Chapter 27: 17.2: Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru Chapte

≪Prologue≫

The Odoriji spire.

It's the dungeon that we’re challenging.

This place has a few special features. First, there’s a transfer device called a portal every five floors. It's a technology that even I, who had lived in a modern society, cannot understand. Or rather, even the people of this world don’t understand it exactly.

It seems to be something from at least two eras ago. The “seems to be” of this world cannot be relied on. Even in the tale of a famous hero that had been passed down orally, the work of two people had been amended to the actions of one, and to balance it out, the two enemies had also been reduced to one. I can't trust it at all. In brief, it’s an unknown technology.

Such things are very common in this world.

There are three continents in this alternate world. When you unravel its history lightly, a tale of catastrophe and rebirth unfolds. In other other words, the dungeons that exist in various places are remnants of a lost era.

And among those remnants, this Odoriji spire is the oldest.

They called it;

Horn of the giant who created the world.

Artifact of pre-civilization.

Spire of the gods.

Let’s return to the main subject.

There’s a portal every five floors, and on the floor before that, there would invariably be a guardian. As though testing the adventurers, relics from a lost era would stand in their way.

The bone soldiers and giant that we defeated were also one such challenge.

The first time, we retreated after we got mobbed by the bone solders.

The second time, we escaped after the giant hit a home-run with our vanguards.

Frankly, for the third time, we had challenged it using the best weapons we had at the moment.

I really wanted to thank the three vanguards for their toughness. My purse had become empty, but I could earn such things again.

Through trial-and-error and overcoming many hardships, we had arrived at the 10th floor.

I had come here once before due to a certain reason. I had shrewdly made a map at that time. Our party wasn’t headed towards the portal for returning, but a place where we could rest.

I checked if any monsters had gone in.

There were no problems so we went into the room.

It was a space big enough for about 20 people to sit down. It was made of stone, same as the other dungeon structures. There was an aged fountain at the edge and water was flowing from the mouth of an animal that was missing its face. There were signs that the fountain’s water basin had been repaired recently.

Fortunately, there were no other adventurers. We weren’t an official party, so we didn’t really want to be seen by others.

「Shuna, are you all right?」

「No problem」

He answered while being carried like a sack of potatoes. Irvin, who was the one carrying Shuna, raised a question.

「You know it’s position, don’t you? Why aren’t we headed for the portal?」

「The adventuring isn’t finished until we return home from the dungeon. I don't want to fight monsters in our current state. Let's take a break」

「I see」

Signaling my party members, I urged them to take a break. Everyone set their things down and sat on the ground.

Well, my job was just beginning.

Adding charcoal to some leftover firewood that was in the room, I lit some wood chips on fire using a lighter. I fed charcoal to the fire until it was burning smoothly. I checked for ventilation. A draft was blowing in from a nearby wall so there was no problem.

I removed the seasonings and ingredients from my backpack and lined them up.

After I had surrounded the firewood properly using pieces of crumbled stone, I drew some water using a pot and put it on top of the fire.

An egg the same size as an ostrich egg was taken out of my backpack. It was the egg of a monster called the Chocho. The Chocho was a monster that looked like a human face, and had an ecology similar to an omnivorous bat. Both males and females lived with an egg stored inside their bodies. Or rather, the egg was 80% of their body. They were creatures whose reproductive behavior was a mystery, but they were easy to breed, and their eggs were more mainstream than chicken eggs.

There was very little egg white and several egg yolks. By the way, one egg could hatch at least 20 Chochos.

It was also known as the Guinelle large egg.

I put the egg into the pot, and added some vinegar just in case.

I briefly went to the fountain and washed my hands with soap, making sure to wash up to my elbows and between my nails.

Next, I took out the whole wheat flour and added water and olive oil into a bowl. I mixed everything with a spatula, and when it was no longer powdery, I kneaded it by hand.

「Ehh~, is it beastkin bread again?」

「It’s good for your health」

「I want to eat white bread」

「I'll let you eat some once we’re outside」

「I want to eat it here~」

I chided my grumbling sister.

After I finished kneading, I tore off pieces which I rolled into golf-ball-sized balls. I put them aside for now.

While watching the boiling water, I checked the egg, then turned it lightly. The residual heat was enough to cook it the rest of the way, so I removed the pot from the fire and replaced it with a frying pan.

Dried meat and dried herbs, which had the effect of reducing fatigue, were cut with scissors, and placed in the frying pan. Shaka, shaka, it went as I shook the frying pan in a lively manner. When it was moderately hot, I add a fair bit of salt, coarse pepper and powdered dried garlic. More shaka, shaka. The appetizing smell of meat and garlic wafted out. The seasoning was done, so I transferred it into a cup.

While carrying the pot, I went back to the fountain.

I poured out the hot water and soaked the hot egg in the fountain’s water. I drew water using the pot again, randomly threw some beans for making tea in, and put it over the fire again.

I returned and put the freshly cooked egg on a piece of cloth.

「Onii-san, should I lend you a hand with that?」

「Thanks, I’m counting on you」

Bel, who had taken a breather, came over after washing her hands.

「Hold the top of the egg」

「Got it~」

This egg. It was hard and thick enough to beat someone to death with. So I started cutting it with a fret saw.

Bel held the top of the egg in place as the fret saw scraped at the shell. Once a cut was made, it cuts more easily than you would think.

As expected, the large egg that had been cut in half was mostly yellow. It was boiled well. It had a faint smell of sulfur, probably because there was so little egg white.

I gave Bel a spoon, and gave her instructions to follow my lead when mixing it.

While stirring the yolk lightly, I added mayonnaise. Stirred and mixed. Added the seasoning. Stirred and mixed.

Zenobia had washed the frying pan for me.

「Souya, should I bake the bread?」

「Yes, please」

She removed the pot of tea and put the frying pan on the fire. Looking like she had experience with it, she stretched out the rolled-up chapati by hand and baked the spread-out dough in the frying pan.

They were both capable women. They would probably make good wives.

Before long, the food was done.

Today's menu was,

「Chapati and seasoned boiled large egg. And, bean tea」

「Shuna, can you eat?」

「I’ll eat」

Shuna, who had been slumped over, raised his upper body with Irvin’s help. Other than the sisters, the party members prayed to the gods before the meal.

「I’m thankful to St. Lyridias for our daily food, spoils, and blessed work」

Said Irvin.

「Ukazor, who raised me. Gladvain, who trained me. I’ve survived today as well, and am eating delicious food. Thank you」

Said Shuna.

「Oh flames, the origin of all. Your blessings are changed into nourishment inside this body」

Said Zenobia.

「Ukazor, who raised me. All the gods related to the weather and food, and the others. Thank you very much」

A candid prayer from Bel.

「Put the egg on the chapati and eat them together」

『Understood』

Everyone began to chow down on the food.

「De, delicious」

The limp Shuna recovered a little bit of his vigor.

「Oh, it’s easy to eat~」

Bell raised a cheer. Although it was a simple dish, it was relatively well received.

「But, Souya」

「Hmm?」

Irvin, who was eating with good table manners, called out to me. For my part, I wanted to bring the sisters their food though.

「What’s with that arrow? Is it magic?」

「Oh, I want to know that too」

Zenobia also joined in. I hadn’t particularly intended to keep it a secret, so I talked.

I took the arrow, or more accurately, the attachment for the arrow out of my pocket. It was a long and narrow cylindrical metal container.

「This container is tightly packed with water and forged metal spheres. This is what exploded and beheaded the giant」

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Zenobia took the container, and with a wondering look, she put it to her ear.

「It’s small, but I feel magic inside」

「A Misuranika gold coin with fire magic sealed inside it has also been crammed inside this container」

This was a by-product of my attempts to make a certain something. After that, I succeeded in making one of that certain something.

「Misuranika gold coin!」

That was what Zenobia was surprised about.

「Wait a minute…… The coins you used just for today….. What’s the price of one coin right now?」

「When I traded for them, it was 22 gold coins per Misuranika coin」

「Whaー」

I had shocked Zenobia.

「Souya, does that mean that you’ve used 44 gold coins just for today’s adventure? Y, you’re not going to say that you’re in debt, are you?」

「Fufufu, Zeno-Onee-san. To tell the truth, Bel knows Onii-san’s method of making money!」

「What?! Tell me! Tell me!」

Bel was puffing out her chest proudly. They’re modest. Besides, Zenobia was clinging onto them. It was indecent.

The two men were probably not interested, and were eating non-stop.

「It’s undoubtedly this!」

She lifted up the almost-empty bottle of mayonnaise.

She was correct.

「Zeno-Onee-san. This egg dish made by Onii-san contains this manunese」

「It’s mayonnaise」

I corrected her.

「Do you how much one bottle of this costs?」

「Huh? It's a sauce that I've never seen before, but it probably won't be as expensive as honey, so at most…… three silver coins?」

「Five gold coins」

「Whaaaaaaaaa!!」

Zenobia had a comical expression on her face. And the two men were enthusiastically heaping the egg onto their chapatis.

「Gladvain's kin were eating dried meat with this on top. It’s a sauce that I've never seen before, be it in the archipelago, or in this area, and the first store to sell it was the Zavua merchant company's, which has a strong connection with Onii-san, so I realized it immediately. That this is something that Onii-san made」

「It’s definitely delicious. But it’s expensive, far too expensive」

Irvin's opinion was absolutely correct.

「No, listen to this, Irvin. At first, I marketed it to the wealthy at one gold coin. I advertised that it’s delicious when put on raw or boiled vegetables」

It was a city where there was an abundance of meat. The wealthy had gotten tired of the readily available meat, and were eating expensive seafood and unusual vegetables instead.

To be frank, looking at this continent’s cuisine, the ingredients were good, but the way they seasoned it was far too hopeless. I suppose that this was also an ill-effect of the lost civilization. Even though the level of their lifestyle was high, when it came to food, the level had went down a great deal.

Things like seasonings were the best example of this.

Much of it was imported from the center continent and the archipelago located in between. But they didn’t go very well with the ingredients in this city.

After aging the best filet of meat for two days, it was cooked until all the deliciousness and fat was gone and it had become bone-dry, then vinegar that tasted like fermented fish was poured on it, and it was coated with a large amount of salt, and as the finishing blow, it was fried, sealing in all the different pungent flavors. A self-professed high-class restaurant was selling this. To be honest, I very nearly went to murder the cook.

I had become more of an adult.

「So, on the second day of selling this, it sold better than I had expected. On the third day, a line was formed in the morning. The entire stock was sold out. On the fourth day, mayonnaise was sold for two gold coins at another store」

They were reselling it.

「And when we returned after failing to break through the 9th floor for the second time, the price had become five gold coins. So in terms of earnings…………… I get 80%, so about 96 gold coins? But it’s all gone because I used it all as development costs」

If I added in the initial costs and the cost of the bottles, I would be in the red.

「Then, if you make more of this thing called mayonnaise right away, won’t you strike it rich?」

「I can make more, but I’m no longer marketing it to the wealthy. The ingredients needed are simple things, so I got the merchant company to gather a lot of them」

The ingredients for mayonnaise were simple things like egg yolk, vinegar, oil and salt.

The Chochos from the dungeon provided a steady supply of egg yolks. And once you crossed one mountain, you would find the sea. But I wanted vinegar with low acidity and good taste, so I chose white wine vinegar.

The Eruomea merchant company, which dealt in a wide range of alcoholic beverages, prepared a huge amount of that in five days. Right about now, mayonnaise was being mass-produced in the warehouse of the Zavua merchant company under the Makina’s guidance.

It might be alright if it was in the modern world, but I wondered about what I was making an artificial intelligence, who had knowledge and technology that was equal to the gods, do in this alternate world. I didn’t know if the artificial intelligence in question found it fun to make things, but she was really enthusiastic.

「I think that it’ll be ready to be sold tomorrow or the day after that. One bottle will cost five copper coins. The plan is to sell it for 3 copper coins if the customers bring their own bottle」

「Isn’t that too cheap?」

Irvin's retort was correct. The young Chairmen of the merchant companies and those that were close to me also said that it was too cheap. However, this alone was something that I refused to compromise on. Because food is for all people.

Well, the ingredients were simple things. When the recipe got exposed, I would easily lose out to imitations if I had set a high price, so there was also a calculating reason for it.

「Onii-chan! I'm hungry!」

My sister was angry. I transferred five of the baked chapatis to a separate plate, took some of the egg that had already been reduced by half, and carried them to the sisters.

「Sorry」

「Too long! When Onii-chan talks about food, you talk for so long!」

「I’m sorry」

I put the food in front of Ea.

「Rana?」

Rana had a blank look on her face. I waved my hand in front of her eyes. There was no response.

「Ea, what’s wrong with Rana?」

The blood drained from my face.

「Hmm~ I guess she used too much magic power. Onee-chan went overboard because Onii-chan is here. Don’t worry, she’ll be back to normal after a while」

I'm worried. Won’t this affect her health in future?

Also, is it okay to touch your boobs now?

「Hehehe, bunch of stupid Hemus. Getting shocked over mere mayonnaise」

Ea had an evil-looking expression as she took out a bottle from her bag.

「In front of this tartar sauce, the likes of mayonnaise is put to shame~」

「Hey. Don't bring foodstuffs without permission, got it? That’s something that can’t be preserved for very long」

「Ehhh, no way~. Makina said that it would be fine for about two days」

「In future, let me know, got it?」

「Yes~」

Ea put some egg on the chapati, then poured tartar sauce on top of it. After taking a bite, her body trembled in satisfaction.

「Hmm~ delicious. But let’s make it a bit more spicy」

She took out another bottle. It was a bright-red bottle.

「Did you bring even the Sriracha sauce?」

「Makina said it was fine because it has preservatives」

「Well, I guess it’s okay. Also, there are only two bottles. Don't pour so much when you’re using it, you hear?」

「Eeeeeeehhhhhh! ………………Make more」

「Ehh~, well…… I don’t think that it’s impossible to make, but……」

It was an unreasonable request, but I’ll ask Makina.

「Hmmm~」

Said Bel, who was beside me before I realized it. She was staring at what Ea was eating with a cat-like curiosity.

「Oh no」

Said Ea, who tried to hide it, but it was too late.

「Shuna-chan! They’re eating something that looks delicious over here!」

「Really?」

Shuna, who had recovered a little, also came towards us.

「Unfair! That’s unfair, you elf! Bestow some on this lowly Hemuuuuu!」

「Ea~, I'm running out of energy so give me some food~」

「I got it! Just a bit! I’ll give you both just a little bit! So don't cling to me! It’s going to drop!」

Ea got mobbed by the two of them.

Looking at the three of them getting along, I felt my spirits lift. Perhaps that was why Irvin's cold expression made me feel a stinging pain in my heart.

After that, our party validated the portal on the 10th floor. We returned home safe and sound.

On the 41st day, I reached the 10th floor.

The goal is the 56th floor. There’s still a long way to go.

The story of a famous hero Souya mentioned, is the poem of Heures and Lola. We’ve learnt that Lumidia was the archer, which made Heures the caster instead, but the poem only tells of Heures. The poem also refers to the enemy as the large spider, the dragon-eater Lola, but according to what Lumidia said, she killed the spider but let the dragon-eater escape, implying that spider and Lola were two separate enemies, not one entity.

Why put vinegar just in case? Vinegar can inhibit growth of and kill some food-borne pathogenic bacteria. The things I learn while translating. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I've posted a map in Discord btw. The map has zero relevance for now, but it is an official map. I've removed all the names(In Japanese) and only put in those that have appeared in the story so far, but I'll update it when the locations appear in the story.

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