99 Episode 98 Soy Sauce and False Accusations

As soon as I took a bite of the fruit, which is a local specialty, what I felt was not the sweetness or sourness I had imagined.

It was sour.

It was almost like the funny story about drinking soy sauce mistaken for Coke.

Or rather, soy sauce.

"Pfft, pfft.

An old man selling fruit laughed at me.

I knew he'd do it, but he reacted just as I expected!　It's what all first-timers do. It's not meant to be eaten on its own, you know.

"Squeeze ...... for seasoning?

I tossed the seyou into the item box, drank some water, and mumbled.

I throw the seyou into the item box, drink some water and mumble. I see what you mean.

Soy sauce.

I knew I could find it, but I didn't expect it to show up as a fruit.

I approached the fruit vendor without saying a word, with a subtle expression on my face.

"Oops. No claims, no returns, okay?

There seem to be two types of ...... séoules. What is the reason for this?

If you look closely at the shelves where the products are placed, you will see that there are two types of sauces: a slightly white saucer and a more reddish saucer.

I bought the red one, but the white one is priced at about a fifth of that.

"Oh, you mean that. It's a difference in origin.

Where?

Seuil is supposed to be a speciality of Dilmia, but the quality of Dilmia's is poor.

What's that? What's that? It's a special product, but it's inferior?

So maybe it's...

Imported?

That's right. You can tell where séouille comes from by its color. The red one is Soyl, the white one is Dillmia.

That's bullshit. ......

I wonder if they don't like the white fruit.

He seems to be too enthusiastic in his sales talk to sell the more expensive one.

How can you say so much about something you are selling yourself?

After the change of lords. He turned all the seuils in Dillmere into this because he thought it would increase the yield. And then they raised the taxes on that shitty territory ....... It's nothing, okay?　If you're going to buy a Seewool, make sure it's the red one.

...... Apparently, Dilmeer's used to be red, too.

Lords who go out of their way to make soy sauce bad. Yeah. I don't think we'll get along.

I don't think we'll get along. It's best to stay out of it, and I don't think we ever will.

In that case, I'll take ten more red ones.

"Oh, good. I'll give you one of Dilmyre's too, so you can experience how bad it is. ...... You have an item box!　No wonder the one you were about to eat disappeared so unnaturally!

Now that you mention it, I'm getting a little curious.

I decided to try it out in my room at a random inn.

I used a boat killer for the experiment. It is a fish similar in appearance to tuna, caught in Photoren. It was left over from the sashimi I had made earlier, but the soy sauce had run out and I was not satisfied with the result.

Using a magic sword disinfected with fire magic and water magic, slice it thinly.

Then, squeeze a little of the seiyu onto a suitable plate, dip the sashimi in it, and try it.

That's it!

This is exactly what tuna sashimi is supposed to be.

The quality of the soy sauce is not bad. The quality of the soy sauce was not bad either. It may have been corrected because I hadn't had it for a while, but it was definitely better than the cheap stuff in Japan.

I'll definitely have to keep the soyel and buy a lot of seiyuu to take home.

Now, ......

Next, the much-despised seuil from Dillmere.

I was thinking earlier that I wouldn't get along with the lord, but it's certainly not right to dislike something without even eating it.

If it's good, I'll have to apologize to the lord.

I reluctantly squeezed the seiyuu, dipped a little in the sashimi, and tried it.

"......?

As soon as you put it in your mouth, you can taste the faint flavor of soy sauce.

And then there's the overwhelming salty and sour taste that tries to drown it out with all its might.

You can't taste any umami at all. It's so bad that I feel like I'm going to get sick just by holding it in my mouth.

I thanked my lucky stars that the first seiyuu I bought was from Soyell.

If I had taken a bite of it, I would have fainted.

I hurriedly drank some water and cleaned my palate with sashimi dipped in a decent amount of soy sauce.

Now it was confirmed. I have nothing to apologize to the lord, and no reason to do so.

Or rather, the lord should apologize. Apologize to the soy sauce.

It was so bad that I even felt angry, but thanks to the palate cleanser, I quickly regained my composure.

At the same time, I noticed that there was some noise around me.

The noise is not outside the window, but rather around the first floor of the inn.

The air in this town is rather dry. If there were a fire, it would be a disaster.

I decided to stop tasting and go downstairs to see what was going on.

I'm afraid I can't give out any information about you, sir.

But with the news that a criminal has entered the inn, we can't just leave. ......

The reason for the commotion was due to the arrival of the guards.

Five guards or knights were talking to the innkeeper in full gear.

Apparently a criminal had entered the inn while I was tasting soy sauce.

I don't want to get involved, so I'll change the inn.

I don't want to get involved.

Is it true that criminals have entered the inn?

Yes. You'll have to help us if you can. My lord says the criminal is a young man with dark hair and eyes, and he's not carrying any luggage.

"No luggage?

I don't know if having no luggage is a characteristic.

They say he has an item box and used it to steal money from the lord's mansion. ......

A young man with black hair, black eyes, and an item box: .......

I don't know why, but this sounds very familiar.

It's probably a different person with a similar appearance, but I don't want to raise any suspicion.

Let's just make sure the name is different.

If we have that, we can use the guild card to prove he's not the same person.

"That guy's name isn't Kaede, is it?

I take out the guild card from the item box and ask him, showing that I am Kaede.

"Yes, yes. I'm an adventurer from Basis named Kaede. ...... Eh?

"What?

Apparently, there is a Kaede who has a similar name and appearance to me, has an item box, and came from Basis at the same time as me.

It's a great coincidence.

I'll take it from here.

I feign casualness as I try to leave the inn.

"Wait a minute.

And then, of course, I'm stopped.

What can I do for you?

"Would you mind accompanying me to the cell, or rather the prison?

Almost as soon as I said this, two of the guards walked up behind me.

I'm falsely accused.

But I have no way to prove it.

The guild card of Basis has not penetrated this country, and there is no way to prove the contents of the item box.

Even if they could, they would just say that they hid the stolen items somewhere.

The lack of a guild card is such an inconvenience.

Why don't you say no?

You will be forced to accompany me. After all, it's a direct order from my lord.

As I talked with the guards, I felt that their response was unnatural.

It was too polite a response to a criminal. They must not be thinking about the possibility of being falsely accused, and if they were, they would have seized him quickly instead of asking him to accompany them arbitrarily. If he was treated as a bandit, he might even be executed on the spot.

However, the guards did not seem to be in the mood to make such a move.

The tone of voice is clearly not that of anger at criminals. It's not alarm.

It's more like pity, or perhaps apology.

It is also unnatural that the order came directly from the lord.

It should be the role of the guards and knights to catch bandits, let alone in court.

I don't know how it is in this country where there is no king, but at least in Basis it should have been.

It's suspicious that you've been falsely accused in a town you've barely been to.

"All right. I'll go with you.

If this false accusation is a setup, then the culprit is the lord or someone around him.

If not, there are other ways to clear your name.

In any case, it is not a good idea to force the issue here. It would be like saying that you are not falsely accused.

You can always force your way through.

Let's just hold on for now and figure out what to do.

Thank you for your cooperation. Thank you for your cooperation. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to .......

And with that, the guard cuffed my hands.

Upon examination, it seems to be something that removes magical activity. I guess it's for wizards.

I tried it on my magic armor, and indeed, I felt that my magic output was slightly reduced.

Specifically, about 0.5% to 1%.

In other words, it's an error.

Next, I tried to check the physical strength of the armor, but when I put a little effort into it, I heard an unpleasant cracking sound, and I hurriedly relaxed my arm.

Watch out, watch out. I almost broke the handcuffs.

The guards, unaware of this, surround me and start leading me somewhere.

Well. I wonder what the hell is going on.