Chapter 3: Dolan’s Dungeon, Again
Chapter 3: Dolan’s Dungeon, Again
We were in Dolan’s dungeon for the second time.
Of course we completely skipped the first fifteen floors that were rife with adventurers, and even beyond the 16th floor, there was nothing that could oppose Fel and the others. Given that, I talked them into starting from the giant’s zone on the 22nd floor.
With that decided, we headed to the 22nd floor in a quick dash. Each floor’s boss had been defeated by Fel and Dora-chan in a single hit, and it didn’t take that long to get to where we were.
“Sui, we’re at the 22nd floor.” I called out to Sui, who was still in my bag...
《Yayy! Sui will beat lots!》
...And it popped outside.
In front of us was a familiar giant tunnel-like passageway, walled with exposed rock. As we went forward like we owned the place, we found a large hole on the right. In a wide, dome-shaped room, a bunch of trolls and minotaurs were lurking.
《Sui will go—!》 Sui said, before leaping in without waiting for a response.
《Aww... I was too late,》 Dora-chan muttered, sounding frustrated.
“Now now, you can just go next time, right? Just leave this one to Sui.”
《Tch! Oh fine!》
We watched Sui fight from the entrance of the room. The over 3-meter-tall giants raised a battle cry when they noticed Sui. Even so, Sui didn’t falter.
*Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew*
Sui shot one Acid Bullet after another, felling the trolls and minotaurs. Its aim was terrifyingly accurate, precisely piercing large holes through heads or chests. Sui, who’d leveled up, was far too strong an opponent for mere trolls or minotaurs.
《Master — they’re allll dead!》
“Oh, that was fast. That’s awesome, Sui.”
Well then, let’s pick up the drops and move on to the next fight.
Everyone helped pick up the drop items, and we moved on to the next room.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
We proceeded quickly, with a lunch break in the middle, until we reached the 24th floor. It was clear that all three of them fighting together was far too much for anything around, so they’d been fighting in turns, but even so they made it look too easy. After all, all three of them had leveled up since the last time they’d been here. Even alone, they were massacring the giants in a flash.
I had also leveled up, but I still couldn’t even be compared to them. All three of them were so strong, neither the trolls, nor the minotaurs, nor even the spriggans in the giant’s zone could make for decent opponents.
So in the time it took to get to where we were, I had managed to retrieve a huge number of drops, including several gems dropped from spriggans.
I’m feeling like it’s about time to go back to the surface, but they’re probably not satisfied yet, huh?
《Right! I’m next!》 Dora-chan excitedly flew into the room.
*Thudsshh-thudsshh-thudsshh-thudsshh-thudshh*
Dora-chan, clad in Fire magic, freely flew through all the giants, opening up large holes in their bodies as he went.
《Not yet!》
*Thudsshh-thudsshh-thudsshh-thudsshh-thudshh*
With holes pierced through them by the fast-flying Dora-chan, the giants in the room kept falling. The trolls and minotaurs and spriggans all tried to attack Dora-chan, but he was far too fast, so there was no way they’d even come close.
*Thudsshh*
Ah, the last spriggan just fell.
《It’s over! So, the way I fight’s pretty cool, isn’t it?》
Ahh, sure, of course. You don’t need to look so smug. More importantly hurry up and start collecting drops.
Everyone helped to pick them up, but even so, that took longer than it took Dora-chan to finish the fight.
《Master — Sui is hungry—.》
“Indeed, this is probably a little soon, but it would be nice to have a meal.”
According to Fel, there was apparently a safe area a little further ahead.
“Then let’s stop exploring for today and have dinner there.”
We headed for the safe area that would be our camping spot for the night.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Now then, what should we have for dinner? I do still have stuff I pre-made, but it’s not quite enough for how much Fel and the others eat... Oh well, I guess I’ll make something.
We were the only ones in the safe area, so I felt free to bring out my magic stove.
“I’ll get dinner ready, so just drink this and wait,” I said, pouring some cola I bought into deep wooden dishes for Fel and the others.
This should buy me some time. What should I make? It’s gotta be something easy and quick to make, right?
I rifled through my Item Box.
That’s right. Let’s use the rockbird I just butchered. Something simple using rockbird......... Ah, let’s do a super easy soy-sauce-and-mayo grilled rockbird. That will only require me to massage in some flavors and grill it. On top of it being easy, it doesn’t generate a lot of dishes I need to wash, so it’s a great idea. And it’s delicious, too.
I already had everything I needed to season the dish on hand; all I was missing were the spring onions to sprinkle on top as a garnish. It wasn’t really necessary, but having it improved the looks as well as the taste. Once I bought the spring onions with my skill, I started cooking.
~◇~◇~◇~
First, pour in mayonnaise, soy sauce dashi, and grated garlic (from a tube) into a vinyl bag and mix it all together. Then, take some rockbird meat that’s been cut into bite-sized pieces, poke holes in the meat with a fork to help the flavors assimilate better, and add it to the bag.
Once that’s done, massage the marinade into the meat and let it sit for about ten minutes. (This time, I used soy sauce dashi, but mentsuyu also works.)
After that, start grilling the meat from the skin side on a heated frying pan, and once it’s well-browned, flip the meat over and grill until the heat cooks into the center. (The oil in mayonnaise serves double duty here, so there’s no need to oil the pan.)
~◇~◇~◇~
I plated the cooked rockbird before sprinkling on some finely chopped spring onion to finish the dish.
Since it was so easy, I used all my burners to their full potential and made a lot.
I already knew how it tasted, but I still did a little taste test since I made so much.
“This rich flavor is good too.”
In keeping with my preferences, I added in a lot of extra mayonnaise to make it taste even richer.
Truthfully, I should probably have held back on the richness, but I just find it so irresistible... Uhh... yeah. L-Let’s just not worry about it today.
“It’s done~.”
I put the plates full of food down in front of the three of them, and they all jumped on it as if they’d already been waiting too long.
“Hm, this is good. I love the rich taste.”
Fel likes that I added in extra mayo, huh?
《This is great!》
Dora-chan also seemed to love the richness that came from extra mayo and was eating with gusto.
“So delicious!”
Sui also seemed to like it, as the slime jiggled a bit as it ate.
Mayo and soy sauce really make for a great combo.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
*Sigh*... Oh man, I sure stuffed myself.
The mayo-and-soy-sauce-flavored meat was way too good, so I ended up eating too much.
Though I had made a huge amount, Fel and the others asked for several more helpings, and we ended up easily eating all of it.
《Master — Sui wants caaake...》
Sui, you’re still hungry?
《Oh, something sweet, huh? Great idea.》
“I will eat too.”
You too? Dora-chan, Fel? Well, I did promise them cake twice a day, and they hadn’t asked for any yet today...
I opened up Fumiya’s menu with my skill.
Oh, they’re starting a new event.
“Looks like they’re holding a strawberry fair.”
“Hm? Strawberries? You mean those red fruits?”
“That’s right. They’re the ones that are always on the cakes you eat, Fel.”
《Strawberries! They’re sweet and tart and delicious! Sui wants looooots!》
Sui loves strawberries too, after all. Still, lots huh? Lots might be impossible, but I could give them an extra one for three total. They’ve exercised a bit in the dungeon, after all.
“Well then, I’ll get you guys three today. What do you guys want?” I showed them what was on the menu for the strawberry fair.
“I will have the usual,” Fel said, but...
“...Wouldn’t you like this one better?” I pointed out a limited premium shortcake.
“How is it different?”
It didn’t look that different, but apparently it used wheat from Hokkaido and pure fresh cream. Also, it seemed to use huge, specially bred and selected strawberries. I explained as much, convincing Fel. “All right then, I will take this one.”
Just the word “premium” induces desire, doesn’t it? So that’s three premium shortcakes for Fel.
“What about you, Dora-chan?”
《I was gonna ask for pudding, but that looks good too.》
Dora-chan seems a bit lost looking at the menu. If that’s the case, then this should fit Dora-chan perfectly.
“Then how about this? Strawberry pudding-shortcake.”
《Ohh! That exists?! Right! I want that! Give me three!》 Dora-chan’s eyes were all sparkles at the prospect of the wonderful combination of pudding and strawberry shortcake.
So that’s three strawberry pudding-shortcakes for Dora-chan.
“What about you, Sui?”
《Ummm, uhhh......》
Sui, seated on my lap, was looking through the strawberry fair menu and trying to choose as if its life depended on it.
《Master! Sui wants this one!》 Sui used a tentacle to point out a strawberry roll cake, which looked cute with its pink strawberry cream wrapping up actual strawberries.
“This one? What else?”
《Umm, this one, same as Uncle Fel!》 The next one Sui pointed out was the same premium shortcake that Fel had asked for. Sui had probably just heard me describe it to Fel and thought it sounded good.
“Sure sure, this one. What about the last one?”
《The last one...... this!》 The last treat Sui asked for was a strawberry pie that had custard cream within its pie crust and lots of strawberries on top.
“So, this one’s last.”
I checked out with the cart full of treats for the three of them.
“Okay, here it is.” I put all their cakes on their own plates and served them out.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying their cakes very much. I watched them eat as I relaxed with some drip-bag coffee.
“So peaceful...... Even though we’re in a dungeon.”
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Haahh!”
My mithril spear ripped apart a minotaur’s belly. Along with the minotaur’s death cry, its innards spilled out of the new hole. The minotaur fell and, after a few seconds, disappeared.
“Ugh... I totally saw everything......”
I picked up the dropped meat and put it in my Item Box before going to look for my next opponent.
Right now, we were in the huge boss room of the 25th floor, the last floor in the giant’s zone. Of course, up until now we’d encountered basically no problems, so since this was the last boss room, I decided to try fighting a little myself.
“Guoohhh!”
The troll I found raised a hearty battle cry as it headed towards me. Thus, my next target would be a troll.
As one might expect, my three familiars were completely handling all the other monsters, and the troll was the only one coming towards me.
That’s so helpful, man. Right, let’s make sure to kill this troll.
“Fireball!” Magic didn’t work great on trolls, but I slammed a volleyball-sized Fireball into the troll anyways, since it would also serve as a distraction.
“Ggarggh!” The Fireball exploded. But the troll wouldn’t die from just that much.
...Just how tough are these things?
While the troll was still faltering because of the fire in front of it, I swiftly approached it from behind, and I used my mithril spear to cut off both of its feet from around the ankles in a single swing.
“Gaaahhh!” The troll screamed as it fell to its knees.
And quickly, I aimed for the troll’s neck and...... *Slice* I guillotined it using my mithril spear (made specially by Sui) with its amazing cutting edge.
I don’t care that people might say that attacking it from behind is unfair. I’m a wimp, after all. I’m going to take any advantage I can get.
The troll dropped its hide. I picked it up and put it in my Item Box, and that was when Fel contacted me telepathically.
《A big one is coming towards you. Try fighting it.》
Whaaat...... Wait, if he says big......
“Gggaahhhh!”
“IT REALLY WAS A SPRIGGAN!”
A spriggan, which was even larger than a minotaur or a troll, approached me with thudding footsteps.
《You have the Perfect Defense skill given to you by the gods, do you not? There is no need to be so afraid.》
“NONONO, THAT THING’S JUST SCARY I’M TELLING YOU!”
《It is fine. Do it.》
IT’S NOT FINE! I’m a Japanese person, from peaceful Japan, you know?! Even if I have Perfect Defense, it’s just impossible to tell me to not be afraid when something that huge is coming at me!
None of my other familiars came to help; they must have been looped in by Fel.
Fuuuuuuck~! Fel you bastard, I’ll remember this!
“Guooohhh!”
“Fuck! All right — for now, Fireball!!!” I launched my life’s greatest Fireball, sinking almost half my magic power into it. The over 1-meter wide Fireball cut through the air before it hit the spriggan, which became a ball of fire itself.
“Gh! Ghghgaaahhh!” The spriggan, engulfed in flames, flailed about. It rolled around on the ground, desperate to put out the fire, and before long it stopped moving.
“............Is it dead?”
“Ghgohh......” As soon as I thought it was dead, the spriggan popped right back up.
“Geh!”
The spriggan glared at me, looking incredibly angry. And......
“Ghggoooooohhhh!” The spriggan, now berserk with rage, screamed before coming at me once again.
“OF COURSE THIS WOULD HAPPEN———!” Using the rest of my magic power, I created three volleyball-sized Fireballs and shot them at the spriggan.
The spriggan, probably still carrying the damage from the first attack, got hit by all three of these Fireballs and fell to its knees. “Gaahh!”
“Now! Hah! Hah! Hah! Take thiiiissss!!” Using my mithril spear, I stabbed at its heart area many times in a frenzy. When I finally pulled out my spear for good, the spriggan fell over, dead. Then, it disappeared and dropped a magic stone and an opal.
“Whew~. Managed it, somehow......”
“So, you can do it if you try.”
“What the hell do you mean by that, Fel! Don’t just shove something that big and strong at me all of a sudden!!”
“Hmph! I only helped you become a little stronger, since you are far too weak.”
“While it’s true that I’m weak, you know that there’s such a thing as being mentally prepared, right?!”
I mean, in the first place, don’t put me on the same level as all of you, geez!
“How much more mentally prepared do you need to be? We are in a dungeon. All there is to do is defeat an appropriate number of enemies.”
Kkkhhhh! Everything he says is technically correct. It’s so goddamn frustrating!!
At that moment......
《Master — this way—!》
《There’s a treasure chest!》
I heard both Sui and Dora-chan call out to me. I turned around to where the voices were coming from, and they were right — there definitely was a treasure chest in the back of the room against a wall. I hurried over.
“Hohh, what a pretty treasure chest.” The treasure chest, which was 50cm wide and 30cm tall, was white with silver lining, and a jewel decorating its clasp.
This chest looks like it’d be worth quite a bit. Still, just laying your hands on treasure chests in this dungeon is a big mistake. Sure, they open right up if you just undo the clasp, but it’s almost guaranteed there’s a trap here. For now, I need to use Appraisal.
【Treasure Chest】
A treasure chest trapped so that a pitfall will open in front of the chest when someone opens it. If someone falls into the pitfall, they can never escape.
Like, absolutely no good...... “Never escape?” So you’re just dead!
These traps were very dangerous. I wasn’t even sure if Perfect Defense would work on pitfalls.
Right, let’s sidle up against this wall, and use my mithril spear to......
“Hup.” I managed to undo the clasp, stick the mithril spear in between the lid and the chest, and lift it open.
*Clank*
As soon as I opened the chest, the floor in front of the chest fell to nowhere.
“Wheww, this dungeon never lets up, does it? So glad I have Appraisal.”
While watching out for the vanished floor, we peered into the treasure chest.
“This is......” Appraisal.
【Magic Bag (Large)】
A magic bag that will hold the equivalent of a hundred bags (large). Stops time inside.
“Ohh! It’s a magic bag (large) that stops time!” There was nothing else in the treasure chest, but just the bag was plenty good.
Let’s keep this. I always had Fel carry around a magic bag (extra-large) when they went hunting, but it might be nice to have Dora-chan hold on to this too. It’s been tiring, but getting this magic bag (large) at the end is neat, at least.
“Now then, let’s go back.”
“Mn, can we not go a little farther?”
《Whaaat? Let’s keep going, come onnn.》
《So soon?》
“No. It’ll be the field dungeons after this, remember? You already promised to stop here. We’re going home,” I said, and everybody booed and complained, but I shut them up by offering earth dragon and red dragon steak for dinner, as well as five of Fumiya’s cakes each.
“Now let’s go back.”
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Whew, the surface really is nice. We were only down there because of Fel and the other’s selfishness, but it was nice that we got fifty hunks of minotaur meat and a magic bag (large). I’m tired so I really just want to go back to the house, but there’s all the stuff I left to the Adventurer’s guild yesterday, so I need to go.
“We’re going to the Adventurer’s guild before we go back.”
“I am hungry. Finish quickly.”
《Whaaat? But I’m hungryyy...》
《Master — Sui is hungryyy.》
“Sorry, sorry. I just need to pick up the meat, so I don’t think it’ll take too long. And we’ll eat right after we come back. All right?” I calmed them down before we headed for the Adventurer’s guild.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
When we got to the Adventurer’s guild, I went to the receptionist, where I received Ugohl’s message. Apparently, he was busy at the moment, so he was sorry to have to ask me to head to the storehouse myself. Since I was one of the reasons he was so busy, I felt a little guilty as well.
For now, I did as the message said and headed to the storehouse. I greeted several butchers who I’d seen many times and was let in quickly.
“I’ve heard from the sub-guildmaster. Since you’re going to be keeping all the meat, we have it stored in the cold storage area.” The employee showed me to where they were keeping the meat. I’d come to this place several times, such as when I came to retrieve the dragon meat, and it was filled with slightly chilly air.
“Okay then. Here are your two wyverns, two wild bison, three golden sheep, seven blue bulls, and one giant turkey.”
One by one, I received the meat from the employee and stored it into my Item Box.
“I have the payment here from the sub-guildmaster, so please come this way.”
After leaving the refrigerated area, I followed the employee.
“Well then, this is your payment.” There were two small bags placed on the worktable. “First, for the drops from Aveling, there’s 644 gold from ninety-two venom tarantula’s venom sacs, and from the venom sacs of the special individuals......”
The employee broke down the sale of the drops from Aveling’s dungeon. All in all, it was 3098 gold. There was quite a lot, but I wasn’t surprised by it now.
Next was the sale of the rest of the parts of the wyverns and wild bison and other stuff I left with them.
“Two wyverns come out to 1120 gold, and two wild bison come out to 40 gold. Next is...............”
“So, with everything together, not counting the meat, it will be 1251 gold in total. Combined with the money from your dungeon drops, that comes out to 4349 gold. So, here is your payment: 43 platinum coins and 49 gold coins,” the employee said, pointing to the corresponding small bags. They held the platinum coins and gold coins respectively.
“The sub-guildmaster left a message saying that we didn’t have enough large gold coins, so he paid in platinum and gold coins.”
Sure, that’s totally fine. I’ve never used any of my large gold or platinum coins up until now, after all.
When I took the money and was just about to go home, I was stopped by the employee.
“Ah! That’s right, please wait a second!” The employee ran over holding something.
“I had to give you this, from the sub-guildmaster,” he said, handing over a basket that had until recently contained pound cakes and red dragon meat sandwiches for Ugohl.
What could it be?
After leaving the Adventurer’s guild, I opened it and found two letters inside along with a single pot that was just big enough to fit almost perfectly inside the basket. I opened the letters; the first one was from Ugohl’s wife, Thyrza, while the second was from his son Michael and daughter Milana.
“I am Ugohl’s wife, Thyrza. Thank you so much for your precious dragon meat. We enjoyed it very much as a family. Your sweets were also very, very delicious. Please accept these dried fruits as a symbol of my heartfelt thanks.”
And:
“Thanks so much for the delicious meat!”
—Michael
Lastly:
“Thanks so much for the delicious sweets!”
—Milana
It seemed the dragon meat and pound cake went over well. Girls were probably weak to sweets in this world too, since it looked like Thyrza especially had loved the pound cakes. I could also tell that Michael and Milana were both trying as hard as they could to convey their feelings even through their shaky handwriting. Especially Milana’s writing — I was only barely able to make out what she wrote, so she had probably just started learning to read and write.
I’m feeling kinda happy now.
I opened up the pot and found a variety of handmade dried fruits packed densely inside, all done by Thyrza. I tried one; a simple, mellow sweetness that wasn’t cloying spread throughout my mouth.
I read through the letters once again and felt warm inside.
“Why are you grinning like that?”
Fel...... Why did you have to say grinning like that? Just when I was feeling really nice. *Sigh* Whatever.
“All right, let’s hurry up and go home and have food.”
“Indeed.”
《Food, food!》
《Food~.》
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Just as I’d promised, we had earth dragon and red dragon steaks for dinner. All three of my familiars ate until they were full to bursting. Thanks to that, I was really tired.
Afterwards, I also got them five treats each from Fumiya, as I’d promised. I’d thought that they wouldn’t need any dessert since they had gorged on the steaks, but apparently sweets were different. They said something like, “Sweets go into a different stomach” — like girls do.
Fel must have liked that premium shortcake from last time, as he got five of those. Dora-chan, same as Fel, must have really liked the strawberry shortcake-pudding yesterday, since he got three of those and two of the usual custard puddings. Sui continued on his tour of the strawberry fair, and got a strawberry no-bake cheesecake, a strawberry Mont Blanc, a strawberry chocolate tart, a strawberry roll cake, and a strawberry mille-feuille. Basically, it was strawberry-everything in Sui’s order.
While they enjoyed their cakes and I had my coffee, I appraised them. Though we did go into a dungeon, it was only for a short while this time, so I didn’t think our levels would have changed too much, but I did it anyway just in case.
I appraised them in order of: Fel, Dora-chan, then Sui.
【Name】 Fel
【Age】 1014
【Race】 Fenrir
【Level】 945
【HP】 10142
【MP】 9768
【Attack】 9429
【Defense】 10157
【Agility】 9954
【Skills】 Wind magic, Fire magic, Water magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Holy magic, Barrier magic, Rending Claws, Body Reinforcement, Physical attack resistance, Magic attack resistance, MP Efficiency, Appraisal, Battle Boost
【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Wind, Ninrir; Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn
As expected, at Fel’s level, just that much wouldn’t be enough to level up. But still, those stats are amazing every time I see them.
【Name】 Dora-chan
【Age】 116
【Race】 Pixie Dragon
【Level】 199
【HP】 1229
【MP】 3450
【Attack】 3307
【Defense】 1158
【Agility】 4032
【Skills】 Fire magic, Water magic, Wind magic, Earth magic, Ice magic, Lightning magic, Healing magic, Bombardment, Battle Boost
【Blessings】 Blessing of the God of War, Vahagn
Dora-chan was level 197 before... so he leveled up twice, huh? He is at a high level too, so leveling up twice with just that much work is probably really good.
【Name】 Sui
【Age】 4 months
【Race】 Huge Slime
【Level】 42
【HP】 1731
【MP】 1694
【Attack】 1709
【Defense】 1716
【Agility】 1727
【Skills】 Acid Bullet, Potion Creation, Cloning, Water magic, Smithing, Giganticize
【Blessings】 Blessing of the Goddess of Water, Rusalka; Blessing of the God of Blacksmithing, Hephaestos
If I remember right, Sui was level 38. So it leveled up four times? Sui does have more room to grow. Still, now that it has evolved some, I feel like it’s gaining levels a lot slower than before.
To be honest, given how brief our dungeon dive was this time, and given how strong all of them already were, I wasn’t really hoping for much. So Dora-chan and Sui’s gains were just an unexpected bonus.
And lastly — me. Still, I had only fought a little bit at the very end, so I probably hadn’t leveled up all too much.
【Name】 Mukohda (Tsuyoshi Mukouda)
【Age】 27
【Race】 Kind of Human
【Job】 Victim from Another World, Adventurer, Chef
【Level】 66
【HP】 413
【MP】 401
【Attack】 393
【Defense】 385
【Agility】 331
【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)
Oh, I leveled up four times! The fact that I leveled up so much even though I only fought a little at the end is probably thanks to my Double Experience skill. Yep-yep, I’m doing pretty well for myself. Especially since I’m not trying to forcefully raise my level at any cost, and I’m just fighting when it’s opportune.
While I was using Appraisal, everyone finished their cakes. As expected of how full their bellies probably were, they all looked sleepy. I gave Fel a light brushing, and after I bathed with Dora-chan and Sui, they all immediately went to sleep.
I was going to call it a night too, but I suddenly remembered: “I need to make an offering to Demiurge.” But unlike the noisy goddesses and the liquor-loving duo, Demiurge was completely leaving things up to me, so I was really thankful for that.
I quickly opened up my Online Supermarket and scrolled through “Liquor Shop Tanaka’s” menu. Now was the time for the useful rankings to shine. I didn’t know much about alcohol, so these kinds of things were really convenient.
“Demiurge likes Japanese sake, right......?” I looked through the rankings of Japanese sake.
Hmhm...... Oh, this might be nice.
The first one I chose was a bottle brewed in the Fukui prefecture. It was Junmai Ginjo that was 9th on the monthly rankings, so it didn’t quite qualify as a high-ranker, but I decided on it when I saw the store owner’s little mark of approval over it. It was also pretty affordable, and apparently it was the most popular of its line. It seemed that the taste and fragrance of the sake superbly blended the natural umami of rice into it.
What should be next? ......This one might be nice.
The next one I chose was 8th on the monthly rankings, but 2nd on the weekly rankings. The fact that it was in both ranking lists, and the fact that it was so famous that even I knew the name clinched it for me. It represented Niigata prefecture, and it was advertised as being like the legendary original sake of famous myth. It felt smooth, light, clean, a little spicy, and had a refreshing aftertaste.
After choosing the first and second bottle from the monthly and weekly rankings, I chose the last one from the daily rankings. It was a bottle that shone in first place in the daily rankings. It was a little expensive, but its blue bottle was unique and pretty, so I decided to splurge a bit on it. It was from the city of Sado in Niigata, and it was written in the description that it was made by fermenting for long periods of time at low temperatures to make a daiginjo with a mellow scent and a delicate-yet-deep taste.
Of course, they were all 1.8-liter bottles.
After that, I got the same brand of snacks as last time, a premium Kantsuma gift set — though it was a different assortment, naturally. This time, it was a twelve-can set of black wagyu roast beef, black pork bacon and chashu, and young ayu sweetfish pickled in oil.
When I checked out, it all came in the usual box. I took out the contents and lined them all up on the makeshift cardboard altar.
“Great. It’s done. *Ahem* Uhhh...... Oh great Demiurge! Please accept these!”
＜Hm? Oh, Mukohda. Are you sure?＞
“Yes, of course. I don’t want to call it an exchange, but it would be nice if you would help in times of need, please.”
＜Hm, indeed. I understand. As I said before, I do plan to give you some leniency.＞
Oh thank you, thank you so much, God of All Creation!
The stuff on top of the cardboard altar disappeared with a faint light.
＜Ohh, these are different from last time, and so are the snacks you called Kantsuma as well. This is nice, no? I’ve been enjoying these with my sake recently. I’m very pleased. Feel free to do this again if you like.＞
As you will~! Never mind “if you like” — I’ll do it every week. I’m counting on you, Demiurge. Heheheheheh... I got his verbal agreement. Now I’m prepared for anything that happens. After all, I’m stuck alive for 1,500 years now. Even though I have my familiars, I’m not safe from everything without the power of the God of All Creation.
After finishing my offerings to the great Demiurge, I fell into peaceful sleep, reassured.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Since we planned to leave Dolan tomorrow, I was going to spend all of today preparing. And that meant making food for the trip. I started cooking from early on in the morning, making things like the usual karaage, pork cutlet, Hamburg cutlet, Hamburg steaks, and miso-marinated meats. I also made meat soboro, tonjiru, and seafood soup, all of which were very customizable.
“Whew, this should be it. I ended up making a lot.”
Ever since I gained the chef job, my cooking’s gotten a lot smoother, so I’ve started making too much...... Well, having more’s never a problem. It’ll get eaten anyway. All of us in the house are big eaters, after all.
“Still, I didn’t expect to still have this......” I was holding a bowl of mixed minced meat, which consisted of orc meat and minotaur meat drops from the dungeon.
“I got carried away and made a little too much.”
I mean, Sui’s special mithril mincer is so easy to use, I don’t even need to use any force and it keeps churning out meat, so I just......
“Hmmm, I don’t want to leave it like this, so I guess I’ll make something with this ground meat. What should it be, though?”
Ground meat, huh~? Ground meat...... Oh! Let’s do that!
What I thought of was, of course, meat pie. I had made it once before when I had ended up buying too much ground meat when it was on sale. I searched up a recipe on the internet which turned out to be unexpectedly easy. When I actually made it, the pie was ridiculously tasty.
“Great. Let’s make some meat pie!”
Now that that was decided, I bought what I needed with my skill. I already had all the seasonings I’d need, as well as the eggs to make an egg wash for the surface of the crust, so I bought the onions and carrots I’d be mixing with the ground meat as well as frozen pie sheets from the market.
~◇~◇~◇~
After mincing the onions and carrots, oil up a heated frying pan and cook until they wilt. Then, add in the ground meat and mix it together while cooking, adding ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, granulated consommé, salt and pepper, and nutmeg (this is personal preference) to taste. Lastly, sprinkle in some flour; once it’s all mixed properly, turn off the burner and let the heat dissipate.
Meanwhile, cut the thawed frozen pie sheet into four equal portions, and score the two pieces that will go on top of the pie several times, leaving about a centimeter around the edges.
After layering the cooked ground meat filling onto the two unscored pieces that make the base of the pie, egg wash the edges of the pie sheets in a mixture of egg yolks and water. Layer the pie sheets that have been scored on top, and crimp the edges closed with a fork, creating a rectangular pie. Egg wash the top of the pie to bring out gloss, and bake in the oven until it’s nice and brown.
~◇~◇~◇~
This time, I followed the recipe and used onions and carrots, but it was also possible to just use frozen mixed vegetables if I were to ever not feel like going through the trouble. It might also be nice to use curry powder to make a curry-flavored meat pie. I could also switch up the shape to the classic round shape, or a triangle, or I could even make easy-to-eat mini pies that were also square or rectangular like the one I had just made.
Since the dish can be customized to preference in taste and form, let’s make some more later.
While all that was running through my mind, the meat pie finished.
“Ohh, it looks good, all nice and brown like that. I’m going to have to taste test this.”
Losing to the tempting smell, I popped a bit in my mouth.
*Crssp*
“So good......”
I just loved the fragrant crispiness of the pie. And the well-seasoned ground meat filling inside paired great with the crust. And since it was so filled, it got full marks for volume.
“Hey, you seem to be eating something good there. Give it to me, too.”
《Don’t forget me.》
《Sui wants some toooo!》
............Even though I was just taste testing it after it was done.
Lured by the smell, Fel and the others were on standby. There was no other choice, so I gave them a plate full of meat pie each as a snack.
“Oh right. Ugohl’s wife Thyrza gave us dried fruits. I should make some pound cake.”
I was planning to go report to Ugohl and Elrand in the evening that I’d be leaving tomorrow, so I decided to take the chance and make some more presents for them in the form of a dried fruit pound cake.
With that thought, I hurried to bake some pound cake with dried fruit inside. It was simple to make, so it didn’t take too long. Fundamentally, it was just adding dried fruit to pound cake batter and baking it.
I’ll gift them some of this along with the meat pie.
I went to the Adventurer’s guild with my baked goods in hand.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
When I arrived at the Adventurer’s guild, I was immediately shown to the 2nd floor by an employee. There, I found both Elrand and Ugohl buried in a mountain of paperwork.
“Ah, Mukohda! Ugohl, Mukohda’s here! A break! Let’s take a break!”
Elrand’s desperate, isn’t he?
“Please wait just a little bit, Mukohda. Idiot guildmaster, keep working. I will be keeping Mukohda company.”
“Nooooo~!” Elrand had tears in his eyes.
In the first place, it’s your own fault for playing around anyway. You reap what you sow.
My condolences.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Mukohda. What do you need today?”
Ugohl’s just completely ignoring Elrand, huh?
“I’m just here to report something...... Ah, thank you so much for the gifts earlier.”
“Think nothing of it. My family was very happy since you gave us so much, so it was just a little thank you.”
“Well I’ve come with presents, which are also in thanks for that. Here you go,” I said, handing Ugohl a basket. Inside were the dried fruit pound cakes and the meat pie.
“No fair, Ugohl!”
“You get some too Elrand, stop panicking.” I laughed resignedly as I handed Elrand his portion.
“I believed in you, Mukohda! Thank you!” Elrand looked really pleased as he checked inside the basket. Seeing Elrand like that, Ugohl let out a deep sigh.
“I came here today to tell you all I’m leaving Dolan tomorrow.”
“Ohh, is that so?”
*Clatter*
“Whaaaaat?! M-Mukohda, you’re leaving?!!” Elrand jumped up really forcefully and yelled. He was so forceful that his chair was knocked over and away.
“You’re being too loud, you idiot. Calm down.”
“A-As if I could be calm! Mukohda’s leaving!”
“Huh? What are you saying? Mukohda’s an adventurer; it’s natural.”
Exactly, Ugohl. Adventurers travel.
“W-Well that’s right, but I think it’d be fine if he stayed a bit longer...... That’s right!! Mukohda, why not make this place your base? Dolan has a dungeon, and I think it’s a really good town! Hey, you think so too, right?!”
As Elrand said, this town was big, and I liked it, but...... “Uhhh, I don’t have any plans for that at the moment.”
Or rather, I don’t have any at all, ever.
“Whaaa~t? Come ooonnn. D-Dora-chan’s going away......” Elrand hung his head in despair.
You’re letting your true feelings leak out, you know.
“Um... So, that’s my plan. Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Please come back soon, Mukohda.”
“Of course.”
............So I said, but I probably wouldn’t come back for a while. Not that I’d say that aloud, but it’d be annoying to do so. And most importantly, Dora-chan was totally creeped out right now.
“Okay then. Let’s meet again in the future,” Ugohl said, and as soon as I quietly left the room, I heard a voice inside shout, “DORA-CHAAAAAAANNNN!”
All of us ran out of the guild, cringing.
《The dungeon here was fun, but I don’t need to go back for a while......》 Dora-chan said quietly, shivering.
Love that’s too strong can give the recipient trauma sometimes, huh?
By the way, this entire time Sui was asleep in my bag.
“In any case, where do we go next?”
I’d already decided on our next destination, so I had an answer to Fel’s question.
“Next, we’re going to the town we visited when we first entered the country, Karelina.”
“That place, huh?”
“It’s a little fast, but I need to go pick up the wyvern mantle I asked for, after all. Also, I have an idea. Tomorrow, we’re leaving as soon as I return the key to this place to the Merchant’s guild first thing in the morning.”
“Indeed.”
《Sure. Let’s hurry up and get outta this place.》
The next morning, we left Dolan and made for Karelina.