CH 34

“Alright then, I’ll just grill some and taste it.”

I mutter in a whisper.

As on the first night I was sent to another world, there was nobody to answer me.

But it’s not like there’s no one here.

The skeletons with aprons are behind me with the meat in front of me. They are looking at me like they are interested in what I am going to cook.

There’s a black haze hovering near the ceiling of the kitchen. It’s like, “What are they doing?”

“My cooking assistant is a skeleton, and there is a ghost on the tour. Three-minute cooking in another world is surrounded by undead! I mean, you can’t do it in three minutes! And I’m not even the head family!” (idk the reference)

Chloe, Barbera and Anna-san went out to the store front.

Nobody heard my clicking tongue – or they did, but they didn’t answer. I hear a click and feel the skeleton’s head tilting, but I don’t let it go.

I put a small frying pan on the fire.

While the pan is heating up, I cut down three kinds of meat into thin strips.

The Horned Cow, the Assault Wild Boar, and the Combat Chicken.

Three different kinds of meat that Chloe bought from the butcher in the nearest town. Of course, I’ve never had any of them.

“Their names are too much like warrior spirits. I thought they were monster meat. But it was sold at the butcher’s, so they are edible, right?”

Although I felt a little uneasy, it was too late. I was able to eat the meat of a one-horned rabbit, so I’m sure it will be fine.

I picked up the meat of a combat chicken.

Throw it into a warmed frying pan.

Thinly sliced pieces of meat quickly change color.

The meat was [purified] but I wanted to make sure it was cooked well enough.

Once browned, I put the piece of combat chicken meat in my mouth without even sprinkling salt and pepper.

Chew on it.

“It’s tough. But it’s not so tough that I can’t chew it. It’s kind of like a chicken shabu-shabu, isn’t it?”

I chew the small piece of meat repeatedly, rolling it around on my tongue to check its texture and taste.

I also did the same with the assault wild boar and the horned cows.

“The combat chicken is a chicken with close combat ability, while the assault boar is, as the name implies, a wild boar, but with the flesh similar to that of pork. Horned beef seems to be a lean breed of beef. Okay, I guess we can go ahead with the menu as planned.”

I nodded to myself.

Behind me, the skeletons nodded. The heck?

“I’m a little concerned that they’re all a little hard. Well, I guess we’ll just have to try them out. Let’s see… ……”

I turned around and looked at the skeletons.

Anna’s underlings, with only bones and aprons on their bodies.

I don’t know if these guys can really help, but since it’s a prototype anyway, I’m going to give them instructions one by one.

By the way, the kitchen has running water and an exhaust fan.

The kitchen is brightly lit and has the same cooking utensils as the one at the Aion Mall at Kasugano.

The stove is apparently fueled by magic stone, not gas, but that’s about the only difference.

“Wow, it’s so convenient! That’s what I expected from a kitchen that makes ready-made food! As expected of Aion! Don’t think too much about it. I can use it, so it doesn’t matter.”

With a half-smile and a sense of escaping reality, I began to make a prototype.

I began to make a prototype of a Japanese dish using ingredients from another world in the kitchen of the Aion Mall’s Otherworldly Store.

“You finally came, Naoya! I’m tired of waiting!

“….. hungry.”

As soon as I left the kitchen after finishing the first prototype, I was immediately interrupted by Chloe.

Barbera looked up at me.

Anna-san, who laughed wryly, explained to me the reason why the two of them were like this.

“Fufufu…. Naoya-san, Chloe and Barbera had a hard time because they reacted to the smell. The customers were curious about the smell, too.”

“I opened the ventilation to the fullest, but the smell of fried food leaked out. The exhaust ducts are connected to the outside, so customers would be curious about it, I guess.”

It was my first time in this kitchen, and my first time using the ingredients.

Although the skeletons helped me, it still took me a long time to get it to a satisfactory level.

It was already past closing time at the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store, and there were no customers.

So I took the finished food with me to the front and let the skeletons take over.

“It’s around dinner time, so it’s just in time. I want you to taste it and let me know what you think.”

Saying that, I pointed to the plate the skeletons were holding.

Their eyes lit up.

“Golden color, and this aroma……Naoya-san, is this a dish fried in oil by any chance? How extravagant!”

“……… I eat it!”

“I’ve had this before! Only once at an upscale restaurant that the deputy commander took me to! Don’t tell me Naoya has eaten this kind of fine cuisine …….”

“Fine cuisine? Ah I see, it’s probably because oil is expensive in this world. But if you make it in large quantities, you can make a profit even at a lower price per serving.”

“I see, so that’s the advantage of eating in! That’s great, Naoya-san!”

“You understand too quickly, Anna-san. I don’t know if you are being sarcastic or not when you say [amazing].”.

“If the price is affordable even for commoners, it’s going to sell!　Who doesn’t like meat anyway!?”

“There are elves, you know. Eat your fruits and vegetables, elf.”

I made it, ka-tsu (cutlet).

The breadcrumbs are made from the bread of this world, and the oil is made from lard pork fat, or maybe wild boar fat, hence the name …….

Anyway, it may not be the same as “katsu” in Japan, but it is similar.

Having moved to an eat-in space that was not in service, I cut the pork cutlet into small pieces and prepared the sauce on a separate plate.

The sauce is a mystery condiment here, and since it is limited in quantity, the sauce by itself may not sell well.

But the advantage of serving inside a store is that you can use condiments from Japan.

With this usage, I hope it will last for half a year. The dilemma is that if it sells, it will be out of stock immediately!

“This is a wild boar cutlet, and it’s hard to call it that, so I’ll just call it a pork cutlet. This one is a beef cutlet, and this one is chicken cutlet.”

I cut up the three kinds of cutlets and put them on plates for the four of us.

Barbera took a bite of the cutlets before I could even say anything to her.

The sound of a crispy bite can be heard. She swallows it down with a gulp.

“…… Delish! More!”

“That’s not fair, Barbera! Naoya, can I eat now? Right?”

“A- ahh, let me know what you think.”

“Well then, I’ll have some too.”

Following Barbera, Chloe and Anna-san also took a bite of the cutlet.

I took another sip, though I tasted it.

The freshly fried cutlets were crispy and crunchy. 

Maybe it’s the wild boar meat, or maybe it’s the monster meat, but every bite is flooded with intense flavor. 

I was worried about the bread crumbs, but they were so savory that I thought I could use them as they were. It’s fine-grained and a little less crispy, but I think that’s a good thing. 

The sweet fat peculiar to wild boar is also nice, and the smell is almost imperceptible. 

The oil used for frying was the oil in the uncooked jar that Chloe bought at the butcher shop. 

It was filled with wild boar fat, which seemed a bit heavy, but I couldn’t help it. Let’s hope the people of this world have strong stomachs. 

I continued to taste a piece of beef cutlet and a piece of chicken cutlet. 

“Yes, it’s good. The pork cutlet is a little bit too tough, but the others are good.”

“Delicious, it’s delicious, Naoya! It’s even better than the one at the restaurant the deputy commander took me to! I wonder what it is, this black mucus! “

“Don’t call it black mucus. It’s pork cutlet sauce. “

“I saw it on a shelf in the closet ……. It was a product I didn’t understand, but I didn’t know it was this delicious. “

Anna-san breathed a sigh of relief and said sincerely. 

If you didn’t know the product, you should have asked about it. 

“This is good, this is good, Naoya! Because who doesn’t like meat!? “

“Yes, there is. I mean, Chloe is an elf. “

“…… second, more?” 

“Oh, we’re going to use up all the meat for the other test. …… “

Barbera, who offered the plate to me, dropped her shoulders. 

Regardless of her actual age, she looks 10 years old, which makes me feel very guilty.

“I’m not done with that. One of them will take a long time, so I can’t do it today, but I’ll have another prototype ready for you soon. “

“…… I, wait!” 

Barbera’s eyes sparkled. 

Both Chloe and Anna-san look at me with eyes full of expectation. 

What a pressure, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem. 

“The next dish is one that is very popular in Japan and is a classic Japanese dish to serve in another world, okay?” 

With that, I headed to the kitchen. 

“Naoya? Do Japanese people come to this world often? I’ve never heard of them?” 

I could hear Chloe’s question, and I didn’t answer back, [I’m talking about those in creative writing]. 

Maybe some of them come to this world through transmigration or reincarnation! Chloe and Anna-san said they’d never heard of them!