! I mean, that pretty-boy needs to go explode!!!
...............
............
......
＜......Have you calmed down?＞
“Sorry for getting worked up.”
I mean, they’re getting married...... Well, it’s true that they went through a lot, so it’s not strange that they got a lot closer, but they’re all high schoolers, you know? It’s way too early to get married in your teens, right?
......Ah, but if I think about it, in this world lots of people are already married at their age. So I guess it’s not that weird? Huh? But that would mean I’m............
Aghh! No, I have to stop. The more I, as a single man, think about it, the sadder I’ll get. It seems like they’re doing well for themselves, so I don’t need to worry about them. So, let’s just let this be.
It might have been too late now, but there was something I needed to ask the God of All Creation.
“God of All Creation, is it possible for me to, you know... return to my world......?”
＜Nope.＞
Yep, that was immediate. Thought so. He said the hero summoning ritual was a taboo, so I expected reversing it to be impossible.
＜Indeed. In the first place, the hero summoning ritual is an act that simply opens up a hole in dimensions, after all. And sending someone back would be the same: the ritual itself is a most dangerous thing to try in the first place. This time, the hole was small, so it closed by itself, but if it hadn’t, and if, instead, it had expanded, this world — and of course, your world that was connected to it — would have been destroyed.＞
The end of the world?! But, couldn’t the gods do something about it?
＜Don’t be foolish. It’s not like we can do anything just because we’re gods. When a hole between dimensions expands, it does so all at once. It’d be a dimensional collapse. If that were to happen, no god would be able to do anything about it.＞
Ohhh... So it was that dangerous... Thank goodness neither world was destroyed.
Hearing that Reijseger was slated for destruction did put me at ease though.
Well, that’s probably the fate of that king pig eventually. It just goes to show, not all those who have power can actually wield it.
＜Was there anything else you wanted to ask of me?＞
“No, I’m fine. I heard everything I wanted to hear.”
＜If that’s the case... Now, what should I do about these idiots......＞
Oh yeah, the other gods are still there.
We had digressed from the subject, but earlier the Creator God had gotten mad at the others and was going to take away all their offerings, so they were sounding really downtrodden. I felt that that was about enough.
Speaking for myself, they gave me blessings, which allowed me to ignore status effects. That was really helpful. Fel and the others were already strong, and with the new blessings they got even stronger. It was true that having to offer things once a week was a lot of hassle, but as long as they didn’t ask for anything too far-fetched, I was more or less okay with it.
As I was thinking that, the God of All Creation’s voice resounded in my head: ＜Naive.＞
＜You’re too naive. Naive as a newborn babe. Not only did they fail to report to me, the god that should know of this first, but they ganged up on you and hounded you for things. There needs to be an appropriate punishment.＞
Hmmm. If the God of All Creation says that, I guess it can’t be helped.
＜Grrr... You should try a little harder,＞ Ninrir, that divine disappointment, said resentfully; the other gods all chimed in as well, murmuring ＜Yeah, yeah!＞
＜You all need to be quiet already.＞
In response to that, the other gods all grunted in discontent.
＜I place all of you under house arrest for a month. Of course, you will be forbidden to contact Mukohda during that time. Go repent quietly in your homes.＞
＜N-No waayyyyy! Th-The cake...... Sweets from the other world............ If I can’t taste that, how will I liiive?!＞
＜N-No way...... Facial lotion, milky lotion, beauty cream, body cream...... one month...... if I run out...... NOOO!!＞
＜My beeeer! I don’t have any left, you know! How can I live an entire month without beer?!＞
＜Candy and food............ Candy and food............ Candy and food............＞
＜NOOOOOOOOO! M-My whiskeyyyyyyy!!!!＞
＜HUHHHHH?!! An entire month without booze?! No way, man!!!＞
The Creator God’s sentencing summoned a storm of agonized wails.
＜Oh shut up. I can extend that to two months if you like? Hm? How about it?＞
As soon as the Creator God said that, the other god’s cries of unhappiness stopped on a dime.
＜Geez, you all are... *Sigh*... Just go back to your homes and cool your heads.＞
The sound of dragging cloth and heavy footsteps slowly faded into the distance.
＜Hoooo, my... They finally left.＞
Oh well. Do your best over this month, gods.
＜By the way, Mukohda. I do have a request for you.＞
“A request? Anything, as long as it’s something I can do.”
He’s the most important god of this world, so I’ll do anything I can.
＜Ohh, I see, I see. My, the fact that you say that is really great. To tell you the truth......＞
According to the Creator God, he was actually a friend of Earth’s god, and they would meet every once in a while. A little while ago (I’m a little curious how much time counts as ‘a little while ago’ to gods), he had been treated to food by invitation of Earth’s god......
＜And there was a certain alcohol that Earth’s god said was special. It was so good...＞
Apparently both gods loved alcohol, so whenever they would meet, they’d drink and have great conversations about it. Still, Earth was far more advanced in culture than this world was, so they almost always drank Earth alcohol.
＜Recently, it seems that Earth’s god has gotten into Japanese sake. The special bottle he served was also Japanese sake, and Japan is your country, right?＞
“Yes. I’m Japanese.”
＜I figure you might know about good Japanese sake. I won’t demand it, but I’d be really happy if you could give me a bottle.＞
Sure, sure. I get it. In the end, whenever something happens, no one will be better to rely on than the God of All Creation, so if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. If I think of it as some kind of insurance, this is cheap. But, I’m not that well versed in sake, so I’ll be relying on the rankings in the liquor shop Tanaka, though. The rankings are based on sales, and I’m fairly sure that anything that sells can’t be bad, so I’ll be fine.
Anyway, I opened up my Online Supermarket Tenant: “Liquor Shop Tanaka.”
I looked over the menu for Japanese Sake, and immediately abandoned all hope. I had never bothered to get familiar with the other categories since the liquor-loving duo were obsessed with whiskey, but the one for Japanese sake was also separated into really detailed categories. There were a lot of very specific categories like: Junmai Daiginjo, Daiginjo, Junmai Ginjo, Ginjo, Junmai, Honjozo, Futsushu, Nigori Sake, and Sparkling Japanese Sake. If you weren’t a fan of Japanese sake, it would be completely impenetrable.
I should just give up and look at the rankings already. I switched over to the monthly rankings for Japanese sake and picked out three good-looking ones.
First was a Junmai Daiginjo that dominated third place in the monthly rankings in spite of how expensive it was, so I figured it had to be worth it. It represented the Niigata prefecture, and it was at the top of their most popular line during the brand’s inception, so they named the store after it. It was mellow and round in the mouth, with a soft and harmonic taste, according to the ad copy. The description went on to recommend cooling it to better enjoy its fruity taste.
Next was uncontestedly first in the monthly rankings, a sake from the Yamaguchi prefecture. It was apparently famous because the Japanese prime minister had once gifted it to the American president, and it appeared in some anime movie or something. It was written in the description that it frequently appeared in good Japanese sake rankings, so it was undoubtedly delicious. It seemed to be the standard of its line, and the most popular product. It was described as sweet in the mouth and smooth on the tongue, and in spite of the sweetness, the aftertaste was nice and sharp. It was recommended for aperitifs or to accompany a meal.
And the last one was ranked seventh, but the description said, “The Japanese Sake that’s most popular overseas,” so I chose it. A three-star chef in Paris had given it his stamp of approval, so it was quickly rising in popularity. The description said that it was a Ginjo sake that reminded one of fruits from southern countries, and its mellow sweetness never felt boring.
Of course, I got a 1.8 liter bottle of each one. And for snacks, I also got a premium Kantsuma gift set. It was a little expensive, but it was delicious and didn’t require any cooking. It was a twelve-can set including sardines in smoked oyster oil, black pork kakuni, corned beef, and other stuff.
Now then, let’s leave all this on a cardboard altar......
“God of All Creation, please take these three bottles and some snacks.”
＜Much obliged.＞
No, no — if I can get by with just this much, it’s cheap. After all, you’re the world’s most important god. I’m going to keep gifting the God of All Creation things from now on so that he keeps taking care of me. The other gods wanted once a week, so I’ll try to keep the same schedule for him too. Unlike the other gods, he isn’t persistent and annoying, so I’m really thankful that he’s leaving it all to me.
“Please take care of me from now on, God of All Creation.”
＜Indeed, indeed. I will. For starters, I’ll give you my blessing. Only a (small) one, though — if I were to give you a regular blessing, you’d stop being human. Ho! Ho! Ho!＞
Ohh, you mean I’d become like a demigod or something?
＜Something like that, probably. You would have a human body and abilities, but you’d be immortal.＞
I-Immortal? Whoa.
＜It’s a blessing every member of royalty or anyone in power wants, you know?＞
He told me that he had once given his full blessing to a hero who had saved the world, and that was when it had become known to confer immortality on the bearer. But being immortal didn’t mean the person was unable to die; a large enough wound could still kill you, and the hero had died after suffering just such a wound in battle against a magic beast.
＜The opponent was that Fenrir’s uncle, if I remember correctly.＞
Whoa, it was one of Fel’s relatives... and Fel’s uncle no less. So doesn’t that mean that Fenrirs are super strong? The hero that fought a Fenrir must have been no joke either.
＜By the way, my blessing (small) will give you about the same lifespan as a long-lived high elf.＞
Huh? I don’t know how long a high elf lives, though.
＜Elves live around 500 years. Long-lived high elves have about three times that lifespan, so just around 1,500 years, I think.＞
F-Fifteen hundred......? What? My lifespan just became 1,500 years? I have no idea if that’s good or bad. I guess it’s nice that I can enjoy this world to its fullest? It looks like all three of my familiars live a long time, so I’m not going to be lacking for friends.
＜Of course it’s good. With that long of a life, even someone with your terrible luck in love should be able to find someone.＞
Ah! That’s true!
...............No, wait a second. Then instead of getting a longer lifespan, wouldn’t it be better to just ask for a better love fortune?
＜That’s boring, though...＞ he whispered.
Huh? God of All Creation, did you just say something?
＜All right then, it’s about time so I’m going to cut the connection.＞
“W-Wait a second, God!”
＜Farewell－!＞
Hey! God of All Creatiooon! Come on, give me luck in love! Not more lifespaaaaannnn!!!
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
In the early morning, when the darkness of night had just lifted and the morning mist was still in the air...
After having finished a quick breakfast, we were currently in front of Aveling’s gate.
“Well then, let’s be off to Dolan.”
“I still kind of want to take it easy for a bit, but I suppose there’s nothing for it. Let’s go.”
My god, he’s still saying that?
“There’s still the butchering of the red dragon to take care of, too. That’s why we’re going to Dolan again.”
“That’s right! There is that to look forward to, isn’t there~? Eheheheheh, I got to go into a dungeon with Dora-chan, and once we’re back in Dolan, I’ll get to butcher a red dragon too! This is the best!”
Ahh, ‘zat so? He’s not a bad guy, but sometimes it gets really tiring to keep up with him. I’m remembering why Ugohl has such a tough time. Let’s just get the red dragon butchered quickly and get far away from Dolan.
“It was really great that I got to be with you, Mukohda. I made the right decision to come see you in Aveling after hearing about you in the capital,” Elrand said sincerely.
Geez, I don’t know who told him that, but he really needs to keep his mouth shut. I can only hope that Ugohl doesn’t get mad at me too.
Ah, by the way, I appraised myself first thing in the morning, and it looked like this:
【Name】 Mukohda (Tsuyoshi Mukouda)
【Age】 27
【Race】 Kind of Human
【Job】 Victim from Another World, Adventurer, Cook
【Level】 62
【HP】 405
【MP】 391
【Attack】 382
【Defense】 379
【Agility】 324
【Skills】 Appraisal, Item Box, Fire magic, Earth magic, Perfect Defense, Double Experience Gain, Familiars (Contracted Magic Beasts): Fenrir, Huge Slime, Pixie Dragon
【Unique Skill】 Online Supermarket
<<Tenants>> Fumiya, Liquor Shop Tanaka
【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir (Small); Blessing of the Goddess of Fire, Agni (Small); Blessing of the Goddess of Earth, Kisharle (Small); Blessing of the God of All Creation, Demiurge (Small)
I don’t know if it was because I was from another world, but up until now I didn’t have a race entry. And now I do. I wonder if the world recognized me after getting Demiurge’s blessing? I have no idea.
But on top of that, the most perplexing thing is the fact that it says, “Kind of Human.” Like, what the heck does that mean, “kind of?” I was told that Demiurge’s blessing is too powerful, so it’s probably thanks to that, but “kind of” is way too much, right?
Like, feeling like I’m being excluded from the human race is a little......
And my lifespan is extended to around 1,500 years too, you know? I’m gonna have to tell Fel and the others after this.
There’s no point in thinking about it now, so I guess I just have to go with the flow. For now, let’s just hurry up to Dolan.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Ah, I can see Dolan now. Thank goodness we managed to reach it before sunset.”
“So... We’re already here...” Elrand said, sounding somewhat reluctant.
“Now, let’s hurry up and get inside and head for the Adventurer’s guild.”
Ugohl is definitely waiting for us.
“Sui is far too skilled, isn’t it? We got here in only half the time it usually takes. Well, it’s not just Sui though. All of you are really skilled.”
Yep, that’s right. Everyone’s really skilled, and it saves me every day.
It was thanks to them that I got to become an S-ranked adventurer. And the fact that, even after everything that happened, I was able to live and act as an adventurer freely and comfortably was all thanks to them. Especially Sui. Its growth was outstanding.
Thanks to that, even with Elrand here we got to Dolan so quickly. I was riding on Fel’s back like always, and Elrand was riding on Sui, who was the size of a one-person cart. At first, Elrand was surprised, but once he got used to it, he started to get really excited. With Elrand around, from our perspective we moved slower than usual, but even so it was still much faster than the normal travel time.
“The food is good, and Sui is nice to ride, and at night I can sleep soundly. It was the best trip. If traveling was always like this, I’d actually want to keep going,” Elrand said, to which Dora-chan instantly telepathically messaged me, sounding disgusted.
《I’m not traveling with this thing ever again.》 Dora-chan was a little angry.
After all, in his love of dragons, Elrand would make a pass at Dora-chan over every little thing. I understood why Elrand felt that way, but every time I told him that Dora-chan hated his behavior, he wouldn’t listen, either. In the moment, he’d say “I understand,” but right afterwards......
Well, he’s just a guy that LOVES dragons, so I understand why he’s like that. Rather, the entire reason he came over to see us was because of Dora-chan.
But, that’s also the reason why he keeps striking out with Dora-chan.
《We’ll be saying goodbye to him soon, so just bear with it a little longer,》 I answered Dora-chan.
《Tch! Fine. Then I want to eat turtle meat today. It’s been a while.》
Sure, fine. Today’s dinner will be soft-shelled turtle hot-pot, as Dora-chan wants.
“Well then, let’s go Elrand.”
“Yes.”
We joined the long, snake-like line in front of the gates, waiting for our turn. The people waiting to enter stared in shock and surprise though, seeing me ride Fel, a huge wolf, and Elrand riding Sui, a huge slime.
Come to think of it, seeing an elf riding a slime is kind of a surreal sight.
The gate guard was also surprised seeing us show up all of a sudden like that, but he let us inside without a fuss. That part was all thanks to the guildmaster.
Now then, it’s time for the last hurdle. Immediately after entering, the Adventurer’s guild was right before us.
Time to face the music...