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"Oh, really?　Where did you get it?　Is that a price I can afford?

No, we didn't. We made it ourselves.

You guys are so self-indulgent!　But I envy you!　Give it to me!

"But I'm jealous!" Yasue pondered, but then immediately asked for it.

I suppose a little conflict is worth nothing in front of soy sauce.

Seeing Yasue like this, Yuki smiles mischievously.

"Mmmm, do you want it?　Soy sauce. You greedy bastard!

"That's fine, give it to me. Now that I'm cooking, I'm thinking that they use too much soy sauce. Isn't it in most things?

That's the way it is in Japanese cooking, isn't it? I haven't cooked that much yet, so I can't give you enough for a restaurant, but I can give you enough for home.

I don't mind at all!　Thank you. Natsuki is very kind, unlike Yuki.

Yasue, who had thanked Yuki happily, gave Yuki a suggestive look.

In contrast, Yuki's mouth pouted in frustration when he pointed it at her.

What? I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you. But it takes a lot of effort to make soy sauce.　You have to buy ingredients you can't get around here, and it's hard to extract the yeast. Then we brew it, stir it. It's a lot of work, you know.

You didn't do it!　Oh, but it's not that easy to make. Thanks again, Natsuki.

No, no, it's only with everyone's help. Yuki, of course.

You know what you're doing, Natsuki. You should be grateful, Yasue.

I appreciate it. But Yuki, you need to pull your weight.

Yes, ma'am. --Well, since we're here, let's cook this up. Mitya can't wait to see it.

Mmm, can you wait for me? I'll wait quietly.

Mitya's cheeks puffed out in frustration as he said this, but his hand was holding his stomach, and he hadn't missed the small rumbling of Mitya's stomach while we were talking.

It was almost time for dinner, so it could not be helped.

I'm hungry, too. Let's eat.

"Yeah. Besides, it's important to know if it's good. And it's also important to know if it's good or not, because it affects how you handle it in the future. If it's not so good, go to .......

"What if it's not?

Yasue, you want some?

"If it's not good, I don't want it!

I'm not going to be able to do that.

You can eat enough to sell at the guild, though, right?　If that's the case, it might be enough to serve in the store. ....... I'm not saying it's free. Sell it to me cheap.

"I don't care if it's good. We don't have enough to eat by ourselves anyway. Let's start by grilling the fillets like kabayaki.

"Okay. I have eel sauce.

"Why do you have ......?

There are also regular eels. I haven't gone out to catch any lately, so I made some, but I didn't get to use them much.

I know I keep saying it, but the disparity is so great!　--Is it good?

It's a natural product. It was delicious. It was good, but not as good as the ones I ate at a good restaurant over there. There's no sansho.

d*mn. Don't be shy!

Yasue bites her teeth at Natsuki's nonchalant reply.

But if it's a restaurant like the one Natsuki goes to, it must be good. He was rich.

"Well, well. It's good that we can eat like this.

"This is not the eel I know!

"This is not the eel I know!" Yasue pointed to the eel, which certainly did not look like an eel.

We've gotten used to it, but if you look at it in a normal way, it's something unrecognizable.

You can find a lot of things that you can do to make your life easier.

I'm sure you'll like it. ...... Let's think about it after we try it. It might be delicious.

You know what? You know, you shouldn't be afraid to try things. So, let's cut it up.

Yuki took the initiative and began to dismantle the fish, but...

There are a lot of small bones, aren't there?　That's what I call an eel.

Yuki took the initiative and began to dismantle the eel.

"I guess you could say it's a small bone, but for a fish of this size, it's pretty thick. Let's leave them out this time.

Natsuki, Haruka, and Yasue removed the small bones one by one from the meat that Yuki had cut into single servings, using a special bone-removal device.

This bone-removal tool was specially made by Tommy at Natsuki's request.

It is not sold in the market because there is no demand for it in LaFang.

I can't do this when I serve it at the restaurant. It takes too long.

"Yes, it does. The meat is a little soft, so it would be difficult to handle. ...... I think it would be better to make fish balls or fish paste.　Then you can make it in one go even if you don't know how to de-bone it.

It's not hard to beat or grind. I've never seen a mortar before.

Oh, we have a mincer.

Yes, yes. You made that, didn't you?

No, we're helping, but Tommy made it. You can get it at Laffan's.

Tommy is Wakabayashi, right?　He's working hard, isn't he? But it's a lot of work to go to Laffan to buy it, and I'm not going to buy it just for this fish. ...... I'll figure out how to get it out.

No, it will only sell while we're here anyway, so we'll lend it to you.　I'm bringing it with me.

Oh, right, that's right. When we're gone, there's nothing to do but let the Petoshee fillets rot. I'll ask you then.

Even with all this chit-chatting, the four of us with [cooking] skills were able to pull off a masterful job, and soon we had kabayaki-style petosi, meuniere-style petosi, salted grilled petosi, petosi fish ball soup, and petosi kamaboko on the table.

We ate them one by one.

As we ate them one by one, they all tasted delicious, as if Haruka and his friends had made them.

However, when Yasue took a bite of the kabayaki, she twisted her head with a slightly confused expression.

...... It's good, but it's not the same.

I think it's because there's no skin. I think it's the texture and aroma of the skin that makes eel kabayaki so delicious, don't you?

Oh, I see. I used to think that the skin was like rubber and not very good, but I didn't know it had a meaning.

No, I think it was the eel Yasue ate that was poorly cooked.

"I'm sorry!　The only eels I can eat are imported ones sold in supermarkets!

We're like that. But the smell doesn't bother you. I thought the smell would be a little more annoying since it was probably not drained of mud.

What Haruka is eating is grilled fish.

Because of its simplicity, it is probably the easiest dish to detect odors.

I tried it myself, and although I could eat it just fine, it was quite bland, neither good nor bad. The other dishes were better.

I thought it would be a little smelly. ...... Maybe it's because there are no people living upstream.

The upper reaches of the Petras River are further west than the summer dungeon.

There are no towns or cities, and there is no room for domestic wastewater to flow.

There were no towns north of Sarstat around the Noria River either, but the fish I ate in those towns still smelled like mud, so the geology may have had something to do with it.

If you could remove the mud, it would taste even better.

"No, it's impossible to catch a Petoshee alive and remove the mud, okay?　I've been through a lot of mud, haven't I?

You can't catch that one. ......

If it weren't for you, Nao, I wouldn't have been able to kill it.

I'm sure it's not impossible, but I sure could use some magic. Even if we could catch them, there's no place to drain the mud.

Most eels use a tub of clean water for draining, but of course you can't get a tub that will hold a petosy, and even if you could get a pool or something like that, there's no way a petosy would stay still in it.

She would have climbed out of the water and attacked.

I know. I just thought if it was too muddy, I'd have to figure out a way to cook it. But this could be used in any dish as long as you're careful with the bones.

"Yes. Yes, this will sell well. No, depending on the price, it could be a big hit. --Raising children must be very expensive.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

"Yes, yes. I'll give you a discount in exchange for the gift. It's okay with Nao and the others, right?　We're not selling everything.

I don't care. I'm sure we can get enough for one slice.

Me too. I'm more of a meat guy.

I don't mind. I'm more of a flying gar kind of guy.

I don't mind either. There are sixteen slices for us all. I think Nao is right. One slice is enough.

No, we can't sell that many before the baby is born. But thank you. I appreciate it.

If that's what you think, then have a healthy baby and raise it. That's what we're here for.

Of course. You don't have to tell me!

Yasue responded, smiling with a look of core strength and happiness.

Not long after this conversation, the day arrived.