Volume 2 - CH 7

Chapter 7 – Island Life and Two Escorts

Whew, I guess that’s enough training. The pot of chicken bones isn’t boiling either… Alright, I can’t get too far from the ship. I heard that the monsters are strong, so let’s look for slime carefully in a position where I can see the Japanese-style boat.

…Found it. It’s a blue slime. I quickly pick it up and return to the Japanese-style boat. I put the squishy slime on the blanket and stroked it all around. Occasionally I give it some dried meat. I just love the slime.

I lay out the dried meat from in front of the slime to my lap. The slime stretches and contorts its body, finding the dried meat and digesting it. Finally, after a few unsuccessful attempts, the slime gets on my lap and digests the last piece of dried meat.

Even though I know that the slime is after the dried meat, I am moved by the fact that it has climbed onto my lap. I stroke it, praise the slime and give it more dried meat.

I play with the slime until it gets dark while watching the pots and pans occasionally. I returned the slime after checking my status, a little disappointed that I still didn’t have the tame skill. I wish I could easily get the tame skill.

I retrieved the dried kelp and checked it. It’s not fully dried yet, and I’ll dry it again tomorrow. The chicken bone broth is… kind of light. I’ll cook it some more tomorrow.

I wipe myself off and get ready for bed. Should I at least have a hand towel ready when everyone comes back? It would be nice if there were toweling cloth like in Japan, but just tearing a piece of cloth and soaking it in hot water should feel good.

I pull the wooden box of the Japanese-style boat over to the edge and lay a blanket on the boat’s floor. The monsters won’t be able to get in, but can I sleep like this and notice when all the Girasole come back?　

It’s impossible to stay awake all the time… so let’s just be aware so I can wake up when I hear someone’s voice. Good night.

＊＊＊

Morning. I thought it would be okay since it was the first day, but Girasole still didn’t come back. …I quickly get ready and put the pot on the charcoal fire. After laying the kelp on the beach, I make breakfast with dried meat and bread. Both dried meat and bread are quite tasty when roasted over a charcoal fire. After lunch, I rest a little and do some weapons training.

After training, I taste the chicken bone broth. Hmmm, not much has changed. Can’t it get any thicker? Well, let’s try making vegetable soup with it.

I put the soup into another pot and added salt. Yes, it tastes good with salt. Add dried meat, potatoes, cabbage, and onions.

When the potatoes are cooked, I put them on a plate and have lunch. The vegetables and the dried meat gave it a delicious flavor. I will try adding dried kelp at night.

After lunch, I talked with Guido-san and the others for a while and then went looking for slime. There is a blue slime and, somehow, a green slime at the place where I released the slime yesterday. I quickly hold them both up and return to the Japanese-style boat. Oh no. They’re both so soft and plump today.

I feed dried meat to the two slimes and enjoy their texture. The blue slime is more elastic than the green slime. The green slime is more firm.

When I touch the two slimes together, I can feel the difference in texture. But I can’t get rid of either of them. What should I do when I get the taming skill?

I play with the slime until it gets dark, not getting tired of it. I check my status and, disappointed, release the slime into the forest.

I check the kelp I laid out on the beach and find that it is completely dry. I quickly cut it into small pieces and put the kelp in a cup with water. After a while, I take a sip of the water with the kelp in it. Oh, it is kombu dashi. It is thin, but it definitely tastes like kombu dashi.

I put the kombu dashi with the kelp into the vegetable soup and heated it up without boiling it. After warming deliberately, I take out the kombu, and the vegetable soup is ready.

Vegetable soup and bread are served for dinner. Vegetable soup with kombu dashi is quite delicious. Perhaps it is because I haven’t felt the tasty component of kombu for a long time, but I feel that the taste is somehow comforting.

＊＊＊

Every day, I trained and played with slime. I spent my days doing nothing out of the ordinary, like seeing Guido-san and the others off when they returned.

Today is the fifth day. I wonder when Girasole will be back? Well, they are scheduled to come back today, so let’s prepare.

I only have to make vegetable soup and prepare hand towels, though. I’ll finish preparing the soup in the morning and have the hot water ready.

After doing what I had to do, training and playing with slime, everyone from Girasole returned.

“Welcome back, everyone.”

“I’m back. As expected, I’m tired.”

Alessia-san and the others who returned looked tired, indeed. They are also beautiful with a little bit of a cast of shadow.

“Shall I make you a cup of tea?”

“Then please, after we load the boat, okay?”

“I understand.”

I put the wooden boxes in order and loaded the luggage into the empty space.

“It’s amazing. I wasn’t sure how much we would be able to load, so I brought more, but even with everything loaded, there was still plenty of room. But why is there slime?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have a grasp of how much luggage can be loaded either. I like slime, you know. I had them playing with my boat in my spare time.”

“That’s okay because we can bring a little more next time. But I’ve never heard of anyone who likes slime. You are very strange.”

I think slime is very popular in Japan, but I wonder if the fact that they are monsters is a problem. I can’t understand why people avoid them, considering that they can dissolve you if you’re not careful. But I like them.

“I’ll prepare some tea. Oh, please wait a moment while I prepare your tea. And here is a hand towel for you to use.”

“Hand towel? What are you doing with this?”

“Oh, um, a hand towel is just a cloth dipped in hot water. It feels good to wipe your hands, face, neck, and so on.”

I handed the hand towels to everyone from Girasole and made them a cup of tea. Everyone seems to like the hand towels. They wipe their hands and faces comfortably. If there are no hand towels, if you open a food and beverage store and offer hand towels, it will become famous… If there is a hand towel, people will imitate it immediately.

“Here you go. Here is your tea.”

“Thank you. This hand towel feels so nice. I’ve been taking a bath, but it’s so refreshing to wipe with a warm cloth.”

“I am glad you liked it. I will prepare it again the next time there is a chance. And I can prepare lunch, would you like to eat? It’s just vegetable soup and bread.”

“Is that okay? I’d be happy to just have hot soup. Thank you very much.”

Alessia-san and the others are smiling. Yes, they seem to be pleased. It’s this kind of attention that makes me a capable man…

“Here you go,” I said, handing out lunch to Alessia-san and the others. I’m so proud of my work that I can’t help but wonder what they think of it.

I was nervous to see if they liked it or not.

“What is this? The ingredients are normal, but why does it taste like chicken? Also, it tastes like something I don’t understand, but it’s delicious.”

“Thank you.”

Oh, it’s a big hit. I was confident in my work, but it’s still nice to be praised. On the surface, I suppressed a light smile, but inwardly I was gut-punching with all my might. Oh, Carla-san has finished eating and looks sad. How cute.

“Carla-san, would you like a refill?”

“Thank you, please.”

Carla-san, your smile is so beautiful. After I gave Carla-san her second serving, everyone else had another one. It’s nice when people ask for more of the food you made, isn’t it? It’s a great feeling.

“Thank you very much for the meal. Wataru-san, it was very delicious.”

Alessia-san praised me with a smile. A portable meal at an outdoor activity. Warm soup when returning from an exhausting day. If she was so pleased with the food, it must have been good.

“Thank you. Would you like to take a short break before heading back to the southern city? Or would you like to leave immediately?”

“I’d like to take a short break first, please.”

“Then I’ll go free the slimes.”

I go to the forest with the two slimes in my arms. After checking my status and confirming that I haven’t grown any tame skills, I release the slime. Ugh, I want to take them home.

I return to the Japanese-style boat, clean the dishes, and take a rest. While I was taking a break, the priestess, Claretta-san, called out to me.

“Wataru-san, the soup was very delicious. If it’s not a secret, could you tell me the recipe?”

I never thought I would be asked for the recipe. My soup is amazing. For a moment, I was tempted to say something about a secret recipe, but I was embarrassed, so I decided not to.

“I don’t mind, but it takes quite a while to make that soup earlier, you know? I just made it in my spare time.”

“If you could tell me, I’d be glad. If it takes a long time, I’ll give it a try when I’m free.”

“It’s easy, just time-consuming. Let’s see. First, you get chicken bones and boil them once. After boiling, take them out and wash them with water to remove any remaining meat, blood, and so forth. Can I go further?”

“Yes, but I had never thought of boiling the bones. Wataru-san, you are amazing.”

“Haha, it wasn’t my own invention. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t think of it myself, but it’s something I’ve only heard about. So… where were we?”

“Up to the part about removing the meat and blood from the chicken bones. If you can make this much broth even with what you’ve heard, it’s amazing.”

Claretta-san complimented me. I was quite happy because I had confidence in the soup.

“Thank you very much. So, you crush the cleaned chicken bones so that the flavor comes out easily. Then simmer it for a long time without boiling it. That soup is simmered for about 10 hours.”

“Do you simmer it that long?”

“Yes, I heard that it is good to simmer not only the chicken bones but also vegetables to take away the smell. But I haven’t found that vegetable yet. There is one more secret ingredient, but I think we are about to leave, so can we do it another time?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

“Alessia-san, are you ready to depart?”

“Yes, we are ready.”

“Then, we will depart.”

Since it was past noon when we departed, we arrived back at the southern city safely, although it got dark on the way.

“Thank you for your hard work. We have arrived.”

Whew, my first job was successfully completed. One by one, Alessia-san and the others thanked me for my hard work. I’m a little happy. Boredom is no problem with slime, and I think this job is pretty good.

“Oh, Wataru-san. I’ve been asked to escort you back to the merchant guild, so wait a minute.”

…I was in a good mood, but I forgot I was in a dangerous situation. Life on the island was so peaceful, after all.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your time.”

I wonder if Camille-san asked Alessia-san and the others to do this for me. I appreciate it. After everyone had unloaded their luggage, we headed for the merchant guild.

“Everyone from Girasole, I appreciate all your help. Thank you.”

“This is no big deal. We will probably ask you to return to the island again, so be sure to let us know when you do. And when you get settled, I’ll treat you to a meal, don’t forget that.”

I was dropped off at the merchant guild and parted with Alessia-san and the others… Yeah, just talking to Alessia-san and the others, I could feel the killing intent in the gazes of the men around me. If I don’t get introduced to an escort soon, it will be dangerous in a different way.

“Camille-san, the request has been completed.”

“Welcome back, Wataru-san; you have requested five days for six people, ten silver coins per person per day, so that’s three gold coins. What will you do with the reward?”

“Please deposit all the money to my guild card.”

Just taking a Japanese-style boat to the island and back and killing time for five days is three gold coins or 3 million yen. I wonder how much money the people of Girasole and the merchants who purchased the materials will make? If this much money can be moved in such a short time, it definitely makes you a target. The profit from the materials must be huge, too, right?

“Yes, the money has been deposited. Please go to the other room so I can call for your escort.”

“Yes, is it the room from before?”

“Yes, please wait a moment while I show you the way.”

When I was shown to the room, I found the guild master, a middle-aged man, and a young man sitting there.

“Oh, Wataru. I see you are back safe and sound. These two are the escorts we have prepared for you. They are very skilled. This is Dino and this is Enrico.”

The middle-aged, stern-looking man was Dino, and the one with the smiling face was Enrico. After being with Alessia-san and the others, there is a big difference between the austere uncle and the smiling Enrico…

“Dino-san, Enrico-san, I look forward to working with you.”

“”Looking forward to working with you as well.””

“Umm, the escort fee is five silver coins per person, including lodging and meals. So the total is ten silver coins. It’s quite a lot of money, but I guarantee you that they are good at what they do. Well, you don’t have to pay the escort fee when you are on the island, so you should go to the island as much as possible. And how do you want to pay the fee?”

“You can withdraw the money from my guild card.”

Ten silver coins, that’s 100,000 yen a day? That’s a price that would scare the hell out of a college student, but maybe because I just earned 3 million yen, it’s strangely acceptable. Maybe my sense of money is getting broken?

“I understand. Then, keep up the good work. Let’s go, Camille.”

“Yes, excuse me.”

I saw the guild master and Camille-san off and spoke to Dino-san and Enrico-san.

“I’m going back to the Black-tailed Gulls Inn; how can I make the escort easier for you?”

“Well, it would be easier for us to escort you if we were in the same room, but that would not give you any peace of mind. It is also possible to escort you from the next room, so it would be safe to take the room next to yours.”

It would be a bit stifling if we were in full view at all times, wouldn’t it?

“I understand. I’ll check it out when I get back to the inn.”

“Yes.”

It would be easier if the room next to mine were conveniently vacant.

＊＊＊

“I’m back.”

“Oh, hey, you’re back. I don’t know what happened, but it looks like you had a hard time. I’ve left your room exactly as you left it.”

“Yes, thank you very much. I’d like these people to take the room next to mine.”

“Hmm? Wait a minute. Yes, it’s available. How many nights are you staying?”

“I’m taking tomorrow off, and then I’m going to start work, so two nights.”

Over dinner with Dino-san and Enrico-san, we discussed the escort arrangements: one day off and five days on the island, one of the escorts must be with me at all times, and I must not go out alone, etc.

After the meeting, I return to my room. Well, life on the island is fine, and I’m making good money. Let’s work hard on the island for a while.