Chapter 155: Maybe the cooks should also take it easy…
The hunting group that went to the monster-infested area in the east has returned.
“Luke, look, we got some chicken meat.”
“Chicken meat…?”
Selen gleefully told me so, but I was only perplexed by it.
The creatures the group was carrying did look like chicken—given the red comb in its head—but not only did it have a snake-like tail, it was gigantic as well.
If my estimate was correct, it had an overall length of about 4 meters long. The chickens in our barns were rather large as well, but this creature was 2 or maybe 3 times bigger than even those chickens.
“Is this probably a cockatrice?”
“Yup!”
“I didn’t think they’d be this big…”
I heard that these monsters known as cockatrices had an attack that could petrify others. So, I couldn’t help but wonder if even the amazing hunting group might have had trouble dealing with it.
“Once we figured out its moves and how to deal with them, fighting it was easy. We should be able to hunt more in the future, but for now, we managed to get 10 of them.”
“…didn’t only 20 people join in the hunt?”
It was quite a sight to see the 10 gigantic chickens being lined up in the village’s public square.
They hunted down this many with just 20 people…at this rate, they’ll be hunting dragons like it’s the most normal thing in world.
“Selius-dono and I worked well together. It seems we have great compatibility.”
Selius-kun’s face grew bright red upon hearing Philia-san’s words.
While he was like that, I whispered something to him.
“You should confess soon, you know.”
“C-con!? W-w-w-what are you talking about!? I-I-I don’t f-f-feel anything like that for P-Philia-san…”
“Huh? Did I even say I was talking about Philia-san?”
“!? W-whatever, it’s not like that…!”
“There’s no sense in denying it, you know. Because it’s so obvious.”
The only one that wasn’t aware was Philia-san herself.
Rather than say she was just dense about such matters, it might be likely that she just didn’t have much interest in these things.
Even so, I believed that if Selius-kun were to passionately confront her about it, she would consent rather easily, saying something like, ‘hmm, sure, let’s go out’.
“At any rate, let’s take this chance and have a celebration! Let’s celebrate the success of today’s hunt!”
The number of cooks in the village had increased. Many of them possessed cooking-related Gifts as well.
Given that and the quality of ingredients here, the village’s culinary level has become fantastic.
There were even tourists lately who would visit our village just to have a taste of the food here.
And so, these capable cooks were asked to cook the cockatrice brought home by the hunting group.
By the way, there apparently was an organ near a cockatrice’s throat which secreted the petrifying components in its attacks. As long as that organ was safely removed though, the rest was supposedly edible.
At the moment, there were over 20 stalls set up in the public square.
Each cook was going to offer their own recipe using the cockatrice meat, and the villagers were free to order any dish they wanted from any stall.
Simply put, we wanted something like a food court.
In order to avoid any stall from being crowded due to people lining up, orders were taken beforehand and would be delivered once ready.
Because this was an event hosted by the village, the villagers wouldn’t be asked to pay for today. That being said, it wouldn’t be great if people ordered so much more than they could eat. To prevent this, a meal ticket system was implemented. As long as the amount of food they ordered was within the limits, it would be for free. But for anything over that, the villager would have to pay for it themselves.
“All the stalls seem to be offering super delicious food though…”
“Guh…I want to eat at each one, but yeah, over 20 stalls is a bit…”
“Hahaha! This a dream scenario for me who has the [Gluttony] Gift! Finally, it’s time for this Gift to shine! …huh? I have to pay when I’m over the limit of the meal ticket?”
Indeed, there was nothing but great food.
…but isn’t there a bit too much variety?
Grilled chicken wasn’t rare in this world, but there were even batter-coated deep-fried chicken, Chinese styled deep-fried chicken, kebab-like dishes, and Spanish garlic chicken.
That stall even has tandoori chicken…wait, there’s also chicken&egg oyakodon and ramen!?
“I don’t think these dishes are prepared elsewhere in this world. Did the cooks make them from scratch? Maybe the cooks should also take it easy…”
That aside, the food was naturally super delicious.