Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 7 Read online

  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*＞